Join the AIA San Joaquin for a lecture by Ed Dean regarding zero net energy design. A highlight of the lecture will be the case study of the new West Berkeley Library, including an analysis of how the design would change for the Fresno climate. This is a must see lecture for those interested in sustainable design and energy conservation.
-

-

2010 AIASJ Lecture Series: Ed Dean AIA
October 10th, 2011 door at 5:30 lecture 6:00pm to 7:00pm
Fulton55
$5 admission

-
Ed Dean AIA is a practicing architect in the Bay Area and has been a champion of low energy aspects of green building design for the past 35 years. After teaching design studio at UC Berkeley for 10 years, he turned to full time architectural practice working for Joseph Esherick in San Francisco as lead designer in the 1980’s/90’s on a number of projects noted for their innovative aspects in “green design”, including a project at Berkeley with an early example of a “living roof” but primarily focusing on good daylighting design practice.

Currently, Ed has become one of the leaders of the profession in the design of Zero Net Energy buildings. He has designed a ZNE library for the City of Berkeley that will soon start construction. This building embodies almost every passive design principle for this locale—daylighting, natural ventilation, and other appropriate strategies for this microclimate—as well as the latest low energy technologies. It is innovative and at the edge of practice today, but it also points the way for mainstream practitioners who are committed to meet the AIA 2030 Challenge.
-

Recently, Enoch Sears, attended the Pacific Coast Builder’s Conference (PCBC) in San Francisco, CA, touted to be the largest building products tradeshow on the west coast. Below is his review.

Pacific Coast Builder's Conference 2011

The show was half the size it has been in previous years, but still big enough to take up half of the Moscone Center. Many products were on display; I have selected three of the most intriguing to share with you.

Cool air in, hot air out

The first remarkable product, especially for home owners here in the valley, is a very ‘cool’ whole house fan. A whole house fan works by quickly exhausting the hot air that builds up in the attic during the day and drawing in cooler air through the windows of the house in the evening and morning. This principle is especially well suited to our hot, arid climate but does not work so well in areas with higher humidity. A psychrometric chart helps architects determine when this kind of cooling is appropriate.

A whole house fan is a huge energy saver as the air conditioner doesn’t have to fight against the built-up heat in the attic. The fan I saw is manufactured by Quiet Cool, a company based here in California. Two things are exceptional about this product: 1. The fan is extremely quiet to the point of being imperceptible when running. 2.The fan uses a brushless motor which is extremely energy efficient, using the electricity of an 80 watt incandescent light bulb, 1/3 the power of the fans that are sold at big box stores.

Quiet Cool whole house fan display

If you want to stay cool and save money at the same time here in the valley, a whole house fan is the way to go.

The second product that caught my eye was an in-home monitoring system by GrandCare Systems. What initially drew me in was the Skype webcam integration. I love talking to my grandparents over Skype, but more than half the time they have technical difficulties which make it impossible. The GrandCare system consists of a touch screen panel that sits on the kitchen countertop of the user (my grandparents in this example). The system makes it a simple matter of 2 clicks on a touch screen display to connect via Skype.

I spoke with the founder and inventor, Charlie Hillman. I’ve posted a video to YouTube of this exchange (opens in new window):

Video of Computer/Home Integration

Other features include motion sensing (to see if your loved one got up that day), integration with blood pressure monitoring and the bathroom scale (to catch warning signs of things such as congestive heart failure before they happen), medication reminders, email, caller-id, and more. As technology advances, computers are being integrated into homes. This will change the way we occupy our spaces. I look forward to more exciting developments in this area.

And last, but definitely not least, was a working model of a pre-manufactured backyard bungalow built from a recycled shipping container (ISO container for those in the know), built by designers Robert Humble and Joel Egan of HyBridarc. I spoke to Joel at the PCBC.

Shipping Container Bungalow at PCBC

The bungalow is ‘plug and play’ with the only requirement being the site preparation, foundation and utilities.

