ARCHITECTURE: Honor Award PROJECT: Uptown Lofts on Fifth CLIENT: ACTION-Housing, Inc. ARCHITECTURE FIRM: FortyEighty Architecture ENGINEERS: Langan Engineering & Environmental Services, Inc.; Keystone Structural Solutions; Iams Consulting, LLC CONTRACTORS: Mosites Construction Company PHOTOGRAPHER: FortyEighty Architecture DESCRIPTION: The Uptown Lofts on Fifth are two new multi-unit apartment buildings constructed on opposite sides of Fifth Avenue in Uptown, a neighborhood of Pittsburgh that suffers from steady population decline due to a lack of adequate housing. The developer for the project, ACTION-Housing, Inc., serves a mission to empower people to build secure and self-sufficient lives through decent, affordable housing, and has worked to demonstrate the importance of energy efficiency through various projects. This project was designed to allow for a comparison of the operational performance of the two buildings – one designed to meet Passive House standards and the other designed to meet the requirements of the current energy code. JURY COMMENTS: This is the project the jury discussed the most. Perhaps not best in any one category, this project achieved so much in so many categories. Architecture is about richness, layers of meanings, and social responsibility. This project surpassed others by doing so much in terms of being solidly designed in the context of its neighborhood, with aggressive sustainable goals, and all on a very tight budget. It is serving as a demonstration to the greater sustainable community with two test buildings from which to compare the ROI on a project designed to meet passive house standards versus a building meeting the current energy codes. Most importantly, this building brings a high level of dignity to an all too often overlooked user in a neglected part of town.

Sometimes things just happen organically. This client reached out to me in a professional capacity to see if I wanted to advertise in his new magazine. I declined at that time because as team we have chosen to be referral based, not advertising based. Even with turning him down, he and his wife decided to sign on with us for their basement... which then upon completion rolled into their main floor (part 2). They wanted a very distinct style and already had a pretty good idea of what they wanted. We just helped bring it all to life. They wanted a kid friendly space that still had an adult vibe that no longer was based off of furniture from college hand-me-down years. Since they loved modern farmhouse style we had to make sure there was shiplap and also some stained wood elements to warm up the space. This space is a great example of a very nice finished basement done cost-effectively without sacrificing some comforts or features.

AirField installed an AirPave grass fire lane for their porous flexible paving at Baptist Trinity Residential Hospice, creating a beautiful, functional, ecological friendly solution to facility access. An installation of an AirField Systems grass fire lane at Baptist Trinity Residential Hospice brings green building benefits and incredible strength to a beautiful new facility. A time lapse photo series highlight the installation process of the 6,747 PSI sand filled 100% recycled geocell technology, providing the strength of asphalt and concrete while relieving some of the burden of costly storm sewers and drainage. This new installation highlights the benefits of paving with grass, as well as the comparative ease of installation. Concrete and asphalt surfaces occupy twice the area of buildings and are the most detrimental to clean water. Concrete and asphalt surfaces dominate the landscape of our urban environments and prevent rainwater from being filtered naturally. They send harmful polluted water straight into our streams, rivers and lakes. In urban America, concrete and asphalt pavements produce two thirds of our excess water runoff. They are responsible for significant hydrocarbon pollutants on our ground and in our water, causing ground water decline, and resulting in local water shortages. These concrete and asphalt surfaces also create huge increases in temperature known as the urban “heat island effect”. The pollution caused by impervious surfaces deteriorate the quality of our storm water runoff and create large overflows that our storm sewer systems cannot handle. It is also important to realize that the urban forest force is drastically diminishing, causing CO2 levels to rise, which in turn causes global warming. With all the negative influences of impervious pavements now is the time to turn our attention to alternatives for the benefit of the environment. From fire lanes, overflow, and event parking, to temporary and stadium parking, reinforced grass parking systems deliver the same strength and durability of asphalt and concrete without the negative affects mentioned above. These incredibly strong geocells reinforce grass parking, prevent rutting from traffic, protect turf roots, and promote beautiful grass. Reinforced grass parking structures, also know as grass pavements, enhance the environment by naturally filtering auto and truck liquids such as oil drippings, antifreeze overflows and many other leaks and spills. They also help with air pollutants after they have been knocked to the ground by rainwater and greatly reduce hot surface temperatures thus fighting global warming and the “heat island effect”. Grass pavements allow our groundwater to be naturally replenished, the roots of trees to breathe, and they help our streams and rivers flow cleanly in dry hot summers. A large part of the solution to urban environmental problems is under our feet. By paying appropriate attention to the everyday materials on which we walk and drive, we can replenish renewable resources, restore the natural regenerative processes, and produce a cleaner, healthier, safer, more sustainable world in which we must live. Porous pavements are potentially the most important development in urban watersheds since the invention of storm sewers. By routing rainwater directly into the earth as nature intended, the need for costly storm water structures can be drastically reduced. Reinforced grass parking has built in permeable spaces through which water and air can pass. Although some porous paving materials are nearly indistinguishable from nonporous materials in construction and superficial appearance, their environmental effects are qualitatively exponential. They allow air, water and heat to dissipate into the environment naturally helping to save the planet. AirField reinforced grass parking provides beauty and comfort, and with the unbeatable price and performance of AirDrain you can’t go wrong. AirDrain is the reinforced grass pave system the industry has trusted for years !!! Airfield Systems, LLC 8028 North May Avenue Oklahoma City, OK 73120 405-359-3775 Installer – GREENPRO Landscapes Kevin James 9847 Stewart Rd Arlington, TN 38002

