Architecture and Design Blog - SEALANDER ARCHITECTS

30 Apr 2017

General Conditions: A Dollar Well Spent

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Project Delivery | 0

This past month, I interviewed construction managers for a project, and I also interviewed with a general contractor for a design-build project. During both, questions arose about general conditions fees. Both owners were interested in minimizing these fees. I argue … Read More

25 Mar 2017

BIM and Paper Drawings both have a role in Architecture

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: BIM | 0

Think of a BIM model as Middle Earth. Think of the paper set as The Lord of the Rings. Building Information Modeling architects like myself dream of a paperless world. It is not the paperless dream of the 1990s. We … Read More

18 Mar 2017

Architecture in the Age of Trump

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Codes, Government | 0

What will a Trump design and construction industry look like? I suspect the economy may improve, since Republicans, and Trump, are interested in economic growth. An improved economy creates work for architects, and that is a good thing. I am, … Read More

4 Mar 2017

A Favorite Lighting Installation

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Architecture History, Design | 0

A Great and Historical Lighting Installation The Great Mosque in Cairo, also known as the Alabaster Mosque, is stunning. Robyn and I went there on our honeymoon in 1994. According to the photojournal we have of our trip, the mosque … Read More

4 Mar 2017

Simulating Urbanity: 5 policy goals for wealth creation

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Economy, Government, Maine | 0

Cities are engines of wealth creation, and Maine needs wealth. We are a poor state, and there are many good things we could do with more money. Maine is a rural state, and Maine’s rural nature is part of our … Read More

26 Feb 2017

Keeping Maine Unique

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Economy, Uncategorized | 0

What could Maine Look Like? Maine has been populated and its resources harvested by people from away for hundreds of years. Today, development frequently comes from national corporations hoping for growth opportunities. Growth is good; demand is being satisfied by … Read More

5 Feb 2017

My Interview with a High School Student

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Education | 0

The other day, a local high school student asked if he could interview me about my profession. I said yes. He was a perceptive person, and had an interest in architecture. This is what we talked about. What made you … Read More

7 Jan 2017

Facility Decision: Leave if You Want to Leave

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Facility Management | 0

A few years ago, Sealander Architects was hired by the Maine Bureau of General Services (BGS) to provide an assessment of a state-owned building. We were helping with a facility decision: Does it make more sense to keep the current use … Read More

11 Dec 2016

An Architect at Career Day

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Education | 0

I was one of about 45 people who participated in career day at Ellsworth High School this year. I love participating. Career day exposes kids to careers they may know little about. Because this is Ellsworth, many kids do not … Read More

4 Dec 2016

Turning Houses into Tax Cuts

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Economy, Energy, Government | 0

Believe it or not, an easy way to give Mainers an average of $800 more in their pocket per year is to enforce current building and energy codes. Modern energy codes turn houses into tax cuts. The Situation in Maine … Read More

26 Nov 2016

Mainers Fix Things

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Creativity, Design, Machines | 0

I am helping renovate my father’s condominium in Fairfield, Connecticut. It has been neglected over the years, since he lives elsewhere and the unit sits empty. Pipes have frozen, security systems have failed. The garage door openers are twitchy and … Read More

20 Nov 2016

Cheaper to Renovate or Tear Down?

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Capital Campaign, Cost and Budget | 0

Is it Cheaper to Renovate or Tear Down? We have been the architect on recent projects where the question “Is it Cheaper to Renovate or Tear Down?” has come up. There is an easy answer to this question, but the … Read More

6 Nov 2016

Seeing more Choices from an Architect

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Creativity, Design | 0

The variety of building shapes and sizes architects dream up can seem endless. I am sure clients sometimes wonder, ‘why did he make my building look like that? Could it look like something else?’ Buildings projects are significant consumers of time … Read More

3 Nov 2016

Competitive Bidding

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Project Delivery | 0

Scope and Quality Equals Cost All construction projects have a scope and quality level, and these two factors should produce a predictable cost, especially with competitive bidding: Scope times Quality equals Cost. Why, then, do competitive bidding results sometimes appear … Read More

21 Oct 2016

The Gestation Period for an Elephant is 617 Days

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Capital Campaign, Design, Project Delivery | 0

