From our friends at Green Remodeling and Renewable Energy Solutions Hi folks, The winter sun is shining through this morning! Second Thursday means time for another SESH seminar. This week we begin the solar portion of the series: Introduction to Solar Energy:  We’ll explore why we’re interested in solar energy, our solar resource and how it [...] Read More

Boise Case Studies, plus Air-Sealing your Home 7:00-9:00 p.m. Thursday, 12/09, $10 Integrated Design Lab (108 N. 6th) part of the Sustainable Energy, Sustainable Homes seminar series Do you want a home that’s low maintenance, inexpensive to heat and cool, and can maybe even produce it’s own energy? Join us this Thursday for a local showcase of energy [...] Read More

Some more valuable information about radiant heating. We often get questions about radiant heating, the advantages, the costs, the disadvantages. Warmboard is answering some of those questions in this newsletter. You can read the full newsletter here. Some highlights that I know our readers will find helpful are comments from the builder Bret Gripenstraw on [...] Read More

Radiant heat is great. It feels good, and paired with an efficient boiler it can be a very clean heat.   I was taken back when I got a newsletter from Warmboard this summer that talked about the Romans using radiant heat 2000 years ago, I had never thought of it in that context. I would take it a step [...] Read More

From our friends at Green Remodeling… I hope you’ll consider joining us for the next seminar… Regular home maintenance is just a part of what it means to be a homeowner. But what if you could protect natural resources and save money- all while maintaining your home in tip top condition? You can and you’ll [...] Read More

A message below from Andrea Bogle of Green Remodeling followed by the scoop from Steve Howe of Renewable Energy Solutions. We heard a lot of good feedback about these seminars last year. I hope you can attend. Hello, Everyone, I’d like to invite you to a seminar series co-sponsored by Green Remodeling, and partially taught [...] Read More

A week ago we were introduced to Velux solar hot water heaters by Tad Duby of On Point Advantage. You may have heard Velux’s name as they are the industry leader (in my opinion) in skylights, and have been for 50 years. Their flashing methods are of superior design and preferred by installers and end [...] Read More

RUBBiSH- Recycled rubber sinks Santa Monica, California.–based architecture firm Minarc, has developed a unique and timely solution to the waste-tire dilemma that our car culture has created.  No matter how small the impact, it’s always refreshing to see problems being solved in beautiful ways like this. Minarc has just won an award from Architect Magazine: “The rubber [...] Read More

SIP roofs and SIP walls in the building industry are short hand for Structurally Insulated Panels. Basically a layer rigid foam sandwiched between two layers of plywood (typically oriented strand board, or OSB) with integral structural members (2×6, 2×10, etc.). Some companies adhere the finished ceiling material like tongue and groove pine on the inside [...] Read More

Solimpeks Corp has unveiled a hybrid solar panel, Volther hybrid photovoltaic-solar thermal collector, that incorporates both Photovoltaictechnology, as well as providing domestic hot water. Typically, one of the larger impediments to efficient energy harnessing from a PV system, is the fact that as the panel heats up, the efficiency drops off.  By tying the two systems together, the [...] Read More

The following is a great write up Houston Neal asked us to post to our readers in the sustainable building community. A comprehensive look at the proposed Cash for Caulkers proposal. We are all waiting on word if it will pass the Senate. Enjoy. By: Houston Neal Director of Marketing at Software Advice (512) 364-0117 [...] Read More

I was in communication with John Wagner a couple months ago about an article he wrote that was published in Residential Design/Build Magazine on Foam Insulation.  I will get to that next week, but first lets talk about wood preservatives, something that comes up every time we design the deck. At Gravitas we have always discuss [...] Read More

Additional Sustainable Links, credit due to the USGBC for assembling this exhaustive, continuously updated resource: www.USGBC.org Life Cycle Analysis & Costing ATHENA Sustainable Materials Institute BEES (Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability) [NIST] BuildingGreen.com – Life Cycle Assessment California Life Cycle Cost Assessment Model ENVEST (environmental impact estimating design software) [UK BRE] LCA Center Life [...] Read More

We hope to provide you with another resource to track down information regarding sustainable design, and green building.  We have relied heavily on the USGBC for many of these www.USGBC.org. Building Industry Professionals for Environmental Responsibility. BIPER USA provides a range of resources for sustainable design professionals. GreenClips is a summary of news on sustainable [...] Read More

I am very excited to be working with a young couple in Boise on the design of their home using the Not So Big tenants of Design. This will be an urban infill project in the North End of Boise (our original residential district just North of Downtown). We have been touting Sarah Susanka’s books [...] Read More

Often when we think of materials suppliers for building our homes, or even working on a DIY home improvement project, we instinctively include the big box home improvement store or regional contractor oriented building supplier. I have found a few sources locally that I want to suggest and bring to your attention. Some are specific to Boise, but the concepts are not, and chances are they can be found in your city with a quick search. Read More

Five or six years ago we had the chance to design a beautiful rammed earth home for the foothills of Boise north of 24th Street. We went through an extensive design process with the client and developed a final design that you can see here (Rammed Earth Example). Early in the design development phase we [...] Read More