Canstruction Harrisonburg 2016 Canstruction Harrisonburg 2016 wrapped up earlier in April and it was a huge success. This year’s event included teams from Blue Ridge Architects, 4 teams from the JMU Engineering School, and Valley Engineering.  These amazing teams...

SVBA Home and Garden Show in Review The 2016 Home and Garden Show is in the books. This year’s event had the most attendance since we have been part of the event. Our booth space featured my “new” 60+ year old drafting desk. The desk was Ray’s...

Today I start over…. as I seem to do everyday I have lost my blogging mojo. Maybe I have said everything I had to say or maybe this is just the break so many told me I needed to take from trying to do too  much. I have tried to write several posts over the last few weeks,...

A fast food restaurant is not often thought of as a “green” building. However, when Jane and Michael Blackburn approached their future Harmony Square Dairy Queen that is exactly what they asked for from us. Mike said “this is a locally owned business, we care about our community,...

Chesapeake Western Railroad Depot project updates Work on The Chesapeake Western Railroad Depot continues and Jim and the guys are making tremendous progress. The electrical, plumbing, and mechanical rough-ins are all done. The structural flooring repairs are done. The insulation...

An energy audit is an inspection that looks at energy flow in a building. The objective of an audit is to identify things that can be modified to reduce energy usage and increase comfort and safety for the occupants of the building. These audits usually involve a blower door that...

Working on designs for every client is a task that I take very seriously. I want all of our projects to be healthy places to live, work, and play. They should be energy-efficient and durable for the preservation of future generations. However, designing a project that primarily...

If you are thinking about building a custom energy-efficient home, where do you start? Many will first go to the internet (thanks for reading my blog) to get their information. This is a great place to gather lots of opinions, but be sure you are looking at opinions based on your...

Energy Use Intensity (EUI) is the “miles per gallon” of your commercial building. You simply divide the total energy consumed by the building in one year (measured in kBtu) by the total gross floor area of the building. The lower the EUI the more energy-efficient the...

This past week our On The Road Collaborative student group had the opportunity to tour a sustainable farm house under construction. Eric Beck, Beck Builders, was our tour guide and helped the students understand the career of a builder. The students had lots of questions and...