Expedited Disaster Rebuild

After a disaster the local jurisdiction typically creates an expedited process for the design, permitting and construction process to help owners get back into their homes as quickly and painlessly as possible. And KINDO studios works hand-in-hand with the jurisdiction to to seamlessly build back your beautiful community.

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Fee Waiver

The jurisdiction may also decide to waive building permit fees to help the overall cost of the build and to encourage rebuilding. These fee waivers may have deadlines for permit submission. You should check with your jurisdiction and make your your design and construction professionals are aware of these deadlines.

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Design Parameters for Expedited Rebuild

The jurisdiction may have several paths for Disaster Rebuild. For the majority of homeowners they are looking for the fastest path to getting back into their home.

The Most expeditious - Level 1

• May require rebuilding in the previous home footprint (+/- 10%)

• May require rebuilding to the same square footage (+/- 10%)

• May require rebuilding no taller than the previous home

• May require rebuilding with no more beds or baths than the previous home to not tax the sewer or septic system. (jurisdictions may calculate sewer and septic loads by bedrooms or bathrooms or fixture counts)

The Middle Ground - Level 2

May not conform to 1 or 2 of Expedited Rebuild Level 1 criteria

Standard Method

Does not adhere to any of the Expedited Rebuild Level 1 critera

EXAMPLES OF DISASTER REBUILD DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS

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Preliminary Planning Review

Once you have determined what path you want to take you will typically have a preliminary submission or Planning Review.

Cursory review of all the documents and preliminary design drawings showing your conform to a certain path.

Provide Planning approval from the departments required.

Planning approval allows you to move forward on the selected path and create the drawings and documents necessary for the building permit.

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Documents to Gather

In many areas the expedited process will require several documents to help the jurisdiction review and approve you rebuild.

• Title and Deed

• Previous home architectural drawings - will show the size, shape, location, height of the previous home

• Look in the jurisdiction website for permitted plans, additions, auxiliary structures.

• Tax assessors information will state the square footage for which you have been taxed

• Sewer or septic permits or connection information.

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Expedite Design & Construction

KINDO studios has been utilizing tried and true methods to expedite and fast track the design and construction process from the use of standardized and jurisdiction approved details, incorporating readily available products and evaluating the used of prefabricated and panelized construction methods. We will explore this in more detail as we move through the design process.

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Temporary Permits

Temporary Trailer Permits are typically expedited so owners can live and work on their property to rejoin the community. . These permits usually go through two local departments.

1. Planning Department - to ensure temporary trailers are not placed in any areas to detract or adversely effect the neighbors, or neighborhood.

2. Health Department - to ensure all adequate infrastructure and septic or sewer connections are available and maintained.

Temporary Trailer Permit - Who? & How Long? In almost every disaster the permits are limited in who is eligible for trailer permits and the length of the permit itself. The jurisdictions have high hopes that the rebuild process with be completed within a short period of time. But when the number of buildign permits, number of construction projects starting at once, combined with the limited number of builders, this temporary trailer permit timelines begin to get extended. As the jurisdictions realize that the local builder are maxed out and a number of them have also lost their homes, they will often allow the builders to add construction crew living trailer on sites also.

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Your Design / Build Team should help:

Your design and build team should do more than just help your design and rebuild from your natural disaster. KINDO studios works with you to determine your desired rebuild design and assess the path of least resistance. We also ascertain submission requirements, gather documents the from online and jurisdictional portals. Work with your local jurisdiction for preliminary planning approval and work with all required consultants for builder permit approval. As we have worked to help rebuild from many natural disasters we are also reaching out to offer assistance to the local jurisdictions to help design the expedited permit process to help build back the community as quickly as possible. And if you have more questions or want clarification, please contact our office for assistance.

Working with your Insurance Company After a Disaster

From Hurricanes & Storms to Wildfires & Earthquakes, we have been assisting our owners design and rebuild from natural disasters for decades.

After safety and welling being comes a general assessment and “what’s next”. And a main component to help determine “what’s next” is the insurance company. Although KINDO studios has been coordinating with numerous insurance companied on disaster relief projects, we are design and building professionals and recommend you contact your insurance company, agent and attorney, directly for your specific next steps. With that in mind, we have compiled some key categories and questions we have gathered over the decades that will help when working with your insurance company.

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Your Insurance Team & Process:

Who is my main contact during the entire process?

• Who is the adjustor assigned to my claim?

