Green Building United’s 13th annual Sustainability Symposium is just around the corner! This will be an all day event of 20+ educational sessions, expo hall, tours, and networking opportunities, showcasing the region’s most innovative green building, sustainability, and industry best practices. Join our partner Green Building United on May 24th, at Drexel University for this truly informative event! #GreenBuild23https://lnkd.in/gyNqM7U4
I’m excited and proud to be speaking about the environmental impacts of different HVAC and hot water system choices with Staengl Engineering and Passive to Positive
Have you ever wondered how different conditioning, ventilation, dehumidification and domestic hot water systems stack up to each other in energy usage and carbon impacts? I hosted a webinar on Passive House Accelerator analyzing just those questions for a real passive house apartment building in Pittsburgh. Check it out if you want to expand and refine your HVAC mental models! In total, 14 different HVAC/hot water system types are discussed; they were all modelled and analyzed for their embodied carbon, operational carbon, and refrigerant leak impacts.
I’m thrilled to be presenting about Radical Decarbonization with Michael Hindle from Passive to Positive at PhiusCon 2022 in Chicago! Pre-Conference starts Oct. 25, so secure your ticket now.
Join me on Oct. 14 at PhiusCon 2021 (Passive House) in Tarrytown, New York, where Staengl Engineering and I will be presenting clever solutions to non-standard situations that arise in passive house commercial buildings like animal hospitals, cideries and kitchens. I am thrilled to be part of an esteemed group of speakers scheduled to present Oct. 12-15 at the conference.
The Mcallister Village concept is to create a neighborhood of small starter homes a short walk from coffee shops, restaurants and the future downtown Crozet. The site is designed to push the parking to the outside, create courtyard entries to all the houses, open up a shared central green with a shared pavilion, and be enhanced with perimeter walking trails. This idea was inspired by The Boiceville Cottages in Brooktondale, NY not far from Ithaca, NY
The houses will be compact one bedrooms with lofts attached to compact lofted two bedroom or three bedroom houses. The one bedroom houses fit somewhere in-between apartments and single family detached houses in the market; a segment largely ignored for decades due to outdated zoning codes. The houses utilize a versatile lofted design to provide more storage and living area for singles, couples and young families. The construction details are simple and elegant; reducing cost, increasing thermal efficiency and maximizing space.
The proposal asks to either fix the blatant mathematical errors in the R-2 zoning code or rezone the property to PRD (Planned Residential Development) from R-2 to allow for our creative redesign. The total amount of families would be the same as by-right, but the by-right attached accessory units (adus) would be expressed as more desirable attached one bedroom cottages that can be bought or rented separately:
This project is currently shelved unless a forward thinking developer wants to take on securing the property and going through the county rezoning process. Contact us for more information
This interesting little mixed use project is located on a busy arterial road on one edge and a much quieter neighborhood street on another. The plan is to build a small office building along the arterial road with a residential pocket neighborhood along the neighborhood street. More information on the project can be found here.
Shimp Engineering came up with the site design for the developer, Gallifrey Enterprises. We were tapped to help the surrounding neighbors and local leaders get a better understanding of how the project would feel on the corner. We built a really quick set of renderings, designed an inexpensive but attractive office building, and were able to provide design feedback from the visualization. With the renderings in hand, the project received approval from the County in 2020.
The parking requirements for the site are quite large, causing it to take up a lot of the site. The affects of this amount of parking were toned down by tucking the parking behind the buildings and providing as many trees on the site as possible
The pocket neighborhood features a dozen houses around a shared greenspace which is hoping to attract life with its shared pavilion for outdoor gatherings and kids playground. The parking is in the remote parking areas so that the greenspace stays free of automobiles.
Bamboo grove was approved last week by the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, which means that the project is moving forward. We get to build a little pocket neighborhood in walking distance to downtown Crozet!
Thank you so much to Nicole and Justin from Gallifrey who filled in the gaps of my development knowledge to make the rezoning process as smooth as it can be. County staff and officials have all been great to work with; I’m proud of how much care they put into their complex job of city building.
Special thanks to everyone who offered encouragement and advice through all of the project’s many different iterations, especially our wonderful neighbors. I’ve received so much positive feedback on the designs from the community and neighbors; I hope that this project becomes a beacon for how to create small scale, affordable, community focused, walkable places to live that fit in with and strengthen the surrounding neighborhoods.
Hear from founders in the Charlottesville sustainability movement in this dynamic panel discussion. Panelists will share their experiences with careers in green building and sustainability, as well as advice for future generations. Come be inspired by local leaders and gain insights on building sustainability into your work and personal endeavors. This is the first in a series of thought leadership presentations across Virginia in 2020.
Our Charlottesville panelists include:
Bob Crowell, 2RW
Susan Elliott, City of Charlottesville
Annette Osso, Resilient Virginia
Galen Staengl, Staengl Engineering
Lunch will be provided
This presentation is approved for I GBCI CE credit
Thank you so much to everyone who came to the first neighborhood meeting on February 12th for our little Bamboo Grove pocket neighborhood! Your encouragement and great questions made it an educational and fun experience. I wish that we had more time to talk, but as always if you have any other questions or comments please contact us.
Here are the presentation slides that framed our discussion:
The Housing Lab 