hi all. Rough day I feel like shit. Had to kick in the teeth of a student who left in tears. Who later found her spine and thought were unnecessarily rough, despite the fact she didn't have any of the required work. Left met with an old priest/family friend about the pending nuptials then to my non-teaching work in a little charette for a MP where we are trying to stick 5 modern though culturally and climatically buildings in a historic district. Then went walking around the big reservoir only to find out it's not 1600m like we've thought all along rather 2600m. Yeah thats' my day... I'm spent.
DJ the first one - but I don't like the final finish. Are there other upholstery options?
Cooper I'm not sure of your decision to not call the police but I'm sure it must of been a good one. You are braver than me, I would of spent the night at a motel. But I like snook's idea with Frito Lay running around.
Philip I'm envious of your studio. My interests are to do the research as well. I've been pushing the school to do more speciality based studios but it feels like I'm flogging a dead calf. We'll see what emerges from this summer studio that's a hand studio - hand drawing/physical models only.
not a useful answer but this is the sofa i would like to get next. i love this.
philip if its a lottery then i would do research led course. in my view of things, biased though i definitely be, teachers should be learning at the same time as students, and research driven studios are the only thing that makes any sense at all.
if its just a paint by numbers assignment kind of thing i don't see the point. i really hated the times in school when we had projects like that. it felt like make work... but then again a lot of people really prefer it that way, so what do i know...
spammers are getting a little more clever - next thing you know they'll be building up post counts and our trust and then start inserting non-related links into their comments.
ok - I thought my job couldn't get any weirder than last year's giant water spewing concrete parrot.
today I'm helping a client pick out taxidermy. ugh... I thought this trend was over. and how can interior designers get so orgasmic over this stuff? I am going to lose it the next time a furniture rep describes something to me as "contemporary rococo."
jump - love the furniture porn, though...
btw - there isn't enough design porn on this site lately - even though half of us are out of work and the industry is in the crapper, I still like me some sexy details from time to time. where's holz?
sexy construction details & fashion trends with a dollop of design for ecological and social justice.
I'm happy shit like that hasn't taken off here... I'm not sure how'd I react. We do have lots of stuffed fish... but best believe we ate those marlins first!!!
holz - now I'm curious about your blog - what's the link?
archi - I think it's spreading like the plague by hipsters from Brooklyn... some people are even doing faux minimalist antlers... I thought it was going to go away a couple years ago, but it seems like it's back with a vengeance.
I'm not an interior designer, btw, but it seems like lately that's what I've been doing.
So seriously, can someone explain internet ad revenue to me? If I click on the stayhydrated ad at the top of this page, does Archinect get a penny? Or do I have to buy something from them for Archinect to get anything, or do they just pay Archinect for the eyeballs and there's no "commission" payment at all?
Unicorn, you would seem like someone who would be able to explain how this works. BTW, love the Last Supper taxidermy - I find taxidermy mostly very funny, like out of tune music.
Donna, usually (a la Google ads on a blog) i think it is a combo of per click and eyeballs, on a site (page views). Not sure how archinect runs their ad sales though.
Donna, it's generally by the click. So for every click on the ad, archinect gets a certain amount of money. Whether or not that click results in a sale will be something that the person paying for the ad can track and then determine how succesful the placement is and whether to keep paying for banner space.
A site like Archinect, since it's a more targeted audience, will be able to generally command a higher price per click then google. Of course, your ad on a popular search query in google will generate more hits, but will be less targeted. Also, for more popular search queries, you will pay more per click.
I have a friend who was targeting chiropractors on facebook and paying some ridiculous amount per click, I think around $40-50 bucks, so he only put his ad on the site for a couple days. He was able to see exactly how many clicks he got and how many resulted in a sale from that click. I think he got around 200 clicks (spend around $10,000!) but 1/4 of them resulted in a sale and he ended up being pretty satisfied with the result. It paid off for him as he was really able to zoom in on the market he was looking for.
I guess I'm in the unauthorized holz fan club too - and now that toaster has left the cumulative IQ level there has dropped tremendously. I'm ready to get out - email me the official link, too, holz?
