Archive for February, 2006
February 24, 2006 at 1:19 pm · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
Found at Design Technica.
Toshiba today announced the availability of their first RoHS (Restriction on Hazardous Substance) notebook sold at U.S. retail. The Toshiba Satellite A55-S1064 is currently available through Wal-Mart for $697.
The Toshiba Satellite A55-S1064, said Toshiba, is a more environmental friendly computer whose standards are based off of a environmental directive set by the European Parliament that goes into effect on July 1 of this year. The goal of the directive is to restrict the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.
Technorati Tags: eco-friendly, computers, waste, land-fill
Permalink
February 21, 2006 at 11:43 am · Filed under Green Home Building, Home Building Activities, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
Found at Sustainablog.
I’m a bit late in getting to this one, but thanks to the NRDC for passing along news of their new website Building Green From Principle to Practice. This great resource contains tons of information not only on the whys and hows of green building, but also on the business case for building sustainably.
This new online resource details the benefits that both commercial builders and corporate owner-occupants can achieve with environmentally friendly design and building techniques. The site also identifies key opportunities in the areas of site selection, water efficiency, energy savings, resource use and improving indoor environmental quality. And the site provides tips on how a project can obtain certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating system.
“Because buildings consume nearly 50 percent of the energy in the United States, green building presents an enormous opportunity to cut global warming emissions, while also saving money for owners and occupants,” says Ashok Gupta, director of NRDC’s air and energy program.
The Building Green website includes case studies (www.nrdc.org/buildinggreen/casestudies/) of companies that have lowered water and energy costs with the use of green building technologies and achieved higher occupancy rates and rents by marketing their green features. Extensive links supplement the site’s in-depth information with additional case studies, life cycle analysis tools and resources for identifying environmentally sound building materials.
Items like this factsheet on the costs of green building make a compelling case — let’s hope this site builds some buzz in the business community! This is also a great resource for combatting those myths about environmentalism being “anti-capitalist.”
Technorati Tags: greenbuilding, sustainable, NRDC, business
Permalink
February 21, 2006 at 10:03 am · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Lawn and Garden, Smart Home Building
Found at Tree Hugger.
EcoTraction is a winter traction agent designed to work better and greener than more traditional sand and salt. If icy patches or snowy stairs abound, EcoTraction claims to do it all, providing better traction than sand, absorbing melting ice and snow and providing numerous positive environmental benefits. That’s a mouthful, so we’ll try to break it down so it makes sense. EcoTraction is made up of rigid grains not unlike coarse sand or pebbles. Each rigid grain is filled with micro-porous channels that absorb liquids and chemical ions from the environment. This unique ‘charged honeycomb’ structure allows EcoTraction to not only embed itself into ice and snow, but also to passively improve the surrounding environment; it is proven to absorb ions from the air, soil and water like ammonium, nitrogen, mercury, arsenic, nickel, lead, silver, cesium, and uranium. It will never damage concrete, brick, wood or metal, nor will it harm vegetation in lawns and gardens. EcoTraction does not contain carcinogenic crystalline silica (unlike sand) and is low-dusting, so it can even be used indoors in things like cat litter or aquariums.
[tags]blog,blogging,daily,internet,reviews,weblog,news[/tags]
Permalink
February 16, 2006 at 1:04 pm · Filed under Home building on the Web, Interior Design Ideas
We found this great table at Product Dose.
The name Simple Work Table pretty much explains what this table is about, although the piece will look great in your office, your bedroom, or even your kitchen. Basic and uncluttered, the 48″ x 24″ x 30″(h) table is designed for simple assembly and comes in chocolate (shown), blond, or white wood.
Via Better Living Through Design
[tags]blog,blogging,daily,internet,reviews,weblog,news[/tags]
Permalink
February 15, 2006 at 11:02 am · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
Found at Sustainablog.
The Green Blogathon that Shea Gunther got going is really picking up steam, and a number of our compadres in the Sustainable Blogosphere will be joining in the fun of marathon-style blogging for a good cause. I haven’t yet made my intentions clear, and its time to do so. I’m going to stick to a 12-hour shift (don’t have days to recover like I did last summer — and I need ’em), and join Shea in raising funds for the Nature Conservancy. I’ll get 25 posts up, so let the pledging begin. You can make your pledge public in the comments, or email me at sustainablog at gmail dot com with it. Shea notes that $75 will save an acre of land in Brazil, so let’s see if we can’t do at least one here at sustainablog. That means I need a total of 3 dollars pledged for each post. 30 of you could pledge $.10/post, and we’re there… I know several of you have said you’d like to join in — make sure Shea knows… The dates again are February 24-25.
Technorati Tags: green, sustainable, blogathon, natureconservancy
Permalink
February 15, 2006 at 9:34 am · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Lawn and Garden
Found at Land Living.
All right you landscape party people… the American Society of Landscape Architects has done it again, declared the month of April as National Landscape Architecture Month. So, order up a big load of mulch to celebrate, or keep an eye out for ASLA Chapter events… the weekly breakdown listed after the jump.
ASLA chapters across the country will celebrate with public outreach activities to help communities “Discover Landscape Architecture,” the theme for this year. The month encompasses Earth Day on April 22 and the birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted on April 27, who founded the American landscape architecture profession.
Link: ASLA – Landscape Architecture Month 2006
Article: Landscape Career Discovery (pdf)
Article: Hire A Landscape Architect To Add Value To Your Home (pdf)
Article: Design for Active Living (pdf)
To help people nationwide truly “discover landscape architecture”, national ASLA will be focusing on some of the lesser-known aspects of the profession throughout the month.
