Green Building Elements

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With little fanfare, Kimball Office opened their new San Francisco FiDi showroom with a quiet, green splash. Although they haven’t achieved LEED-CI status yet, they hope to gain gold certification soon. The architectural and design team over at Huntsman Architectural Group created a green space that we noticed as we stepped in. The design team reused stair posts to create the dramatic floor and 100% of the architectural wood elements are FSC certified. We even like the fact that they baked the oak instead of using chemical stain to achieve the deep, rich color.

It’s not often that we’re giddy about stepping into a bathroom but theirs has a gray (recycled) water system that reuses used sink water for the low-flow toilet. Kimball SF’s low-flow fixtures reduce their water consumption by a whopping 75%.

As Kimball sells office furniture it only makes sense for them to sell low or non-toxic furniture. About half of their display represents green furnishings. We would like to see this figure closer to 100%.

Even so, the SF Kimball office represents just another in a growing line of green Kimball Office showrooms as their Jasper, Indiana office rated Gold while the Chicago office earned a silver certification. Hopefully, their New York location will garner a gold certification.

We had heard a lot about the LEED Gold Gaia hotel in American Canyon (even we had to look up American Canyon and we live in San Fran) but we hadn’t actually visited it. Yes, we can only tell so much from a press release. The hotel, rather unassuming, sits right off busy Highway 29 just a short hop to both Napa and Sonoma Valley but once in the lobby or the rooms it’s not easy to hear any of the traffic. But onto the Green stuff. When checking in, it’s hard not to notice the kiosks with “green touch screens” which display how much water, electricity savings and how much CO2 the hotel emits. The overhead Solatube Tubular skylights represented an even more impressive aspect. Even on the cloudy day, the lobby had no artificial lighting, but you wouldn’t know it but the amount of natural light.

We got one of the choice rooms overlooking the man made lagoon which plays home to koi, frogs, various plant life and Artemis and Apollo (two impressive swans that live in the lagoon and strut their way around most of the hotel). By the way, the koi pond uses recycled water from the site which they clean and filter prior to entering the pond.

The sparten yet comfortable rooms offer lots of Green aspects. Small things like offering fair trade, organic coffee and not having those tiny shampoo bottles littering the bathroom made a big difference. Here they provide shampoo, lotion in bulk dispensers. We also like that all restrooms use recycled tiles and granite. While in the bathroom, we give wet kudos to the water saving low flow showerhead, which offer plenty of water pressure for one person (but not two, if you catch our drift).

We slept easy not only with a comfy, firm mattress but breathing easy with the low VOC paints were used throughout the rooms and rest of the hotel. It also helped us to know that solar panels provide 12% of the hotel’s electricity.

We know that a boutique type hotel needs a relaxing but unsustainable hot tub (yes, we partook and didn’t feel guilty) but we didn’t feel too keen about the microwave that inhabited our room but even with the little monster we felt pretty energized about our stay. It sure beats a stay in an unsustainable Motel 6.

We could very well come all the way to wine country without visiting some organic, sustainable and do we dare say biodynamic wineries. Stay tuned.

Normally, we live for the present. We’re not about events, deals, and projects that will hopefully start sometime in the future. We’re not big fans of Chevrolet announcing that in three years they plan to unveil the electric powered car the Volt. That’s great; in three years one of us may plan to get married or buy Microsoft. Maybe we should announce that now. That being said, the neighboring Bay Area counties (San Francisco, Marin and Berkeley) recently concocted plans to offer rebates of up to $5,000 for installing solar panels if homeowners use a local contractor. Coupled with state and federal incentives, that could cut in half the $21,000 cost for an average household. Because San Francisco knows that it’s not just about solar, the City will also cover up to 90 percent of the costs of making apartment buildings more energy-efficient, and will pay residents $150 to replace old appliances.

Those crazy green radicals in neighboring Berkeley will finance the cost of solar panels for homeowners who agree to pay the money back through a 20-year property tax assessment. Nearby Marin County offers a $500 rebate to homeowners who install solar systems.

For those who think that these rebate ideas only reside on the West Coast should know that Baltimore offers at least $2,000 toward closing costs for people who buy new homes close to where they work. They call the program the “Live Near Your Work” program. Pretty crazy, huh?

As for San Francisco’s program, the loan part of the program would need to be approved by voters as a ballot initiative, while the refund part would need the support of the Board of Supervisors, San Francisco’s never shy for publicity city council. If this program succeeds then we’ll give them all the Green pub that they can handle.

San Franciscans utter a lot about our lovely municipal transit system otherwise known as MUNI but now they have even more reason to spout off about it. Normally when we hear MUNI coming out of someone’s mouth it usually follows on the heels of “Damn.” Now we can change that utterance to “Green Muni”. Sure, the 71 bus might not come on time but when it does arrive at least it will be running on biodiesel. In fact, San Fran now claims to have the largest green fleet in the nation.Of course, the fleet includes not just MUNI but ambulances and street sweepers as well. The fleet runs on virgin soy oil bought from producers in the Midwest. Sure, we’d like the fuel purchased from somewhere local but hopefully that will come in time.

The environmentally friendlier fuel will hopefully sharply reduce toxic diesel exhaust linked to a higher risk of asthma and premature death. Just last month, Mayor Newsom announced a new project called SFGreasecycle, a program to collect fats and cooking oils from restaurants, at no charge.All of the city’s 1,500 diesel vehicles power up using the fuel known as B20, a mix of 20 percent soy-based biofuel and 80 percent petroleum diesel fuel, which reduces toxic emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and other pollutants that lead to global warming.

Although B20 marks an improvement, it’s still 80 percent petroleum diesel. We’re looking for B100. And we have word of a B100 station opening soon.

From time to time we hear talk about builders and developers saying that they can’t or won’t build Green because of “initial first cost” and Green buildings being “more expensive” to build (incorrect) but we’re glad to see what going on with 555 Mission Street. Apparently there were many Green naysayers in the Tishman-Speyer company saying that they couldn’t build 555 Green because of the costs and time constraints. A little green sparrow also chirped that the head of Tishman-Speyer sent out a companywide memo saying that he wanted all of their buildings to be at least LEED certified. He asked that any memos saying why Green building couldn’t be done be sent to his office. Know what? He didn’t get any memos back. And surprise, surprise look what can be accomplished when a Green memo comes from the top. Now, 555 is registered for LEED. Now we’re not sure about what level their aiming for but the space looks promising.
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In a city known for its famous writers, San Francisco got another taste of literary excellence. Sure we have the likes of beat writers such as Jack Kerouac and notable romance writers like Danielle Steel but last night the City got a taste of Green writing. To some, local Green hero Eric Corey Freed represents only the Organic Architect but now he’s become a literary giant with the book release party for another in the “Dummies” series – yes, now the world can read “Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies.” The book, with its typical rough overview, offers the wry wit combined with the informative Green building info that makes Mr. Freed so notable in the Bay Area.

The book party setting, the dark and claustrophobic Temple bar didn’t exactly fit the image of the typical literary signing venue. Maybe next time it could be an indie literary hangout or (gasp) even a large chain bookstore. The snacks, although heavily grazed on, certainly lacked the organic flavor. But we didn’t come for the snacks, we got somewhat of a giddy delight just to have Señor Freed autograph our soon to be valuable first edition. (EBay in a few years anyone?)

Finally, we were especially proud ourselves upon entering the downstairs part of the venue because as several people mentioned the Ford modeling agency had a model type party at the exact same time in the upper part of the club. Long leggy models or Green architects? Who do you think we are?