I think I'm going to head out and go drinking and tell fish stories. It has been a long ashe week. Which someday I hope I can tell you about. It might be the best Fish Story ever told.
dub k, don't know if I'm already too late on this, but I made a couches/sofas thread awhile back looking for suggestions that had some great recommendations in it.
holz, the NTAB thread is struggling, I haven't been around these parts much lately. I need to be more participatory.
And everyone should bookmark holz's blog. great stuff, and incredibly informative. I guess that puts me in the fan club?
holz - love the hard line passiv design credo of your blog. congrats on the certification and new gig....
My only (uneducated) issue with the passivhouse certification criteria is how it seems to ignore the urban context. So a house in the middle of nowhere and a house in a walkable neighborhood seem to viewed as equals. But they are not - one has a much larger footprint based on transportation and infrastructure then the other. Now I need to add this to my list of stuff to learn more about.
i agree on those points barry. they are pretty obvious gaps in the approach, but then again it seems like it is only intended to address a few limited issues, like energy use and possibly materiality, rather than be a catch all, all-in-one solution for all places and all times. i like that myself. there are too many gestalt-y ideas out there that fail miserably already (ie, bedzed, though i still have hopes for the development).
even better it is actually scalable because it isn't exactly against anything but waste. unlike most green urbanism it just asks to raise the standards. which seems within the realm of the possible to me.
barry, thanks and not certified yet - test is later this year (oy)
regarding the over-emphasis on energy of passivhaus, i agree that PHIUS/PHI don't overtly emphasize issues of water usage or ecology. and the reasoning tends to be based around the fact that if the energy issues aren't solved (and in a major way) the rest is a little bit moot. this is an over-exaggeration on my part, but basically what it looks like from my perspective.
many certified passivhaus projects are relying on cellulose for wall/roof insulation, which has a really low embodied energy. in fact i'm pretty sure closed cell insulation would be rejected for certification, as you could never make up the ODP/GWP you just destroyed.
with an airtight house, there tends to be an emphasis on materials that don't offgas. daylight, IAQ issues are paramount. necessary (filtered) ventilation maintains a comfortable clean(er) interior. issues like radon are apparently lower in passivhaus projects as well.
passivhaus makes net zero more affordable. with a passivhaus, you can cut down the PV demand for net zero or CO2 neutral or even plus energy significantly, like half or more of a code-minimum house.
a lot of the people i've met stateside working on passivhaus projects were already doing LEED for homes, built green, etc. this has been the next progression in making their projects more effecient. there are a LOT of shortcomings with LEED, and while i'm not a big fan for a number of reasons, i think passivhaus (or living building challenge, for that matter) really pick up where LEED fails.
i guess that's a really bad way of saying i don't see the focus on energy as a shortcoming, because the other issues are inherent for most people working on passivhaus projects. when you are figuring ways to decrease your thermal breaks by counting the number of screw penetrations of your air barrier (never nails!) - it tends to affect the way you think.
and jump is right, one of the things w/ passivhaus i really like is that it is scalable, and larger only makes it more affordable - big condos/apartments/schools/offices can get by with significantly LESS insulation than a single family house would.
ah, I guess when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail. So for me, urban form, ecology and water use are all equal to energy use in significance.
The other thing that doesn't seem clear with passivhaus is that there is no penalty for being too big. A 1000sf house at 150w/sf is vastly different then a 10,000sf house at 150w/sf. My biggest beef with LEED-Home is that it encourages excessive size. passivhous seems to be heading down that same road without any limits to the american supersized mentality.
with larger houses, there is less of a penalty to meet passivhaus. however, PHIUS has been talking about setting a limit for certification or some kind of notation.
