Building Alive, Designing to Thrive

Well, although this blog tries not to encourage you to buy, buy, buy. Particularly during the holidays I've compiled a list to get you through the holiday season. Many of which will require only things you already have around the house- so there are some REUSE options in here too! 1) Homemade cookies/ treats on a reusable.recyclable plate. Maybe you have an old family recipe, or maybe you always wanted to try your hand at a fancy maple butter cookie. Maybe your only talent is buying the pre-made dough and using a nifty cookie cutter- whatever the result, the love and time will be evident in this delicious token of holiday cheer! 2) A hand- knit/sewn stocking. You can steady your hand with knitting needles, get the pattern to make these on a knitting loom, or even just cut out patches of old clothing in stocking form and stitch them together. Then stuff the bottom with a little newspaper to hold the shape, and fill to the brim with little candies, your homemade cookies, or some of t...

What an honor it was to be invited to a film premiere! On Tuesday Night, I muddled through the rain and crowds of New York City to the Village 7 theaters to attend Green Building Professionals Night of "The Big Fix" film showing. "The Big Fix" is a documentary film created by a husband and wife film team venture to the Gulf after the BP Oil Spill almost a year and a half ago. Here's some quick highlights of things I did not know about the oil spill that YOU should really note- 1) It is still leaking, BP confirmed within the past week that the oil plug was not a cure-all, and the Deepwater Horizon disaster continues. 2) The tax quarter after the oil spill, BP still had $16 billion in profits. But because it was not their expected $32 billion, the US government shot them a tax break for over 10 billion dollars. 3) Corexit, the dispersant used to break up the oil slicks we saw on the surface of the water. Is completely toxic to humans and animals. It can cause misc...

A few weeks ago, I was able to sneak my way into a meeting of the Roselle Park Environmental Committee. A sub committee that advises and informs the Town Council, the Environmental Committee is in dire need of funding, and staff- but certainly not spirit. The agenda, currently lead by councilman Mike Yakubov, included updates on development ideas for several vacant lots in town, an idea for a community garden, recycling discussion, and some neighborly complaints. I was intrigued by the interest and excitement the few members who were able to make the Friday Night meeting had, and saw only possibilities for the possible influence the committee could have. Until now, the major topic the committee has tackled is in town recycling. While this is important, I firstly felt that this should be a simple conversation. We provide an easy way for residents to recycle, and recycle as many products as possible. The residents, in turn, will not have trash taken away if handlers observe recyclables i...

Well, as if there isn't enough to learn within the context of designing a school building and curriculum, I have taken on another position at a new restaurant set to open at the end of October in Union, NJ that will be Farm to Table. The restaurant is called Ursino, paying homage to it's historic neighbor, Liberty Hall Museum, that originally used that name. It is being constructed within some vacant space in the STEM building of Kean University. Although I am not a sustainability consultant within the context of Ursino, my position as a Hostess is giving me incredible insight on restaurant operations, union county food systems, and the cost effectiveness of balancing local, organic and sustainable. I have not yet been able to narrow in anyone who can knowledgeably speak to the sustainable design aspects of the physical restaurant; but, being food people, I have learned a lot about the sustainable food aspect. Under the guidance of executive chef Peter Turso, the restaurant is ...

Good Morning all, and TGIF! It has been a little while since I discussed my current work, there's so many other things going on around the world I found valuable to share! But since the initial intent of this blog was to speak through some of the points of the predesign, design and so on for the Willow School- let's catch everyone up! The Health Wellness, and Nutrition Center will still be within the 20,000 square foot range. The owner is requiring daylight autonomy during school hours- this means that the building needs to be designed to use no artificial light during the average school day. In order to decrease the size of our heating and air conditioning systems- the team and owners agreed to allow a larger range of thermal comfort. Basically, the air won't come on to make the building stay at 72 degrees, it will wait until it's almost 80. Before that, occupants will be encouraged to open the windows. On the other side of the spectrum, the building will be s...

Good Morning Readers. Maybe it's the gloom of the impending Hurricane, but I've got a beef to pick with USGBC and GBCI (Green Building Certification Institute)! As some of you may know, LEED AP professional certification is a valuable tool to have as a green building field worker. I have worked within two LEED project teams now and purchased $90 worth of study materials from USGBC and gave myself 2 months to prepare for a combined exam- which allows me to test for a Green Associates' designation and then a LEED AP, Building Design and Construction specialization. The whole exam takes about 4.5 hours and separate test is 100 questions. After studying the USGBC-published study guide, the LEED 2009 manual, and over 500 pages of supplementary reading- I went to a computerized testing center last week to finally take my LEED exam. Before I even submitted my exam, I knew I had failed. More than half of the questions were not anything similar to the study questions, and they...