Gottfried Green

Thanks to Damon, a fellow Floridian building green- visit their blog here for always checking in AND sharing a love hate relationship with another FL couple's building of a home near us in Englewood on Anna Marie Island in Sarasota. It's the New York Times' Dream Home Diaries and it can drive a sane person mad. Both of us have been following I believe since it started. i am personally jealous that I do not have The Times sponsoring this blog just for all the feedback I would receive. The reason the blog is annoying is because they aren't building anything special, certainly not green or a unique design, they have a budget of 700k, and they don't respond to the readers comments except once monthly and only to just a few. Basically it is a waste of the readership although I still find myself reading it usually just for the comments and to confirm that although my house is my house at least I tried to think things through a little bit. If I'd have had the 700k budget I could have had the dream home we originally set out to have with all the high-end green this and green that, not to mention a true passive solar design. Anyway, I am not one to judge, I guess it is just jealousy of their opportunity with all that cash and exposure to do something really interesting and instead be completely absent-minded about almost every detail. The Times has many interesting reports on current trends in building and design, I always wonder if they ever read the paper they work for... as writers, aren't they curious about what's new out there?

Labels: blogs

Since our project is nearing completion I started another blog which will be devoted specifically to the application process we will be going through to see if the house qualifies for a Green Home Designation from the Florida Green Building Coalition. It follows a very specific checklist in 8 categories: Energy, Water, Lot Choice, Site, Health, Materials, Disaster Mitigation, and a General category. Check in with Gottfried Green Home to follow our progress in receiving the designation.

Labels: blogs, FGBC

Labels: blogs

I received an email from The Ramsays, newlyweds up in Calgary who are also building green. You can view their blog here. They launched their blog early in 2006 and have made great strides forward. "While the project is still in its infancy, the vision is to build an environmentally responsible, small foot-print house that blends into Calgary’s historical neighbourhood of Ramsay, just outside the downtown core. The house will be primarily made of concrete and heated by the earth — with insulated-concrete-forms and super high-efficiency gas heating."

Labels: blogs

A friend forwarded us this blog found on the NYTimes.com. It is called Dream Home Diaries. They moved to FL to build their dream house. It doesn't hurt to write for the NY Times to help with exposure but I was interested in the comments. In light of the fact that no one visits our blog yet, I can't even defend all the mistakes we are sure to make in the process. So while reading the comments of the readers of Dream Home Diaries, I read every criticism I know is out there. The comments speak of "be sure to build green" and "aren't you worried that FL will be under water soon?" I do hope they build green but as far as the threat of global warming, we are going to go down fighting. I do agree with their sentiment- it is really beautiful down here and that was the point of this I think. This is their "About us" on the blog:"They've found an idyllic tiny town in Florida, they've bought a piece of land and now Paul B. Brown and Alison Davis are setting out to build their dream house. How hard can it be, they wonder, even though they live 1,500 miles away, they've never built a home before and they don't know anything about architects, builders, local zoning laws or financing? Chronicling their adventures on this blog for Great Homes, they are about to find out."

Labels: blogs

Archinect posted a link to The Happy New House which according to the website is, "A “new millennium” single-family home -- remodeled from an existing mid-century dwelling -- highlighting bang-for-the-buck design forwardness + a sensitivity to family dynamics." The site is unique showing its cool virtual concept coupled with the work-in-progress photos of the nitty gritty.

Labels: blogs, design, prefab, websites