Blog Posts By Month: August, 2009
Lucia Stone forwarded me a link to a video on a roof top farm in new York. What an amazing project!
We get asked a lot about doing vegetables on a roof top here in San Diego and indeed southern California in general. I am a firm believer that this is an outstanding use of a roof top garden - so much more to offer when you can harvest edibles from an otherwise wasted space. And the benefits of a green roof: storm water retention, energy reduction, extending the life of the membrane and bio-diversity, are all still applicable.
The challenge is two-fold. First our roofs in southern California are not built to handle the additional load of a green roof. So a retro-fit is difficult if not impossible.
The second issue is safety. A vegetable garden is labor intensive with all of the weeding, watering and harvesting. So the roof must have some type of railing surrounding it to prevent someone from falling off. In addition, code compliant access can pose a problem, unless designed in from the beginning.
This is one of the reasons we have been designing and installing living walls that support vegetables, herbs, spices and lettuces. Using a wall for vertical farming is nothing new and the benefit is that the engineering is minimized compared to a roof top. Plus, you don't have to worry about access issues unless you build a green wall high enough that one would need to stand on a ladder.
Design one in from the beginning? You bet! That will work just fine and not cost an arm and a leg in beefing up the structure. That said....anyone planning on a building a new building any time soon? ;)
We get asked a lot about doing vegetables on a roof top here in San Diego and indeed southern California in general. I am a firm believer that this is an outstanding use of a roof top garden - so much more to offer when you can harvest edibles from an otherwise wasted space. And the benefits of a green roof: storm water retention, energy reduction, extending the life of the membrane and bio-diversity, are all still applicable.
The challenge is two-fold. First our roofs in southern California are not built to handle the additional load of a green roof. So a retro-fit is difficult if not impossible.
The second issue is safety. A vegetable garden is labor intensive with all of the weeding, watering and harvesting. So the roof must have some type of railing surrounding it to prevent someone from falling off. In addition, code compliant access can pose a problem, unless designed in from the beginning.
This is one of the reasons we have been designing and installing living walls that support vegetables, herbs, spices and lettuces. Using a wall for vertical farming is nothing new and the benefit is that the engineering is minimized compared to a roof top. Plus, you don't have to worry about access issues unless you build a green wall high enough that one would need to stand on a ladder.
Design one in from the beginning? You bet! That will work just fine and not cost an arm and a leg in beefing up the structure. That said....anyone planning on a building a new building any time soon? ;)
The economy has a lot of folks feeling down these days and quite a few of them take it out on others. As our horticultural technicians go about their day caring for plants in business and homes, they sometimes encounter cranky clients. I remind them on a regular basis that whatever they are being yelled at for may have nothing to do with them, and everything to do with the person doing the yelling. Plus we train our employees on how to handle difficult situations.
The following is my list of techniques to diffuse a bad situation and cranky people:
1. Be empathetic. Use terms such as "I know how you could feel like that."
2. Let people talk. Sometimes they just need to talk it out. The worst thing anyone can ever say when someone is trying to discuss an issue is "I don't want to talk about that". Of course the other interpretation of I don't want to talk about it is when someone says to you, "All you are doing is harping on the same issues. Move on." People need to talk things out. That's why psychiatrists have patients come back again and again. Shut the door on the communication and shut the door on the relationships.
3. Ask for a remedy. If you did something wrong, then ask how it can be corrected.
4. When dealing with the unreasonable remedy, simply use the expression, "I wish we could." That works just about every time.
5. Thank you. We cannot thank people enough. I am becoming a believer that we are in the midst of an epidemic of people who just expect everything. You do something for someone and they don't thank you. It is so easy but so few people do it. When was the last time you thanked a client for choosing to work with us? Send a thank-you note after a sale!
6. Expectation management: What does a client expect when we walk into their office or home? Take the time to write it down then have a friend or even yourself practice. You will avoid problems before they happen.
7. Become a Flexetarian. Don't be so rigid. Lighten up. The times they are-a-changin' and the rules of the new normal are yet to be written. Things are never just black or white. There are many shades of gray.
