The new space is coming along: walls are up and the electricians are there now. The storage loft to the right over the copy room is decked.

I wanted to highlight more of the work of The One Percent program. Founded in 2005, it is a unique effort to encourage architects to donate a mere 1% of their annual hours for projects for the public good.  That may not seem like a enough to make a difference, but if every architecture professional committed that much time, it would total 5 million hours a year--or to put it another way--a 2500 person firm working full time all year, every year for the public good.

It is such a good idea, and it is amazing to me that it isn't a part of my profession's DNA.  If lawyers can do it, why wouldn't we?

Right now, the One Percent's website has, at last count, 865 firms nationwide that have made the leap, and pledged more than 280,000 hours of service, and you can find inspiration, rationalization (for the doubters),  as well as a matching service where pro bono clients and  architects can find each other.

If you are an architect, sign up!

If you are a non-profit, or community group, post your project and connect with a expert that can help your organization.  Whether it is an expansion, tenant improvement, fixing an accessibility problem, or to masterplan/visualize the org's ambitions, architects have expertise and ideas that you can harness.

As one of the early adopters of the 1% idea, CAST has been selected as one of fifty  1% Design Advocates nationwide, so in the next couple of months, I'll be putting together some open events to discuss pro bono service.  In the meantime, if you have any questions about pro bono service, please feel free (no pun intended) to contact me:

matt@CASTarchitecture.com.

256.9886

After ten (ten!) years in our current location we are moving to a new space in Fremont into Dave Boone's great building @ 115c N.36th overlooking the Ship Canal.

As you can see, it is perfectly raw and we'll be burning the midnight oil to get it into shape for the new year.

After the holidays, we'll be having a building wide celebration in concert with D.Boone Construction, and Cascade Bicycles.

The Fremont Town Homes completed last year are going to be on a green design tour hosted by Mark Mays of ecohome seattle. This is a great opportunity to get inside and kick the tires of some really interesting sustainably minded projects.

For more information see Mark's annoucnment below or contact him directly at Mark Mays 425.280.4223. Follow this link for a list of all the addresses and an option to view them on a map, or cick through to view the invite in its entirety.

Greetings Green Home Tourists!

Here are the final four selections for the Green Home Tour this Sunday starting at 1pm at Martha Rose’ Fish Singer Place development in Shoreline. The address is 433 Fish Singer Place with access from Dayton Ave N., just a couple houses south of N. 160^th just up the hill from Sears and Central Market on Hwy 99. We will spend 45-60 minutes at Fish Singer as there is so much to see and Martha will be there to help explain the green features and systems. The site development is amazing with many eco-friendly functions along with the great aesthetics.

We can carpool or caravan to the next homes on the tour. For those that asked, there is no charge for the tour. We are fairly passionate about green homes and are happy to share the passion with others. Of course we are happy to provide real estate services for those that would like us to provide them, but this is all about seeing, learning and appreciating the fantastic work these architects and builders have done in their green home implementations without a bunch of sales hype.

The second home is a green remodel just a few blocks from the Phinney Center. This is one of the best Built Green remodels I’ve seen in terms of staying within the character of the original design as well as the neighborhood, and the quality of craftsmanship, materials and green systems is fairly rare compared to many of the green remodels I’ve seen.The architect was Amy Williams with Blue Canyon Construction as the contractor. I’m supposed to be getting a copy of the checklist so we can know more about what is behind the walls and under the floors that would demonstrate a good green home design.

Home #2 on the map is a Four Star Built Green home that has many green features and systems which you will already have seen at Fish Singer, but this is definitely one of the better infill townhomes I’ve seen with tight energy envelope, plumbed for solar hot water, great daylighting, nice choice of materials and great feng shui. This home was designed by Stefan Hampden at Cast Architecture and was presented at last year’s NW EcoBuilders Guild 10x10x10 event.

The last home on the tour is in a high density luxury home development, but really it is not so ostentatious like the Street of Dreams green homes with massive square footage. I’m sure the pricing has more to do with the location and views, but the unique geothermal system along with the overall energy efficiency design, choice of green materials,and high quality craftsmanship definitely makes this home worth seeing. The listing broker will be available to answer detailed questions about the home.

Here is the NWMLS link if you’d like to get more details about the homes and preview some pictures.

Click the following URL to see the Listings: http://www.matrix.nwmls.com/DE.asp?ID=1059716656

<<...>> Look forward to seeing everyone Sunday and feel free to pass this email on to anyone else you think might be interested.

Mark Mays Real Estate Broker LEED Green Associate CHAMPIONS REAL ESTATE SERVICES 525 5th Ave S. Suite 100 Edmonds, WA 98020 Cell: 425-280-4223 Fax: 206-905-0810 mark@mays108.org www.ecohomeseattle.com

The Widner's cottage is starting to take shape!

John Peterson, of Public Architecture, is coming to town on October 20th to give a talk on how pro bono design is making a difference.  His firm has been behind a national effort, call the One Percent, to mobilize architects to donate 1% of their time per year toward pro bono causes.

Recently they've published a book called the Power of Pro Bono detailing 40 project nation wide where architects have donated their time toward great causes. CAST architecture's first pro bono project, the Interbay P-Patch is featured in the book.

We joined up with the One Percent several years ago after finishing the first project for the P-Patch, and have since completed several, with more on the way. I heartily recommend public service as an excellent way for architects to use their unique skill set to improve the community.  Plus, personally, it feels great to know that you've made a difference in the lives of some of your neighbors.

