THE DOGRUN

Say hello to the newest member of our team, Dorothy. Coming in at over 7 feet tall, she is a hard worker who really puts her head to the wind in everything does. Dorothy is energized on sunny days, and lets everybody know when it is raining. Named after the iconic robot from the movie Twister, Dorothy is our new weather station.  The unit remotely logs weather data that can be viewed and analyzed using HOBOware software. Powered by solar, the device can report a comprehensive list of climate information, including temperature, relative humidity, dew point, and wind speed (as well as direction). Fellow intern Corbin Lomas and I constructed Dorothy and set up the remote link to begin our test run for data logging. Rather than deploy Dorothy into an F5 tornado for its test run, we took to the roof of the Lake| Flato office. The weather station is built onto a tripod, with the weather sensors carefully mounted using premium, high-end, construction grade zip-ties. In order to properly anchor Dorothy to the roof (it would take less than a twister to knock her down), we tied down each leg to the most static parts of the roof we could find.  The assembly was relatively quick and easy, meaning Dorothy would be prime for mobile application. Having our own weather station will allow for us to retrieve accurate, site specific climate data. Lake | Flato projects tend to have unique microclimates, and having our own climate data retrieved on site will produce better results than surrounding weather climates. It can also allow for monitoring current conditions post-occupancy, permitting reactive and anticipatory actions based on weather patterns. We are very excited to have such a unique tool that will further aid in the environmental responsiveness of our architecture.