This home gym was created with CrossFit workout in mind. The heavy-duty grade Rogue Fitness rack serves as the anchor to the space. The rubber dumbbells rest on the steel rack steps away from the adjustable decline and incline bench. The ½” thick rubber flooring makes for a sound base for serious workouts as well as sound absorption for the 800-Watt micro subwoofer as well as the 300 Watt combined ceiling speakers. We added a wall of mirrors on two walls which provide depth and the illusion of the room being enlarged. The Concept 2 rower can sit upright after heavy cardio use to make room for whatever workout is thrown at the gym.

Photos by Robin Amorello, CKD CAPS
Open concept kitchen - mid-sized contemporary l-shaped light wood floor open concept kitchen idea in Portland Maine with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, dark wood cabinets, granite countertops, gray backsplash, glass tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances and an island

This home gym was created with CrossFit workout in mind. The heavy-duty grade Rogue Fitness rack serves as the anchor to the space. The rubber dumbbells rest on the steel rack steps away from the adjustable decline and incline bench. The ½” thick rubber flooring makes for a sound base for serious workouts as well as sound absorption for the 800-Watt micro subwoofer as well as the 300 Watt combined ceiling speakers. We added a wall of mirrors on two walls which provide depth and the illusion of the room being enlarged. The Concept 2 rower can sit upright after heavy cardio use to make room for whatever workout is thrown at the gym.

This home gym was created with CrossFit workout in mind. The heavy-duty grade Rogue Fitness rack serves as the anchor to the space. The rubber dumbbells rest on the steel rack steps away from the adjustable decline and incline bench. The ½” thick rubber flooring makes for a sound base for serious workouts as well as sound absorption for the 800-Watt micro subwoofer as well as the 300 Watt combined ceiling speakers. We added a wall of mirrors on two walls which provide depth and the illusion of the room being enlarged. The Concept 2 rower can sit upright after heavy cardio use to make room for whatever workout is thrown at the gym.

The walls are in clay, the ceiling is in clay and wood, and one of the four walls is a window. Japanese wabi-sabi way of life is a peaceful joy to accept the full life circle. From birth to death, from the point of greatest glory to complete decline. Therefore, the main décor element here is a 6-meter window with a view of the landscape that no matter what will come into the world and die. Again, and again.

Lead Time: 3 - 4 Months All doors are made of heavy 12 gauge steel with 16 x 16 mm or custom specifications. The glass on all doors is Aquatex. Hinged glass opens allowing easy access for cleaning and ventilating. Window lock controls the opening and closing of glass frame. Polyurethane foam layer adds insulation from the heat or the cold. All thresholds are hand- forged and fully-welded. All of our doors undergo a unique seven-step process: Sandblast, Zinc-coat, anti-corrosive prime, middle coat, top coat, faux finish, clear coat. Rubber weatherstripping is installed around the door frame and around the interior glass frame. Door sweep is installed underneath the door. Up and down extension ball latches are installed on all doors. On the lower half of the window, there is a small decline for water to run-off. All doors come with a standard deadbolt lock.

