Gottfried Green- Green building and sustainable living in Southwest Fl.

July 21, 2006

Prefab we can't have

So far, The Glidehouse by architect Michelle Kaufmann is the perfect prefab for us. The problem is they don't do FL and they DO blow down. We can certainly pick up on some of the design elements. The Glidehouse is different from many Prefabs because she uses green materials throughout. The prefab idea is still a good idea if we can find something in the FL area. We love the layout though so we are using it to help us plan how we'll be moving around in our new place once it's built. See more about The Glidehouse at the Link.

Labels: design, prefab

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 2:48 PM 1 Comments

July 18, 2006

The Serpentine Solar Shuttle

We will be getting a boat once we get down to FL algthough we have no idea what type-if only there was a solar powered boat. Briton's solar ferry transports travelers across a lake in Hyde Park. "This is the most technologically advanced shuttle in the world right now," said designer Christoph Behling, who also designed the world's largest solar boat in Hamburg, Germany. "It is made of entirely stainless steel which means it never gets old. It will pave the way for future boats and trains and other means of transportation," Behling said.

Labels: Energy, water

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 4:44 PM 1 Comments

July 17, 2006

Green Building and Brad Pitt on Today Show

Brad Pitt seems to be very into a green future. In June I posted info about the PBS's e2, the Economics of Being Environmentally Conscious which he was involved. From a heads-up from of friend, the Today Show this morning spoke about a competition he is sponsoring to build green in New Orleans. At the Link, you can review the finalists, vote and see the interview. They are set to announce the winner in August. Also, visit the competition's other sponsor globalgreen.org. They offer info like, Ten Tips for Greening Your Home and an Eco Glossary.

Labels: design

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 12:57 PM 0 Comments

July 16, 2006

Million-dollar homes with composting toilets

Although we aren't in this price range, a June NYTimes article (at the Link) highlights secondary home owners going green mostly out of guilt that they waste so much energy in their primary residence. Instead of retrofitting what they have, they are putting that money into building green from scratch. Although this house is 2 hours outside of Chicago, the article has a few comments from people in various locations stating their stand on what it means to be green. "Here in Manhattan, we have no control over the heating or the insulation or the windows in our apartment," said Mr. Messerschmidt, 46. "And I can't afford to buy a hybrid car. So we use organic cleaning products and eat organically, and in High Falls, we're trying to be as green as possible — do the best that we can with what we've got."

Labels: design

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 4:30 PM 0 Comments

July 13, 2006

Zero energy house

OK last reference to the Newsweek article but it's chock-full of the feeling that everyone is going green based on common sense. When Jeff Martin, a program manager for Microsoft, set out to build a sustainable house near Charlotte, N.C., he specified something that looked like a house, not "a yurt, or a spaceship, or something made out of recycled cans and tires in the middle of the desert." He turned to Steven Strong, a Massachusetts-based renewable-energy consultant who says he "fell in love" with solar energy when he realized that "you could put a thin sliver of silicon, with no moving parts and no waste, in the sun and generate electricity forever." Strong designed an unobtrusive solar-cell array on the roof of Martin's conventional stucco-and-stone house to provide free electricity, and a sun-powered heater that produces so much hot water Martin can use it to wash his driveway. "We never run out," Martin boasts, "even when my wife's family comes to visit over Christmas."

Labels: design, Energy

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 2:16 PM 0 Comments

The New Yorker to Newsweek- Green stuff

Back in May, The New Yorker covered Whole Foods and the organic movement and what it means in big business. Media seems to be signaling a green trend that is becoming more obvious than what traditionally only concerned outsiders. I think of the treehuggers sitting around dreaming of totally sustained little villages where everyone walks or rides bikes, buys locally and brings their one kahki shopping bag to the grocery to end the need for doubled plastic bags forever. I finally had a chance to read the Newsweek article fully (again at the Link). On a mainstream level, a real movement can be seen from Walmart (not a fan but they are getting lots of press for their efforts) to Ford to be green. It makes for great public relations points but also there is some passion behind it. When big business gets involved, whatever the motivation, times they will be a changin' very soon. Keep your eyes peeled for the new demographic- LOHAS, Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability. "The people who used to drive the VW bus to the co-op are now driving the Volvo to Whole Foods," exults David Brotherton, a Seattle consultant in corporate responsibility.

