Date Occurred: 13 0815   Trained and received two training certificates; "Residential and Commercial Photovoltaic Systems Certificate" and "Solar Business and Technical Sales Certificate"; to be able to design and install solar electric panel systems. For our architectural practice, these skills allow us to understand the needs and benefits of renewable solar energy systems and incorporate these into building designs in a seamless, cost effective manner. One of the first things you learn in solar training is that the first thing you want to do is cut your building electrical loads to allow a smaller photovoltaic (PV) system to cover a greater percentage of your buildings needs more cost effectively. For example, buying a new high efficiency refrigerator will offset the number of solar panels you need and provide a one year payback on your new refrigerator investment. PV systems are typically sized to only cover building lighting and convenience loads (plug loads), like refrigerators, TV's, stereos, computers, vacuums, etc... Solar can't make a significant dent in covering a buildings very large heating and cooling loads without being prohibitively expensive. This makes sense since even a more efficient refrigerator makes a significant investment difference. If a buildings heating and cooling loads were crushed to 70 - 90% of their usual size, solar electric can cost effectively cover the remaining building energy needs. Buildings designed to Passive House quality do just that; with added benefit of superior indoor air quality, improved occupant health and comfort, building durability and resilence. Vist the Solar Energy International website to learn more about their solar education at  http://www.solarenergy.org

Date Occurred: 13 0422   Visited Minnesota's State Capital to support clean renewable solar energy and solar energy jobs. Educated and lobbied state senate and house representatives with office visits and hand delivered letters on the benefits of distributed renewable solar on homes, commercial buildings and in solar gardens. Asked energy utility lobbyists to encourage utilities to develop technology to manage distributed power rather than block distributed renewable solar energy for the health of our citizens and state. 
See: http://www.mprnews.org/story/2013/05/05/environment/minnesota-solar-power-gets-new-boost-from-lawmakers

Date Occurred: 12 0927   When you design campuses, buildings or parts of buildings, it is extremely important to visualize how energy will move around and through them. Picturing and feeling how energy moves through solids and liquids helps you better place them. Simple pictures and graphs can give you that visceral understanding. You can then arrange objects more effectively before you apply any time consuming math. "Physics: The Basis of Natural Lighting & Ventilation - from the Natural World to the Built World" is one of 3 presentations I developed for the architects and engineers at AECOM. The presentations were designed to create an intuitive and intellectual understanding of how the physic's principals of energy operate in measurable ways at different scales, from molecular to global climate, in our natural and built environments. AIA/CES Continuing Education Unitswere earned by attendees.

Welcome! I am writing this blog to let you know more about who we are and what we are doing. We have been busy, so I am making a number of entries to get current.

First, Thank You! We are grateful to our clients for their trust and thanks for the work we have done for them. One of the most rewarding aspects of our work since founding Anderson Sustainable Architecture has been the ability to establish agreements with customers, be the one’s responsible for completing them, and enjoying the respect and trust that comes from work well done. We are very happy that many clients we have worked for have come back with new work to do.

Our goal is to provide well thought out holistic responses to your needs. We will listen to you and respond to your life style and building needs to create buildings and environments that support your goals, values, and means. We focus on life-style tailored design. We can design for special needs, flexible use and what ever your dreams and needs are.

We are available throughout your process, from teaching you what to look for in a site for a new home, or how to review an existing home and site for suitability to your needs, to walking you through how simple maintaining your new home is.
Having the opportunity to add sustainability to our practice of providing beautiful, functional and effective architectural design for our client’s buildings has made the practice of architecture even more meaningful for us. 

The first task in energy conservation and management is to decrease your buildings needs (called loads or demand in the industry). The second task is to offset your remaining energy loads with onsite clean renewable energy.