Advice From an Energy-Efficient Architect

The most energy-efficient houses function like living things. They are designed to capitalize on the local environment and to respond to the climate. Australian architect and Pritzker Prize-Winner Glenn Murcutt is known for designing earth-friendly homes that imitate nature. Even if you live far from Australia, you can apply Glenn Murcutts ideas to your own home-building project. 1. Use Simple Materials Forget the polished marble, imported tropical wood, and costly brass and pewter. A Glenn Murcutt home is unpretentious, comfortable, and economical. He uses inexpensive materials that are readily available in his native Australian landscape. Notice, for example, Murcutts Marie Short House. The roof is corrugated metal, the window louvers are enameled steel, and the walls are timber from a nearby sawmill.   How does using local materials save energy? Think of the energy used beyond your own home—what fossil fuels were burned to get supplies to your work site? how much air was polluted to create cement or vinyl? 2. Touch the Earth Lightly Glenn Murcutt is fond of quoting the Aboriginal proverb touch the earth lightly because it expresses his concern for nature. Building in the Murcutt way means taking special measures to safeguard the surrounding landscape.   Nestled in an arid Australian forest, the Ball-Eastaway House in Glenorie, Sydney NSW, Australia hovers above the earth on steel stilts. The main structure of the building is supported by steel columns and steel I-beams. By raising the house above the earth, with no need for deep excavation, Murcutt protected the dry soil and surrounding trees.   The curved roof prevents dry leaves from settling on top. An exterior fire extinguishing system provides emergency protection from forest blazes that are so prevalent in Australia. Constructed between 1980 and 1983, the Ball-Eastaway house was built as an artists retreat. The architect thoughtfully placed the windows and meditation decks to create a sense of seclusion while still providing scenic views of the Australian landscape. The occupants become part of the landscape. 3. Follow the Sun Prized for their energy efficiency, Glenn Murcutts houses capitalize on natural light. Their shapes are unusually long and low, and they often feature verandas, skylights, adjustable louvers, and movable screens. Horizontal linearity is an enormous dimension of this country, and I want my buildings to feel part of that, Murcutt has said. Notice the linear form and expansive windows of Murcutts Magney House. Stretching across a barren, wind-swept site overlooking the ocean, the home is designed to capture the sun. 4. Listen to the Wind Even in the hot, tropical climate of Australias Northern Territory, houses by Glenn Murcutt do not need air conditioning. Ingenious systems for ventilation assure that cooling breezes circulate through open rooms. At the same time, these houses are insulated from the heat and protected from strong cyclone winds. Murcutts Marika-Alderton House is often compared to a plant because the slatted walls open and close like petals and leaves. When we get hot, we perspire, says Murcutt. Buildings should do similar things. 5. Build to the Environment Every landscape creates different needs. Unless you live in Australia, you are not likely to build a house that duplicates a Glenn Murcutt design. You can, however, adapt his concepts to any climate or topography. The best way to learn about Glenn Murcutt is to read his own words. In the slim paperback Touch This Earth Lightly Murcutt discusses his life and describes how he developed his philosophies. In the words of Murcutt: Our building regulations are supposed to prevent the worst; they in fact fail to stop the worst, and at best frustrate the best—they certainly sponsor mediocrity. I’m trying to produce what I call minimal buildings, but buildings that respond to their environment.† In 2012 Great Britains Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) rigorously used sustainability principles similar to Murcutts to develop Olympic Park, now called Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. See how this urban revitalization happened in How to Reclaim the Land - 12 Green Ideas. In light of climate change, why cant our institutions mandate energy efficiency in our buildings? In Glenn Murcutts Own Words: Life is not about maximizing everything, its about giving something back - like light, space, form, serenity, joy.—Glenn Murcutt Touch This Earth Lightly: Glenn Murcutt in His Own Words ​​Source: Biography by Edward Lifson, Director of Communications, The Pritzker Architecture Prize (PDF) [accessed August 27, 2016]

The Pursuit Of A College Degree - 1003 Words

The pursuit of a college degree is, in fact, a significant element that can improve one’s life, which will relieve the government and improve the economy. The more people do not rely on government aid, the higher the chance the economy can get out of debt. A good majority of jobs in the job market require its employees to have some sort of college education: Associates Degree, Bachelor’s Degree, Master’s Degree, or a Doctoral Degree. Today, a Bachelor’s degree is not efficient enough to get or keep a job due to high amount of competition. Being that college is so expensive, people do not see the advantage of getting a higher education. Setting aside four or five years to only be unemployed or being paid a low salary is simply not worth it to some people. In order for institutions to function, colleges and universities need to consider the objection that many people face when making the decision to attend college. Throughout my adolescents, my mother always exposed me to the positive side of going to college: better job opportunities, lasting friendships, sorority life. I was fortunate enough to go to a well-accredit university on a scholarship. It only covered 5% of my college tuition, which was not much but it definitely allowed me to have extra money to purchase my textbooks. Another why people choose to attend college is to receive a refund check, which can be used to buy anything such as shoes, clothes, and televisions. Although it may seem as though one is getting aShow MoreRelatedAre Too Many People Going to College Essay1146 Words   |  5 PagesAn Analysis on â€Å"Are Too Many People Going to College† Charles Murray’s essay proposes that American colleges are being flooded with individuals who are either unprepared for higher education or who are simply forced into attending college and can’t succeed because of the lack of certain innate abilities. 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Fear and Edvard Munch Painting Essay Example For Students

