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A journey by bike to Strawberry Mansion and the homes of Jazz legends Sun Ra and John Coltrane highlights the inequity of historic preservation in Philadelphia

Tasso Hartzog writes a streets eye view of historic preservation inequities and imagines two possible outcomes to this ongoing tragic imbalance an Afrofuturist vision where jazz lives on in preserved historic homes, and a realpolitik vision with sad consequences.

On a recent Wednesday morning, I biked to a stone row home tucked into a quiet pocket of Germantown. The house was pretty but unassuming: built from sparkling Wissahickon schist in the Second-Empire style, it boasted bay windows, green trim, and a small porch. The only thing indicating that 5626 Morton St. is a special addressthat it was once home to the intergalactic jazz visionary Sun Ra, and still is home to Marshall Allen, the 98-year-old bandleader of the Sun Ra Arkestrawas a mural, painted on the front door, of Egyptian pyramids and distant galaxies.

There was a reason for my sight-seeing trip. On May 13, 2022, the Philadelphia Historical Commission added the Sun Ra house (also called the Arkestral Institute of Sun Ra) to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. In the days following, several outlets published articles celebrating the designation (Fader, Pitchfork, Philly Voice).

Initially, I was gratified to see the sites significance officially recognizedand I was a little embarrassed that, even though I have lived in Germantown my whole life and often passed within a block of the house while walking to school, I never knew that the Sun Ra house was there. But as I read more headlines and learned more about the history of the house, I became less certain that the Register held the answer to the problem of preserving Philadelphias rich but endangered jazz history.

Sun Ra, born Herman Blount in 1914 in Birmingham, Alabama, was a pioneer of far-out jazz who influenced generations of musicians, from Sonic Youth, whom he opened for in Central Park, to Solange and Erykah Badu. According to the lore, Sun Ra arrived on Earth from outer space. He and his band, the Arkestra, performed their unique brand of free jazz in colorful costumes that mixed celestial imagery with ancient Egyptian symbols, creating a time-bending aesthetic that would shape the Afrofuturist movement.

In 1968, Sun Ra and his bandmates moved to the house at 5626 Morton St., which was owned at the time by the parents of Marshall Allen. The house quickly became the site of prodigious musical creation. Allen described it as a commune, where the members of the Arkestra lived organically and collaboratively in the style of their music.

Sun Ra lived in the house until 1992, when he returned to Birmingham to be near family before his death the following year. Allen and several other members of the Arkestra continue to live and make music in the house.

Sometime in 2020, the basement of the Sun Ra house collapsed into the sub-basement. One day it justschlkupfell in, Allen told WHYY. In early 2021, the Robert D. Bielecki foundation, which supports music- and arts-related causes, committed $7,000 for repairs, and a Germantown contractor, Frank Reis, owner of Walnut Street Construction, volunteered to oversee the project pro bono. The basement was fixed, but the house had other problems like plumbing issues and water damage that, according to Allen, were too expensive to repair.

Properties can be nominated for inclusion on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places by anyone, not just their owners. This March, a year after the basement repairs, the Historical Commission itself nominated the Sun Ra house. The nominating documents supply a well-researched biography of Sun Ra in order to demonstrate that 5626 Morton St. is associated with the life of a person significant in the past, one of the criteria for historic designation. The documents do not mention the recent collapse. Their author was certainly aware of the collapsean article about it is listed as a major sourcebut officially, it is irrelevant; only the exteriors of most historic buildings are within the purview of the commission.

With only seven employees and a meager budget, the Historical Commission cannot offer much help to owners of historic properties beyond advice. The Philadelphia Historic Preservation Task Force admitted in a 2018 report that at a local level, there are no financial, zoning, or streamlined-process incentives specifically designed to encourage property owners to designate, maintain and preserve their historic properties.

Faye Anderson, founder and director of the public history project All That Philly Jazz, told me in an email that designation does not come with financial assistance to maintain or rehabilitate the property. The only benefit, she said, is protection from demolition, and even that is not absolute. While demolitions of historic properties are rarethe commission approved only 38 in the past 32 yearsthey do still happen.

Nevertheless, when the Sun Ra house was added to the Register in May, news articles described the designation not just as a win for its preservation, but as an all-out victory. The subhead on a Pitchfork article read, The legendary building is listed in the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, ensuring its protection and upkeep.

PhillyVoice was Polyannaish, too, writing that the designation will guarantee that the property gets the ongoing maintenance and care it needs to be preserved.

In fact, far from assisting with maintenance, the listing of the Sun Ra house on the Register could make future repairs more difficult. Any significant alterations to the exterior of a building on the Register must be first approved by the commission. And in order to be approved by the commission, proposed changes must preserve the buildings historic character, a potentially costly requirement.

Doing exterior repairs can be quite a bit more expensive when a house is on the historic register, said Frank Reis, the contractor who oversaw the basement project at the Sun Ra house, in an email. On most houses, for example, an old window could be replaced by a vinyl one. But for a house on the Register, replacing the same window with a historically accurate one could cost 10 times as much, Reis estimated.

Had the basement collapse happened after the Sun Ra houses addition to the Register, nothing would have been materially different. Allen and the other residents would not have gotten any financial help from the commission, but the repair wouldnt have been more expensive, either, because the basement is on the buildings interior.

Despite these complications, the historic designation itself is a good thing for the Sun Ra house. At the very least, it provides some protection from demolition and has attracted attention to the house and its story.

Whats damaging is the assumption that listing a property on the Register is enough. Were a prospective donor to read that the Sun Ra house has been designated a historic landmark and will therefore be preserved in perpetuity, they may put their money elsewhere. If, instead, they knew that the historic designation was merely papering over the cracks, they might be more inclined to help secure the houses future.

After staring for a while at the mural on the front door, I left the Sun Ra house and biked under an intense June sun towards another unassuming row home with a storied past. The ride was longer this time; 1511 North 33rd St., Google Maps told me, was 5.5 miles away by bike.

Five miles in, the route took me past Strawberry Mansion, the historic house in Fairmount Park that gives the surrounding neighborhood its name. Built by judge and abolitionist William Lewis as a summer home around 1789, Strawberry Mansion is encircled by immaculate gardens and signs warning potential trespassers of 24-hour surveillance.

After the house was sold to the Fairmount Park Commission in 1867, it became a succession of dining places until its restoration was begun in 1926 by a group of leading city women, as described on the mansions website, who received help from the mayor, the director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the commissioner of Fairmount Park.

Strawberry Mansion has a blue historic marker out front, but it is not on the National Register of Historic Places, nor is it a National Historic Landmark. Despite that, the house remains in pristine condition inside and out. Historic registers wont fund restorations and repairs, but if Strawberry Mansion is any indication, friends in high placesmayors offices, art museums, parks departmentsjust might.

After five more minutes on my bike, I came to another blue historic marker. Posted in front of 1511 North 33rd St., on the edge of the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood, it read, JOHN W. COLTRANE (1926-1967).

Coltrane bought the house at North 33rd St. in 1952 and lived there for six years, though he would own the property for the rest of his life. His mother lived there permanently, as did his cousin Mary Alexander and, for a time, his wife Juanita Austin, nicknamed Naima. (Coltrane immortalized both women on his landmark album Giant Steps, which includes the tracks Cousin Mary and Naima.)

While he lived in the house, Coltrane played in the bands of Duke Ellington and Miles Davis; recorded his first solo album, Coltrane; and famously had a religious awakening in the process of breaking a heroin addiction, setting in motion the musical-spiritual journey that culminated in A Love Supreme. Needless to say, it is an important address.

