LOCUS Architecture BLOG

Locus returns to the Minneapolis Home & Garden Show in less than a week, March 4-8. We’ve promised to bring back the big black chunk and drop it dead center in the “Green Scene” at the east end of Innovation Avenue, Booth 132.

We’ll be showing some recent work, and participating in the great Home Show social experiment. Imagine a very large elevator, say 300′ X 1,500′, where people try very hard to avoid all eye contact, at least with anyone in sales. Then imagine these very same people trying to quickly scan booths to see if there’s anything of interest (read: free) they can snag before locking eyes – and ending up in a 10-minute conversation – with a very motivated salesperson.

Come see how our intros (“The lack of twin-walled polycarbonate in your life keeping you up at night?” or “Bet you want to know how the use of vinyl billboards can reduce your carbon footprint!”) stack up to the typical sales pitches (“How’s the show? Can I talk to you about astroturf?” or “I’ve got something that’s going to allow you to spend more of your time playing golf.”) Stop by and tell us how we’re doing.

Open until 10pm every day except Sunday. See you there.

While there are many ways to define master planning, I would summarize it as looking to, and planning for, the future. This concept applies to many different disciplines including business management, human resources, space usage, green building goals, user groups, programs offered, and facilities operations & management. Master planning helps clients to be visionary about where they want to go, which allows them the perspective to make tactical decisions about program and building goals, rather than simply reacting to an imminent functional need or emergency situation. I am a strong proponent of this process for just about any building type, including residential, commercial, educational, and other public institutions.

I believe a thoughtful approach to master planning is especially important to churches for a number of reasons. First, a master plan document can save a client money. With an initial (more…)

That’s “Valentine’s Day” in case your mind went elsewhere. On Saturday night, our Northrup King neighbor/artist/co-owner-of-Two-Betties Shannyn Joy Potter helped throw VD09, a party/gallery opening/micro event. It was captured on film by Matt Peiken of 3-minute egg (17 feb 09 episode), your daily dose of the Twin Cities Arts Scene. If you look closely in a couple of the interviews, you can see the wall of the Locus office. Not exactly famous, but hey, we weren’t left on the cutting-room floor.

After a three-week hiatus, the highly anticipated final entry in Locus’ favorite green materials for the home. I conclude with green products.

1. Paperstone. Made with 100% post-consumer recycled paper and a “petroleum-free resin”, it can be made into counters, desk surfaces, vanity tops, exterior siding, and even bathroom stall partitions. You might hope the paper you toss in the recycling bin comes back to you inexpensively as Paperstone – but not so. We’ve found it to rival concrete and lesser expensive granites. The colors tend to be in the darker spectrum, but (unlike stone) the surface is not cold to the touch. www.paperstoneproducts.com

Paperstone Counter

2. Vetrazzo. Made primarily from recycled glass and cement, Vetrazzo is a striking – and pricey – surface. We’ve yet to use it, but it’s only a matter of time. www.vetrazzo.com Both Paperstone and Vetrazzo can be found – and fondled – along with a few other locally produced options – at Natural Built Home in Minneapolis.

Vetrazzo

3. Linoleum. Manufactured from renewable materials (linseed oil, wood flour, jute), linoleum patterns range from the mundane to the wacky. Colors aren’t in short supply; you can find the color your grandmother had on the laundry room, or another that has more in common with a Jackson Pollock canvas. Typically used as flooring, we’ve also used linoleum for desktops, table tops and wainscoting. We typically specify Forbo Marmoleum, but there are others on the market. While poking around the Forbo site, take a look at the bulletin board products, a great wall surface for a kid’s bedroom.

Linoleum Colors

4. Cork. Cork is a renewable material, the self-repairing bark from the cork oak tree, a native of the Mediterranean. Harvest of the raw material requires stripping the bark from the tree, a process which apparently does not damage the tree. Harvest may commence after the tree’s twenty-fifth birthday, and can repeat every nine years for as many as 20 harvests. The finished flooring product comes in a variety of colors and can be installed “glue down” or “floating”.

