While sipping suds with friends at one of Athens local breweries, beer fans can know theyre supporting a company thats committed to environmental sustainability.

Terrapin Beer Co. has taken steps to minimize its impact on the environment, referred to as terraprint by the brewery. Some of the practices the brewery implements in its day-to-day work include recycling, composting and a wastewater pre-treatment facility. Through the multiple terraprint projects, people are starting to think differently and our behavior is starting to change, says company president Dustin Watts.

Last year, the Georgia Water Coalition recognized Terrapin in its Clean 13 report, recognizing individuals, businesses, industries, non-profit organizations and governmental agencies whose extraordinary efforts have led to cleaner rivers, stronger communities and a more sustainable future for Georgians. Breweries use more water than most businesses, but Terrapin has reduced its water usage by 20%.

Its also working with Atlanta-based Cherry Street Energychosen in consultation with the UGA Office of Sustainability and Athens-Clarke County Sustainability Officer Andrew Saundersto install solar panels on the roof of its Newton Bridge Road building and solar panel sunshades in the parking lot. In contrast to something like pre-treating wastewater, solar is kind of a sexy thing, Watts says. Its easy to understand what it does.

Once installed, the panels will provide Terrapin with 30% of its total energy. Its solar brewed beer now. Watts says. That means up to 339 tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide wont be released into the atmospherethe equivalent of saving 362 acres of forest or taking 65 cars off the road.

Terrapins solar array will be the largest of any craft brewery in Georgia, as well as the largest of any business in Athens, according to Watts. We want to be bigger than beer, he says. Beer is a huge part of who we are, and beer is great because it brings people together. With this terraprint project, its showing how we are bigger than beer.

And, says Cherry Street founder Michael Chanin, its the first installation in Georgia where a company is buying solar energy directly. Cherry Street was founded to take advantage of a 2015 state law that allowed third-party vendors to sell solar energy, and has installed solar arrays for the cities of Atlanta and Macon. In Terrapins case, Cherry Street is installing solar panels at no charge to Terrapin and selling the power they generate to the company at a rate less than what Georgia Power charges, Chanin says. In the future, Cherry Street will expand the array and add batteries.

Terrapin isnt the only brewery in Athens taking steps to create a greener environment. Creature Comforts has made steps to run on more sustainable business, as well.

According to head brewmaster Adam Beauchamp, Creature Comforts is committed to sustainable practices by complying with all applicable environmental regulations, preventing pollution whenever possible, educating staff and empowering them to contribute to its sustainability program, and to continually improving over time by striving to measure environmental impacts and settings.

Because Creature Comforts is located in two historic buildingsthe old Snow Tire facility downtown and Southern Mill in Boulevardthere was no need to use all-new materials to construct a new building. The design of the brewery itself also has tons of natural light, which cuts down on the usage of indoor lighting. And when they do use lights inside, theyre all LED. Creature Comforts also has an internship through the UGA Office of Sustainability, which brings in students to brainstorm new and better sustainability practices for the company. One of their recent projects was cutting down on the usage of hot water. The company has invested in more energy-efficient equipment, such as a natural gas-burning boiler that burns 1040% less natural gas than a standard boiler.

A typical brewing system may be 80% efficient in terms of how much sugar is able to be extracted from the barley. This system is 95% efficient, Beachamp says. It actually saves about 1,000 pounds of barley for every 85-barrel batch of [flagship IPA] Tropicalia we brew over our old system.

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Terrapin Is Using the Sun to Brew Beer - Flagpole Magazine

Before VSCO X, the companys membership program, users got a certain selection of presets free, and then you could pay for individual series. Now people get 10 free presets, called classic presets, and the rest are included in VSCO X.

Last year I put together a list of all the Film X presets and what kind of subject matter they improve. With this article Ill do the same for the classic presets, because its not immediately obvious what theyre good at, other than, This looks good or This doesnt look good. Ive also created public Google Docs, one for Film X presets and another for classic presets.

All of this information has been collected from the VSCO website over the past couple years.

This preset pack softens or boosts the effects of LED, fluorescent, and mixed lighting scenarios. Ideal for indoor, food, and night photography, use AL1-AL6 to transform artificial light within your image.

Turn to this preset pack to amplify the essence of each person in front of your camera.

Designed for different lighting scenarios, these are six presets crafted to enhance images of city life.

The Landscape Series was designed to re-inject images of natural beauty with life. Each preset is intended for use with specific scenery.

Walk In The Sun is a three-part preset collection designedfor photos taken in strong sunlit conditions and low-angled light.

The Street Style series is perfect for urban environments to capture everything from vibrant accents to muted moments.

With natural tones, subtle color shifts, and slight fading, Analog / Aesthetic is inspired by classic analog film. Well-suited for interiors, portraits and food photography.

Inspired by the aesthetic of early color photography, The Chromatic Collection embodies the bright and bold look of mid-century analog film. Strong primary colors mix with muted neutral tones, perfect for portraits, environments, and stylized editorial.

Essence embellishes golden highlights and deep shadows, harkening back to the gilded age of consumer film stock.

Desaturated and understated, the F Series: Mellow / Fade presets yield elegant results. An all-purpose pack with analogue film qualities, F1, F2, and F3 excel at beautiful skin tones and quiet everyday moments.

An ideal all-purpose pack, Presets H1, H2 and H3 excel in fashion, lifestyle and still object photography. Subtle pink, yellow and purple hues evoke the best memories of summertime.

An ideal all-purpose pack, Polychrome Winter excels in fashion, lifestyle, and still object photography. H4, H5, and H6 are understated and cool, delivering dreamlike hues inspired by the winter season.

The J series (J1-J6) all mute colors by making brighter colors lighter (more of a tint) while making darker colors darker (more of a shade), which basically retains the original contrast.

Based on classic Kodachrome film, the new K Series: Analog Classic pack emulates the bright and poppy look of its analog forefather. These presets are classic, bold, and recommended for a variety of scenarios.

The M Series: Mood: Underexposed pack issues a subtle mood. Slightly faded and underexposed looks define M1, M2, and M3. Exaggerated browns and greens make this pack preferable with nature, still life, and expansive environments.

