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Community of Charrettes - PublicPublicly Shared Charrette Sessions
FREE Webinar on ENERGY EQUITY + FREE Book!
When you sign-up for this free webinar you will also receive an electronic copy of the
"Homeowner's GUIDE to HOME ENERGY EQUITY" as our gift to you!
Wednesday, May 30, 20128:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Central Time) -- Click on the following link for details:
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Many of you probably already know something about Dan, author of 25+ books related to renewable energy, green/sustainable design & construction and more. Here are just a few of the titles of the books he has written:
Power from the Sun, Power from the Wind, The Solar House, Solar Electricity Basics, Wind Energy Basics, Green Home Improvement, The Natural House, and many more books available at http://www.evergreeninstitute.org/
What you may not be aware of is that Dan's home, located in Gerald, Missouri, burned down about a year ago and that he is now in the process of building a zero-energy replacement home with many green/sustainable features and much more.
Dan is willing to share his expertise and construction scheduling with us so that we can experience the 'design-build' decision process as it happens. Even though Dan will be extremely busy building his new home, he understands the value of conducting Design Charrettes and is willing to let others learn and grow with him.
Links to Video Sessions
Featured Video Session 1A - Assembling Your Team
Video Session 1A EXPANDED - Assembling Your Team
Video Session 1B - Developing a Budget
Just Added! Video Session 1C
Video Session 1C - Designing a Building to Be Durable
You Can AlsoView Dan's Progress by clicking on the "Community of Charrettes - Public" tab above
How to utilize this website
If you are not familiar with Design Charrettes or have not participated in one before then please allow us to walk you through the basics. Being that we now live in the "Information Age", gaining access to information about charrettes is not difficult. Many books, white papers and online references have been written that describe how others have conducted their own Design Charrettes. And, the results from the charrette(s) is nearly always positive and sometimes even spectacular.
However, reading how someone else conducted their own Design Charrette(s) is typically not comparable to conducting your own. Your project is different, your time-line is different, your goals are unique to your specific project and your design team is comprised of individuals that YOU choose. The desired objective of this website is to make Design Charrettes understandable and accessible to anyone interested. Please don't take this statement to mean that we intend to 'dumb-down' the Design Charrette process.
On the contrary, we will be seeking to build an ever-growing community of the best and brightest minds involved in some of the most advanced and sustainable projects. Learning from others is how we all move forward together. Fortunately for us, people in leadership roles tend to be willing to share their experiences. And, innovators involved in 'cutting-edge' projects want the world to know their successes. (...and sometimes they'll even share about their not so successful projects)
Bottomline: We want your project, no matter how big or small, to be successful and, hopefully, sustainable as well.
This section will grow along with the website and I have included the date published and/or updated on the top of this article for your tracking purposes. New information will be here shortly.
Until then, "Here's to Your Success!"
DesignCharrette.com - Create/Collaborate/Celebrate!
By definition, collaboration is a group effort and this website is gearing-up to facilitate productive team projects through effective, organized communications. The entire world is beginning to understand that fundamental changes must be made in the way we build or retrofit our buildings, grow our food, produce our energy, dispose of our waste and pretty much every other human-related activity. Otherwise, our collective future is not looking too promising.
How can this website help? The architectural, engineering and sustainable fields have thought leaders and industry acknowledged experts who are clearing the path toward better ways to design, build, test and certify/commission buildings. As the Senior Editor for DesignCharrette.com, I have had the opportunity to meet (and sometimes work with) many of these leaders and experts. Their aggregated knowledge needs to be distilled and shared with the greater design/build community so that we all can learn and benefit from their knowledge and experience.
Over the next few months I am going to ask the following individuals to favor us with helpful information and projects that they feel are representative of the best practices, latest technologies and/or cutting-edge products. You may recognize some of the names of the individuals I will list below but first you probably are wondering who I am.
My name is Ken Riead and I've been working toward a sustainable future for many years. If you are interested in looking at a brief bio of me, I will include a link here.
In short, please know that I am dedicated toward helping you design, build and quantify the best projects possible. I hope that you utilize the knowledge and assistance provided by this website. And, as REO Speedwagon stated in one of their famous songs, "Keep Pushin' On."
The best place to start is at the beginning by inviting the individual who 
has been credited as the founder of the architectural green movement to participate in this website. Who would that individual be? By nearly universal acclaim it would be Bob Berkebile of BNIM Architecture.
I won't delve into Bob's bio right now but I am going to bug him to share some of his vast knowledge with us.
Thought leaders in industry often have a protege' that they have inspired to do great things and push new boundaries. In Bob's case I am referring to Jason McLennan. Jason is behind the "Living Building Challenge" and is currently the CEO of Cascadia.
He is also the author of the book, "Philosophy of Sustainable Design."
Next, let's get someone to explain why making buildings and vehicles more energy efficient is so important. In this regard I am inviting 
Steve Andrews to give us some of his in-depth insight as to how critical it is for us to reduce our current consumption rate of fossil fuels. Why would Steve know?
He is the co-founder of the US Association for the Study of Peak Oil - http://aspo-usa.org/
What's possible is not always practical so I think it is important to hear from a person who is known for his practical point of view regarding the green/sustainable movement. This person is, of course, Ed Begley, Jr. and he is a living example of how being frugal and green is actually admirable in today's "consume and throw away" society. I've met Ed and I'm pretty sure that he will be willing to contribute to this website. (Anyway, it never hurts to ask...)
Over the course of time I'll be inviting others to share their particular expertise with us so that this website will become as helpful and fresh as possible.
Thanks again!
DesignCharrette.com is sponsored by Hathmore Technologies, LLC
Information about Hathmore Technologies, LLC can be found here: http://Hathmore.com
Copyright 2011 - Hathmore Technologies, LLC
The first book in the Energy Equity series is now available!
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& Get a DYO® Basic Energy Audit Kit for only $10!
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Design Charrette Options
Carefully Selecting Your Design Team The key to a successful Design Charrette is the selection of a motivated design team that is focused on your project & willing to contribute their experience & expertise.
References-Resources and Help Information is readily available about "how-to" design/build an energy-efficient, green & durable building or other type of sustainable project. In fact, an avalanche of unsorted information can make it hard to find and extract the specific details a particular project needs. 
Archive: Projects - Charrettes - Other Click on image above to view the Archives of previous projects, design charrettes and professional credentials.