Latest…
Rocky Mountain Institute: Bryn participated recently in an energy and transportation charrette hosted by the Rocky Mountain Institute in Denver, Colorado. As an invited ‘thought disruptor’ Bryn presented his vision for the future of the trucking industry given the emerging impacts of peak oil and climate change.
March / April 2009
King House and Lanefab Prototype: We’ve started work on two lane house projects, one in squamish, and one in Vancouver. The Vancouver project is being designed in partnership with the Lighthouse Sustainable Building Centre as part of their 2010 building challenge.
Peak Oil and Climate Change at Translink & Environment Canada: Bryn gave an overview of ‘energy transition’ to the staff at Translink - the Greater Vancouver transportation authority, and at the Surrey office of Environment Canada.
Lanefab Laneway Housing: Rao/D Cityworks is partnering with Renmen Projects to create a new laneway housing development company. The new company can be viewed at www.lanefab.com.
FEBRUARY 2009
Art Center Summit - Sustainable Mobility: Bryn presented his work on peak oil, climate change, and transportation at the Art Center conference on Sustainable Mobility in Pasadena, CA.
JANUARY 2009
Rao-D Pod 1: We’ve completed the majority of the interior renovations. Click here for before and after photos.
Plan Talk - “Building Bridges”: Bryn moderated a dialogue on peak oil, climate change, and the ‘Gateway’ project with SFU professor Anthony Perl and Langley Township councillor Jordan Batemen. The event was hosted by the Planning Institute of British Columbia.
NOVEMBER 2008
Georgian Bay Retreat: The durisol concrete walls, timber frame, and reclaimed timber posts are now in place on an island in Georgian Bay Ontario. Click here for the most recent photos.
OCTOBER 2008
“Transport Revolutions” TV interview: Bryn was interviewed about the impacts of peak oil and climate change on transportation as part of the ‘Sustainable Region’ television show. The video clip (along with author Anthony Perl) is viewable here on the the Dynamic Cities’ Website
Peak Oil / Climate Change and Communities: Bryn presented to a collection of community visioning groups in a session organized by the City of Vancouver’s CityPlan office.
Peak Oil Conference: Bryn presented on “Scenario Planning for State and Municipal Governments” at the ASPO-USA world oil conference in Sacramento in mid September. Online streaming video of the presentation, Slides (pdf)
Rao/D Pod 1: We’ve finished with demolition and the removal of interior load bearing walls, plumbing and electrical rough-in, and are now ready for drywall.
AUG-SEPT 2008
Escargot Farm: We presented the farm concept plan to the town council in the Town of the Blue Mountains (Ontario).
Georgian Bay Retreat: Construction has commenced, and the floor slab will be poured soon.
Rockwood Block: Our eco-industrial development proposal was selected to move to the next stage of negotiations with the District of North Vancouver.
Rao/D Pod 1: We’ve received our building permit, and are proceeding with the removal of interior walls.
JULY 2008
Vancouver Sun Article: A recent article in the Vancouver Sun, by Barbara Yaffe, chronicles some of Bryn’s work with the Dynamic Cities Project on peak oil, climate change, and transportation planning.
Georgian Bay Retreat: Construction is starting on the island site. View exterior renderings of the design concept.
MAY-JUNE 2008
Maplewood Eco-Industrial Concept: In response to an RFP from the District of North Vancouver we have developed a concept plan for a mixed use (light industrial / office / commercial) project targeting LEED-Gold. The proposal was developed for Enterra Development Corp. and Rockwell Pacific Development.
RAO/D Pod 1: We’ve purchased a small (400sf) condo in Vancouver and plan to do a complete re-design / renovation. Photos of the existing condo are here. Click on the image below to see add’l renderings of the design concept.
APRIL 2008
Walsh House: Kitchen cabinets are in…
MARCH 2008
Peak Oil at Powerex: Bryn presented an overview of peak oil and ‘energy transition’ to the energy traders at Powerex (BC Hydro’s energy trading division).
Junck House DP Concept: We’ve submitted the application for a development permit. The duplex concept is now all new construction, with basement suites, and we’re considering using structural insulated panels (SIPs).
JANUARY 2008
Georgian Bay Retreat: Work is progressing, with an intended construction start in april/may (when the ice in Georgian Bay finally thaws…).