The city officially recognized the houses significance in 1985, when it was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. In 1999, the house became a National Historic Landmark, one of just 67 in a city crowded with historic sites of international renown. There are no more registers to which the Coltrane house can be added, no loftier historic designations that it can be awarded.

And yet, plywood obscures the windows of the house, and paint is peeling in sheets from its trim. A description of its condition reads like cliche: weeds are growing through cracks in the concrete stoop, and the sidewalk out front is littered with chip bags. In order to read the historic marker, I had to weave between three Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) vans that had been parked on the sidewalk directly in front of the house, nearly blocking access to the front steps.

As I stood out front taking pictures, a contractor next to one of the vans asked what I was doing. I told him that I was taking pictures of the John Coltrane house. Meanwhile, several PHA workers emerged from the rowhouse two doors down, at 1515 North 33rd. Actually, the contractor told me, that was the John Coltrane house, and the PHA was there to weatherproof it.

The contractor was wrong, but I couldnt really blame him for the mix-up: apart from the blue historic marker and a few faded Coltrane posters taped to the inside of the glazing in the front door, there was nothing suggesting that 1511 N 33rd St was any more or less special than 1515, let alone that it is one of the most important historical sites in Philadelphia. And, to the contractors credit, wouldnt it make more sense for the city to send three vans and a crew of contractors to weatherproof a National Historic Landmark, not the boarded-up shell of a house a couple doors down?

The contractor, like the music bloggers who applauded the Sun Ra houses historic designation, had unwittingly served a narrative that should be debunked: the City of Philadelphia is not, in fact, doing what is necessary to preserve these historic sites.

Last year, it was falsely reported that the Coltrane house had been demolished. The record was quickly corrected, but the rumors were grounded in real threats to the houses survival. There was a fire in the two rowhomes to the north, 1513 and 1515. Then the property at 1509 was sold, and the new owner, a faceless LLC, sought a demolition permit; the house still stands, but on shaky ground.

Even before all that, in early 2020, the Coltrane house was deemed at-risk by Preservation Pennsylvania. Faye Anderson, director of All That Philly Jazz, nominated the property for the list of at-risk sites, hoping that an official acknowledgement of its dilapidation might encourage the city to do something.

This was not the first time that an advocate had asked for help on behalf of the Coltrane house. In 1987, Mary Alexander (1927-2019), the cousin of Coltrane who had by then founded the now-defunct John W. Coltrane Cultural Society, wrote to the Philadelphia Historical Commission. We are very much concerned about the condition of our property (The John Coltrane House), she said in a letter provided to me by Anderson. The building seems to be crumbling inside. Please advise us as to what can be done about this. For two years we have tried to get someone to look into this matter. (Alexander underlined the word in the original typewritten letter.)

According to Anderson, that someone could be Mayor Jim Kenney. He could compel the Department of Licenses and Inspections to conduct a structural assessment of the house, for which they do not need the owners permission. A conservator could then petition the Court of Common Pleas to take possession of the property. The Coltrane house, like the Sun Ra house, needs a benefactor.

In 2004, Mary Alexander sold the property to Norman Gadson, who wanted to turn it into a hub for jazz in Philadelphia. After Gadsons death in 2007, his wife, Lenora Early, prepared to renovate the house, but she passed away before realizing the plans. Responsibility for the house has now passed to Gadsons daughter, Aminta Gadson. She started a nonprofit in order to raise funds for preservation efforts, but the organizations website has not been operational since the end of 2020.

Last spring, the Strawberry Mansion Community Development Corporation (SMCDC) completed the John Coltrane Museum and Cultural Arts Center Site Feasibility Study, which included assessments of the property and preliminary designs for a museum. The study, produced in partnership with the current owners and funded by the Community Design Collaborative, projected development costs in the range of $3 million to $5 million.

In a May 3, 2021, press release, Aminta Gadson sounded optimistic. We hope and pray that as future stewards, SMCDC, can restore [the John Coltrane house] and share [it] with jazz fans worldwide, she said. The most recent news on the project, from March of this year, is that the feasibility study won the John Gallery Community Action Award from the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. Whether or not the millions of dollars needed for development will materialize behind the award-winning feasibility study is unclear.

What is clear, however, is that historic preservation is not a priority in Philadelphia. Our historical commission is smaller even than that of a city like New Orleans, which has a third of the population, and less than 3% of buildings in Philadelphia are listed on the Register. The national average is twice that number.

Facing particular neglect is the citys Black history. That is because historic preservation in Philadelphia suffers from a sort of de facto redlining, but in reverse: if you look at the citys digital map of historic properties, certain neighborhoods are filled with actual red highlights, indicating addresses listed on the Register, and others are nearly bare. Most of those empty spaces are Philadelphias Black neighborhoods. While Society Hill, Old City, and Rittenhouseall wealthy, mostly-white Center City neighborhoodsare dense with color, Strawberry Mansion, which is more than 90% Black, has five highlighted addresses. The North Philadelphia planning district contains 57 sites on the Register; Center City, in a smaller area, has 19,786.

Of course, much of this disparity is due to the fact that neighborhoods like Old City are, quite simply, older. There will obviously be more properties on the Register in neighborhoods built around the time the Constitution was signed than in those built a century and a half later. But most of the houses in Strawberry Mansion and the surrounding neighborhoods are now over one hundred years old. And according to the Historical Commissions criteria for designation, a buildings age is irrelevant, so long as it is related to a historical event or person, is the work of an important designer, exemplifies innovation, or satisfies one of the other criteria.

Is it that nothing much of note happened in North Philly and other majority-Black neighborhoods in the city? No, of course notits just that very few people have paid attention.

In 2018, a house at 204 S 12th St. was nominated to be listed on the Register. It was once the home of Henry S. Minton, a prominent Black abolitionist and restaurateur; John Brown slept there shortly before his raid on Harpers Ferry.

When the nomination came before the Historical Commission in 2019, it was rejected. The lone dissenting vote in favor of historical designation came from the representative for City Council President Darrell Clarke, who happened to be the only Black member of the Commission at the time. The Commission ruled that, following a renovation completed two months after the Minton family sold the house, the facade of the building had changed too much to satisfy the criteria for designation (nevermind the other historic sites, like the Betsy Ross house, whose facades were altered and still found a place on the Register).

Last year, the Minton house was demolished by Midwood Investment & Development, a New York City-based real estate company. According to their website, Midwood celebrates the context and history of neighborhoods by developing buildings with thoughtful and tasteful design.

The rejection of the Minton houses nomination is a clear failure of historic preservation and a product of the Historical Commissions confused priorities. Thousands of historically unremarkable homes in Rittenhouse, Fitler Square, Society Hill, and Old City have been protected from demolition because they are old, expensive, and have facades that have remained intact over the years. What happened inside the Minton housevisits by the likes of John Brown and Frederick Douglass, for exampleis evidently less important than whether or not the front door has moved since 1893.

The facade of the Sun Ra house is beautiful, with its mural and sparkling schist, but the property is only on the Register because of the art that was created inside. Sun Ras music imagined a boundless, intergalactic future for Black people that was rooted in ancient Egyptian mythology; Afrofuturism has long borrowed ideas from the past in order to picture what is yet to come.

What is at stake in the preservation of Philadelphias jazz history, then, is not just the citys memoryand its Black history in particularbut also its cultural and artistic future. Let us imagine it for a moment, as an Afofuturist might: The plan to turn the Coltrane house into a museum and cultural center is realized. Backyard jazz concerts, once held by the John W. Coltrane Cultural Society, are revived, and passersby on 33rd St. can again hear saxophones through windows no longer covered by plywood. In Germantown, the Sun Ra house is repaired and continues to serve as a practice and performance spacea commune, as Marshall Allen described itfor artists from Philadelphia and beyond. Young musicians stop by to jam alongside Allen and the rest of the Arkestra. The past becomes the future.