• What is the process and how will I be updated on my claim?

• Will accountants, estimators, engineers or other professionals be hired by the insurance company to accurately document the claim damages?

• Are any of my claim preparation costs for my own experts (architects, engineers, estimators, etc) be covered by my policy?

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Your Coverages and Exclusions

Get confirmation that your policy definitely cover this type of disaster?

• What damages to what property are not covered under my insurance?

• What coverage or policy changes are needed to cover these types of damages and property in the future?

• What are my insurance policy limits?

• What is my insurance policy deductible?

  • How is this deductible applied?

• Is my insurance policy and Actual Cash Value policy or a Replacement Cost Value policy?

• How are the valuation methods applied to my insurance claim?

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Your Responsibilities:

What documents does the insurance company require me to complete from initial submission to completion of the claim?

• What at the deadlines for these submission of these documents?

• Where are all the required forms and directions located?

• What forms or format is needed to prepare and inventory of belongings?

  • What information, description, details, documentation is required per item?

  • What is the required of preferred method for photograph or video the loss for documentation?

  • What is all or most items are destroyed and not able to find or identify?

  • What process and who determines what is attempted to salvage?

  • Do I have a say in what is salvaged?

• Should I begin cleaning, while awaiting the insurance company adjustor?

  • Can I hire my owner cleaning and restoration team and will this be reimbursed?

• Should I attempt to repair replace or hire anyone to repair?

  • Can I perform any repairs myself?

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Your Settlement and Funds

Am I entitled to an advance from the insurance company?

• What is the process for determining the amount of my settlement?

• How and when do I received my settlement funds?

• What is the dispersement of funds for rebuilding, repairing process?

• Am I entitled to an advance from the insurance company?

• What happens if I am not receiving all funds and benefits entitled to me?

• What happens if my claim in denied?

  • Is there an appeal process for denied claims?

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**** Your Additional Coverage and Benefits ****

• Will I be reimbursed for Additional Living Expenses (ALE) such as rental for a temporary property, food costs, etc.?

  • What are the costs limits to the ALE?

  • What are the time constraints to the ALE?

  • What is the extension process for the ALE?

• Do I have additional policy coverage funds to rebuild or repair in accordance with local, state and federal regulations (Code Upgrade) to which my original property did not conform?

  • What is the amount or percentage of the Code Upgrade funds?

  • What is the process and what is required to submit for the Code Upgrade funds?

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Additional Living Expenses (ALE)

Many policies will allow for a lump sum cash-out for ALE. Many owners decide to purchase an RV with these funds. The RV allows the owners to live on their property during the cleanup, permit and rebuild. Which could take years in some cases. This may be the best option as in many cased the surrounding area will have a limited number of rental properties available due to the high demand. And during the high demand typically comes the increased rental prices.

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Your Design / Build Team should help:

Your design and build team should do more than just help your design and rebuild from your natural disaster. KINDO studios helps you coordinate with your insurance company, assess your policy, design accordingly and provide the documentation as required for policy coverage, Actual and Replacement estimates, extensions, and code upgrades. You should ask this of your consultants prior to engaging with them. And if you have more questions or want clarification, please contact our office for assistance.

dawn: /dôn,dän/

noun 1. the first appearance of light in the sky before sunrise.

2. the beginning of a phenomenon or period of time, especially one considered favorable.

verb A. (of a day) begin.

B. become evident to the mind; be perceived or understood.

Design & Build for wildfires areas

By Michael J. Kindzierski, Bachelors of Architecture, Construction Engineering Science

CEO/Director of Design, KINDO Studios; Southern California Project Expert, Stillwater Dwellings

San Ynez, CA - site planning: defensible space, brush clearing, hydrant at site, fire truck turnaround; Design materials: metal roof, cement board siding, cement board overhangs, sprinkler system,

GREAT HOMES HAPPEN BY DESIGN™

As we have been designing and building our homes in fire hazard areas for years, completing fire rebuilds from last years fire and as we embark on assisting in the rebuild after the latest round of dangerous fires, our team utilize a few basic planning and architectural design decisions to greatly improve the chances that our homes will survive the next wildfires.

Planning, Layout & Design

Souther California - Planning layout

Site planning: Before basic floor plans come into play the initial planning strategy should be to create a buffer or defensible space of incombustible material around the home location. This buffer zone can be comprised of patios, driveways, or low-growing fire-retardant plants. Special attention should be paid to the potential for extremely dangerous up-slope running fire area. Site layout including driveways and turn-arounds that are wide enough to make it easy for firefighters to bring their heavy equipment in close to your home can also create this buffer.

