If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that housing is at a premium in Newton, MA. Not only are real estate prices high, there simply isn’t much inventory and there isn’t a lot of room for additional development. One simple solution that our hometown is beginning to embrace is accessory apartments, which […]
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Reducing the Carbon Footprint of a Remodeling Project
Last month we attended the BuildingEnergy Boston Conference at the Westin Waterfront hotel. Attended by builders, remodelers, and energy experts, the focus of the conference is to learn and share new ideas and research on sustainable, “green” building and high-performance building. In other words – it’s a conference about everything we believe in here at steveworks. […]
Lead & Learn
Asher and Alex spent a weekend in Waitsfield VT at Yestermorrow Design/Build School with 30 of their peers. Yestermorrow and NESEA’s Bottom Lines sponsored a lead carpenter training which focused on the triple bottom line approach ( people/planet/profit) to leading and running a successful project. Leadership skills and communications were taught and reviewed. Both Asher and Alex were […]
Asher’s Back in the Classroom
Asher helped out his roommate, Beni Summers, teaching a class on sukkah design. A sukkah is a temporary structure erected during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, a harvest festival which occurs in the fall here. Asher guided the class in evaluating their sukkah plans based on design, structural integrity and thermal performance, although the last two […]
Universal Design
A key aspect of sustainability is minimizing waste, and that means building for the long term. People’s needs change but by planning ahead you can make your house work for you and your guests, both now and for years to come. Are you replacing your doorknobs? Consider levers instead of knobs for ease of use […]
Are You on the Bus?
This made our neighbors slow down and take notice! We hosted the crew of the Topsy Turvy Bus for a night on their way through the Boston area. One of the crew, Jacob Chateneover, stayed with us for a year when he attended Gann Academy with Asher and Ari. The bio-fueled environmental schoolhouse on wheels! Through […]
steveworks to Host March Meeting of Bottom Lines
At steveworks, our focus is on the “triple bottom line” of people, planet and profit. In order to help us improve in all 3 areas, we joined a new peer networking initiative called Building Energy Bottom Lines. Sponsored by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), BEBL consists of 32 organizations in the building industry divided […]
BE Bottom Lines: Whole Business Networking
Fostering the mastery of business skills to complement and support our technical skills. Tova and I just came back from a 3 day intensive weekend which was the kickoff for BE Bottoms Lines sponsored by the North East Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA). We were chosen to be one of the founding members and we’re incredibly excited about it. There […]
What I learned at WPI today
I attended a great workshop at Worchester Polytechnic Institute (WPI, a very cool place) on Deep Energy Retrofits (DER). DER renovations involve super insulation techniques, high efficiency mechanical ( heat,A/C, ventilation, domestic hot water) and if executed well can bring the energy load of a home down by 70%. They also promote much healthier living spaces. […]
Budding Building Scientist
The students of the 6th grade class at Oak Hill Middle School in Newton were studying the properties of insulation. They built small cardboard homes and insulated them using foam, spun wool, felt, tin foil, bubble wrap. They used plastic for windows, some even attempted “double glazing”. They placed a cup of hot water on […]