Passive House confab in Seattle

The Passive House Institute US 12th annual North American Passive House Conference is Sept. 27 – Oct. 1 at Motif Hotel at 1415 Fifth Ave. in Seattle.

The theme is “The Path to Zero Source Energy.” The 70 presentations will educate builders, architects, policymakers and energy professionals on methods for achieving resilient and healthy zero net energy buildings, including houses, multifamily, commercial and high-rise.

Cost is $545 for Passive House Alliance US members, and $690 for non-members. Register at http://tiny.cc/msg5my/.

DLR Group buys Staffelbach

DLR Group said it bought Dallas-based interiors firm Staffelbach. The terms were not disclosed.

Staffelbach provides programming, planning, workplace strategy, design, facilities management, move management, and product specification for Fortune 100 clients.

Its 70-person firm will operate as DLR Group|Staffelbach beginning Oct. 2, and join with DLR's Austin and Houston offices to serve clients in Texas.

Staffelbach was founded in 1966 by Swiss-born interior designer Andre Staffelbach, who is in the International Interior Design Hall of Fame. In 1985, he was joined in Dallas by Jo Heinz.

DLR Group provides architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, and building optimization. Among its projects in Texas is Canopy Hotel by Hilton in Dallas. Workplace clients include GEOLOG and USAA.

With Staffelbach, it has a 1,150-person staff.

Exhibit imagines clean urban mobility

A free exhibition on the future of transport, called Futurama Redux, will be at Seattle Central Library at 1000 Fourth Ave. Sept. 8-16 as part of the 2017 Seattle Design Festival.

It is the first U.S. showing of the international traveling exhibition. It was inspired by the Futurama exhibition at the 1939 World's Fair, which predicted (and celebrated) our auto highway, and gasoline-dominated present.

Futurama Redux imagines how we undo the 1939 Futurama paradigm to achieve efficient and clean urban mobility by the Year 2050. It encourages discussion of how Northwest residents might work backwards from a desired 2050 future to guide transportation and land use changes over the coming years.

The exhibit is sponsored by Coltura, a Seattle group that works to accelerate America's transition away from gasoline use, and Smarter Than Car of Beijing and Vienna. It is a think tank dedicated to questions of bicycle urbanism and future urban mobility.

Honor Awards registration underway

Registration is open for the 2017 AIA Seattle Honor Awards for Washington Architecture, which recognize projects designed by architects throughout the state.

The early bird submission deadline is Sept. 20 and final submission is Sept. 27.

For more information, go to http://tiny.cc/egqvmy/.

The Honor Awards gala is at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 13 at Benaroya Hall in Seattle.

Learn about CLT structures Aug. 30

Katerra and the Young Professionals Committee of the Seattle chapter of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat will hold a free program titled “Cross-Laminated Timber 101” at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 30. It will be at Katerra's office, 542 First Ave. S.

Presenters are Hans Erik Blomgren, Jennifer Caldwell and Alec Thomas of Katerra. They will give an overview of CLT, its benefits and drawbacks, why it has become a popular talking point and how is it being accepted by local jurisdictions.

There will be a social hour with food and drinks, and attendees can examine CLT panels in the office. Register at http://tiny.cc/1t11my/.

Otak acquires firm in Colorado

Portland-based Otak said it acquired Loris and Associates, a Superior, Colorado-based civil and structural engineering firm. Financial terms were not released.

Loris was founded in 1988 and has 18 employees. It works with municipal clients on infrastructure, including trails, roads, bridges and site structures, and provides construction management.

Loris will become a division of Otak, an engineering, urban design, architecture, planning and project management firm with over 300 on staff.

In a press release, Otak said Peter Loris and his senior management team will help increase and diversify business in Colorado. They will be based in the Superior office, and collaborate with Otak's Boulder and Denver offices.

Otak said the merger will provide both firms' Colorado clients comprehensive engineering services, and expanded capabilities in planning and design.

