Archive for June, 2009
June 28th, 2009
- Prefab houses don’t work.
- New lives for old buildings.
- Does green building have to break the bank?
- San Francisco enacts mandatory composting law.
- Six bright ideas for the future of energy.
- Who killed Gordon Brown’s eco-towns?
- Innovations in sustainable site technology.
- Mature trees (and wildlife habitat) demolished for ‘green’ building parking lot.
Follow @jetsongreen on Twitter for more news, links, and commentary.
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June 28th, 2009
photo: Martin Price
The Dolomites and the Wadden Sea, have deservingly been nominated as World Heritage Foundation sites. See what makes them it so wonderous. …
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June 26th, 2009
San Antonio-based LionForce built this efficient home as a prototype for their ecoLiving System — a web-based configurator that will help homeowners design homes and build them through a national network of certified building partners. LionForce says their homes are efficient, healthy, low-maintenance, quickly constructed, and cost effective. This first prototype home, the T-2 home, has already received a 2009 Green Building Award from the City of San Antonio (in the custom home under 2,200 square feet category).
The T-2 home, located at 21953 Trumbo Road in San Antonio, also received a 3.0 rating from Build San Antonio Green. It scored well in the energy category, partly because the home was constructed with custom EPS wall and roof panels (see above). The custom system creates a tight envelope and reduces the amount of energy needed.
T-2 neatly packs three bedrooms and two bathrooms in 1,230 square feet of space. There’s a bedroom and a living/kitchen wing — similar to the design used for the Truro Residence — to splice day and night activities. T-2 also incorporates extensive deck space to blend the interior with the exterior, and a rainwater catchment system collects water for irrigation.
LionForce is slowing rolling out the web-based configurator (due this summer) and relationships with certified ecoLiving Builders. With additional homes in planning, we’ll keep you posted with all aspects of the ecoLiving System. This could be interesting.
Photo credits: LionForce ecoLiving System.
June 26th, 2009
Photo credit: Fetchstix
In a world saturated with flashy, electronic whatsits and geegaws, sometimes you’ve got to throw an old-fashioned dog a bone. Or in the case of the urban pooch who’s pining for his own personal Walden, a wooden stick.
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June 26th, 2009
Photo via Hotel Occidental San Diego.
More and more, urban biking has become one of the best ways to see a lot of a city in a short span of time, so it’s a no-brainer that more hotels are offering free bikes along with the price of the room. In Copenhagen, tourist biking is easy – just put a 10 Danish kroner coin into the lock and you’re off, on a low-slung cruiser bike. Bike sharing is also an option in some cities. But if biking is high on your priority list for inner-city transport, check out these five hotels that offer free loaner bikes as amenities. If you know of others, please, add them in the…
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June 26th, 2009
Co-Founder Aubrey Faulk catches a wave in El Salvador. Image via: Surfers Without Borders.
Dream of someday throwing your boards in the back of your truck and heading south for a week of perfect waves, cheap local food and sleeping under the stars? Well you can, and help build sustainability projects in the communities that you meet, when you travel with Surfers Without Borders….
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June 26th, 2009
Image via: Thoreau’s Legacy
Thoreau’s Legacy: American Stories on Global Warming is the new, interactive ebook available now, which chronicles stories from 67 Americans across the United States and their personal reflections, in word and image, of how climate change is affecting the landscape they love. The best part is that it’s free and available to anyone….
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June 26th, 2009
Image via: Pad Outdoors
While maybe not as good as biodegradable planters, these recyclable “Pods” by Pad will bring a modern touch to your backyard or to your living space. …
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June 26th, 2009
Image via: Frankieleon on Flickr.
Vermont Soap Organics is now branching out to the world of pest prevention, namely mosquitoes and ticks, with their new Insect Armor. Made with natural oils and non-toxic ingredients, this bug spray is safe for kids, pets, you, just not bugs….
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June 26th, 2009
Image via: B9 on Youtube
Recycled plastic soda bottles are now showing up in everything from toothbrushes to park benches to jackets and now they are even being molded into the 2009 Platinum B9 (b9 = pronounced “benign”) wetsuit by Billabong. Plus the new suits come with anti-shark invisibility resin. …
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