Read more about Landscape Architecture month.
Technorati Tags: landscaping, gardening, nature, DIY
Permalink
February 14, 2006 at 11:42 am · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
Found at CoPIRG – The Consumer Advocate.
Start Saving Money & Energy Right Now
Here are twelve quick tips to help you save money and energy this winter.
- Tip #1 Replace your most frequently used incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lights.
- Tip #2 Replace outdoor lighting with a motion-detector equipped bulb or fixture.
- Tip #3 Lower your hot water heater to 120 degrees and drain any sediment.
- Tip #4 Add insulation to your hot-water heater.
- Tip #5 Install a low-flow shower head.
- Tip #6 Check for and seal any cracks or gaps.
- Tip #7 Tighten Windows and Loosen Your Budget
- Tip #8 Heating Ducts: Keep the air flowing
- Tip # 9 Sweaters are in this season, so lower your thermostat!
- Tip # 10 Replace old appliances with more efficient models.
- Tip # 11 Defrost your Freezer
- Tip # 12 Clean Clothes, Cool Planet
To learn more about each of the money saving tips above, read the full list at CoPIRG.
Technorati Tags: money-saving, tips, lists, help
Permalink
February 14, 2006 at 9:16 am · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Lawn and Garden
Found at www.prnewswire.com.
Ranging from novice to Master Gardener, the team spent countless hours scrutinizing products to ensure each tool would be appealing and invaluable to gardeners of every level. To make the list, each gardening product went through an initial review by the team. If it did not meet standards set by The joe gardener Company, the product was eliminated from the process. For those passing the initial review, the tools were then included in a comprehensive evaluation process and truly put to the test. Over the course of several months, the team went to work digging, spraying and wear-testing to unearth the best of the must-have products for gardeners.
“It was not an easy task for our team but it was important to gain hands- on knowledge and experience with the products under consideration,” said Lamp’l. “As a result, we are confident that the items on the must-have list will truly enrich the gardening experience.”
The results are in and include products ranging from the greatest in gardening gloves and watering wands to the coolest in cultivators and carts:
- GreenJeans™ — These innovative, heavy-duty chaps with built-in knee-pads were designed specifically with comfort and durability in mind.
- WheelEasy — The collapsible yard cart has ground-level loading to simply rake, shovel or slide items like leaves, weeds, bark, even heavy boulders, directly into the canvas barrel. When stored, it takes up a fraction of the space of a conventional wheelbarrow.
- BugBand™ — BugBand products feature all-natural, pleasant smelling Geraniol, which has been proven more effective at repelling insects than DEET and citronella.
- Midwest Rake Loop Hoe Combo Tool — The exclusive design of the Midwest Rake Combo Tool combines a 3-prong cultivator with a loop hoe for dual- purpose weeding and cultivating.
- The CobraHead® Precision Weeder and Cultivator — The closest thing to a universal garden tool, the blade is a Steel Fingernail® that becomes an extension of your hand helping accomplish many garden tasks from weeding to de-thatching.
- GardenArmor™ Gloves — The “tough-as-nails” gloves are made with SuperFabric® brand material that is washable and so durable it provides gardeners with 90x the puncture resistance of regular gloves.
- Treegator® — Revolutionary bags designed specially for new plant installations, slowly delivers water directly to the root zone over an extended period of time.
- Hound Dog Edge Hound® and Bulb Hound® — The Edge Hound not only edges walkways, it installs coiled edging, cuts trenches and even chops roots, stumps and ice. The Bulb Hound is specially designed to cut and refill holes in one easy step for bulb planting. The trigger release handle reduces stooping.
- AquaVor® Easy Feeding Cans — The ergonomically friendly, integrated design eliminates messy measuring and mixing. It also features a two-position rotating spout allowing delicate flow or fast delivery while the interchangeable fertilizer cartridge makes it easy to select and dispense a variety of liquid products — just like the pros.
- Kombi — “Shovel with Attitude!” A series of hard-working shovels, each with a serrated design, make quick and easy work of any tough gardening job.
- West County Gardener® Gloves — These tough, high-tech, super comfortable gloves help gardeners work with ease and are washer and dryer safe. Gloves are made in sizes to fit all gardeners.
- Nelson® Nozzle Sprayers — Point, click and water with these ergonomically-designed nozzle sprayers. The state-of-the-art, thumb-activated flow control nozzles feature up to 8 patterns of spray.
- TrenchFoot™ — Slip this amazing innovation over a shovel, fork or spade to gain leverage and make digging easier.
- Dramm Watering Wands — These watering wands feature fingertip shut-off valves that reduce overall water consumption by applying water where it’s wanted. A lifetime guarantee spells quality.
Read more about the The 2006 Best of the Must Haves™ in Gardening.
Technorati Tags: gardening, tools, best-of-2006, lists
Permalink
February 13, 2006 at 9:17 pm · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Interior Design Ideas
Found at www.contracostatimes.com.
“We’re all environmentalists,” said Collin Burry, design principal with Gensler. “Designers create individual environments for their clients; we should be creating healthy environments for them and everyone else.”
Burry listed general concepts his firm has embraced to up the green factor in their designs. These include maximizing natural light and ventilation, using indigenous materials, respecting the local culture and values, using fewer materials (for example, simple concrete floors in their own corporate offices), and questioning the composition and manufacturing process of materials.
