As we design new custom homes and renovate existing homes into dream homes, we have to think about indoor air quality issues. Studies have shown that we spend 90% of our time indoors. Scientists have reported that warming temperatures have a direct impact on seasonal allergies such as tree pollen. I know my seasonal allergies are impacting me daily! We have also seen a rise in airborne viruses. Add the pollen and viruses together with building code requirements for tighter and more energy efficiency and you get indoor air quality challenges in your home.
Filters
There are ways to design better systems that not only filter out pollen but clean the air in your home to a point where you will get sick less often. The first line of defense is a high-efficiency air filter for your heating and cooling system. This filter should have a MERV 13 or higher rating with pleats that catch allergens like pollen, dust mites, and pet dander. Then you need to remember to replace the filter on a regular basis. I use a 5” pleated filter in my system at home which should be changed every 6 months. Many filters require a 1 – 3 month change if they are not as robust as a 5” pleated option.
In addition to a quality filter, you may think about installing an air purification system on your return duct, such as a UV germicidal lamp. These systems will kill viruses that land on the coils of your HVAC system.
Humidity
Humidity control inside your home is also a key feature to keeping mold from growing. This is not only done with your air conditioning system but could also include a dehumidifier. Other impacts to indoor humidity are insulation in your thermal envelope of the home, the water management system on the exterior of the walls and roof, and the source of fresh air. Keeping humidity below 50% reduces the chances of mold growth.
HVAC System
A quality HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system will include ducts and vents that have 10% or less air leakage before they get to the room they are intended to heat and cool. This is not the normal standard air leakage I see in ductwork for many existing homes. You may also consider adding ventilation to your HVAC system if the house is tight enough to need it. This can also be done in the return duct using an ERV (Energy Recovery Ventilator).
Keeping your HVAC system running efficientlycan also contribute to better indoor air quality. This regular maintenance will verify that all systems are functioning properly. The company doing this work will also look at preventative measures to keep your system functioning properly.
Materials
Thinking through the materials inside your home is another important indoor air quality design strategy. You will want to make sure that you don’t add anything that has toxic off-gassing once installed. There are many glues, paints, and stains that no longer have VOC’s. Using hypoallergenic furnishings and carpets is also recommended. Paying attention to your ductwork install is also important. Masking off ducts during construction keeps them clean prior to startup.
If you are like me – itchy eyes, running nose, and a seasonal cough – you will want to do everything you can to improve your indoor air quality. It will pay off in less sick days, more energy, and a clearer head.
Gaines Group Architects has a new home in Charlottesville at 910 East High St. We hope you will Celebrate with us in Charlottesville for a Chamber of Commerce Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting on Wednesday, July 10th from 9am – 11am. Stop by on your way to work and grab a bagel and some coffee, stick around until 10am for a ribbon cutting, then hang out for a bit to let us hear all the incredible things you are doing.
After spending a few years on Pantops Mountain, it was time for us to get back to our roots in downtown Charlottesville. Our former offices have been located on Water St. and Ridge St., just a few steps from the downtown walking mall, and now, as they say, “Guess who’s back, back again”! We are excited to be able to walk to downtown local restaurants, so reach out to us if you ever want to grab lunch.
This bright blue house is the first time in a few decades our office has been in a space we didn’t design, so stay tuned, we are scheming for a very cool future! Please feel free to stop in and visit with our team, hear what they are working on, and see our new space. We look forward to connecting or reconnecting with you soon.
Parking:
– Limited parking behind building and on nearby streets. – Short walk from Market Street Garage. The first hour at the Market Street Garage parking is free.
This past month, I had the opportunity to travel to Peru. I am always grateful for the opportunity to travel because it broadens my world and introduces me to people both different and similar to me. Not to mention, I get to try new foods (like alpaca!). Of course, while I was there, I couldn’t help but look at the architecture. Below are snippets of the designs and structures that caught my eye.
Lima
My first stop in Peru was to Lima. Lima Architecture varies from district to district, but the architecture that I saw in Miraflores, a more touristy and commercial district, was more similar to what I’ve seen in U.S. cities. Along the Miraflores Malecón (Direct translation: “breakwater”. You can think of it like a boardwalk or costal path on top of a cliff by the ocean.), there were beautiful parks, sculptures, and a butterfly garden path.
City view from my window.
Fun shapes and color accents.
In the middle of the four lane road, there was a beautiful tree-lined path for walking, biking, and sitting on the benches.
The buildings closer to the coast were especially colorful.
Cusco
It wasn’t just the architectural design of the buildings that I was fascinated by. I fell in love with the narrow twists and turns of the Cusco streets. Although this sort of city layout is not as natural for me to navigate, it always gives me a sense of exploration and curiosity. And even though the streets and buildings weren’t laid out into a squared grid, I was pleasantly surprised to be able to locate myself by day 3 of walking around. … but boy the 11,000 ft. altitude and hills did not make walking around easy!