Junck House: First schematic concept for a duplex (part new, part renovation) near Vancouver’s Commercial Drive. (Images: duplex concept sketch, existing house and context)
DECEMBER 2007
Peak Oil & Climate Presentation at the Vancouver Public Library: Bryn gave a new presentation “Peak Oil and Climate Change: Two Sides of the Same Coin or Competing Crises?”
as part of the Necessary Voices Society’s lecture series. The slides, with live audio from the presentation, are available at the Dynamic Cities Project.
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2007
Georgian Bay Retreat: We visited the site in October and have started developing a linear-house concept that opens to the water view (click thumbnail to view larger image).
2007 ASPO-USA Conference: Bryn attended the 2007 conference by the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) - in Houston, Texas.
Plan Talk: Bryn was part of a panel discussion on peak oil and climate change hosted by the BC Planning Institute’s Lower Mainland Chapter.
Walsh Addition - Construction Update: The triple-glazed windows are in, and most of the exterior and interior insulation is in place. (click on the image below to go to the photo set)
SEPTEMBER 2007
Walsh Addition - Construction Update: The framing and roof are up. The following gallery shows the framing - including window opening extensions for the exterior insulation system and the radiant heat barrier in the roof. (click on the image below to go to the photo set)
Walsh Addition - Drawings / Renderings: Plans and construction details.
AUGUST 2007
Guest Columnist - Kamala Writes for the Seattle PI: Along with fellow transportation advocate Cary Moon, Kamala has written a guest editorial on highway capacity reductions in Seattle.
FEBRUARY - JULY 2007
Walsh Addition - Under Construction: Foundations are being currently being poured for the addition. Green features include: super-insulated wall system, fiberglass framed triple-glazed windows, Insulating Concrete Form foundation walls, and recycled content interior finishes.
Small Energy Group: We completed a market study for a start-up company based in North Vancouver. The Small Energy Group will provided software and controls that allow building managers to reduce their energy usage and peak demand.
Safrata ‘Escargot’ Farm: Our rezoning application has been submitted to the Town of the Blue Mountains (Ontario), and we are beginning preliminary planning for the on-site renewable energy systems, farm components, and LEED rated homes.
Transition Targets: We’ve recently developed several slideshows (for the Dynamic Cities Project) which lay out aggressive targets for reducing emissions and oil dependence.
JANUARY 2007
Safrata Farm: Eco-Homes & Learning Centre : We’re continuing work on a proposed “farm-integrated residential development” in the Town of the Blue Mountains, ON. The project, if approved by the community, will incorporate 9 new housing sites around a trailhead and organic farming learning centre.
Seeds for Change: Bryn gave his presentation “Peak Oil: Navigating the Debate” at UBC’s sustainability conference.
Dynamic Demand Management : We’ve taken on a market assessment study for a start-up company hoping to help small building operators save energy, money, and emissions.
2006
Taking Hubbert Home - Regional Energy Models : Our latest presentation for the Dynamic Cities Project . This slideshow provides an overview of the various forces that will make each region’s energy future unique. Published online at Energy Bulletin.
Energy/Climate - Crises & Risks : As part of our ongoing work with the Dynamic Cities Project we’ve been developing some conceptual maps relating the potential impacts of climate change and peak oil to various other humanitarian crises. The maps, and a proposed system for categorizing energy and climate crises, were published online at Energy Bulletin.
Georgian Bay Retreat : We’re working on a 1700sf cottage to be located on a waterfront site in Ontario’s Georgian Bay.
Eco-Industrial District - 80 Acre Concept Plan: 
Safrata Farm - Development Strategy and Plan: After two recent trips to rural Ontario we’ve soaked up a lot of the local history and planning context and are now working on a development plan for a 100 acre farm that will include 10 “net-positive” residences, enhanced farming, renewable energy, a public trailhead, and a green building demonstration pavilion.
Our Future(s) Part 2 - ‘Scenario Coaster’: We’ve developed a second presentation for the Dynamic Cities Project, again published recently on Energy Bulletin.
Walsh Addition - Schematic Concept: An extension to an existing house in Eagle River, Alaska. The addition aims to capture sun and views from the hillside site.
Our Future(s): We’ve developed a short presentation looking at alternative futures that might unfold as our cities cope with the effects of peak oil and climate change. The powerpoint file (developed for the Dynamic Cities Project) was published recently on Energy Bulletin.
Eco-Industrial Prototype: We’ve been working with the Enterra Development Corporation to develop a new building typology that can compete, on an economic basis, with low-cost industrial buildings - while pushing the envelope of energy efficiency and green design.