Several product manufacturers spoke about how they practice green design when manufacturing their products. Stephanie Odegard, former Peace Corps volunteer, founder of Odegard carpets and one of the industry’s true champions for responsible manufacturing, discussed her company’s approach to livestock management, use of natural dyes, and environmentally approved manufacturing processes such as the use of smokeless boilers and filtering water to return to the environment.
Not only does Odegard’s company refuse to use illegal child labor in Nepal where the rugs are manufactured, but they have also created a school near their plant where children can learn, eat and play. “We’re allowing them to be children,” said Odegard. “It’s a known fact that child labor leads to poverty in the world; we must demand that there be no child labor in any manufacturing process.”
Read more about why to include green in home design.
Technorati Tags: materials, green, design, interiors
Permalink
February 13, 2006 at 8:04 pm · Filed under Green Building Tips, Green Home Building, Home building on the Web
Found at OrlandoSentinel.com.
Just a few years ago, green-minded homeowners were relegated to buying supplies in small stores with a limited selection of merchandise, most of it imported. But today the idea of green home building is becoming more mainstream.
At Green Fusion, environmentally friendly wares such as plant-based paints, organic bedding (an all-wool king-size mattress costs $2,000) and cork flooring from Portugal (sustainably harvested from the outer bark of oak trees and selling at $5 to $8 a square foot) are laid out to allow customers “to experience the lifestyle in a place that was created with healthy materials,” Snowden says.
He is so confident that he has secured the Web address greenhomedepot.com [that is not yet up] with an eye to expanding Green Fusion to a regional, and possibly national, chain in the next few years. But he is not the only green retailer thinking big.
Read more about a natural building trend.
Technorati Tags: materials, recycled, building, sustainable
Permalink
February 13, 2006 at 7:46 pm · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Interior Design Ideas, Smart Home Building
Found at Treehugger
We are like a kid getting a present when our Materials Monthly arrives. The last few have been interesting but not particularly Treehugger. This month, Jennifer Siegel makes up for it in spades. All have been alluded to or covered in these pages before but could use a reminder.
Medite looks,feels and works like MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) , but is made from 100% post-industrial recycled wood fibre combined with wax and resin and absolutely no formaldehyde binders and no outgassing. Not the most exciting material in the world, but MDF is the workhorse of the millwork industry and it is great to be able to source a recycled formaldehyde free one. Justin mentioned it in a post on bamboo beds. ::Medite
Technorati Tags: materials, recycled, building, sustainable
Permalink
February 13, 2006 at 4:47 pm · Filed under Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
Found at Yahoo! Picks – February 13, 2006
You’ve heard it before — real estate is all about location, location, location. Bubble or not, the folks at Housing Tracker believe in the old mantra, sprinkled with a big dose of data. With the hope of getting a more realistic picture of today’s volatile market, Housing Tracker looks at weekly asking prices and housing inventories. As weekly stats pour in from the Multiple Listing Service, the Tracker presents these trends in dozens of metro areas across the U.S.
Thinking of moving and want to know which city has one of the largest housing inventories? On a budget and looking for one of the cheapest house markets? Or flush with cash and looking to blow it all in an area with the highest home median price? It may be galling at times, but the information at Housing Tracker is fascinating, whether you’re in the market or not.
Technorati Tags: housing, costs, tracking, housingtracker
Permalink
February 13, 2006 at 1:55 pm · Filed under Green Home Building, Heating and Ventilation, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
Found at Inhabitat.
I’ve been hearing rumors about a geothermally heated townhouse in lower Manhattan for awhile now, and have been meaning to go check it out for almost a year. Now it appears the moment has finally arrived – the geothermal house has just gone on sale. Asking price? A whopping 7.8 million. But just think of all the money you’d save in utilities!
From the Wall Street Journal:
The five-story town house stands in TriBeCa, a few blocks north of the World Trade Center site, and uses an unusual geothermal energy system to provide heating, cooling and hot water. Pipes extend about 1,400 feet into the earth, where the temperature is always about 52 degrees. The pipes transfer energy to the house, where two-layer-thick concrete exterior walls, filled with thermal materials, trap the energy and distribute it. (All floors also have radiant heating systems.) The late New York architect and developer John Petrarca designed the property and lived there with his wife, business-journalism professor Sarah Bartlett, until his death from lung cancer in 2003. The project was completed in 2002.
You wouldn’t necessarily think that the geologically inactive New York City would be a great place for geothermal energy schemes. After all, this isn’t Iceland or Northern California. However, apparently, if you dig deep enough into the surface of the earth, you can tap geothermal energy anywhere. At 1100 feet underground, the geothermal pump for 156 Reade Street is nearly as deep as the Empire State building is tall.
You can read more about the 156 Reade Street building in The Green House, available from Princeton Architectural Press.
Here’s an interesting old article from The New York Times about geothermal energy in New York City: http://www.mindfully.org/Energy/Old-Heating-Idea.htm
Technorati Tags: geothermal, manhattan, renewable, energy
Permalink
February 13, 2006 at 1:51 pm · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
From Clean Break.
Here’s an update from the Canadian Wind Energy Association on the state of the wind market in Canada. In a nutshell: 239 megawatts of new wind capacity was added in 2005, bringing the total to 683 megawatts. The market grew 54 per cent last year and as a result saw $400 million in new investment. Growth will be higher this year, as it’s expected that at least 500 megawatts more will be added.
