S.I.M.M.
Holzraum System creates a Single Integrated Manufacturing Model combining structural, building fabric, energy performance, manufacturing and mechanical systems perspectives and aligns them with the project stakeholders' goals.
Holzraum System works with architects, engineers, builders and developers and connects them with our manufacturing processes and efficiencies in order to provide building envelope analysis and consulting as needed, resulting in a complete integration of project design intent, passive house principals and cost-effective offsite manufacturing. Holzraum System keeps the envelope design and planning process connected - always maintaining alignment between client, engineering and manufacturing perspectives. As we create a precise and comprehensive single 3D model of your structure, we apply our building science training and Wufi static and dynamic software tools. This eliminates thermal bridging, achieves superb air-tightness, and delivers highly vapor-open moisture profiles in our exterior wall and roof assemblies: eliminating risks of mold conditions and assembly decay and assuring the safest, healthiest indoor air quality possible.
When the S.I.M.M. is complete, a detailed set of geometry drawings is prepared and reviewed by the project's structural engineer, architect and builder to ensure the whole team agrees with design intent and fabrication strategies. Once the drawings have been approved for fabrication, Holzraum System creates machine files and factory instructions from the S.I.M.M. to ensure that every aligned perspective is manifest in the delivered panels and loose parts.
Holzraum System marries high-performance wooden building envelope design and translation for off-site manufacturing with interpretation and advocacy for designers, developers, owners, and manufacturers.
Carbon Smart By Design
The HolzChat Series focuses around low carbon, off-site manufactured and site-built, wooden building strategies and the many wonderful related topics that surround these themes. The idea came from us recognizing how many super talented and passionate experts in the Low Carbon Wooden Design/Build realm from all over the country (and the globe really) that we have had the good fortune of connecting with during our journey so far. It's our way of focusing on some important topics, diving in through pre-recorded video conversations with guest speakers, and engaging with our live audience around their questions and feedback.
We are very excited to host this series and hope you'll join us for some great presentations, conversations and audience Q & A sessions. We have several awesome future episodes in the works as well including sessions with guests from Boston, Germany, Czech Republic, Montana, Baltimore and Pennsylvania. Wooden ideas are flying around, gears are cranking and schedules are still evolving and we'll let you know as soon as we have some firm dates set up. If you have topic suggestions, please let us know. And be sure to register so we can notify you as new HolzChat episodes are scheduled.
Episode 6 on August 21, 2020
Young People Get Sustainable Design Better Than You Do
In case you missed it, the Youth Environmental Movement is really a thing. From marches and UN speeches, to community projects and meetup groups: young people are concerned, motivated, and passionate about addressing climate change NOW. We need to empower young people so they can carry sustainable design into the future for everyone. Please join our guests Drew Lavine and Erin Loch as they discuss their Project Based Learning approach for high school students who worked to meet the Living Building Challenge (LBC). Their work is inspiring our youth, and also the sustainable design professionals who volunteered to help.
Episode 5 on July 24, 2020
Engineered Timber Housing:
Modernizing the Construction Industry
While construction sector growth is often good, efficiency is not. Unlike many other large sector industries such as agriculture, automotive, or electronics, productivity gains in construction have been almost flat for more than 50 years. In this HolzChat, we talk with Peter Rose and Florian Meier about engineered timber construction, modularization, and mass timber as strategies for simultaneously modernizing the how and where of housing construction, along with why mass timber construction can be a large win for the environment.
Episode 4 on July 10, 2020
Biophilic Design
Well-Being through Architecture by Nature
Biophilic Design integrates ecology, biology, neuroscience, instinct, sense of place and space, appreciation for natural beauty, and social and architectural patterns into a framework for improving human health and the natural environment when and where humans build. Watch our chat with guest Helena van Vliet as she educates us about the ways humans respond to natural patterns, and how this can help us build healthier spaces for living, working, and learning.
Episode 3 on June 26, 2020
Drawdown Buildings: Converting Villains into Heroes Carbon Captains tell us how
In this HolzChat, we spoke with guests Chris Magwood and Jacob Deva Racusin from Builders for Climate Action about embodied carbon and how we can turn our new buildings and existing renovations into carbon sinks by making better materials choices. Our guests have extensively studied embodied carbon calculation and carbon-storage materials, but they have also built real-world projects using these ideas.
Episode 2 on June 4, 2020
Future Wooden Building Systems
During our first episode of HolzChat, we talked about some engineered timber products and systems offering solutions for the abundant but unused small diameter timber supply in the US. In this HolzChat we dive into the details of these versatile and cost effective precision wood products. We use a case study to explore the use of CLT and related technologies.
Episode 1 on May 14, 2020
Demystifying Sustainable Forestry in North America
Our first HolzChat webcast with Pat Clark and Paul McKenzie was a blast and we are super grateful to everyone who joined the live Q&A session that followed the interview. The discussion generated some great questions that we are already digging into and have even generated another idea for an episode!