How Does a Passive House Work?...

*WHAT IS A PASSIVE HOUSE? The term “Passive House” (not to be confused with passive solar design, though there are overlapping principles) refers to a design and construction standard that aims to drastically reduce heating requirements in homes so that oversized conventional heating systems are no longer necessary. The homes maintain constant temperatures and do not rely on wasteful amounts of fossil fuels to continually heat and cool, therefore passive. HOW DOES A PASSIVE HOUSE WORK? The strategy of a Passive House is to reuse “free” heat...

Cellular Shades Qualify for Tax Credit...

I just noted in the latest copy of Dwell magazine (March 2010)  Hunter Douglas is advertising their cellular shade model, Duette Architella, as qualifying for the Tax Credit, up to $1500. In addition to that, they are offering a $25 mail in rebate per unit as an incentive. The shades look much like most cellular shades, although these are double-walled and claim superior air trapping capabilities which reduces the amount of heat that flows from your home by up to 50%. Of course that’s relative to how much heat loss you are currently losing via your windows; the...

Large 3D Architectural Tile...

Daniel Ogassian Tiles are just cool. They feature a standard collection but also offer prototype services and custom short runs. No doubt that would be spendy. The standard collection is fabulous. The concrete tiles are typically large, the smaller ones are in the 16″ dimension on up to 30″. The ceramic tiles are a bit smaller, under 10″ in may cases. What makes these tiles so unique is the 3D nature of the designs. They ‘feel’ very structural, very architectural. In some cases there is an austere, industrial, zen thing happening. In all cases...

Natural Poplar Bar Siding Update...

Yesterday I posted about a company in N.C that harvests and sells natural poplar bark building materials. Within a few hours, I heard from Bark House, another company that specializes in poplar and tulip tree shingles and other natural architectural features made of tree parts. I looked over their website, it’s hosts a lot of good and interesting information there not to mention an excellent gallery of projects. This is an interesting snapshot from their website: Highland Craftsmen Gets Nod as Cool Product from GreenBuild 2009 Alex Wilson of BuildGreen.com had...