“2005 will be remembered as the start of Canada’s wind energy boom as more than 3,000 megawatts of wind energy projects are now contracted and slated for construction in Canada over the next few years,” said Robert Hornung, CanWEA’s president. “In fact, federal and provincial governments both put in place policies in 2005 that could facilitate the installation of a minimum of 8,000 megawatts of wind energy in Canada by 2015. This would make wind energy responsible for 16 per cent of all electricity to be produced by new generating facilities to be constructed in Canada over the next decade.”
For a closer look at wind in Ontario, check out Monday’s Toronto Star. I’ll put a link here when the piece comes out.
Technorati Tags: green, sustainable, renewable, resources
Permalink
February 12, 2006 at 9:18 pm · Filed under Green Building Tips, Heating and Ventilation, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
This excellent collection of links was found at the website of Tom Brown, a Registered Architect practicing in central Wisconsin. His firm specializes in energy-conserving custom residences, additions to older homes, small commercial buildings and historic preservation. Tom also teaches a Green Building course at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Technorati Tags: green, sustainable, renewable, resources
Permalink
February 11, 2006 at 7:56 pm · Filed under Green Building Tips, Green Home Building, Heating and Ventilation, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
Written by Lucy Siegle for the Observer Magazine.
Embrace micro-generation (small-scale, home-based, renewable-energy technology that powers your house) and you’ll get decades’ worth of clean, green power, freedom from the tyrannies of a global energy supply chain, and be granted immunity from the high electricity bills expected in the near future (remember, the era of cheap power is over).
Turning your home into a powerhouse not only slashes the volume of CO2 belched out by fossil-fuel-powered plants, but it is the efficient option. However, you still can’t march into a DIY store and pick up a solar thermal pack or turbine and install it over the weekend; only 100,000 households in the UK currently have any form of micro-generation and the domestic grant situation is confusing – the current Clear Skies programme (www.clear-skies.org) will be replaced next month by a Low Carbon Building Programme Fund in April.
Read more about turning your home into a power generator.
Technorati Tags: geothermal, solar, renewable, energy
Permalink
February 11, 2006 at 7:49 pm · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Interior Design Ideas
Written by Cheryll Gillespie for The Star.
Our job as new homeowners is to carefully select the coveted hardwood flooring from a wide variety of multi-tonal stains, thicknesses, plank widths, finish levels and species.
The flooring supplier will first ask you if there is a particular species of wood that you are considering. The most popular hardwood floorings come from deciduous trees such as cherry, oak, maple, hickory and walnut. These particular trees produce a very hard wood due to the fact that they lose their leaves during the winter months, giving the trunk of the tree a chance to harden.
To make your decision about what hardwood flooring you want in your home, be sure to look at multiple planks laid side by side so you can inspect the total range of grain patterns and subtle shades common to each tree.
With respect to graining, cherry-wood grain is perhaps the most consistent with minimal colour variations, while maple is usually clear and free of noticeable grain patterns and colour shifts.
Buy with respect to our planet: Ask the supplier if the raw materials to produce this particular flooring product have been purchased from certified sustainable forests. Most manufacturers today respect the ramifications of depleting this natural resource.
We should all be concerned about “out-gases” that come from building and finishing materials. Be sure to inquire as to how the wooden planks are processed. Ask if the manufacturer has used only planet-friendly products such as water-based stains, finishes that don’t contain harsh solvents, and adhesives systems that are formaldehyde-free.
Read more about things to consider when choosing hardwood floors.
Technorati Tags: homeowners, hardwood, environment, interior-design
Permalink
February 10, 2006 at 10:54 am · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web
Found at TreeHugger.
![milliken.jpg]()
Fill out a form on Milliken’s Web site, and the carpet manufacturer will plant a tree. Yes, this is most likely a smart way to get you on their mailing list, but it’s also a great green way to burn some online time. Single-handedly, you can inspire physical labor out on one of the manufacturer’s 138,000 acres of forest. The program is part of festivities for Georgia’s Arbor Day, which was held February 17. According to press material, the campaign is the manufacturer’s way of sharing its corporate fervor for foliage.
[tags]blog,blogging,daily,internet,reviews,weblog,news[/tags]
Permalink
February 10, 2006 at 10:17 am · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Interior Design Ideas, Smart Home Building
From Ask Umbra : Astute advice on all things environmental at Grist Magazine.
We are all convinced that carpet is the only cuddly floor covering, but it does not get my imprimatur. After researching for a bit too long, I’ve become a big fan of cork. Much of the cork flooring available to us comes from well-managed plantations in Portugal, and sounds kind of dreamy: it’s harvested, at sustainable intervals, off living trees, but the process does not harm them. Perhaps not appropriate for high-traffic areas, cork is definitely soft and warm to bare feet, as well as quite high in conversation value.
Then you’ve got your wood. If nice wood lurks under your carpet, please refinish and enjoy it. When you buy wood, look for the Forest Stewardship Council label or locally reclaimed products. Some companies refinish submerged trees and telephone poles and things like that; I think those woods would be considered OK. By the way, it’s not necessary to pound nails into your subfloor for a wood product. There are “floating” floors that click together and lie atop it.
Bamboo is a wood-like flooring, imported but in some cases quite a good sustainable choice — more on that in a coming column. Ceramic and/or glass tile is an excellent choice in most situations, simply because it lasts forever, and if you find locally made or partially recycled tile, that’s even better. True linoleum is making a comeback. Vinyl has passed as linoleum for several decades, but the real stuff is a mixture of materials, usually wood, cork, pine resin, and linseed oil. The linseed oil can be a bit stinky, but the flooring will last and last. You could go wacky and put in an earthen floor. This choice sounds fairly amazing to me. Apparently it’s a mix of soil, sand, and straw, pounded into place and then oiled. I want to see it. […]
Read the rest of the article on environmental flooring options at Grist Magazine
Technorati Tags: forest, cork, flooring, environment
Permalink
February 9, 2006 at 5:10 pm · Filed under Green Building Tips, Heating and Ventilation, Home Building Activities, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
Found at www.canoncitydailyrecord.com.
