Smart Energy

In Hong Kong, because of the space, apartments are small and expensive. Gary Chang, an architect, decided to design a 344 sq. ft. apartment to be able to change into 24 different designs, all by just sliding panels and walls. He calls this the “Domestic Transformer.”

Great Expectations & Kochuu, 2 films on DVD
review by Brian Charles Clark, who gives the pair 4 stars

There’s a funny TED Talk video called “Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics” about how to make a good – and a bad – TED Talk. One way to go bad is to talk about architecture. We may be safe in generalizing from TED to the general culture: architecture makes most people grow faint and causes their eyes to roll.

Which is weird, because in and around architecture is where we engage with other people the most. Buildings great and small are pretty much exclusively where we conduct the four F’s — the two familiar ones, fight or flight, plus the two even more familiar ones that everybody forgets to put on the F-list: freeze (or space out) and fuck. Architecture is where we live all the fundamentals of, well, life. From coffee to water cooler to toilet to bed, we really, really need architecture to help house us. Read the rest of this entry »

Nathan Good is an architect with a passion for the environment, green home building, and energy-efficient design. With over 25 years of professional experience, Nathan was recently named one of the Top 50 Architects in the Pacific Northwest by NW Home magazine for the third straight year. His firm, Nathan Good Architects PC, is distinguished by its portfolio of award-winning homes, wineries, galleries, bridges and community-oriented facilities.

Now, Nathan and his team of architects are ready to share their passion with a wider audience via the internet and their new company blog.

“A blog is a great resource for new information and ideas, and we want to share our knowledge about sustainable, green architecture,” Good said. “It allows us to provide more detail about the green homes and building projects we’re working on, as well as point-out how design is part of the green equation. Hopefully this will help others learn more about design and building green.”

On the blog, visitors will find postings on green building techniques, innovative design projects, earth-friendly materials and energy-saving innovations. Even some of Nathan’s sketches from his personal journal, which he’s been keeping since his architectural studies at Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo, will be part of the discussion.

To read more, visit the blog at http://www.nathangoodarchitects.com/blog.

I think of the Pacific Northwest as being at the forefront of thinking in terms of environmental design in the US. And the Northwest is relatively close–interestingly close–in climate to the UK. We’re pretty close in terms of energy commitments. What we have in the UK that’s different is a much stronger regulatory framework.

via An Interview with Peter Clegg | Rethink Energy and Design.

Architect, author and educator, Peter Clegg, is a senior partner with the London based firm Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios. Peter visited the Northwest in late 2009 for Cascadia’s  Transformational Lecture series sponsored by BetterBricks, where he caught up with us to discuss the current challenges and opportunities within sustainable architecture.  The following is a brief excerpt of the conversation.  Read the full interview here.

Termite mound in Tanzania

I’m fascinated by biomimicry, and here’s a great article by Tom McKeag on an African architect inspired by termites. Mick Pearce adapted termite tech to a couple of buildings with passive climate control, apparently to great effect.

Termites, you may recall, abide in elaborate structures that maintain a remarkably stable internal temperature. McKeag writes:

“The mounds that they build are extremely durable structures of mud, often employing sophisticated buttressing and, in the case of so-called compass mounds, a precise shape and siting that optimize the effects of the sun.

“The compass mounds of Australia are shaped like large blades, narrow at the top and gently curved to a narrow boat-shaped footprint. They get their name from their consistent north-south orientation, and it is this orientation and shape that allow them to optimize their environment. When the sun angle is low and temperatures are chilly the mound receives the maximum exposure to its flanks and gains heat needed to warm the nest. When the sun is overhead, in the heat of the day, the narrow blade edge receives very little sunlight and unwanted heat gain. Shape saves energy, again, in the natural world.

“What impressed Mr. Pearce about the local African mounds was the climate control. Despite a daily fluctuation from 40 degrees C to less than 0 degrees C, the termites are able to maintain a constant inside temperature of 30 degrees C.”

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