A cool website for design inspiration

[Administrator_JSVN]

Just came across the site and thought it may be of interest to some members who are looking for inspiration.  Thought there was some cool stuff on here.  I know sometimes, when I see others' work it gets the creative juices flowing.

http://freshome.com/

Not anything directly related to Festool, but just some interesting architecture, interior design, furniture design, etc.  If you know of a good website for design inspiration, please share.

 

[Dane]

Glad to see another fan of modern have you been here- http://www.materialicious.com/ ?

Also, you can check out the house that I recently designed and built, using many Festools, here: 

http://gallery.me.com/moderngreenhome#100047

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Dane,

Thanks for sharing the links.  Really dig the house.  Was the house for yourself or a client?

I am a fan of modern but that website has a lot of interesting stuff beyond just modern design, like the world's largest treehouse. How cool would that have been as a kid?!

 

[EcoFurniture]

Glad to see another fan of modern have you been here- http://www.materialicious.com/ ?

Also, you can check out the house that I recently designed and built, using many Festools, here: 

http://gallery.me.com/moderngreenhome#100047

Very cool project you worked on! I saw that you used the Teragren counter top. I love working with bamboo, I'm currently building a full bed room set from that.

BTW, Great links guys!!!! Thanks.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Ah, I meant to ask what that material was... thanks, Andreas.  I'll have to check that out.  Is it easy to work it?

 

[woodshopdemos]

Shane,
  Thanks. An interesting site with lots of good photos and ideas. On page 6 I became interested in the Globe gas fire burner for the LR or den...2500 or was that 25,000. Either way, I will continue just to look at it.

 

[ForumMFG]

Just came across the site and thought it may be of interest to some members who are looking for inspiration.  Thought there was some cool stuff on here.  I know sometimes, when I see others' work it gets the creative juices flowing.

http://freshome.com/

Not anything directly related to Festool, but just some interesting architecture, interior design, furniture design, etc.  If you know of a good website for design inspiration, please share.

I can't get that link to work?

 

[ForumMFG]

Glad to see another fan of modern have you been here- http://www.materialicious.com/ ?

Also, you can check out the house that I recently designed and built, using many Festools, here: 

http://gallery.me.com/moderngreenhome#100047

Dane,

Was the aspect of designing and making this a "green" home invloved in your project.  It looks very modern and with that it's easy to hide the fact that some features of the house are "green".

 

[EcoFurniture]

Ah, I meant to ask what that material was... thanks, Andreas.  I'll have to check that out.  Is it easy to work it?

It's like cutting solid maple. But because of the high clue contend it's tough on the blades. I usually use the TS55 to trim it to size.
Bamboo is not cheap but a highly sustainable material that is up and coming!

Cheers,
Andreas

 

[EcoFurniture]

Glad to see another fan of modern have you been here- http://www.materialicious.com/ ?

Also, you can check out the house that I recently designed and built, using many Festools, here: 

http://gallery.me.com/moderngreenhome#100047

Dane,

Was the aspect of designing and making this a "green" home invloved in your project.  It looks very modern and with that it's easy to hide the fact that some features of the house are "green".

Although I'm not familiar with that house. I could see several details/ materials that will make it "green". For one thing, energy efficient features are hard to show in pictures. There could also be gray water recycling station included, maybe thermal heating, no VOC paints, Bamboo for furniture and counter tops, Formaldehyde free FSC certified plywood for cabinetry. Those are just a couple of details you wont see in those pictures but are very important to have to qualify for any "green" certification.

Maybe Dane can tell us a bit more.

 

[Dane]

Hey guys-

Shane-  I designed it an built it to be a home for my wife and I.  Unfortunately, she got a job in another state requiring us to move before we ever got a chance to live in it.  We also got to experience the joy of selling a home in the depths of the worst housing market in 80 years.  Oddly enough, we had folks lined up to buy it, the banks turned out to be the issue.  It took four months for our eventual buyers to secure financing.

ForumMFG and EcoFurniture-

It was designed and built to be a model green home.  I am a LEED AP and, before we moved, I was planning on using the home as an example for my building company.

So, from the ground up it was built to be energy efficient and to use healthy materials.  Here's a list of some of the things that I incorporated:

Healthy Materials and Improved Indoor Air Quality

Formaldehyde-free products used throughout

Low-VOC paints

Low-VOC, Soy based stains and sealers on the concrete tile and wood

Energy Recovery Ventilator- Replaces indoor air every hour and exhausts moisture and pollutants

Reduced Energy Consumption - Lower Utility Bills

Constructed with Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs)- Airtight, Whole-Wall insulation

Passive Solar Design with deep roof overhangs to shade the windows in summer

Closed Cell Structural Foam Roofing provides a monolithic seal and insulates with no thermal bridging

Solar Hot Water - Provides up to 80% of hot water needs

Low-E Energy Star Windows

Energy Star Appliances

Dual Flush Toilets

Maximized Daylighting to reduce the need for indoor lighting

High Efficiency Heat Pump for heating and cooling

Compact Florescent Lighting throughout

Induction Cooktop- High tech magnetic cooking technology 95% efficient and as responsive as gas

Responsible Resource Use and Durable Construction

SIPs are stronger, tighter,  better insulated and use fewer resources than stick frame construction

Siding is placed on a rainscreen system which allows longer life for the siding and deters water

Closed Cell Roofing can last indefinitely with periodic maintenance

Custom Stained Concrete flooring is durable and resource efficient

FSC certified framing and trim lumber

Engineered joists and SIP wall system reduces wood usage

Cypress Siding is a local product and has long term durability

Custom concrete countertops using 30% less materials than standard

Custom cabinets built from recycled wheat and reclaimed solid walnut

Custom interior doors built from Wheatboard

Efficient layout reduces building size while maximizing usable space

Hardy, low water consuming landscaping

Pervious gravel driveway and walkways

......of particular interest to Festool folks, would be the wheatboard core veneer sheets and the wheatboard door cores.  Wheatboard is a really well manufactured product, it machines beautifully and is really stable.  There is no downside that I can discern to using it in place of other sheet goods.  Besides cost.

