Towards a New Vision for the old Dutchess Mall Site and the lower Clove Creek Watershed
While all eyes and dollars are focused on creating even more amenities to draw more people and more human development to the eastern edges of the Hudson Highlands State Park via the HHFT, the northern edges of the same Park remain woefully underdeveloped and neglected. While the powers that be pour money and resources into […]
Mullet Hall – LBC Materials Red List
As could have perhaps been predicted, the main “challenge” of the Living Building Challenge, particularly during construction, is the Materials Petal. In this post I will discuss the Red List Imperative of the Materials Petal. According to the International Living Futures Institute, The intent of the Materials Petal is to help create a materials economy […]
Mullet Hall – Thermal Bridges
Paying close attention to thermal bridging in the details is something that is extremely important – as important as insulation. Here is a Greenbuildingadvisor.com post describing what thermal bridging is and why it is so important. According to Wikipedia, thermal bridging is “an area or component of an object which has higher thermal conductivity than […]
Mullet Hall – Living Building Challenge – Site Petal
Why does the Mullet Hall Project Team feel that it is appropriate to build on this greenfield site? Human Powered Living The Site is within 2km of a major train station providing access to NYC and other points along the Hudson River. This is within easy walking and/or biking distance, providing current and future owners […]
Mullet Hall – Trees Cleared for Milling
As part of the subdivision process, every single tree on the entire Mullet Hall property above 12″ caliper was tagged. This allowed for easily identification of trees for removal, saving, protection, and trimming. We learned that most of the trees on the property are Sugar Maple, Red Oak, and Black Locust. We learned through research […]
Pretty Good Home Site
So here it is. Here is where we intend to build a home. As David wrote somewhere on Green Building Advisor (or at Wolfe Island Passive House), the goal here isn’t “payback” as is so often mentioned in reference to “green building” metrics. Having been blessed with the good fortune of having the opportunity to […]
Organic Lawn Care in the Northeast
You are right to be upset about the lawn care chemicals being dumped on the lawns of your community – or anywhere for that matter. the Figure Ground Studio cares deeply about responsible land management and has done a fair amount of research and even public speaking about the importance of organic lawn care. Here […]
Perfect Solutions and the Pretty Good House
Like most architects, I am susceptible to believing two things: That a perfect solution to a design problem has yet to be discovered, and If I think enough about said design problem, I can discover a previously undiscovered solution to it. As I have researched the various possibilities for wall assemblies at Mullet Hall, I […]
CLT and Double Stud and PERSIST, oh my!
Those who have been around me any time during the last few months will know that one of the main topics on my mind has been the appropriate wall system for the No-name Passive House (working title: Mullet Hall). We began this quest looking primarily at Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) Block. As I explained in […]
PDX Backyard Habitat featured in Green Builder Magazine
The Figure Ground Studio’s PDX Backyard Habitat , located in southwest hills of Portland, Oregon, was recently featured in the March-April 2016 issue of Green Builder magazine. Our very own Erin Muir, who served as Landscape Architect on this job, is quoted extensively about her design in the article, discussing the theory and practice of […]
