All Topics
AR / VR in Action Roundup
Augmented reality is often associated with Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass” where Alice crosses through the mirror into a bazaar imaginary world. At the Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality in Action Conference it was easy to believe far more than “six impossible things before breakfast”. The number of applications and demonstrations was impressive and inspiring. The roles for AR…
Successful Public Spaces Are All About Edges
In the past few days I have attended three presentations about designing successful public spaces, two at ABX and one sponsored by Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance. I learned a new word, thigmotactic. A strict definition is something like contact-loving, but in the context of placemaking it is generally used to mean edge-seeking. When selecting a place to stop and rest,…
BSA Business Model Charrette
The Building Systems Committee at the BSA recently held a charrette on the business of architecture. The charrette was part of a larger symposium titled The Changing Ecosystem for Design Services, which included presentations by American Institute of Architects’ economist Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA and Phil Bernstein, FAIA. Both presenters discussed current trends and new modes of collaboration that are crossing the traditional boundaries of practice…
Step It Up
I was excited to find this article about Active Design in Urban Land magazine. Arrowstreet has been working with PKF Consulting on a project for the Department of Defense called the Healthy Base Initiative. The project goal is to find innovative and affordable ways to make military installations healthier places to live and work. Like the rest of the American population, active duty military personnel are facing increasing problems with obesity. More and more of the work is computer based which results in a workforce that sits at their desks all day…
Green Apple Day of Service
USGBC MA is organizing several activities in the Boston area for the first annual Green Apple Day of Service this Saturday, September 29th. “Where we learn matters” is the theme of this national day of service, organized by the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Sign up for one of the activities on the Green Apple website or organize your own, and be sure to let others know about these activities.
Speaking at NCMA
I recently presented on the topic of Green Procurement at the regional National Contract Management Association (NCMA) conference and workshops. The NCMA is a professional association for those in the field of procurement and contract management. While I often speak about sustainable design, the U. S. Green Building Council and the LEED rating systems to groups in the world of real estate development, building design and construction, but the invitation to speak at this workshop presented an opportunity to talk to a different audience, one that is focused on purchasing products and services. A majority of the attendees were from military and government agencies and companies that contract with them…
AFH in the BAC Sustainable Design Program
BAC Master of Design Studies Sustainable Design from The Boston Architectural College on Vimeo.
I wanted to take a moment to share this video, put out by the BAC’s sustainable design program. The beginning shows our Artists for Humanity project, the shots taken during a tour I gave for students in the sustainable design degree program.
For more information, see the BAC’s page on the program.
Net-Zero Energy Office
A recent article in the New York Times features the National Renewable Energy Lab’s new, 220,000 sf, hyper-efficient office building in Golden, Colorado. This amazing building is, to date, the largest net-zero energy office building in the nation. There are an increasing number of examples of net-zero commercial buildings in the world, but none of this scale.