Building with intricately-stacked big blocks of styrofoam, which are later filled with concrete, can save the homeowner up to 85 percent of conventional energy costs. When complete, the homes are cleaner, quieter and more secure, but look like traditional framed houses.
![]()
In addition to saving money in heating costs, the homes do not cost more to construct or take longer to build.
“The cost per square foot is about the same as a traditional home,” said All Concrete Exterior Homes co-owner Lanea Graham. “It could even be less because there is no cost for insulating exterior walls, and the cost for lumber is much less.” […]
Read more about building with insulated-concrete-forms
Technorati Tags: building, icf, concrete, cost
Permalink
February 9, 2006 at 4:50 pm · Filed under Green Home Building, Heating and Ventilation, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
Found at www.bangornews.com.
Free heat from a geothermal heat pump warms my kitchen as I write this commentary. For every dollar of electrical energy that goes into the heat pump, I get 3.6 dollars of electrical heat. That’s 2.6 dollars of free heat. And by purchasing clean green power from hydroelectric dams and wind power, it’s possible to heat one’s home without burning oil and without generating global warming gases.
The idea of installing a geothermal heat pump began in 2004 when I read about how the polar ice caps are melting at a record pace and how atmospheric carbon dioxide was at record levels and increasing dramatically. The possibility of peak oil production occurring in this decade accompanied by increasing demand for oil in China has made oil prices skyrocket.
I watched as President Bush set up a string of permanent military bases in the oil producing regions of Iraq. I watched as our own Maine National Reserve troops were sent to oil-rich Iraq with the false goals of fighting terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. I watched as oil companies made obscene profits while people suffered. Something had to be done. The freedom we should be fighting for today is freedom from Middle East oil.
So, how does one economically heat one’s home without oil and without pollution? Natural gas is a clean-burning fuel but it still increases carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and contributes to global warming. Solar is good, but there just isn’t much sunlight available in January in Maine when we need the most heat. Geothermal heating coupled with green power produced from hydroelectric, wind and solar power met the requirements […]
Read more about David LaBrecque’s Geothermal heat pump.
Technorati Tags: geothermal, free, heating, heat
Permalink
February 9, 2006 at 11:05 am · Filed under Green Building Tips, Green Home Building, Home building on the Web
Feb. 9 — California has launched its own Web site to encourage green building practices and environmentally friendly purchasing practices.
The Green California Web site contains ideas, guidelines, reference materials, engineering data and environmentally friendly purchasing information for state and local government agencies and California businesses. The site’s information assists agencies and businesses in adopting practices to encourage environmental sustainability, energy conservation and landfill waste reduction.
“California is blessed with vast resources…we rededicate ourselves to making California cleaner, greener and more prosperous. The green building approach builds in conservation from the ground up…It’s good for business and it’s great for the environment.” -Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
The Green California site also provides reference materials for the design, construction, benchmarking and operation of green buildings.
Technorati Tags: green, buildings, resources, california
Permalink
February 9, 2006 at 10:48 am · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Interior Design Ideas
Found at www.sfgate.com.
Designers, by definition, are at the forefront of innovation. But in the case of green design — creating human habitats that are non-polluting, energy-efficient and overall environmentally friendly — the residential interior design world has some catching up to do. And with “Beyond Green,” the theme of San Francisco Design Center’s Winter Market last week, several hundred interior decorators found themselves swept up in a discussion that has moved from the simple specification of natural materials to the concept of global sustainability.
Amid the leather and lacquer, the chrome and copper and miles of fine fabrics that make up the annual market’s showroom displays were chairs and sofas and carpets made of sterner stuff: sustainably grown, safely harvested materials assembled by fairly paid laborers using nontoxic glues and finishes, requiring minimal energy to produce and distribute — and panels of nagging environmentalist types to flog the notion that green can be beautiful as well as enlightened. […]
Read more about green designers here.
Technorati Tags: interior-design, green, furniture, design
Permalink
February 9, 2006 at 9:41 am · Filed under Home Building Activities, Home building on the Web, Interior Design Ideas
From www.ecologicalhomeideas.com via www.urbanecoinc.com.
Your Dream Green House Could Be On HGTV!
ecoLogical Home Ideas is excited to announce that High Noon Productions, producers of the popular HGTV series, Dream House, has asked us to help with their search for families who are building green homes!
[tags]blog,blogging,daily,internet,reviews,weblog,news[/tags]
Permalink
February 7, 2006 at 11:24 pm · Filed under Green Home Building, Interior Design Ideas
We just adore the furniture from Harbor Trading, each piece is made from reclaimed and plantation teak.
Our goal is to provide our customers with heirloom furniture without harming the ecology, the people or their traditions. The factories we use work with the families to not only purchase and dismantle their current wood home, but also help them build a new brick home which is stronger and safer in the elements. Many families in Indonesia only dream of having a new brick home and this helps them achieve their dream.
In turn, as our customers, you receive new, unique, quality teak wood furniture without damage to the rain forest, while helping to provide safe and durable homes for families in Indonesia. Once the factory purchases and dismantles the homes, they re-use every part of the house to create and build our unique furniture. The teak wood is used “as-is” in its rustic form, or planed down for a smoother finish. All of our furniture is hand crafted and finished with hand-rubbed stain.