MAS has a new board of directors

Marketing Associates of Spokane announced its new 2017/2018 board of directors.

The board is Leslie Hebert of Coffman Engineers, president; Andrea Frye of Vandervert Construction, vice president; Brian Burton of Lydig Construction, treasurer; Brooke Giordano of DCI Engineers, sponsorship chair; Kasey Kuhn of Uptic Studios, special events chair; Katie Holmes of Trindera Engineering, public relations/social media chair; April Smith of GeoEngineers and Stephanie Aden of DCI Engineers, special programs co-chairs; and Terri McRae Garrett of ALSC Architects and Lukas Witkowski of Inland Northwest AGC, membership co-chairs.

Seattle Business ranks OAC No. 2

Seattle Business Magazine ranked OAC Services No. 2 in its 100 Best Companies to Work For in Washington State in the medium-size businesses category, OAC said in a press release.

The Seattle-based construction management, architecture and engineering company said employees rated it exceptional in all categories: performance, communication, training and education, decision-making, rewards and recognition, benefits, leadership, work environment, hiring and retention, and corporate culture.

OAC competed against companies with 40 to 100 employees.

Panel to advise on Kaiser campus plan

The city of Seattle is seeking members for a committee to provide feedback on development plans for Kaiser Permanente Medical Center at 201 16th Ave E. on Capitol Hill.

The goal is to ensure compliance with the master plan, which describes zoning, long range planning and transportation planning.

To be considered, send a letter of interest by Aug. 30 to Maureen Sheehan, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, P.O. Box 94649, Seattle, WA 98124-4649 or to Maureen.Sheehan@seattle.gov. Sheehan is at (206) 684-0302.

Kaiser Permanente acquired Group Health Cooperative on Feb. 1.

New entrance for Bremerton church

Rendering from Miles Yanick & Co. [enlarge]

Miles Yanick & Co. designed a new entrance for the church.

Construction will begin in September on an addition to Bremerton United Methodist Church at 1150 Marine Drive in Bremerton.

Miles Yanick & Co. of Poulsbo designed the new entrance to the church and sanctuary. Construction is expected to be complete in 2018.

The BJC Group is the general contractor and Wnek Engineering is the civil engineer.

In a press release, Miles Yanick & Co. said the church was designed in 1963 by noted church architects Durham, Anderson & Freed. Yanick said it worked with the church building committee to devise an entrance that respects the lines of the original design.

AIA biomimicry program Aug. 17

The AIA Seattle Committee on the Environment will hold a free program on how to apply biomimicry to building design from noon to 1 p.m. Aug. 17 at 1010 Western Ave. in Seattle.

Biomimicry involves understanding how organisms or ecosystems solve their challenges, and translating those strategies into design language to make buildings, materials and products more sustainable.

The speakers are Jennifer Barnes of 55-5 Consulting, Alexandra Ramsden of Rushing and Rachael Meyer of Weber Thompson. R.S.V.P. at http://tiny.cc/pwkomy/.

Get a preview of the design festival

Design in Public will offer a free Sneak Peek of the 2017 Seattle Design Festival schedule from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 15 at 1010 Western Ave. in Seattle.

The seventh annual festival runs Sept. 9-22 at the Center for Architecture & Design and other venues in the city. It is presented by Design in Public, an initiative of AIA Seattle, in collaboration with community organizations

Organizers will talk about events at the festival and some of the installations, and discuss the festival's theme, which is “Power.”

Register at http://tiny.cc/a0cpmy/.

SDA: Webinar on managing email

Thompson

Carrie Thompson of Studio Meng Strazzara will host a roundtable webinar on email management from noon to 1 p.m. Aug. 17.

The Seattle chapter of the Society for Design Administration is sponsoring the program.

Thompson will share time-saving tips and tricks for using Outlook that she has picked up over the past two decades, fielding over 50 emails a day. She will talk about how to customize what you see, set up rules for auto-filing and use tools like Quick Parts and Quick Steps.