8. Be a Seeker and a Doer. Many times our policies become stale because we never shop other businesses to see what our clients are experiencing. It's one thing seeing good ideas but it's another thing implementing them. You can't be successful without both of them.
9. Decisions of Convenience: Again, I am seeing more people make decisions because it's the easy way out. In the service business we sometimes get lazy and make the decisions because it's easy or convenient to do. Somehow we start to have different rules and policies for different customers and employees. It's the same as buying from a rep because it's easy. Just be aware of the amount of decisions we make because of that. It's scary and extremely dangerous business.
10. Commitment. The service business isn't easy. There can be long hours and frustrating times. BUT you have to love it. You have to get excited when new clients get installed and the plants and planters arrive. You need to get excited to call a client up and be so enthusiastic that you were able to get exactly what they are looking for. You need to get excited about every orchid, palm or ficus tree that you push yourself to visit one more nursery when you're dead tired but that new resource becomes the winner of the season.
Hopefully, the client's mood won't last long, but the way you and your team handled it will, creating a better relationship in the long run....
The following is my list of techniques to diffuse a bad situation and cranky people:
1. Be empathetic. Use terms such as "I know how you could feel like that."
2. Let people talk. Sometimes they just need to talk it out. The worst thing anyone can ever say when someone is trying to discuss an issue is "I don't want to talk about that". Of course the other interpretation of I don't want to talk about it is when someone says to you, "All you are doing is harping on the same issues. Move on." People need to talk things out. That's why psychiatrists have patients come back again and again. Shut the door on the communication and shut the door on the relationships.
3. Ask for a remedy. If you did something wrong, then ask how it can be corrected.
4. When dealing with the unreasonable remedy, simply use the expression, "I wish we could." That works just about every time.
5. Thank you. We cannot thank people enough. I am becoming a believer that we are in the midst of an epidemic of people who just expect everything. You do something for someone and they don't thank you. It is so easy but so few people do it. When was the last time you thanked a client for choosing to work with us? Send a thank-you note after a sale!
6. Expectation management: What does a client expect when we walk into their office or home? Take the time to write it down then have a friend or even yourself practice. You will avoid problems before they happen.
7. Become a Flexetarian. Don't be so rigid. Lighten up. The times they are-a-changin' and the rules of the new normal are yet to be written. Things are never just black or white. There are many shades of gray.
8. Be a Seeker and a Doer. Many times our policies become stale because we never shop other businesses to see what our clients are experiencing. It's one thing seeing good ideas but it's another thing implementing them. You can't be successful without both of them.
9. Decisions of Convenience: Again, I am seeing more people make decisions because it's the easy way out. In the service business we sometimes get lazy and make the decisions because it's easy or convenient to do. Somehow we start to have different rules and policies for different customers and employees. It's the same as buying from a rep because it's easy. Just be aware of the amount of decisions we make because of that. It's scary and extremely dangerous business.
10. Commitment. The service business isn't easy. There can be long hours and frustrating times. BUT you have to love it. You have to get excited when new clients get installed and the plants and planters arrive. You need to get excited to call a client up and be so enthusiastic that you were able to get exactly what they are looking for. You need to get excited about every orchid, palm or ficus tree that you push yourself to visit one more nursery when you're dead tired but that new resource becomes the winner of the season.
Hopefully, the client's mood won't last long, but the way you and your team handled it will, creating a better relationship in the long run....
I've always heard, "You're one tragedy away from becoming an advocate."
While that quote applies to a lot of situations, it's clear that in our society, it usually takes a tragedy or crisis to get us to make a change. Look at our energy issues. While we are not energy independent yet, the energy crisis of a few years ago got us things like tax incentives for PVC installations, more solar products in the market, and the word "sustainability" forever embedded in our minds.
Now here we are, facing a water shortage. For years we've touted the benefits of gray water, but have also stared into the face of bureaucratic red tape to make it a reality. Just like the energy crisis however, we, as a City, are becoming advocates.........click here to read about: Residential "Gray Water" Rules Eased
While that quote applies to a lot of situations, it's clear that in our society, it usually takes a tragedy or crisis to get us to make a change. Look at our energy issues. While we are not energy independent yet, the energy crisis of a few years ago got us things like tax incentives for PVC installations, more solar products in the market, and the word "sustainability" forever embedded in our minds.
