Irrigation: Ins and Outs
August 18, 2009
Problematic Clay Soils? Try Mulching!
August 7, 2009
Over watering plants and lawn and they still look dry? Do you have Clay soils? If you live in the Bay Area you more than likely do. How can one improve their garden soils? Read more
iHome Intelligence
August 3, 2009
Imagine getting to your apartment taking out your iphone and hitting a Home button, your house lights turn on; your climate control goes to your favorite comfort level, your favorite music track starts and your window treatments open, is this really possible? Read more
Green Garage Doors (and we’re not talking color)!?
July 9, 2009
In my 22 years of working with my family’s garage door business, I’ve seen quite a bit of change. This decade, it’s seemingly becoming about the Green movement…but where are we with ‘green’ garage doors, and is it worth it to pursue such a door? Read more
Residential Irrigation Management
July 9, 2009
Our most precious resource is water but here in the United States we take it for granted. We continue to use clean drinking/bathing water for every aspect of our lives. Here in CA we are in a drought. A law has already been passed to reduce the amount of water each homeowner can use. The law is AB 1881 and Read more
Green vs. Sustainable Building
June 24, 2009
Plan!t Now Scholarship Interview
June 19, 2009
Whole Home Integration
June 18, 2009
An Interview with Noah Stokes of AVT
Mason Kirby: Thanks for joining me today. How did you get involved with AVT, and what’s the nature of AVT’s business?
Noah Stokes: Our business model includes doing all of the high and low voltage work on a project. This starts with the design and includes the running of the wires, providing the equipment, the installation and all the way through to the programming and final instruction. We have this approach for a couple reasons. With the low voltage industry as a whole, everything has gotten so complicated and there are so many options out there that work great independently but, “don’t play well with others” to quote our Lead Programmer Joe Hutton that everyone has to be really careful with each piece they select. Read more
Interview with Ken VanBree, founder of Imaging Perspective
May 29, 2009
Mason Kirby: Ken, thanks for joining me today. The purpose of our conversation, is to introduce who you are, and what your company, Imaging Perspective, provides. On the outset, Imaging Perspective provides digital as-built construction services and documentation to contractors, homeowners, and building owners. Ken, could you start a little bit, by telling a little bit about yourself, and how fell into the founding of this company and technology.
Ken VanBree: I’m an engineer by background, and worked for years in Silicon Valley, doing both CAD and design of integrated circuits. My wife and I built a house about 10 years ago, and it was just when digital cameras were becoming affordable. I took a lot of pictures as we were building the house, before they covered the walls, and at various stages. I found that those images were useful later, because when we had to go back in and make some changes, and move some wires around, and install things on the walls. It was good to know what was back there so that we didn’t tap into any pipes, or wires, or things that we shouldn’t have, when we were trying to make changes. I had put together a prototype of our e-builts software for my own amusement, but then I talked to some contractors and architects, and said, “Would this be a useful product, a useful service?”, and they thought it would be. So I set out to build a company to provide the service.
Mason: What you built was something that delivers something quite different from standard as-built documentation. For somebody that knows what “as-builts” are, in a standard sense, can you describe what your e-Builts are and how they are different?
Ken: Yes, e-builts are based on photographic record of the construction process. We go in at various stages of construction and take pictures of everything that’s there: all the interior walls, and ceilings, and floors, as well, if necessary, on the project. We put all those together in a website, or a desktop viewer, Read more
Book Review: Private Towers
May 28, 2009
Private Towers: Expanded Edition by James Grayson Trulove
Private Towers: Expanded Edition by James Trulove is a delightful compendium of oddly shaped residential structures that demonstrate how various tall forms are used to maximize the relationship between a functional program and surrounding environment. Peter De Bretteville’s personal residence, aka “Cistern Tower” in New Haven, is featured in this book. Peter is an instructor at the Yale School of Architecture who taught second year design studios, and materials and methods while I was there. I remain a fan of the round “free weights” that anchor the edges of the otherwise loose canvas awnings that surrounds the exterior of his reclaimed and reused water tower. Examples found in this book influenced our plans for the “Wiley Tower,” a project currently on-the-boards located in Mendocino, California.
Check out the rest of my lending library and view my reviews.