Planning the Post Oil City: Bryn gave a talk about peak oil and energy transition at ‘Cafe Scientifique’ at the Railway Club in downtown Vancouver.
‘My Science Project’ - Peak Oil: Bryn was part of an hour-long discussion on CITR Radio at the University of British Columbia. Joining him in the discussion were fuel cell researcher Justin Roller, and DemocracyNow! media wiz Frank Lopez. (download - 1 hour including musical breaks ~50mb).
“From Bedroom to Living Room…” : Kamala is presenting at the Intitute of Transportation Engineers conference is Seattle. Her presentation, on “the transportation challenge of converting a suburb to a metropolitan centre”, is centred on the Surrey City Centre transit village project that she is currently working on with the firm OpusHamilton.
Take it Easy: Bryn presented recently at the BALLE BC “take it easy” event at the Alibi Room in Vancouver. The event was focused on local green building initiatives.
EcoSmart + Enterra: Presentation summaries from the recent ‘Energy Technologies For Sustainable Buildings’ workshop hosted by EcoSmart and the BC Power Technology Alliance. Bryn’s presentation, describing the Enterra initiative, is posted on this page.
Enterra: For the past 10 months we’ve been retained as a sustainable development consultant for a startup company aiming to build eco-industrial projects in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. That company, Enterra, now has its interim website (designed by RAO/D) up and running. www.enterrabuildings.com
Ripple Effect: Ripple Effect is a concept plan and research report developed in the fall of 2005 by three students at the Learning City Institute in Vancouver. The project, an elaboration on our ‘St.George Creek’ initiative, explores the design of a constructed wetland and solar aquatics facility on the Great Northern Way campus in Vancouver.
The Dynamic Cities Project: In early December our ad-hoc peak oil / design / planning group gained official status as a non-profit group. Please visit the website (still under construction!) at www.dynamiccities.org.
2005
SEFC: Kamala’s 2003 urban design studies for the South East False Creek neighbourhood in Vancouver.
Eco-Industrial: Greenfield/Infill Prototype: A development prototype and scenario for both greenfield and infill sites. Tested against two locations: the Springwater area of Gresham, Oregon (a recent expansion of the Urban Growth Boundary) & the transit-accessible Lake City area of Burnaby, BC.
Oregon: A recent eco-industrial scouting trip to Portland and Gresham, Oregon with Enterra Eco-Development. We met with local planners, designers, and municipal advocates of green design and visited a selection of the area’s existing sustainable development initiatives and potential sites for (re)development.
L to R (Ecotrust’s green roof, a water-permeable sidewalk, an industrial urban renewal site, table surface made from compressed sunflower seeds at the LEED Gold Honda facility)
Edgars House- Schematic Concept: Preliminary ideas for the envelope replacement/addition to this Kerrisdale townhouse. The existing structure is a concrete framed townhouse appended to a mid-rise tower.
RAO/D work cited - 2: The development scenarios from Bryn’s book ‘soft design + culture lab’ were used as an entry point into a study of sustainable development by the Environmental Design 401 class at the University of British Columbia. Studio intro paper.
Transformative Urbanism: A proposed organizational framework for facilitating province-wide sustainable (re)development. The report and proposal was assembled from the results of the Sustainable Building Charrette hosted over the summer by the city of Kelowna, BC.
The Dynamic Cities Project: We’ve incorporated a non-profit group centred around municipal and regional planning in response to the twin global challenges of oil depletion and climate change. Please visit our interim website. Comments and feedback are welcome - please send to brynd@rao-d.com .
Eco-Industrial Scenarios: Burnaby Eco Industrial Scenario, Oregon Eco-Industrial Scenario.
Peak Oil, Architecture & Planning: Bryn gave an updated version of his talk titled ‘Peak Oil: Navigating the Debate’ to the City of Vancouver Central Area Planners on Oct. 19th and presented to the Vancouver design firm Busby, Perkins & Will Architects on Oct.28th.
21 Ideas at the VPC: On Oct. 12th, RAO/D’s winning entry “St. George Creek” was presented to the Vancouver Planning Commission along with a selection of the other winning projects from the city’s 21 Ideas for the 21st Century design competition. A subsequent presentation is slated for the Vancouver School Board (date pending). Download the presentation file (.ppt 16mb)
Zero-Fossil-Development (ZFD): The RAO/D entry for the Advanced Architecture self-sufficient housing design competition. The project’s aim is to create an affordable, adaptable, zero-fossil fueled building type that integrates existing building technologies and can be mass-customized.