Or, business continues as usual. Leaks in the roof of the Sun Ra house cause beams to rot, and its historical designation makes replacing the roof prohibitively expensive. The Arkestra moves out because of concerns about another collapse. Strawberry Mansion continues to host weddings and banquets in its immaculate halls and gardens, but a mile down N 33rd St., a demolition is underway. Not at 1511, yet, but at 1509the property attached to the Coltrane house. The millions of dollars projected in the award-winning feasibility study for the museum and cultural center do not materialize, and more windows are boarded up at the Coltrane house. Neither the Sun Ra house nor the Coltrane house is demolishedthe Register at least ensures thatbut they both become lifeless. Houses fall apart, their memories fade, and the past remains the past.

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A journey by bike to Strawberry Mansion and the homes of Jazz legends Sun Ra and John Coltrane highlights the inequity of historic preservation in...

When Iris van Herpen opened her couture house in 2007 after an internship at Alexander McQueen, she saw it as an opportunity to elaborate on several centuries of savoir-faire and propel it into the future with imagination and technological wizardry.

A lot of things I do are based on intuition, and my heart is with haute couture it always has been, she said in an interview ahead of her 15th-anniversary show on July 4 in Paris. Fashion to me is a form of art, and couture is really embodying the craftsmanship and the artistic side of fashion.

Even though we are in 2022, people value craftsmanship, and I dont think that will perish, she continued. I really believe in the value of couture, also for the future of fashion. Its a place where there is time and space for the development of new techniques, and new materials. And within the modern challenges of evolving sustainability within fashion, couture can also play a very important role.

For example, Van Herpen said her team works for three to four months before each collection to devise new sustainable materials, and these technologies are made available to other ready-to-wear brands.

It should come as no surprise that her show wont be a retrospective at all. Focus on the future, said Van Herpen, one of fashions most inventive and meticulous practitioners, employing cutting-edge technologies to realize her ethereal, otherworldly clothes, from laser cutting to electromagnetic weaving.

Indeed, she might be the industrys most metaverse-ready designer since shes been making 3D-printed garments since 2009, her programming awaiting the right digital devices and CGI capabilities to experience them in mixed reality.

Some guests at her fall 2022 couture show will don Microsoft HoloLens devices, while others can see augmented reality with their smartphones.

While the Dutch designer dabbled in rtw for a few seasons, culminating with the 2014 ANDAM Fashion Award, she returned her focus to haute couture since her painstaking techniques could not translate easily into rtw. It was really too restrictive to work with standardized techniques, she explained.

In a wide-ranging interview, Van Herpen reflected on her muses; her obsession with modern craft, science and architecture, and how her background as a dancer goes to the core of her work creating dresses that move like no one elses.

WWD: Did you have clients right from the beginning? Who are they?

Iris van Herpen: In the very early years, the clients were very related to art buyers acquiring a piece of mine as a form of art. Some would wear them; some would acquire them to put in their homes. Museums were also an important clientele at the beginning. But now the clientele has grown and become more diverse. We still work a lot with museums, but our main clientele is actually the couture buyers who acquire a custom piece from us.

The U.S. and Asia are the biggest regions for us, and we have some European clients as well. We have clients that acquire every year, and some less often. We make approximately 40 to 50 looks every year, not including the looks we make for VIPs.

WWD: Do you have a role model, mentor or hero in terms of haute couture?

I.V.H.: I did my internship with (Lee Alexander) McQueen, and that has been one of the most inspiring moments. It really opened my eyes toward craftsmanship, the combination of techniques, the persistence in his vision. He had a strong identity you could always recognize a McQueen for the craftsmanship and the combination of design elements. Its so rare and so valuable. Ive been so inspired by his vision, and I still am.

WWD: Haute couture is perceived by many people as a glorious but loss-making advertising campaign for perfume, but you dont even have one. How is your business performing?

I.V.H.: Its true, we only do haute couture. It all survives thanks to our clientele. We are independent, as well, and Im very proud of that, and that we found a healthy balance between art and commerce. Its a growing business, although I admit it was challenging during the pandemic, of course, because of the relationship that we have with our clients, the personal interaction, and the fittings. We managed to do some fittings through Zoom, but now we can actually invite our clients again to the atelier in Amsterdam and to Paris. So its actually a very nice moment because everything is opening up. We have a lot of client requests, actually more than we can handle.

WWD: How much of the haute couture business is weddings?

I.V.H.: Its a pretty small part, but we definitely do a few each year. As you can imagine, the bridal looks require the most time. So there is also a maximum capacity that we have on bridal orders.

WWD: What have been some of the most memorable and impactful weddings and events you worked on?

I.V.H.: The weddings we have worked on are quite private. Most of the time we are asked not to put photos out there because people prefer more intimate events.

By contrast, the looks we do for VIPs and the custom orders we do for them, they are quite public. The custom looks for VIPs are most of the time acquired, but sometimes we tailor an existing piece or a runway piece. Thats mostly a press effort.

WWD: Do you have a favorite VIP dressing moment, or moments?

I.V.H.: I have my own muses. One of the women Ive been working with for a long time now is Bjrk. She also has been one of the very first ones to acquire a piece. Im a very big admirer of her style, her vision, her multidisciplinary approach.

Ive also really enjoyed working with Lady Gaga. She is also someone who puts so much energy and dedication into her art. The Met Gala has also been a very special moment for me, like this year, and last year, when we worked on multiple looks at the same time for VIPs.

WWD: I notice you have a boutique section on your website selling belts and scarves. Is this something new?

I.V.H.: Weve had them for a long time already. These are permanent accessories that we have on the website, and its really nice for a larger group of people to be able to access some accessories from IVH. But we keep it small and we dont do seasons, because the focus is really on the couture.

WWD: Do you have a bestselling dress of all time?

I.V.H.: Its more the techniques. Interestingly enough, most of the clients who come to us will show one or two looks that are their favorites, and then most of the time I customize a design based on that technique. One technique that is an all-time favorite is from the Syntopia collection, which had all sorts of wave patterns, outlines on top of cutout silk layers, which creates a very different movement in the materiality. Most of the clients who come to us are fascinated by the movements of the garments, because they behave so differently on the body than looks made of a plain silk, for example.

WWD: When did you make your first 3D-printed garment? How did you even hear about it?

I.V.H.: I started working on them in 2009. I was collaborating with two architects who were using 3D printing for the model making. And then I started collaborating with a digital artist and architect, Daniel Widrig. He wrote the files for my first 3D-printed dress that was shown in 2010 in my Crystallization collection.

WWD: I understand youve used silicone, iron filings and resin. What are some of the most unusual and difficult materials and techniques youve used?

I.V.H.:The glass dress we did in collaboration with Bernd Weinmayer. It was fully blown from hollow glass, and it took four to five months to make. The development process before that was even longer as the dress is filled with plasma, which means its interactive: When you touch it, the colors suddenly change. That one was very challenging.

With every collection, we dive into a new process. There are a lot of failures, but also a lot of beautiful success. For the new collection, we have been collaborating with a Dutch duo on a new 3D-printing technique that is fully sustainable using the shells of cacao beans, and also algae. The only other material that goes into the printing process is a bit of glucose to make it more durable. It has been very challenging in order to get the softness and the delicacy into the 3D printing that is required for haute couture.

