The old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” couldn’t be truer when it comes to your furnace. Whether you have an oil, gas, or electric furnace, it’s important for your health, safety, and even your home budget, to perform regular checks and maintenance. Join our host, Jeff Wilson, for a review of some simple tips and tricks to keep your furnace operating safely at its highest efficiency.
Our trip to Vancouver was intensely successful. However, as I subtly suspected, the content we ended up with was not exactly the type of content we had initially intended to gather.
The Solar Decathlon competition requires teams to meet pages of rules, so not much time remains for considering what will become of the houses following their debut on the National Mall. However, the students of Parsons The New School for Design, Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy, and Stevens Institute of Technology have a definite post-competition plan in mind: to provide housing for two families in the Deanwood neighborhood of Ward 7 in Washington, DC. The team has partnered with Habitat for Humanity and DC's Department of Housing and Community Development to build Empowerhouse, an affordable model for living that uses passive design strategies.
Try these easy and inexpensive projects to make your backyard more appealing, and spend your time enjoying your yard instead of working on it.
Located in Freeport, Pennsylvania, about a 30 minute drive north of Pittsburgh, Buffalo Township’s water treatment plant produces over 700,000 gallons of fresh water daily. The plant provides drinking water to over 5,000 residents in Buffalo Township and Freeport Borough. It is also the fresh water supplier for the Municipal Authority of South Buffalo Township. Join Buildipedia for a photo tour of Buffalo Township’s water treatment plant, as we trace the flow of water from the Allegheny River to its distribution throughout the utility.
Waste heat recovery is a possible way to achieve net zero at home. Jeff Wilson investigates a holistic approach to residential waste heat recovery.
Construction is underway on the campus of Bowling Green State University (BGSU). If all goes according to plan, the Wolfe Center for the Collaborative Arts will be finished in 2011. The timing seems perfect, given that the university recently dubbed the arts its first “Center of Excellence.” This gorgeous building by up-and-coming Norwegian-based architectural firm Snohetta will most certainly bring attention to and validate the importance of the arts programs.
David M. Schwarz Architects (DMSAS)'s Sundance Square project is a masterplan to revitalize 35 blocks of downtown Fort Worth, Texas.
Our guide to patio heaters can help you take the chill out of the air. Find the right outdoor heater for your needs and budget and enjoy your patio this winter.
It's a competition of Olympic proportions, but can an event dedicated to piquing public interest in alternative energy technologies draw crowds like a sporting event? The Solar Decathlon is a biennial competition established in 2002 and supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Twenty teams from colleges and universities around the world are selected to design and build solar-powered homes over the course of the two-year period. This fall, the 2011 teams will showcase their homes in Washington, D.C., for 10 days with free admission to the public. Visitors will learn about sustainable design and hopefully find inspiration to incorporate some strategies into their own homes. Following the competition, the houses will be sold to families or developers, used for research, or displayed at their respective universities.
A new facility for Unilever combines a contemporary, connected office environment with award-winning green building features.
When Unilever, a health and wellness company in Hamburg, Germany, determined that it needed a new headquarters, it wanted a structure that would provide adequate work space while fostering communication, socialization, and a sense of unity among its employees. Creating a juxtaposition of work and social space, Behnisch Architekten was able to bring the vision of unity to fruition while honoring Unilever’s commitment to sustainability and creating a better future.
We tend to spend quite a bit of time in our bathrooms, although generally they are the smallest spaces in our homes. The bathroom is one of the most personal and private places that we have in our everyday life, and the way in which we design the space will have an incredible effect on how we perceive and use it. Some may think a bathroom makeover has to be an expensive endeavor riddled with plumbing issues or pricey designer tubs, but that is absolutely not so. Reimagining your bathroom doesn’t require loads of cash or a decade of experience in remodeling work. You just need the right inspiration. Here are a few tips for designing your bathroom on a budget.
