Heather L. Venhaus

Welcome Kevin. It’s great to have you involved with our group. I am a big fan of much of your work which has continued to push the envelope for innovative LID solutions.

I also wanted to mention that I just recently moved to Seattle to pursue 2 Professional certificate Programs at The University of Washington. One is in Wetland Science and M…[Read more]

Welcome Kevin! Thanks Jason for your comments on maintenance. After e-mail chats with many people, the fundamental move is to have regular inspections to look for needed maintenance patterns. I agree that it is a relatively new field for L. archs, and so the phrase “moving target” is apropos for the moment.

Hey folks, check it out!
http://exhibitions.pratt.edu/Design%20Jazz/DesignJazzHTML/DesignJazzevite.html

Chris-
I know exactly what mean. It would be almost impossible to be a true advocate for the client if you were being paid a sales commission from the contractor. The commission I was referring to is more like maybe a “finders fee”, if you will. I run across all sorts of projects and not all of them are appropriate for a designer. So I refer the…[Read more]

Chirs,
Here in Texas we are not required to be licensed for landscape contracting. Sometimes I wish we were because every guy that has lost his job in the last few months has become a landscaper/maintenace contractor. I am sometimes bidding against people that are brand new in the business.
I am working with several Landscape Architects like…[Read more]

Hey Chris,
We are in Phoenix, and we do mainly design and subcontract the work out on high end residential designs. I believe we are the main contractor, and the work is divided accordingly.

Chris,
I operated a design/build company for 25 years where most of the work we did in-house with some sub-contracting on the specialized features. I now work by myself designing and then managing the projects. I have a network of contractors that work on these projects. I have a design fee and then negotiate a management fee with the…[Read more]

Elif-

I have learned that high-level or not, clients don’t read a lot of text. They’re swayed by images, sketches, pretty colors, and your passion. If you say Mondrian, show them what/who that is so they don’t have to ask. Have images that clearly delineate the connection between a Mondrian piece and your design (for example). If you communicate…[Read more]

Chris-
My advice:
If you love design, find a couple of good contractors you can send work to on a regular basis. They will (or should) pay you a commission or referal fee for the work you refer to them. They will in turn send you work, some of which they will pay you for directly. Probably a little at first, then more as your relationship builds.…[Read more]

Hey Chris,
My principal here in AZ is a licensed contractor. It’s pretty involved here, but definitely opens up many opportunities…

Did anyone go to Chicago and see any SSI presentations? Anything good?

i passed mine in march i think, and it didn’t post on the website for 4 months and i just received my certificate yesterday.

I called the USGBC a week or two back they are just beginning to print certificates for those who passed between may and june.

I’m in Southern California too and passed the exam just before the cutoff – it only took 6 or so weeks to get my certificate and listing on the website. I know they are a little behind because of the rush to take the exam before the v2.2 cutoff, but I would be a little more proactive if I was you…you don’t want this to fall through the cracks…[Read more]

thanks. i did check the website and didn’t see my name listed yet but hopeful as you said they are probably just behind schedule.

Check your status on the USGBC web site. If you are listed as a LEED AP there, everything should be fine and you can assume they are just behind in sending out the certificates.

i passed the exam at the end of june and still haven’t received the certificate. anybody has any idea what is going on? i am based in southern california. thanks.

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Yes, the meeting went great! Stacy summed it up pretty good. It was fantastic to have Dominique come in and talk with us about her experiences using SSI on a project. From our discussions, we know there are a lot of kinks in SSI (as one would expect) but my feeling from her was that the document works well in establishing that necessary baseline…[Read more]

I thought it was great – especially Dominique’s experience with SSI for Lenexa City Center project. Several of the pre-requisites were un-achievable on that one. Those points were very worthy, highlighted the critical importance of proper site selction and deemed certainly worth keeping central in the SSI focus, but totally screwd the pooch (so to…[Read more]