Tailor-made for bright lights and colors, this N Series works well with photographs shot with the flash or direct sunlight. N1, N2, and N3 have a modern and bold aesthetic.

The Instant + Warm pack emulates the warm, creamy overtones and pop qualities of quintessential instant film and are best suited for images of food, fashion, and everyday life.

An experimental technique in which films are developed in an alternative chemical solution, Cross Processing often creates dramatic color shifts and high contrast. The Alchemy Collection emulates this technique and features rich vibrancies balanced by refined tones, making this pack ideal for lifestyle photography, stylized portraiture, and strong statement images.

The S Series: Bright + Clean pack offers gorgeous results. Flourishing with brightness, S1, S2 and S3 generate splendid skin tones and achieve optimal results when paired with portraits or scenes with lighter backgrounds.

The Low-Contrast V Series is well-suited for scenes of still-life, portraits, and urban settings, expanding your images natural tonal range while simultaneously generating beautiful and gently muted looks.

[VSCO X Review, Bringing Analog Film Presets to Digital Photographers]

[VSCO Acquires Rylo, a Company Founded by Former iPhoto Engineers]

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Every VSCO Preset and What Photography They're Best For - The Mac Observer

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --After getting a "Jump-Start", Violet Gro is officially ready to open its new headquarters in Grand Junction.The company will have its grand opening on Thursday, February 20, 4:00-6:00 p.m. MT, at 2764 Compass Drive, Suite 101.

Violet Gro, an agricultural lighting company, has been actively collaborating with local growers and businesses for the last couple of yearsbut will now take the next step in officially growing its business in Colorado.

As a result of being accepted in 2019 into the Colorado Rural Jump-Start Tax Credit program, a statewide economic development initiative created to attract primary jobs to rural areas to spur diversification, the company will now officially establish its operations in Mesa County with plans to add 4-5 employees to its initial team over the next 12 months.

Through the Jump-Start program, Violet Gro will receive performance-driven tax incentives for bringing its business to the state and making a commitment to job creation, academic engagement, and meaningfully adding to the economic base of rural Colorado.

"We are thrilled to officially welcome the Violet Gro headquarters to Grand Junction.It's another testament to the Grand Valley and our ability to support tech companies like Violet Gro with the infrastructure and workforce they need to be successful," said Robin Brown, Executive Director of the Grand Junction Economic Partnership.

Violet Gro's patented technology enables its highly efficient LED grow lights to provide plants with more light and significantly less heat than traditional lighting.From supplemental to dedicated lighting, Violet Gro has solutions that will grow healthy, vibrant plants while simultaneously reducing energy costs.

"We are excited to be surrounded by the caliber of partners that exist here and can help us continue to advance our lighting solutions and grow our business.This is exactly why we chose Colorado for our new headquarters.We look forward to capturing the opportunities that lie ahead of us, and doing so from right here in the Grand Valley," said Kurt Kucera, President and Global Head of Business Development for Violet Gro.

For more information about the grand opening or Violet Gro's LED grow lights, contact Violet Gro at info@violetgro.comor 970-880-9476.

About Violet GroViolet Gro's LED grow lights combine cutting-edge design with the patented technology to create cost-effective, long-term solutions to indoor growing, providing plants more light with less heat, leading to substantial energy savings.Violet Gro is uniquely capable of incorporating UV light into grow environments to protect against harmful mold, mildew, and pests, as well as drive increases in medical substances produced by plants.For more information, visit http://www.violetgro.comor follow us on Facebook (@violetgro) or Instagram (@violet_gro).

Media Contact for Violet Gro:Jessica Jones, Vice President of Marketing407.433.1104, x1002jjones@violetdefense.com

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Violet Gro: Ready to Get Growing in Grand Junction - PRNewswire

Factors that Transform a Workplace into a Happy Place

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It is truly odd how we always find ourselves in a bad mood at work and our productivity keeps decreasing as the week passes by. To be fair, we cant keep blaming our colleagues, clients, or Monday for our rough day; sometimes its the chair we are sitting on, the fluorescent lighting above our computer, or the constant chugging sound of the printer near the desk.

Other than the fact that people spend about 70-80% of their time indoors, almost 9 hours of their day are being spent at work; and studies have indicated that the environmental quality of an office has short and long term effects on the comfort, health, and productivity of the people occupying it. While research on the comfort conditions of workplaces is still relatively minimal, we have put together a list of factors that have proved to be highly influential on the comfort of individuals in workplaces.

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Thermal Comfort

Thermal comfort is perhaps one of the most important and easily defined parameters of the indoor environment. While the human body tries to maintain an average temperature of around 37 C, thermal comfort is based on the adaptation of each individual with respect to various factors, such as geographic location and climate, time of year, gender, race, and age. Thermal comfort is influenced by six factors; four of which could be classified as environmental parameters: air temperature, mean radiant temperature, air relative humidity, and air velocity; and two classified as personal factors: human metabolic rates and insulation through clothing [1].

Acoustic Comfort

The acoustic comfort of interior spaces is the ability to protect occupants from internal and external noise (airborne sounds, noise from adjacent spaces, noise from office equipment and sound of nearby facilities...), and offer an acoustic environment suitable for the function of the workplace; for instance, it is natural to expect a noisy environment in a steel factory, but not the same in an advertising agency. The layout of the space is also significant when it comes to acoustic comfort. As open-plan offices dominate, issues of acoustic comfort and privacy have also been identified as influential on the employees productivity. Three strategies that have been proposed for noise prevention are: absorption of sound using ceiling tile, blocking of sound using workstation panels and workspace layout, and covering up of sound using electronic sound masking techniques [2]. There is also an impact of geometry on acoustic comfort; If the area is square then the acoustic comfort is higher; However, when one has a long and narrow kind of space then the spaces creates a bowling-alley-kind of effect where sound bounces between the two walls creating more noise for the occupants. The use of underfloor heating leads to elimination of carpets, which tend to absorb the sound [3]; the harder the material, the lesser is its capability to absorb noise.