Give the Design Some Time After a six-year capital campaign, a client of ours called us up to say they were ready to start their project. This was very good news. We had designed a phase one project for them … Read More

7 Oct 2016

BEopt and Net-zero in Maine

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Building Performance, Energy, Sustainability | 0

We have been analyzing energy efficiency for buildings using BEopt, a software program developed by the Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). BEopt is free, and it uses one of the most sophisticated energy analysis engines available: EnergyPlus, also … Read More

3 Oct 2016

Perceiving the Workplace

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Design | 0

Perceiving the Workplace Differently On Tuesday, September 27, the Wall Street Journal ran an entire (R1) section on Women in the Workplace. The lead article, titled “How Men and Women See the Workplace Differently”, focused on the climb up the … Read More

9 Sep 2016

Avoiding Four Renovation Pitfalls

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Cost and Budget, Design | 0

Recent experiences on renovation design projects have highlighted four renovation pitfalls that could inhibit the making of a successful project. All four can be managed by the design and owner teams. The four factors are: 1. Not seeing beyond an … Read More

29 Aug 2016

School Siding Renovation and Energy Efficiency

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Building Performance | 0

We designed a siding renovation project for the Brooklin School, a K-8 facility in Brooklin, Maine. The project was completed in the summer of 2016. Built in the late 1990s, the Brooklin School is a stick-built single story building. The … Read More

14 Aug 2016

Fluid Air Barrier Installation

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Building Performance, Energy | 0

This summer, we are renovating the two-story bay windows of our house. We had reclad these bays some years ago with a fabric house wrap and fiber cement panels. This time, we decided to use a true air barrier, exterior … Read More

2 Aug 2016

The Evolution of a House Design

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Creativity, Design, Project Delivery | 0

The path to a satisfying building design is not linear, and it is often quite long. I often read other creative individuals describe the ingredients to a successful creative effort. How does a choreographer come up with a new dance? … Read More

19 Jul 2016

What is the Best Way to Procure a Project?

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Cost and Budget, Project Delivery | 0

In the world of design and construction, “procurement” refers to the contractual method used to execute building projects. It does not refer to the actual pouring of concrete or framing walls with studs. “Procurement” refers to the type of teamwork … Read More

23 Jun 2016

Where do architectural ideas come from?

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Creativity, Design | 0

I have been practicing architecture for about 25 years, having gone to school to study architecture, worked in construction to understand tectonics and craft, been in private practice as a principal, and spent considerable time researching the nature of creativity … Read More

27 May 2016

The Importance of Bid Analysis

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Cost and Budget, Project Delivery | 0

Recent bid experiences on projects help reinforce the critical function bid analysis plays in project success. The examples I will give are smaller projects, but the analysis process and results hold true for larger projects as well. One project illustrates … Read More

19 May 2016

Is there a top-down solution to energy efficiency?

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Economy, Energy, Government | 0

I have been following a bevy of strands that are grappling with energy efficiency in the United States. From the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) to Efficiency Maine here in my own rural … Read More

15 May 2016

Net-zero and Window Design

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Energy, Sustainability | 0

A building is many things, but it is always a device to provide environmental control. We want to live, work and play- at least some of the time- in a space that is thermally comfortable. Buildings control environments by expending … Read More

19 Apr 2016

Construction cost and Project cost

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Cost and Budget, Project Delivery | 0

How much will a project cost? Construction projects are capital-intensive. Exactly how capital-intensive a project is will depend on the size, complexity and quality of the project. It also depends on the choice of which line items to include in … Read More

2 Apr 2016

What makes good architecture?

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Design | 0

“Architecture” is a noun that denotes a subset of the world’s buildings, as well as the profession that creates the subset. Not all of the world’s buildings can be called “architecture” at the same time. What features or special conditions … Read More

31 Mar 2016

How I Got Here

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Design, Economy | 0

I live in a rural area: eastern Maine. It’s a bit odd carving out a life here, because my background is more suited to an urban existence. I grew up in a suburb of Connecticut; a lot of my friends … Read More

27 Mar 2016

The Code Review Cycle

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Codes, Energy | 0

Building Codes are on three-year improvement cycles. Every three years, an update of the building code comes out. I decided to partake in building code review, and just finished my allotted task. I come away impressed with the building code … Read More

22 Mar 2016

Is your Building an Intangible Asset?

