First, R. Michael Cross Design Group now has a website! Check it out using the link in the PROJECT TEAM section. Not on your iPhone though. Because it's Flash, and your iPhone hates Flash.
As you may have noticed, surmised or divined, onsite progress has slowed. This was of course inevitable. Fortunately that doesn't mean the project is at a standstill, but most of the progress right now is office progress while we wait for windows. This has given us an opportunity to get our plumbing situation in order, and we are very excited to be working with Kohler and Foster Plumbing and Heating as partners.
What has been pretty refreshing is how (a.) knowledgeable and (b.) psyched the partners have been so far. Jeff Foster @ Foster Plumbing & Heating has not only opened our eyes to even more plumbing efficiencies, but also took the effort to offset the carbon from his site visits:
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It's encouraging to see local family businesses ready and eager for more sustainable practices, and I have to repeat that the local support in general for this project has been tremendous.
I think it should also be noted that the entire state of Virginia has only completed 9 LEED-H certified projects since the first pilot program in 2005, but has 29 in-progress registered projects as of today. While 29 isn't a particularly impressive number compared to the actual number of houses built in a normal year- although surely this is not a normal year- it does show exponential growth in Virginians' interest in sustainable housing.
You know what, I'm just going to geek out on more statistics here, largely because someone else has done the hard work for me. I stumbled across this blog recently and took a lot of interest in this map charting home prices against income (by Razib @ Gene Expression):
Now I'm certainly no economist, but it would seem to indicate a couple of things to me. During the period from 2005-2007:
Alright. That's it for my proselytizing. I promise I'll be funnier next week.
Take care!
As you may have noticed, surmised or divined, onsite progress has slowed. This was of course inevitable. Fortunately that doesn't mean the project is at a standstill, but most of the progress right now is office progress while we wait for windows. This has given us an opportunity to get our plumbing situation in order, and we are very excited to be working with Kohler and Foster Plumbing and Heating as partners.
What has been pretty refreshing is how (a.) knowledgeable and (b.) psyched the partners have been so far. Jeff Foster @ Foster Plumbing & Heating has not only opened our eyes to even more plumbing efficiencies, but also took the effort to offset the carbon from his site visits:
It's encouraging to see local family businesses ready and eager for more sustainable practices, and I have to repeat that the local support in general for this project has been tremendous.
I think it should also be noted that the entire state of Virginia has only completed 9 LEED-H certified projects since the first pilot program in 2005, but has 29 in-progress registered projects as of today. While 29 isn't a particularly impressive number compared to the actual number of houses built in a normal year- although surely this is not a normal year- it does show exponential growth in Virginians' interest in sustainable housing.
You know what, I'm just going to geek out on more statistics here, largely because someone else has done the hard work for me. I stumbled across this blog recently and took a lot of interest in this map charting home prices against income (by Razib @ Gene Expression):
One: The Richmond area appears highly affordable relative to, well, everywhere else in the country.
Two: The Richmond area seems primed for growth.Who knows how all of this will look when the next set of census data comes out, but Richmond changes slowly, so I can't imagine a big change in the relative affordability of the area. I think many of us have some tales, probably some horror stories, to tell about recent rapid growth in the counties. If you're a Richmonder, you probably also have some frustrations to voice about the slow pace of desirable growth in the city. All of it really emphasizes the need for smarter growth, smarter design, and smarter everyday practices, and fortunately it looks like from residents to businesses to students, Richmond is ready for some leadership.
Alright. That's it for my proselytizing. I promise I'll be funnier next week.
Take care!
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Thanks for reading. We'd love to hear comments, questions or suggestions either in the comments section or you can email us at blog@rmichaelcross.com
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