Structure

Southern California - heavy timber

For extended fire rating think heavy timber.

Metal may provide an early ignition resistance but can also reach an earlier structural failure due to temperature. With the density of the heavy timber structure can provide and insulating property to allow longer structural integrity thus keeping your structural envelope secure for longer time periods.

Roofing

San Ynez, CA - Metal roofing

Ignition resistant roofing, like metal roofing, can be the front lines of prevention.

Both metal roofing and torched-down flat roofing provide Class A rating. Special attention should also be paid to the substate classification.

Cladding - Siding

Dana Point, CA - Stucco exterior, cement board overhang & soffit

Ember resistant exterior siding materials like cement board and stucco can be both preventative and be incorporated into various architectural styles.

Overhangs & Undersides

Southern CA - fire rebuild: Cement board overhangs and soffits

Special attention should be devoted to the design and materials on the underside of overhangs also referred to as soffits. This also applies to the under side of cantilevers, balconies, decks, and underfloor areas. These areas are where the flames will be trapped and temperatures will be the highest. (roof soffits, cantilevered balconies, decks, and underfloor areas) because here is where flames will be trapped and temperatures will be the highest. Provide fire resistant materials, protection enclosures and structural integrity to these locations.

Windows & Doors

Windsor, California Project - double & insulated tempered windows and doors

Windows are the weakest link in defending your building envelope, but there are several methods to strengthen these areas. Double glazed, insulated and tempered glass each add extra layers of defense. The mot secure options are concealed roll-down or side recessed metal fire doors with automatically fusible link closure. They will protect windows and sliding glass doors even if they are left standing open. Fold-down panels or shutters on sloped rails can also be designed to close and latch automatically. And the glass panels can be wire glass or fire safety glass that can stay intact even though cracked by the heat.

Doors with a metal core faced in your preferred material or solid wood doors are rated higher than hollow core wood doors. Garage doors are typically the largest opening into the home and pose a potential threat. Consider installing a metal panel door with an automatic fusible link closure. Detailed construction ensuring a tight fit to block the wildfire accompanying strong winds from blowing embers under the door is critical.

Covid-19 Statement: From KINDO Studios Home to your Home during these times

As the foremost mission of architects is life, safety, and welfare we do take our responsibility seriously.  At KINDO Studios the well-being of our homeowners, consultants, workers, and the public is our utmost concern.

With the input and guidance from state and federal agencies, home construction has been deemed essential in many states. We will continue to adhere to all state regulations as they are announced. With the latest updated guidelines, our projects continue to move forward with an emphasis on precaution and safety.

 
KINDO Studios and our partners, consultants, and builder partners have always utilized online meetings and screen sharing, digital communications with homeowners and consultants, and the ability to work remotely.  Our teams in design, fabrication, and shipping continue to run smoothly as we had already been utilizing many of the latest guidelines. Our owners' and teams' safety and well-being have been paramount since day one has created an environment for a seamless transition during these times and has allowed us to coordinate and help move our projects forward. 

 
Your well-being is our priority during this entire process.  And our systems and process are coordinated the keep you and your home design and construction on track to get you safely in your new KINDO Studios home as quickly as possible.  And as always please feel free to reach out to me directly is you have any questions or concerns.

 
Stay safe.   And I am looking forward to helping you with the design and construction of your KINDO Studios home. 

Warmest Regards,

Michael J. Kindzierski

Owner

KINDO Studios

Incorporating Social Impact in our everyday lives

Doing Good with your Daily Cup

Photo by: Eric Futran

My siblings and I are getting older.  We don't get silly presents for one another.  We decided long ago that this money could be used in a more meaningful and powerful way when put towards socially responsible gifts.   It may be a scarf made by Tibetan women's group to help finance a school or aid in earthquake relief or the Heifer International to sustain a food source for a community.  But this past month we introduced our families to CHAPÍN COFFEE www.ChapinCoffee.com  so they can “Fuel their day with a purpose”.
For every bag of Chapín Coffee sold, 3 meals are served to chronically malnourished children living in the coffee-growing communities in Guatemala.