Visual Comfort

If we were to describe it briefly, visual comfort defines lighting conditions and the views from ones workplace. The architectural design of a space has a direct impact on office lighting, and the latter has a direct impact on the well-being and productivity of employees. Densely laid offices, as well as open-plan offices have proved to have a negative effect on the visual comfort of those working in the space, along with the geometry of windows, photometry of surfaces, amount of glazing, reflective material and furniture, etc

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

Two strategies are being implemented in building designs to deal with the IAQ of workplaces. The first one is to increase the ventilation rate, which in turn reduces the percentage of air pollutants [4]; while the second is to reduce the source of pollution within and around the building. Recent studies have stated that increasing outdoor air supply in non-industrial environments improves the air quality and reduces the concentration of air pollutants [5]. The rate of outdoor air supply should be proportional to the pollutants within the building; however, the amount of pollutants inside the building will vary depending on the load and number of individuals occupying the space. Research indicates that workplace discomfort is 30200 percent more frequent in mechanically ventilated buildings [6].The use of natural ventilation has also proved to be beneficial, providing considerable energy savings from air conditioning systems [7]. However, natural ventilation can also be harmful in cities where outdoor air pollution is high.

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)

SBS is a compilation of health problems caused by factors that are often disregarded when it comes to indoor environmental quality. The closure of natural openings, use of construction materials that are not properly tested or certified, furniture, moulds, dust mites, allergens, and office equipment (printer, personal computer, etc...) are all factors that contribute to SBS. Employees with SBS include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headache, cough, wheezing, light sensitivity, gastrointestinal distress and other flu like symptoms[8].

References

[1]: Katafygiotou, M., Serghides, D., 2014. Bioclimatic chart analysis in three climate zones in cyprus. Indoor Built Environ., 1420326X14526909.

[2]: Loewen, L.J., Suedfeld, P., 1992. Cognitive and arousal effects of masking office noise. Environ. Behav. 24 (3), 381395. McNicholl, A., Lewis, J.O., 1994. Daylighting in Buildings. Energy Research Group, University College Dublin for the European Commission Directorate-General for Energy (DGXVII).

[3]: Madsen, Jana, 2014. Acoustics in green buildings: Several green strategies compromise acoustics discover which have the most impact and how to address [Online] http://www.buildings.com/article-details/articleid/ 10095/title/acoustics-in-green-buildings.aspx

[4]: Daisey, J.M., Angell, W.J., Apte, M.G., 2003. Indoor air quality, ventilation and health symptoms in schools: an analysis of existing information. Indoor Air 13 (1), 5364.

[5]: Wargocki, P., Sundell, J., Bischof, W., Brundrett, G., Fanger, P.O., Gyntelberg, F., Hanssen, S.O., Harrison, P., Pickering, A., Seppanen, O., Wouters, P., Seppanen, O., 2002b. Ventilation and health in nonindustrial indoor environments: report from a European multidisciplinary scientific consensus meeting (EUROVEN). Indoor Air 12 (2), 113128.

[6]: USEPA, 2007. The EPA Cost of Illness Handbook. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.

[7]: Brager, G., Borgeson, S., 2010. Comfort Standards and Variation in Exceedance for Mixed-Mode Buildings. Center for the Built Environment.

[8]: Burge, S., Hedge, A., Wilson, S., Bass, J.H., Robertson, A., 1987. Sick building syndrome: a study of 4373 office workers. Ann. Occup. Hyg. 31 (4A), 493504.

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Factors that Transform a Workplace into a Happy Place - ArchDaily

Indoor vertical farming has been around for quite some time, but leading companies in this industry are starting to garner a great deal of attention from the business press even as investors have poured money into the industry. As the world population continues to expand, so too does the amount of fruits and vegetables needed to feed the world. We are not creating new farmland to accommodate the increase in fresh food required. Vertical farming can be part of the solution to this problem.

Vertical Farming is a High-Tech Endeavor

Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers. Vertical farming incorporates controlled-environment agriculture, which is a fancy way of saying that it provides protection and maintains optimal growing conditions throughout the development of the crop.

At the leading firms, vertical farming is a big data, high tech endeavor. At AeroFarms, a leader in the space, their plant scientists monitor millions of data points every harvest. The company says their LED lights are used to create a specific light recipe for each plant, giving the greens exactly the spectrum, intensity, and frequency, they need for photosynthesis in the most energy-efficient way possible. This lighting allows them to control size, shape, texture, color, flavor, and nutrition of their plants.

The company has received $100 million in venture capital and has two patents. The titles of their personnel sound much more like what you would find at a high-tech company than at a big farm conglomerate. They have a chief technology officer, engineers, scientists, risk managers, and even a director of intellectual property.

Why Vertical Farming?

As with any new or emerging technology, there needs to be benefits. Vertical farming has proven itself to beneficial in different way. In recent years, there have been a number of E. coli outbreaks from green, leafy vegetables. What many people may not have realized was just how the outbreak occurred. In most cases, the E. coli outbreak was related to washing practices of the vegetables. With vertical farming, this is a moot point; vertical farming is dirt-free and requires no washing of the vegetables. This alone can prevent foodborne illness outbreaks.

Vertical farming can assist in achieving maximum yields. First, plants only need about 10 minutes of darkness a day. Getting light all day long allows the plants to grow faster. Also, traditional farmers usually apply fertilizer once, water the crop and hope it grows. AeroFarms, meanwhile, applies fertilizers many times, adjusting along the way to optimize plant growth. AeroFarms at one point said they were making fertilizer adjustments every 15 minutes. They also tightly control humidity and water consumption.

Vertical farming enables more harvests throughout the year. Since harvests are not climate related, they can be done year-round. For some fruits and vegetables, this means having up to 30 harvests in a year rather than five or six. Consumers no longer have to wait for produce to be in season. There is also no worry about spoilage due to weather conditions, which enables maximized production.

Sustainability is a top concern for consumers and companies alike. Vertical farming plays a significant role in sustainability efforts as well as the greater good of the earth. According to recent studies, vertical farms use up to 70 percent less water than traditional farms. Additionally, given their isolated nature, pesticides and herbicides are not needed to thwart would-be pests.