EcoFurniture, that is impressive that you can pick out the Teregren bamboo from the Plyboo.....

 

[ForumMFG]

Dane,

You are a LEEP AP eh?  How fun was it taking your test?  I hear it's not your normal Multipal choice. =)

I work on jobs everyday that are going for their LEED certificate. I just finished up a college that went for "Gold".  All I have to say is that it is a pain in the butt when architects spec a LEED material and no one stocks it nor can you buy it in small qty's.  LEED is a neat thing but there is a lot of stuff to learn, remember, all the do's and don'ts.  I've been to a couple training seminars on LEED but I rely on a lot on my vendors to help me out with LEED information.  This Thursday we are meeting with a company that can certify us FSC so we don't have to worry about breaking the chain of custody.  This should be fun as well.  Right now we have been having some FSC materials delivered straight to the jobsite so it won't break the chain of custody. 

I really see the market some day just going all green for LEED materials.  It's a popular thing where I'm from and thats what all my vendors are telling me.  I think Columbia products who makes PB, MDF, ETC, already has all their products NAUF.

 

[Dane]

The test is definitely a pain.  I will say, however, that I think most of the griping about the exam comes from folks who don't have a lot of exposure to building science from the outset.  You, as a builder, would be a couple of steps ahead of the game going in.  Since I had already designed a couple of houses and had been a carpenter and remodel guy for years before taking the exam, I found that I knew a lot of the baseline material that helped me integrated the LEED protocols more easily.  I found that most folks were overthinking the exam.  Since all they give you for study material is the LEED regulations book, you don't really know what to focus on.  I discovered, after reading all the blogs and internet sites and buying some of the study guides, that most people are focusing on the wrong thing.  If you ever decide to take it, drop me a line, I can make it a lot easier for you.

I use a lot of the Columbia Purebond stuff, and I love it.  The green materials may be more expensive and often a pain to get, but more often than not, they are of a higher quality and easier to work with...Not always, but often.  They sure feel nicer in the lungs too....

I am pretty good with sourcing those materials, so if you ever get stuck and need a LEED compliant option for something, you might drop me a line and I might be able to point you in the right direction.  I think you are right, though, in the next few years I think a lot of the manufacturers are going to start phasing out the formaldehyde and it is going to be a lot easier to get the materials that meet the standard.

 

[CharlesWilson]

There isn't much wood in this one, but it sure is inspirational.

Bishop's Castle links

Charles

 

[ForumMFG]

Dane, PM me your e-mail address so I can add you to my contacts.  Thanks for offering your help.

Regarding the purebond material.  We buy 3/4" x 4' x 8' purebond plywood and your right, it is some of the best plywood I have ever worked with.  It's a very high quality board.  That purebond plywood is not sold as MR board but it is made with the same type of glue you would find in MR board which gives it another bonus...

 

[EcoFurniture]

Great info, Thanks!

I totally agree, the Purebond sheets are not only healthy, they are also of very high quality! Dane, you made a good point about the non-toxic properties of the purebond. Add to that the fact that the festool dust collection system can make your shop into a very healthy work place. I'm offering this to my employees and they really notice the difference to other shops. Columbia just added us, EcoFurniture, to there official recommended manufacturers list!

As an Leed ap, I'm sure your heart of the DockSideGreen development we have in Victoria. This building has a platinum certification. A truly inspiring project. One of our biggest client base in there 

Cheers,
Andreas

 

[EcoFurniture]

Just found this:
  Looks like they are really doing everything right! I also really really like the kitchen cabinets! Very modern!

 

[Dane]

Dockside looks like a really cool development, we definitely need to see more of those. Congratulations on getting on the Columbia site, that should send quite a few customers your way.  I think that there is a good deal of money to be made by a manufacturer with a shop-bot cranking out low-voc cabinet boxes with the PureBond and shipping them flat-packed, I am always running across architects and builders who can't find a good source of reasonably priced low-voc cabinets.

I watched a few minutes of that Building Green show, I have never seen an episode, looks pretty good.  I am curious to know what R value those bales achieve.  I am a little skeptical about the air sealing of that mud-work, I would like to see a thermal image.  I worked on a straw-bale house about 10 years ago, very cool process.  Now that I am a bit more educated about what actually makes for an energy efficient shell, I would like to see some testing done and see if the efficiency matches up with the good use of material resources.

 

[EcoFurniture]

Dockside looks like a really cool development, we definitely need to see more of those. Congratulations on getting on the Columbia site, that should send quite a few customers your way.  I think that there is a good deal of money to be made by a manufacturer with a shop-bot cranking out low-voc cabinet boxes with the PureBond and shipping them flat-packed, I am always running across architects and builders who can't find a good source of reasonably priced low-voc cabinets.

[/quote/]

Interesting idea about the flat packed cabinets.... What would you see as reasonably priced? In the line with IKEA or other custom cabinets? Flat packing would work, no problem did this before. From a "green" and sustainable standpoint I have to say that shipping cabinets across the continent is not my piece of pie. But it gives me a new idea of marketing our products to people who like to save a couple of $ by installing the cabs them self!

Anyhow, I'm sorry to go that much of topic  [crying]