Courtenay North Eco Village
The Numi features a night light, a heated seat, an integrated bidet with temperature-controlled water, an air dryer, a deodorizer (a fan pulls air from inside the bowl, runs it through a charcoal filter and releases exhaust out the back of the unit), music (Champley has his set to classical) and feet warmers (yes, warm air blows from under the toilet bowl onto your feet). And it even washes itself. All this is controlled from a touchpad screen.
There are other ways to help prevent heat flow, such as radiant barriers that reflect the heat away from the building envelope. Pictured here is a ventilated metal roof over a system that includes a radiant barrier. This ventilation strip along the ridge of the roof is important for releasing the reflected heat from the space underneath. Often a system like this will be used in combination with a well-insulated building envelope to help curb summer heat from invading the home and sending air conditioning bills through the roof.
The R-value can change in a material due to varying thickness. You may have heard your architect say that the goal is to reach a certain R-value for the wall section, for example. This means the thermal resistance of the entire series of products that make up the wall section — all of them together — plus the internal and external layers of air surrounding the wall. When you purchase insulation, you should have access to a fact sheet telling you exactly what the R-value per inch is, with a table showing any change in the R-value over varying thicknesses of the material.
Houzz at a Glance Who lives here: A family of five Location: Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota Designer: Brooke Voss Design After scoring a desirable lakeside lot, an energetic family of five craved a modern, open home that felt very connected to its natural surroundings. Voss worked closely with Rehkamp Larson Architects and general contractor Kraemer & Sons to help design a striking, durable home. In the rear, each floor maximizes windows to face the lake for “an absolute focus on outdoor living,” Voss says.
“The fireplace was also most certainly our ‘problem child,’” Wood says. “We had a very specific aesthetic we were aiming for, and needless to say, there were some hiccups in getting to this final result. Despite the drawings, the theme photos and the contractors’ clear understanding of what we intended designwise, somehow the stonemasons ended up with a first rendition that was far from this final fireplace. And we mean far. As much as we tried to make it work, in the end, it was a no-go. It was an important design feature and the first thing you see when you walk into the home; we could not compromise the integrity of the overall design. We stood next to the contractor and client and finally made the call no one wants to make when something is already done and installed: Rip it out.”
Modern marvel. Just in case you thought that a red, white and blue scheme works only in more traditional spaces, this modern kitchen in Israel proves otherwise. The red back-painted glass backsplash and light blue back-painted glass island work well with the white streamlined cabinets.
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