I'm curious about an airtight house in wet conditions - i.e. sustained wet weather or high humidity. this seems to me the biggest issue with a lot of systems like these... especially if the envelope isn't allowed to breathe.
my house, built in the late 1800s, actually performs pretty well... there's a wrap-around porch on the south side of the house that keeps the downstairs very cool during the day in the summers, but allows direct sunlight in the winters - there are doors connecting all the rooms upstairs to allow for decent cross-ventilation during the night. in the winters we can shut off most of the rooms up and down so that we're only heating small sections of the house at a time.
it's interesting to me that we've abandoned this way of heating and passively cooling houses by use of inter-connected small spaces in favor of a year-round open plan - which forces us to heat and cool a large space even though we're only occupying small sections of it during different times of the day.
toaster, in humid evironments, you can use an ERV in lieu of HRV which can dehumidify the air.
green building advisor had an article on what works where that's worth a quick read.
regarding heating and cooling large spaces - the way passivhaus works, the heating needs are extremely minimal. just because it is airtight doesn't mean the windows don't open. because the ambient temperature of all surfaces is about the same through a minimum of effort (via the super insulation and airtightness), significant quantities of energy are saved.
Thread Central
hi all. Rough day I feel like shit. Had to kick in the teeth of a student who left in tears. Who later found her spine and thought were unnecessarily rough, despite the fact she didn't have any of the required work. Left met with an old priest/family friend about the pending nuptials then to my non-teaching work in a little charette for a MP where we are trying to stick 5 modern though culturally and climatically buildings in a historic district. Then went walking around the big reservoir only to find out it's not 1600m like we've thought all along rather 2600m. Yeah thats' my day... I'm spent.
DJ the first one - but I don't like the final finish. Are there other upholstery options?
Cooper I'm not sure of your decision to not call the police but I'm sure it must of been a good one. You are braver than me, I would of spent the night at a motel. But I like snook's idea with Frito Lay running around.
Philip I'm envious of your studio. My interests are to do the research as well. I've been pushing the school to do more speciality based studios but it feels like I'm flogging a dead calf. We'll see what emerges from this summer studio that's a hand studio - hand drawing/physical models only.
congrats on pending nuptials, ATP.
copper, that's is royally scary. you should carry a bop gun.
not a useful answer but this is the sofa i would like to get next. i love this.
philip if its a lottery then i would do research led course. in my view of things, biased though i definitely be, teachers should be learning at the same time as students, and research driven studios are the only thing that makes any sense at all.
if its just a paint by numbers assignment kind of thing i don't see the point. i really hated the times in school when we had projects like that. it felt like make work... but then again a lot of people really prefer it that way, so what do i know...
spammers are getting a little more clever - next thing you know they'll be building up post counts and our trust and then start inserting non-related links into their comments.
ok - I thought my job couldn't get any weirder than last year's giant water spewing concrete parrot.
today I'm helping a client pick out taxidermy. ugh... I thought this trend was over. and how can interior designers get so orgasmic over this stuff? I am going to lose it the next time a furniture rep describes something to me as "contemporary rococo."
jump - love the furniture porn, though...
btw - there isn't enough design porn on this site lately - even though half of us are out of work and the industry is in the crapper, I still like me some sexy details from time to time. where's holz?
sexy construction details & fashion trends with a dollop of design for ecological and social justice.
toaster, was it YOUR clients who bought Trigger?!
Aaah, bourbon. Bourbon is good.
holy crap! - no... just a few severed deer heads.
you'd think there wasn't a recession going on considering all the "ironic" stuffed menagerie people seem to be buying.
they had f-ing squirrels at this place ... who the eff buys stuffed squirrels?
classy.
^^That has GOT to be one of the funnier things I've seen lately. A stuffed squirrel holding a machine gun. WTF?
I'm happy shit like that hasn't taken off here... I'm not sure how'd I react. We do have lots of stuffed fish... but best believe we ate those marlins first!!!
slightly disturbing and perhaps outdated but an interesting find nonetheless
toaster,
holz is busy trying to update his own blog, let alone keep the design lube rolling on the 'nect!
i think the 'name that arch & bldg' thread is like 5 pages back. what le eff...
I know of someone who bought the last supper recreated through the magical art of rat, mice and squirrel taxidermy.
holz - now I'm curious about your blog - what's the link?
archi - I think it's spreading like the plague by hipsters from Brooklyn... some people are even doing faux minimalist antlers... I thought it was going to go away a couple years ago, but it seems like it's back with a vengeance.