Fattore vincente di Aliante è la capacità di creare e rinnovare linee e tendenze, arrivando ad esprimere valori di qualità e originalità ai massimi livelli. Aliante racchiude in sé il meglio del know-how, concedendo a chi la sceglie massima libertà di progettazione, grazie alle innumerevoli combinazioni possibili, curve e lineari. Il programma Aliante, oltre ad essere disponibile con maniglia e gola, viene declinato in diverse versioni a seconda della finitura di anta scelta: laccato opaco, laccato lucido, legno opaco, legno lucido, yellow pine, metallizzato e vetro. Winning factor of Aliante is the ability to create and renew lines and tendencies, arriving to express values of quality and originality at the highest levels. Glider embodies the best of the know-how, allowing those who choose maximum design freedom, thanks to the many possible combinations, curves and linear. The program Aliante, besides being available with handle and throat, is declined in different versions depending on the finish of door choice: matt, gloss, matte wood, polished wood, yellow pine, metal and glass.

Ever since it was founded in 1996, Lynx has had a vision: to provide the world with luxurious outdoor cooking appliances easily differentiated from the barbecue grill. And, for nearly twenty years, that's what Lynx Grills has accomplished by matching the rugged needs of outdoor cooking appliances with the same high standards or commercial restaurant kitchen products and fixtures, resulting in spectacular stainless steel grills made to the highest specifications of the commercial world. Consider these the "professional" class of grill, where the rugged durability of the traditional barbecue grill joins hands with commercial quality, capacity, and pure cooking power. And Lynx Grills are certainly rugged; every one is designed to withstand the most trying, hazardous of outdoor weather conditions without any decline in performance or decay of materials. This innovative approach to outdoor cooking has earned Lynx Grills the coveted title of "world's greatest grill," an honor universally bestowed upon their stainless steel grilling machines. That's why Lynx sets the standard for design, innovation, and engineering in the outdoor cooking industry it helped to create and shepherd. When you buy Lynx, you're buying the original.

Fattore vincente di Aliante è la capacità di creare e rinnovare linee e tendenze, arrivando ad esprimere valori di qualità e originalità ai massimi livelli. Aliante racchiude in sé il meglio del know-how, concedendo a chi la sceglie massima libertà di progettazione, grazie alle innumerevoli combinazioni possibili, curve e lineari. Il programma Aliante, oltre ad essere disponibile con maniglia e gola, viene declinato in diverse versioni a seconda della finitura di anta scelta: laccato opaco, laccato lucido, legno opaco, legno lucido, yellow pine, metallizzato e vetro. Winning factor of Aliante is the ability to create and renew lines and tendencies, arriving to express values of quality and originality at the highest levels. Glider embodies the best of the know-how, allowing those who choose maximum design freedom, thanks to the many possible combinations, curves and linear. The program Aliante, besides being available with handle and throat, is declined in different versions depending on the finish of door choice: matt, gloss, matte wood, polished wood, yellow pine, metal and glass.

Upholstered with top grain leather in black, this gorgeous Sofa Set features extra high density cushioning and adjustable armrests. Ability for the backrests to decline to a 45 degree angle guarantees great comfort at any position. https://www.ba-stores.com/product/york-modern-2-pc-sofa-set

This home gym was created with CrossFit workout in mind. The heavy-duty grade Rogue Fitness rack serves as the anchor to the space. The rubber dumbbells rest on the steel rack steps away from the adjustable decline and incline bench. The ½” thick rubber flooring makes for a sound base for serious workouts as well as sound absorption for the 800-Watt micro subwoofer as well as the 300 Watt combined ceiling speakers. We added a wall of mirrors on two walls which provide depth and the illusion of the room being enlarged. The Concept 2 rower can sit upright after heavy cardio use to make room for whatever workout is thrown at the gym.

Pollinators are on the decline so we do what we can to provide lots of food sources to our bee species.
Inspiration for a small contemporary drought-tolerant and full sun backyard mulch flower bed in Philadelphia for summer.

