AEC professionals have a new technology platform to support the old-fashioned notion of planning ahead. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is bringing a sea change to the industry's workflow by facilitating a previously impossible degree of planning, coordination, and communication.

Architect Sarah Nettleton’s keynote speech, presented at Inside Out: Transforming the Built Environment, posed the question, "How do you want to be in your building?" Answering this question can help us develop a more focused and deliberate approach to building. The process of considering how we experience our built environment not only informs us as to what to include in a design, but shows us how to eliminate the extraneous features which contemporary buildings -- especially houses -- have taken on. In 2007, Nettleton authored the book The Simple Home: The Luxury of Enough, published by The Taunton Press, which examines 21 different homes located throughout the country and explores the topic of building simply.

As promised in my In Studio blog, Building in the Midwest: Where Do We Go From Here?, the topics discussed at the Inside Out: Transforming the Built Environment symposium offered insights into small town economic and architectural development that can be put into practice throughout the Midwest. In fact, some of the revitalization efforts that have taken place in South Dakota have earned national attention.

The sun is shining, the grass is growing, and we're ready to go outside and invest a few weekend hours in making our lawns more beautiful. However, conventional wisdom about spring lawn care may not tell the whole story. In fact, the pervasive notion that spring is the ideal season to begin lawn maintenance may have more to do with our own mood than it does with the growing cycle. So, what practical steps can we take right now, while we’re feeling inspired, to improve our lawn’s appearance?

The lion’s share of green building advancements takes place along the West Coast, the nation’s economic centers pioneer the greatest number of new building techniques, and areas that are already economically thriving have the most funding to direct toward urban development. But what is going on in the vast stretch of America that lies between the coasts? The Midwest does its own planning and pioneering, and develops its own green strategies, but many of its rural communities are dealing with issues that are far different from those being profiled in more visible regions.

Tenants want to lease space in green buildings. Expand your design options by finding creative ways to partner with green tenants early on.In the current market, building green is a sound business practice, and it doesn’t have to require spending money on trendy green products. It is feasible to build to LEED certification standards by focusing on a few core building systems. Furthermore, cost and risks can be defrayed if everyone on the project – even the end user – is working toward the same goal, as is exemplified by the DiscoveryGreen building located in Vancouver, B.C., which achieved LEED Platinum certification.

What will happen to that water bottle you just tossed into your recycling bin? According to Mohawk Industries, manufacturer of EverStrand carpeting, “One in every four plastic bottles recycled in North America becomes EverStrand."

In 1978, municipal, provincial, and federal Canadian governments began working together to plan the development of a convention center – complete with cruise line and hotel amenities -- on a waterfront property in Vancouver that had been used earlier in the century as a railway pier.

There are two different ways to harness the power of solar energy: active solar systems and passive solar systems. Solar panels and other solar energy collectors are considered active systems. Generally, their purpose is to collect, store and distribute solar energy to heat water or air inside a building. The term ‘passive solar’ refers to the process of constructing and orienting a building to take advantage of sunlight as a source of light and heat without the use of solar equipment. The goal, aside from the healthy benefits of natural light, is to reduce overall dependence upon mechanical systems.

The best alternative to plain painted surfaces used to be wallpaper. But wallpaper is difficult to remove, and installing it requires a lot of prep work, not to mention the time spent on precision measuring, cutting, and hanging. Faux painting can have an effect that is just as dramatic, but it isn’t as much of a commitment. And painting is one of the least expensive ways to customize a space.