WWD: How much does technology drive your couture, and fuel your imagination?

I.V.H.: When I design, Im actually very focused on movement. The technology itself is actually not a driving force. Neither is craftsmanship, strangely enough, and this is a very strange quote coming from my mouth. (Laughs.) But when I think about the essence of my work, its actually my background in dance. Dance and art are the forces of my vision, and its the movement and transformation in relationship to the body that really excites me. And in order to push the boundaries of movement and transformation of the body, this is where technology and craftsmanship come in: These are my tools in order to really move beyond the physical constraints that Im facing on a daily basis. The laws of physics are what I have to deal with, but my goal is always to try and push the limits of those laws in the materiality that I work with. Thats where Im using technology and craftsmanship and combining these two to be able to push those boundaries. Technology itself really has never been a goal for me.

WWD: Your IRL designs seem prescient of the metaverse. How might the arrival of the metaverse affect your creative approach and your business?

I.V.H.: We are exploring it. The last three years, weve been collaborating on a project to be launched later this year, and which will also be part of a mixed reality experience that will be shown in our exhibition in Paris (slated for fall 2023 at the Muse des Arts Dcoratifs). And we are collaborating for our upcoming show this Monday, which will be a physical show extended with mixed reality as well.

My reason for waiting (to enter the metaverse) a little bit is actually more because of the devices themselves. If you can imagine my designs and their level of intricacy, I need the right devices in order to express my vision, and we are at the horizon of that moment. We are working with Microsoft with their newest HoloLenses, and they are in a very good quality of showing the intricacy of my designs.

Theres also the Epic game engines that we can work in now. They are such high fidelity, and such high polygon counts and level of quality that I can really express the work in a way that is close to the couture. That is really my goal. Again, for me, its not about the tools themselves, but its about expressing the vision of of my designs and the craftsmanship.

I really believe that digital couture can add a beautiful additional layer to physical couture, and they can relate to each other or they can be experienced simultaneously. And I dont really believe in choosing one or the other. Im all about mixed reality blending the physical with the digital and thats also why I chose to have both in the upcoming show.

People will understand the concepts within the collection even more.

WWD: What do you hope to accomplish in haute couture the next 15 years?

I.V.H.: There will be so much changing. I am very excited about a multidisciplinary approach. My core is fashion and couture, with art, science and technology also playing an important part. I feel this is accelerating within my own process.

Architecture is also a big part of my world and my inspiration. Ive already done a little bit with architecture, but I want to do more, especially within the metaverse, which offers new land for architecture as well as fashion. I feel I can fuse those two together.

I think fashion is in a transformation itself. Of course, I cant predict whats going to happen. But the fact that it is transforming and changing is very positive on multiple levels. Its becoming more democratic, more diverse. There are more important messages within the collections, also politically, and I think all of these movements are very positive for the general consciousness of what fashion means as an industry.

And then one of the most important topics is sustainability. Even though it goes too slow, a lot of positive things are happening. This is a key focus point for me in my own development, but also for inspiring young generations on how much we can change, and how our decisions, for example, between rtw and couture, can make a real difference. The new generation is still focused on rtw, but there is a business in couture as well, and its a very sustainable one. So I really hope there is a growing hybrid possible that has the advantages of both couture and rtw. This is actually where the metaverse also comes in.

One very important subject to tackle first in sustainability is overproduction. As we all know, 40 to 45 percent of all the garments that are being made are not being bought. Meanwhile, couture is an example of how customers collect, and therefore only what is wanted is produced. There are promising conversations going on now about brands releasing their collections digitally first and finding out what their customers actually want before making their physical production. That could help tackle the big problem of overproduction. So I think the metaverse and digital fashion can actually have a very positive influence on sustainability as well. I just want to keep on exploring these new possibilities and also to be an inspiration for a new system and a new way of production in fashion.

FOR MORE, SEE:

Iris van Herpens Skydiver Gown Is the Pinnacle of High Fashion

How a Creative Agency Is Helping Luxury Brands to Understand the Metaverse

Balenciaga, Olivier Rousteing for Jean Paul Gaultier Among Highlights of All-physical Paris Couture

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Iris van Herpen on Couture, the Metaverse and Making Dresses From Algae - WWD

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Family owned and operated, Carteret Heating & Cooling Inc. continues the tradition of three generations. We got our start in 1991 and have devoted every workday to the total satisfaction of our customers. Through our continued efforts and excellence, weve grown into the biggest HVAC company in Carteret County. We are ever thankful to our loyal residential and commercial clients and take pride in your trust and recommendations.

We keep up with smart technology, adhere to proper protocols, and offer an incredible array of options to fulfill any requirement. Carteret Heating & Cooling Inc. maintains qualification as a Carrier Factory Authorized Dealer and Mitsubishi Diamond Dealer. We work with Trane, WaterFurnace, Generac, and the leading manufacturers of furnaces, air conditioners, geothermal systems, ductless units, air-source heat pumps, air quality accessories, generators, and more. We handle everything from new construction projects and sheet metal fabrication to duct sealing. Dont hesitate to call on Carteret Heating & Cooling Inc. at (252) 216-4397 for free estimates, expert service, and 24/7 emergency response across Swansboro, Cedar Point, Cape Carteret, Hubert, Emerald Isle, Piney Green & Newport, NC.

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Carteret Heating & Cooling Inc. - Heating Service Emerald Isle, NC | A ...

HVAC professionals are always in demand. To establish oneself as an HVAC technician and stand out from the competition, getting certified with one of the best online HVAC certification programs is an essential first step. These courses start students on their certification journey by providing critical education and strengthening skills so students can establish themselves as trusted experts. HVAC certification programs typically take 6 months to a couple of years to complete and can be an excellent supplement to on-the-job training. For those wondering what is the best online HVAC school to enroll in, keep reading to learn the answer and some crucial information to keep in mind when considering online HVAC certification.

Choosing the best online HVAC certification program is not simply a matter of choosing the cheapest option or the class with the shortest completion time. Students will want to find an accredited institution that offers a high quality of education in the class format, length, and price range that works best for them. Students will also want to ensure the program prepares them for any licensing and certification exams.

To choose the ideal program, students will want to consider how long a course will take to complete and the format in which it is taught. For example, some online schools offer live instructor-led sessions, while others provide self-paced lessons that allow students to log in and complete the course on their schedule. Different methods of instruction are more effective for specific students, so its essential to find a suitable class format.

Classes can range from a couple of months to about a year, depending on the class format and how quickly the student goes through each lesson.

When choosing from online schools for HVAC, the cost will play a significant factor in the decision. Depending on what a student is looking to get out of the school, an online certification program could cost between $800 to $3,000. However, resources such as textbooks and vouchers for taking certification exams are included in the tuition price for some programs. Its also important to remember that online courses will typically be much less expensive than in-person ones: HVAC trade school could run as much as $15,000.

Some schools offer financing so students can enroll and pay for the course on a schedule instead of making a lump-sum payment at the beginning of the class. Many HVAC professionals find that they can quickly make back the money spent on these courses. As technicians elevate their careers as professionals, they can charge more for services as a result of their advanced knowledge and experience in the industry.

Before choosing a school for HVAC certification, students should be aware that they will not automatically receive a license or certificate when they complete these courses. Instead, the course prepares students for the certification and licensing process. In most states, the fee for a license is around $100 to $300 for the initial license, followed by a $50 to $150 renewal fee per year. States individually regulate what kind of licensing and certifications HVAC technicians require. When choosing the best online HVAC training program, students should compare the program to their states requirements to ensure it will be relevant to their needs.