Here are the details for the talk:

Wednesday, 10/20

Pan Pacific Hotel

2125 Terry Avenue, Lakefront Room

Cocktails start at 5:30, the talk starts at 6:15, with dessert and coffee afterwards.

I have been collaborating with Susan Black and Associates to formulate a vision for the expansion of the Washington Park Arboretum facilities, as part of the SR 520 replacement and the demolition of the highway ramps that currently dominate the north end of the Park.

With this project, we are proposing a " new gateway structure to orient visitors, provide space for general services and curation/collection exhibits, and fulfill many of the aims of the 2001 Master Plan.  As conceptualized, the development respects the history of the site and reclaims the altered landscape to natural, healthy conditions.  It will provide organization, orientation, and education for visitors as a means to explore the greater Arboretum.

As a gateway, the design will put visitors in the frame of mind for the study and enjoyment of the Park.  Balancing educational needs and recreation activities as functions that informally overlap and inform each other, the facility welcomes both types of visitor and enfolds them in the living greenness of the Arboretum/Lake Washington edge environment.  The building concept blends with the naturalistic organization of the site with minimal visual impact and performs as a closed loop system with regard to energy and water, using only resources collected on site.  The concept also enhances the connectivity to the adjacent neighborhood and trail system and welcomes pedestrian and bike traffic.

The buildings are gently folded into a rolling wetland rise like leaves blown in on the wind.  The roofs are gently articulated to provide shelter and solar access.  Rammed earth walls announce the gateway yet continue uninterupted through the glass to become an integral part of the ambiance of the facility.  Glass walls provide an invisible barrier to the surrounding landscape during the day.  In the evening, light from the buildings spills out onto grounds muted by the vegetation foliage.

Retaining a small remnant of the “flyover” bridge allows for the development of an elevated promenade for the establishment of a “pier garden”.  The pier would be planted in a series of linear landscapes culminating in an overlook of the southern waterway of the Mountlake Cut.  The pier garden provides the visitor a new perspective of the northern limits of the Arboretum, Foster Island and the day-lighted Arboretum Creek." (from the Concept Plan)

Ideally, the building will be designed to the standards of the Living Building Challenge.  I've anticipated about 75kW of photovoltaics on the roof, plus a ground source heat pump for building climate control, harvesting all rain water for the building's use and to irrigate the demonstration gardens.

We've only just put this out into the public sphere for comments, and I can imagine that we'll have some lively discussions about how a modern structure fits within the Olmsteadian structure of the park.  I ultimately think that the contemporary architecture will best serve the Foundation, rather than grafting high performance energy and sustainable systems onto something that is overtly historicist.   The Washington Park Arboretum can look both both into its own history and the future to chart a path for success in it's second century.

Renderings courtesy of Lambert Design Studio

Thanks, Kevin, for putting on CAST's seasonal dinner party.  As you can see, through the eyes of Stefan's youngest, Gwen, a good time was had by all.

Friday's nights Green Building Slam was a big success. The Guild packed the auditorium in the Central Library and was, dare I say, raucous?  There was a lot of energy in the room and the enthusiasm was palpable.  I wanted to highlight a couple of trends that we saw in multiple projects.

1.  Passive houses--super insulated, airtight buildings that consequently use very little energy to heat (a hair dryer or toaster would do the trick).

Projects ranged from Joe Giampietro's Mini B house , Jim Burton's Backyard Box, and Dan Whitmore's house.  There are a lot of people working on the details, and trying out innovative strategies for meeting the rigorous standards, like the .6 air changes per hour (Joe's was .58ACH and Dan's measured .41 ACH).  Here is a blog about passive houses--Existing Resources.

2.  Beyond Passive Houses specifically, there was a drive for measuring building performance using blower door tests, thermal imaging, etc.  The point was made  that the real time feedback is a great learning and teaching tool for both the designers and the craftspeople, linking the attention to detail required at all phases of construction to execute a high performance building with regards to energy usage.

3.  Waste stream minimization:

Two projects highlighted efforts to reduce construction waste: Bastyr University housing, and Walsh Construction's Salishan redevelopment.  The Salishan project was especially notable, not only for the context, an affordable housing project with upwards of 100 units, but because they put in place a system of labled dumpsters to sort all the construction waste--down to just one unrecyclable dumpster load over the project's construction.

I had a great time, first presenting the Sunset Substation Park, and second, learning about what other like minded companies are working on in our region.

The AIA's new awards program for housing, Futureshack, was this past week on Wednesday.  The best thing about the program is the attempt to engage the public in a discourse about housing, density, green building.  The awards even had a People's Choice award, based on online voting.

This year the AIA also premiered a new feature, Speed-Date-Design--7 minutes to bounce your ideas of an architect (then onto the next person).  As one of the Speed Daters, I talked with a couple interested in a multi-family development--almost a co-housing concept, plus a couple of homeowners about northwest contempory design and sustainable construction.  They picked my brain about dormers, backyard cottages, and recycled building materials. After the Speed Date session, one of the bartenders working the event asked me about getting a permit for his garage.  The informal format really helped make people who might not think that they could engage an architect feel comfortable about soliciting a little advice about building. I hope that the AIA does more of this kind of activity.

Both photos are courtesy of Andrew Buchanan--www.SubtleLightPhoto.com