Sleeping - Futon below with drop down bunk above (folded up)

Self-Contained Bathing area with dual flush toilet

Looking Toward the Kitchenette and Bath

And a video tour (opens in new window):

192 Square Foot Shipping Container Bungalow

This particular bungalow has a base price of $60k not including permit and utilities. And you get what you pay for: a highly efficient, eco-sensitive living space with a coolness factor out of this world. See Cargotecture.com for additional information. Anyone know of one of these in Fresno?

In summary, a majority of vendors were touting sustainable, energy efficient, or other ‘green’ features. This is a sign that consumer demand is increasing for these types of products as people become more aware of the options on the market. And that is what the PCBC is all about, bringing us the latest and the greatest from the building industry.

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation or interest in the products mentioned in this article.

-
This peaceful canal flowing in the Tower District of Fresno, CA. Conserve water.
Don’t water your grass. Our farmers need it to grow our food.

There is much anticipation for the California High-Speed Rail and the transformative properties it may have on Fresno. With state and federal money now allotted to the project, it is hard to curb my enthusiasm about the idea. After all we must be realistic that it will be several years if not a decade or more before it is fully operational.

So why am I posting about it now? Recently there was a public meeting with the CHSRA at the Tower Theater. The most current iteration shows the new track to the West of the Union Pacific right-of-way. And the track is planned to be elevated. The tracks would be 60 feet above the ground for roughly 12 miles. It maybe hard to visualize, but it is an interesting exercise in imagination.

Below is a twitter conversation that I had with the individual who manages that outreach aspect of the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

You have to read it from the bottom up to go in order.

-
If these are the types of conversations you’d like to be part of, then follow the California High-Speed Rail Authority on twitter @cahsra and of course, continue reading.

So the implications of the statements above are very interesting. So locals, what do you want our station to looks like? Kinda hard to start from nowhere. So here is some context
-

-
I have discussed the station with Craig Scharton, director of the City of Fresno Downtown & Neighborhood Revitalization Department. Their vission for the station includes the Southern Pacific Depot. The building is a Queen Anne style and on the Local Register of Historic Resources.
-

-
Here is the Google aerial photo of the station
-

View Larger Map
-
The struggle then becomes how does this single story building get you to a station platform that is 60 feet above? Do we add on the the building with a similar style? What does a Queen Anne style high-speed rail station look like? I don’t think one exists yet.

Do we add on the the Station with a more contemporary look? These are all question I hope you can help answer below.

While the CHSRA said that they wish the locals to decide on the station aesthetic, there are renderings on their website which do define a look. These may have just been place holders. What do you think?
-


-
The above design also seems to be an earlier iteration when the tracks were on grade. So how does the 60 foot height change that. What does 60 high look like anyway? Here is a SketchUp model I threw together to give you a feeling for the scale.
-

-
Wow that’s tall. But kinda interesting right? Yes that is a 6 foot tall person standing next to the left column. I don’t know how this will actually be engineered, but I heard the concrete columns or piers would be 14 feet in diameter spaced at 120 feet. Of course this will have a strong visual impact and will be seen for miles.

I had a conversation with Fresno City Council Member Blong Xiong recently. We discussed how this would effect the neighborhoods. While one huge concern would be noise. We discussed how this may not further cut off the West side like a ground level or trenched track would. Those other two would require bridges or underpasses. All you have to do is look at how 41 or 99 divide and weaken connections of neighborhoods.

What if the right-of-way under the could be used as park and trails. We need to be sure to advocate for those uses rather than the no mans land that exists along the Union Pacific right-of-way. This is especially pertinent seeing that the course of the high speed rail laps into the East end of Roeding Park.
-

-
So? What do you think? What should the station look like? What kind of materials? What are sustainable/green building strategies that could be used? What about the height? What are uses for underneath the tracks? How could the sound be mitigated? Everything is fair game, let’s just try to keep it constructive.

We got our first donation for archop park!

.
It is very exciting that the endeavor to revitalize a Central Fresno park that began in March is becoming real. The story of how we got to the first donation is as interesting as the donation itself.

I had made the decision to propose building the park incrementally rather than all at once like Extreme Makeover: Park Edition as originally planned. While this does draw out the process, it also makes it more attainable.

James Collier approached archop about HandsOn Central California doing a Make a Difference Day at the park on October 24th. Now we had man power. So the challenge became, where do we start and what materials will we need?

Trees are a good start. We had developed concepts for plantings at the park with landscape architect Design Lab 252.

Those concepts are to make sustainable plant choices i.e. low maintenance and drought tolerant. We also wanted to change the atmosphere of the park. Currently, all the plant life is at the perimeter. Sounds of the road and freeway inundate the park. We want plant life within the park and to introduce nature sounds.

We propose placing a strip of trees in the break between the freeway ramps. This is one of the few locations that gets full sun. We also consulted with Fresno State professor of Biology and bird specialist Madhusudan Katti for trees that fit our parameters (low water, attractive to birds and wildlife).

We took Madhu’s recommendations to Intermountain Nursery in Prather. They specialize in drought tolerant native plants. After making our pitch to the nursery, we got our first park donation.

Owner, Ray Laclergue, gladly offered us five Desert Willow trees. Which are small with a beautiful flower. And 3 Valley Oak trees. They grow very large and can survive our intense summers.

With flowers and acorns from the trees, the park will be enlivened with bugs, birds and squirrels evoking a park feeling in this urban triangle.

Below is a view of the proposed changes to the park. A basketball court is in the foreground the trees are in the background. Thee trees we will be planting now are small (3-5 feet) but will grow over the years to fill the space nicely.

And a reminder, fall is the season to plant trees. If there is a hole in your landscaping, consider filling it with a native tree. Take a visit to Intermountain Nursery. Support this archop sponsor helping us improve the built environment in the San Joaquin Valley.

5:30pm
Wednesday October 7th
Visalia Downtown Marriott

The USGBC (United States Green Building Council) Central California Chapter and Tulare/Kings Branch will be hosting the Visalia City Council candidates green forum. Candidates will respond to critical questions on Visalia’s sustainability practices.

names of candidates:
Greg Collins
Paul Fry
Jesus Gamboa
Warren Gubler
Mike Lane
Dominic Prado
Mary Wheeler

for additional information contact:
Robert Mihares, T/K USGBC Chair
Robert Mijares, LEED AP, CGBP, PE
Environmental Compliance Specialist
QUAD KNOPF
5110 W. Cypress Ave.
Visalia, CA 93277
Tel: (559) 733-0440 ext 3015
Fax: (559) 733-7821
www.quadknopf.com

-

SEATTLE MAYOR GREG NICKELS TO ANNOUNCE THE 1,000th SIGNATORY TO THE MAYORS’ CLIMATE PROTECTION AGREEMENT AT MAYOR’S MEETING

60+ Will Gather in Seattle October 1-3 For Discussions With White House and Cabinet Officials On Recession and Green Economic Recovery

Seattle, WA. – U.S. Conference of Mayors President Seattle (WA) Mayor Greg Nickels will announce that by Friday, 1,000 mayors, representing 85 million Americans, will have signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement — a pledge to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in U.S. cities in line with Kyoto Protocol standards.

The announcement of the 1000th mayoral signatory and his/her city will take place during the Conference’s Leadership Meeting, from October 1st to October 3rd at the Westin Seattle Hotel, where 60+ U.S. mayors will discuss the continuing recession and “green” economic recovery with White House and Obama Cabinet Officials.

Mayors will hear from U.S. Energy Steven Secretary Chu, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims, National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske, U.S. Census Bureau Director Dr. Robert Groves, Deputy Secretary of Education Tony Miller, White House Urban Affairs Office Director Aldofo Carrion, White House Chair on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley and others on stimulus implementation, climate protection, green jobs, and other federal policies that impact urban and metropolitan areas – many of which have unemployment rates above 10 percent.

The Conference will also release a Climate Protection City Profile report that outlines specific actions mayors are taking to make their cities more energy efficient and meet the goals of the Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement (CPA). Mayor Nickels, who will lead a delegation of mayors supporting Secretary of State Clinton and President Obama at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, initially introduced the Mayors’ CPA in February of 2005 in response to federal inaction on the Kyoto Protocol, and has since led mayors in the “green” movement in this country with summits on alternative vehicles (2006), green buildings (2006) and climate change (2007).

SEATTLE LEADERSHIP MEETING – ATTENDING MAYORS

Mayor Greg Nickels, Seattle, WA
Mayor Elizabeth Kautz, Burnsville, MN
Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Los Angeles, CA
Mayor Patrick Hays, North Little Rock, AR
Mayor Scott Smith, Mesa, AZ
Mayor Robert E. Walkup, Tucson, AZ
Mayor Bruce Barrows, Cerritos, CA
Mayor Ashley Swearengin, Fresno, CA
Mayor Bob Foster, Long Beach, CA
Mayor Jennifer Hosterman, Pleasanton, CA
Mayor Dan Skoglund, Rancho Cordova, CA
Mayor Michael Gin, Redondo Beach, CA
Mayor Kevin Johnson Sacramento, CA
Mayor Miguel A. Pulido, Santa Ana, CA
Mayor Marty Blum, Santa Barbara, CA
Mayor Anthony Santos, San Leandro, CA
Mayor Christopher Cabaldon, West Sacramento, CA
Mayor John Hickenlooper, Denver, CO
Mayor Bill Finch, Bridgeport, CT
Mayor Juan Carlos Bermudez, Doral, FL
Mayor Joy Cooper, Hallandale Beach, FL
Mayor Lori C. Moseley, Miramar, FL
Mayor Frank C. Ortis, Pembroke Pines, FL
Mayor John Marks, Tallahassee, FL
Mayor Lois Frankel, West Palm Beach, FL
Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Honolulu, HI
Mayor Charmaine Tavares, Maui, HI
Mayor T.M. Franklin Cownie, Des Moines, IA
Mayor David Pope, Oak Park, IL
Mayor Jim Brainard, Carmel, IN
Mayor Elaine Walker, Bowling Green, KY
Mayor Jerry Abramson, Louisville, KY
Mayor Melvin “Kip” Holden, Baton Rouge, LA
Mayor C. Ray Nagin, New Orleans, LA
Mayor Cedric Glover, Shreveport, LA
Mayor Joseph Curtatone, Somerville, MA
Mayor Brenda L. Lawrence, Southfield, MI
Mayor William Wild, Westland, MI
Mayor Ardell Brede, Rochester, MN
Mayor Darwin Hindman, Columbia, MO
Mayor Francis G. Slay, St. Louis, MO
Mayor William Bell, Durham, NC
Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, Elizabeth, NJ
Mayor Brian Wahler, Piscataway, NJ
Mayor Douglas H. Palmer, Trenton, NJ
Mayor Robert Duffy, Rochester, NY
Mayor Brian Stratton, Schenectady, NY
Mayor Mark Mallory, Cincinnati, OH
Mayor Michael B. Coleman, Columbus, OH
Mayor Mick Cornett, Oklahoma City, OK
Mayor Michael A. Nutter, Philadelphia, PA
Mayor David N. Cicilline, Providence, RI
Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr., Charleston, SC
Mayor Joseph T. Mcelveen, Sumter, SC
Mayor Robert Cluck, Arlington, TX
Mayor Thomas Leppert, Dallas, TX
Mayor Ralph Becker, Salt Lake City, UT
Mayor Grant Degginger, Bellevue, WA
Mayor Mary Verner, Spokane, WA
Mayor Bill Baarsma, Tacoma, WA
Mayor John Dickert, Racine, WI

source: United States Conference of Mayors press release

The Business Journal has been contacting me allot lately for information about architecture in the San Joaquin Valley. Most of this interaction has happened because of Twitter. I think this is fantastic. One of archop’s goals has been to get architecture more regularly and accurately feature in local media. The Business Journal is setting the bar.

