Thomas Durant

Kim, I have seen some examples in Charleston, SC that are using some green street technologies such as curbside bioretention and permeable pavers. I would look up Liberty Hills and Oak Terrace Preserve which I believe are both in North Charleston. Here are some pics:

Does anyone know of any implemented green streets in the Southeast? We are completing a project in Nashville in the next few weeks and wondering if there are others?

I am pulling together a maintenance manual for a design studio that wants to install storm water mitigation in its projects. After reading widely, I have noticed that most information has the same maintenance guidelines. I find it difficult to believe that if sedimentation must be cleaned out 4-5 times a year from an in-street planter in Portland,…[Read more]

Here is another recent article from BuildingGreen.com regarding LEED changes : http://www.buildinggreen.com/live/index.cfm/2009/7/28/New-LEED-AP-Exam-Writer-Tells-All.

intheleed.com also has some good explainations:
http://www.intheleed.com/what-exactly-is-the-credential-maintenance-program-for-leed/

Go to the link below to download the “Credentialing Maintenance Program Guide” valid for July 2009 from USGBC – this is the official document addressing credentialling maintenance.
http://www.gbci.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=3665

Just got an e-mail regarding GBCI Credentialing Maintenance Program for those of us that have been accredited without specialization under the old system. Was wondering if anyone has dug deeper into what this really means for us and if upgrading to a specialization will pay off in the end?

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]

That’s encouraging to hear you bring an ‘added value’ to your office and that you’re getting LEED projects (and platinum at that).Good for you!

I cannot speak to PTLexamprep, but I can say that greenexamprep is fairly accurate when they claim that if you can score over 80% on their tests then you are probably pretty well prepared for the actual exam. Hang in there.

Yeah, you’re probably just over thinking it a little. I used the chart in the LEED AP Walkthrough, which is probably the same as the one on IntheLeed.com. I will say that there weren’t that many questions that related directly to project roles in the particular question pool that I had when I sat for the test (maybe 5), what I can say is that…[Read more]

Does anyone here have experience with Leit solar controllers? Any issues with long wire runs, durability, etc?

Thanks in advance

Anyone still studying to pass under LEED 2.2:
There are 2 resources that I used to study that I think were critical to success, I think these have been mentioned before but If you’re on the fence about what resources to spend your money on here’s what I think are the two best values:

I have to throw my support behind Intheleed.com’s LEED AP…[Read more]

GCBI WEBCAST: NEW LEED CREDENTIALS
this is a very helpful video that explains the new credential system for LEED 2009/3.0

So I spent about a week trying to insert a design into Blender’s gaming engine. The outcome worked ok, but wasn’t very pretty. The process went like this:

1. Wrote script to randomly generate terrain in Maya.
2. Made a post and cloned it, then used the vortex dynamic to blow them around the terrain.
3. Created a ncloth from a nurbs plane and…[Read more]

FYI – Public comments on the Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks Draft 2008 are now posted on the Sustainable Sites Initiative website for review. http://www.sustainablesites.org/report/

Try this website for requirements to remain accredited – scroll down to see the answers:
http://www.everblueenergy.com/leed-exam-prep-leed-2009-update.html

Well, I have been away for awhile.
I have been looking at the use of Maya Dynamics to force design.

It is kind of fun but I don’t know if it will go anywhere. Has anyone used
any of the dynamic functions in Maya (Airfield, Gravity, Newtonian field etc)?

Rob,

There are a lot of good softwares out there, selection really depends on your situation and needs. I would “demo’ as many softwares as possible to see which one fits your office best.

For Autocad, Raincad for Autocad works well. It runs in Autocad as a toolbar, similar to Express Tools. You still have the full function of autocad while…[Read more]

I was able to find some irrigation training and I am more confident now. However, I am looking to purchase irrigation design software. What are the best choices out there? Land F/X? IrriCalc? RainCAD? Others?