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Visiting Taliesin West and Cosanti
I had the opportunity to visit Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s studio, and Cosanti, the studio of Paolo Soleri, while I was in Arizona at the Sustainable Design Leaders Summit. Soleri was an apprentice of Wright’s at Taliesin. While Wright and Soleri had contrasting ideas of what architecture should be, and the two sites I visited were aesthetically very different,…
Update from King Open/CSUS
Things are happening at the site of the King Open and Cambridge Street Upper Schools (CSUS) and Community Complex in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The schools and library have all moved to their temporary homes and construction is beginning on the site. While the building itself will not start to rise out of the ground until late 2017 there will be a…
Sustainable Design Leaders Winter Summit
Last week I attended the Sustainable Design Leaders Winter Summit. This event, facilitated by BuildingGreen, is an opportunity for sustainable design leaders from architecture firms across the country to discuss sustainability within practice and across the industry. Unlike a typical conference, the summit is a completely interactive and content is derived from what the participants want to discuss and learn….
USGBCMA Green Building Tour: 450 Kendall
Claes Andreasen and I will be co-leading a tour of 450 Kendall Street along with representatives for owner BioMed Realty and AHA engineers. 450 Kendall Street was awarded LEED Gold certification earlier this year, making it the sixth building within BioMed Realty’s Kendall Square development to become LEED certified. To register for the tour, which will take place on March 24th from…
Planning for Net Zero in Cambridge
Recently the USGBC MA’s Advocacy Committee hosted guest speaker Susanne Rasmussen, Director of Transportation and Environmental Planning for the City of Cambridge. Cambridge is leading the way for a net zero future in Massachusetts, and their policy can provide ideas for other municipalities to create successful plans for their communities. Susanne spoke about Cambridge’s Net Zero Plan, the process for developing it,…
Arrowstreet at the NESEA BE 16 Conference
Join me to discuss net zero buildings, along with Samuel Lasky (William Rawn Associates), Michael Black (City of Cambridge), and Shannon Kaplan (In Posse), at the NESEA BE 16 Conference at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston on March 9th from 1:30-3:30pm. The panel will be discussing user engagement in the design process in case study projects, including the proposed net-zero…
King Open School Update
As the year drew to a close, so did Arrowstreet’s work on the feasibility study phase for the King Open and Cambridge Street Upper Schools & Community Complex project. Arrowstreet is partnered with William Rawn Associates, our neighbors here at 10 Post Office Square, to design the new facility for the City of Cambridge. As the New Year begins, so…
Cambridge Net Zero Breakfast
Join me as the USGBC MA’s Advocacy Committee welcomes Susanne Rasmussen, Director of Transportation and Environmental Planning for the City of Cambridge. Susanne will be speaking about Cambridge’s Net Zero Plan. Cambridge is leading the way for a net zero future in Massachusetts, and their policy can provide ideas for other municipalities to create successful plans for their communities. Listen as we discuss…
Visiting the Net-Zero Energy Test Facility
In Gaithersburg, Maryland the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has built a Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF), which I was able to visit while participating in Greenbuild DC. It’s home to a four-member robot “virtual family” and a lab to keep track of the energy data that their household produces. The house is used to demonstrate that…
New Tech at Greenbuild DC
Greenbuild DC introduced the next generation of user controlled systems that make environments more interesting and comfortable. In our studio, there seems to be a constant struggle to find a temperature on which everyone can agree. These new technologies allow users a whole new level of control, without the use of more energy. In some cases, they can even result…