Even Contractors Want You To Get 2 or 3 Other Bids Though it may sound preposterous, most contractors do not want you to hire them for...

Solar Rebates and Tax Credits California is far and away the most mature residential solar market in the country, which can be both a...

Prindle House, George Washington Smith, architect The Spanish Revival style (1915-1940) includes Spanish Colonial Revival and Spanish...

The house is characterized by strong horizontal lines juxtaposed against both projecting and receding planes and volumes. The flat roof,...

ADU Types For any homeowner on any property their design option will fall into one of four (4) categories, or types, as follows: • ADUs...

Why Solar Tiles Entice Consumers There are consumers who whose tastes run counter to the aesthetic of conventional solar panels. They...

How to get a building permit The great news is that getting a building permit is easier than you think—mostly because you probably don’t...

What Is Rock Wool Insulation? Rock wool, which is also called mineral wool, comes in easy-to-install batts, similar to fiberglass. But...

Smart home technology, also known as home automation, provides homeowners security, comfort, convenience and energy efficiency by...

Modernism is the single most important new style or philosophy of architecture and design of the 20th century, associated with an...

Available at www.sccoplanning.com/ADU, the toolkit includes a summary of recently revised regulations designed to make it easier to build...

1. Adjust your day-to-day behaviors To reduce energy consumption in your home, you do not necessarily need to go out and purchase energy...

What is a flat roof? A flat roof is installed to sit horizontally on top of a building, with very little or no pitch. A flat roof is...

A shed dormer, named after its single roof slope, is the simplest type of dormer. Because it works best running parallel to long building...

Solar-Thermal Cladding The Solar Activated Façade, a cladding system that combines wood louvers and back-vented glazing, is particularly...

Architectural acoustics can be about achieving good speech intelligibility in a theatre, restaurant or railway station, enhancing the...

Community Profile Although Santa Cruz follows “smart growth” principles by encouraging greater density along transportation corridors,...

#1 Plan, Plan, Plan Planning your kitchen remodel should take more time than the actual construction. If you plan well, the amount of...

An accessory dwelling is a small second dwelling on a piece of property, sometimes inside an existing home, in a garage or built...

Aerogel is an almost transparent, very lightweight, material that is produced from silica (silicon dioxide) and up to 99.8 per cent air....