Vertical Farming and the Farm-to-Fork Supply Chain

The benefits mentioned above do not even take the supply chain into account. From a supply chain standpoint, there are two major benefits to vertical farming.

First and foremost, vertical farms can reduce the number of miles fresh fruits and vegetables must travel in order to reach supermarket shelves. This also reduces fuel consumption, driving down the total cost to consumers. Studies have shown that the US imports about 35 percent of the produce that lands on supermarket shelves, with the average item traveling 2,000 miles. With this distance traveled, the produce has been picked roughly two-weeks before consumers can get their hands on it. Even for domestic produce, the time and cost to pick, pack and ship the produce from California to the East Coast is five to seven days. However, with a smaller footprint, vertical farms can be set up in urban areas, allowing for fresh produce to get to the shelf faster.

Secondly, as alluded to in the previous paragraph, less space is required for vertical farming. Every square meter of floor space of vertical farming produces approximately the same amount of vegetable crops as 50 square meters of conventionally worked farmland. According to a recent report by Cushman & Wakefield PLC., over the next few years, warehouse supply will outpace warehouse demand. This means that excess warehouse space could be turned in to vertical farming facilities. The use of vertical farms in densely populated places can get more fresh produce on supermarket shelves faster and could even spur home delivery to consumers. Think of it as a vertical farm share.

Of course, there are downsides to vertical farming as well. For instance, the start-up cost to get a facility up and running is a deterrent to many would-be vertical farmers. Also, while water consumption is significantly reduced, there is still the problem of using energy to run the facility. While traditional farms rely on natural sunlight, vertical farms do not. Renewable energy sources are one way these companies can try to offset the cost and environmental impact of traditional energy. And LED lights are becoming more efficient at a rapid pace.

The economics of vertical farming should not be overstated. Wegmans organic kale sells for $2.89 for a five-ounce container. Dream Greens, an AeroFarm brand, Baby Kale retails for $4.50 at Shoprite. The premium some consumers are willing to pay appears to be more related to the quality, freshness, and the health benefits of these products.

Final Thought

Traditional farming is clearly not going away any time soon. In fact, if it did, the world be in a whole lot of trouble. However, as the population continues to grow, and more emphasis is put on environmental sustainability, vertical farming can help to fill that void. Vertical farms have shown the ability to eliminate foodborne illness outbreaks (especially E. coli), maximize crop yields, and reduce water consumption. From a supply chain standpoint, vertical farms are reducing the miles on our fresh produce as well as getting it on our shelves faster. The future of vertical farming looks bright. It will be an interesting market to watch over the next few years.

The primary author of this article was Chris Cunnane, a Research Director for Supply Chain Management at the ARC Advisory Group.

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Vertical Farming Transforms The Farm-to-Fork Supply Chain - Forbes

The National Park System celebrated its centennial in 2016. The anniversary caused many parks to take stock of their facilities and determine how theyll serve increasing numbers of visitors in the future. In that centennial year, Xanterra Parks and Resorts, which holds the concession contract for lodging at the Grand Canyon and several other western parks, announced a $30-million renovation of the Maswik South lodging facilities, part of the larger Maswik complex at the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

This is the first major lodging improvement to take place in decades at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, said Mia Bell, general manager for Xanterras Grand Canyon South operations. And getting underway during the centennial year of Grand Canyon National Park makes the investment all the more momentous.

Set among Ponderosa pines about a quarter mile from the south rim of the canyon, the Maswik complex includes the central Maswik Lodge, with a restaurant, retail store and guest services. Guest lodging is located in detached buildings clustered north and south of the main lodge, and built in 1967 and 1971, respectively. The existing Maswik South complex has five buildings with a total of 90 guest rooms.

The renovation, slated for completion this summer, replaces the previous configuration with four buildings and 120 rooms. Kitchenettes will be included in 30 of the rooms, a feature not available in the previous units.

The project was designed by Denver-based OZ Architecture, with Kinney Construction of Flagstaff, Ariz., serving as general contractor on a CMAR contract. Kinney also led value engineering on the project, and the companys civil division self-performed the demolition and sitework.

Design work got underway with an architectural and site evaluation in 2016, according to Chris Vandall, associate principal and project manager for OZ Architecture.

We started with master planning and an evaluation of the buildings and their condition to help determine what would be best for the complex, Vandall says. We found the five buildings of Maswik South were out of date, did not comply with ADA regulations, were not energy efficient and were really past their lifespan.

The two level, motel-style buildings with access from outdoor balconies were on a sloping site with the buildings separated by parking lots. The entire complex is located within a ring road.

Previously, the slope on the site was a bit too steep for accessibility standards. You had to go across parking lots to access the other buildings, Vandall says. Our new plan keeps the footprint inside the ring road with more efficient parking and connecting paths between the buildings.

According to Christy Bolognani, a spokesperson for Kinney Construction, the site was one of the unique challenges of the project. There was a large amount of rock excavation on this site, Bolognani said in a written response. Our approach to managing the excavation was not only to minimize the impact and cost and schedule but also to crush and reuse as much rock as possible for fill and landscaping.

One building required a deeper foundation for a subgrade level that will provide new space for housekeeping facilities and the information technology equipment that will serve as the new IT hub for the entire complex.

Bolognani said that the remote location of the site, combined with a tight labor market in Arizona, made project management a challenge.

Our approach was to manage the on-site lodging process for our trade partners, which has taken the burden of that off them and allowed them to focus on the project, she said.

The design of the new facilities takes its cues from the previous park service buildings. It retains the two-level look of previous lodges, but rooms are accessed from an interior corridor rather than from the outside. The project is being built to LEED Gold guidelines.

Part of the LEED guidelines to reduce indoor air pollution and energy loss is to have access via the enclosed corridor, Vandall says. Outside, we tried to keep the natural color palette. The units still have individual balconies, and we tried to keep the look of the old railing that used to run along the outside balcony, but bring it up to code. The stone used on some features of the buildings was all quarried from the local area, so it matches the colors found in the canyon.

Grand Canyon is one of only nine national parks certified as Dark Sky Parks by the International Dark Sky Association, and Vandall says that was a consideration during design.

