This home is a triumph in several respects. It represents the first time that a straw bale project has been permitted in the Portland area under the prescriptive load bearing straw bale code. So, this project has introduced the prescriptive bale approach to the Portland region, helping builders, funders, code officials, and local residents to…
Cities continue to wrestle with solutions to the ballooning cost of housing. Over the past couple of years, policies have been enacted, and in some respects the building code community has responded with positive accommodations to help builders meet the demand for housing, in the form of ADU/DADUs. The intent is to reduce regulations that…
When a Bainbridge Island client approached her about working on the home they were building to reflect their lifelong passion for art and environmental sustainability, Hoda Sheikh, founder and owner of Lotus landscapes & Arboriculture, took up the challenge of creating a landscape and outdoor living space that could live up to the legacy. Where…
Have you ever taken a plunge into the unknown with little more than determination to see you through? That’s what Mark did when, in the middle of a pandemic, he started a 4-Star Built Green remodel of a unit he planned to sell at McGraw Condominiums in Seattle. The unit was originally built to Seattle…
We have dual climate and affordable housing emergencies bearing down on us as a community and a world. In order to be truly sustainable, our communities must make note of the equitable access to clean, green, affordable housing. Our communities in Redmond and Kirkland are 100% LEED Platinum certified, and yet close to three quarters…