Archive for the ‘Green real estate’ Category
April 13th, 2008
Eco-friendly Cabinets: The Definitive Guide
If you are considering any kitchen or bathroom remodeling, likely cabinets are on your list. In any green home remodel, incorporating eco-friendly cabinet choices into your plans is a great idea.
Fortunately there are many excellent options available to us now as green consumers. We are trying here to create the definitive list of eco-friendly cabinet options available across the United States.
First and foremost to embrace sustainability we should try to save as much of existing cabinets as possible– perhaps you can just put a new face on your cabinets and save the underlying ”boxes”? That can be a great way to reduce your use of new materials and cut your waste output. But if you need entirely new cabinets, here are some great options from the leading green cabinet makers in the U.S.
Bamboo Cabinets
AlterECO creates unique and beautiful custom bamboo cabinets built to high standards of craftsmanship, utility and sustainability. Based in San Francisco.
Grass Cabinetry creates custom, green cabinets in Sacramento, California. They also do work in hardwoods.
Laguna Bamboo is another leader in bamboo cabinets. Surprise– they are located in Laguna, CA.
Cabinet Makers Working with Mixed Materials (Bamboo, FSC Certified woods, reclaimed woods, etc.)
M8 Cabinetry is an innovative firm that is creating recycled and recyclable cabinet solutions. Their work is modern and beautiful.
Kirei board is a gorgeous option for cabinet fronts. Kirei is a unique material made from compressed sorghum stalks. Please give it a look!
Artistic Freedom Designs, based in San Diego, uses FSC woods, Smith and Fong Plyboo bamboo plywood, biocomposites, salvaged woods, and AFM safecoat finishes.
Sustainabuilt is based in Boise, Idaho and uses a wide variety of sustainable building materials in their cabinets, including Plyboo and FSC Certified hardwoods.
Neil Kelly Cabinets is a leader in the field and uses FSC certified woods, formaldehyde-free agriboard case/drawer material, and low VOC glues/adhesives/finishes.
Woodshanti is a wood-working cooperative based in San Francisco. They do gorgeous work in FSC hardwoods, and/or reclaimed woods.
CitiLog, based in New Jersey, reclaimed wood for use in their cabinets and other products. They also use non-toxic bonders and sealants.
Green Leaf Cabinetry, based in Cleveland, OH, manufactures cabinets using FSC certified woods, formaldehyde-free bonding agents, and low-VOC finishes.
Fiddle Head Designs, based in Brunswick, Maine, uses locally-milled, sustainable woods, and non-toxic glues and sealants. They also purchase 100% of the shop’s electricity from wind power!
Green Forest Kitchens & Baths builds cabinets from 100% reclaimed woods. They are based in Whitewater, Wisconsin.
Humabuilt creates a line of cabinets from their Wheatcore product, a LEED certified wheat-board.
Breathe Easy Cabinetry uses responsibly harvested solid woods which are formaldehyde-free and non-toxic water-based glues and finishes. They are based on the East Coast but have reps across the country.
Case Green Cabinetry is based in Denver, CO, and builds cabinets out of wheat board composites or Medite II.
John C. Duval Designs offers custom casework using sustainable materials. They are located in White Post, Virginia. (Also a green builder.)
GreenTech Cabinety offers a variety of sustainable materials and finishes. They have dealers across the country.
Blue Plum Design offers a variety of eco-friendly cabinet options. Based in San Francisco.
We have eco-friendly cabinet resources listed across the country– search your area by visiting our cabinet category.
Also be sure to check our green retail outlets across the country as many of these stores carry mutliple lines of eco-friendly cabinets: search your area by visiting our green retail category.
Are you a green cabinet maker and would like to be added to this list? Please send an email to info@lowimpactliving.com.
April 9th, 2008
Green Apartment Resources
Many people write to us asking for help on how to make an apartment green. It’s a good question because you often can’t make many of the structural changes you would make to a home when you live in an apartment. But renters, do not despair! There are more and better resources for green apartment dwellers coming out every day.
First, we wrote a piece a while back with lots of meaty tips on how to green your apartment. You can cut your energy & water use, get rid of your junk mail, embrace composting, and much more. Please give it a read.
Another great resource is one of our favorite sites– Apartment Therapy. And they have recently launched a sister site called Re-Nest, which focuses on “Abundant design for green homes.” The latter site does not focus only on apartments, but there are lots of great green ideas in there you can use. If you’re a renter, you’ll want to spend some good quality time on both sites. And if you’re student, be sure to check out the AT feature on How To Green Your Dorm Room!
Treehugger also did a very good feature on How To Green Your Rental.
Natural Home Magazine has also covered some excellent green apartment features. One is on a green remodel of a New York apartment. The also covered the conversion of a single-man’s pad into a green lover’s nest in San Francisco.