Fear and Edvard Munch Painting Essay This painting expressed isolation and fear as its main theme. You may ask why is his image so popular? What is it about this yelling figure that speaks to so many of us? Some say that The Scream reminds them of their humanity and lets them know that its K to flip out once in a while. Others who are more mysterious ask questions like Who is screaming? and What is so frightening? Many too, find the piece appealing due to the use of energetic line and complementary colors. The reddish sky in the background was probably due to the powerful eruption of Sauerkraut in 1883. The ash ejected from the volcano turned the sky red in the eastern United States and most of Europe and Asia for nearly a year. The main object in the turnaround is quite strange looking expressing the peculiarity in the artwork. However it is assumed to be the artist himself who is in fact showing anguish in his scream, and he is protecting himself or itself tromp the scream of Nature. This is supported by an extract from his diary, describing the inspiration for this artwork. L was walking along a path with two friendship sun was extinguishable the sky turned blood retell paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fencethere was blood and tongues of fire above the blue- black ford and the citizenly friends walked on, and stood there trembling with anxietyand I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature. The way that he has positioned his hands on his ears, shows that Munch is trying to not hear this scream that is putting him in some kind of panic or distress. The body language that has been portrayed by the Object shows a kind Of reflex reaction which has caused by noises that is frightening, whether the noise was actual or only imagined. The amounts Of Objects in this painting are limited, however by having fewer objects. It has let us, the viewers to mainly focus on the choice of colors selected by the artist which are strongly affecting the theme of fear. The paintings were drawn with waxed crayon and tempera on a paper cardboard. Tempera is a technique of painting with colors made from powdered pigments mixed with water and egg yolk and other materials, The composition, colors and dramatic use of perspective, the curves of the landscape and strange figure personify isolation and anxiety. In conclusion, fear in the artwork, has not only been exposed by the objects in the artwork, but also the selection tot colors that has been used, and rather a general knowledge on what the artwork is about.

Freedom Requirements For Public Meetings - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the FreedomRequirements For Public Meetings. Answer: Types of Meeting Meeting Purpose Conducted Status Updates Meeting To check progress on work and align workforce These meetings have activities of discussion for problem solving, prioritization, task assignment or decision making. These meetings involve team leaders who represent their teams. These meetings can happen within group or across groups depending on the company size. In this meeting, anyone who would be benefited by team discussions can be involved. Decision Making Meeting To take decision that needs inputs from the whole team These meetings have activities like information sharing, brainstorming, evaluation, ranking and voting for options. Decisions can be taken using a variety of methods like ranking, voting, scoring, and iterative convergence. The team ends discussions with a direction on what to do next in the area that was discussed. A typical meeting involves participants, leader, authority, process observer, and note taker. Innovation Meetings To bring up new ideas and develop a foundation for a new solution, design, product or service In these meetings, new ideas are encouraged from people and discussions are done to refine on most promising ideas through brainstorming, evaluating, and ranking. These meetings are mostly carried out at the beginning of a project. These meetings are assigned a leader to keep things in control and a note taker to collate ideas. Codes of practice Code of practice is a guideline prepared by a professional association for its members to help them understand the ethical standards and comply with them. The purpose of this code is to support economic, political and social integrity of business entity and industry, protect customer rights, and encourage equal employment opportunity for all without discrimination. Meeting codes of practice include: Freedom of speech must be respected for every one attending the meeting The code of practice must be followed by all the attendees of the meeting A due notice should be given to all the expected participant if any meeting has to be held Meeting venue must have the arrangements to ensure safety and health of participants at the time of meeting If the meeting chairperson is not present in the meeting for some reason then a chairman must be chosen before conducting the meeting It is the duty of the meeting chairperson to ensure that meeting is conducted in a lawful manner Minutes of the meeting must have correct records of all the details and discussions and must be signed by participants The agenda of the meeting must be prepared in advance and must be distributed to participants before the meeting If any confidential information has to be shared over email to anyone for meeting then it should be put in the attachment rather than on the email body People who are unable to attend the meeting and their participation is of importance to the issue discussed, must inform the organizer about the absence In the event of cancellation of the meeting,, participants must be informed a week in advance for normal meetings and 24 hours in advance for emergency meetings Any change in the agenda after informing participants must be communicated in the form of an addendum If any fact or