As a team Ann and Tammy
continue to pursue their passion for green design with their collaborative
work on several "green homes", attendance at green conferences,
dialog with green systems specialists and staying up to date with
the latest green products available. In addition to their experience
in designing green homes for the past nine years at Frog Rock Design,
Ann and Tammy have been involved in various green projects and activities
individually.
As a student at Montana
State University acquiring her B-Arch degree, Tammy
Minge had the opportunity to collaborate with the leading National
and International Green Building Experts on an $80 million think tank
building for the campus at Montana State University. Over the course
of two years these experts met at Montana State to discuss and define
the nature of "green" and sustainability and focusing on
issues such as zero-emissions, active solar, geothermal and aqua-culture
water re-use systems to allow the prototype building to be self sustaining.
Upon graduation Tammy was
hired by the local firm of record for the MSU Green Building and coordinated
the student services and spaces that were to be included in the building.
Tammy continued to work as a team member for five years helping to
produce the MSU Green Building Document that was the spring board
for many local green projects such as the Bozeman Library and the
beginning of the documentation for the National Green Building Councils
lead certification process. The MSU Green Building Document included
Tammy's watercolor illustrations.
In 2005 as an Assistant
Adjunct Professor at Montana State University, Tammy worked with her
students on a Green Building Competition for a preschool in Palm Springs
California. Students from her studio won two awards out of a possible
ten given in this International competition.
Ann
Orser has been an
advocate for and student of "green" architecture ever since
the first national energy crisis in the '70's. As a young wife and
mother she followed the progress of alternative energy and building
strategies until in 1995 she finally achieved her goal of an architecture
degree and began her 'second career'. Her interest in vernacular and
indigenous architecture has also taught her much about the simple
lo-tech strategies employed to moderate climate in many different
parts of the world. All of this 'life experience' informs her design
philosophy.
She has endeavored to bring
green aspects to all of the projects she has been involved in with
Frog Rock Design and her previous employers. From the very beginning
of every Frog Rock project basic green strategies such as daylighting,
natural ventilation and construction waste management inform the design.
In 2003 she converted a
100 year old log cabin adjacent to her home into an office for Frog
Rock Design. The project brought new life to a vernacular homesteaders
cabin. The exterior remains mostly the same except for added windows
and a new entrance. Inside is a completely new structure-within-a-stucture.
A 2x4 'stick frame' structure built inside the log walls allowed for
the addition of insulation and created a light, modern space for creative
work. Other green elements are listed on the green
design page.
Most recently she has been
engaged in several projects to upgrade the energy efficiency of her
converted 1923 farm house home. Insulation has been added to both
the basement walls and the attic ceiling, a solar water heater now
preheats all the water used in the home and a mini geo-thermal system
moderates the temperature of the outside air which enters the basement.
New, more efficient windows are planned for the next phase.