However, HVAC technicians must obtain standardized nationwide certification to work with air- conditioning installation, commercial refrigeration, and climate control systems. The EPA Section 608 Technician Certification authorizes HVAC service providers to work with refrigerants. The best online HVAC programs will prepare students for this exam, and many will provide an exam voucher as part of the students tuition. Students can also boost their credentials by obtaining certifications from organizations such as North American Technician Excellence (NATE).

Finding the best online HVAC school requires looking at the schools accreditation. Students should seek programs accredited by a third party. This signifies the schools curriculum has been evaluated by an outside organization that finds it meets educational standards. Accredited schools must also uphold accreditation, so students can trust that classes from accredited institutions are consistently updated. The Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) is a common accrediting body for online programs. International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) is another accrediting body students may see, particularly for institutions that offer continuing education credits.

The best online HVAC programs will differ based on each students ideal learning method, financial situation, and state requirements. To ensure we offer the top choices for HVAC certification programs, we thoroughly reviewed each program and considered many factors to showcase only the best options. Below are our top picks for the best HVAC certification programs.

Photo: careertraining.ed2go.com

Why It Made the Cut: The University of North Dakota offers a comprehensive course for students of any level, with an abundance of perks and student assistance in a self-paced learning environment.

Students looking to learn the ins and outs of HVAC online will want to consider the University of North Dakotas self-paced program. Students receive both the physical and PDF version of the textbook for access wherever they goa perk that generally requires students to pay an additional fee or isnt offered at all, particularly for online schools. In addition, students receive vouchers for both the EPA Section 608 Technician Certification and the HVAC Excellence Employment Ready Certificate. Although the latter certification isnt required, its a beneficial certification that signifies a higher level of competency in the field to clients and potential employers.

Those with any level of experience can enroll at the University of North Dakota. Students with no experience will benefit from the HVAC/R Technician course, while those with one or more years of experience can apply for the HVAC/R Certified Technician course. The latter allows students to sit for a higher level of the HVAC Excellence certification. While the University of North Dakotas cost is on the high end, the school offers tuition support through government-subsidized assistance.

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Photo: pennfoster.edu

Why It Made the Cut: Penn Foster Career School offers a self-paced course that students typically complete in a few monthsmeaning they can get started in their careers faster.

Penn Foster Career School offers a self-paced program that is accredited by three accrediting bodies: DEAC, IACET, and Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS). These three accreditations help ensure education quality at Penn Foster, as the school and its programs are under more scrutiny and monitoring.

The websites FAQ section is somewhat limitedit mainly covers the HVAC career path rather than the schools HVAC program, so prospective students may need to contact student support with any questions. However, the school offers thorough, comprehensive, interactive learning materials, making the course easier to grasp and more engaging for students. Those enrolled also have access to resources such as digital study guides, presentations and animations, and simulations and videos for expanding learning.

The program costs just over $1,000, and Penn Foster offers three flexible payment options (full up-front payment, monthly online payments, and monthly mail-in payments) to ensure students in any financial situation can enroll.

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Photo: ashworthcollege.edu

Why It Made the Cut: Ashworth Colleges affordable price, self-paced course, and continued access to learning materials after course completion make it a great value for the money.

Ashworth Colleges HVAC certification program allows students to develop skills on a schedule that works for them. Students who pay the total tuition payment up front can receive a discount, which is excellent for those looking to save on schooling costs in the long run. The course is listed as $1,089, but students who opt for the up-front payment can pay as little as $799. Students may want to consider watching the prices for a few weeks before enrolling to ensure they get the best deal.

While Ashworth College provides students with an array of supplemental materials, some students have reported difficulty communicating with the schools customer service. The cost of tuition grants students access to resources during and after course completion, including Ashworth College Central Network, a network of professionals and teachers who can help students find a job, prepare for the field with cover letters and resume writing, and build soft skills. Students also get access to ProQuest during the course, which is an online repository of academic studies that can help students enhance their learning.

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Photo: ashrae.org

Why It Made the Cut: HVAC technicians looking to continue their education and find ways to stand out from the crowd will want to consider ASHRAEs specialized classes.

Although ASHRAE doesnt offer courses for entry-level students, established professionals looking to continue their education or work on a specific skill will find this professional HVAC associations courses highly beneficial. ASHRAEs stand-alone classes focus on particular topics about the HVAC field and are an excellent way for professionals to distinguish themselves among competitors while becoming more knowledgeable within their industry.

The school offers various class formats, such as self-paced and live instructor-led training sessions. The latter delivers an opportunity for students to have discussions with students and have questions answered in real time, and classes can be 1- to 6-hour blocks. ASHRAE members can also benefit from discounted rates on classes.

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We recommend the University of North Dakota as the best online HVAC school for its comprehensive materials and courses, as well as its tuition options for students with little to no experience in the field. For those looking for a more affordable program, we recommend Penn Foster Career School for its self-paced, affordable classes that can be completed within 9 months.

When researching HVAC online schools, we took many considerations into account to select the best programs. Our primary focus when looking at HVAC online degrees was to choose the programs that would cater to different students learning styles and needs. Throughout our extensive research, we also looked for affordable programs that had tuition programs or payment plans. Though prices vary among our top choices, the selected programs give students the best value for their money

School accreditation was another essential factor we looked into. For clients and customers to have confidence in their HVAC repair provider, they need to know the professional has met certain levels of quality and compliance. Many of our top schools are accredited by the appropriate agencies to ensure customer trust and to provide the highest-quality and most up-to-date resources for HVAC service providers.

The HVAC career may not be for everyone. Technicians work in all conditions, including outdoors and in tight or hot places. While HVAC professionals typically work full-time weekday hours, it is not unusual for them to work nights and weekends. During peak heating and cooling seasons, technicians are expected to work longer hours to fulfill demand.Those who install and maintain HVAC systems need to be tech savvy as well. While some of the programs listed accept those with no prior HVAC experience, a prospective student should be technically proficient and have strong attention to detail. HVAC technicians must also be flexible and able to solve problems in different situations quickly.

The cost of enrolling in one of the best online HVAC certification programs depends on several factors. Enrolling in an in-person HVAC trade school can cost between $1,500 and $15,000; comparatively, a complete beginner-level online HVAC certification can cost as little as $799. Select programs may offer tuition reimbursement upon completion of a certification program for students who work for specific companies. Other programs may provide financing to avoid the burden of paying one large sum of money up front.

There are many benefits to enrolling in one of the best online HVAC certification programs. A significant one is the time it takes to complete training and become certified. Many careers, at minimum, require a bachelors degree. Schools for HVAC take less than a year to complete, letting technicians enter the field more quickly.

As many buildings and homes are heated and cooled by an HVAC system, theres always available work for qualified technicians. HVAC systems will always need to be serviced, installed, and replaced. Technicians who are busy enough can also choose if they work indoors or outdoors, depending on their preference.

The most proficient and successful HVAC technicians can quickly elevate their careers. Technicians who get additional training and specialized certifications can offer more services to their clients. An experienced technician can go on to manage their companys operations or start their own businesses.

The top advantages of enrolling in one of the best HVAC certification programs include:

Prospective HVAC students and homeowners looking to hire technicians often have many questions about the profession and its certification programs. Here are some of the most common questions on HVAC technicians and online certification programs.

An HVAC technicians responsibilities vary based on the job theyre called in for. Primarily, HVAC professionals maintain and fix heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems through various services. These services include testing pipes and electrical circuits, changing filters, and connecting equipment to other sources.