information has to be discussed in the meeting which needs preparation from a potential participant then it is the responsibility of the participant to get all the necessary documents or facts collected before the meeting and must bring the evidences in the meeting The questions that are asked by the participants must be relevant to the topics of discussion, must have rational considerations and should not hurt the sentiments of any other participant Based on the needs for the codes of conduct, certain procedures can be established for meetings such as: A formal invitation with identified key discussion topics must go to the participants 7 days prior to the meeting for a reminder and information update on the meeting agenda A minute taker must be hired who should be made responsible for noting the details of event and highlights of discussion during event. This minute would be sent to all the participants post the meeting within a week of completion of the meeting. Legislations Legislations that can affect meetings include: Health and Safety Requirements: The condition and provisions in the meeting room must be safe and healthy for the participants. This requires a company to ensure that all safety and health requirements are met by the venue that is chosen for meeting such as existence of emergency evacuation, fire extinguisher, first aid kits, quality air, well lit environment, and provision of water and snacks. This would affect the choice of venue where a meeting has to be conducted which would in turn affect the transportation needs and costs to the company. Organization requirements: The Company conducting meeting must make arrangements for booking, progress recording, accommodation or transport if needed, catering, and relevant documentation. As per this legislation, any company conducting meeting would have some obligations like hiring a minute taker, having a booking system, a place for notice or information sharing, and making of catering arrangements. This would affect the procedures and budget of the meeting(ISC, 2012). Public Meetings Public meetings need to follow some legislative requirements such as: Rules for Notice: A notice has to be given to all the members who can attend with details like meeting time, meeting place, and principle subjects that are likely to be covered in the meeting The information about the meeting may be given through press releases or direct mails to news organizations, local media, neighbouring associations, chambers of commerce, and community organizations. The notice given to the public must have not less than 24 hours time except the emergency meetings that can be called within 24 hours(ORS, 2017). Minutes of the Meeting The minutes must have details like starting and adjourning time, date and place of meeting, members of institution conducting meeting, statements on issues discussed, purpose of the session, and attendees of the session The minutes must be prepared and posted within 7 days after the meeting is over on the organization website. For emergency meeting, this duration is 72 hours and in case of voting results, it can be 42 hours(FOIC, 2008) Meeting Standards Meeting standards for specific region or country must be explored and accordingly agenda, standards, and processes must be set Legal requirements must be followed based on cite laws, quorum requirements, procedural rules, and archival requirements Meeting requirements Before the meeting can be conducted, there would be some requirements that are needed to be completed for organizing the meeting event and these include: The purpose off the meeting must be identified and based on it the items in the agenda have to be prepared Meeting participants are chosen and are assigned roles in the meeting The decision on the venue and timing of the location has to be decided The processes that would be used for making decisions in the meeting are needed to be explored and the most appropriate process must be selected from voting, leaders choice, or group consensus The attendance of all the participants must be verified before attendance and they should be informed about their roles Key participants who would need to present in the meeting must have details of agenda and must prepare themselves The venue has to be verified to ensure that it has all the required facilities including safety provisions, meeting equipments, meeting arrangements, lightning, and air supply and it is available at the time of the meeting Some of the requirements are specific to participants of the meeting such as: Participant Requirement Minute taker Should have the details of the venue, meeting agenda, participants and timing Should have a facility to record the details of meeting Meeting leader Must have the agenda of the meeting and topics to be discussed Must have the details of participants and their roles Must have a document prepared for the code of practice of meeting Key presenter Must have the required documents ready for the presentation Must have the details of agenda and profiles of participants Meeting organizer Must have access to the venue to ensure it has all the facilities Must have requirement details to ensure they are met Decision making authority Must have the knowledge about the procedure for decision making Must have all the factual data that is needed to take the right decision Resource equirement The resources that are required to conduct a meeting include: Seating arrangement as per the need of the meeting Catering facility including drinks and snacks sufficient in quantity for serving all participants Meeting equipments like projector, Screen, Mic, computer, server, extension, and electrical sockets Facilities for convenience, safety, and health of participants including Air Conditioner, Safety Kit, and Fire Extinguisher. Funds must be available to pay for the venue, administrative tasks, and catering Human resources are needed to play the roles of meeting leader, organizer, receptionist and minute taker Cultural Differences There can be difference in the way people from different cultures view time. In some cultures, the people do not respect time wastage and can be rude to people coming late. Such cultures are called monochromatic such as Japan. In these cultures, people do not welcome any interruptions during the meeting