Passive House: Innovative and Affordable

Last week I had a chance to take a tour of Dwell Development’s Passive House at Columbia Station, near the Columbia City light rail station. Passive house (or Passivhaus) is a concept that I described in an article I wrote for Sustainable Industries a few years ago. Here’s what I wrote then: Passivhaus buildings have: […]

A Building Boom: Small Homes Are Big in Vancouver B.C.

Canadian media has been abuzz in the last year over the proliferation of small houses in Vancouver, British Columbia’s single-family neighborhoods. But the story there has been about the innovation, sustainability, affordability, and predictability of the new homes, not about controversy about their impact on neighborhood character. In fact, in environment is so supportive that […]

KING 5: What’s the Big Story?

Last Friday KING 5 news went out to JMS Homes’ site on 55th and Manning in West Seattle to talk with neighbors and JMS about the project. When Linda Brill the reporter asked me what the big story was I said, “there isn’t one.” I pointed to Bill Richmond the developer of the project and […]