Saturday, November 13, 2010

Happy Weekend!


Have a happy, fun, safe, and relaxing weekend!






Meghan

1 comment:

  1. Despite these challenges, mass timber represents a fantastic opportunity for the construction industry. The world’s population is both growing and urbanizing rapidly. This means more, buildings, denser buildings Modern CLT House more steel, more concrete and more carbon emissions. According to Canadian architect Michael Green, who is well-known for his use of CLT, steel and concrete combined represent 8% of the total greenhouse emissions. The building industry contributes 47% of the United States’ CO2 emissions. In his TED Talk, Michael makes a strong case as to why we should be building skyscrapers from wood.

    We believe that it’s time that we look to alternative materials complete building system to meet the building demands of the 21st century. But we also have an urgent duty to decrease carbon emissions and unsustainable building practices. CLT provides a perfect solution for this complex issue. It’s sustainable, low-energy, and carbon negative, and it allows architects to dream, design, and build bigger.

    There’s no doubt about it–Whistler is cold! But what if you could erect a house US Cross Laminated Timber House that requires no furnace and is toasty warm through even the most harsh of months? Well, that’s exactly the challenge that Treberspurg & Partner Architekten were faced with when they were asked to design Austria House – Canada’s first Passive House which made its debut during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

    The “secret” to Passive House design, as we mentioned above, is to ensure that the structure is airtight. This means that various insulation methods Cross Laminated Timber Building must become the central focus in the design. The Austria House was built facing south, with large windows on the south side. The foundation is insulated and comprised of 10 inches of expanded polystyrene foam, or EPS foam, laid on top of the concrete. The air inside the house heats the foam in the winter (and cools it in summer) which creates a thermal mass. This thermal mass helps the house maintain a consistent interior temperature. There are many other fascinating features of this Passive House you can read about here.

    What you may not realize is that this home was actually shipped from Europe Modern CLT Buildings in containers! The Austria House was a collaboration between the Austrian Passive House Group and the Resort Municipality of Whistler

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