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Economy, Uncategorized | 0

On Tuesday, March 22, 2016, the Wall Street Journal ran a story on page B1 (Business and Technology) titled “Accounting’s 21st Century Problem”. The gist is that the “value of corporate assets like brands, user data and algorithms remain a … Read More

21 Mar 2016

Cheap Money will Save this Country

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Economy, Sustainability | 0

So much of the deliberation over capital projects revolves around the cost of money. If money is expensive- if you need to pay high interest rates in order to borrow money- a whole set of potential projects become untenable. Let’s … Read More

20 Mar 2016

Show me 3 design options

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: BIM, Project Delivery | 0

A major reason to work with a BIM (Building Information Modeling) architect is to see more design alternatives. We have been using our Revit platform to accomplish just that. Typical architecture design contracts used to always limit the number of … Read More

12 Mar 2016

“Chopped” for Architects

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Design, Project Delivery | 0

What is the design process like? Watch the food show “Chopped”. It gives a pretty good explanation. If you have not seen “Chopped”, it is a show where three chefs compete. They create entrees and desserts and whatnot, and three judges … Read More

3 Mar 2016

Mitchell Rasor and the Elements of Design

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Design | 0

I went to a Maine Downtown Center event sponsored by the Maine Development Foundation and the Maine CDC. The first part of the event featured Mitchell Rasor, a landscape architect who has been involved in some interesting projects in Maine. … Read More

29 Feb 2016

Turning Houses into Businesses

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Codes, Cost and Budget, Design | 0

We have been involved with several conversions of residences to businesses in the past year. These projects share similarities because houses are different than commercial buildings. The structural, life safety, Americans with Disabilities Act, site design and environmental quality requirements … Read More

14 Feb 2016

Architects for Trump

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Economy, Government | 0

Is it reasonable for architects to pick a presidential candidate who might favor architects? All politics is local, in the sense that politics is about the relationship of people in a community. It is impossible for everyone living in a … Read More

6 Feb 2016

What good is technology in architecture?

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

Architecture is not without its moments of drudgery. I suppose a lot of professions follow some sort of Pareto Principal that divides our day into 80% drudgery and 20% glory. We know what those drudgery moments are. What are those … Read More

2 Feb 2016

When Clients ask Naive Questions

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Marketing, Project Delivery | 0

Common knowledge says there are no stupid questions. This is true. What I have noticed is that stupid answers can have serious repercussions. Correctly interpreting the meaning of a stupid question can keep a project headed in the right direction. … Read More

16 Jan 2016

Who Fights Fires?

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Codes | 0

Ever receive an email and all of a sudden wonder whether you made a really big mistake? This happened the other day as a school renovation project wrapped up. A board member, superintendent and local fire official included me on … Read More

9 Jan 2016

LCCA and Capital Projects

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Cost and Budget, Uncategorized | 0

I have been interested in energy efficiency for a while, and I have been interested in designing cost effective buildings for a while. On the energy efficiency side, my efforts to develop as a designer has led to using quantitative … Read More

26 Dec 2015

Frequently Asked Questions

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Cost and Budget, Design, Project Delivery | 0

Architecture is a multi-faceted profession. Architects design buildings that safeguard the health, safety and welfare of the public; we translate the wishes and needs of clients into inhabitable space; we tailor buildings to suit and enhance the execution of specific … Read More

11 Dec 2015

Maine Life Safety Systems

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Codes | 0

Maine has quite a lot of old Grange Halls, schools and other assembly occupancy buildings that are worth saving. These buildings also often have a second floor assembly space. Unfortunately, the NFPA 101 life safety code does not allow Type … Read More

6 Dec 2015

Over the top drawings

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Design, Project Delivery | 0

I am creating a Building Information Model (BIM) of a nearby K-8 public school for a capital improvement project report. I will use the model to analyze rooms, life safety features, and other facilities issues. I am basing my model on drawings … Read More

