Published on June 2nd, 2008
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Editor’s note: Just like our friends at Low Impact Living, we’ve got passion for saving water… so we were very happy to see this post about a new technology for homeowners interested in doing just that! LIL writer Jason Pelletier originally published this post on Wednesday, May 28, 2008.
I’m often pleasantly surprised at how much interest and passion you (our visitors) display for water-saving technologies. 
Renewable energy is sexy, and eco-friendly cars are top-of-mind for most people these days, but graywater systems? Rain barrels? Rain gardens? Even water-conserving toilets and showerheads? They’re pretty hot too … I for one am thrilled, for not only have I spent a good part of my career designing stormwater treatment systems but I believe that water shortages are a pretty pressing and difficult environmental challenge that doesn’t get enough attention in these days of $4 gasoline and global warming.
The beauty of any of these water-saving technologies is that a) they achieve multiple benefits, saving water while reducing wastewater or stormwater runoff and b) you can see the results right at home. It’s pretty satisfying to open the valve on a rain barrel, see the water flow out and know that you reduced pollution downstream and also prevented water from being siphoned from lakes or rivers tens or hundreds of miles away.
There are some challenges, though. In order to really make a dent in your runoff, you might have to use ten or more rain barrels - not so great if you don’t have space or your downspouts are on the visible side of your house (or if you’re not Ed Begley Jr and just don’t care!). Cisterns give you more capacity, but you’re talking about a real construction project with some possible permitting hurdles.
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Published on June 1st, 2008
Let me first preface this post with the following: I’m not a construction professional. I’m just a curious homeowner seeking out the best building materials for my home. With that said, I was familiar with three options in residential construction - concrete block, wood frame or the super green alternative, rammed earth.
Turns out there are new options that combine the wonderful qualities of Portland cement with recycled post-consumer plastics (Rastra) or recycled wood fibers (Durisol).
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Published on May 27th, 2008
Editor’s note: This short post from our friends at Low Impact Living points you to a (literal) gold mine of information on incentives for greening your home. Check it out: that energy-efficient upgrade to your home may be even less expensive than you imagined. This post was originally published on Monday, May 19th, 2008.
We want to let you know about an excellent new resource available to you– GreenMadeSimple.com. This site has created a very comprehensive database of green rebates, tax incentives and free offers across the US.
Their zip-code guided search allows you to find incentives and deals related to energy-efficient appliances and lighting, solar power, hybrid and alt-fuel vehicles, and more. The database includes federal, state and local incentives. Just put in your zip code and prepare to go green and save money.
Here are some examples of the jewels you’ll find:
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Published on May 22nd, 2008
Editor’s note: Chicago has become quite the hot spot for green building, so our friends at GreenBuildingTalk (who are based there) have frequent opportunities to hear from some of the brightest minds in the field. Today’s post share excerpts from a presentation by architect Peter Pfieffer, and was originally published on Monday, April 21, 2008.
ALNO hosted a K/BIS press breakfast on 4/12/08, at their new showroom in the heart of Chicago’s design district. Aside from enjoying a great mimosa and walking through ANLO’s impressive kitchen cabinetry displays, I sat in on renowned green architect Peter Pfeiffer’s presentation he gave that morning focused on “Greening the Kitchen”.
Named “one of the most influential residential architects of the past decade,” by Residential Architect and honored as the “National Green Advocate of the Year,” by the National Association of Home Builders,” Pfeiffer has demonstrated a life-long commitment to mainstreaming green building in North America. He is a founding principal of Barley + Pfeiffer Architects, a firm recognized nationally for its pioneering use of environmentally responsive building design and construction techniques, which has completed 400 green projects nationally since it’s founding in 1987. Pfeiffer’s work has been published both in the United States and abroad, in such diverse venues as the Washington Post, The New York Times, Fine Homebuilding, and Better Homes & Gardens magazine. On multiple occasions he has been a guest on National Public Radio as well as the HGTV network.
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Published on May 20th, 2008
In 2000, Gerding Edlen Development selected GBD Architects to renovate 5 blocks of historic brewery buildings located in a former industrial area of Portland, Oregon known as the Pearl District. The success of the Brewery Blocks project sparked a rebirth of the neighborhood; in 2005, The Sierra Club recognized the Pearl District as one of the nation’s best neighborhood redevelopment projects. Since that time, the district has continued to thrive; Gerding Eldlen’s latest building in the Pearl District, also designed by GBD Architects, is a 16-story condominium tower known as The Casey. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on May 18th, 2008
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I remember reading the little placard on the bathroom vanity advising me to hang my damp towels with curiosity. We were on vacation and it was the first time I had ever heard of such a thing. We did this at home, but it seemed more practical - a way to avoid doing laundry each night. There was also a note about turning the lights out when we left our room. Little things.
We discussed the hanging of the towels and the turning off of the lights over a shrimp dinner that night at some tourist trap. I remember my mom saying that if we all do a little, we can do a lot. So I thought it was great when I heard of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s new executive order that requires state agencies and departments to hold meetings and conferences at lodgings that meet the new Florida Green Lodging standards. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on May 10th, 2008
Off the Grid Homes combines beautiful images with technical information for sustainable homes.
The book by architect Lori Ryker is less of a manual for systems to be used in off the grid homes (though it does include good information about the systems and strategies that are used in sustainable off the grid living) and more of a showcase of state of the art homes at the intersection of appealing architecture and high sustainability.
For many, the phrase “off the grid home” brings associations of a rudimentary, hand-built, rustic cabin. It usually suggests a rough hewn character and images of anything other than refinement and elegance. But that image is far from the case in examples presented in this book.
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Published on May 9th, 2008
In San Francisco, some well financed and publicized condo projects like the Arterra spend big marketing dollars to push its LEED – NC status (wonder why they didn’t shoot for LEED on its other project the Hayes?) while the EcoCenter at Heron’s Head Park LEED certified facility opened in relative obscurity.
This landmark youth education facility and environmental center sits smack in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood right next to the former PG & E power plant. Of all the areas in SF this area truly needs the Green building support. We’re psyched to report that the EcoCenter marks the first 100% off-grid green building in San Francisco, and boasts features that set the bar high for green building.
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Published on May 5th, 2008
Last week, in writing about this year’s AIA Committe on the Environment’s COTE Top Ten winners, representing the best “examples of sustainable architecture and green design solutions that protect and enhance the environment,” I asked “Are COTE Winners Too Much of the Same?” While I am certain I’m not alone in that viewpoint, I’ve come across some other perspectives on that question.
One of the jurors from the panel that selected this year’s COTE Top Ten wrote about her experience and some of the things that she saw in the jury. And the question of great architecture versus green architecture was also raised in the AIA weekly newsletter this past week as well. The COTE Top Ten showcases some very attractive buildings with some serious green building credentials (LEED Gold and Platinum buildings and a building that claims “carbon neutral opearations”, to name a few). But the larger question seems to be how much green building and good building design are, or can be, connected.
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Published on May 2nd, 2008
Relaxation!
Fashion!
Celebrity!
Botox!
Booze!
Interiors!
Green!
Yes, most of this list refers to the Brit series Ab Fab but if Eddy and Patsy turned in their smokes and cocktails for organic and sustainable munchies then they too would be excited for the opening of the Epi Center MedSpa, the first LEED certified MedSpa in the country. (Another LEED spa exists in D.C. but it isn’t a MedSpa). So, because fictional characters from a long ago Brit TV series couldn’t check out this just opened San Fran based spa, I decided that I had to do it. Read the rest of this entry »
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In addition to being the 