Fattore vincente di Aliante è la capacità di creare e rinnovare linee e tendenze, arrivando ad esprimere valori di qualità e originalità ai massimi livelli. Aliante racchiude in sé il meglio del know-how, concedendo a chi la sceglie massima libertà di progettazione, grazie alle innumerevoli combinazioni possibili, curve e lineari. Il programma Aliante, oltre ad essere disponibile con maniglia e gola, viene declinato in diverse versioni a seconda della finitura di anta scelta: laccato opaco, laccato lucido, legno opaco, legno lucido, yellow pine, metallizzato e vetro. Winning factor of Aliante is the ability to create and renew lines and tendencies, arriving to express values of quality and originality at the highest levels. Glider embodies the best of the know-how, allowing those who choose maximum design freedom, thanks to the many possible combinations, curves and linear. The program Aliante, besides being available with handle and throat, is declined in different versions depending on the finish of door choice: matt, gloss, matte wood, polished wood, yellow pine, metal and glass.

This bathroom may small, but it is hardworking! This client wanted her bathroom to age as gracefully as she is, and even help her along in the process. It was important that we include details like grab bars, reinforced ledges in the shower, a bench seat, and accessible design to ensure that her home remains a safe place for her even as mobility declines. I am so proud that we did not have to compromise style as we accomodated her needs!