while in other cultures people could be more welcoming and relaxing such as Latin America and Middle East. This can cause conflicts between people from opposing cultures. To avoid or minimize such conflicts, some steps can be taken such as: Allotting specific time for questions in the agenda itself such that people can only ask questions in that time Specifying in the age and the last time to take entries that should be 15 minutes before the start of the event and do not welcome entries post that Another challenge can arise due to the differences in behaviour and attitude of people such that what is considered good in one culture may not be appreciated in another culture. One of the reasons for such differences could be due to the difference in the power distance which if high will have people more respecting to authority and unwilling to listen to people from lower hierarchy such as in China while with low power distance countries, people are treated equal such as in USA. Conflicts can arise if a senior participant from a high power distant country is interrupted or opposed by another person who is a junior and from a low power distance country. Such conflicts can be avoided or at least minimized by taking following steps: Company can allot specific time for presenting opposing views where everyone is forced to push their sceptic views and none would feel offended. The Six Hat thinking system can be used in the meeting to ensure this is used Everyone should be given specified minutes for speaking with points to speak which can include positive as well as negative views such that all views are presented without raising conflicts Documentation Documents for distribution before meeting Contact Person Date Required No. Of copies Meeting Agenda CEO 10th August 9 copies each for General Manager, Finance Director IT Director, Marketing Manager, HR Manager, Warehouse Manager, Buying Director, Regional Operational Manager and Minute Taker Invitation HR manager 8th August 11 copies each for CEO, General Manager, Finance Director IT Director, Marketing Manager, HR Manager, Warehouse Manager, Buying Director, Regional Operational Manager and Minute Taker Minutes recording format HR manager 13th August 1 copy for Minute Taker Confirmed Participants list HR manager 12th August 11 copies each for CEO, General Manager, Finance Director IT Director, Marketing Manager, HR Manager, Warehouse Manager, Buying Director, Regional Operational Manager and Minute Taker Budget report Buying Director 12th August 2 copies for Finance Director and CEO Sales Terminal Progress update report Marketing Manager 12th August 3 copies for General Manager, Finance director, and CEO Minutes of Previous meeting HR Manager 12th August 11 copies each for CEO, General Manager, Finance Director IT Director, Marketing Manager, HR Manager, Warehouse Manager, Buying Director, Regional Operational Manager and Minute Taker Design Team Summary report Regional Operational Manager 13th August 2 copies for General Manager and CEO Meeting Schedule Goals Tasks Resources Needed Timelines Prepare and Distribute meeting agenda Identify purpose of meeting Identify participants and their profiles Gather meeting requirements from participants Create agenda for the meeting Send agenda to all participants Assistance from participants Emails of all participants 10th August Make arrangements for all facilities needed for the meeting Identify venue and meeting requirements Explore and select venue that meets requirements of meeting Check if venue has all facilities including AC, Projector, Mic, Fire Extinguisher, and First Aid kit Outsource catering service to a catering service provider if it is not available with venue providers Test the equipments to ensure they are working before meeting Finance to pay venue and other service provider 12th August Ensure attendance of most participants in the meeting Identify participants Create an invitation for the participants Send them invitation Seek confirmation for attendance from stakeholders If participants are not present in time, call them to remind if possible and the participant is important Take entries of all participants coming to meeting HR manager to help with profile details Support from department heads for confirmation of participants 13th August Prepare all the reports needed for the meeting and distribute Prepare budget Prepare sales terminal progress report Prepare design team summary report Extract previous meetings minutes Operational Manager HR manager Marketing Manager Minute Taker 13th August Conduct the meeting as per meeting code of practice Document meeting codes of practice Distribute the codes to all participants Allot a meeting leader Leader to moderate the meeting to ensure that the participants follow codes of practice HR Manager 14th August Ensure all meeting proceedings are recorded and distributed to participants Create a template for minutes of the meeting Study last minutes of the meeting and identify topics for recoding in new minutes Assign the task of recording minutes to a minute taker Minute taker to update the event details in template including time, venue, agenda, and participants Minute taker to record discussions in the minutes template Record details of who said what, who was absent, who sent another representative, who did not inform about absence, etc. Take consent from participants on minutes recorded Edit minutes and prepare a final minutes of the meeting Send the minutes of the meeting to all the participants who attended and who could not attend Minute Taker Inputs from all the meeting participants including CEO, General Manager, Finance Director IT Director, Marketing Manager, HR Manager, Warehouse Manager, Buying Director, and Regional Operational Manager 14th August Ensure that participants are served with snacks and drinks Check if the venue has catering facility If not then explore and select a quality caterer from outside Provide snacks and beverages to participants during meeting Catering service provider Finance 14th August References FOIC, 2008. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT: Public Meetings Guide, Connecticut: FOIC. ISC, 2012. Manage meetings, s.l.: Australian GOvernment. ORS, 2017. FAQ on Notice Requirements for Public Meetings , s.l.: LEAGUE OF OREGON CITIES.