Boilerplater

So you’re not intending the screen to be covered with leaves eventually?  No vines growing on it?

I love that kind of stuff…using natural processes & organisms as part of larger environmental restoration schemes.  Thanks for posting!

So I guess things are pretty good in the DC area?  I’ve noticed a few job postings in the area lately.

Look up the book “Gritty Cities” and see the chapter on Troy.  The authors realized the virtues of the town some 30 years ago.

I drove through Tijuana after a heavy rain once.  Really disgusting.  The highway was flooding with water that was foamy and reeked of sewage.  I realized that water would be draining to the ocean, just ~15 miles south of Coronado.  That is the cost in having such a huge disparity in labor costs over the border.  No money for proper infra…[Read more]

That looks great.  I really should’ve kept more of the projects I worked on.  Time to step up the game!

So why not go for geology?  You won’t spend much time outdoors working as an LA!

I was under the impression that green wall systems allow for an air gap behind the growing medium to keep the wall cladding dry.  Waterproofing will not look very nice when the plants are bare in winter!

Your mention of local building practices and the need for face-to-face contact with a client reminded me of something I saw recently on Fareed Zakaria’s “GPS” program on CNN.  I like his take on global issues and how they relate to our current economic situation.  Anyway, he had a list of jobs that he thought would be better able to withstand t…[Read more]

I’ll take it.  Consider me heartened.

When I didn’t allow myself to be abused I was let go!  They figure they can find more kids just out of school who are willing to take the abuse while they hang visions of a brighter future in front of them.

Wha?  Was that meant for someone else? I don’t see how it relates to my post.

Looks like recent SoCal weather will result in a bit of work for some residential LAs: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40779006/ns/weather
 
Earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, floods…of course we don’t hope for them, but they do create a lot of work, along with a chance to rebuild better.

Don’t forget that a lot of those public sector projects will be designed by private sector firms and built by private sector companies, using materials supplied by private sector companies.  When the people in those companies have more to spend, their money gets circulated around the economy.

I’ve been corresponding with an old friend of mine who has been in real estate finance for many years and has a business degree from Wharton (UPENN).  He does development finance, not a mortgage broker.  I mentioned that Cramer of CNBC’s “Mad Money” was recommending home builder stocks as he thinks a turn around in housing will be in 2013, and h…[Read more]

I was just wondering if you had looked into and of the urban design masters programs.  Going by your posts on other Land8 threads, seems like it (might) be a thing you’d be into.  I know some are 1 year programs.  I thought one of those might be a better resume booster for someone licensed with a BLA.  I was also considering a planning mas…[Read more]

Well-written & researched, what with the percentage types of LA programs and all.  Reminded me of a news bit I saw earlier today about how student loan debt is now greater than credit card debt in the US.  We all need to be very careful about the debts we get ourselves into.  I’ll be interested to hear the feedback you get from your pr…[Read more]

I thought it just meant that a building does not use more energy than it produces.  For example, it might have a large solar array that offsets any other energy inputs in might need.  It refers to the operating costs of the building, not the environmental impacts of the construction.  It might be so well insulated that the mechanical systems it us…[Read more]

I get an error when I try to zoom in!  Do you not want to post the text here due to copyright issues?

You’ve had plant material from Holland and Italy used in the Middle East?  It was able to adapt to the drastically different climate?  Sorry, I know that’s not helping you.  Its just a surprising thing for me to read in this post.  Maybe its time for some SoCal desert nurseries to look into shipping plants your way.  They have a lot of inve…[Read more]