Technorati Tags: reclaimed, recycle, re-use, teak, furniture
Permalink
February 7, 2006 at 9:00 pm · Filed under Green Building Tips, Home building on the Web
Found this great resource for people about to approach a lender for a home loan for their green-home dream: Article – Construction Lending, How to Finance Your Dream: Building Your Dream Home. A Borrower’s Checklist
Okay, so you’ve selected your community, your lot, and your architect. You’ve got a terrific set of plans, and you’re ready to build. What about construction funds? Have you selected a lender and considered the documentation they will need to make a lending decision?
Take a moment now to look over the list. Obviously, the sooner you get the complete set of items the sooner you can start construction. Please note that though the second group of items your contractor will give you, you’ll still need to collect these items and assemble them to complete your loan package.
- 1. Plans and specifications for the proposed construction completed by the architect
- 2. Purchase Contract or Agreement for lot if lot has been purchased within the past 12 months or if it will be purchased as a part of this transaction
- 3. HUD-1 Closing Statement provided by the closing agent if property was purchased within the past 12 months
- 4. Copy of Listing Agreement on current residence to be sold
- 5. Architect Agreement
- 6. Copies of any permits obtained (may also have been obtained by Contractor)
- 7. Copies of any approvals from city/county/homeowners’ association
Items to get from your Contractor:
- 1. Property Profile provided by the Contractor
- 2. Line Item Cost Breakdown listing costs for all materials and labor
- 3. Builder’s Statement listing the builder’s project and credit references
- 4. Copy of Builder’s current Contractor’s License evidencing that he is licensed to build the type of structure proposed
- 5. Construction Contract between you and the builder stating the fixed price for completion of the improvements showing a start and finish date
Technorati Tags: home, loans, funding, green, energy-efficient
Permalink
February 7, 2006 at 12:21 pm · Filed under Green Building Tips, Green Home Building, Heating and Ventilation, Home building on the Web
Originally posted at Jeff McIntire-Strasburg’s sustainablog:
A North Vancouver condo complex has become the first residential building in Canada to receive special status for sustainability.
Project developer David Sprague, principal of West Coast Projects Ltd., is advising other development companies to embrace sustainability as a standard business practice – because it will soon be a requirement.
The 16-storey Silva Building, located in the 100 Block of West 16th Street near Lonsdale Avenue, earned a leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) certification almost a year after it opened last February.
First established in the U.S., LEED is a sustainability-certification process that encourages the development of buildings that feature energy and water efficiency, enhanced livability, indoor air quality, conservation of materials and resources, waste management and sustainable site planning.
Technorati Tags: LEED, conservation, home, energy, energy-efficient
Permalink
February 7, 2006 at 12:01 pm · Filed under Green Building Tips, Green Home Building, Heating and Ventilation, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
From: WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: LEED @ Home
The US Green Building Council has released its long-awaited draft of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards for homes. LEED-compliant commercial buildings are both remarkably energy-efficient and provide interior environments friendly to workers. With the release of the LEED for Homes draft, developers and homeowners can see what steps are the most critical for making a home a green house.
Technically, what the USGBC has released is a set of guidelines for pilot projects meant to test the utility of the various elements on the LEED for Homes checklist. It’s likely that, once the pilot projects are completed and analyzed, the LEED for Homes rules will be modified. These projects will be built in 12 different regions (PDF) in the United States; interestingly, while most locations (including big states like California, Florida and Texas) are covered by single providers, Colorado has three.
Even if you aren’t a developer, potential home buyer, or even in the United States, the LEED for Homes guidelines make interesting reading. The Pilot Rating System document (PDF) explains the goals of the LEED for Homes project in more detail, and discusses each item on the LEED for Homes checklist in full. The draft checklist (PDF) itself includes numerous references to issues that we’ve talked about frequently on WorldChanging, including: site density, permeable pavement, rainwater harvesting, high-efficiency lighting, and more.
It’s particularly interesting to see the relative credit scores for different items. Highest rated individual items (not counting “packages”): up to six points for renewable energy use, six points for “very high efficiency fixtures (toilets, showers and faucets),” and up to ten points for “Home that is Smaller than National Average.” Those three items alone can put a house 2/3s of the way to LEED certification, presuming that the various “required” features are in place. LEED silver, gold and platinum levels, of course, would need substantially more effort.
Technorati Tags: LEED, conservation, home, energy, energy-efficient
Permalink
February 6, 2006 at 11:54 pm · Filed under Green Building Tips, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
From Residental Architect:
Buyers want items that look good, add value to home. We recently attended the International Builders Show presented by the National Association of Home Builders, which gives builders, remodelers, architects and other building industry-associated occupations a peek at the latest in building materials and technology.
One of the benefits of composite building products is the reduced demand on natural resources and the green building movement another fundamental theme of this years event.
Manufacturers are responding to consumer demand for maintenance- free products that use environmentally friendly technology.
For example, one of the biggest growth categories in composite building materials is decking and railing systems. The last several years have produced products that remarkably mimic the look of dimensional lumber. Most of the leading products in the category have several styles, patterns and colors from which to choose. Most products are handled like wood; they can be cut with a saw, nailed or fastened with screws. The better products hold up well to ultraviolet rays and require nothing more than periodic cleaning.
Manufacturers are responding to the other side of the green coin as well: energy efficiency.
