http://needbased.wordpress.com Just another WordPress.com weblog Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:09:35 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.png http://needbased.wordpress.com http://needbased.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/regional-sustainability/ http://needbased.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/regional-sustainability/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:01:32 +0000 needbased http://needbased.wordpress.com/?p=33 ]]> Due to the way that the Affordable Housing Ordinance was written for the City of Santa Fe, and Santa Fe County, there are no new affordable housing units hitting the market. Santa Fe County is working on getting some units on the ground by using some 5 million that they are under pressure to spend. We are seeing more interest in Passive Houses as Affordable Housing Non-profits, municipalities, and developers look for an edge regarding sales. We are currently working with several of these entities to this end as well as developing an affordable Passive House Model that could be used as needed by non-profits.

]]> http://needbased.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/regional-sustainability/feed/ 0 needbased http://needbased.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/passive-house/ http://needbased.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/passive-house/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:00:17 +0000 needbased http://needbased.wordpress.com/?p=31 ]]> This fall Passive House Institute US (PHIUS) was formally changed to a registered 501(c3) non-profit and a board was selected. The current board of directors is Allison Kwok, Gray Swicegood, Mike Knezovich, Laura Briggs, and my self, Jonah Stanford as board president.  I will write more on the committees and our current work in future blogs.  Another huge step for Passive House Institute US was the formation of the Passive House Alliance, which took place last month (January 2010). Already four strong Passive House Chapters are in place.  Contact NEEDBASED or PHIUS for more information.

]]> http://needbased.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/passive-house/feed/ 0 needbased http://needbased.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/materials/ http://needbased.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/materials/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:59:20 +0000 needbased http://needbased.wordpress.com/?p=29 ]]> We are currently obsessed with vapor-open wall assemblies.  In late January 2010 we traveled to Germany to visit the Agepan manufacturing facility and to meet with Hans-Robert Holzer (Marketing Manager) and Susanne Renz (Technical product Manager) to begin the process of using their products on our projects.  Agepan manufactures several vapor-open sheathing materials, as well as OSB, and insulation. All are Formaldehyde-free and FSC certified.  We also met Klaus Muller of Muller Schreinerei GmbH, who manufactures Optiwin Windows.  We find them to be the highest performance window for the money.

]]> http://needbased.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/materials/feed/ 0 needbased http://needbased.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/modular-wall-systems/ http://needbased.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/modular-wall-systems/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:57:09 +0000 needbased http://needbased.wordpress.com/?p=27 ]]> This fall we found that we have several projects that targeted Passive House Certification and perhaps had the opportunity to develop a prefabricated modular wall system. We have spent the last several months developing this concept further to determine the feasibility. It is looking good; our trip to Germany to visit Agepan, Optiwin, and several prefabrication facilities in the Germany was enlightening.  The current prefab wall system will be used in the Santa Fe Rail Yard Project and in the Apartment complex in Flagstaff.

]]> http://needbased.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/modular-wall-systems/feed/ 0 needbased http://needbased.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/hello-world/ http://needbased.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/hello-world/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:56:19 +0000 needbased ]]> NEEDBASED Inc. is a Santa Fe architecture firm focused on Sustainable Design, Affordable Housing, Green Building and Planning.

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