We used dark sky-compliant fixtures and made sure the overhangs on the porches shielded the light from the rooms and decreased the amount of light coming out onto the site. We also reduced a lot of the lighting around the site, including the parking lots, he says.

A new courtyard joins the structures, built with rock salvaged from the site, plus a firepit and plants from the Grand Canyon Native Plant Nursery. Vandall says the courtyard serves as a place for groups staying at the lodge to meet or to gather for boarding tour busses.

Work on the project will continue through the spring and is expected to be complete early this summer.

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Replacement of Lodge Facilities at Grand Canyon To Finish This Summer - Engineering News-Record

To close observers of Queer Eye, design expert Bobby Berk seems to have the most taxing job of the Fab Five. While Jonathan Van Ness cuts hair and preaches the gospel of beard oil, and Tan France fixes a withering eye on the makeover subjects closet, Berk spends most of an episode offscreen. By the end of each installmentjust days after the Fab Five first meet their subjectBerk has torn up floorboards, gutted the kitchen, and repainted the entire house.

Berk, who has run his own design consultancy and retail business for years, says the speed and scope of Queer Eye makeovers would be impossible if it werent for his background in home building. His latest venture, a furniture collection with A.R.T. Furniture, is a natural evolution of his design career.

We caught up with Berk recently to talk about the line and how he manages such ambitious projects on Queer Eye.

Fast Company: You recently released a collection with A.R.T. Furniture and its new CEO, Jeff Young. What inspired the line?

Bobby Berk: The inspiration for the furniture line comes from fans that watch Queer Eye and constantly message me, I wish that you could pick out all the furniture for my house. I wish you could help me design my house. I had manufactured some of my own furniture for my stores, but I had never really done a mass line that was attainable for almost anyone.

I think of your home like your phone charger. You need to get a full charge or youre not going to make it through the rest of the day or the next day. Putting things in your home that make you happy, relaxed, and grounded can really have a huge impact on your mental health.

So I really wanted to make a line that translated that and made it affordable. I thought it would be kind of an asshole thing to get on Queer Eye every day and preach that changing your home can change your lifebut only if youve got a lot of money. I wanted it to be good quality furniture that youre going to keep for years.

FC: You said this feels like a natural evolution. Can you talk about what brought you to this point in your career, and how your background prepared you for an opportunity like Queer Eye?

BB: I dont even know if Id really call it a career. Every single job that Ive ever had, every part of my career, has always been in entertainment, even though it technically wasnt what you would traditionally think of as entertainment.I was a server at Applebees. As a server, I was an entertainer. I was giving those customers not just food, but an experience. The [better] experience youd give them, the more tips youd get.

Working at the Gap, it was about an experience. I would give [women who came in] the best gay best friend helping you pick out your clothes experience you could have. People enjoyed it, and they came back for it. Even selling long-distance service as a telemarketerthat was also entertainment. I would use different accents and be different characters.

People always say theres no way we get those houses done from Tuesday to Friday. And the thing is, we do.

So it was all about the experience that I was giving people, no matter what industry I was in. And I think that has helped me with Queer Eye. Maya Angelou said that people will never remember what you said to them. They will only remember how you made them feel. People may not remember exactly what I said on the show or exactly what Jonathan said, but theyll remember how it made them feel inside.

FC: I want to talk about how youre so productive on Queer Eye, because you seem downright superhuman. How do you manage to pack an entire renovation into just a few days?

BB: My planning for an episode usually starts a few weeks before. There have been episodes where there was no planning available. But usually our heroes are cast a few weeks before we meet them, so my team is usually able to go to the heros home beforehand. I dont meet them, but I at least check out their space and get basic measurements. We often give them new flooring or window shades or kitchen cabinets, and those are the type of things where there is no way to do it the week of. So if we are planning on doing a big renovation, those things do have to be planned out. So we will usually go out there a week or two before, and well figure out a game plan on the major things.

Before we start filming, my team has found a [makeshift] warehouse, and we basically turn it into a big store of our own. We pre-order tons of art and accessories and candles and pillows and bedding, and we just line this warehouse full of stuff that I could possibly use. That way, were not running around the city the day were filming and going to all these different stores. Often I will figure out the main pieces of furniture that I need because for the most part, stores dont stock things anymore. You cant just go into a West Elm and be like, I want this sofa.

FC: But you do usually incorporate personal elements into your decor. How do you weave that into your process, especially if youre stocking your warehouse ahead of time?

BB: The type of art that we order is so random and so crazy. Sometimes well pick things and Im like, There is no way were ever going to use this. This is awful. But then Ill get to a heros home and Im like, That awful piece of art that I would never have imagined I would ever use in a home is so perfect for them. Itll be something weird and quirky that Ive learned about their personality, and when they see that [art], theyre like, Oh my god, you get me!

For example, AJ in season one who came out to his stepmother. I [found out] that the very first trip he and his boyfriend took together was to Miami. So in his bedroom, I put up a piece of wall art that had MIA, the Miami airport code. He saw that and was like, This reminds me of the first trip we took. And I said, Thats exactly why its on the wall. Those are the type of things that I listen for.

When you come in and you completely change somebodys home, [you] dont want them to feel like theyre not walking into their own home. I want there to be so many personal things that theyre like, This is my home, and this is exactly the way I wouldve done it if I knew how to put things together like this. We accomplish a lot of that with art and family photos. If they dont have photos, I have great people on my team. Their job is to start knocking on doors and calling their families. Sometimes, that is happening even before, as our producers are interviewing their family members and finding out their story.

FC: So theres a lot of preparation that goes into each episode behind the scenes. How long are you allotted for what we actually see on Queer Eye?

BB: For the most part, our [filming] schedule usually is Tuesday to Friday. So on Tuesday we meet them; we call that ambush day. And thats when I truly start digging through their personal stuff and finding stuff out about them. On my first visits to their home, I dont dig through their stuff. Its really just sizing the actual space up. When you see me find something interesting in their home the day we meet them, I want that to be real. I dont want to be like, Ooh, so producers, I found this picture thats probably gonna make them cry. Im going to have it here, so be sure to have a camera on me when I find it. There are shows out there like that, but weve always been very, very aware of not doing that. I really do want to be shocked or disgusted for real that day when you are seeing it for the first time on TV.

