Passive house design: A key to sustainable community building

Elva Mankin

A vibrant community, Pittsburgh’s Uptown neighborhood is taking bold steps to counteract decades of divestment that have resulted in vacant properties, dangerous pedestrian corridors, and the poor air quality that comes with being treated as a pass-through neighborhood between the city’s largest employment centers. It’s a familiar experience, one shared […]

Duplex House, Floor, & Home Building Plans

Elva Mankin

Here at Building Designs by Stockton we are able to provide award wining Duplex plan designs. These floor plans will feature styles from Traditional, Modern, Contemporary Craftsman, Bungalow, Victorian, Spanish/Mediterranean, Colonial, and Brownstone designs. These Duplex units are available in one, two, three, and four bedrooms. Our floor plans will […]

The Interior Design Building

Elva Mankin

Situated centrally in what is arguably the nations prime district for interior design, the 110 year-old Interior Design Building is home to some of the most celebrated interior design and antique merchants in the country. The seven floor property is located on the affluent Upper East Side of Manhattan, and […]

Lighting Design | WBDG – Whole Building Design Guide

Elva Mankin

Introduction History While observing lines of dirt and debris frozen in a glacier, the British physicist, John Tyndall noted in 1860 that more light on an object did not necessarily increase its visibility. Despite this observation, cheap and abundant electricity led to lighting design in the mid twentieth century that […]

Building Envelope Design Guide – Introduction | WBDG

Elva Mankin

Introduction Intended Audience and Subject Matter The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS)–under contract from the Army Corps of Engineers, the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, the US Air Force, the General Services Administration, the Department of Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency—has developed this comprehensive federal guide for exterior […]

H1 Building Code Compliance Tool

Elva Mankin

close On 1st of January 2017 Clause H1 Fourth edition Amendment 3 came into force. It calls up the 2009 version of NZS4218 as Acceptable Solution for Clause H1. NZS4218:2004 including the Clause H1 replacement tables remained an Acceptable Solution until 30 May 2017. From 1 June 2017 only NZS4218:2009 […]

Exterior Building Design & Specifications

Elva Mankin

Exterior Building Design & Specifications provide the analysis, design, and project administration services required to obtain the most appropriate and cost-effective solution to our client’s building exterior problems.  The complexity and number of potential solutions available to address deficiencies and/or failures of exterior building waterproofing systems makes […]

9 Commercial Building Exterior Design Ideas

Elva Mankin

While the exterior design of commercial buildings was once thought not to matter to what went on indoors, or was thought to be inconsequential to its use, times and opinions have changed. Today, many business and building owners want a building design that is eye-catching, dynamic, and at least reminiscent […]

Interior Design | WBDG – Whole Building Design Guide

Elva Mankin

Introduction Interior design concerns itself with more than just the visual or ambient enhancement of an interior space; it seeks to optimize and harmonize the uses to which the built environment will be put. Thus, in the words of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is “practical, aesthetic, and […]