Now here we are, facing a water shortage. For years we've touted the benefits of gray water, but have also stared into the face of bureaucratic red tape to make it a reality. Just like the energy crisis however, we, as a City, are becoming advocates.........click here to read about: Residential "Gray Water" Rules Eased
I loved this article so much, I decided to make it my post for the day:
"EnvironDesign Notebook: Inviting Nature In
Biomimicry can lead us to more innovative, sustainable interior spaces
By Mary Ann Lazarus, LEED AP
The emerging science of biomimicry has captivated the design professions. Conferences are buzzing about it, magazines are craving it, and the next generation of designers can't get enough of it.
Established by biologist Janine Benyus in the 1990s, biomimicry looks to the natural world for ideas and inspiration for all kinds of design opportunities. The goal is to create sustainable products, processes and policies-new ways of living-that are well-adapted to life on Earth and able to endure, regardless of the challenges.
In its brief evolution, biomimicry has led to some amazing innovations-from self-cleaning surfaces inspired by the lotus leaf, to Olympic swimsuits that emulate the skin of a shark. There's even a new sunscreen under development that mimics the UV protection properties of hippo secretions.
Within the built environment, however, the discipline is still in its infancy. While a growing number of bio-inspired products are expanding the sustainable options available to designers, projects that incorporate biomimicry at the macro scale are few and far between.
Perhaps you're familiar with the small number of building projects that have been completed around the world, including the Eastgate Centre shopping mall and office building in Harare, Zimbabwe. Inspired by thermal control found in termite mounds, architect Mick Pearce worked with Arup to design the structure, which is passively cooled and doesn't even require a fuel-based air conditioning system.
Although these innovative projects are exciting showcases of biomimicry in action, the fact that they are so rare reveals the need to advance bio-inspired design within the built environment-to bring biomimicry to the masses.
ADVANCING A NEW SUSTAINABLE STANDARD
Since forging a formal alliance with the Biomimicry Guild in 2008, HOK has been working to expand biomimicry into tangible, real-world design solutions for our clients. We believe biomimicry will not only help us significantly reduce the environmental impact of our projects, but will also help define a whole new sustainable standard for our profession.
Because biomimicry addresses critical environmental issues at the habitat scale, it gives us lessons on how to achieve increasingly more significant sustainable outcomes. We're pursuing solutions that reach far beyond the realm of LEED® Platinum, net zero carbon and regenerative projects.
"Integrating biomimicry within interior environments is about much more than specifying bio-inspired products. It requires introducing the concept as early as possible in the design process-ideally before any initial ideas have even been formulated."
Integrating biomimicry within interior environments is about much more than specifying bio-inspired products. It requires introducing the concept as early as possible in the design process-ideally before any initial ideas have even been formulated. It also involves inviting a biologist to the design table as a full team member, not as an add-on specialty consultant or afterthought.
Rather than primarily looking to previous projects for ideas to solve a particular design challenge, our teams need to ask how nature would solve it. With 30 million species and 3.85 billion years of R&D experience, it's a pretty safe bet that nature has encountered-and tackled-the same challenge before, and we could probably learn something from those natural systems strategies.
Bio-inspired solutions frequently have far-reaching sustainable implications, reflecting the interdependence of a project's systems.
As an example, the ability to effectively bring natural light into a space that has limited access to it reduces the need for artificial lighting. Because less heat is generated, less cooling is necessary, which could reduce the size of cooling equipment (a capital cost). Overall energy use is reduced (an operational cost), and fossil fuel dependence is lessened (an environmental cost). And we're not even considering the significant aesthetic and human benefits that natural light offers.
In the natural world, the most innovative lighting strategies might emerge from studying begonias, which maximize photosynthesis in low-light conditions by using clear surface cells to focus light. Or perhaps the ideal approach is to mimic emperor penguins, whose beaks reflect UV light via a multilayer reflector photonic microstructure. These time-tested strategies are accessible through a new database called Ask Nature. A project of the Biomimicry Institute, this free resource enables designers to search for and study nature's solutions to design challenges-e.g., how organisms filter air and water, gather solar energy, and create non-toxic dyes and glues.
