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Geothermal Heating and Cooling
Diagram of the geothermal heat exchange concept. Outdoor temperatures fluctuate with the changing seasons but underground temperatures...

Vistacraft Engineers
May 17, 20152 min read


Natural Ventilation: Permeable Buildings
Cross ventilation relies on wind for cooling. When wind blows on a building, a pressure difference is created between the windward...

Vistacraft Engineers
May 17, 20152 min read


Cool Roofing
Cool roofs reduce cooling energy use in the summer. Cool roofs are constructed with highly reflective and emissive materials, usually in...

Vistacraft Engineers
May 17, 20151 min read


Stack Effect Ventilation
Chimney-like structures at the Queens Building, Leicester University are used to induce stack ventilation. The stack effect describes the...

Vistacraft Engineers
May 17, 20152 min read


Integrated Project Delivery in Residential Green Building Design
Integrated design means thinking about how the parts fit together. This systems-thinking is how green homes achieve high performance and...

Vistacraft Engineers
Feb 23, 20153 min read


Should You “Can” Your Plans For Recessed Cans?
The 2013 iteration of California’s Title 24 energy standards, which came into effect last July, effectively raises the bar on the energy...

Vistacraft Engineers
Feb 23, 20153 min read


A Practical Guide to Cedar Siding
Cross-laminated cedar panels were chosen to clad Sentinel House, Vancouver, B.C. Architects are fortunate to have a wide variety of...

Vistacraft Engineers
Feb 14, 20153 min read


Thermal Comfort in the Earthship
an elongated plan form oriented on an east-west axis, extensive amounts of glazing on the sun-facing flank, earth-sheltering by berming...

Vistacraft Engineers
Feb 6, 20154 min read


Kitchens Guzzle Energy and Water, But a Green Kitchen Uses Less
The open plan kitchen at Sun and Sky House, http://www.silvernailarch.com/nhSun+Sky.html Plan Carefully for the Busiest Room in the House...

Vistacraft Engineers
Jan 15, 20153 min read


Building Ecology and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
Research applying the approaches ecologists use to the understanding of ecosystems can help increase our understanding. “Building ecology...

Vistacraft Engineers
Jan 13, 20153 min read


The Role of Buildings and the Case for Whole Building Design
The ‘Whole Buildings’ process draws from the knowledge pool of all the stakeholders across the life cycle of the project, from defining...

Vistacraft Engineers
Jan 13, 20152 min read


Straw Building And The Principles Of Passive Solar Design: A Primer
“It all has to do with why did you build this building here? Why did you transport that oil halfway across the earth?” Pliny Fisk III...

Vistacraft Engineers
Jan 11, 201511 min read


Wind Ventilation Strategies
Using the wind for passive cooling and fresh air Wind ventilation is a type of passive ventilation that uses the force of the wind to...

Vistacraft Engineers
Jan 8, 20153 min read


Pattern Language No.159: Light On Two Sides Of Every Room
“When they have a choice, people will always gravitate to those rooms which have light on two sides, and leave the rooms which are lit...

Vistacraft Engineers
Dec 23, 20143 min read


Infinity Pools in Home Design: 5 Best Practices
An infinity pool can be used to frame how your home is to be perceived from a pre-selected vantage point. Our firm was recently...

Vistacraft Engineers
Dec 16, 20144 min read


Pattern Language No.117: A Sheltering Roof
House in Zakopane, Poland Architect/theorist Christopher Alexander conceptualized Pattern #117: Sheltering Roof in his 1977 book, A...

Vistacraft Engineers
Dec 11, 20142 min read


The Design of Beach Houses
The beach house is a construction dedicated to the worship of the sun The beach house occupies a special place in our hearts. It...

Vistacraft Engineers
Dec 7, 20141 min read


Plumbing for Safe Drinking Water
The Study “Drinking Water Quality Performance for Newly Installed Polypropylene and Crosslinked Polyethylene Plumbing Pipe” questions the...

Vistacraft Engineers
Nov 27, 20145 min read


Design Strategies for Effective Daylighting
Principles for utilizing natural light include: • use diffused rather than direct sunlight. • avoid over-glazing which may cause glare...

Vistacraft Engineers
Nov 16, 20142 min read


Integrated Design Process (IDP) for Homeowners
The Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) describes Integrated Project Delivery as “an approach to the design and construction process that...

Vistacraft Engineers
Nov 16, 20142 min read
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