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 [...]
…and I dropped the blogging ball! More about the Solar Decathlon…
Sorry for going on hiatus after my last post from DC about the Solar Decathlon. The truth of the matter is that the weather was 100% miserable the entire time I was there, and I had not the time nor the space to blog: my hands were numb and it was raining, thus making it [...]
Outstanding.
Tonight on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart interviewed William Kamkwamba, a young man from Malawi, Africa, who built a windmill in front of his family’s home after quitting school because of the famine in his country. William visited the library in his village – which was sponsored by the U.S., by the way – and [...]
Weatherization: not just a long, fancy word
I love it when the topic of weatherization comes up in political debates or speeches. To me, it means that the people in charge are actually paying attention and realize that buildings need to be more energy efficient. But, what exactly IS weatherization?
First the definition: Dictionary.com says that weatherization is the process of making (a [...]
Be lazy! Buy nothing! Do less!
While it’s not exactly a winning strategy if we are going to get our depressed consumer economy at least partly back on track, I have to say I agree in principle with this article by Matt McDermott on Planet Green. Simply put, the consumer economy is, itself, largely to blame for many of the problems [...]
Every city should have one of these
Today I visited the Portland ReBuilding Center, and hopefully you can get an idea of what it is from the title: it’s a place where people can donate used building materials so they can be sold again for new building projects. It’s building recycling, or, “rebuilding”. And it’s great! Have a look:
I am originally from [...]
What is home?
I just got done moving out of an apartment in Downtown Los Angeles that I occupied for two years. I managed to purge about 80% of my furniture and at least 50% of my stuff. A long and exhausting struggle to move my remaining belongings into storage really made me start to think [...]
Long, full day
I’ve gotten all angles of the Dwell on Design conference today, including a foray into a conversation led by Dwell editor Sam Grawe and an unexpected visit into a class presented by the AIA LA as part of their Mobius content. Good stuff. Final thoughts tomorrow after I’ve had time to digest it [...]
Inside an Airstream Trailer
Currently writing to you from inside an Airstream trailer! Lots of fun stuff here today….if the Airstream’s a rockin’ don’t come knockin’…
keep looking »Blog Action Day 2009!
Subscription Options:
