Category: Hot Topic

    • Some US and German Green Building incentive considerations…

      Over the past 40 years, Germany has maintained a leading position in environmental incentives and benefit programs. The incentives have ranged from PV systems (photo-voltaic), to insulation and windows. What have they done? Is there anything the United States environmental policy makers could learn from Germany’s forward thinking? The policies encompass many different categories, but…

    • Quick Pros & Cons of LEED Certification and Green Building in South Florida

      Green Certification in Subtropical climates, such as South Florida, has many pros and cons and making the decision to go green can be a difficult but fruitful one. The heat in the summer and the pounding sun throughout the year make air conditioning here a basic necessity. Power bills are generally much higher than elsewhere…

    • Countertops and such…

      No kitchen is complete without the proper countertop. From the recent increase of kitchen renovations in my practice, I like to share some of my favorite counter tops and also shed some light on the most commonly used materials and their properties. A few years ago I came across this neat breakdown of the most…

    • New Florida Building Code in Effect March 15, 2012

      http://rscompanies.com/Check out the recording called “2010 Building Code Questions and Answer Webinar held March 13, 2012 at:http://www.floridabuilding.org/cm/cm_hottopics.aspxSlide the audio progress bar over to minute 33:47 to hear the answer on the retrofit provision that affects windows. Ann Stanton, the energy technical adviser at the Florida Building Commission, explains the 30% rule. She said “energy code…

    • House Made of Shipping Containers Makes Waves in Gainesville

      Stephen Bender, an architect and professor of architecture at the University of Florida recently built a house made of shipping containers in the Porters neighborhood of Gainesville for a man named Tom Fox. This sustainable, green house, which is powered by a solar array isn’t very popular in the Porters neighborhood, which is full of…

    • Architect = Value

      …so why hire an architect? What do they do anyway? I often get the comments that …”I can’t afford an architect. They are for people that have real money to spend…” In fact the opposite is generally applicable. True, there are the great public architects that charge a hefty fee and create amazingly spectacular architecture,…