Please enjoy this gorgeous floral abstract provided to us by Infinity PIX. For more information, or to include something like this on one of your upcoming projects visit www.infinitypix.com.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
D.C.-area room rates at bargain prices
WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL - BY Barton Eckert
Enduring pressure from the recession are making rates for five-star hotel rooms available at a three-star room price this summer in the Washington area, according to a price index by Hotels.com. The online travel company said that "due to continued inventory and economic pressures," hotel customers are finding new lows in rates around the country. A room in the Washington area now costs an average $144 across all star grades, a drop of 11 percent from 2008's rates, the company said. Baltimore-area lodging is down 15 percent to $117 a room. New York, Honolulu, Boston, Santa Barbara, Calif., and Panama City, Fla., are ahead of the Washington area as having the most expensive room rates, according to Hotels.com's index. The lowest prices can be found in Macon, Ga., Jackson, Tenn., and Montgomery, Ala. Read more: D.C.-area room rates at bargain prices - Washington Business Journal
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
IIDA Hosts......
Chapter Board Celebration and
New Member Drive Kick-off
Thursday, June 24th
Please join the IIDA Mid-Atlantic Chapter for a special event - a chance to meet the new MAC Board, to recognize our volunteers, and to give a warm welcome to potential new members - all in a delightful setting at Farmers & Fishers, Founding Farmer's sister restaurant, on the Georgetown waterfront. We'll enjoy an evening of delicious food, an open bar of beer and wine, and a mix of old and new friends - what could be better? Space is limited, so sign up soon!
New Member Drive Offer: Student, Associate and Professional members who apply for membership by Aug. 1st will be reimbursed the $75 application fee! An on-line application is available on www.IIDA.org or contact Frank Norcross at fnorcross@verizon.net.
Location: Washington Harbour/Georgetown Waterfront:
Farmers & Fishers, 3000 K Street NW,
Washington DC 20007
Metro: Foggy Bottom [Blue and Orange Line] Metro station;
Circulator bus; public bus lines; Georgetown Metro
Connection shuttle
Parking: Nearby garage and metered parking
Time: 5:30 pm - 6:00 pm Registration;
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Event
Cost: $25 for members, partners/sponsors
& potential new member; $60 for all others
Bring: A business card - (5) 2011 Student, Associate or
Professional Memberships will be raffled off!
Tama Duffy Day of DC's Perkins+Will writes and article for Contract Magazine
Designing for Health: Light and Its Role in Patient Safety
-By By Tama Duffy Day, FIIDA, FASID, LEED AP
"Designing for Health" is a monthly, Web-exclusive series from healthcare interior design leaders at Perkins+Will that focuses on the issues, trends, challenges, and research involved in crafting today's healing environments.
I have always been fascinated with sunlight. As a child growing up in rural North Dakota, I would sit in the sunlight as it came streaming into our home during the long cold winters, amazed that the sun’s rays could be so warm and comforting when the temperature outside was frigid.
And everywhere I travel, the spaces I visit connect me to new ways of thinking about light. A short distance from Dublin is Newgrange, Ireland, a megalithic passage tomb built in 3,200 B.C. Covering approximately an acre of land, the tomb’s inner passageway of more than 60 ft. carries you to a cruciform-shaped inner chamber. As the sun rises on the winter solstice, this inner chamber is illuminated for 17 minutes. As noted in the many writings about Newgrange, the passageway and chamber were both oriented and constructed to maximize the accuracy and length of the light that enters the chamber during the solstice. To be admitted into Newgrange for this winter solstice experience one needs to win their ticket lottery. I was not fortunate to win the lottery, but even in August the visit was spectacular. Scholars believe these passage tombs had ceremonial, spiritual, and astrological importance, the marking of a new year—a new beginning.
Fast forward to today and experience the work of Swedish artist Daniel Rybakken. His most recent work, “Surface Daylight 2,” recently was unveiled in Milan. Illustrated below in “Daylight Entrance”, Daniel attempts to recreate the impression of natural light and the positive impacts of natural light through artificial means. In an article written by Cosmina Dinu, Daniel stated, “When daylight in a room is removed, the feeling of space decreases, and the contrast between outdoor and indoor increases. I believe that this can result in a feeling of being enclosed for many of us, to be alone or lonely—a social block.” 