29 Nov 2015

Between Opulence and Destitution

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Economy, Sustainability | 0

This Thanksgiving, instead of staying in Maine, we went to Connecticut. The trip was fun, and had a couple emotional moments involving family members, but another take-away came from the shock I tend to have when I visit an opulent … Read More

14 Nov 2015

Using Therm for Energy Analysis

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Design, Energy, Sustainability | 0

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Therm energy modeling program is a tidy little application for investigating design details for thermal performance. Well-validated and the standard tool used by the National Fenestration Rating Council to rate windows and doors, we have used … Read More

11 Nov 2015

Source versus Site and Zero Energy

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) recently release a definition of “zero energy building”. This is good news, because it clarifies when a building, campus, or community can call itself “zero energy”. To date, there has been some amount … Read More

6 Nov 2015

Envelope Retrofit Costs

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Cost and Budget, Energy | 0

We are completing two projects that involve re-cladding existing building envelopes. These are buildings whose exterior walls had little to no insulation. Part of our task was to provide increased energy efficiency to these buildings. Cladding costs on both projects, … Read More

6 Nov 2015

Windows- Residential versus Commercial

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Cost and Budget | 0

In a previous post, I looked at window performance and the Performance Grade (PG) metric. We have also looked at the cost of windows from residential/ light commercial and from heavy commercial manufacturers. Light commercial windows will be familiar to … Read More

1 Nov 2015

That Old Farmhouse

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Design, Energy | 0

We bought an old house in Brooklin, Maine about 15 years ago. The house was built in the 1860s. It’s a farmhouse, meaning it came with an extensive barn. There were actually four barns tacked on to the southwest side … Read More

30 Oct 2015

Bring in the Fresh Air

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

The Wall Street Journal ran an article this week on fresh air. The article described some current research being done on the effect of varying levels of fresh air on office productivity. Subjects were placed in office setting for periods … Read More

27 Oct 2015

Architecture: Trade or Profession?

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

Sealander Architects is a small firm. You can’t get much smaller than we are. Because we are small, we do the things small business owners do. We vacuum. We do the marketing. We clean the toilets. We do our own … Read More

29 Sep 2015

Woodlawn 3.0

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

Last month we participated in “Woodlawn 2.0”, a design forum held at the Woodlawn Museum in Ellsworth Maine. The subject of the design forum was the imaginary renovation of the Black House, which is the central feature of Woodlawn. In … Read More

2 Sep 2015

Woodlawn 2.0

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Design | 0

We are happy to be participating in the Woodlawn Museum’s “Woodlawn 2.0”, which is an opportunity to reimagine the Black House in Ellsworth as a private residence for a contemporary Mr. and Mrs. Black. This design exercise is based on … Read More

1 Sep 2015

It’s Time for Building Information Modeling

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Design, Machines | 0

We are in an interesting place at Sealander Architects: We have a pretty mature BIM (Building Information Modeling) platform, and we know it can provide value to an entire building team. We just happen to be an outlier in our … Read More

31 Aug 2015

Agents of Change

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

As an architect, I like to think it is designers who drive innovation in buildings. Architects are out-of-the-box thinkers. We come up with new ideas. We have contractors implement our new ideas. Alas, is this the case? Certainly not all … Read More

30 Aug 2015

Fiddling with what you see

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Design | 0

One of my back-burner trade journals is Architectural Lighting, a generally product-oriented magazine focused on…lighting. The July/August 2015 issue has an article on LED lighting that caught my eye, and is making me question reality. As we all know, the … Read More

22 Aug 2015

New Buildings are Safe, Older ones Need to Be

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Codes, Cost and Budget | 0

We have been working on several area projects with a large life safety component to them. These are renovations to older buildings, whose users are the public. Building codes by definition are enforced to “protect the health, safety and welfare … Read More

21 Aug 2015

Architects can Save you Money

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Design | 0

A friend of mine called me up the other day, asking if she could hire me for a small project at her house. Her husband is getting on in years, and is having a difficult time going up and down … Read More

14 Aug 2015

Don’t change that occupancy

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Codes | 0

We recently consulted on a project involving a partial change in occupancy. The International Existing Building Code (2009) takes changes in occupancy quite seriously. Owners contemplating a project involving a change in occupancy should understand the life safety requirements changes … Read More

27 Jul 2015

Lessons Learned on Lift Installations

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Codes | 0

We have installed a couple lifts in residences over the past few years. They seem to have installed without a hitch. Recently, we specified a Limited Use Limited Accessibility (LULA) lift at an existing school we renovated, and the complexity … Read More

26 Jul 2015

High Performance Windows

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Energy, Sustainability | 0

Windows and doors must perform two conflicting tasks: Be a barrier, and be a portal. While it is frequently noted that the easiest way to design a net-zero building is to eliminate openings, few of us can actually bring ourselves … Read More

17 Jul 2015

Time to let MUBEC Govern?