The building shapes weren’t shapes I see in Harrisonburg, or anywhere in the U.S. that I’ve visited. My mind was never bored as my eyes traveled the lines, jumping from one building to another.
The buildings around my Airbnb reminded me of this ink drawing that I was working on, and they gave me inspiration to complete it.
I have never seen round, concrete landings like this that seem to float outside. These were a common sight.
Spectacular detailing on a church in Plaza de Armas, Cusco.
Sacred Valley
Wow, this valley was sacred indeed. Our guide, Will was fantastic and emphasized that he was giving us an etnohistoria (translation: ethnohistoric) tour of the Inca locations, meaning the history he told us centered indigenous people’s perspectives, documents, culture, and oral history, etc., instead of history written by the white, European perspectives. He encouraged us to approach learning that day with an open mind and “blank page.” Learning from the Incan people’s perspectives helped me to understand the importance and purposes behind the architecture we visited.
This is so important for learning about cultures different from our own, especially when the history we have heard about a group has not been from them. This is important in architectural practice as we design with communities.
Architecturally, the landscape, building, and community design were expertly created to fit with the landscape and topography. Descriptions are beside each picture below.
As our guide taught us to do, I say thank you to these sacred mountains that we traveled in that hold these sacred places.
Ollantaytambo: A beautiful town within the mountains that has Incan ruins. Some of the Incan buildings in the mountains were made to store food for the years that El Nino caused a dry season in this valley. These buildings were strategically oriented towards the wind. Incans carefully designed holes in the building to allow for airflow from the wind that would prevent mold during years of storage.
The extensive stepped terraces at Moray were designed and used by the Incans for agricultural research. By planting on the different levels which varied in ph levels and other conditions, the Incas developed over 4,000 different potato varieties and hundreds of corn varieties!
Salineras de Maras, or The Salt Mines of Maras, were designed on the sloping landscape with an intricate network of canals. The water on each flat slowly evaporates in the sun and the remaining salt is harvested. They are still in use.
Massive stones on top of the structure in Ollantaytambo had portions that jut out to fit together, much like Legos.
Arequipa
Arequipa is a city surrounded by the Andes mountains and the volcano, Misti. The buildings in this city were again full of colors and shapes that I don’t see everyday in the U.S. There were also stunning churches with intricate carvings and lush parks scattered throughout the city.
Spiral staircase and rounded landing that I saw in Cusco too.
Of course, trying lots of yummy food with my family.
A question posed to me, now posed to you:
Waiting for my delayed flight at the Lima airport (at 1am), I had a conversation with a man I met in the food court that spanned everything from religion to culture to language to architecture. He asked me if there was anything like Machu Pichu and other structures from indigenous groups in the U.S. I was stumped. He pointed to the pyramids in Egypt and Tikal in Guatemala and asked why we didn’t have things like that.
I assume there are many reasons why I couldn’t think of any such locations or structures: my European ancestors intentionally and strategically destroyed elements of indigenous culture, which included architecture, as a way of assuming power? Yes. Was it just not a part of my school curriculum? Probably. Maybe the nations that lived in the now U.S. used materials that were more disintegrable? I don’t know enough about that. Maybe the groups were more nomadic? I don’t know enough about this either. Was it the fact that I was trying to speak in Spanish at 1am? Yeah, probably a little bit of that too.
I’m curious, do you know of any places? Let me know in the comments.
*Edit: Later I googled Indigenous structures in the U.S. and low and behold, there are many! Check out a few cultural, architectural sites here.
Gaines Group Architects is very excited to be moving back to downtown Charlottesville! The firm has long roots in the downtown area. Ray started his career across the street from our new office while doing his professional externship with Sandy H. Lambert, III during his education at VA Tech. He then worked just off of the downtown mall during his time with Tom Wyant.
The first official Gaines Group office (then known as Raymond E. Gaines, Architect) was started off of West Main Street from 1989-1993. As the group expanded, they moved to East Market Street into a building that we designed – a place where current partners, Charles, Paul, and Adrienne started their careers with the firm. In 2011, the opportunity to move into a roof terrace space at Luxor office park (which the Gaines Group designed) was too good to pass up. The firm has been located on Pantops ever since.
Recently, we realized our space there didn’t match our current needs, so we decided to explore places closer to where we began. The opportunity arose to share some office space with a local civil engineering firm, Shimp Engineering, and his survey team, Foresight. We’ve worked closely with Justin’s team on many of our previous projects. This move puts us within walking distance of the downtown mall, and we’ve all been excited to explore the surrounding area as we move in.
