November at Belfast Cohousing and Ecovillage
This time last year we were renting a drafty old house heated by a cantankerous oil furnace that would invariably kick on loudly in the middle of the night. The curtains swayed near the “closed” windows, and I had a love-hate relationship with the (so-warm-under-my-feet and filled with years of who-knows-what-and-probably-lead-paint) wall-to-wall carpeting. We’ve been… Read more »
The Challenges of Certifying Warren Woods, the Passive House Lab
Over the course of the last six months, we have been working with the Passive House Institute in Germany to design the Passive House-level Warren Woods Ecology Field Station for the University of Chicago in Michigan. The Passive House Institut asked that we work directly with them on this project in order to guide the process… Read more »
Groundbreaking! University Of Chicago Warren Woods Ecology Field Station
We are very excited to announce the start of construction on the Warren Woods Ecology Field Station in Chikaming Township, Michigan. Matt O’Malia, Alan Gibson, and Timothy Lock made the trip to help get the ball rolling, and were lucky to have great weather! Special thanks to our site supervisor, Michael Klinger of EcoWise Homes… Read more »
Cobscook Bay Project Progress
During our site visit last week to the Cobscook Bay Residence, we were excited to find the rough framing completed and the first Structural Insulated Panels going up! View from the north, the entry will be under the cantilevered overhang on the left. View west to the bay from the master bedroom. The entry overhang… Read more »
2013 PHIUS Conference
Alan Gibson, GO Logic principal, will be speaking, for the 4th year running, at the PHIUS national conference on October 18 in Pittsburgh, PA. The subject of the presentation is “Design, Build, Refine, Repeat: Using a Systems Approach to Replicate Passive House Construction.” The conference is an annual event for the Passive House Institute US,… Read more »
3D Printing
On a recent project here at GO Logic we utilized 3D printing technology to create client models. The results were exciting. A criticism of current architectural practice and its increased movement towards digital media is the loss of physicality; the entrapment of design by our computer screens. (“Architecture and the Lost… Read more »
Green Buildings Open House
This Saturday, October 5th, is the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association’s Green Building Open House. “Now in its 14th year, The Green Buildings Open House Tour is the largest sustainable energy event in the Northeastern US. From Maine all the way down to Pennsylvania, hundreds of sustainability-minded property owners will open their doors to visitors interested in seeing sustainability… Read more »
What’s The Architects’ Biggest Lever?
I’ve recently finished reading Auden Schendler’s motivating 2009 book, “Getting Green Done” in which Schendler specifically outlines the need for each industry, and each individual business within that industry, to “find their biggest lever”. Schendler posits that in order to achieve sweeping reductions in carbon emissions and avoid marketable, yet ultimately distracting, greenwashing, businesses should… Read more »
GO Logic + Houzz
Have you seen our Houzz profile? We just added photos of the Jung Haus project to our page! While the GO Home is steadily becoming an icon for energy-efficient, passive house standard homes in the US, it has also been featured in four articles on the Houzz site: The 70’s Are Back. Can Ya Dig… Read more »
Kneer-Sudefenster + GO Logic
It’s difficult to find enough superlatives to describe just how much we appreciate the work of Kneer-Sudfenster, the German window company that supplies exterior doors and windows for a majority of our projects. While their custom-sized, triple paned products have become a staple of GO Logic designs, delivering extraordinary insulating and solar heat gain performance at prices competitive with lesser-performing double paned products from… Read more »
Cobscook Bay House Update
Construction is in full swing on the Cobscook Bay House and we are happy to share the progress! Thanks for all the great work by Robinson Home Improvement. Foundation completion First Floor Framing Nearing Completion of First Floor Framing photos by client You can read more blog posts about the Cobscook Bay House here.
Cove End in Maine Home + Design
The feature article from the cover of Maine Home + Design’s July issue, “Clapboard Contemporary”, about our Cove End project, is now available on the Maine Home + Design website. You can read it here, and please let us know what you think of the project!
On The Boards: Warren Woods Ecology Field Station
Throughout the spring we’ve been working on an exciting new Passive House project with the University of Chicago, the Warren Woods Ecology Field Station. In 2010, the University purchased a property consisting largely of 10,000 year-old dunes in rural, Southwest Michigan. The site consists of mature beach-maple forested ravines and open wet prairie – a… Read more »
Passive House and Permaculture
The definitions of each of these terms are appropriately long and complicated. The essence of the matter is that these are design approaches that aim to transform human impact on the environment into a system that cares for the earth and all of it’s inhabitants equally. Passive House is a specific goal of energy use reduction in… Read more »
Hayfield House
We are enjoying reading the Hayfield House blog, created by our clients and detailing the construction progress of their 2,100 square foot Connecticut home, on track to be passive house certified. You can visit the blog, and follow along with the construction process as well! perspective rendering by GO Logic, color added by client You… Read more »