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Archive for the ‘Green housing’ Category

Jul
16

Grid House / Forte, Gimenes & Marcondes Ferraz Arquitetos

Architects: Forte, Gimenes & Marcondes Ferraz Arquitetos Location: Serra da Mantiqueira, Brazil Architects in Charge: Fernando Forte, Lourenço Gimenes and Rodrigo Marcondes Ferraz Collaborators: Renata Davi, Renata Buschinelli Goes, Luiz Florence, Adriana Junqueira, Paloma Delgado, Ivo Magaldi, André Malheiros, Luciana Muller, Débora Zeppellini, Marília Caetano, Nilton Rossi, Ana Paula Barbosa Landscape Design: CAP - Fernando Chacel and Sidney Linhares Project year: 2005-2007 Photographs: Alexandre Schneider [ Read More ]

Jun
12

Green Roofs are Changing Architecture and Planning, Not Always For the Better. (Slideshow)

This used to be the vision of the future of green roofs: Conventional architecture with a green lid. It is turning out very differently, as green roof technology changes the role of the architect, the way they design buildings, the way they present them, and the places they put them. Like every other tool, there is the potential for abuse. Are green roofs being used as a form of "greenwrapping" to put buildings where they shouldn't be? Or are they actually creating opportunities for better planning? [ Read More ]

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May
31

Green Roofs Growing in US

Green Roof on Canada's MEC building. Photo via Flickr: by Pardraic Green roofs have expanded by 35 percent over the last couple years, with more than 3.1 million square feet installed last year. Chicago leads the way in the U.S. with 534,507 square feet worth. That doesn’t seem like a lot considering green roofs are about to be law in Toronto, but it all starts adding up. Washington, D.C. comes in a close second with just over half-m... [ Read More ]

May
28

Blair Kamin: Historic preservation and green architecture: friends or foes?

FLW's Seth Peterson Cottage with (gasp) new windows! Blair Kamin is the Pulitzer-winning architecture critic of the Chicago Tribune, and a contributing editor of Architectural Record. He talked to the Michigan Historic Preservation Network last week. [When asked] to give this talk about the tension between green architecture and historic preservation, I have to admit that I was taken aback. My first reaction was: What tension? I could hardly image two groups whose cultural profiles are more alike. Choosing between tree-huggers and building-huggers would seem to be akin to choosing between buying a Volvo or a Saab. (You are permitted to utter the names of... [ Read More ]

May
27

Aktivhaus Generates More Heat and Power Than It Needs

We love the Passivhaus, or Passive House as it is known in America, where houses are designed to be so well insulated and sited that they need no energy other than passive solar gain to keep warm. But it can be limiting; all the windows face south and they tend to be boxy and small. Architects and builders want to break out of this limitation; we have previously shown the Plusenergihus, a Passivhaus with more windows and a solar powered heating system. Now we learn from Jetson Green about the Aktivhaus, set up to not only h... [ Read More ]

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