It was 8:49 on Tuesday evening when an email notification came across my phone. I was watching a movie but decided I’d see what the email had to say. It was from a colleague regarding an article in the Architectural Record. The article by Cathleen McGuigan (editor-in-chief of Architectural Record) was about a preliminary draft of an executive order rewriting the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture (a document written by the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and issued in 1962 that mandates Federal architecture standards). According to Architectural Record, the new Guiding Principles will be rewritten and will be called “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again.”
The Cost of Change
As cities and countries continue to declare climate emergency, they are now faced with the economic burden that it takes to switch over to more energy efficient systems. However, in their article, Climate change: real estate worth billions could become obsolete – unless owners act now, Kevin Muldoon-Smith and Paul Michael Greenhalgh, professors at Northumbria …
Zoned Out
Last Sunday, the state of Oregon followed Minneapolis’ lead on zoning for single-family housing. Sioux Falls, and much of South Dakota, is facing serious housing challenges. This state-wide effort would allow duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and attached townhomes in any Oregon community above 25,000 people that is currently zoned as single-family (and to a lesser degree …
South Dakota’s first Passive House multi-family project
Earlier last month, tenants started moving into a first-of-its-kind apartment building in South Dakota. Located in eastern Sioux Falls, Copper Pass Apartments is a 30-unit apartment building design and constructed to achieve Passive House certification.
Are Passive Houses part of the conversation?
Last week the SDSU Department of Architecture (DoArch) hosted a ribbon cutting at PH01:BRK, the first custom designed single-family passive house in South Dakota. The event culminates almost three years of work, and has introduced passive house principles to students, initiated research and training, and most visibly, resulted in the construction of a certified, student …
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High-performance can “pay-off” in the long run
One of the challenges I often face as an architect is trying to help clients and building owners bridge the gap between what is best in the long run and what is the most cost-effective solution up front. I’d like to say I’ve been doing this long enough to see the effects of both approaches, …
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