The webinar is free for members, and $20 for non-members. Register at http://tiny.cc/qo3smy/.

Apply to join the Seattle bike board

The Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board is accepting applications until Friday for new members to advise the city about concerns and needs of the growing bicycling community.

The volunteer board helps implement Seattle's Bicycle Master Plan. It advises the mayor and city council, participates in planning and project development, evaluates policies and makes recommendations to city departments.

To apply, submit a resume and cover letter to Kyle Rowe at kyle.rowe@seattle.gov with “SBAB” in the subject line, or call (206) 684-7639.

Skagit planning board has openings

Skagit County is accepting applications until Aug. 17 for four seats on its planning commission.

The commission advises the Planning and Development Services Department and the Board of County Commissioners on land use plans and regulations in unincorporated Skagit County.

Applicants must live in districts 1 or 3. For more details, go to http://tiny.cc/z6ztmy/.

Apply to the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners at commissioners@co.skagit.wa.us or at 1800 Continental Place, Suite 100, Mount Vernon, WA 98273.

Business good for landscape architects

Billable hours at landscape architecture firms rose in the second quarter of this year, but inquiries for new work dipped slightly, according to the American Society of Landscape Architects.

ASLA's Business Quarterly survey found 85 percent of firms reported stable to significantly higher billable hours, a jump from 76 percent the previous quarter.

Some 83 percent said inquires for new work were stable to significantly higher, a dip from 85 percent reported the previous quarter.

SMPS, real estate networking event

SMPS Seattle and local commercial real estate associations will hold a happy hour event from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 24 on the rooftop deck of Sellen Construction at 227 Westlake Ave. N. in Seattle.

Proceeds will go to Urban Artworks, a local nonprofit that empowers young people to restore communities through public art.

The real estate groups are Seattle's CREW, NAIOP, ULI, AGC, BOMA and CoreNet.

Cost is $45. Register at http://tiny.cc/ruesmy/.

Arcadis acquires E2 ManageTech

Arcadis, a global design and consultancy firm, said it acquired E2 ManageTech of Chicago.

Financial terms were not released.

E2 provides information technology and business services for environmental, health and safety information markets. Established in 1998, it now employs 55 people in the U.S. and Canada, with clients that include multi-national companies.

E2 collates and analyzes data to help companies comply with government health and safety rules. Companies can also measure real-time performance and change practices to improve performance.

Arcadis said Vijay Gudivaka, E2's chief executive officer, will lead Arcadis' North American and global enterprise technology practice for environmental, health and safety and sustainability.

Workshop on fixing window frames

Photo by Sticks & Stones Photography [enlarge]

Workshop participants will restore windows at Washington Hall.

Historic Seattle is offering a workshop from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 6, 13 and 27 about how to repair or rebuild standard wood-framed windows.

Participants will learn in small teams guided by Grace Morrison of Bear Wood Windows. Each team will restore an original window at historic Washington Hall at 153 14th Ave., where the program will be held.

Aaron Blanchard, director of Earthwise Salvage, will talk about reuse and salvage. Seattle Tilth's program coordinator, Justin Maltry, will talk about waste prevention and resources in Seattle.

The $50 cost for the workshop includes coffee, lunch and a tool kit to keep. Register at http://tiny.cc/wohsmy/.

ESA expands with an office in Bend

Cunningham

Environmental Science Associates said it opened an office at 2863 N.W. Crossing Drive, Suite 100, in Bend, Oregon last month to expand its reach in the Pacific Northwest.

Susan Cunningham, the firm's biological resources director for Oregon, is the office director.

In a press release, the West Coast–based environmental planning and design firm said the office will help serve a growing client base in Central Oregon, where the firm has worked for nearly 13 years.

ESA has been working a new regional park now under construction called Riley Ranch Nature Reserve, Daimler Proofing Ground at Madras Airport and a master plan for Redmond Airport. It will provide Bend with archaeological and permitting support on an upgrade to the Plant Interceptor sewer line.