The connection between light and the spirit has been recorded throughout all the ancient cultures. Theo Gimbel writes that the Egyptians built temples where color healing occurred. “Sunlight shone through colored gems, such as rubies and sapphires, on to people seeking healing.” In Alvar Alto’s 1929 tuberculosis sanatorium at Paimio, Finland, the building contributed to the healing process. Dry, fresh air and sunlight were employed to fight the disease, as sunning balconies and a sundeck were incorporated into the building.
Recently lighting designer Robert Leiter of HDLC architectural lighting design made a correlation not only between light and health, but between lighting and safety. “In lighting, as in medicine, ‘primum non nocere’ [translating to ‘Do no harm’] is fundamental to the lighting in a healthcare facility—provide a visually comfortable environment, free of glare and other visual deterrents or distractions,” he says. “There are some simple ideas that today’s designs have adopted as part of their vocabulary, such as patients not being subjected to the glare of bare bulbs as they lie on a gurney staring up into the lights recessed in the ceiling. At the very least, lensed fixtures are used. Or, even better, other lighting approaches are used so the views of the ceilings are as important and relaxing as the other views a patient might encounter. ‘Do no harm’ also means providing the right functional light for the doctors and nurses at their work areas, including the ability to control the lights for computer work, and this is where the safety function is critical.”
In the Perkins+Will-designed Adopt A Room project, colored light provide a positive distraction for children with cancer, while giving them control over the amount and color of light in their environment. Leiter shares the goal of providing patients control over their environment. “Control of the architectural light fixtures allows for modulation of the light levels within the patient room and adjacent spaces, which plays into patient comfort and health in the maintenance of natural rest/activity patterns,” he says. “Responsive reduction in the light levels to the patient needs aids not only patient health, but also contributes to the promotion of green buildings”
Leiter notes that lighting research shows strong correlations in circadian rhythms (and sleep disorders) with the hormonal responses triggered by non-visual photoreceptors in the eye. Not “rods” and “cones” as we were taught in biology class, but receptors only now being understood that connect directly to non-visual portions of our neurology and affect our health through hormonal controls. Light treatments long have been used to combat seasonal affective disorder, but now we are seeing newer treatments that are tuned to these new receptors.
How we shape and design healthcare facilities has tremendous implications on health and safety. In a 2001 study by Benedetti, bipolar patients in east facing rooms with direct morning sun had a 3.67-day shorter hospital stay than bipolar patients in west facing rooms. L. M. Wilson noted that delirium and depression in patients in a windowless Intensive Care Unit was twice as high as those patients in an ICU with window.
There is continual growing evidence of the importance of light, not only on our mental state, but also in patient safety. In a Booker and Roseman analysis of hospital medication errors in Alaska, medication errors were 1.95 times more likely in December than in September. (December in Alaska has the shortest number of daylight hours.) In a 1991 study, prescription-dispensing errors were directly associated with the level of illumination (Buchanan et all). An illumination level of 146 foot-candles was associated with a significantly lower error rate than the baseline level of 45 foot-candles.
Too often our healthcare environments are spaces where light quality and quantity is the same everywhere, creating monotonous, unsafe, and confusing places. Developing successful lighting strategies that support both health and safety require the integration of a lighting designer in the earliest phases of a project. Lighting designers balance the request of sustainable energy needs (reducing energy use) with the skills of providing the right amount of light in the right locations. Clients need guidance in making informed decisions on the use and maintenance of the new generation of LED fixtures. Guidance often left to the post occupancy conversations.
Some of our recent lighting strategies align the attributes of health and safety: Medication dispensing areas feature motion detectors that increase light levels when staff approach the medication cart. Adjustable task lights are specifically designed to illuminate decentralized nurse work areas without producing glare. Signage panels illuminated with energy-saving LEDs provide text, color, and light as unified components for wayfinding and direction. And a behavioral health facility is designed to have both east- and west-facing patient rooms, allowing staff to “prescribe” the sunlight orientation to the appropriate patients.