Most recently, Gabriel Dillard contacted me to request my employer’s participation on an Executive Roundtable focused on architecture. I diligently passed on the questionnaire to Russ Taylor AIA, partner and architect at the Taylor Teter Partnership. I also passed the questionnaire off to the board members of AIA San Joaquin.

After transcribing Russ’s responses, I put my fingers to the keys to put down some of my thoughts on the questions from an archop perspective. While I’m not a licensed architect or an executive, I fired it off to Gabriel. Below are my responses to his questions.

1. Please tell us a little about your firm.

archop is a project of the American Institute of Architects: San Joaquin Chapter. It was launched in October of 2007 as a response to the need for an improved built environment in Fresno and the greater San Joaquin Valley. The program emphasizes the importance of quality architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning by: showcasing gallery exhibitions; designing and building full scale installations; holding panel discussions on relevant architectural topics; and organizing public workshops for outreach, educational and research purposes.

2. How has the economic downturn affected business?

As a not for profit effort aimed at improving our built environment we find ourselves surrounded problems that need solutions, public art, homelessness, inner city park space. We have been able to tackle these problems with a budget under $5,000 per year. Financial donations have become increasingly rare. Our response to that is to identify scrap or surplus building materials and utilize those in our installations. Substantial contributors include: Western Building Materials, Patton Air Conditioning, Better Flooring, CBC Lighting, Shipman Fabrication, Trinity Construction, and White Pine Lumber. Economic issues have also increased our volunteer base.

3. What advice would you give business owners trying to find the right architect for their project?

While experience, referrals, and past performance should remain architect selection tools, I’d add web content is an interesting litmus test. Our world is increasingly digital and that will not change. An architecture firm with well designed web site (functionally and aesthetically) and developed web communication tools, understands the ways this technology has changed today’s economy.

4. What are the current trends in architectural design in this area, and what can we expect in the future?

I see two current trends in the region. The first is rampant in our city. That is what I call artificially flavored architecture. It is the use of branded styles that are only skin deep. Examples are Tuscan and Italianate which hardly resemble their European counterparts and achieve their look with veneers and foam details. They are popular simply because of marketing and pop culture.

A trend that gives me hope is the acceptance of sustainable design strategies into the mainstream market place. I want this to develop further and a new local vernacular will emerge that embraces our climate and locally available materials.

5. What kinds of clients are you serving these days?

We do not serve clients in the traditional fashion. In this sense my inspiration comes from my former employer Public Architecture. We treat the entire public as our clients. It is our responsibility to engage and educate the public so that they can recognize good and bad design in their daily lives and call upon political leaders, developers, and architects to provide a quality and healthy built environment for our city and region.

We are also pursuing design workshop projects with the Institute of Public Anthropology (1, 2) and research grant partnerships.

6. What kinds of projects are you designing these days?

To date archop has held 7 exhibits, 5 panel discussions, 4 public workshops, and built 2 installations. The current installation is the redevelopment on an underused park in central Fresno underneath a freeway overpass. The park will demonstrate successful planning strategies to invigorate the park and low water low maintenance landscape to ensure long term sustainability.

If you are involved in architecture feel free to answer any of the above questions in the comments. All others comment on what you’ve read here if so inspired.

I’ve been hearing/reading alot about BLDGBLOG lately. So today I poked my head in the check out their site. Today’s post is titled “London Yields, Harvested” It was in reference to an event called “London Yields: Getting Urban Agriculture off the Ground” a kind of workshop covering how to get urban agriculture in London.

So here I am in Fresno, California. Above the soil capable of growing a great diversity of plants. In a climate with one of the longest growing seasons outside the tropics. About the harvest the corn growing in my front yard. And I think if London can get moving on urban agriculture, then Fresno can.

So where do we start?

The first thing BLDGBLOG mentioned was “become public policy”. This is a big one for Fresno because every one of our community gardens seems to be met with resistance from police or code enforcement in the City of Fresno.

There also needs to be the organization and popular support. Fresno Metro Ministries has some recomendations.

What do you think? Could be an urban farmer? Do you have a sunny spot and a few hours a week to tend?