Peak Oil at the NRC: Bryn gave a talk titled ‘Peak Oil: Navigating the Debate’ to the fuel-cell researchers at the National Research Council laboratory in Vancouver. Download the presentation (.ppt, .pdf).
Townhouse Renovation- Edgars House: RAO/D has been engaged to design a new staircase for a Vancouver homeowner interested in carving out a ‘light, open, floating’ stair as the first step toward a broader renovation. The concrete framed townhouse will be stripped back to the structure and reconfigured with new interiors and enclosed solariums.
Design Scenarios: The Learning City initiative (an educational collaborative in Vancouver) is organizing an inter-disciplinary design studio for the coming fall term looking at issues related to urban sustainability. We provided two of the six scenario/topics that were chosen for the course : Eco-Urban Infrastructures + Eco-Industry.
Munoz House: Under construction (June-October).
Eco-Industrial Hub & Sustainable Enterprise Design: rao-D cityworks has been retained as a sustainable-development consultant by the Paradigm group to investigate opportunities for building LEED-Gold light industrial facilities and services throughout North America. This initial investigation is aimed at not only developing pilot projects on the west coast, but also exploring alternative business models in line with the precepts of industrial-ecology and sustainable community development.
‘Energy and Transportation’: Bryn participated as an invited panel member for one of the breakout groups at the BALLE BC (business alliance for local living economies) conference.
‘RAIC Student Medal & RAIC Honour Roll’: At the UBC School of Architecture awards ceremony friday, Bryn was awarded the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s student medal for a student who “…has achieved the highest level of academic excellence and/or has completed the outstanding final design project/thesis for that academic year.”
‘Peaking Presentation’: The rao-D powerpoint slideshow on peak-oil planning was published online on the web-journal Energy Bulletin. The response to this has been positive with people from around the world writing in. The slideshow has been mirrored on energy websites in Korea, Spain, and England.
‘Future Urban Sustainable Systems’: Bryn moderated one of the public discussion groups for the Emily Carr Institute’s review of graduating students’ projects.
‘When will it ever be enough?’: Kamala’s brochure design for the Livable Region Coalition questioning the underlying arguments for highway expansion. The brochure was produced by the coalition in response to the province’s ‘Gateway’ project.
‘St. George Creek’: the rao-D entry is selected as one of the 21 winners in the city of Vancouver’s ‘21 Ideas for the 21st Century’ competition. St. George creek is the potential reincarnation of a storm sewer running beneath St. George st. The topography and location (adjacent to multiple elementary schools, parks, and a university campus) makes this an ideal location for integrating student learning with urban ecology and design.
‘Timeline on the Inevitable’: Kamala’s presentation to the Institute of Transportation Engineers Conference: A paper looking at the economic context for the Alaskan Way Viaduct Project in Seattle and the broader imperative for addressing demand-side land-use issues vs. highway expansion.
‘Great Northern Way: Challenges and Opportunities’: Bryn’s presentations to the UBC Board of Governors and Faculty Heads. Contextual summary and proposal for both immediate and longer-term actions at the Great Northern Way Campus.
‘soft design + (culture lab)’: Bryn’s thesis presentation proposing an expanded role for architects and ‘design’ within the larger collaborative and adaptive processes related to sustainable urban development. The Great Northern Way Campus in Vancouver serves as the testing ground (culture lab) for the developed theories.
2004
‘SA101 - Sustainable Architecture 101’: A public course on sustainable architecture and planning funded by a grant from the UBC Sustainability Office and organized/facilitated by BD.
‘Loon Lake Amphitheatre’: An outdoor theatre designed and built by students (including BD) from the UBC School of Architecture. The project is located in, and funded by, UBC’s Malcolm Knapp research forest outside of Maple Ridge BC and was constructed from fire-felled non-market cedar that was milled on site.
‘Arboreal Architecture’: Design proposal presented at the ‘Greening the Curricula’ conference in Quebec City.
2003
‘Havana in Photos’: photography exhibit with selected works from the 2002 UBC urban design studies abroad trip to Cuba. Organized and curated by rao-D, funded by the UBC School of Architecture.
2002
‘Opportunities for Community Design in Vancouver’: A report prepared for the UBC School of Architecture looking at organizational and project precedents for community-service learning.