Stuart Wade, Envision Virtual Tours The second-largest and most developed of Georgia's barrier islands, St. Simons is approximately twelve miles long and nearly three miles wide at its widest stretch (roughly the size of Manhattan Island in New York). The island is located in Glynn County on Georgia's coast and lies east of Brunswick (the seat of Glynn County), south of Little St. Simons Island and the Hampton River, and north of Jekyll Island. The resort community of Sea Island is separated from St. Simons on the east by the Black Banks River. Known for its oak tree canopies and historic landmarks, St. Simons is both a tourist destination and, according to the 2010 U.S. census, home to 12,743 residents. Early History The earliest St. Simons Island Village record of human habitation on the island dates to the Late Archaic Period, about 5,000 to 3,000 years ago. Remnants of shell rings left behind by Native Americans from this era survive on many of the barrier islands, including St. Simons. Centuries later, during the period known by historians as the chiefdom era, the Guale Indians established a chiefdom centered on St. Catherines Island and used St. Simons as their hunting and fishing grounds. By 1500 the Guale had established a permanent village of about 200 people on St. Simons, which they called Guadalquini. Beginning in 1568, the Spanish attempted to create missions along the Georgia coast. Catholic missions were the primary means by which Georgia's indigenous Native American chiefdoms were assimilated into the Spanish colonial system along the northern frontier of greater Spanish Florida. In the 1600s St. Simons became home to two Spanish missions: San Buenaventura de Guadalquini, on the southern tip of the island, and Santo Domingo de Asao (or Asajo), on the northern tip. Located on the inland side of the island were the pagan refugee villages of San Simón, the island's namesake, and Ocotonico. In 1684 pirate raids left the missions and villages largely abandoned. Colonial History As Fort Frederica early as 1670, with Great Britain's establishment of the colony of Carolina and its expansion into Georgia territory, Spanish rule was threatened by the English. The Georgia coast was considered "debatable land" by England and Spain, even though Spain had fully retreated from St. Simons by 1702. Thirty-one years later General James Edward Oglethorpe founded the English settlement of Savannah. In 1736 he established Fort Frederica, named after the heir to the British throne, Frederick Louis, prince of Wales, on the west side of St. Simons Island to protect Savannah and the Carolinas from the Spanish threat. Between 1736 and 1749 Fort Frederica was the hub of British military operations along the Georgia frontier. A town of the same name grew up around the fort and was of great importance to the new colony. By 1740 Frederica's population was 1,000. In 1736 the congregation of what would become Christ Church was organized within Fort Frederica as a mission of the Church of England. Charles Wesley led the first services. In 1742 Britain's decisive victory over Spain in the Battle of Bloody Marsh, during the War of Jenkins' Ear, ended the Spanish threat to the Georgia coast. When the British regimen disbanded in 1749, most of the townspeople relocated to the mainland. Fort Frederica went into decline and, except for a short time of prosperity during the 1760s and 1770s under the leadership of merchant James Spalding, never fully recovered. Today the historic citadel's tabby ruins are maintained by the National Park Service. Plantation Era By the start of the American Revolution (1775-83), Fort Frederica was obsolete, and St. Simons was left largely uninhabited as most of its residents joined the patriot army. Besides hosting a small Georgia naval victory on the Fort Frederica River, providing guns from its famous fort for use at Fort Morris in Sunbury, and serving as an arena for pillaging by privateers and British soldiers, the island played almost no role in the war. Following the war, many of the townspeople, their businesses destroyed, turned to agriculture. The island was transformed into fourteen cotton plantations after acres of live oak trees were cleared for farm land and used for building American warships, including the famous USS Constitution, or "Old Ironsides." Although rice was the predominant crop along the neighboring Altamaha River, St. Simons was known for its production of long-staple cotton, which soon came to be known as Sea Island cotton. Between Ebos Landing the 1780s and the outbreak of the Civil War (1861-65), St. Simons's plantation culture flourished. The saline atmosphere and the availability of cheap slave labor proved an ideal combination for the cultivation of Sea Island cotton. In 1803 a group of Ebo slaves who survived the Middle Passage and arrived on the west side of St. Simons staged a rebellion and drowned themselves. The sacred site is known today as Ebos Landing. One of the largest owners of land and slaves on St. Simons was Pierce Butler, master of Hampton Point Plantation, located on the northern end of the island. By 1793 Butler owned more than 500 slaves, who cultivated 800 acres of cotton on St. Simons and 300 acres of rice on Butler's Island in the Altamaha River delta. Butler's grandson, Pierce Mease Butler, who at the age of sixteen inherited a share of his grandfather's estate in 1826, was responsible for the largest sale of human beings in the history of the United States: in 1859, to restore his squandered fortune, he sold 429 slaves in Savannah for more than $300,000. The British actress and writer Fanny Kemble, whose tumultuous marriage to Pierce ended in divorce in 1849, published an eyewitness account of the evils of slavery on St. Simons in her book Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838-1839 (1863). Another Retreat Plantation large owner of land and slaves on St. Simons was Major William Page, a friend and employee of Pierce Butler Sr. Before purchasing Retreat Plantation on the southwestern tip of the island in 1804, Page managed the Hampton plantation and Butler's Island. Upon Page's death in 1827, Thomas Butler King inherited the land together with his wife, Page's daughter, Anna Matilda Page King. King expanded his father-in-law's planting empire on St. Simons as well as on the mainland, and by 1835 Retreat Plantation alone was home to as many as 355 slaves. The center of life during the island's plantation era was Christ Church, Frederica. Organized in 1807 by a group of island planters, the Episcopal church is the second oldest in the Diocese of Georgia. Embargoes imposed by the War of 1812 (1812-15) prevented the parishioners from building a church structure, so they worshiped in the home of John Beck, which stood on the site of Oglethorpe's only St. Simons residence, Orange Hall. The first Christ Church building, finished on the present site in 1820, was ruined by occupying Union troops during the Civil War. In 1884 the Reverend Anson Dodge Jr. rebuilt the church as a memorial to his first wife, Ellen. The