You might also want to check out the adventures of No Impact Man. Colin Beavan and his family have worked for the past year to make no net impact on the environment– all while living in a 750 square foot apartment in New York City. It’s an amazing undertaking and we all have a lot to learn from Colin’s efforts.
Another fairly new blog we’re watching and hope you will visit is Green Your Apartment.
And if you thought you couldn’t compost in your apartment, here is an excellent video on Apartment Composting 101!
Have other resources we should know about? Please post a comment!
February 8th, 2008
LEED for Homes Unveiled
You may have heard of LEED for Homes and thought “what exactly does it mean?” We’re here to lift the veil. The LEED for Homes program, newly released by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), is a rating system that promotes environmentally responsible design and the construction of high performance green homes. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and the LEED methodology first became popular in the commercial building sector. The USGBC has recently come out with the LEED for Homes program and it is causing quite a stir in the green building and sustainable living communities.
The program is comprised of a point system adding up to a final score for a home. Builders and designers (and homeowners) can earn points by employing green strategies and technologies throughout the construction process. Certifying a home comes at a cost (see below), but will depend on the size and level of certification. You can go for Certified (45 – 59 points), Silver (60 – 74 points), Gold (75 – 89 points), or Platinum (90 – 136 points). Although there is no way we can summarize 136 points in this blog entry, hopefully we will help you make an informed decision by providing some key strategies and information about resources available to you.
Ratings Categories
LEED for Homes measures your home through 8 categories of performance. You can earn points in any and all of these categories. Location and Linkage (LL) compares your home in relation to the larger community. Sustainable Sites (SS) looks at the property and impact of your home on the site. Water Efficiency (WE) identifies indoor and outdoor water saving practices. Energy and Atmosphere (EA) analyzes energy consumption and efficiency. Materials and Resources (MR) encourages the use of environmentally preferable materials and ways to minimize construction waste. Indoor Environmental Quality (EQ) measures the improvement of indoor air quality and exposure to pollutants. Innovation & Design Process (ID) identifies exemplary performance above and beyond the rating system requirements. Finally, Awareness & Education (AE) provides education to the homeowner, tenant, and/or building manager about the operations and maintenance of the green features.
If you are interested in going for a LEED rating, the first thing we have to caution you about is the size of your home. Bigger is not better in the LEED for Homes rating system, which penalizes people for building a larger home. The rating system states that “A 100% increase in home size yields an increase in annual energy usage of 15% to 50%, depending on the design, location, and occupants of the home”. Not only does the energy consumption increase with a bigger home, but consequently the materials and resources used increase as well. Minimizing the environmental impact of your home will gain you more points, so think small and Low Impact!
The biggest impact our homes have on the environment is in energy usage. Thus, the category that gains you the most points in the LEED for Homes rating system is Energy and Atmosphere. However, cutting your energy use must go deeper than just using compact fluorescent light bulbs. It has to be a lifestyle change by analyzing every mechanical system, every appliance, and every household habit that consumes energy in your home. The LEED rating system emphasizes insulating your home properly, having energy efficient windows and doors, using Energy Star appliances and lighting, and offsetting consumption with renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. Extra points can be gained for home orientation and passive solar design.
Specifying green materials and considering environmental attributes will impact performance, maintenance and value. The use of high performance materials will save money on the maintenance and operating costs of a home. The LEED rating system encourages the use of durable green materials that are manufactured locally, have recycled content and are recyclable. Reclaimed lumber, for example, is more durable since it is from old growth trees, is structurally more exact in sizing, and is clear of any toxins like formaldehyde. Using materials that are sourced, manufactured, and delivered within a 500 mile radius of the building site will support local companies and cut down on packaging and shipping. Often we do not think about where the products come from, how they are made, or even the culture of the manufacturer. Selecting materials for your home using the LEED guidelines helps to recognize that there is more to materials than aesthetics.
Good air quality in a home is not only good for your health and happiness, but is also good for the environment. The LEED rating system encourages the introduction of natural air and light into our homes. The air that we breathe is often linked to many allergies and illnesses, and temperature control is crucial to occupant comfort. Chemical sensitivities are a major issue for many individuals and have been a driving force for sustainable design. According to the EPA, indoor air can have up to ten times more concentration of toxins than outdoor air no matter where you live. The most common examples that we associate with bad air are paints, cleaning supplies, and pesticides. But did you know that many building materials like wood, furnishings and textiles, office equipment and even craft supplies give off gaseous fumes? The LEED rating system calls for operable windows, thermal controls should be manually controlled and programmable, and all household cleaners, paints, pesticides, and any other volatile liquids should be stored in ventilated areas or areas that are separate from living space.
Costs of the Program
The base cost is $1,750.00 for members of the USGBC and $2,250.00 for non-members for projects under 50,000 sf. We should hope that there would not be any homes built over 50,000 sf, but if there are, than it is an additional $.04 - $.05 per square foot on top of the fixed cost. There are also added expenses based on the level of certification attained; the USGBC estimates there will be a 5% cost increase in overall design, construction and building costs for the basic certification, and as much as 10% for Platinum certified. For any of you going through the process now, we’d love to hear your thoughts on these cost estimates in the comments section of this blog.
