January: Windows and Composting Toilets Arrive

By Jessica Schultz

February 24, 2016

Our Alpen windows have arrived! With the delivery came and exciting riddle for the project team and our staff. Why were there balloons attached to each window?

To answer this question, we thought about where the windows were manufactured shipped – from the Alpen factory in Niwot, Colorado. The elevation of Niwot is over 5,000 feet. Our elevation in Amherst is just shy of 300 feet. Does this help? Just like our ears popping in response to pressure changes with elevation change, pressurized windows experience similar pressures. The balloons, connected to the interior gases of the windows, allowed for the expansion and contraction of these gases without compromising the window seal. Simple physics!

Our Nepon Foam Flush toilets arrived along with the composters from Clivus New England. The two composters look huge and bulky waiting for installation and the four toilets seem impossibly small in their shipping boxes, but we are especially excited to fit these pieces into our new space and learn how they work.

We also watched the completion of exterior sheathing on our building with tongue and groove pine and southern red pine plywood. All wood is Forest Stewardship Council Certified.