In fact, studying nature will help us uncover effective and sustainable solutions to the most significant issues in our interior environments: thermal comfort, indoor air quality, acoustical privacy, flexibility, and productivity.
HUMBLING OURSELVES
Biomimicry opens up a whole new palette of design inspiration, ideas and opportunities. But it also demands a certain humility in admitting to ourselves that we humans don't have all the answers-or even, necessarily, the best ones.
The Biomimicry Guild has developed a phrase, "quieting our cleverness," to remind us of the need to step back and be open to "genius" from unexpected sources. For designers, this notion can be a challenging one to consider; but it is a vital component of unleashing the most profound, transformative ideas and solutions.
As we introduce biomimicry to our clients, we're finding that those who are most receptive to the concepts are the ones who are eager to pioneer a cutting-edge, showcase project. They're also more likely to have an overall appreciation for nature. One of the most revealing questions we can ask clients is how they spend their free time. If they like to fish, hunt or hike, they're much more likely to be open to biomimicry than if they spend their weekends watching TV or fixing cars.
And another great aspect of biomimicry is that it isn't limited to projects of a certain size, market sector or geographic region. Potential ideas and applications are as diverse as nature itself.
TOWARD A GREENER FUTURE
The built environment is the most fertile ground for biomimicry. Buildings account for about 50 percent of total energy use in the Unites States, and it's estimated that 75 percent of buildings in the year 2030 will be new or renovated. Consulting with nature will help us to effectively address the environmental and climate crisis by leapfrogging incremental sustainable improvements in order to develop profession-transforming solutions.
I truly believe biomimicry can help create a new environmental standard for spaces, buildings, communities and cities worldwide. For designers and other design professionals, it opens up a whole new universe of inspirational ideas for transforming our interior spaces, while optimizing human and social well-being. And beyond the projects themselves, the principles of biomimicry will help our people and teams work smarter, design smarter, and truly connect our work with the natural environment.
Mary Ann Lazarus, AIA, LEED AP, is sustainable design director at HOK, a global design and services firm. She can be reached at mary.ann.lazarus@hok.com.
"EnvironDesign Notebook: Inviting Nature In
Biomimicry can lead us to more innovative, sustainable interior spaces
By Mary Ann Lazarus, LEED AP
The emerging science of biomimicry has captivated the design professions. Conferences are buzzing about it, magazines are craving it, and the next generation of designers can't get enough of it.
Established by biologist Janine Benyus in the 1990s, biomimicry looks to the natural world for ideas and inspiration for all kinds of design opportunities. The goal is to create sustainable products, processes and policies-new ways of living-that are well-adapted to life on Earth and able to endure, regardless of the challenges.
In its brief evolution, biomimicry has led to some amazing innovations-from self-cleaning surfaces inspired by the lotus leaf, to Olympic swimsuits that emulate the skin of a shark. There's even a new sunscreen under development that mimics the UV protection properties of hippo secretions.
Within the built environment, however, the discipline is still in its infancy. While a growing number of bio-inspired products are expanding the sustainable options available to designers, projects that incorporate biomimicry at the macro scale are few and far between.
Perhaps you're familiar with the small number of building projects that have been completed around the world, including the Eastgate Centre shopping mall and office building in Harare, Zimbabwe. Inspired by thermal control found in termite mounds, architect Mick Pearce worked with Arup to design the structure, which is passively cooled and doesn't even require a fuel-based air conditioning system.
Although these innovative projects are exciting showcases of biomimicry in action, the fact that they are so rare reveals the need to advance bio-inspired design within the built environment-to bring biomimicry to the masses.
ADVANCING A NEW SUSTAINABLE STANDARD
Since forging a formal alliance with the Biomimicry Guild in 2008, HOK has been working to expand biomimicry into tangible, real-world design solutions for our clients. We believe biomimicry will not only help us significantly reduce the environmental impact of our projects, but will also help define a whole new sustainable standard for our profession.
