GAB Report library
Residential
-
Affordable Housing Project Incorporates Largest Residential Solar Photovoltaic System in San Francisco
What do you do when your project has close to 40,000 square foot of roof space in one city block, good sun exposure, and no shading impediments? Go solar, of course, and generate your own electricity with a renewable energy source. Mosaica, one of the largest green, mixed-use projects located in San Francisco, California, boasts…
-
Maximizing the Green Footprint: How Much Green Impact Can You Make?
In our article The Story of the Fireside: Seeing the Green in Value Engineering, we discussed how value engineering helps one take a systematic approach to evaluating a building system or product from different perspectives. This feature takes a closer look at the three types of green product categories and how you can evaluate them.…
-
Simplify Solar with the First Curved Solar Roofing Tile
After two long days of non-stop hustling between seminars and product exhibits at the AIA (American Institute of Architects) 2009 National Convention and Expo, I was on my last stretch of speed walking through 800 plus vendor stalls. Fatigued and with a growling stomach, I was about to call it a day until I saw…
-
Sripadanna Residence: Going for the (LEED for Homes) Gold
Is it possible to achieve a 20 °F difference between indoor and outdoor spaces using passive design when it’s a blazing 100 °F outside? Yes, it is possible, and architect Hari Sripadanna has proven so in his house.The Sripadanna Residence is located in Saratoga, California, an area which experiences hot weather in the summer and…
-
Integrated Design for Renewables (IDR)
As designers and implementers of design, we know that integrated design theoretically makes sense. However, when it comes to installing renewable energy systems, it is more and more critical that we actually put theory into action. So I’d like to go through a couple of real world examples of what can happen (or not happen)…
-
The Story of The Fireside: Seeing the Green in Value Engineering
Value engineering. The term often evokes trimming down a project. However, used properly, it can be a positive tool that helps one take a systematic approach to evaluating a building system or product from different perspectives. In the realm of greening a project, value engineering is an important part of the decision making process. Value…
-
Mosaica: A Sustainable Community
Years ago, I came upon a bustling weekend flea market situated on a lot disfigured by broken concrete and asphalt, and anchored by a dilapidated warehouse structure in the middle of the site. Who would have thought that I would end up as the construction manager working for the developer who gave the site a…
-
The Story of The Fireside: Green, Affordable Housing
Right off of California Highway 101 and along the way to Stinson Beach, there sits a project “that could.” It accomplished many feats over the course of its development. As the construction manager on this project, I’ll be sharing my insight on the project’s green building process over a series of articles. Almost ten years…
-
Berkeley’s Latest Super-Green Project
During my student days at U.C. Berkeley, my friends and I would go to the Great China Restaurant for dinner and the California Theaters for a movie. Along the way, there was a big parking lot which was often viewed as an eye-sore. More than 10 years later, this lot has been transformed into two…