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I also live in an apartment, but one with a big patio, 3 Redwood trees (which was a bad idea executed by someone else) and a Tibouchina. I use it as a testing area too, since I don’t own this garden, I am just renting the space. I grow all sorts of things but I am not all that great about keeping up on the maintenance so it is weedy. Many of my…[Read more]

I have also lived in my fair share of apartments or homes without a yard, until now! I am renting a home in the city, so while the yard is small, it has a lot of potential. The owners were the previous tenants, and with 4 black thumbs between the two of them, the yard is now mostly weeds. I would love to invest my time and labor into the yard, but…[Read more]

I had a company doing wastewater recycling, which arose out of necessity during a dought. I closed the company once the drought was over, as it is not my passion, but the experience has proven valuable.
There are a vast number of systems on the market, most of which use a very similar system. Essentially, you are farming bacteria. There are two…[Read more]

Chaos! With tiny bits of thoughtful design here and there. I mostly use my home garden as a big test plot for plants I want to use in designs. I try not to spec. something I haven’t grown myself. So I have a jumble of this and that as a result. And I always grab a few things from my projects where an existing landscape is getting torn out or…[Read more]

Kevin,

I have a really good book that goes into detail (including detailed drawings, diagrams and calculations) about how to design and build rainwater catchment systems, graywater systems, etc. It’s called “Design For Water” by Heather Kinkade-Levario. You can also try talking to Paul Bassett of Hydrologix.
http://www.hydro-logix.com/
Paul used…[Read more]

I am glad you wrote an article addressing this topic. It does seem like there is a lot of pressure to validate ourselves with more and more credentials. I thought when I got my RLA I would be done. Now with the competition for work being so intense it seems inevitable that just to be marketable it will be necessary to become LEED certified, even…[Read more]

I created a blog were I show all the news in my garden “http://jardimehorta.blogspot.com/”. unfortunately is in Portuguese, I don’t have the time, yet, to make it bilingue. but you can have a look and then tell me what you think of it.
By the way, your garden seems fine but a bit fresh, it needs time to be more expressive. Good luck

Are you looking for something like living machines? Here’s an example of what they are and I’ll give a brief description of the little I know….http://www.livingmachines.com/

The system’s utilize plant material and fish to help break down and purify wastewater through a series of lagoons and constructed planting beds, usually in a green house…[Read more]

I like deans approach, follow the bread crumbs to find the power behind the project and then see where your latitude and power is located.

Yeah, that would be fine. Its the sort of plugin that a basic implementation is easy. But just adding a few simple features can make it rather complicated to write. So we’ll start simple and see how useful it is 🙂 But yes, email the info to me and I’ll look at it.

@Bob, yup I’ve been on here for a long time. I have not been very active, but I’m…[Read more]

I don’t know about other people’s experience, but for myself I have seen that all three of the groups you mentioned have egos. I have seen Architects, Engineers, and LA’s that all want to be in charge. So what has worked for me is to see who is writing the checks, who brought you to the table? Then an open and frank conversation is all that is…[Read more]

You don’t know how happy I am to meet you. I would love to see what you could come up with.. I will email you with some data and stuff a little later if that is ok

Chris you are in the world of Land8, I knew you would be the guy to get in touch with.

Well,

I think the easiest way to incorporate this kind of experience would be to actually distill some of the places we make. It’s been a long day and I know that probably isn’t the best verbage. In other words, maybe not incorporating guard rails along steep embankments, fo example. I think there’s certainly an appropriate time and place to try…[Read more]

Hi Jacob, yes that kind of thing is possible to do in a Sketchup plugin. There are a few different ways to implement it. I think the best way depends on your workflow. But I have some ideas. I could write a very simple version for you. Maybe something that just export all the surface area of different materials used in a model. Then it would be…[Read more]

Inherent danger has been translated by lawyers into attractive nuisance. Your point approaches the edge of liability thinking…should we as designers promote danger as a planned experience? Of course amusement rides have played to this psyche, but always within the constraint of public health and safety. Within the necessary confines of civilized…[Read more]

i think it would be ideal to have all in sketchup…but really, there are some plugins i have that will do it all in sketchup then automatically insert it into an excel spread sheet. so I’m pretty sure it can be done, I’m just not that savvy in programing. i am trying to cut out/shorten the steps to getting the numbers i want by having it compute…[Read more]

i have, they have a volume plugin but i cant find anyone who has anything like this