Charles A. Warsinske

Interesting.  Two entities fighting over who will make money selling another guide to prescriptive design.  There is nothing new in the SITES project except adding points up to get to some magical level so you can pin a gold star on your wall.  We really don’t need another entity telling us how to design sustainable projects.  We have been doi…[Read more]

Our office has done several green roofs and are now working on a project where I want to do both green roofs and green walls. I have a pretty good handle on the roofs, but have been having a tough time getting the green wall people to respond with samples of their products. I have offered to buy the samples but so far they have not responded. I’m…[Read more]

The Washington Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (WASLA) just hosted Ray a couple of weeks ago here in Seattle. He taught his 3-day seminar on Section E. We had a full room and the comments coming in from those who participated have been very good. Everybody commenting said it was very much worth while and well worth the time…[Read more]

The “felt” fabric. Blanc’s installations has two layers of fabric that he drips his water/fertilizer solution through. This is a non-soil installation. The plants root into the fabric and fed by the solution.

What is difficult to understand, and what the passing rates do not reflect, is the number of times a person has taken that section of the exam. For example, the 20 percent of those taking Section B might be taking it for the second or third time. Whether or not taking a section multiple times improves your chances of passing is unknown at least by…[Read more]

My civil engineer handed me a brochure on the Filterra Bioretention System which appears to be a vault, filled with gravel, sand and a little peat moss that takes in and filters storm water. The vault is topped with a tree grate where you plant a plant from the recommended list provided by Filterra. Has anyone used this system? They recommend that…[Read more]

The legislator happens to be a brick mason. I heard that only 30 percent of the people in the Washington legislature have college degrees. This might say something about their lack of support for teachers, colleges and universities.

In order to pass the new practice act in Washington, we had to capitulate to a legislator who said he “is an apprentice kind of guy”. So now the state LA Board is drawing up rules for the act’s implementation. One of the areas being addressed is this aspect of the legislation. As it stands now, the law gives a big boost to kids of licensed…[Read more]

Naomi
We have done quite a few parking lots with the planting islands as depressed catchment areas. Most of the time we have to plumb them together to get rid of the water as infiltration is not good. One problem I have seen is that these areas tend collect litter and looks bad unless cleaned oftern.

Its the pathogens. Greywater is almost as bad as sewer water. Getting people sick in the name of LEED does not seem to be the way to go.

I always thought that greywater has too many pathogens to be safely used for irrigation anywhere people would come in contact with it. Not true?

Cole

Good comments. It is annoying to listen to disciples of the “new” green movement who lack the understanding necessary to design facilities that actually work and can be maintained (sustained). Even here in the NW we have LID facilities being required in locations where they just will not work.

I have a small office here in Seattle and we are doing what you suggest. We have gathered up un and under-employed folks and are looking for competitions to pursue. We submitted our first entry for a sculpture garden in Oregon last month and are looking for another. The ones you have mentioned sound interesting.

Charlie

I am currently working on a classroom addition for a high school which is a LEED project. We are designing a central courtyard that demonstrates a variety of LID features. These include porous concrete paving, four rain gardens and a cistern that collects rain water from the roof. Most of the materials being used have some recycled content. We are…[Read more]

I’ve used a variety of green roof techniques which have been more or less successful. I’m gathering information about what folks have done with green walls, the materails they have used and their success. I’ve read quite a bit about Patrick Blanc’s work but keep wondering about maintenance and costs. I’m currently looking into the nonwoven…[Read more]

This really is the time to start new things. During past down turns, many new, small firms grew, new ideas explored and new energy was built upon. Seattle will soon be updating the neighborhood plans. This is an opportunity to look again at where we live and work and provide leadership in making the right improvements. Much progress has been…[Read more]

Ya Bill, all I know is when a local suburban city requires the planting of natives in parking lot islands that get hammered by not only the heated asphalt but also the vehicle exhaust, I tend to shake my head. With pedestrians tromping through and no irrigation, it is just tough sledding. What we need is to educate the planners who write the…[Read more]

We are being asked more and more to do less and less irrigation on our projects here in and around Seattle. One might think, “so what, it is always raining in Seattle.” This is not quite true. We have had a very dry summer here but we are only about an inch below average for the year. Many native and non native plants are suffering, and will not…[Read more]

Just slid into this group. Many of the Washington State funded building design projects require a LEED certification. I’ve been involved in the number of LEED workshops on projects for community colleges in the state. I am not up to speed on the newer landscape/site related LEED certification. I know from past projects, the landscape/site related…[Read more]

I’ve been working in this profession for 37 years and have found that as time goes by, landscape architect’s role gets more and more narrow. 30 years ago, I was doing natural resource analysis, coastal management programs and land use plans. Now to do much of anything with natural resources we have to hire biologists, geologists, soils engineers,…[Read more]