I'm not an interior designer, btw, but it seems like lately that's what I've been doing.
emailed it, toaster.
I'm officially now in the holz.box fan-club.
toaster,
yer saying you weren't before? that makes holz a sad panda.
hi, nam - trying to get back into the 'nect!
So seriously, can someone explain internet ad revenue to me? If I click on the stayhydrated ad at the top of this page, does Archinect get a penny? Or do I have to buy something from them for Archinect to get anything, or do they just pay Archinect for the eyeballs and there's no "commission" payment at all?
Unicorn, you would seem like someone who would be able to explain how this works. BTW, love the Last Supper taxidermy - I find taxidermy mostly very funny, like out of tune music.
hi all. Busy, busy, busy.
Donna, usually (a la Google ads on a blog) i think it is a combo of per click and eyeballs, on a site (page views). Not sure how archinect runs their ad sales though.
Donna, it's generally by the click. So for every click on the ad, archinect gets a certain amount of money. Whether or not that click results in a sale will be something that the person paying for the ad can track and then determine how succesful the placement is and whether to keep paying for banner space.
A site like Archinect, since it's a more targeted audience, will be able to generally command a higher price per click then google. Of course, your ad on a popular search query in google will generate more hits, but will be less targeted. Also, for more popular search queries, you will pay more per click.
I have a friend who was targeting chiropractors on facebook and paying some ridiculous amount per click, I think around $40-50 bucks, so he only put his ad on the site for a couple days. He was able to see exactly how many clicks he got and how many resulted in a sale from that click. I think he got around 200 clicks (spend around $10,000!) but 1/4 of them resulted in a sale and he ended up being pretty satisfied with the result. It paid off for him as he was really able to zoom in on the market he was looking for.
Donna - I share your same sentiments on the taxidermy thing. But then again, I'm typically easily amused.
holz - I was in the unofficial/unauthorized fan club. it was a little more seedy.
I guess I'm in the unauthorized holz fan club too - and now that toaster has left the cumulative IQ level there has dropped tremendously. I'm ready to get out - email me the official link, too, holz?
a whole 10 points?
hook me up with the link too holz
must be asleep at the wheel cause I never knew Holz had a fan club...send me the link and I will see if I can park there from time to time.
check yer emails
I thought I should post a picture of the only fish I have ever had mounted:
Love it, snook!
and if yous guys think it sucks, please let me know. i don't get enough constructive criticism on it.
snook - LOL.
I think I'm going to head out and go drinking and tell fish stories. It has been a long ashe week. Which someday I hope I can tell you about. It might be the best Fish Story ever told.
Snook, Abram loves Asleep at the Wheel.
Holz, gotta send it to me too. Please, I mean.
I'm going to another wedding this weekend. I'm excited, but I'm just not sure if it's because of the free booze and dancing, or the 2y.o. free night.
Sarah....I'm sure it is all of the above...Plus you Might Get LUCKY! YAHOO!
dub k, don't know if I'm already too late on this, but I made a couches/sofas thread awhile back looking for suggestions that had some great recommendations in it.
holz, the NTAB thread is struggling, I haven't been around these parts much lately. I need to be more participatory.
And everyone should bookmark holz's blog. great stuff, and incredibly informative. I guess that puts me in the fan club?
is there a test to get access to holz.blog? i hate tests.
if not i would also like to get link.
yeah, ditto on the absence.
and thanks, who knew i had a cult following?
jump/sarah: sent
[hipster]I was a fan of holz before it was cool.[/hipster]
[hipster]I was a fan of holz before it was cool.[/hipster]
holz - love the hard line passiv design credo of your blog. congrats on the certification and new gig....