Skyrocketing energy costs have sent consumers scrambling for building products that will improve personal comfort and lower their utility bills. In response, most manufacturers with products that affect comfort and energy use are putting their R&D pedal to the metal to come up with increasingly more fuel-efficient products that will keep consumers from going into hock to pay their utility bills.
Insulation with better R-values, more energy-efficient windows and doors, and state-of-the-art heating and cooling systems lead the pack of products that are making a big dent in utility bills. Photovoltaic energy systems where homeowners use the sun to generate their own power are the rage.
Read the Rest of the article.
Technorati Tags: building, architecture, home, eco-technology,trends
Permalink
February 6, 2006 at 12:08 pm · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
From TimesDispatch.com :
Home improvement chain stores sell paints and other natural products with little or no nasty compounds. But shoppers must wade through toxin-laced products and know what they are after, green industry experts say.
Sure, high-efficiency double-paned windows with argon gas are more expensive than standard windows. So are compact fluorescent light bulbs compared with their incandescent cousins.
But the savings add up over time. Compact fluorescent bulbs, for example, put out the equivalent light of a 60-watt incandescent bulb but use only 15 watts.
“Energy cost is a very big factor in getting people’s attention,” said Annette Osso, executive director of the Virginia Sustainable Building Network, a statewide organization that promotes environmentally sound building practices.
Read more about Green becomes mainstream.
Technorati Tags: energy, green, conservation, eco-friendly
Permalink
February 6, 2006 at 10:04 am · Filed under Basement, Green Building Tips, Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
BASF Launches www.betterhomebetterplanet.com: Financial News – Yahoo! Finance
The www.betterhomebetterplanet.com website steps the visitor through the home using a systems approach that integrates the three key elements to high performance building — the building exterior, mechanical HVAC and solar power.
The website allows the user to navigate the Near-Zero Energy Home in minutes and take from the experience real solutions and resources.
“The launch of www.betterhomebetterplanet.com and the demonstration home are in keeping with BASF’s long standing commitment to sustainable development and bringing cost-effective solutions to the building and construction industry — especially in cities like Paterson, N.J., where cost savings achieved through improved energy efficiency and low-maintenance durability are most needed,” according to Jack Armstrong, business manager for BASF’s Styropor® and expanded polystyrene business in North America.
Once the construction and demonstration phases are completed, the Near Zero Energy Home will be donated to the nonprofit St. Michael’s Housing Corporation as a home for a local family with a quadriplegic son. The project showcases elements of universal design to accommodate the family’s special needs.
Technorati Tags: home, green, ICF, zero-energy
Permalink
February 6, 2006 at 12:54 am · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web
Found at Gaiam – Healthier Laundry by Geoff Davis:
Switching to alternative detergents and other healthier laundry products, however, is only half of the solution to a dirty laundry room. It’s just as important to make sure yours conserves water and energy. Here are some tips to help:
- 1. Only use the cold or warm water settings on your washer. Since 85% of the energy used by washing machines is devoted to heating water, this simple step will save more than just money.
- 2. Wash only full loads. Washing one large load is more efficient than washing two small loads.
- 3. Use the delicate cycle whenever possible-even on non-delicate loads. Its gentler agitation uses less energy, is kinder to clothes, and quite effective for most dirty duds.
- 4. Don’t use extra detergent- the increased suds only make your machine work harder. If clothes are super dirty presoak them or use the soak cycle instead.
- 5. If you’re thinking about buying a new washer, new federal regulations in January 2007 will require all new machines to be at least 35% more efficient than models made before 2004.
- 6. Consider buying a front-loading washer which typically uses up to 36% less water and 60% less energy.
- 7. After your refrigerator, your clothes dryer is the biggest energy user in your home, one that typically costs over $1,000 to operate during its lifetime. Cut those costs by line-drying whenever possible.
- 8. Locate your dryer in a dry heated space. Dryers in cold and/or damp locations have to work harder.
- 9. Clean the lint filter after every load.
- 10. Dry loads composed of similar clothes and/or fabric types for maximum efficiency.
- 11. Dry two or more loads in a row to take advantage of retained dryer heat.
- 12. Use the cool down cycle so clothes finish drying in residual heat.
- 13. If your dryer has a moisture sensor, use it to make sure that loads get only the heat they actually need.
Technorati Tags: laundry, green, clothes, money
Permalink
February 6, 2006 at 12:33 am · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Interior Design Ideas
Found at metropolismag.com
Forget the colors, the patterns and the textures for a moment. Flip your perceptions. And think about what’s on the underside.
If it’s EcoWorx® backing from Shaw Innovation, then it’s something truly remarkable. Because EcoWorx can be recycled into carpet backing again and again. Never going to a landfill. Always coming back as the same high-quality carpet backing. That’s the real meaning of Cradle to Cradle.
EcoWorx backing is a PVC alternative made from Polyolefin. That’s why it can be endlessly recycled, and why the EPA recognized it with the Presidential Green Chemistry Award.
Shaw is doing everything possible to ensure that every bit of EcoWorx gets recycled. In fact, each carpet tile with EcoWorx backing is printed with a toll-free number to call for pick up and recycling, free of charge.
Technorati Tags: recycle, green, floorings, interiors
Permalink
February 5, 2006 at 2:51 pm · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web
From www.treehugger.com:
![TH BlogHugging.jpg]()
We TreeHuggers aren’t afraid to express our feelings you know. When we appreciate something we are going to show it love! Something we really appreciate is our fellow Green Blogs. It’s not always easy to follow the green path, it takes some serious dedication, and we are glad that we’re not on our own out there in blogland. We know there are plenty of people working hard to bang the eco-drum and we know that many voices are stronger that one voice. So we’re showing we care by ‘hugging’ five of our favourite green posts each week.
