Archive for 'Discussions'

Designing For Solar: What Every Architect Should Know

Posted on 18. Jan, 2010 by Rebecca Firestone.

While researching solar technologies, we at Green Compliance Plus heard from solar installers  who all seem to think that architects are hard to work with. So, we spoke with Fernando Valenzuela of Alter Systems in Berkeley about how to design a solar-ready home. Note that only about 5-10% of Alter Systems’ customers are owner/architect teams. Usually it’s the homeowners approaching them directly because they want to “go solar”.

So… why are architects hard to work with? “They have a groupthink… they like design, the look, but they don’t understand systems. They ask questions like ‘why can’t we use this roof’ without realizing that you can’t split up an array. Their projects aren’t always quick, either, and rebates that were designed for may be gone by the time the project gets through approval.”

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Going Green Where It Counts: Your Wallet

Posted on 28. Dec, 2009 by Rebecca Firestone.

“Sustainable residential design is transforming from a market niche to a widespread set of consumer priorities… because consumers realize that going green is good for their wallets.” So sayeth the AIArchitect, official voice of the American Institute of Architects – and they’ve quoted us, along with a slew of other designers and builders.

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LED Lighting Design and Title 24 Compliance

Posted on 20. Nov, 2009 by Rebecca Firestone.

Many of our Title 24 clients have been asking us whether they can safely specify LED fixtures that would qualify as “high efficacy” lighting under Title 24. Could one conceivably create an entire lighting plan for a custom home using mainly LEDs, and if so, would it pass Title 24? Would it look any different to the untrained eye? Would it actually use less energy? Or, are LEDs better used as a supporting component in a diversified lighting plan rather than as the main workhorse? Are LEDs sustainable to manufacture? Do they use less power in a real-life installation, not just in the lab?

The answer to LEDs in California is a qualified but definite yes. There are definitely products out there that will comply with California’s energy codes, and we should see more coming to market this coming year. The issue is not the LED lamp itself, but the housing, because the fixture’s efficacy depends on the entire assembly.

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Passivhaus, Passive Houses, and Your Carbon Footprint

Posted on 27. Aug, 2009 by Alan Huguenot, CEPE.

The Passive House Institute in Germany  has improved upon American ideas from the 1970s and re-branded it as PASSIVHAUS. Superinsulated homes have been built in many locations in the U.S. over the last 30 years, as Dan Hagen P.E. describes in his letter on the ASHRAE web site.

Passive houses use significantly less energy than do existing or new conventional residences. In fact, they use so little heating energy that a conventional heating and cooling system is mostly unnecessary. The house stays warm by recycling heat that is already being generated by internal sources – lighting fixtures, stoves, toasters, dryers.

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Mark English in the San Francisco Chronicle

Posted on 20. Aug, 2009 by Rebecca Firestone.

There’s more than one way to be green, and the San Francisco Chronicle has featured Mark English touting old-fashioned thrift over more showy forms of environmental non-consumption – even the very same stuff we were talking about only last week.

So yes, reuse where you can, and make your home more efficient first, before you put in those solar arrays that will make your neighbors “green” with envy. Then when your neighbor is showing off his new solar roof tiles, you can counter by saying that your home uses so little energy already that you decided to put your money towards a “living carpet” instead.

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Mark English Architects and Green Compliance Plus featured in “AIArchitect This Week”

Posted on 14. Jul, 2009 by Mark English, AIA.

Does it pay to be nimble, light, and alone these days? As the reeling economy continues to wreak havoc on the design and construction industry (2,000 fewer people were working at architecture firms in the month of April alone) architects are being bounced from their jobs at traditional design firms and wondering where their skills fit into the economy’s seemingly willful refusal to build buildings. Experience from other sole practitioners and small firms that offer services to architects and architectural clients suggests that the best business model today allows architects to use their diverse skills wherever they see fit—plugging their expertise into hyper-specific micro markets that are too small for a large firm to work in, yet large enough to keep paying the bills. Four Bay Area architects have been doing just that, often after long and familiar experiences with large, traditional design firms. Though their practices are vastly different, they’ve all found that the freedom and flexibility of their consulting practices have allowed them to bob, duck, weave, and advance in a worsening design market.

AIArchitect This Week | Consulting Practice Niches Create Shelter for Architects in a Thorny Economy

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Non-Residential Title 24 Now Offered

Posted on 20. Jun, 2009 by Alan Huguenot, CEPE.

Here at Green Compliance Plus (GCP) we also offer NON-RESIDENTIAL TITLE 24 Compliance Services, as well as Residential and Non-Residential Building Systems Commissioning Services for new construction, and re-commissioning for existing buildings. [...]

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Alan Hugenot Re-Certifes as 2008 Title 24 HERS Rater

Posted on 15. Jun, 2009 by Rebecca Firestone.

After a challenging 5-day training class, Alan passed the exam for Title 24 HERS raters on June 4, 2009 – this time for 2008 Title 24 HERS Rater Update.

“What I enjoyed most about the CalCERTS HERS-Rater classes was working with CalCERTS great instructor, Russ King, PE. He really knows California Energy Compliance and keeps the classes interesting by inviting class participation in the discussion both during the lectures as well as the laboratory work. So, consequently with my coming to class with my background as a CEPE and CABEC Certified Energy Analyst, and with the classes occurring during the height of change over from the 2005 to 2008 in Title 24, he and I kept up a stimulating and challenging discussion for the five full days of classes.”
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Mark English Architects Featured in Eco-Friendly Metropolitan Home Showcase

Posted on 09. Jun, 2009 by Rebecca Firestone.

Modern by Design, a project sponsored by Metropolitan Home, is offering public tours of 2201 Baker Street from June 20-July 12, in San Francisco. This spectacular renovation project of an historic 7,000 square foot home showcases modern living and design aesthetics with the latest technologies.

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