People always say theres no way we get those houses done from Tuesday to Friday. And the thing is, we do. All the clean-out that you see, which often can take the entire first day or more, and all of the construction, painting, flooring, furniture installation, drapes, artthat really is done between Tuesday and Friday. The preparation is in order for us to have everything we need to get that accomplished.

FC: And while youre doing that preparation, youre also working on other episodes, right?

BB: Yes, very much so. Its not like the week before youre filming, you have nothing to do and youre just prepping for that episodewhile were installing, were also still prepping for the next week and the week after. Were making sure that the things that we ordered are arriving, and thats a whole job in its own, handling the tracking and the logistics and the project managing. At any given time, were working on [up to] four heroes. Were installing one, and were prepping for two to three more.

If I didnt have that experience, I think Queer Eye would have definitely broken me.

[In] season one and two, I just had one team, which made it really, really hard. Season three and four, we learned that I would have Tommywho was like my main man and had been with me through all of season one and twoand another team leader. So one week I would be installing a heros home with Tommy, and then at the same time, I would be preparing for the next weeks episode, [which the other team leader] Nate would be project managing, and then it would rotate. The next week, Tommy would be preparing for the next episode as I was installing with Nate and his team. That made life way easier, so weve become a very well-oiled machine now. Tommy also did this on Extreme Home Makeover, so he was really great about teaching me the ins and outs of how to prepare for this show.

FC: How structured are your filming days? Do you have a daily routine?

BB: Theres just no way. You have to roll with the punches because with installation, you never know what youre going to run into. In season two, when we were doing some construction for [Mayor Ted Terry], we ran into a huge termite infestation, which he didnt know about. So that threw the schedule off. Also, a retailer was supposed to be sending a huge shipment of furniture that we ordered, which never showed up. So that week, we actually did have to send out multiple cars to stores all over the city and try to pull as much furniture off their floors as we possibly could to furnish the house.

In season three with Joey Greene: On Wednesday night there was a big storm, and it knocked a tree down, and it took the power out for the whole campground. We were in there with flashlights trying to paint and get stuff done in the dark.

Most of the time as a designer, youre doing a home over a period of a year, and youre doing the install over a few weeks or few months. But my design firm actually focuses on working with home builders, so we will design five homes in a community at once. Granted, well design those sometimes over a year from start to finish, from when we first look at the architectural plans to breaking ground. But when we install them, well sometimes install five homesand when I say install the whole home, I mean everythingin less than a week. Well pull in with a few tractor trailer loads for these homes, and well knock them out in a few days. And when we install these model homes, we usually start installing on a Monday, and 9 times out of 10, their grand opening will be that Saturday. So its not like we can [say] we need a few extra days. If I didnt have that experience, I think Queer Eye would have definitely broken me.

FC: Can you share any details on your budget per episode? Because the challenge for you isnt just maximizing your productivity, but doing so within a budget.

BB: Our budget is way lower than you think it is. We really have to stretch the dollar. I cant share much, because I have before, and I got yelled at. But the budget is low.I would say 80% of my budget is eaten up on construction. This is just a random number, but lets say that normally installing a floor over a couple of weeks costs a dollar. I need that floor installed in a couple of hours, if not overnight. So what they would normally charge a dollar for, theyll charge me $50 for because they need to send in 10 people from the construction team to get that done. So my construction costs are hugely inflated just because of the manpower they have to throw at it to get it done in the time that we need.

In the very beginning, we werent even allowed to say what the show was, so wed have to call up retailers and say, Were doing a makeover show and wondering if you want to partner with us.

FC: Im surprised to hear that was the case, even with Netflix behind you.

BB: I understand because having my own retail stores before, I would have shows contact us all the time wanting things for free. And [most of the time], it wasnt beneficial. The Housewives used to contact us all the time and said, You should do our house. Its going to give you so much exposure. And no, thats not the kind of exposure I want.

All of us really were cast and hired because were experts in our field. Especially in the beginning, it really took a village. Not that our producers arent amazingbut it really took us working with our producers to leverage the relationships we had in our real careers to make the show happen. For season three and four, even though my furniture collection with A.R.T. wasnt out yet, they provided 50% or more of the furniture we needed.

FC: Now that youve done this for a few years, is there anything youve found especially surprising about being a part of Queer Eye?

BB: I would say the biggest surprise was that it was successful. None of us thought it would be. We were like, Oh, this is cute. Well film for five months and then go back to our normal lives. That didnt happen. Were the luckiest little boys in the world, we always say. I think the success is due to the social impact that weve been able to have on peoplejust the philosophy of loving yourself and taking care of yourself and accepting yourself.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

See the rest here:
Queer Eye's Bobby Berk on productivity and home renovations - Fast Company

Ahead of the Iowa caucuses on Monday, immigrant advocates (with some help from Jennifer Lopez) are reminding voters that President Donald Trumps immigration policies have come at the expense of kids in cages.

During the Super Bowls halftime show on Sunday night, J. Lo performed Born in the USA while surrounded by children sitting in what looked like cages an apparent critique of the Trump administrations immigration detention policies:

And on Monday, the immigrant advocacy group RAICES invoked the same imagery, announcing that it had installed a dozen exhibitions of children covered in mylar blankets in chain-link cages throughout Des Moines, including at caucus sites and city hall. Each installation plays a real recording of a child who was kept in detention:

Both J. Lo and immigrant advocates are trying to draw attention back to a crisis that the public appears to have forgotten.

In June 2018, photos emerged of children kept in border patrol holding facilities known as hierleras, Spanish for iceboxes, where they slept on concrete floors with nothing but mylar blankets in chain-link pens. The facilities werent designed for long-term stays; under federal guidelines, migrants are supposed to be either released into the interior of the US or sent to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody within 72 hours. But in practice, migrants were held much longer than that, sometimes for additional days or weeks at a time.

The photos inspired mass protests nationwide, including a sit-in at the Capitol where advocates wrapped themselves in mylar blankets. Few of Trumps immigration policies perhaps only his travel ban on citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries have drawn so much public outrage.

