Infusing green building knowledge into our lives starts with a yearning to create a positive, lasting change in the way we interact with the planet. That inspiration can lead us to seek out information and guidance from others to join a movement to a more sustainable lifestyle. We know that, although we may not be…
Tag Archives: Environment
20
Apr
Apr
Lands’ End and Joe Lamp’l, the host of PBS’s Growing a Greener World and the expert behind @JoeGardener, invite everyone to celebrate Earth Day this year by planting a tree. The #PlantATreeLE campaign is a tree planting initiative that will involve Lands’ End employees and a social movement instructing and encouraging consumers to plant trees across…
20
Apr
Apr
Are you considering remodeling, building a new home, or just wondering how to improve your dream home’s sustainability? Consider natural stone!
23
Dec
Dec
HFC (hydrofluorocarbon) emissions contribute to climate change, and Canada and many other nations are taking a stand to reduce their emissions by 85% in the next 20 years. HFCs are commonly found in refrigerators, air conditioners, foam products, and other items world-wide. Current global HFC emissions are the equivalent of approximately 1 billion tons of carbon…
21
Jul
Jul
Brownfield developments, sites or buildings that have environmental contamination, are not usually the most desirable projects. However, a web site called Brownfield Listings is giving these projects a new lease on life. A small town in Missouri wanted to convert an abandoned school into a community center and emergency shelter. It put out three requests…
24
Nov
Nov
This post is part of Important Media’s “More About the Love, Less About the Stuff” holidays series. This year, we’re talking all about redefining holiday traditions to focus on sustainability and compassion over cutting down trees and fighting for more stuff. Since it’s well past Halloween and officially the “holiday season,” here is a…
03
Sep
Sep
Social media is helping many start-up companies gain followers, earn profit and take off. One company that was featured on Kick Starter and on startup-USA.com is The Green Tower Project. The Green Tower Project is a self-contained vertical garden/composting system. “It’s a Garden, it’s a composter – It’s the Garden Tower! The unique self-contained vertical…
18
Jul
Jul
This post is part of the Green Materials Report series. GBE is providing information on various building materials and what makes them green. Each post focuses on one material. We will be looking at the ingredients in the material, how it is used, what makes it green, and any green product certifications that it has earned. We…
17
Apr
Apr
Everyone has their heroes, their role-models, their if-I-could-be-like-anyone-it-would-be persons and I am no different. I wrote about his past accomplishments, including his cardboard cathedral and paper tube relief houses on GBE a couple of years ago and now my career hero was given the ultimate award in architecture this past month. He is Shigeru Ban…
16
Apr
Apr
Life cycle assessment (LCA) looks at the environmental impacts of a building material over the entire life of the material, from extraction to disposal. LCA attempts to quantify these impacts for the purpose of comparing materials or buildings. What is measured? LCA is a scientific study of the environmental inputs and outputs to a building…
10
Mar
Mar
There are tons of inventions that may be small in scale but are big in economical value. Simply put, finding another use for an item that will go in the trash is a huge value. There are multiple web sites available to help beginner inventors get their start, such as Kickstarter, Invent Help and Indie…
30
Sep
Sep
The Story of Eagleyew: A High Efficiency Natural Building on Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada I’m pleased to say that I have been building Natural Buildings for a number of years now. My work has taken me up and down the West coast of North America, with a focus in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve been calling…
17
Dec
Dec
CSO Arquitectura teamed with prefab construction specialists Torsan and created Sistema Abierto de Viviendas Modulares Sostenibles (SAVMS) which translate to the “open sustainable modular housing system.”
07
Dec
Dec
LEED is discussed a lot in sustainable ratings of buildings but there are other certifications that buildings can achieve and theses certificates and ratings are achieved through many different measurements. Many buildings are discussed with new technologies like vertical gardens and a sustainable winery. These are just a few examples of other organizations that rank sustainability:…
18
Oct
Oct
It is crucial that we implement more recycling and reuse programs into our everyday practice because if everyone on the earth consumed resources at the rate that Americans do, we would currently need five earths to keep up and this ratio will continue to grow as the population continues to grow. But we have the abilities and the technologies, already in existence to change this. We need to implement into our everyday lives zero waste system practices.
25
Jul
Jul
New research is being conducted on more energy sustainable residential combined heat and power systems (resCHP). The research is being conducted by Pike Research which joined Navigant’s global Energy Practices on July 1, 2012 which provides in-depth analysis of global clean technology markets. The systems are small generation systems that produce electricity for residences while also capturing heat that would normally go to waste.
21
Jul
Jul
As products are developed to be internationally used, it is important that they can be made from local products, wherever they are needed, affordable in those locations, and sustainable in all aspects. Many of these products take years to develop but are a necessity for the future of underdeveloped and overdeveloped areas. One such product,…
18
Jul
Jul
Hotels hire liquidators to remove and re-sell their used furnishings.