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Choosing Your Windows 101: Frame Selection, Glass Options, & Coatings
Types of Window Frames Improving the thermal resistance of the frame can contribute to a window’s overall energy efficiency,...

Vistacraft Engineers
Aug 23, 20174 min read


Understanding Construction Costs: Estimates vs. Bids
For the owner, part of asking about cost is not just defining what the work will be but also knowing what form you would like the...

Vistacraft Engineers
Aug 3, 20177 min read


Designing Barcelona in Favor of Public Health
By the mid-19th century, The Guardian details, the industrial revolution nearly caused Barcelona to collapse because the city’s...

Vistacraft Engineers
Jul 31, 20172 min read


A Crash Course in Roof Venting
Executed properly it works absolutely everywhere, in every climate. Unfortunately, we manage to screw it up again and again, and a poorly...

Vistacraft Engineers
May 29, 20176 min read


Relaxed Requirements for ADU’s: An Update
ADUs are granny units, in-law units or other accessory structures with independent living facilities (i.e., kitchen and bathroom) and...

Vistacraft Engineers
May 18, 20173 min read


Choosing A General Contractor
Most medium and large construction jobs are handled by a general contractor or G.C. The general contractor may be called a builder,...

Vistacraft Engineers
May 16, 20177 min read


The Basics of Land Use Planning
Courts have found that a wide variety of local concerns fall within this authority, including maintaining socio-economic balance,...

Vistacraft Engineers
May 13, 20174 min read


A Practical Guide to Fiber-Cement Siding
What’s in Fiber Cement? The basic recipe has just four ingredients. Water: Dissolves the wood pulp; activates and hardens the cement. ...

Vistacraft Engineers
May 13, 20173 min read


Thermal Insulation: Which is Best?
There are plenty of excellent insulation materials on the market today. Many of these have been around for quite some time. Each of these...

Vistacraft Engineers
Apr 19, 20174 min read


Is Urban Infill a Sustainable Solution to Development?
The National League of Cities’ Sustainable Cities Institute defines urban infill as “new development that is sited on vacant or...

Vistacraft Engineers
Apr 14, 20172 min read


Innovative Public Transportation Infrastructure
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is one approach to incorporating public transportation within a city that may not have the space or fiscal...

Vistacraft Engineers
Jan 16, 20173 min read


The Architect and the Entitlement Process
Except in remote areas, land use is governed by zoning codes, created by planners employed by local governments, which establish zoning...

Vistacraft Engineers
Jan 16, 20173 min read


2016 California Building Standards Effective January 1, 2017
Title 24 is made up of 12 parts: Part 1 – California Administrative Code Part 2 – California Building Codes, Volumes 1 and 2, based on...

Vistacraft Engineers
Jan 2, 20173 min read


California Legislature Lowers the Bar on Granny Units.
The new substantive rules include the following: • ADUs shall not be required to provide fire sprinklers if not required for the primary...

Vistacraft Engineers
Dec 20, 20162 min read


New California Energy Standards Effective January 1, 2017
With this most recent set of revisions, the commission is striving toward a pair of new state efficiency targets: achieving net zero...

Vistacraft Engineers
Nov 19, 20164 min read


The Architecture of Affordable Housing
232 River Street, Santa Cruz: An Example of Affordable Housing Infill. As affordable housing developers build in inclusionary zoning...

Vistacraft Engineers
Nov 18, 20164 min read


Cradle-to-Cradle Design in Architecture
Cradle to Cradle models human industry on nature’s processes viewing materials as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe metabolisms. It...

Vistacraft Engineers
Nov 14, 20163 min read


Why is the Washington Monument Not On-Center?
In a city so based on order and symmetry and strong axes, why is the Washington Monument not on axis?! It took me a bit of online...

Vistacraft Engineers
Oct 13, 20163 min read


Green Architecture: What Makes a Structure a “Living Building”?
Over the past couple of decades, architects and builders looking to green their projects turned to the addition of various piecemeal...

Vistacraft Engineers
Aug 21, 20162 min read


What is Mixed-Use Development?
Traditional zoning was d Today, much commercial development is environmentally benign, and there are often advantages to locating...

Vistacraft Engineers
Aug 21, 20162 min read
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