Using light appropriately and innovatively can save energy, inspire health and healing, and also increase patient safety: benefiting from both the art and the science of light. More information about the integration of light and lighting designers can be found at the International Association of Lighting Designers Web site www.iald.org.
As for me and my next light-inspired adventure, it’s James Turrell’s Roden Crater in Arizona. (See “Painting with Light” in the Contract July 2008 issue for a story on Turrell’s Roden Crater.) In 1974 Turrell bought a dormant volcano and ever since has been turning this crater into a symmetrical astronomical instrument. Once a year, at the solstice, the sun enters and illuminates this crater. Not scheduled for visitors until 2011, perhaps this time I’ll win the lottery.
Tama Duffy Day, FIIDA, FASID, LEED AP, has been informally studying the impact of light on healing and safety since 1990. She is a principal at Perkins+Will and is the national interior design healthcare practice leader, formulating research and design initiatives throughout the firm. She can be reached atTama.DuffyDay@perkinswill.com.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Photo of the Week Presented by Infinity Pix
Please enjoy these BEAUTIFUL photo's from one of SWEEDEN'S beautiful natural waterfalls
provided to us by
Leslie at Infinity Photography.
For more information, or to include something like this on one of your upcoming projects visit www.infinitypix.com.
GUEST WRITER: Barbara Young
Here’s a simple solution to learn the way solar panels work
What exactly is solar energy ?
Solar power is radiant energy which is produced by the sun. Every single day the sun radiates, or sends out, an incredible volume of energy. The sun radiates more energy in a second than people have used since the beginning of time!
The energy of the Sun originates from within the sun itself. Like other stars, the sun is really a big ball of gases––mostly hydrogen and helium atoms.
The hydrogen atoms in the sun’s core combine to form helium and generate energy in a process called nuclear fusion.
During nuclear fusion, the sun’s extremely high pressure and temperature cause hydrogen atoms to come apart and their nuclei (the central cores of the atoms) to fuse or combine. Four hydrogen nuclei fuse to become one helium atom. But the helium atom contains less mass than the four hydrogen atoms that fused. Some matter is lost during nuclear fusion. The lost matter is emitted into space as radiant energy.
It requires countless years for the energy in the sun’s core to make its way to the solar surface, after which somewhat over eight minutes to travel the 93 million miles to earth. The solar energy travels to the earth at a speed of 186,000 miles per second, the velocity of sunshine.
Only a small portion of the power radiated by the sun into space strikes our planet, one part in two billion. Yet this volume of energy is enormous. Everyday enough energy strikes america to supply the nation’s energy needs for one and a half years!
Where does all this energy go?
About 15 percent of the sun’s energy which hits our planet is reflected back into space. Another 30 percent is used to evaporate water, which, lifted in to the atmosphere, produces rainfall. Solar energy also is absorbed by plants, the land, and the oceans. The rest could be employed to supply our energy needs.
Who invented solar technology ?
People have harnessed solar energy for hundreds of years. As early as the 7th century B.C., people used simple magnifying glasses to concentrate the light of the sun into beams so hot they would cause wood to catch fire. Over a century ago in France, a scientist used heat from a solar collector to produce steam to drive a steam engine. At first of this century, scientists and engineers began researching ways to use solar power in earnest. One important development was obviously a remarkably efficient solar boiler introduced by Charles Greeley Abbott, a united states astrophysicist, in 1936.
The solar hot water heater came into common use at this time in Florida, California, and the Southwest. The industry started in the early 1920s and was in full swing prior to World War II. This growth lasted prior to the mid-1950s when low-cost natural gas became the primary fuel for heating American homes.
People and world governments remained largely indifferent to the possibilities of solar power prior to the oil shortages of the1970s. Today, people use solar energy to heat buildings and water and to generate electricity.
How we use solar power today ?
Solar power is used in several different ways, of course. There's two standard kinds of solar energy:
* Solar thermal energy collects the sun's warmth through one of two means: in water or in an anti-freeze (glycol) mixture.
* Solar photovoltaic energy converts the sun's radiation to usable electricity.