Because biomimicry addresses critical environmental issues at the habitat scale, it gives us lessons on how to achieve increasingly more significant sustainable outcomes. We're pursuing solutions that reach far beyond the realm of LEED® Platinum, net zero carbon and regenerative projects.
"Integrating biomimicry within interior environments is about much more than specifying bio-inspired products. It requires introducing the concept as early as possible in the design process-ideally before any initial ideas have even been formulated."
Integrating biomimicry within interior environments is about much more than specifying bio-inspired products. It requires introducing the concept as early as possible in the design process-ideally before any initial ideas have even been formulated. It also involves inviting a biologist to the design table as a full team member, not as an add-on specialty consultant or afterthought.
Rather than primarily looking to previous projects for ideas to solve a particular design challenge, our teams need to ask how nature would solve it. With 30 million species and 3.85 billion years of R&D experience, it's a pretty safe bet that nature has encountered-and tackled-the same challenge before, and we could probably learn something from those natural systems strategies.
Bio-inspired solutions frequently have far-reaching sustainable implications, reflecting the interdependence of a project's systems.
As an example, the ability to effectively bring natural light into a space that has limited access to it reduces the need for artificial lighting. Because less heat is generated, less cooling is necessary, which could reduce the size of cooling equipment (a capital cost). Overall energy use is reduced (an operational cost), and fossil fuel dependence is lessened (an environmental cost). And we're not even considering the significant aesthetic and human benefits that natural light offers.
In the natural world, the most innovative lighting strategies might emerge from studying begonias, which maximize photosynthesis in low-light conditions by using clear surface cells to focus light. Or perhaps the ideal approach is to mimic emperor penguins, whose beaks reflect UV light via a multilayer reflector photonic microstructure. These time-tested strategies are accessible through a new database called Ask Nature. A project of the Biomimicry Institute, this free resource enables designers to search for and study nature's solutions to design challenges-e.g., how organisms filter air and water, gather solar energy, and create non-toxic dyes and glues.
In fact, studying nature will help us uncover effective and sustainable solutions to the most significant issues in our interior environments: thermal comfort, indoor air quality, acoustical privacy, flexibility, and productivity.
HUMBLING OURSELVES
Biomimicry opens up a whole new palette of design inspiration, ideas and opportunities. But it also demands a certain humility in admitting to ourselves that we humans don't have all the answers-or even, necessarily, the best ones.
The Biomimicry Guild has developed a phrase, "quieting our cleverness," to remind us of the need to step back and be open to "genius" from unexpected sources. For designers, this notion can be a challenging one to consider; but it is a vital component of unleashing the most profound, transformative ideas and solutions.
As we introduce biomimicry to our clients, we're finding that those who are most receptive to the concepts are the ones who are eager to pioneer a cutting-edge, showcase project. They're also more likely to have an overall appreciation for nature. One of the most revealing questions we can ask clients is how they spend their free time. If they like to fish, hunt or hike, they're much more likely to be open to biomimicry than if they spend their weekends watching TV or fixing cars.
And another great aspect of biomimicry is that it isn't limited to projects of a certain size, market sector or geographic region. Potential ideas and applications are as diverse as nature itself.
TOWARD A GREENER FUTURE
The built environment is the most fertile ground for biomimicry. Buildings account for about 50 percent of total energy use in the Unites States, and it's estimated that 75 percent of buildings in the year 2030 will be new or renovated. Consulting with nature will help us to effectively address the environmental and climate crisis by leapfrogging incremental sustainable improvements in order to develop profession-transforming solutions.
I truly believe biomimicry can help create a new environmental standard for spaces, buildings, communities and cities worldwide. For designers and other design professionals, it opens up a whole new universe of inspirational ideas for transforming our interior spaces, while optimizing human and social well-being. And beyond the projects themselves, the principles of biomimicry will help our people and teams work smarter, design smarter, and truly connect our work with the natural environment.
Mary Ann Lazarus, AIA, LEED AP, is sustainable design director at HOK, a global design and services firm. She can be reached at mary.ann.lazarus@hok.com.
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