Polycentrism

Mallorca

Joe — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 02:10:59 +0000

Palma de Mallorca’s Bay, a 24 hour Timelapse from Franklin Tello on Vimeo.

Villa Savoye

Joe — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:13:02 +0000

Le Corbusier / Villa Savoye from 0300TV on Vimeo.

Wow, technology.

Joe — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:08:14 +0000

Bad ass bookshelf

Joe — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:17:46 +0000

dbd Studio – Digitally Fabricated Bookshelf from Adam Crain on Vimeo.

High Speed Rail in the UK

Joe — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:11:23 +0000

Yet another country has committed to high speed rail. I’d love to see this become more widespread in the states, or even into the ten zones the govt has said that are the most feasible for high speed.

The UK's new high speed Javelin train

more info here

Marco Grassi Painting

Joe — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:54:01 +0000

Marco Grassi aka PHO from stylemag on Vimeo.

Street art for the benefit of all

Joe — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:43:07 +0000

I like when cities work to advance ideas such as urban transportation options including mass transit, regional transit connections, bus systems, elevated rail, and lastly bike lanes. And I love when cites accomplish advancements in those areas. New York has become a new hot bed for bike transportation, in a safer way anyway, and now has tons of bike lanes all over the place.

Its funny when a bike lane becomes political. Its funny when a bike lane is removed a few weeks before an election in order to appease one sect of resident. Its tragic that people want it back and the govt does nothing to help and barks bullshit reasons for its removal, and lack of answers for putting it back.

Its amazing when people take matters into their own hands and put back what they use and need on a daily basis. Street art for the benefit of all.

State of WA updates energy code

Joe — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:44:09 +0000

With an original goal to include provisions that would cut energy use by 30% in buildings, this plan passed with support that would only allow for an 15 – 18% decline. I suppose people arent ready for too much change.

What I’m happy to see is that there are some very good common sense updates coming when the new version is implemented. Not only will this help in cost, this helps with air quality, life cycle of the building get extended, quality of life increases. These types of updates are great and I’m glad to see at least some level of progression happening. Hopefully in time our usage of energy will become mush smaller than this.

Among the residential code improvements passed by the Council are:

Programmable thermostats on all primary heating systems
Air leakage testing with a “blower door” for all new homes
Duct testing for all new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems
Posting of a certificate of residential energy efficiency features on new homes

Commercial improvements include:

Upgrades to lighting controls, including occupancy sensors and technology to take better advantage of daylight
Upgraded insulation for ceilings
More energy efficient windows
Sub-metering for tenants to help them manage energy use

more info here : nw energy news

Take the LEED AP ND test for free

Joe — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:18:47 +0000

While researching the LEED AP exam recently I came across info on the GBCI website that was offering people free testing spots for the new LEED AP ND beta test. As someone who cant afford to take the test otherwise I signed up and applied for a beta tester spot. The application is relatively pain free. The only tricky spot was that you have to get a current or past supervisors description of you working on a LEED certified project. Turns out I worked on a bank project and qualify to test.

To inquire about taking the test, or to find more info please look here.

The deadline is Dec. 15, 2009. And the test happens in early Feb.

Infrastructure on the edge of the world

Joe — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:08:25 +0000

depending on how the mood is striking you, you may need to turn down the volume.