The space we’re moving into is a house that was built in 1920, affectionately known by us as “The Blue House”. We are across from the old Martha Jefferson Hospital right at the corner of High and 9 ½ Street. We are still doing finishing touches, and some of us have more to unpack than others, but we would love to have visitors if anyone would like to stop by. We hope to more formally host guests in the future once we have finished our move.
By Principle Architect and Multi-Family Director, Adrienne Stronge. I have always loved books. I have been on a lifetime of adventures from my couch / bed / chair, thanks to the amazing power of printed words. At a very young age I knew two things; I wanted to be an author and I wanted to live in a house with a library. As I got older, I realized that my talents were better suited to creating tangible buildings rather than fictional worlds, but I knew that my hobby would make me a better architect.
Reading allows me to practice designing in my mind, turning written words into beautiful buildings without pictures to guide me. It’s like exercising my design muscle, especially with fantastical worlds that exist outside of our reality. Books also help me practice empathy. Walking in someone else’s shoes and reading someone else’s perspective works towards building empathy for other experiences. As architects, we need to be able to listen and empathize with our clients to create personalized spaces that fully meet their wants and needs.
While I did not become a writer, I do have a “library” with bookshelves shoe-horned into every blank wall of my house. I love having a house full of books and places I can go to comfortably read them. If you are like me and need a place in your home for books, or even just spaces to cozy up with your e-reader, here are some tips below: 1. Make sure your architect knows the size of your collection. Built-in bookcases with adjustable shelves are better than individually bought shelves for safety reasons, but if you will have any heavy furniture pieces, consider adding blocking in the wall for anchoring these pieces. Ensure your bookcases are designed near a bearing wall if you have a large, weighty collection. Don’t forget to design places for any oversized books in your collection, which are best stored flat to avoid stressing the spines.
2. Reading next to a window is one of my favorite places to curl up with a book, but avoid direct light in rooms with books. Direct sunlight will fade spines and make books age faster. Work with your architect to conduct sun studies that will allow enough indirect light to comfortably read but block harmful direct light.
3. You will want to ensure there is no excessive moisture in the room that will house your books. A well-balanced HVAC system with a well-designed and constructed building enclosure is key for this.
4. While I love natural light in my reading space, the room needs ample artificial light for night or rainy day reading. If your reading space will be in the center of your room, consider adding a floor outlet for your reading lamp to avoid trip hazards from wires. Direct, individually switched sconce lights over beds will allow you to continue your reading well into the night when you just need to consume “one more chapter…”
5. I love the cozy image of reading next to a fire. An efficient heat pump should keep you comfortably warm in your home, but you could consider adding a visually appealing electric fireplace. These will give you the cozy effect of reading by a fire, without the introduction of flame and particulates to your library.
6. For a bit of whimsy, consider using a bookcase as a hidden doorway. Creating a secret room adds a fun, unexpected element to your library.
7. Don’t forget your outdoor spaces! Make a cozy nook outside for a great reading spot. My ideal outdoor spot is covered for all weather, includes a ceiling fan to discourage bugs, includes artificial lighting for reading late into the night, and has well-placed blocking in the ceiling so I can install a swing or comfortable hanging chair.
If you’re a fellow bibliophile, be sure to check out the VA Festival of the Book, taking place March 20-24, 2024 in Charlottesville. VAbook.org
What better day than Saint Patrick’s Day than to give you tips for to go green! As a bonus, if you forgot to wear green for Saint Patrick’s Day, maybe you can evade the pinching by trying these green tips! … Ok, that might not fly, but taking care of the environment and creation is a pretty worthwhile reason on it’s own to try one (or all) of these.
Cut your water usage.Not only does this conserve precious water resources but it saves you money as well.
Try a free carbon footprint calculator to identify the ways your household may be producing carbon. Then reflect on how you might reduce your footprint in feasible ways for you.
Choose LED bulbs for more energy efficiency. Not only will you not have to replace a bulb near as often but LED bulbs have some of the most versatile options today with numerous color temperatures, shapes, and sizes.
Install Solar PV on your roof. This can be a large investment, so it’s not surprising that there are often a lot of questions surrounding investment in solar. Eric Beck, owner of Green Hill Solar, and Charles Hendricks answer some of the questions we’ve heard the most. If you’re interested in hearing more, check out the answers and discussion in our blog posts: Should you install solar pv on your roof? Part 1 and Part 2.
Another option for when the Virginia Spring swings from cold to summer-feeling heat outside is to open your windows. This is called Natural Ventilation and it can improve the quality of your indoor air by circulating fresh air, while reducing energy bills when designed right. However, if your allergies are bad in the spring, this tip may not be worth it, and that’s ok.