HVAC technicians primarily work in schools, homes, hospitals, and office buildings. Depending on the buildings layout and system, a technician may work indoors and outdoors.

According to Air Conditioning Contractors of America, female HVAC technicians only make up about 9 percent of the HVAC industry.

The time it takes to become a technician depends on the program and the students schedule. The time could range from a few months to a few years. Attaining the level of experience required to run one of the best air duct cleaning services or best HVAC companies could take years of professional experience.

Federal law does not require a person to attend HVAC school before they can work on systems. However, many states have their own training laws, and students in the United States must pass the EPA Section 608 Technician Certification to work with refrigerants. Additionally, clients are more likely to trust and hire a professional who has received training.

Requirements for certification exams vary by state; however, all HVAC technicians must pass the EPA Section 608 Technician Certification.

The specific number of required hours depends on the program in which a person is enrolled. A professional can expect to dedicate 9 to 10 months in training.

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The Best Online HVAC Certification Programs of 2022 - Picks by Bob Vila - Bob Vila

With temperatures plunging and power bills skyrocketing, heating (and cooling) our homes is an energy-intensive, expensive affair. ()

Myresearch into net-zero emissions retrofittingidentifies three broad categories that must be considered when retrofitting existing homes to be more climate friendly:

Its vital to understand how much sunlight the outside and interior of your home is exposed to. One can, accordingly, re-organise interior functions based on the demand for lighting, heating or cooling needs.

During summer, spaces used often during the day, such as your home office, could benefit from being in places that receive less direct sunlight, so are cooler. In winter, consider moving your home office set up to a room with higher levels of direct sunlight, where its warmer.

This will naturally reduce the amount of energy needed to cool or heat these rooms while allowing for comfortable working conditions.

Other ways we can find more visual comfort include modifying the size of windows and skylights to let in more sunlight. To diffuse harsh lighting, consideradding screens, sun baffles, overhangs, or pergolasover windows.

You can also replace your lights with LEDs equipped with linear controllers and motion sensors in places where lights tend to be left on.LEDs use around 75% less energy than halogen light bulbs.

Older homes are incredibly draughty, and a lot of the energy we spend cooling or heating our homes escapes outside due to poor insulation. Retrofitting to improve your homes natural ventilation can reduce the number of times you need to switch on the heater or air conditioner.

Sealing outside and internal surfacesuntil theyre airtight is crucial.Different surfaces whether walls, floors or ceilings require different methods, types and thicknesses of insulation.

Walls, for instance, require a blow-in method. This can involve installing cellulose foam orglasswool(made from fibreglass) into the wall, via asmall hole through the wall cavities(for cellulose foam) or laying glasswool batts in wall cavities. Floors, on the other hand, can require insulation panels fitted between timber or steel supports or foam boards.

Also importantis to choose materials and methods that maximise insulation while minimising thermal bridging. Athermal bridgeis a weak point where heat is lost, such as wall intersections, connecting points of mounting brackets, and even penetration points of electric cables.

Betweenten and 35%of the energy we spend cooling or heating our homes escapes through single glazed windows and doors. Installing double or triple glazed windows and doors will go a long way to keep temperatures more stable inside.

Its worth noting theenergy performance rating systemson measurement labels, which are often attached to window and door units you can buy in stores.

Ultimately, a combination of improved natural ventilation and mechanical ventilation (such as air conditioners as fans) can result in considerable energy savings up to 79%in some instances.

While the above strategies will result in significant energy savings, its also vital to consider the energy required to produce and manufactureretrofitting materials. Consider using salvaged or recycled materials where possible, or choosing locally made products that avoid emissions associated with transport.

Effectively installing solar panels can offset this hidden carbon. Lets say youve done all you can to lower your homes carbon footprint youve rolled out insulation, installed double-glazed windows and made the most of sunshine.

You can then calculate the energy you still use to heat or cool your home. This number will determine how many rooftop solar panels you should install to break even, rather than simply installing as many panels that can fit. ()

Its worth opting for solar panels with micro-inverters, which capture optimal energy performance per panel while allowing you to add more panels in future if needed.

Another option is to useair-source heat pumps, which absorb heat from outside and bring it inside (like a reverse air conditioner). These can take the form of mini-split heat pumps for individual rooms, or multi-zone installations.

They can sense indoor temperature, and operate at variable speeds and heating or cooling intensity, which means their energy performance is very efficient. Myresearchfinds well-planned use of such systems can reduce the energy used for heating by 69% and cooling by 38%.

These retrofitting ideas might seem expensive, or take too much time. However, theyll often save you money in the long run as energy prices become increasingly uncertain.

You can look toEvery Building Counts, an initiative by theGreen Building Counciland theProperty Council of Australia, which provides practical plans for emission reduction.

One can also learn from ongoing efforts by the Energiesprong networkin the Netherlands. This network is industrialising energy efficiency withprefabricated retrofitting building elements.

Some initiatives include lightweight insulated panels that can simply be placed in front of existing walls of homes. These panels are precisely fitted after carefully laser scanning a facade and robotically cutting openings to match existing homes. Harnessing contemporary technology is vital for a speedy net-zero transition.DM/ML

This story was first published in The Conversation and was mainly focusing on Australia. It has been edited slightly.

Nimish Biloria is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Technology Sydney.

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THE CONVERSATION: Keen to retrofit your home to lower its carbon footprint and save energy? Consider these three things - Daily Maverick

Were road tripping today here on the Build-Outs of Coffee. Were taking I-87 about 80 miles up from New York City and heading to the Hudson Valley to visit New Paltz, population 7,000. There youll find a soon-to-open cafe/roastery Dry Fly Coffee Roasters. After a two-year delay due to COVID and other hold-upsmany of this years Build-Outs entries can relatethe brand new 1,500-square-foot space is ready to throw open their doors next month.

Ahead of that, were checkin in with co-owner Noah Michaels, who tells us about some of the very cool eco-conscious features in the commercial complex his company will soon to call home, including solar power and geo-thermal heating and cooling for an entirely net-zero energy design. This may just be your new mid-way stop on your way up to Albany.

The 2022 Build-Outs of Coffee is presented byLa Marzocco,Dona, andMill City Roasters. Build-Outs of Coffee 2022 is sponsored byPacific Barista Series,Acaia, andMarco Beverage Systems.

As told to Sprudge by Noah Michaels.

For those who arent familiar, will you tell us about your company?

Were an independent roaster and cafe located in New Paltz, which is in the Hudson Valley about two hours north of New York City. We have a deep focus on sourcing, whether it globally through fostering equity through our coffees or through supporting our local agricultural and maker community with our food and baked goods. We believe that by investing in quality ingredients and people, were able to deliver exceptional quality to our customers and help to create communities we want to live in.

With those goals in mind, we aim to roast and serve tasty and traceable coffees and serve them with a carefully curated collection dishes prepared from the best ingredients available from nearby farms and producers in a bright welcoming environment.

Can you tell us a bit about the new space?

Were located in a truly amazing space in the village of New Paltz. Its a residential/retail space designed to be entirely net-zero (solar powered, super well insulated, and geothermally heated/cooled). It has 46 apartments on site as well as five commercial spaces and is right on the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, which is a 22+ mile recreational trail for walking, riding, etc. We loved the space as soon as we saw it and have actually been waiting for more than two years (between COVID and other delays) to start our build out. Weve taken over an approximately 1,500-square-foot unfinished commercial space, which is more than a little overwhelming. We are looking to create a bright and open space that is sparse but inviting with lots of plants and natural light.

Whats your approach to coffee?

