Published on July 1st, 2008
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I recently came across an online game called “Design Your Dream Home” on the Green Is Universal website. I was shocked by what I found and how bad the game really was. I prefer to focus on the positive aspects of green building, but this strikes me as so misguided that I could not let it pass unremarked.
Whoever designed this game has no understanding of real green building in any meaningful sense. Instead of providing any insight or education about green building, the game reduces design of a green house to nothing more than a couple of mouse clicks. “Choose the climate construction materials and energy sources and see how green you can be.” The oversimplification this presents is a huge disservice to visitors to the site who play the game. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on June 19th, 2008
Editor’s note: You might expect a post about an event called NEOCON to appear on Red, Green & Blue, but, as our friends at GreenBuildingTalk point out, NEOCON is a trade show for interior furnishings (with no particular ideological leanings, we’re guessing). The show took place in GBT’s hometown of Chicago, so they got a first-hand look at NEOCON’s green offerings. This post was originally published on Tuesday, June 17, 2008.
The National Exposition of Contract Interior Furnishings (NEOCON) was held this past week in Chicago, and GreenBuildingTalk was there to check out the unique combination of over 1,200 residential and commercial showrooms and exhibits. With our goal of discovering new green products, Josh and I made our way through the maze of office furniture, flooring, wallcoverings, and hundreds of chairs.
Amidst the legions of chairs, our first discovery was RealForm Technology’s plant-based polyurethane foams, products used for seating applications. The polyurethane foams contain 20% bio-based content, and the company’s laboratory trials have achieved even higher Bio-Polyol substitution, foams capable of being molded for any type of furniture, including sofas. RealForm’s Realbio foam product is leading the way in eco-friendly furniture foam, and is one to keep an eye on.
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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 April 22nd, 2008
Tuesday, April 22 is Earth Day, and we thought that a couple special posts would be appropriate on this date. Building has an enormous impact on the Earth, and green building offers the opportunity to lessen or eliminate many of those effects. Today, in a series of articles titled Elements of Building, we take a look at how Water, Energy and Materials each factor in to building operation and building design.
In addition to discussing green building, let us also take this opportunity to remind you of all the other Green Options blogs in the network and invite you to take a minute to look at some of the other writers and their Earth Day thoughts:
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Published on April 17th, 2008
On Tuesday, April 22, the Sundance Channel will present as part of their The Green series “The Greening of Southie,” a documentary on the construction of Boston’s first green residential building, the Macallan, which is seeking a LEED gold rating. If the idea of watching a documentary on the construction of a condo building doesn’t sound too exciting to you, I cannot recommend this film enough to anyone who is or wants to be a part of green building. It presents the challenges and excitement of building green with equal measures of idealism and cynicism, juxtaposing the suits who see the project as ideas and paper with the laborers who actually have to put the building together. As the project grows, the two come closer to understanding the other side.
Fittingly, the film begins with a group of incredulous workers in hard hats listening to a project manager describe what a green building is. It turns out he doesn’t exactly know himself. “What does it give you?,” “what’s the point?” they ask. “I can’t answer that exactly,” he responds. But the skeptical laborers make jokes, dismissing the whole idea. After the manager explains that the condos will have “double flush” toilets, one man jokes, “I use that a lot - that system. One never seems to do the job.” Read the rest of this entry »
Published on March 29th, 2008
Solar Power in Building Design by Peter Gevorkian is subtitled “The Engineer’s Complete Design Resource,” and it is certainly an apt description of this extensive volume.
The book goes far beyond what a casual reader interested in solar power would need to know, but there is a wealth of good information inside, and it is likely to be useful for a wide range of readers who have more than just a casual interest in solar power. It is largely concentrated on electrical generation strategies with solar power, although the final chapter of the book deals with passive solar heating technologies.
This book is more than just an engineering technical manual. In addition to being a resource for engineers and architects, building managers, owners (and here I’m thinking more of commercial building manager and operators rather than the average homeowner), and other non-technical readers will find a wealth of information about current energy programs such as the California Solar Initiative Program and about the economics of solar power systems–aspects that play a major role in determining whether or not to install a solar power system.
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Published on February 16th, 2008
Building with Awareness is an interesting package loaded with information. It is a DVD with an accompanying book (or a book that comes with a DVD included, depending upon how you look at it). The two nicely complement one another in a fairly unique way. The story contained in the DVD documents the construction of the author’s own small (800 sq. ft.) home built in Albuquerque, NM. The book goes into more detail about the solutions and approaches that are taken in the construction of this home. Together, it is a very instructive combination which showcases a number of sustainable construction methods used in this project.
The book does not try to be all things to all people. It documents a specific project and shows how specific procedures were used in it. Everything, from preparing the subgrade and the foundations, to installing the roofing and finishing the walls, is covered. The extensive nature of the coverage is useful not only in demonstrating how to execute the various parts of the construction, but also how the parts work together and complement one another.
However, while it shows how these methods and materials were used, it does not go into such sufficient detail that it should be taken as a how-to or a do-it-yourself guide, at least, not without some additional information. The book does contain reference points that show where in the DVD they are discussing a particular material, technique or decision. This allows the reader to readily turn to the video presentation and match it with the information presented in the book. Reading about a type of construction and then seeing how it is demonstrated is a useful conjunction of two different forms of presentation. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on February 15th, 2008
The greenness of a building element isn’t always clearly defined. Garbage disposals are one example. Florida Green Building Coalition gives points in their new home plan for not installing one (See Section 2). Others say, in comparison to landfilling your banana peels, a bit of power and water is an efficient way to deal with non-meat food wastes. However, it seems that those ‘bits’ of power and water do add up:
“Hilton San Francisco, the largest hotel on the West Coast, removed all of its garbage disposal units in 2002, and Jo Licata, community projects manager, says it has made a big difference in mechanical and water expense.” (SF Chronicle)
So what are the alternatives? Can a single user without the ability to compost in the traditional pile way still do the ultimate recycling - turn food waste back into food?
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Published on January 9th, 2008
I’m not a huge fan of paper magazines. They’re hard to recycle in my area (they’re no good for sheet mulching), and generally I want more in-depth discussion of a particular subject than a monthly can spare.
But I might make an exception for one that is new to me, GreenBuilder. I’m impressed. Not only by the coverage, which actually explains concepts for an ordinary thinking person instead of that annoying bizspeak that many industry mags fall into, the vocabulary that doesn’t inform you at all. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on December 12th, 2007
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?