Eco.PSFK: M&S Launch Eco Line by Guy Brighton.
UK national retail treasure promote their environmental policies and new range of fairtrade cotton.
Grist: Madame Butterfly – Julia Butterfly Hill, activist and onetime tree-sitter, answers readers’ questions.
Inhabitat: Better Wall – Recycling Art Posters by Sarah Rich.
Another way of recycling PVC banners which doesn’t involve bags, what a relief!
WorldChanging: The Chinese Environmental Movement by Alex Steffen
Urban Eco: Carnival of the Green no.12.
Yes we are bloghugging this week’s chosen bloghuggers!
Technorati Tags: treehugger, blogs, blogland, green
Permalink
February 5, 2006 at 2:50 pm · Filed under Home building on the Web, Interior Design Ideas, Smart Home Building
From www.canon.com:
Canon Technology -SED-
Low power consumption achieved due to high efficiency
Low power consumption is another main feature of the new display technology. SEDs convert electrical energy into light with a higher emission efficiency than other display types, resulting in power consumption that is two-thirds that of PDPs, and also surpasses CRTs and LCDs. In other words, SEDs are highly earth-friendly, meeting the needs of the times.
Read more about SED Technology.
Technorati Tags: television, SED, environment, green
Permalink
February 5, 2006 at 2:27 pm · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Interior Design Ideas, Smart Home Building
From www.inhabitat.com:
Recycling paper is often just about creating more (you guessed it) paper, but a Minnesotan company by the name of All Paper Recycling has been taking recycled paper and converting it into a lovely and versatile new building material called ShetkaSTONE. Completely made from all types of recycled paper (including waxed paper, glossy paper, and magazines), plants, and cloth fibers ShetkaSTONE can be used to create anything from doors, counter tops, benches, molding, soap dishes, and more.
Created by Stanly J. Shetka, president of All Paper Recycling, Inc., the patented process involved in creating ShetkaSTONE, creates a slurry made of the pre and post consumer waste which is then formed into the hardened product. Due to its recycled content, ShetkaSTONE has a 100% sustainable life cycle. Both the waste created in the manufacturing process as well as products that have become damaged or reached the end of the cycle can go back into the manufacturing process at ShetkaSTONE.
The strength and thickness of Shetkastone can be controlled during the creation process. The end product can go through any variety of construction methods including being sawed, sanded, glued, nailed and screwed together, as well as finished by sealants currently used on wood and stone.
Paper products account for 40% of the solid waste in the US, and only a small portion, (white and newspaper) are actually being recycled. The mission of All Paper Recycling, Inc. is “to reduce pre-consumer and post consumer waste through the creation of environmentally responsible products and building materials made from wastepaper, cloth or plant fiber”.
Read more about + ShetkaSTONE at inhabitant.com
Technorati Tags: recycle, paper, interiors, counters
Permalink
February 2, 2006 at 10:23 am · Filed under Green Building Tips, Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Lawn and Garden
From Treehugger:
Planting gardens could help keep chemicals out of your city’s water. A new study found that building rain gardens, shallow pools in the ground, planted with deep-rooted native plants, can significantly reduce the amount of toxins entering stormwater runoff systems.
Technorati Tags: stormwater, plants, gardens, toxins
Permalink
February 2, 2006 at 10:20 am · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
From Inhabitant:
Erin Vali from Ulterior Mode has recently been getting all sorts of attention for an art-studio house he recently designed in the Catskills (profiled in The New York Times). Just as interesting, however, is his concept design for an eco-friendly, solar-powered four bedroom prefab that uses passive heating and cooling techniques to further minimize its energy footprint. Vali utilizes all sorts of clever methods to get the most out the design, Vital House’s ventilation is controlled through a system of louvers and fans which can create drafts when you’d like to cool things down and that can recycle heat when temperatures fall. The building is covered in opaque insulation panels, while the south and east elevations of the house are clad in water-filled tanks which absorb radiant energy during the day and then radiate that stored energy at night after the sun has gone down. No word yet on what Vital House might cost, but presumably you’ll be saving some cash on your monthly utility bills./p>
+ UlteriorMode
Technorati Tags: solar, passive, prefab, eco-friendly
Permalink
February 2, 2006 at 10:12 am · Filed under Green Home Building, Home building on the Web, Smart Home Building
From Clean Break:
Business Week has an article called “The Top 10 Hybrids Myth” that you might find interesting.
The Los Angeles Times carried this Washington Post article about how hybrid cars are making talk of hydrogen-powered fuel cells vehicles a tough sells.
Here’s an interesting piece of analysis from ABI Research on Bush’s clean energy commitments in his State of the Union address.
Finally, Red Herring has this article about the launch of a new “cleantech index” on the American Stock Exchange that will include 75 companies with at least 50 per cent of their sales following the cleantech theme of reducing energy consumption, waste and pollution. You’ll find out from reading the article that the index is the brainchild of the Cleantech Capital Group, which is known for its subsidiary the Cleantech Venture Network. “According to the Cleantech Capital Group, discussions are under way to license the new Cleanteh Index for financial products, including an exchange-traded fund,” according to the magazine. Now that would be cool.
Technorati Tags: links, green, bookmarks, renewable
Permalink
An interesting take on the archetypical terra cotta pot by French designer Vincent Vandenbrouck.
What's happening at www.ramsayhome.com 