Listed below are the five most practical and popular ways that solar power can be used:
1. Small portable solar photovoltaic systems. We see these used everywhere, from calculators to solar garden products. Portable units can be used for everything from RV appliances while single panel systems are used for traffic signs and remote monitoring stations.
2. Solar pool heating. Running water in direct circulation systems through a solar collector is a very practical way to heat water for your pool or spa.
3. Thermal glycol energy to heat water. In this method (indirect circulation), glycol is heated by sunshine and the heat is then transferred to water in a warm water tank. This method of collecting the sun's energy is much more practical now than ever. In areas as far north as Edmonton, Alberta, solar thermal to heat water is economically sound. It can pay for itself in 3 years or less.
4. Integrating solar photovoltaic energy into your home or business power. In numerous parts of the world, solar photovoltaics is an economically feasible solution to supplement the power of your own home. In Japan, photovoltaics are competitive with other types of power. In the USA, new incentive programs make this form of solar power ever more viable in many states. An increasingly popular and practical way of integrating solar energy into the power of your home or business is through the use of building integrated solar photovoltaics.
5. Large independent photovoltaic systems. When you have enough sun power at your site, you may be able to go off grid. It's also possible to integrate or hybridize your solar energy system with wind power or other types of sustainable energy to stay 'off the grid.'
How do Photovoltaic panels work ?
Silicon is mounted beneath non-reflective glass to create photovoltaic panels. These panels collect photons from the sun, converting them into DC electrical energy. The energy created then flows into an inverter. The inverter transforms the energy into basic voltage and AC electrical power.
Pv cells are prepared with particular materials called semiconductors like silicon, which is presently the most generally used. When light hits the Photovoltaic cell, a certain share of it is absorbed inside the semiconductor material. This means that the energy of the absorbed light is given to the semiconductor.
The energy unfastens the electrons, permitting them to run freely. Pv cells also have one or more electric fields that act to compel electrons unfastened by light absorption to flow in a specific direction. This flow of electrons is a current, and by introducing metal links on the top and bottom of the -Photovoltaic cell, the current can be drawn to use it externally.
Do you know the pluses and minuses of solar energy ?
Solar Pro Arguments
- Heating our homes with oil or natural gas or using electricity from power plants running with fossil fuels is a cause of climate change and climate disruption. Solar power, on the other hand, is clean and environmentally-friendly.
- Solar hot-water heaters require little maintenance, and their initial investment can be recovered in just a relatively small amount of time.
- Solar hot-water heaters can work in almost any climate, even in very cold ones. Simply choose the best system for your climate: drainback, thermosyphon, batch-ICS, etc.
- Maintenance costs of solar powered systems are minimal and also the warranties large.
- Financial incentives (USA, Canada, European states…) can aid in eliminating the price of the initial investment in solar technologies. The U.S. government, as an example, offers tax credits for solar systems certified by by the SRCC (Solar Rating and Certification Corporation), which amount to 30 percent of the investment (2009-2016 period).
Solar Cons Arguments
- The initial investment in Solar Water heaters or in Photovoltaic Electric Systems is higher than that required by conventional electric and gas heaters systems.
- The payback period of solar PV-electric systems is high, as well as those of solar space heating or solar cooling (only the solar domestic hot water heating payback is short or relatively short).
- Solar water heating do not support a direct combination with radiators (including baseboard ones).
- Some air cooling (solar space heating and the solar cooling systems) are very pricey, and rather untested technologies: solar air conditioning isn't, till now, a really economical option.
- The efficiency of solar powered systems is rather determined by sunlight resources. It's in colder climates, where heating or electricity needs are higher, that the efficiency is smaller.
About the Author - Barbara Young writes on motorhome solar power in her personal hobby blog 12voltsolarpanels.net. Her work is related to helping people save energy using solar power to lower CO2 emissions and energy dependency.
For those of us NOT at NeoCon Chicago
I've heard of a lot of designers who were able to make it to NeoCon this year. But for all of us left behind Interior Design Magazine has done something pretty cool. Check out: http://dailyfix.interiordesign.net/ to see all the action. Here are 5 highlights I found interesting....
#1: String Theory: Aquafil’s New Digs at The Mart
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