My only (uneducated) issue with the passivhouse certification criteria is how it seems to ignore the urban context. So a house in the middle of nowhere and a house in a walkable neighborhood seem to viewed as equals. But they are not - one has a much larger footprint based on transportation and infrastructure then the other. Now I need to add this to my list of stuff to learn more about.
oh, I also have an issue with passivhous over-emphasis on energy. So what about water? what about ecology?
i agree on those points barry. they are pretty obvious gaps in the approach, but then again it seems like it is only intended to address a few limited issues, like energy use and possibly materiality, rather than be a catch all, all-in-one solution for all places and all times. i like that myself. there are too many gestalt-y ideas out there that fail miserably already (ie, bedzed, though i still have hopes for the development).
even better it is actually scalable because it isn't exactly against anything but waste. unlike most green urbanism it just asks to raise the standards. which seems within the realm of the possible to me.
barry, thanks and not certified yet - test is later this year (oy)
regarding the over-emphasis on energy of passivhaus, i agree that PHIUS/PHI don't overtly emphasize issues of water usage or ecology. and the reasoning tends to be based around the fact that if the energy issues aren't solved (and in a major way) the rest is a little bit moot. this is an over-exaggeration on my part, but basically what it looks like from my perspective.
many certified passivhaus projects are relying on cellulose for wall/roof insulation, which has a really low embodied energy. in fact i'm pretty sure closed cell insulation would be rejected for certification, as you could never make up the ODP/GWP you just destroyed.
with an airtight house, there tends to be an emphasis on materials that don't offgas. daylight, IAQ issues are paramount. necessary (filtered) ventilation maintains a comfortable clean(er) interior. issues like radon are apparently lower in passivhaus projects as well.
passivhaus makes net zero more affordable. with a passivhaus, you can cut down the PV demand for net zero or CO2 neutral or even plus energy significantly, like half or more of a code-minimum house.
a lot of the people i've met stateside working on passivhaus projects were already doing LEED for homes, built green, etc. this has been the next progression in making their projects more effecient. there are a LOT of shortcomings with LEED, and while i'm not a big fan for a number of reasons, i think passivhaus (or living building challenge, for that matter) really pick up where LEED fails.
i guess that's a really bad way of saying i don't see the focus on energy as a shortcoming, because the other issues are inherent for most people working on passivhaus projects. when you are figuring ways to decrease your thermal breaks by counting the number of screw penetrations of your air barrier (never nails!) - it tends to affect the way you think.
and jump is right, one of the things w/ passivhaus i really like is that it is scalable, and larger only makes it more affordable - big condos/apartments/schools/offices can get by with significantly LESS insulation than a single family house would.
thermal bridges, not thermal breaks.
ah, I guess when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail. So for me, urban form, ecology and water use are all equal to energy use in significance.
The other thing that doesn't seem clear with passivhaus is that there is no penalty for being too big. A 1000sf house at 150w/sf is vastly different then a 10,000sf house at 150w/sf. My biggest beef with LEED-Home is that it encourages excessive size. passivhous seems to be heading down that same road without any limits to the american supersized mentality.
how do i not know about this holz-fan thing?
barry,
with larger houses, there is less of a penalty to meet passivhaus. however, PHIUS has been talking about setting a limit for certification or some kind of notation.
I'm curious about an airtight house in wet conditions - i.e. sustained wet weather or high humidity. this seems to me the biggest issue with a lot of systems like these... especially if the envelope isn't allowed to breathe.
my house, built in the late 1800s, actually performs pretty well... there's a wrap-around porch on the south side of the house that keeps the downstairs very cool during the day in the summers, but allows direct sunlight in the winters - there are doors connecting all the rooms upstairs to allow for decent cross-ventilation during the night. in the winters we can shut off most of the rooms up and down so that we're only heating small sections of the house at a time.
it's interesting to me that we've abandoned this way of heating and passively cooling houses by use of inter-connected small spaces in favor of a year-round open plan - which forces us to heat and cool a large space even though we're only occupying small sections of it during different times of the day.
toaster, in humid evironments, you can use an ERV in lieu of HRV which can dehumidify the air.
green building advisor had an article on what works where that's worth a quick read.
regarding heating and cooling large spaces - the way passivhaus works, the heating needs are extremely minimal. just because it is airtight doesn't mean the windows don't open. because the ambient temperature of all surfaces is about the same through a minimum of effort (via the super insulation and airtightness), significant quantities of energy are saved.
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