Now our families drink coffee every morning and what better feeling than introducing social awareness.   Chapín's single-origin Guatemalan coffees are sourced from cooperatives in the Huehuetenango and Atitlán regions of Guatemala. Guatemala is known for producing some of the world's highest quality specialty coffees, and the fair trade & organic beans sourced by Chapín are among the highest quality specialty grade coffees grown in Central America. In these same regions, chronic childhood malnutrition has reached epidemic proportions, with 3 of every 4 kids suffering. Chapín works through Pueblo a Pueblo (www.puebloapueblo.org), a non-profit that has organized school health and nutrition programs in these regions of Guatemala, to serve meals to these children. Since they launched in early 2014, Chapín has served 8,758 meals to Guatemalan children!

Single Bags of Coffee & Gift Sets: http://chapincoffee.com/collections/coffees-and-gift-sets 
Chapín Coffee of the Month Club: http://chapincoffee.com/pages/subscriptions 
Here is how you can share the fair trade coffee in a wonderful gift bag (handmade by women artisans in Guatemala. Just another way that Chapín supports the well being of Guatemalan children -- by empowering the women who care for them.)

New Adidas Made from Reclaimed Ocean Waste

Adidas has already done some pretty amazing things this year, but this might be the brand's coolest idea of 2015. 

Partnering with Parley for the Oceans, Adidas is looking to make a difference by raising awareness about the awful conditions of the oceans with a new concept Boost design. Stripping away the model's traditional Primeknit upper and support cages, these Boosts are the first shoe ever to be composed entirely of reclaimed ocean waste.

In other words, these Boosts are quite literally trash — in the best way possible. "We are extremely proud that Adidas is joining us in this mission and is putting its creative force behind this partnership to show that it is possible to turn ocean plastic into something cool," Cyrill Gutsch, founder of Parley for the Oceans, said. 

Currently, the sneakers are only in a prototype stage, although we're hearing that an official release in Q1 of 2016 is a possibility. Check out the full unveiling by Eric Liedtke below. 

MERCEDES-BENZ TAKES ON TESLA IN THE WAROF THE HOME BATTERY

Not to be outdone in the home super battery game, Mercedes-Benz has entered the fray and is releasing their own answer to Tesla's Powerwall, the Mercedes-Benz Home Battery.

Back in 2009, Daimler founded an energy research firm, Deutsche ACCUmotive, to give itself an edge in the burgeoning electric vehicle market. The Mercedes-Benz Home Battery is one of the fruits of their labor. Like the Tesla Powerwall, the Benz version of the battery can store energy from solar panels and the like to take a home off the grid along with charging up an electric car. There's also a business version in the works, just like Tesla. Basically, this is a shot across Tesla's bough. We're interested to see how it all shakes out. 
 

The Powerwall - Tesla

npr:

In an ambitious bid to move beyond the electric car market, Tesla has announced that it will start selling large batteries to let homeowners store electricity. The Powerwall home battery starts at $3,000.

The unit is geared toward homeowners who want to do any combination of three things: store backup power; minimize peak-time use of utilities’ electricity; and get off the commercial power grid entirely.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk Unveils Home Battery — Is $3,000 Cheap Enough?

Photo Credit: Tesla Energy

Which type of roof is best in cold climates: solar, white or green?

There are a variety of ways to make your building more sustainable and energy efficient, but the most discussed area to improve is the roof. For years, we've heard about the benefits of white roofs, green roofs and roofs covered in solar panels, but depending on the building and where it's located, one of these types may make a bigger impact than another.

For building owners in hot, dry climates, turning your roof white is one of the easiest and cheapest things you can do to dramatically cut your energy use, but what about buildings in colder climates? Which choice produces the most benefit?

A study recently published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology details a full life cycle assessment of each roof type for buildings located in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary, Canada and comes up with a clear winner.

The study specifically modeled office buildings with a large roof of 1,340 square meters, assuming a 50-year life span for the building, and declared solar roofs the definite winner with green roofs coming in second and white roofs last.

The study didn't just look at the energy efficiency gains the roofs produced, but the full environmental impact of manufacturing, transporting and installing the materials as well as any toxic chemicals used in the process and how the roofs affected human health, air, and water quality.

White roofs performed the poorest for cold climates because although they reduce cooling requirements in hot weather and also add to the life span of the building, they actually increased the heating requirements in colder climates during the longer cold weather stretches.

Green roofs performed much better by both lowering cooling needs and heating needs, improving air quality and reducing storm water runoff, but in the end solar roofs had the greater impact.