Resources
The LEED for Homes rating system itself may seem overwhelming, but there are many resources to help you through the process. The USGBC provides applicants with official Green Raters to assist with the process who perform inspections and help individuals with their sustainability goals on a local level. There are also 70 additional programs throughout the country with state specific green rating systems. To find the green rating system in your area, click here. Or if you have additional questions you can send an email to us here at Low Impact Living, where we have two LEED Accredited Professionals who will be happy to answer your questions. Just email info@lowimpactliving.com.
January 11th, 2008
Ten Best Eco-Neighborhoods
Our friends over at Natural Home magazine have published a very good list of their “Ten Best Eco-Neighborhoods” across the US. We really enjoyed it and thought you would too.
To describe their approach they write, “Our picks for the nation’s best green housing developments emphasize communities working toward sustainability by incorporating green building, energy efficiency and reuse of previously developed land.”
Here’s a hint: Austin is in and San Francisco is not!
Read the feature by clicking here.
January 1st, 2008
Green Service Providers By Region Across the US
Green Architects
Southern California / Los Angeles
Northern California / Bay Area
Massachusetts / Pennsylvania / Vermont
Green Interior Designers
Los Angeles / Southern California
San Francisco / Bay Area / Northern California
Green Home Builders & Green Remodel Contractors
Northern California / Bay Area
Los Angeles / Southern California
Home Solar Power Installers
Los Angeles / Southern California
San Francisco / Bay Area / Northern California
Green Real Estate Services (EcoBrokers, etc.)
Los Angeles / Southern California
San Francisco /Bay Area/ Northern California
Need more choices, or your region isn’t listed here? For a complete listing of service providers in your region, click here.
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Visit this page for service providers in many other categories.
October 29th, 2007
Green Prefab: LEED Platinum Home in St. Louis
This just in from Jay Swoboda, Project Manager at EcoUrban Homes in St. Louis, Mo (no joke– Missouri)
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I’m guessing your mind doesn’t immediately jump to Missouri when green building is mentioned. Hey, not a problem. But let’s be honest – if every green home came from California, life would be pretty boring. Out here in fly-over country, we’re doing our part – and EcoUrban Homes is one of the leaders in the green prefab movement. At the outset, our company was conceptualized as a means to bring modern prefab homes to St. Louis as a remedy for the countless infill lots that exist in most of the older neighborhoods around the city. It wasn’t long before we realized that the modular process and the aesthetic we aspired to already put us well on our way to building green. At that time (2005), there was not nearly as much buzz around the green movement and, in fact, green builders going green here were considered fringe by a lot of people.
As luck would have it, EcoUrban began to pick up momentum just as green building was becoming a much more mainstream idea. By the time our display home was finished in June, public awareness of green building was really starting to expand and current attitudes in the Midwest, or at least in St. Louis, are really starting to shift towards the reality of more sustainable building processes. We feel well positioned at the front of the green/prefab wave and plan to begin rolling out to other cities this winter.
EcoUrban Homes are:
Green
Our homes employ what we like to call “conventional green” technology to get to a level of efficiency that far surpasses most houses on the market. Using a holistic approach that combines high efficiency heating/cooling with superior insulation, tight construction, and better materials overall, we are proud to offer a house that is 80% more efficient than traditional construction. In fact, the August (hottest month in St. Louis) utility bill at our display home totaled $62 – that, with the temperature set at an average of 74 degrees. EcoUrban homes are so green, in fact, that they have been awarded LEED Platinum certification by the US Green Building Council. Read more about the green features here.
Affordable
Affordability is key. While there are variety of amazing, high-concept green homes out there, the fact is most are inaccessible to the masses. Our thought was that if you really want to push the needle forward green has to be economical for the average homebuyer. Our prices currently reflect that notion. The base price for a simple 1100 square foot, single-story home is $129,000 (excluding land). Our LEED Platinum, two-story 1950 square foot display home is currently available for $279,000 – easily the most affordable LEED Platinum home out there.
Healthy
Health is also an important aspect of a truly green home. To that end, only construction materials and interior finish products with zero or low emissions are utilized in our homes, thus improving indoor air quality. Many current building materials and maintenance products emit toxic gases, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and formaldehyde. These gases can have a detrimental impact on everyday health and productivity. EcoUrban prides itself on using only the highest-quality no VOC paints, caulks and adhesives. Additionally, we specify only healthy, non-chemical interior finishes on all cabinets and countertops and our flooring and carpet products are recycled and/or made from sustainable materials such as bamboo or corn.
At the end of the day, our goal is simple: we want to offer people a healthy, affordable green home with a great design that speaks for itself.
**** Be sure to check out our new green prefab section at Low Impact Living.