cruciform building with a trussed gothic roof and stained-glass windows remains active today as Christ Church. Civil War and Beyond The St. Simons Island Lighthouse outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 put a sudden end to St. Simons's lucrative plantation era. In January of that year, Confederate troops were stationed at the south end of the island to guard the entrance to Brunswick Harbor. Slaves from Retreat Plantation, owned by Thomas Butler King, built earthworks and batteries. Plantation residents were scattered—the men joined the Confederate army and their families moved to the mainland. Cannon fire was heard on the island in December 1861, and Confederate troops retreated in February 1862, after dynamiting the lighthouse to keep its beacon from aiding Union troops. Soon thereafter, Union troops occupied the island, which was used as a camp for freed slaves. By August 1862 more than 500 former slaves lived on St. Simons, including Susie King Taylor, who organized a school for freed slave children. But in November the ex-slaves were taken to Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Fernandina, Florida, leaving the island abandoned. After the Civil War the island never returned to its status as an agricultural community. The plantations lay dormant because there were no slaves to work the fields. After Union general William T. Sherman's January 1865 Special Field Order No. 15 —a demand that former plantations be divided and distributed to former slaves—was overturned by U.S. president Andrew Johnson less than a year later, freedmen and women were forced to work as sharecroppers on the small farms that dotted the land previously occupied by the sprawling plantations. By St. Simons Lumber Mills 1870 real economic recovery began with the reestablishment of the timber industry. Norman Dodge and Titus G. Meigs of New York set up lumber mill operations at Gascoigne Bluff, formerly Hamilton Plantation. The lumber mills provided welcome employment for both blacks and whites and also provided mail and passenger boats to the mainland. Such water traffic, together with the construction of a new lighthouse in 1872, designed by architect Charles B. Cluskey, marked the beginning of St. Simons's tourism industry. The keeper of the lighthouse created a small amusement park, which drew many visitors, as did the seemingly miraculous light that traveled from the top of the lighthouse tower to the bottom. The island became a summer retreat for families from the mainland, particularly from Baxley, Brunswick, and Waycross. The island's resort industry was thriving by the 1880s. Beachfront structures, such as a new pier and grand hotel, were built on the southeastern end of the island and could be accessed by ferry. Around this time wealthy northerners began vacationing on the island. Twentieth Century The St. Simons Island Pier and Village opening in 1924 of the Brunswick–St. Simons Highway, today known as the Torras Causeway, was a milestone in the development of resorts in the area. St. Simons's beaches were now easily accessible to locals and tourists alike. More than 5,000 automobiles took the short drive from Brunswick to St. Simons via the causeway on its opening day, paving the way for convenient residential and resort development. In 1926 automotive pioneer Howard Coffin of Detroit, Michigan, bought large tracts of land on St. Simons, including the former Retreat Plantation, and constructed a golf course, yacht club, paved roads, and a residential subdivision. Although the causeway had brought large numbers of summer people to the island, St. Simons remained a small community with only a few hundred permanent residents until the 1940s. The St. Simons Island outbreak of World War II (1941-45) brought more visitors and residents to St. Simons. Troops stationed at Jacksonville, Florida; Savannah; and nearby Camp Stewart took weekend vacations on the island, and a new naval air base and radar school became home to even more officers and soldiers. The increased wartime population brought the island its first public school. With a major shipyard for the production of Liberty ships in nearby Brunswick, the waters of St. Simons became active with German U-boats. In April 1942, just off the coast, the Texas Company oil tanker S. S. Oklahoma and the S. S. Esso Baton Rouge were torpedoed by the Germans, bringing the war very close to home for island residents. Due in large part to the military's improvement of the island's infrastructure during the war, development on the island boomed in the 1950s and 1960s. More permanent homes and subdivisions were built, and the island was no longer just a summer resort but also a thriving community. In 1950 the Methodist conference and retreat center Epworth by the Sea opened on Gascoigne Bluff. In 1961 novelist Eugenia Price visited St. Simons and began work on her first works of fiction, known as the St. Simons Trilogy. Inspired by real events on the island, Price's trilogy renewed interest in the history of Georgia's coast, and the novelist herself relocated to the island in 1965 and lived there for thirty-one years. St. Simons is also home to contemporary Georgia writer Tina McElroy Ansa. Since Epworth by the Sea 1980 St. Simons's population has doubled. The island's continued status as a vacation destination and its ongoing development boom have put historic landmarks and natural areas at risk. While such landmarks as the Fort Frederica ruins and the Battle of Bloody Marsh site are preserved and maintained by the National Park Service, and while the historic lighthouse is maintained by the Coastal Georgia Historical Society, historic Ebos Landing has been taken over by a sewage treatment plant. Several coastal organizations have formed in recent years to save natural areas on the island. The St. Simons Land Trust, for example, has received donations of large tracts of land and plans to protect property in the island's three traditional African American neighborhoods. Despite its rapid growth and development, St. Simons remains one of the most beautiful and important islands on the Georgia coast.

Sometimes things just happen organically. This client reached out to me in a professional capacity to see if I wanted to advertise in his new magazine. I declined at that time because as team we have chosen to be referral based, not advertising based. Even with turning him down, he and his wife decided to sign on with us for their basement... which then upon completion rolled into their main floor (part 2). They wanted a very distinct style and already had a pretty good idea of what they wanted. We just helped bring it all to life. They wanted a kid friendly space that still had an adult vibe that no longer was based off of furniture from college hand-me-down years. Since they loved modern farmhouse style we had to make sure there was shiplap and also some stained wood elements to warm up the space. This space is a great example of a very nice finished basement done cost-effectively without sacrificing some comforts or features.