energy efficiency

“Unprecedented” Weather: Is This the New Norm and How Can You Make Your Home Climate-Safe?

To ring the new year, Portland experienced an unprecedented storm resulting in more than a week of wind, snow, ice, and record breaking temperatures. We are seeing extreme rain events causing mudslides and floods, and extreme heat and drought periods causing never before seen wildfires. It is not hard to image that what we call extreme weather now, we will eventually just call weather. How will we adapt? Well, one way will be through changing the way we build and adapt our shelters.

Daylighting 101: Orientation

Daylighting 101: Orientation

When we talk about the orientation of a building, we mean how the building sits on the site relative to its context, the most important of which is typically the sun (other factors being wind, views, topography and surrounding  landscapes, buildings and streets). It is easier to optimize the orientation of a building for solar exposure in new construction, but there are takeaways that can be applied to existing homes as well.

Daylighting 101: Why Does Daylight Matter?

Daylighting 101: Why Does Daylight Matter?

Connecting to nature has a profound impact on our wellbeing. If you imagine being a room with big windows, indoor plants, fresh air, a view of a forest and lots of light, you instinctively feel more comfortable and relaxed than imagining being in a room with no windows or plants, recycled air and artificial light. “Natural light” is frequently cited as a major consideration when people are deciding where to live or how to remodel their existing homes. In architecture, natural light is referred to as daylight.