Our Blog

Pulsinelli is a multidisciplinary design firm specializing in retail, condominium, commercial, residential and hospitality projects. For British sports apparel company Umbro’s Mississauga showroom, the firm created a vintage-inspired space that pays tribute to the company’s history. The 860-square-foot space features a distressed wood floor and custom wood display fixtures with hot-rolled-steel details. Vintage furniture and vignettes, including an antique Singer sewing machine, hark back to the small workshop where Umbro’s first kit was sewn together in 1934. Mannequins are displayed on large mobile metal platforms along the sides of the store, providing a retro feel and conjuring images of hand-stitching, while soccer performance garments are featured on a display unit designed to look like a soccer field.

The environmental impact of our buildings follows in part from the energy we use within them. Conventional non-renewable energy sources such as coal-fired and nuclear power plants are a major source of pollution and green house gases emissions. Thus the more energy we consume from these sources, the more harm we do. And while renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power are important strategies, the most cost-effective solution – the low-hanging fruit – is to reduce our demand.

The primary end use for energy in a conventional home is space heating. This is followed by appliances and lighting, water heating and space cooling. Heating and cooling loads can be reduced through increased insulation and innovative devices such as heat recovery ventilators (HRVs), which move rather than generate heat/cold. Efficient appliances and LED lighting are also helpful in reducing energy consumption. An integrated approach can be extremely effective at reducing energy demand, and can even lead to net-zero and energy producing buildings. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon highlights this exciting area of design.

When designing a healthy home, the single most important consideration is indoor air quality (IAQ). Many factors influence the quality of the air in your home: the building envelope and penetrations, the type, quality and maintenance of the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system, and the materials and finishes you select. A well-designed home will minimize contaminants such as formaldehyde and mould. This will in turn improve your quality of life, and reduce the chances of respiratory infections and illnesses. Some common strategies to promote IAQ include regular HVAC maintenance, installing hard flooring rather than carpet, installing a central vacuum and kitchen and bathroom vents that exhaust directly to the home’s exterior, and choosing paints and finishes with low- or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

When we talk about developing sustainable homes, we are referring to cost-effective strategies for ensuring human health and reducing our environmental impact. In designing a healthy home, important considerations include air quality, water quality, natural light and thermal comfort. In terms of reducing the home’s environmental impact, we can look to our use of energy, water and materials. There are, of course, many ways to move towards sustainability when designing and building new homes or retrofitting existing ones. It is also essential however, that we examine and reshape our daily behavior, in order to promote environmental consciousness and responsibility

With over 7 billion people on earth, humankind’s demand for energy, water and resources is having a tremendous impact on our environment. We are literally reshaping the natural systems that we rely on for clean air, fresh water and healthy food. Faced with this reality, the question of how to sustainably co-exist with each other and with nature is of increasing importance – indeed, it is the question of our time.

Building design plays a key role in this equation. Throughout the twentieth century, most buildings were designed with little concern for how much energy, water and materials were consumed, or how this might impact the human and ecological health. This led to enormous waste, and introduced innumerable toxins into the world around us.