Skip to main content
AIA Pittsburgh
  • About
    • About AIA Pittsburgh
      • Mission, Vision & Values
        • Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Statement
      • Board Leadership
      • Staff Members
      • AIA PA Chapter Map
      • Annual Reports
    • AIA Committees
      • Advocacy Committee
      • AIA-MBA Joint Committee
      • Committee on the Environment (COTE)
      • Design + Research Group
      • EDI Community
      • Education Committee
      • Fellows Group (FAIA)
      • Healthcare Committee
      • Outreach Committee
      • Young Architect Forum (YAF)
    • Rent Our Space
    • Sponsorships
    • Contact
  • Membership
    • Why Join
    • Membership Types
    • Allied Membership
    • Directories
      • Firm Directory: Find an architect to work with
      • For Members: National AIA Member Finder
      • Allied Members Directory
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Build Pittsburgh
      • Presenters & Programming
      • Sponsor & Exhibitor Opportunities
    • Design Pittsburgh
      • 2022 Award Winners
      • Peoples Choice Top 10: the People Speak
      • Information & Tickets
      • Young Architects Studio Competition
        • YASCs of the Past
      • Award Archives
    • Architecture Week
    • PechaKucha Night Pittsburgh
    • Procrastinator’s Day
  • Resources
    • Job Board
      • Post a Job
      • Manage your job listings
    • Professional Resources
    • Order AIA Contract Documents
    • For the Public
      • Find an Architect or Firm
      • FAQs: Working With an Architect
      • Architecture Learning Network
  • Columns
    • 2022 COLUMNS Newsletters
    • COLUMNS Blog Features: 2012-Present
      • Member Dossiers
      • Committee Corner
      • From The Firms
      • News
    • COLUMNS: 1987-2011
  • Foundation
    • About the Foundation
    • Board of Directors
    • Leadership Institute for Emerging Professionals
    • Donate
  • Job Board
  • Member Login
AIA Pittsburgh
  • Job Board
  • Member Login
  • About
    • About AIA Pittsburgh
      • Mission, Vision & Values
        • Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Statement
      • Board Leadership
      • Staff Members
      • AIA PA Chapter Map
      • Annual Reports
    • AIA Committees
      • Advocacy Committee
      • AIA-MBA Joint Committee
      • Committee on the Environment (COTE)
      • Design + Research Group
      • EDI Community
      • Education Committee
      • Fellows Group (FAIA)
      • Healthcare Committee
      • Outreach Committee
      • Young Architect Forum (YAF)
    • Rent Our Space
    • Sponsorships
    • Contact
  • Membership
    • Why Join
    • Membership Types
    • Allied Membership
    • Directories
      • Firm Directory: Find an architect to work with
      • For Members: National AIA Member Finder
      • Allied Members Directory
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Build Pittsburgh
      • Presenters & Programming
      • Sponsor & Exhibitor Opportunities
    • Design Pittsburgh
      • 2022 Award Winners
      • Peoples Choice Top 10: the People Speak
      • Information & Tickets
      • Young Architects Studio Competition
        • YASCs of the Past
      • Award Archives
    • Architecture Week
    • PechaKucha Night Pittsburgh
    • Procrastinator’s Day
  • Resources
    • Job Board
      • Post a Job
      • Manage your job listings
    • Professional Resources
    • Order AIA Contract Documents
    • For the Public
      • Find an Architect or Firm
      • FAQs: Working With an Architect
      • Architecture Learning Network
  • Columns
    • 2022 COLUMNS Newsletters
    • COLUMNS Blog Features: 2012-Present
      • Member Dossiers
      • Committee Corner
      • From The Firms
      • News
    • COLUMNS: 1987-2011
  • Foundation
    • About the Foundation
    • Board of Directors
    • Leadership Institute for Emerging Professionals
    • Donate
COLUMNS - A news source and blog for the architectural community.

Freedom by Design at Carnegie Mellon University

February 4, 2018

Post Category | News

The Carnegie Mellon University chapter of Freedom by Design has taken on their first project to introduce and disperse weatherization kits into homes across Pittsburgh. These kits provide families with a series of means to help insulate their home and a booklet outlining the importance of this cost-saving process.

The long winter of Pittsburgh causes high heating costs for many residents across the state. Creating energy efficient spaces benefits the resident both financially and thermally. It is important for one to understand the role they can take in keeping heating costs low and their home warm. The FBD team has prototyped and established a packaged kit organized to assist homeowners and renters across a series of communities in Pittsburgh.

The fabricated box provides materials and instructions for the average Pittsburgh renter or homeowner. Door sweeps, window plastic, weather stripping, and socket insulation are included in the kit and are labeled to match the descriptions and instructions within the booklet. The booklet gives families the opportunity to understand the energy and cost savings attributed to these small improvements. Each aspect of the home has a section of the booklet that gives the reader instructions within the kit and additional insulating ideas. It provides an estimate of cost savings based on the current size and conditions of the home or apartment. The reader has the opportunity to read further into the heating costs of specific areas of their home.

The booklet also contains sections for larger improvements to be made specifically for homeowners such as upgrading heating and cooling systems and window glass and shading techniques. The Freedom by Design group is holding an event to distribute the kits and demonstrate the installation of the components of the kit to the surrounding community. The live demonstrations will allow the community to ask any questions in relation to their specific residence and allow for further communication. There will also be opportunities to sign up for additional help from the design team if a community member is unable to install any of the components by themselves.

It is critical that the recipients of the weatherization kits understand how the products work and their importance for energy conservation. This project will not solve the problem at a large scale, but it aims to provide a solution for the immediate season and provide information on what longer term solutions residents could pursue, should they become a home-owner or be moving in the future.

This is intended to be the beginning of an annual initiative for our chapter as new members join Freedom by Design and have a lasting relationship with communities in Pittsburgh.

Share:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

2 thoughts on “Freedom by Design at Carnegie Mellon University”

  1. SARAH NAHRMANN says:
    February 18, 2018 at 1:19 pm

    Good work this is a great idea! Helping people and helping the environment.

  2. Christine Bethea says:
    March 13, 2019 at 1:44 pm

    Hello–
    Would like to talk to Freedom by Design about another possible project. Can someone give me a call? Im a consultant working with East Liberty Development.

Comments are closed.

Categories

  • All Posts
  • Committee Corner
  • From The Firms
  • Member Dossiers
  • News
  • Archived Newsletters

Search Columns

Archives

Get the latest in your inbox.

AIA Pittsburgh

925 Liberty Avenue
Suite 700

Pittsburgh, PA 15222 USA

Phone: 412-471-9548

Contact Us
Quick Links
  • Job Board
  • Sponsorships
  • Donate
  • AIA.org
Follow us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
Subscribe to Columns

Copyright © 2023 AIA Pittsburgh. All rights reserved. Site by Imagebox.