I didn't fully address this question: "Am I right that the MUA can actually suck external air anywhere into the house that we deem it convenient to do so as long as it starts when the range hood starts? If so, perhaps we could just do this in our laundry room, which is at the edge of the house and where the noise will not bother anyone." Short answer is yes. If the MUA system is passive (no blower), then incoming MUA will indeed be pulled into the house due to the hood system. The pressure drop will depend on the flow rate, the size of the "hole" to the outside, and filter pressure drop. (Will you design to block sparrows, or bugs, or dust?) Note that a silencer, such as Fantech makes, can be used on the MUA system just as one can and should, where room exists, be used in the hood system. In the former it would be located downstream of the MUA blower, while for the latter is would be located between hood and blower. In the passive case, the air flow automatically begins when the hood system starts. For active (with blower) MUA, a means of sensing need is needed to turn on the MUA system and to regulate its flow rate. One method is to sense current to the hood blower. Another is to sense airflow in the hood ducting. A third is to measure the difference between the inside and outside air pressure. So long as one cannot block the flow between laundry room and kitchen, then MUA intake there is OK. In such a case, it may be simpler to add heating capacity to the room as an alternative to controlled duct heating. In SF, the amount of heating required might be minimal most of the time. (Click to enlarge.)

This is one is about half mile northwest of the other modern house you posted in Golden Gate Heights. The views from this part of the hill are amazing - you can see the ocean, Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands, Presidio, and GG Park. Lots of beautiful hawks in the area. It's already under contract so no open house this weekend. Too bad, I would love to see it in person.

Floral, could it possibly also be a Physalis species? Is there something diagnostic that makes you think it's S. americanum? Given all the similarity, and variation in the leaves of both genera, maybe waiting to see a flower might be advisable?

I don't know, but certification has nothing to do with chipping. If you're mitering your edges and leaving them sharp, you're getting chips. And you're not fixing them very inconspicuously. Too often when posters fall in love with a product, they start looking for ways in which their particular product will somehow perform differently than the horror stories they've heard. We see this with all kinds of off-brand engineered stone. It's going to perform the same as the name brands because it's all the same stuff. Same thing here. You can't make this stuff not chip by fabricator selection. You can only lower the risk and make it inconspicuously repairable (rip the chip off, reprofile, and polish) by selecting a through-bodied sintered, not mitering, no edge build-up, and selecting a more rounded edge profile, top and bottom.