Things that keep me up at night
The title of this post is really a bit deceptive, because, having been through six years of architecture school, there are very few things that can keep me from sleeping. But, IF I had insomnia, I think the following things might contribute. And it’s not that I am a perpetual worrier, but I’m just all [...]
Living Future 10
Greetings from the Cascadia GBC’s Living Future 10 “unConference”. This annual event in Seattle is a chance for many “deep green thought leaders” from around the country to gather and talk about how much energy and resources our buildings require, what this means for our potential as a society, and how we can try to [...]
Bundling up your house
I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about insulation lately. Part of that is because of HOME STAR, which provides incentives for homeowners if they choose to upgrade the insulation in their house, among other things. My explanation of HOME STAR inevitably leads to explaining some of the measures available for incentives, and insulation [...]
Living on a giant crusty earthen raft
So, there’s been a lot of earthquakes lately. Haiti back in January; Chile, last weekend; Japan, back in February; California, constantly for about the past month; and Taiwan yesterday. I know many scientists will say “these events are not related”, but, as I reminded my friends yesterday, people act like we don’t live on a [...]
HOME STAR: This is kind of a big deal
There are several energy and climate bills floating around in the Congress right now, including the Kerry/Boxer (or Kerry/Graham/Lieberman) Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (which has been in the works since – but not because – I thanked them here) ; the Bingaman/Murkowski American Clean Energy Leadership Act, or ACELA; the Cantwell/Collins CLEAR [...]
Want to get a home energy rating?
…Well if so, let me know, because I’m at a conference with several hundred home energy raters this week!
First of all, you may want to know what a “home energy rating” consists of. The funny thing is, there’s actually LOTS of home energy ratings. There’s the HERS, which is given by ResNet, which is the [...]
Unplug, or the Polar Bear Gets it
AKA, the Greenlite at Dartmouth University energy saving program. First, go to Greenlite’s home page here.
What do you see? Do you see a happy polar bear, playing with a butterfly?
Perhaps he’s taking a nap next to his “friends”, the baby seal and the baby polar bear…
Or, maybe you see a polar bear that’s running… you [...]
Q: What’s wee, made of straw bale, and awesome?
A: The ModCell Straw-Bale Pre-Fab home!
File this under “better late than never”… I just learned about this house and knew I had to talk about it here because it embodies many of the things that I love in one tidy, very livable package. Observe:
It’s a house, which is great, since I love house design;
It’s made [...]
America’s Greenest Building Code
Last week, the California Building Standards Commission unanimously adopted the first-in-the-nation mandatory Green Building Standards Code, also known as “CALGREEN”. The new standards take effect starting January 1, 2011 and will require all new buildings in the state to be more energy efficient and environmentally responsible. The new CALGREEN code will require:
a 20 percent mandatory [...]
Green Day Forum
Today I’m at the Earth Advantage Institute’s Green Day Forum in Portland. I’m surrounded by impassioned and brilliant green building professionals from all aspects of the industry. For instance, I’ve already met builders and realtors who came to educate themselves and I got some literature from one of the only certified energy efficient [...]
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