Many court rulings and congressional hearings later, migrants are still forced to live in inhumane conditions in under-regulated detention centers, leading some to even go on hunger strikes.

The situation has changed to some degree: Courts have ordered the administration to provide migrants with at least some basic amenities in detention including soap, toothbrushes, and sleeping pads. Erika Andiola, chief advocacy officer at RAICES, said the organization is still hearing from migrants that they and their children are being detained in the hierleras, but not on the same scale as before.

Nor is the US detaining as many children as it once was. In May 2019, when apprehensions of migrants at the southern border peaked, the Department of Health and Human Services reported that it had an average of over 13,000 children in custody. As of September 2019, the most recent month for which data is available, that number had decreased by over 50 percent to 6,000 children.

The decrease could be attributed to the Trump administrations Remain in Mexico policy, officially known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, under which more than 60,000 asylum seekers, including both adults and children, have been sent back to Mexico to wait for their immigration court hearings in the US. Rather than detaining families, the Trump administration has said that it is now sending the vast majority of families back to Mexico instead.

But even if the phenomenon of kids in cages is no longer the most pressing crisis facing the immigrant advocacy community, its a way to create conversation around Trumps more recent immigration actions.

Despite the meaty discussion of former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julin Castros proposal to decriminalize border crossings early in the Democratic primary race, immigration has received a cursory treatment in the Democratic debates. And since the summer of 2018, when Trumps policy of separating immigrant families stoked public outrage, the presidents many efforts to dismantle the asylum system, cut down on refugee admissions, send migrants back to Central America, and keep out low-income immigrants have gone largely unnoticed.

The lack of attention on these policies has frustrated immigrant advocates. But theyre trying to spur political mobilization by invoking kids in cages as a kind of shorthand for everything they think the public should find abhorrent about Trumps immigration policies. Much like Trump supporters Build the Wall mantra, kids in cages has become an effective political messaging tool.

The horrors at our border and throughout our immigration system are too often ignored by the public and politicians, Andiola in a statement. Were asking people in Iowa and across the country: Dont look away from the terrors enacted in your name. This anti-immigrant crackdown has to end.

Visit link:
Jennifer Lopez wants you to remember the kids in cages - Vox.com

February 4, 2020 - As part of the EU project "Palace of life - City of changes", the archaeological research at the Old Town Hall in Split will begin at the end of this week.

TCN has already announced that the neo-Gothic Old Town Hall building in the Split Pjaca will undergo a complete transformation.

Namely, the building will retain its current size, layout, and height. Renovations will be carried out on the floors, all floor structures, and the roof.

Architect of the project, Josip Rui, said that by removing the existing walls and modifying the inter-story structures, the intention is to achieve an open and flexible exhibition space on all three floors. This will allow the heritage facility to be used for new functions and to hold seminars, lectures, concerts, receptions, and the like.

The Old Town Hall could also serve as a place where the mayor would occasionally receive high-ranking guests, and suitable furniture for the first floor will be specially brought in for the occasion. The dropped ceiling will be removed and a wooden cassette ceiling installed, with thermal insulation required. The base of the pillars in the loggia that were cut off during the earlier interventions will be reconstructed and add the missing part of the stone base.

The existing wooden windows and doors will be replaced with new ones, but in the same style. Anti-theft foil is envisaged on the windows, with additional thermal insulation and sun protection.

On the ground floor, the reception area, souvenir shop, control room, and toilets will be located along the existing loggia and the exhibition area, and all the facilities mentioned above will occupy a quarter of the space, while the rest will be used for exhibiting. An 18th-century illustrated monograph of Diocletian's Palace, authored by Scottish architect Robert Adam, will be displayed on the touch screen.

The north side of Old Town Hall will provide access for people with disabilities, up to the ground floor level by a ramp, and access to the second floor by elevator. A stone staircase with a wrought iron fence will be retained. On the first and second floors, there will be showrooms, and the attic is intended for mechanical installations, storage, and office space.

Recall, at the end of last year, the City of Split Administration announced a competition for archaeological research and the renovation and interior decoration of the historic building located in the Split Pjaca, or Peoples Square.

These activities are an integral part of the EU project "Palace of life - City of changes", financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the ITU Mechanism of the Urban Agglomeration of Split, and the value of this part of the works is estimated at 7.2 million kuna.

Slobodna Dalmacija announced that the archaeological research at the Old Town Hall finally begins at the end of this week.

Renovation works precede these works, and their goal is to fully discover and protect the archaeological layers and structures of the building. They are expected to be completed in March 2020, when renovation and interior design work is scheduled to begin.

The interior design project is signed by Nikolina Jelavi Mitrovi, who designed and executed 12 permanent exhibitions of museums in Croatia and more than 130 exhibitions in our leading museums and galleries. For the Vukovar City Museum housed in the Eltz Castle and the Museum Alka of Sinj, she received prestigious European awards.

The designer notes that, given the importance of the building, it was approached with the utmost care and that all possible installation equipment would be kept as hidden or as noticeable as possible.

In addition to the installation of a modern ventilation system, a microclimate control system is envisaged, which will allow the exposure of the most sensitive and valuable exhibits. The first and second floors will havemicroclimatecontrol when needed, so that the most sensitive exhibits can be exposed, says Jelavi Mitrovi, adding that there will be automatic glass doors on the floors that provide stable microclimate conditions.

Unlike the existing lighting, the new lighting will be flexible, able to move around, and allow for better adjustment of light intensity depending on the purpose. There will be built-in speakers on the ceilings.

The project envisages a system of dismantling panels that will allow the window openings to be covered, thus providing more exhibition space.

No use of the walls is envisioned, but the exhibitions will be shown exclusively on the billboards. The space is a bit darker as the walls will not be white, and the use of disassembly panels will be used. The panels will be able to change color depending on the exhibition, notes the designer, pointing out that the panels will be able to be placed freely in the space, but also against the wall using a special suspension system to create a continuous exhibition surface.

The coat of arms on a glass wall in the center window is planned on the first floor, which was created when the town hall was Neo-Gothic. The coats of arms will be made of colored glass, and not painted on glass as it is now.