Labels: materials

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 1:33 PM 0 Comments

Green building 101- Water

inhabitat.com's green building 101 series is a gem. It is extremely informative as far as laying out the main categories and then itemizing the specifics for each. Last week was Location (which I am sure our lot would be in question according to some standards) and this week it's Water. Now here's an area we plan on trying to win some green points. There are so many ways to reuse water and it isn't that complicated either building from scratch or with an existing home. "The first step for increasing water efficiency at home is to reduce the use of drinkable water for non-consumption purposes. There are two ways to do this: collect rainwater and reuse indoor wash water. You can install cisterns above or below ground that will collect and store run-off from rooftops and other impervious surfaces; as well as from laundry machines, dishwashers, bathtubs and sinks (this is classified as grey water, meaning that it does not include human waste or sewage)." Read more from inhabitat.com at the Link.

Labels: water

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 12:28 PM 0 Comments

July 11, 2006

Greener for Grenier

While we are still packing up our house in Brooklyn, I continue to miss so many obvious resources. I found this on Jeff McIntire-Strasburg's sustainablog.org. He references the Newsweek coverage (at the Link) of the current state of going green in America. I know the focus shouldn't be on the Entourage actor Adrian Grenier but his Brooklyn house is right around the block from ours and so it feels very close to home. I still need to read the whole article but Miss Gottfried is up in arms over my time at the computer so I'll be referencing other parts of this article the rest of this week.

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 6:27 PM 0 Comments

"What Perils Do You Face?"

I found this mentioned on Sun Herald's Harold Bubil blog which is below at the Link. The Institute for Business and Home Safety has since 2000 been building "Fortified for Safety" homes that are becoming popular in FL. Apparently they are affordable but I don't yet know the specifics. Since the focus is on fortified and not neccesarily green or sustainable this is still only half the battle for us. However, if we go to visit a model maybe we could get hurricane/flood (proof) ideas to take away as we design something with our architect. From the video on their website ibhs.org, it looks like they use similar wall systems as some of the one covered earlier in this blog. I have a feeling these things will eventually begin to overlap and pull us closer to decisions on materials.

Labels: global warming

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 5:46 PM 0 Comments

July 08, 2006

The lost practice of rainwater harvesting

Here's one I think everyone could do easily. Just catch your rainwater in a container and reuse it- outside of course. At the link are a few FAQs from a site rainwaterharvesting.org.
This is a practice that had been used about 2000 years ago but fell out of favor. They did it back then even without these handy containers with a spout on them.

Labels: water

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 2:25 PM 1 Comments

Xeriscaping

I've been seeing this word floating around and just found on inhabitat.com that it was coined by the Colorado Water Wise Council. "Why Xeriscape? For most of the western United States over fifty percent of residential water used is applied to landscape and lawns. Xeriscape can reduce landscape water use by 60% or more." The water use for house and land is a big concern for us and we are hoping to find a water plan that will use grey water, rain barrels etc. but there's so much more to learn.

Labels: landscaping

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 2:05 PM 0 Comments

A crash course in green building

Over at inhabitat.com there is a 10 week green building how to course. We've been busy packing and I am a few days behind with posts. This one will come in handy as another resource. Green Building 101 will delve into all aspects of environmental design, with the intent to define what building green really entails. Information will be organized around LEED's main categories:

1. Location and Linkages
2. Sustainable Sites
3. Water Efficiency
4. Energy and Atmosphere
5. Materials and Resources
6. Indoor Air Quality
7. Innovation and Design Practice

The program, which began June 28, is published on Wednesdays.

Link
posted by Mrs Gottfried at 1:37 PM 0 Comments

July 06, 2006

Looks like we chose the right place-

Although we are just outside of Sarasota the fact that there is so much green/sustainable building so close creates a great resource. At the Link, the Herald Tribune focuses on the library and a fire station built green. "Brown, ...a LEED-accredited professional, designed the North Sarasota Public Library, which was completed in November 2004. Asked what green building means, he said, "It shows the public that it can be done and that it does make sense. Until someone does it, it's difficult to get the paying public to recognize that. The county acts as an icebreaker for sustainable architecture. People follow behind -- builders, developers and homeowners."
That's exactly what we are trying to do for the homeowner and these represent to us great hands-on learning tools. We won't have the budgets these projects had but any representation provides valuable information of what's possible (and what most likely we won't be able to afford).