Categories: smart design Posted by: Michelle
on January 16th, 2008
mkLotus design by Michelle Kaufmann Designs/ photo by John Swain
They say that when a “For Dummies” book comes out in your field (i.e. Estate Planning for Dummies, Blues Guitar for Dummies, Baby Signing for Dummies) then it’s a very good thing: you can be sure you’ve got an established, interested market out there. So the recent launch of my friend Eric Corey Freed’s addition to the list, Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies, has all of us at MKD ecstatic. However, we are savvy enough to not rely on the existence of this fantastic book as our sole metric for how well green building is doing as an industry. We like numbers, too. For example, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has reported that the number of U.S. cities with green building programs has increased 418 percent since 2003. Not bad.
Categories: smart design Posted by: Michelle
on January 15th, 2008
Cell Phones #2, Atlanta, 2005. (Chris Jordan)
Some people just get it. Like Allison Arieff. She gets it. Allison (original prefab queen) is a good friend of mine who writes a monthly column and a blog with the New York Times. As I read Allison’s blog posting for today, titled “Function Dysfunction”, I felt like someone had read my mind and then put my thoughts down in smart, eloquent prose for all the Times readers in the world to see. She made an incredibly insightful observation that, “every year (or month or quarter) we are presented with more functionality, though not necessarily more utility or efficiency,” and the statement rang so true for me.
Categories: smart design Posted by: Michelle
on January 15th, 2008
Marin county
Alex Hinds is a leader who makes me proud to be a Marin County resident. Why? Alex is the director of Marin County’s Community Development Agency (the CDA is a department that combines Planning, Building & Safety, and Environmental Health Services) and if any of you have ever visited our county then you have probably seen our beautiful, thriving communities and can understand my sentiments. Recently, Alex has given MC residents another reason to feel good: under his leadership the CDA implemented the county’s Sustainability Program, which has just earned the American Planning Association’s (APA) prestigious 2008 National Planning Award for Excellence. According to the APA, “Marin County’s contribution to sustainable living merits national attention.” To get a better idea of why the CDA’s program was worthy of such attention and praise I talked to Alex about what he’s been doing the past few years:
Categories: mkSolaire™ @ MSI Posted by: Michelle
on January 14th, 2008
One of the most wonderful things about be a part of the “Smart Home: Green + Wired” project is actually getting to work with the Museum of Science and Technology. This museum is so near and dear to my heart because it was such a significant part of my childhood. One day while I was in middle school, my entire 8th grade class of 300 kids piled into a caravan of buses and drove from Iowa to Chicago just to visit this museum. My classmates and I spent the entire day going through fascinating exhibits on things like coal mines, railroads, and an actual reproduction of an old-timey “Main Street”.
I was also really interested in the building itself. The building was the only in-place surviving building from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. I walked through the Beaux Arts building amazed and inspired (you just didn’t get to see buildings like this one in Iowa at that time!). The mixture of the grand architecture and the science was intoxicating. After that visit, I signed up for as many architecture and science classes as I could for the following semester. Based on our work at MKD, you can see that the mixture of these two interests has clearly persisted in me!
Categories: mkSolaire™ @ MSI Posted by: Michelle
on January 11th, 2008
This is our living/dining room module. The openings you see are where the glass will be installed. Photo from All-American Homes
Andy Warhol’s Factory (his famous NY studio) has got nothing on ours! Just look at these photos of the fabulous work that’s going on at All-American Homes’ factory in preparation for our exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago opening this May. The wall framing has gone up on our mkSolaire™ and the sheetrock has been applied. The framing uses something called “finger jointing”, which is a way to use small wood pieces left over from other milling processes that would otherwise go to waste. The wood pieces are finger jointed (edges cut to resemble fingers) and then glued together.
Categories: mkSolaire™ @ MSI Posted by: Michelle
on January 10th, 2008
photo taken January 10 by JB Spector
We were so excited today when our friends at MSI sent photos of the progress happening there that we just had to share it with you! As you can see from this shot, the formwork has gone up and is now awaiting the pouring of concrete. The house is also going to have a crawlspace underneath. This area in its underbelly will allow for wiring and plumbing hookups and will also house the barrels for the home’s water catchment system. But don’t worry - this isn’t the last you’ll see of what’s beneath the home. “Truth windows” in the house’s floor will let you glimpse what’s going on down there even after the building is complete!
Categories: water conservation Posted by: Michelle
on January 10th, 2008
Drains are pretty scary things. Think of all the valuables that can be lost down them: watches down storm drains, rings down pool drains, water down sink drains. That’s right, letting the water just flow away down your drain after you wash your hands is just like loosing your wedding ring down it – well, maybe not just like that. But there is value to be found in that used water.
Categories: mkSolaire™ @ MSI Posted by: Michelle
on January 9th, 2008
Radiant heating system, photo from All American Homes
We are “floored” with excitement over progress being made by the terrific folks at All American, the factory constructing the mkSolaire™ that will be on display at MSI this spring. As you can see from these fantastic photos, the floor framing has been completed and the radiant heating system installed! This radiant heating system is a super exciting green aspect of the home that will supply heat directly to the floors of the home. Imagine waking up when it’s freezing cold outside, swinging your feet out of your cozy bed, and stepping onto a warm floor instead of an icy one!
Categories: mkSolaire™ @ MSI Posted by: Michelle
on January 7th, 2008
Tonight I am actually posting this blog entry to you from beautiful Chicago. I am here at the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) for this super exciting announcement: we have been working very hard for the past few months to get to this point and are now finally ready and delighted to announce that MKD is going to be a part of the “Smart Home: Green + Wired, Powered by ComEd and Warmed by Peoples Gas” exhibit at MSI that’s opening this spring! The exhibit is going to include a full-size mkSolaire™ home to be built in on parkland on the southeast side of the Museum and will showcase the very best in sustainable living concepts and solutions. The exhibit will open May 8, 2008.