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Codes | 0

Maine has a code issue. More to the point, Maine has two codes that govern building design and construction, and this is bad. The Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code was adopted in 2011 as the sole building and energy … Read More

28 Jun 2015

Laser Scanning

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Machines | 0

I’ve been investigating laser-scanning technology over the last few weeks. A representative from Faro came by the office with his machine. He scanned the interior of the office. It took about 20 minutes. The laser scanning operation is in itself … Read More

19 Jun 2015

Using BEopt in Architecture

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Sustainability | 0

Building energy optimization is a process that determines how to minimize the energy a building uses, largely for heating and cooling. It turns out there is an app for that. That app is BEopt, and it is a free program … Read More

18 Jun 2015

Put the assembly space on the bottom

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Codes, Design | 0

We recently did some work looking at a laboratory and classroom function building being proposed in our neck of the woods. The building is not large. It will house a classroom space that can be used for assembly purposes, and … Read More

13 Jun 2015

How will we know if we made a mistake?

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Design, Sustainability | 0

We are interviewing for a project next week. If we are successful, this project will be a feather in our cap, a project we can do really well, and an opportunity to define the future of the organization that will … Read More

7 Jun 2015

Passive House and BEopt

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Sustainability | 0

I am working on our first Passive House project. This project is scheduled for construction next year, in the Bangor, Maine area. While I have been designing buildings that meet ASHRAE 90.1-2009 buildings for a while, and even buildings that … Read More

6 Jun 2015

The Maine Optometric Association conference

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Marketing | 0

Robyn and I just finished attending the Maine Optometric Association conference in Bar Harbor. We were there drumming up business, since we have recently designed a couple of optometry offices, and enjoyed those projects. Luckily for us, we were the … Read More

31 May 2015

How Smart is the Market?

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Economy, Government | 0

I’ve been reading some of the testimony for and against LD 1191, which is one in a series of bills before the State legislature proposing to weaken the adoption of the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, MUBEC. One of … Read More

30 May 2015

Therm: The ultimate arbiter of envelope design

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

I’m not sure how I first discovered Therm, which is a software program developed by the Department of Energy. I think Therm started in Berkeley. Let’s just say it is a singularly elegant and useful software application for energy investigations. … Read More

27 May 2015

Howland Hall, Wall Type 2

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

On our pre-engineered metal building addition at Washington County Community College (WCCC, the College), we devised this detail for a thermally broken, energy efficient, cost effective exterior wall type. It still amazes me that this construction is considered “cutting edge.’ … Read More

25 May 2015

Stone Walls

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Economy, Machines | 0

I’m spending Memorial Day building a stone retaining wall in my front yard. Three thoughts come to mind: I meant to start this retaining wall about ten years ago. That seems to be a long time to put something off. … Read More

21 May 2015

Self Perform

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Project Delivery | 0

So what’s it like when an owner decides to self-perform? Let’s imagine owner self-perform on a very small scale: someone lives in a house, and decides to install window treatments. (I know, most people say “blinds” or “shades”, but only … Read More

29 Apr 2015

Introducing our new web site, and blog

by Mike Sealander, Maine Licensed Architect | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

Good morning everyone! Your are reading this because we have just launched our new web site, and blog. Today is 2015 May 21, it’s just before Memorial Day, and the weather is perfect! Enjoy the site, come back soon.

Architecture and Design Blog Home » Eastern Maine Architects » Building and Design Advice » Architecture and Design Blog

Recent Posts

Post Topics

Architecture and Design Blog
Home » Eastern Maine Architects » Building and Design Advice » Architecture and Design Blog