The on-site electricity generation of solar roofs offsets the negative emissions from their manufacture and transportation and the continued use over years ends up being a major positive by reducing the amount of coal-powered electricity a building uses. The panels reflect heat in the hotter months to reduce cooler, though the reflection does slightly increase heating needs in colder months.

You can read more specifics about how the different roofs performed in the full life cycle assessment here.

New studies measure the true cost of sprawl, and it's more than you think

Two new studies demonstrate the true costs of sprawl, and attempt to show that if new development was built at higher densities and with proper public transit, billions of dollars could be saved. Yet at the same time, the University of Ottawa's Sustainable Prosperity org's report Suburban Sprawl: Exposing hidden costs, identifying innovations notes that there is demand for sprawl, for the suburban home, and that even though the infrastructure and operating costs are considerably higher, the price is often cheaper (the old "drive 'till you qualify" theory). How can this be? In fact, much of the cost of suburban development is in the road system, and it is subsidized by the Federal governments on both sides of the border.

Roads are mostly "are free to use, but they aren’t cheap to build or maintain." The fuel taxes and license fees don't begin to cover the costs, and the subsidies for road transport are greater than that for all other forms of transport combined.

This large subsidy to road use is overshadowed by other costs that don’t appear on financial statements: air pollution, climate change emissions, noise, delay from traffic congestion, and losses and injury from collisions. Estimates of these costs range upwards of $27 billion per year. Parking is also often “free” or heavily subsidized. Based on US estimates, the cost in Canada is in the tens of billions of dollars per year.

There is a jazzy infographic summary of the study that links to the original, and while it was written for Canada, it parallels what is happening in the States, and points out that in the end, there is a real cost to that cheaper suburban house:

Suburban households drive about three times more than households close to the city centre. All that extra driving has a big impact on household budgets, family stress, and personal health. Extra car ownership and fuel cancel out much of the household budget savings from lower home prices, bringing the real cost of a suburban house closer to the sticker price of an urban residence.

Meanwhile, Scott Gibson of Green Building Advisor points to another study by The New Climate Economy, "the flagship project of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. "It has a mouthful of a name, Analysis of public policies that unintentionally encourage and subsidize sprawl". It's executive summary is a mouthful too:

An abundance of credible research indicates that sprawl significantly increases per capita land development, and by dispersing activities, increases vehicle travel. These physical changes impose various economic costs including reduced agricultural and ecological productivity, increased public infrastructure and service costs, plus increased transport costs including consumer costs, traffic congestion, accidents, pollution emissions, reduced accessibility for non-drivers, and reduced public fitness and health. Sprawl provides various benefits, but these are mostly direct benefits to sprawled community residents, while many costs are external, imposed on non-residents. This analysis indicates that sprawl imposes more than $400 billion dollars in external costs and $625 billion in internal costs annually in the U.S.

Emphasis mine; the point is that those suburban benefits are paid for by others, usually the people living in cities already. And sprawl can be very attractive; one can see why people move to the suburbs.

Unfortunately the cycle of sprawl and automobile dependency is self-reinforcing and hard to break. Our cities are being degraded, their infrastructure rotting while new pipes and roads are being built in the suburbs. New schools go up in sprawlville while the city schools fall apart. Everything from federal and state investment to mortgage interest deductibility favors the suburban homeowner.

There are things that could be done; there are many factors that could be considered when looking at new developments. They could be designed at higher densities, plan for multi-modal transportation and for social equity with a mix of housing types, as summarized in this table:

Now I know that one shouldn't read comments, but on Green Building Advisor they are usually smart and to the point. In this article, the very first comment was about the best Agenda 21 anti-smart growth screed I have read in years:

Herding people into the city and stacking high-rise upon high-rise and making people living like rats with one person crawling over the other. Fence them in and mass transit, no more personal vehicles. No thanks, I'll pass! I've heard this environmental drumbeat before. They (this group of Eco-extremists) want people to live in congested cities, have no cars, use mass transit, live in 500 sq. ft apartment high-rises and basically fence in the HUMANS so that they don't escape into the rural lands. Fortunately we live in the USA and I can choose to live where I want to. If that means the burbs or some rural place and then drive, that is my freedom, my choice, my life.

Really, we have never said anything about fences. But in essence, planning is no longer about what's best for the climate or the country, it's all about me. And anyone who disagrees is an eco-extremist. Which is why things never change.