Posts in Industry News
Should You Build A House This Summer?

Prices are incredibly high, builders and designers are incredibly busy. Would it be silly to start a new project right now?

It’s a tough question. It’s a personal question. My friend Ed Earl and his colleagues give us a little reality check…

Read More
Air Seal Without Sending People to the Hospital

Ever heard of sick building syndrome? It started with tightly sealed buildings. It's a good idea to seal buildings but how do we do it without sending people to the hospital?

Read More
The Air in Your Home

IAQ. Indoor Air Quality.

It used to be that homes were built to “breathe", but it's very expensive to heat or cool a house that “breathes”.

Now we focus on sealing tight the walls, roof, and foundation. Much better for energy efficiency but it introduces a new problem; now we’re inside with all the fumes and humidity trapped within our home. Sealed homes can have bad IAQ. (If you're designing a new house with me, this won't happen because we'll ventilate properly and use the right materials. But if you're living in an existing house already, it could be an issue.)

Bad indoor air causes allergies, headaches, and respiratory issues like asthma. But there are ways to maintain healthy indoor air in your home. Check out my recent blog post for a few suggestions. [Read time: 5 minutes]

Read More
The Pretty Good House

You may be thinking… “It costs a fortune to build a sustainable house! I can’t afford that!” Fear not, there are relatively affordable solutions to this problem. And thankfully, some really smart people put it all together and gave it an awesome name… the PRETTY GOOD HOUSE.

Read More
Integrated Project Delivery: It’s Common Sense

IPD is the simple, common sense way to build.

I’ve written a couple articles about project delivery methods. But there’s one method I haven’t written about yet, which is crazy because it’s my favorite. It’s called Integrated Project Delivery.

Most homeowners don’t even know IPD exists but it’s quickly gaining popularity with building industry pros.

Read More
Tank Storage VS. Tankless Water Heaters

The good and bad of the most popular water heaters.

With every new project I ask: What type of water heater would you like, tank storage or tankless? And over the last three years homeowners’ answers have been varied, but most people just seem confused. Here are the pros and cons to clear things up.

Read More
Pros and Cons of Shipping Container Homes

So many clients and friends ask me about the seemingly perfect idea of container homes. You know: homes that use shipping containers as their structure and enclosure. Until now, I couldn't really offer an opinion except to say, "Yeah! Those DO seem perfect in every way." But nothing's perfect, right??

Read More
In Defense of Meat

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to give you this... an education on animal farming! My husband and I recently spent a week helping our good friend Katie on her farm in Rhode Island. What we learned there was totally mind blowing.

Read More
Tiny Spaces: Why Do We Like Them?

A recent article questions our love of small spaces.

How do Tiny Spaces make you feel? Do you want to stay? Or run away? Recently, The New York Times published a quick and very interesting article that made me think. Why do people like Tiny Houses? Molly Young thinks she has the answer.

Read More