As a former chef, I believe that less is more and that its important to allow ingredients to shine on their own. We treat our coffee the same way, focusing on carefully sourcing great tasting coffees and roasting them on the lighter side of the spectrum, preserving their inherent qualities and acidity. We aim for careful and thorough extraction to maximize sweetness and body and while we make a few seasonally inspired specialty coffee drinks, we dont have a wall of flavored syrups to cover up our coffees with.

Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?

We try to balance our desire for the high quality with our sustainability goals. That led us to choose a Bellwether roaster. In addition to its ease of use and installation, its fully electric and produces zero VOCs during roasting. They also have a great green coffee market, delivering real value to coffee producers through programs like their Verified Living Income and Tip the Farmer. Another key piece of equipment that helps us stay on mission is our two-group Victoria Arduino Eagle One. It has a whole host of technological innovations that allow it to use less water and electricity than comparable machines and it makes amazing espresso. In addition to these two cornerstones of our coffee program, weve added a Nuova Simonelli Mythos for our house espresso, a Nuova Simonelli G20 for our guestpresso program (focused on highlighting underrepresented coffee communities) and a Mahlknig GH2 for our batch and cold brews. Finally were using a FETCO Extractor for our batch brewer, a Marco FRIIA HC for drinking water, tea, and Americanos and two Yama Towers for our cold brew.

How is your project considering sustainability?

Sustainability is core to our brand and values and weve made major investments towards establishing ourselves as a leader in the field. It began with our choice of site and building, which is the first high density, Net Zero building in the Hudson Valley. As I said earlier, we waited for over two years for it to be completed since it was such a unique space and opportunity. The whole building sits on a massive series of geothermal wells, which provide all of the heating and cooling. This is complimented by state of the art windows and insulation to minimize any temperature loss. Finally the entire building roof and awnings are covered with solar panels to power everything. Using this infrastructure as a jumping off point, we decided that we wouldnt bring any gas into the space, which precluded us from adding a traditional (drum type) roaster and we decided to invest in a Bellwether instead. For those not familiar with the Bellwether, its a fully electric roaster that produces zero emissions, plus its very easy to install without the need for ducting. Its also super modern looking and is a great customer draw due to its unique look and operation.

Another large investment involves our choice of espresso machine. After review of the marketplace, we decided to add a Victoria Arduino Eagle One, which was designed to be the most sustainable machine on the market. It has a smaller, more responsive thermal block and uses rinse water from the grouphead to preheat incoming water. This means it heats up much faster than other machines (as little as 15 minutes) and uses less power to maintain its ready state.

In addition to these large initiatives, weve also implemented several smaller sustainability steps as well. This begins with our packaging. Were using Biotre (partially compostable) as the base for all of our coffee bags and eagerly awaiting the introduction of a fully compostable bag. In our cafe, our front and back bar, condiment station, bakery pass and all of our tables and chairs are made from wood reclaimed from defunct bowling alleys. Additionally, all of our to go cups are designed to be recyclable but were also participating in Huskee Swap which encourages our customers to use reusable Huskee Cups. Finally, our build out is fully compliant with the LEED certification requirements including choice of woods used, types of lights and other building materials are considered sustainable.

Whats your hopeful target opening date/month?

We hope to open in early- to mid-July.

Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that youd like to mention?

Were working with a great team of craftspeople and have a full up to date list on our website. We hired the same architecture firm (Bolder Architecture) that designed the entire building to ensure full compliance with the Net Zero and LEED requirements. Our build out is being done by Thomas Martin Design & Build, which has done several commercial build outs in Brooklyn and moved his family back up to the Hudson Valley during COVID. One particularly cool company, CounterEv, is doing all of our bars and furniture. They split time between Brooklyn and the Hudson Valley, with all theyre manufacturing done in nearby Kingston. They build all of their furniture from American Heart Pine reclaimed from closed bowling alleys.

Thank you!

Contact us today and submit your cafe for the 2022 Build-Outs of Coffee feature series.

Explore every last Build-Out over the last decade in our archives.

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Build-Outs Of Coffee: Dry Fly Coffee Company In New Paltz, NY - Sprudge

FORT RUCKER, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Please replace the release with the following corrected version due to multiple revisions.

The updated release reads:

CORVIAS UPGRADING 1,350 HOMES AT FORT RUCKER

Conservation Improvements and Major Renovations will Touch One-Third of On-Post Homes

Corvias recently launched a large-scale, energy-efficiency improvement project to install energy upgrades in approximately 1,350 homes at Fort Rucker, Ala., on behalf of its Rucker Communities partnership with the Army. The water and energy-conservation improvements are part of Corvias $325 million Solutions Investment, a first-of-its-kind direct equity investment focused on continued reinvestment to improve our on-post communities to benefit service members and their families. Corvias is a long-term solutions and management partner to the U.S. military.

Advancing energy savings within our communities is one way we are continuing to improve the day-to-day comfort of our residents. It is also laying the foundation for our future operations, said Peter Sims, Managing Director for Corvias. These energy and water saving upgrades directly support the Department of Defenses goal to enhance the resilience of federal infrastructure, and we estimate future utility savings of $240 million, all of which will be reinvested in our residents on-post living experience.

Corvias is leading the conservation upgrades in conjunction with Johnson Controls, a global leader in smart, healthy, and sustainable buildings. The upgrades at Fort Rucker include:

Corvias Solutions Investment also includes major renovations to more than 100 Munson Heights duplex homes, which were built in the 1950s. The homes will receive a more contemporary, open floor plan and features, including front and back porches and dedicated laundry rooms as well as new flooring, roofing, windows, gables, driveways, landscaping, exterior siding, and more efficient air conditioning units. More than 85% of the homes have been completed, and Corvias anticipates all homes will be delivered by December 2022.

In addition to the housing upgrades at Fort Rucker, the investment will benefit more than 70%, or approximately 16,000, of Corvias-managed homes across Fort Meade, Md., Fort Sill, Okla., Fort Riley, Kan., Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., and Fort Bragg, N.C. The changes are anticipated to save an estimated $240 million over 30 years, allowing Corvias to reinvest those savings back into the military communities to fund additional improvements. Once completed, the water and energy conservation measures will yield an average annual utility savings of approximately 16 percent of Corvias Army portfolio-wide utility-related operating expenses.

About Corvias and the Military Housing Privatization Initiative

Corvias is a partner to the U.S. Army as part of the U.S. Department of Defense Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) to revitalize, operate and maintain on-base military family housing. MHPI has enabled renovations, new construction, and water and energy-saving initiatives, including the largest solar project in Kansas, located at the Fort Riley military housing community, which is part of Corvias partnership with the Army. In 2019, Corvias developed a $325 million solutions investment for its Department of Defense portfolio to fund strategic modernization and resiliency improvements to its U.S. Army base housing infrastructure.

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CORRECTING and REPLACING Corvias Upgrading 1350 Homes at Fort Rucker - Business Wire

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More than one-third of U.S households are renters, and it is crucial that they are included in the conversation surrounding sustainability.1 Our eco-friendly renting guide will show both renters and landlords how they can make a difference in their communities.

In 2020, almost half of American renters were cost burdened, meaning that they spent 30% or more of their income on rent.2 As the cost of necessities like gas, food and housing rapidly increase, living sustainably may be the last thing on your mind. As a renter, you may feel like you have no control over how eco-friendly your living situation is.

But that couldnt be further from the truth. Eco-friendly upgrades in your apartment can be quick and easy, and they can even save you money with little or no initial investment. Small, daily lifestyle changes can lower your energy and water bill and reduce your environmental impact.