5. Bamboo. We did an earlier post on bamboo. See it here.

6. Crossville Ecocycle. Don’t like the thinner resilient flooring? A stained concrete radiant floor not your thing? Consider tile. Crossville, a tile manufacturer based in Tennessee, is one of a handful of tile makers to add recycled material to a product line. Granted, clay isn’t the easiest thing to reclaim, but the Ecocycle line has 40% recycled content. We’d still prefer you buy tile at Clay Squared in Minneapolis and support our local artists, but if that’s not in the cards, Ecocycle is a good and relatively inexpensive green option.

7. FLOR. If you’re somebody that just has to have carpet, consider FLOR tiles. Manufactured with very low VOCs (volatile organic compounds – think “new carpet” smell), FLOR will take back carpet when you’re done with it. They don’t just chuck it, but turn it into new carpet product. If the myriad of FLOR options still isn’t grabbing your attention and you’re headed elsewhere, try to avoid nylon choices and consider a quality wool carpet. It’s more expensive, but a good quality wool carpet might outlive you! It also cleans easily in most cases. Not so with nylon. For a more custom approach, contact Kelly Marshall of Custom Woven Interiors. She’ll make a rug for you that will become a family heirloom.

8. Warmboard. Warmboard allows homeowners with hardwood floors to enjoy radiant heat. A thin aluminum plate molded to a structural subfloor is pretty much it. Simple? Yes, but very clever. The manufacturer has figured out how to press the plate into the channels for the tubing. Install the tubes, put down the floor and you’re done. The manufacturer is convinced a low-thermal-mass composite is better for most homes – and with that, we STRONGLY disagree for our cold climate. Nevertheless, we like the product for homeowners that want wood radiant-heat-floors. www.warmboard.com

Warmboard

9. Navien Hot Water Heaters. My friend, Bob Alf, is a local green contractor in the Twin Cities. He sent this along to me a few months back. “A recent arrival is now head-and-shoulders better than anything on the market, Navien. It is a condensing unit, 98% efficient. Get’s more gallons per minute than anything else at a 70+ degree rise. Solves the ‘cold sandwich’ issue with a mini-buffer tank. Also has a recirculating pump with timer so you can shoot instant hot water to a far away fixture without wasting much energy. Also a stainless Steel exchanger, with the best warranty in the business. Plumbers love them because the venting is easier to install than any other unit.” Sounds good.

10. Paints & finishes. Having trouble finding environmental finishes? Paint your walls with Yolo Paint or a milk paint. Lucky enough to have concrete floors with plenty of thermal mass? Try Ecoprocote concrete stains in lieu of acid-based products. Finally, for wood floors, we prefer Rubio Monocoat – a plant based finish for wood floors that is easy to clean and repair.

Clients, friends, co-workers, people at dinner parties tell me they’d like to buy “stuff” that is more green, but they don’t know where to go or look. I’m no expert where to buy environmentally friendly books, car parts, or clothing, but I do know where I look for things for the home.

For new green building materials, I tell people to start at Natural Built Home. The store is in Minneapolis, and sells flooring, countertops, cabinets, some building materials, tile, sinks, plumbing fixtures, cleaning supplies, paints, plasters, concrete stains, and even offers classes on techniques on how to use the products.

For reused or salvaged architectural products, we frequent Bauer Bros. Salvage (everything you can imagine from gargoyles to tombstones to quarter-sawn oak buffets), Manomin Timber (beautiful old growth timbers from warehouses and grain elevators), and the Reuse Center (trim, cabinetry – a friend bought an entire kitchen worth of beautiful pine cabinets made in Germany there, leaded glass windows, 2X4s, and perhaps even an old red rooster wind vane). You never know what you might find, but if you go to Bauer Bros., go on a weekday dressed (and talking) like a contractor to get the best prices.

Hello, Phil Hofstad here again. Before I try to tackle this question, I want to give a caveat. Even within our office, we have a range of viewpoints on just about everything from M&Ms (with or without peanuts) to what defines modernism. This diversity of opinion includes spirituality and religion. We respect and value each others’ experiences and values, as well as those of our clients. I wouldn’t presume to speak for any of them. The following article summarizes my personal thoughts on the issue of sustainability.

At first glance, asking whether or not God cares about sustainability might seem odd or somehow even misplaced. However, it is a question that I am increasingly confronted with. Since our beginning, LOCUS has always sought to be good stewards of the earth’s resources through sustainable techniques that promote (more…)