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 – Recycled Glass Concrete Aggregate (Poraver)
One of the most exciting aspects of the Mullet Hall project is one that will never be seen once it is covered with insulation and finished. About 6/7 of the fine aggregate (sand) in the wall concrete was replaced with Poraver recycled glass beads. This accomplished a few goals: Increased recycled content, reducing sand use. […]
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 […]
Window Reminiscing
As we move on to a newly designed office space, we look back at a selection of our Cold Spring, NY Main St. windows over the years.
Stones and Solar Orientation
Stones, earth, sun, seasons. Ultimately, as they told us in art and architectural history class, all of architecture can be traced back to the primitive hut. And what direction would it make sense to orient a primitive hut? To the south, to capture the warm sunlight on cold fall and winter days. This was solar […]
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 […]
Land Development and Trees
As a self-proclaimed treehugger, it is certainly with some trepidation that I reach my arms around trees in order to tag them for removal. But what I have learned from my partner, the Landscape Architect Erin Muir, is that, if undertaken with care and integrity, the removal of some plants can be justified in order […]
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 […]