There are many ways that you can be more eco-friendly as a renter. Exercising sustainable practices, conserving water, being more energy-efficient and choosing a convenient location are all environmentally friendly choices that are accessible to those living in an apartment.

Composting, recycling, thrifting and buying less are all practices that renters can incorporate to enjoy a more sustainable life.

Conserving water is another easy way to save energy and even lower your water bill. As a renter, there are some easy ways that you can reduce your water usage:

As a renter, you may not be able to install solar panels or new, energy-efficient windows in your apartment. However, there are still ways to make your living space more energy-efficient, both lowering your energy bill and your environmental impact.

When deciding where to live, try to choose a building close to your most frequented locations. Ideally, you want to live somewhere with options to bike, walk or take public transit to get where you need to go. The closer you are to your job and local grocery store, the fewer miles you will have to travel, reducing your impact.

The unfortunate reality in most parts of the U.S. is that owning and driving a car is necessary to get around. Over 91% of households in the U.S. have at least one car.7 Of those who reported that their car is their primary mode of transportation, 80% reported that they have no choice but to drive as often as they do.8 More than half of car users wish they had more options.9

However, you can still minimize your emissions by planning your errands and trips to minimize your miles driven, carpool with coworkers and friends, and work from home if possible.

If you are a landlord, the choices you make for your rental units make a huge difference. Opting for eco-friendly options when renovating spaces and establishing a healthy community environment can significantly reduce your environmental impact.

You dont have to completely rebuild or overhaul your apartment units to be eco-friendly. When upgrading your units, opting for eco-friendly windows, choosing Energy Star appliances and avoiding products with VOCs make a difference to the health of your tenants and community.

Creating a healthier, more eco-friendly community starts with you as a landlord. Establishing a community garden space, encouraging a smoke-free community and adding solar panels to community spaces are all a great upgrades that benefit all of your tenants.

Ideally, every apartment complex would implement eco-friendly practices. Some apartment complexes around the country, like Mason Lofts in Nashville, Tennessee, are taking initiative to compost, audit waste, and provide eco-friendly amenities like edible gardens and bike rentals.

Other complexes, like Eco Modern Flats in Fayetteville, Arkansas, are situated in walkable areas, use only high-efficiency appliances and heating and air conditioning, harvest rainwater for community gardening and much more. Although it is refreshing to see the demand for eco-friendly spaces from renters is being realized, incorporating environmentally friendly practices into the lives of all renters still has a ways to go.

As supply chain shortages and an impending climate crisis are rapidly forcing us to adapt to a more environmentally friendly lifestyle, real climate change will begin with the habits of renters. To create a healthier future for all of us, renters must change their lifestyle, and landlords must listen to and accommodate their renters.

By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content. daniel test

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Guide to Eco-Friendly Renting: How to Live Sustainably in an Apartment in 2022 - EcoWatch

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As you wind through Ikeas blue-and-yellow labyrinth or shop online, its nearly impossible to resist buying something cute and affordable.

The retailer has an abundance of reasonably priced, sleek and trendy items for everyone, from people furnishing first homes to families hunting for baby cribs.

But some of Ikeas products may not be such a good bargain when you factor in a history of safety concerns and poor customer reviews.

If youre like many people, youll find lots to love about plenty of Ikea products. Still, the next time you shop at Ikea, you may want to roll faster than a Swedish meatball past these items.

As a property development expert, Ive had many electricians complain to me when I used to buy Ikea ceiling lamps about how annoying they were to install and how quickly they would stop working, says Marina Vaamonde, owner of HouseCashin, an online marketplace for off-market houses.

Theyre flimsy and of very poor quality, Vaamonde tells Money Talks News. While the cost savings might attract your everyday DIY buyer, they stop working so easily that you might as well spend the extra money to get a high-quality lamp so that you dont have to worry about it anymore.

Such ceiling lamps, especially ones with glass shades, might also pose a safety hazard. In fact, Ikea recalled its Calypso ceiling lamps in 2018 and its Hyby and Lock ceiling lights in 2016, all for the safety hazard posed by each fixtures glass shade detaching and falling.

According to customer reviews on Ikeas website, its not just the price ($40 to $140 USD) of the Billy bookcase line thats cheap. While positive reviews of the Billy bookcase abound, negative reviews focus mainly on the products flimsiness.

Customers on Ikeas website complain that the bookcase, made of particle board, fell apart while they tried to assemble or disassemble the case. Other reviewers complained of shelves bowing or the bookcase breaking after using it for a short time.

Joe Ferguson, an architectural joiner at Skirtings R Us in Worcester, England, who also prepares interior living spaces for clients moving into new homes, has experienced this issue himself.

We noticed that the Billy bookcase is one of the things to avoid as they are flimsy and made out of particle board, Ferguson tells Money Talks News. One time, the client thought that the bookcase [we wanted to buy] was too expensive for her and proceeded to buy stuff from Ikea instead. It was then that she realized that the bookcase cant handle heavy objects and sags because it is made from particle board.

So at the least, you might want to avoid Billy bookcases if you intend to put much weight on them.

In 2020, Ikea agreed to pay a $46 million settlement to the parents of a toddler who died after one of its Malm dressers tipped over on him. That wasnt the first time Ikeas Malm dressers and chests were in the news for safety hazards, either. In 2016 and 2017, Ikea announced a voluntary recall of various Malm dressers and chests as well as the Kullen three-drawer chest and other chests and dressers, all due to tipping hazards.

In 2019, Ikea announced that it would launch a new Glesvar line of dressers and chests with safety features to prevent tip-overs in select global markets. However, as of this writing, no Glesvar dressers or chests are listed on Ikeas U.S. website.

You may be tempted by the affordable price of Malm chests and dressers ($250 and under). But at least if you have small children, consider spending a bit more on furniture designed to prevent tipping.

In 2018, Ikea issued a recall on the Glivarp glass-top dining table due to a laceration hazard and complaints about the glass leaf detaching and falling. But consumers also reported to the CPSC that this products glass top shattered when no one was even using it: The lower two glass panels on my Ikea Glivarp table shattered out of the blue, wrote one consumer in 2021, about a version of the table that was not subject to the recall.

And its not just tables that receive explosion complaints. Consumers have also reported to the CPSC glass desk tops shattering when not in use. Some have even posted YouTube videos displaying the aftermath, as ABC affiliate WCPO-TV in Cincinnati reported in 2017.

In 2019, Ikea told ABC affiliate KTRK-TV in Houston, which was investigating an incident with a Glivarp table at the time:

We use tempered glass in our furniture, which breaks into chunks rather than shards and helps prevent injury if the glass breaks. It is in the nature of tempered glass to shatter when exposed to knocks, strikes or scratches.

The Glivarp table is no longer for sale on Ikeas U.S. site, but make sure you at least scour online reviews for possible safety hazards before you buy glass-top furniture. You can also search the CPSCs public database of unsafe product reports as SaferProducts.gov.

Lets face it. You cant really expect a set of queen sheets that sell for under $20 to bring sweet dreams. But even some of Ikeas pricier bed sheets receive some scathing reviews on the companys site for being scratchy, wrinkly and, strangely enough, noisy.

They crinkle so loud when one turns over in bed! wrote one reviewer of Ikeas Somntuta sheets.

They are loud and feel and sound like paper, wrote another.

I only got about an hour into sleeping before the gritty, hard texture was too much to bear and I had to rip them off the bed, another reviewer wrote. These SMNTUTA sheets have the texture and comfort of sleeping on burlap they are the worst sheets Ive ever bought.

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5 Things You Might Want to Avoid at Ikea - Money Talks News