October 2025
Welcome to October!
Greetings from Graphite!
Welcome to October at Graphite Studio! This month, our team is energized by conversations with peers who share our values from engaging chats at Chapman Construction with Jacob Racusin, to the inspiring Fine Home Building Summit a few weeks ago. We’re excited to be part of a building movement that brings together designers and builders invested in sustainability, craftsmanship, and community. Connecting with like-minded colleagues keeps us learning and adapting, and it’s a privilege to see these collaborations grow and ripple out to our clients.
Warmly,
Andrew and the Graphite Team!
Strategies for a Low Carbon Future: Talks with Jacob Racusin
The educational seminar with Jacob Deva Racusin brought much-needed clarity to the challenge and promise of reducing embodied carbon in buildings. Hosted by Chapman Construction, the session offered a deep dive into the critical relationship between operational and embodied carbon, showing how integrated approaches minimize total carbon emissions throughout a building’s life cycle.
What struck us most deeply was the reminder that real climate action must begin with the desire for joy and meaning because the work needs to speak to us, not make us martyrs to the situation. After the seminar, a conversation with Jacob underscored how architecture and construction don’t divide us by specialty or industry; rather, they draw us together. Regardless of our different roles or expertise, our shared goal remains the same: to be humanitarians helping society live in homes that go beyond net zero, thoughtfully considering embodied carbon through every stage of creation.
This seminar was both an intellectual and a personal reminder that sustainability in building is not only about reducing carbon—it’s about creating spaces that matter, that uplift, and that honor the complex interplay between people, place, and planet.
Project Progress: Hopkins Road
At Hopkins Road, we are exploring a near-ADU on a gorgeous site with stunning views of an alpaca field! Our client invited us to design a space where his mother will feel completely at home whenever she visits, and it’s an honor to be entrusted with such a personal addition.
The pre-design and schematic design phases are some of the most exciting phases we get to be a part of. This is when everyone takes part in developing a design with unlimited possibilities. It’s the dream phase.
Our process is rooted in collaboration and discovery, with the goal of developing spaces that are welcoming, healthy, and truly comfortable. This early design work is also where we really get to know you, what feels familiar, what inspires you, and what small details make a place feel like home.
WE WANT YOU TO BE EXCITED!!!
Graphite on the Road: Fine Home Building Summit 2025
The whole crew at Graphite Studio returned energized and inspired from the 2025 Fine Homebuilding Summit a few weeks ago. We connected with colleagues who reminded us how connected we are, across the design and building community. Every speaker brought thoughtful ideas to the table, and we appreciated how presentations packed genuine takeaways into their 30-minute windows, while engaging us in great Q&As (facilitated by Ben Bogie).
We love to learn more about lighting. David Warfel from @lightcanhelpyou “Next-Level Lighting” session spotlighted the revolution underway in architectural lighting design, highlighting how thoughtful lighting improves wellness, ambiance, and function while remaining accessible and cost-effective. This reinforced our commitment to integrating lighting as an essential design element, not an afterthought.
The Summit also tackled accessibility and affordability in custom homes, underscoring the realities of tight budgets, tradeoffs, and the challenge in balancing upfront construction costs against long-term operating expenses. We considered truly democratic workplaces, and what it means to be a good employer. These conversations help us rethink how we can design single-family homes that align with climate goals without sacrificing comfort or quality.
We left with new perspectives, renewed energy, and a deeper understanding of how to better serve our clients and communities in this rapidly evolving landscape.
Graphite Science: Are we talking about spray foam?
Oh spray foam. Are you a miracle cure or the devil itself?
Pro: High insulating values with shallow depth. Rigidity. Some air sealing properties.
Con: Made of chemicals. Not bio-based. Traditionally blown with high GWP (global warming potential) agents. Pretends to be an air barrier and an insulator. Isn’t. Hard to install perfectly, in perfect weather. Bad for breathing until cured. Bio-accumulating neurotoxins. Expensive. Vapor impermeable. Prone to Green-washing. Smug.
But… in some cases - with the new blowing agents (did you know: Dow’s Ultra-Pure = GWP 3? Only three times worse than CO2 in the atmosphere! Remarkable, relatively!) - it’s hard to resist. Uninsulated basements of fieldstone? 2x10 rafter cavities with no tolerance for increasing rafter depth? We’ll not make a habit of this dance with the devil, but we grudgingly see it has charms.
Better: bio-based insulation like cellulose is our go-to. Forgiving, made of plants, carbon-storing, often recycled. Dusty but not toxic.
Image by Cellu-spray.