Published on November 17th, 2009
USGBC, the Hospitality Industry Network (NEWH) and the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) have admirably joined together to sponsor the Sustainable Suite Design Competition. The goal of this hospitality design contest is to help drive green design practices within the hotel industry.
This competition provides an ideal platform for professional (and student) teams internationally to present their ideas and approaches to green hotel room interior design. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags:
Front Street Hotel,
HDExpo,
Hospitality Design,
IDEO,
Jetson Green,
Las Vegas,
Parson’s New School of Design,
The Starter Kits,
U.S. Green Building Council,
USGBC,
WATG
The San Francisco Ferry Market is a gorgeous place to stroll around in if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area for any length of time.
The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market:
“is a California certified farmers market operated by the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture“ ~CUESA
The market is open Tuesday and Saturday.
Below are spotlights [...]
Read the rest of this entry on eatdrinkbetter.com »
Published on November 12th, 2009
Have you heard about NRDC’s Smarter Cities?
“When thinking about the urban environment, more often than not problems come first to mind. Less commonly thought about is the potential presented by cities, potential to rethink and reshape their environments responsibly.
Today urban leaders—mayors, businesses and community organizations—are in the environmental vanguard, making upgrades to transportation infrastructure, zoning, building codes, and waste management programs as well as improving access to open space, green jobs, affordable efficient housing and more. If they succeed in making their cities more efficient, responsible and sustainable, what will result will be smarter places for business and healthier places to live.”
Find out what is smart and green near you. Join the team and start reporting the success of your city! Read the rest of this entry »
Tags:
building codes,
Citizen Reporting,
Citizen Reporting Project,
community organizations,
green buildings,
green businesses,
green city planning,
mayors,
Natural Resources Defense Council,
Smarter Cities,
transportation infrastructure,
waste management programs,
zoning
Published on November 5th, 2009
Green tax incentives at the federal and state levels are finally helping to convert our country to a green collar economy. In the wake of the recent Stimulus Package, and economic rescue legislation of 2008, several energy efficiency and renewable tax incentives have been extended to encourage energy efficiency, green buildings and renewable technologies. The Green Tax Guide helps you to understand these incentives and positively impact your bottom line. This useful resource can be downloaded at: www.GreenTaxGuide.net Read the rest of this entry »
Published on November 5th, 2009
How lessons-learned from a state-of-the-art net-zero project can help us all reduce our impact
Now that everyone is finally talking about green buildings, the question becomes “Where do we need to go from here?”
The answer? Net-zero.
That’s what a panel of experts told an audience assembled last month at Rocky Mountain Institute’s symposium in San Francisco, RMI2009. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on November 4th, 2009
Taipei Pop Music Center has opened up an amazing architecture design competition for it’s new building. Nabito Architects has drafted and shared their vision of the new Taipei Pop Music Center composed of a “photovoltaic screen and a wall of LED panels”
The screen of the Pop Music Center may:
- have a LED media wall reporting news, weather, event info and ads.
- be powered entirely by the sun and set an example for green energy in the city of Taipei
- include photovoltaic cell technology, with an LED wall
- have controls set by a central computer, to show all events scheduled and more
Read the rest of this entry »
With seasons changing yet again, starting a garden might be the last thing on a person’s mind. Not so here in Madison, Wisconsin, where a local group is pushing for more community garden spaces in the downtown area. This isn’t especially newsworthy until you hear where they’re proposing to add the garden – the [...]
Read the rest of this entry on eatdrinkbetter.com »
Published on October 29th, 2009
3 Rivers Eco Lodge is an enchanted sustainable hotel encampment consisting of hillside terraced cottages. Rainforest preservation, indigenous tree planting programs and organic gardens are at the heart of this green resort.
Retreat features include:
- solar water heaters
- self composting toilets
- biodegradable, locally made soaps and furnishings
- environmental education through conservation
- a yoga studio
- indigenous tree planting projects
- green globe info
- organic gardens
- rainforest preservation
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on October 28th, 2009
Coco Eco is an award winning bed and breakfast named both after the area it is located (Coconut Well, Australia) and the ecological principles that it embraces such as:
- solar powered facilities
- black & grey water recycled and purified in Wastewatergarden®.
- plantation & recycled timbers
- solar passive design principles
- building footprints designed to minimize impact on local flora and fauna
- reduced use of chemicals & PVC products
- recycling programs
- organic vegetable garden & free range eggs
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags:
building footprint,
Cable Beach,
Coco Eco Resort,
Coconut Well,
eco resort,
ecological principles,
green buildings,
green resort,
green vacations,
grey water,
landscape design,
Organic vegetable garden,
passive solar design principles,
purified water,
recycled timbers,
recycled water,
recycling programs,
Solar powered facilities,
Wastewatergarden
Selene and Alex Cole have a US-neighbor company, Little Foot Yurts, in Nova Scotia. Their style is based on traditional Mongolian and Kazakh yurt designs.
Most regions in the US have some style of yurt company these days, so what’s the big deal? The answer is rental and setup services.
Read the rest of this entry on feelgoodstyle.com »
Published on October 19th, 2009
Attending the recently concluded CAR Expo in San Jose CA we could see that things weren’t exactly hopping, especially in the Green seminars and Green expo booths. Who could blame everyone, with the still lingering effect of the economy, unemployment and overall uncertainty? The Expo offered a bevy of economic forecasts, short sale sessions and new DRE laws going into effect but of course we went to check the green goings on. How’s the Green movement within the ranks of the real estate world? If my Green colleague and I would guess from the sparse attendance at the few green sessions and Green display booths then the state of Green Real Estate isn’t exactly on everyone’s radar. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on October 15th, 2009
New York City plans to train one thousand superintendents on green buildings this year. City managers of commercial and high-rise residential buildings now have the chance reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the city on a sky high level.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg took part in the program, “One Year, One Thousand Green Supers” which was also approved by the U.S. Green Building Council and the Building Performance Institute. It’s also made possible by the Thomas Shortman Training Fund. This is part of NYC’s huge goal to reduce their building-generated carbon footprint. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags:
Building Performance Institute,
building-generated carbon footprint,
City managers,
City Planning,
Energy Efficiency,
Green Building Programs,
Green Operating Plan,
New York City,
NYC Green Building Program,
One Year One Thousand Green Supers,
Superintendents,
Thomas Shortman Training Fund,
U.S. Green Building Council
Published on October 5th, 2009
It’s good to have West Coast Green back in SF. Not that San Jose didn’t play a fine host to last years bigger conference but the show lacked something last year, call it a vibe, or energy but something didn’t gel. So, this year’s scaled down but energetic and education West Coast Green found itself a new home at the Fort Mason. Maybe the ocean air and bay views added a green spark to the conference.
The economy definitely had an impact on this year’s West Coast Green with less venders but with less money that mean that people just had to get more creative with less moola such as the floating island, show gardens and even the sustainability built Jewish Sukkoth. The usual green rock stars like Eric Corey Freed and Michelle Kaufman made their presences felt with their energetic personalities. Read the rest of this entry »