Incredibly, this space has not been valorized so far as a building and a site of significant events in the history of the city. It is time it is presented adequately.

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCNs dedicated page.

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Archaeological Exploration at Old Town Hall in Split Begins this Week - Total Croatia News

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ropelled by the unveiling of its new East and West concept, BetConstruct is returning to ICE Londonthis year with a host of groundbreaking new releases, a never-before-seen project, and ambitious expansion plans for the months ahead.

Last year, with a brand-new Chief Product Officer in tow to spearhead its development efforts, BetConstruct launched its latest company concept: East and West.At the start of a new decade, the leading betting and gaming supplier boasts 15 offices worldwide, and one on almost every continent of the globe. As new CPO Edgar Mkrtchyan is keen to highlight, its offering is now so diverse that it can appeal to almost any player and operator around the world, and at ICE London this week, its all-encompassing stand will be a testament to that.

As in previous years, BetConstructs new concept has been the driving force behind several new launches and fresh ideas that are set to be showcased at the expo across 4-6 February. But before these big reveals, however, a disruptive new plan which Mkrtchyan describes as a never before seen project is set to be unveiled.

Across all of its regional offices and development hubs, BetConstruct harnesses the skills and passion of around 3,000 members of staff and its next big plan involves tapping into this huge source of industry knowledge and expertise.With all the knowledge and experience collected over the years of being in business we find ourselves qualified enough to deliver industry-facing education for those who want to enter iGaming, explained Mkrtchyan. The scale of our expertise reaches from the very essentials of gaming and betting up to full-on project management.

Recognising the breadth and depth of the companys collective knowledge, BetConstruct will be shortly establishing its new Betting Academy, a training program that can train up personnel to become leaders in their fields, from traders to risk managers, in any iGaming business across the globe. Since the initial goal is to provide the opportunity of delivering professionally trained staff to our partners, their opinion will matter the most, which is why we will first share our ideas with our existing operators at ICE, added Mkrtchyan.

Meanwhile, following groundbreaking launches such as the AI-driven live tracking tool, AJNA, the sports betting side of the business looks set to be a hive of activity at this years ICE. Sports data products are as vital as water thats what our founder and CEO said three years ago at our H2O Data seminar, said Mkrtchyan. This huge domain, which includes odds feeds, is powered by FeedConstruct, our sports data provider, which is always striving for innovation and improvement. To back up our sports betting offering, the company offers live sports video streaming, statistics with 20-years historical data, and scouting data. Together, these four products provide potent fuel for any sports betting business.

This February, FeedConstruct will be showcasing a host of new releases, with an innovative spin-off associated with each of the brands four cornerstones of sports data. The first of these, DeePro, is a deep data collecting tool for basketball designed to step up a teams performance, indicating the effectiveness of decisions made by coaches and the results of players training routines.

Our tool takes into account all the intricacies of the game, all the minute details and features in order to deliver reports and game statistics including individual player data, said Mkrtchyan. Its designed to perform via automated hot keys and special functionalities which allow the scout to collect and process deep data easier and faster. As for the rest, Id like keep the intrigue for FeedConstruct and let them shine when present their ground-breaking solutions in London this February.

And what is the company planning to bring to the table on the iGaming side? Everything, says Mkrtchyan. And I mean it. With an immense library of games both created in-house and supplied by big-name developers, alongside a huge range virtual sports, fantasy sports, live casino, virtual reality, poker, and more, BetConstructs iGaming suite delivered via their flagship Spring platform seems to encapsulate almost every part of the sector, both old and new. In addition, the firm is also happy to carry out customer development projects for partners who are looking for something particularly niche or tailored to their specific audience.

At ICE this year, however, the focus will be on something a little bit different: the launch of the Spring BME app, an iGaming encyclopaedia that will deliver insights and analysis direct to the smartphones of industry professionals.We expect this solution to become a compass for the industry which can lead newcomers to ultimate success as operators and drive all other industry players forward in their goals, said Mkrtchyan.

Pushing its partners to do the best business possible is at the heart of the BetConstruct ethos, and the company has invested a large amount of time into making the process of integrating its products and tools as smooth and straightforward as possible.At the show in London, its focus will be on liaising closely with existing and future partners. The brand has a talent for creating a visual spectacle, and this February the team hopes to stimulate and educate attendees with an impressive 360-degree video installation offering a panoramic view of their products and services.

This ambitious display, says Mkrtchyan, will not only showcase what BetConstruct can bring to the table, but also aim to deepen peoples knowledge of B2C operations and the state of play in the industry.We have high expectations for 2020 in terms of deals and partnerships but as always, we expect the most from ourselves, he said. We want to focus on delivering the best quality and flexibility with any of our products, and, in line with our East and West concept, we also plan to continuously expand our operations within regulated markets.

The ambitious expansion plans for this year follow hot on the heels of a number of new market entries in 2019. In the last twelve months, BetConstruct has partnered with a number of leading MGA-licensed online casino suppliers, secured a Remote Operating Licence from the UK Gambling Commission for its Live Dealer product, achieved certification for its Sportsbook in Colombia, and licensed its land-based solutions in Romania. Now the company hopes to expand further into prominent European growth markets such as Italy, Denmark and Sweden.

Meanwhile, on the product side, every single one of BetConstructs tools will continue to be rigorously tested, revised and improved, says Mkrtchyan including the companys biggest runaway successes, such as its Live Casino product. Once weve done our best, staying up to the mark is what comes next - and any further step must be a continuous uphill journey, he explained. BetConstructs in-house live casino studio is growing in a very literal way, since we are expanding the space by adding a new floor to the building. That means new games, new halls and new revenue-stream opportunities for our partners are already on the agenda for us.

In addition to that, the overall gaming suite is expanding with new highly effective promotional tools and simple mini games which find immediate preference with players and generate revenue right away without cannibalising the existing offerings.

Its one thing to provide all necessary software and tools and entirely another to support a partner on throughout their whole way to success and stable growth, Mkrtchyan added. Here at BetConstruct we do both.

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BetConstruct to display a 360 video installation at ICE with a panoramic view of the industry - Yogonet International