Minneapolis architect Marnie Peichel sat down to talk about ways Minneapolis is building better options for our full community — and ways we are not. As one of the 2015 Eco-Blend award winners, for her work designing sustainability into an affordable North Minneapolis multifamily unit, Marnie Peichel is finding the balance between family life and…
Energy & Design
Q&A With Home Designer Michael Anschel
Otogawa-Anschel’s Michael Anschel has been fighting to make things better in Minneapolis housing since he was a teen. He offers insights on energy standardsMinneapolis-based home designer Michael Anschel of Otogawa-Anschel Design+Build (aka OA) led the effort to develop The Minnesota GreenStar building standards, now used in a 7-state region. His has been a long-standing mission…
Energy & Design
Minneapolis and LEED Design
Part of a series that looks at Minneapolis and our approach to sustainable design, climate change and energy efficiency Commercial Minneapolis LEED Buildings might not be as extensive as Portland, Oregon (the general comparison MPLS Green is making in this series), but we do have pioneers. Of 154 LEED-oriented commercial and residential projects in Minneapolis…
Energy & Design
Q&A: Green Architect Alex Haecker
Minneapolis green architect Alex Haecker talks about sustainability myths, green ideas we need to use, and inspiring local innovators in sustainable living.“The greenest building is the building that already exists.” — longtime phrase used in the preservationist architecture industry Growing up in Omaha, Alex Haecker watched a large collection of historic warehouses demolished. It set…
Energy & Design
Q&A: Architect Ron Fergle on Sustainable Materials
East Isles resident Ron Fergle is a global expert on sustainable design, with a particular view of new products for residential solar energy. His insights..In this conversation with architect Ron Fergle, owner of Solart Inc., his passion for the technology and big-picture of the changing landscape of sustainable building is obvious. He is a detail-oriented…
Energy & Design
Q&A: Progressive Landlord Tim Springer
Tim Springer owns properties in Phillips and Powderhorn neighborhoods. Since his undergraduate days at Colby College in Maine, he has been implementing energy efficient measures. In the mid-1980s, he was a board member for the Recycling Association of Minnesota and board president for the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society. Those efforts led him to UC-Berkeley, where…
Energy & Design
Ice Dams, Mold and Insulation
Q: Why do you think it is hard to get older codes updated for newer materials? Tim Eian: Like politics, the building construction process is partially informed by lobbyists who want their products, and their systems, to remain the same. One example for this in recent history in our practice are flexible tubes for ventilation…
Energy & Design
Q&A: Tim Eian on Renovations
I met Tim Eian, owner of Northeast-based TE Studio, at a house demonstration event in St. Anthony Park, and appreciated his articulate, passionate viewpoints about home construction and renovation. I sat down with him for a few hours of conversation, about everything from innovative building materials to progressive politics, from frustrations to hopefulness. Q: What…
Energy & Design
When a Tree Came Down in Lynnhurst: A Renewable Energy Story
When a 280-year-old elm tree in George and Jenna Hutchinson’s backyard had to come down, they turned it into a solar power opportunity. With their new south exposure, they worked with All Energy Solar to put up a rooftop Photo-Voltaic solar array in August 2013. Trained as an architect, and a self-described numbers nerd, George…
Energy & Design
The Energy Field of Nate Hagens
Perspectives on the energy of consumption and its cost to society, from former Wall Street trader-turned-academic Nate Hagens.After a decade living the “high life” as a Wall Street trader, in 2003 Nate Hagens left to become a professional hiker and student, and now enjoys living the “low life” with his dogs on a farm in…