Articles about architecture, engineering, city planning, software, construction and other fun stuff. Put together by architects at EVstudio in Denver Colorado.

Tag Archive for ‘Sustainable’

Off Grid Home Trends

Now completed, the Schuler Residence in Lake George is a log home that is completely off grid due to it’s remote location in the mountains of Colorado. The home has a photovoltaic (PV) array with a full battery storage system as well as a propane tank and a site managed water and wastewater system. This [...]

Passive Solar Cooling – Solar Chimneys & Cool Tower

Passive solar cooling may seem like an oxymoron to many. After all, the sun is hot and we’ve learned that radiant energy heats up everything on earth that it strikes? That is true and we can use it to our advantage. Keeping things cool The first step in passive solar cooling is to simply keep [...]

LEED VOC MSDS SCAQMD

Part of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is to provide better environments for building occupants. Something we do every day but don’t think about much is breathing. Our lungs are very sensitive to contaminants and dust. If you have ever walked into a new building or been in a new car you [...]

The Six Components of Successful Daylighting Part II

Last week we talked about the first two components of successful daylighting. This week we follow up with the next two: Assess lighting needs for typical visual needs Use of apertures to create focus and mood These two components are somewhat advanced strategies the breathe life into the space and make it more dynamic, all [...]

SIPs Design Guidelines to Reduce Cost

We just recently completed another SIPs design for a single family home in Colorado. Along the way, we came across some very useful information on how to value design the home so that we were able to achieve the best cost on the SIPs package. While you can design just about anything with SIPs, it is [...]

Modern Mountain Home in Evergreen Colorado Nearing Completion

We’re very excited to be seeing the completion of a modern mountain home we designed in Evergreen Colorado near completion. The Certificate of Occupancy was recently released and the owners are moving in. EVstudio provided all of the Architecture, Structural and Civil Engineering on this project and the seamless integration of each discipline within the [...]

Consider LED Outdoor Lighting to get LEED Points

It’s no surprise that LED lighting has made a significant impact on the energy use for lighting applications with it’s extremely low energy use per footcandle. New ground is being broken in all lighting uses and we are seeing LED lighting in everything from decorative lighting to task lighting.  I recently toured the National Renewable [...]

New Cost Effective Ideas for Daylighting at NREL

We toured the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Research Support Facility, and were able to see a number of design solutions that were relatively low-cost, but provided a great sustainable approach to many of their design goals. One in particular was with Daylighting. The challenge was that they wanted to be able to redirect light from [...]

Controlling Western Sun Glare with Electrochromic Windows at NREL

We recently had the pleasure of touring the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Research Support Facility and one of the many features we saw that contributed to their net zero building was Electrochromic Windows. To be used in applications where there are great views (and as a result, glazing) to the West, which is extremely common [...]

Visualizing Your Next Project with BIM

As EVstudio moves to full integration of the 3D BIM (Building Information Modeling) software Revit we are doing more and more basic renderings as a matter of course. Currently all architectural projects are completed 100% in Revit. Our structural department is gearing up and is currently completing about 75% of their projects in Revit. With [...]

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Denver & Evergreen Colorado, Copperas Cove Texas
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