And an important question would yo take a hands on class that I’m going to teach next spring about urban agriculture?

place: future location of archop park

time: april 17th 4:30pm – 6:30pm

who: community members

reason: redesign of existing park

At the corner of San Pablo & Belmont is a clean but stark triangle of concrete and gravel quietly winding under the rush of the 180.

This is a park. However, it’s not a park in the sense of the feelings that word can evoke. There are not children playing, no one socializing, no one getting some sun or sleeping under a tree. There is no one engaged in a playful sport. There is no where to sit but the ground.

This is a left over space. It is the remainder of the 180 slicing through neighborhoods, the Fulton Lowell to the South and Tower District o the North. At the junction of these neighborhoods and amount of traffic, this site has great potential.

Working in partnership with the Hank Delcore PhD and the Institute of Public Anthropology of CSUF we seek to gather community input. Nothing has been designed yet, so this is an opportunity for you to help craft this park to suit your needs.

So come down to the park, do some drawing, talk about the landscape of your dreams and have fun. We will provide refreshments and plenty of paper and markers.

This is also National Architecture Week. Today topic being inclusiveness, it is no accident in the scheduling of this date for the design workshop. We would like to get the community included in the designing of Fresno revitalized. Join us in reinventing and activating this urban park.

A special thanks to the City of Fresno PARCS Department and City Manager’s Office.

two homeless individuals walk Belmont

2 people sit in the sun

Park & Belmont

neighborhood view of park

This week I received my copy of dwell magazine in the mail. The cover reads “BEYOND GREEN From Niche to Normal” The issue acknowledges what we’ve all witnessed in this last decade; green has gone from extreme to mainstream. And yet there a a few paradoxes I observe.

Most architects have always believed in sustainable design. It has been part of our education for at least the last two generations. Yet many had to shrug off the green horns, so to speak, as they integrated into the practice. They assimilated into the mainstream perception of green as some hippy pseudo science and threw up their hands to market forces.

Today, thanks to predictable and repeatable science, global calamities and the hard work of the few that never gave up on building a better future, green is center stage. And yet many of my friends and associates accept that many products are now being marketed at us with a green label without any real commitment to solving local and global environmental issues. It’s a marketing hook, the green wash. But this is nothing new consumer trends are always being capitalized. The issue that I take with it is that the mainstream architecture industry is tending to jump on this band wagon with out leading the sustainability effort forward. And today we still deal with the same economic issues as before.

The last paradox I’ll bring up is one that Editor-in-Chief of Dwell Sam Grawe writes “In all honesty, I’m pretty sure I’m not sustainable.” We can see very little changes in the fundamentally unsustainable lives that we live day in and out. Thousands of people have become LEED accredited professionals but have yet to work on a LEED building or turn a critical eye on themselves and make the necessary individual sacrifices to insure that Earth can live on as a healthy system.

Looking at myself. I’ve made a commitment to clean transportation by biking and riding the bus. However, many of the buses in the FAX fleet still choke the air with diesel exhaust; I go through roles upon role of paper at my workplace producing construction documents, I specify products I know to be bad for the environment and that the heat and air conditioning can come on in the same day while it is 65-70 degrees outside. At home I use too much water while the canals are dry for many local farmers, and my 1940 home is extremely inefficient with energy. Many of these thing I feel either powerless or too lazy to change.

A frustrating part about this post is that I know much of this has been said before. I don’t have original content to share about this issue, or any light to shine with an insightful question. So I will end with some local project which have caught my eye for their sustainable strategies and design. Most of these projects are LEED certified or greater.

Fresno Cohousing by McCamant & Durrett Architects

Unitarian Universalist Church by McCamant & Durrett Architects

Kern Schools Federal Credit Union by the Taylor Teter Partnership

Art Ecology Architecture office by The Vernal Group

Santa Fe Depot by Johnson Architecture

“The greenest building is the one that already exists”

Tell me if I missed any well designed local projects that demonstrate sustainability. I’d be happy to post an image and link. And here is a shout out to the Central California Chapter of USGBC They’re fighting the good fight.