Sustainable Architect - Making the World a Better Place to Live, One Structure at a Time

We hear the phrase sustainable architecture thrown around, but what is it? What are we sustaining? Is "GREEN" related? What are the benefits of it? What does a sustainable architect do? I wish the answer was simple, and indeed it is.

Sustainable means to build or develop in a way that will let us keep doing it for a long period of time without adverse effects. If we overuse a material that is in short supply, it could cause us irreparable problems. For example, if our construction is heavily dependent on materials that use large amounts of water in their manufacturing and are being made in a region with a short supply of water, that could be a problem. If we design a tropical garden that requires constant and large amounts of water for it's upkeep in a desert environment, that could also be a big problem.

Now that we have an ideal of what the problems are, lets take a look at how we can adjust the way we do things to be sustainable. Sustainable is not a concept that deals with individual aspects, but rather in a holistic way. If it makes common sense, it is generally sustainable. If you live in an area where masonry products are readily produced and available from local resources, it would probably make sense to use it in construction. It would also make sense to use local plants and groundcover materials instead of having them transported from China to the US. It would also make sense to use the local climate to your advantage. If you live in a cold climate, then maximizing natural solar heating through light would make sense. If you live in a very hot environment, then shading from hot sunlight would make sense to use in order to cool the structure and provide comfort and energy savings.

Sustainable also involves urban planning. Ask yourself: Would it make more sense to build a structure in a already developed area with existing roads and utilities, or perhaps even re-use an existing structure of start from scratch? Certainly most people with a functioning brain would say that starting with something is better then starting with nothing, yet we commonly see communities of so called "cookie cutter" homes which are utterly artificial and lifeless. If the development would focus on making the best with what already exists, re-using or adapting existing structures and neighborhoods, certainly the results would be amazing.

Abhay is a young entrepreneur architect with a passion for logical sustainable architecture. He would consider himself a sustainable architect, so the articles you'll read will be about sustainability. The filter that will always be used is: does it make sense? You'll find out that being sustainable absolutely does make financial sense.

http://sustainablearchitect.org/sustainable-architect/sustainable-architecture-%E2%80%93-what-is-it
http://sustainablearchitect.org/

Original article

Irrigation Management Tools - What Is Better? Central Control Irrigation or Smart Controllers?

The weather in the Portland area continues to be more April than July. This past Sunday, July 17th, the slight chance of showers in the weather forecast turned into a multi-hour rain event that eventually totaled over half an inch of rainfall. Suffice it to say that very few irrigation controllers in the region adjusted accordingly for that night's watering. Instead they ran as if it had not rained at all because it would require an on-site visit by someone to actually reduce or shut off irrigation schedules. That rarely happens and on Sunday it does not happen at all. What about them new fangled smart controllers? You know the ones that receive some type of weather data that adjusts the irrigation run times without a personal visit? Well, they very well may have adjusted appropriately. However, how do you know?

Were there any problems with the communication of said weather data?Was the weather data source recording the weather properly or at all?Is the smart controller in the right mode to incorporate the weather data or was it accidentally set to run in stand alone?

The bottom line is that you don't know with these smart controllers for a couple of reasons. First, there is no communication option (outside of a spendy upgrade) that allows a user to contact the smart controller to check on its status. It still needs an on-site visit to do that. Second, there is no way to retrieve any kind of stored data within the controller to produce a report to review.

Now a rainfall event like this past Sunday certainly is a clearcut example of how a controller that is accessible via telephone, wi-fi, cellular, etc. is such a key part of effective irrigation management. Whether from a website or a central computer, an irrigation manager can check that the irrigation is shut down due to such a rainfall amount. That is tremendous peace of mind for the irrigation manager and a huge water savings for the property owner. This is no different for less dramatic weather changes like a week's worth of scorching hot weather followed by a weekend of mostly cloudy weather. Again, the irrigation manager can check that the weather data is recorded properly, transmitted properly and watered properly...without visiting the controller in person.

Smart controllers do none of this. Now smart controllers are a step in the right direction when compared to traditional controllers. However, they are woefully incomplete. There is no way to retrieve data, produce reports, check on communication links, make programming corrections or see if the irrigation controller actually has electrical power and is running irrigation schedules. In contrast, central control irrigation systems provide all of these management benefits. Whether it is via a website or software loaded onto a desktop or laptop computer, an irrigation manager can check on the controllers without a site visit. The technology is readily available for these central control irrigation systems. Why settle for a partial solution?

Irrigation Management Systems (IMS) has saved water and money for its clients since the late 1980s, long before green was fashionable. Using the right combination of technology and management practices, IMS has long worked on keeping that delicate balance of saving water while keeping shrubs, turf and flowers sufficiently watered. Get to know us a little better at http://www.irrigationmanagementsystems.com/save-water/ and you can also get some free tips to saving water.

Original article

Sustainable architect - make the world a place better to live, a Structure at a time

We hear thrown around expression, but what is sustainable architecture - this? What we support us? Is "Green" linked? What are the benefits of it? What does a sustainable architect do? I wish the answer was simple, and in fact it is.

Sustainable means build or develop in a way that will let us continue to make it during a long period of time without adverse effects. If we abuse a material that is insufficient, could cause us irreparable problems. For example, if our construction is heavily dependent on which uses large quantities of water in their manufacturing and materials is made in an area with a shortage of water, which may be a problem. If we design a tropical garden which requires a constants and large quantities of water for its maintenance in a desert environment, which could also be a big problem.

Now that we have an ideal of what are the problems, lets take a look at how we can adjust the way in which we be sustainable. Sustainable is not a concept dealing with individual aspects, but rather in a holistic manner. If it's common sense, it is generally sustainable. If you live in a region where masonry products are easily produced and available from local resources, it would probably make sense to use in the construction. It also makes sense to use local plants and materials cover instead of having their transported from China to the United States. It also makes sense to use the local climate to your advantage. If you live in a cold climate, and natural solar heating maximization through light would make sense. If you live in a very hot environment, then the hot rays of the sun shading would be logical to use to cool the structure and comfort and energy savings.

Sustainable also involves urban planning. Ask yourself the question: would it make more sense to build a structure in an area already developed with existing roads and utilities, or perhaps even to reuse an existing structure to start from scratch? Certainly most of the people with a brain works would say that something is better then to start from nothing, and yet often see us communities called houses "cookie cutter" which are completely artificial and without life. If the development would be better to do with what already exists, by reusing or adapting existing structures and areas, certainly the results would be incredible.

Abhay is an architect of a young entrepreneur with a passion for logical sustainable architecture. It would consider him a sustainable architect, so articles that you will read will be on sustainability. The filter that will always be used is: is it meaningful? You will discover that being absolutely sustainable makes financial sense.

http://sustainablearchitect.org/sustainable-architect/sustainable-architecture-%E2%80%93-what-is-it
http://sustainablearchitect.org/

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