We should all be inspired by Anders Lewendal, a homebuilder in Bozeman, Montana, who is building what he considers the first home documented to be made entirely of American-made materials. He was featured recently in the New York Times. Lewendal, who has an economics degree, told The Times: “I think we could solve this recession if everyone shifted…
This is what I’m talkin’ ’bout! This agricultural barn is being cooled with Big Ass Fans powered by solar panels. What a concept! This is so obvious! When the sun is beating down hot, the buildings and people and animals need cooling off. Rather than sucking black gunk out of the ground and burning it to create energy, why…
Vernon McKown, co-owner of Ideal Homes of Norman, Okla., is a pretty enlightened green builder whom I heard speak last week at the International Builder’s Show in Orlando. The topic was how to build affordable green homes and Vern made a shocking statement: He said he’s quitting all green-building rating systems programs. That includes Energy Star…
(Washington, D.C.) Mar. 7, 2012 - The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), in conjunction with The Home Depot®, has launched an online green home products database. The database: leed.homedepot.com is a special microsite within homedepot.com that features products geared toward green home building, many of which may contribute towards earning LEED® points and prerequisites for the LEED for…
You can tell what’s up in the world by what people search for on the Internet. Here on Kathy’s Remodeling Blog, we’ve got five consistently favorite subjects that interest your fellows readers. They are: Green Remodeling Kitchens Before & After Contractor Issues Design Ideas
First, what are home energy auditors? These are professionals (accredited through BPI or certified through RESNET) who go into homes and measure or assess how much energy is being used and wasted through leaks and lack of insulation and bad HVAC systems and watt-sucking appliances. The idea is to figure out ways to make that home more…
Before we start generating energy onsite with solar panels and geothermal, we should cut down on any needless uses of energy in our homes. That way, we'll need fewer solar panels to give us all the energy our homes need. But we are mostly in the dark (pun intended) when it comes to energy use.…
I knew we were on our way to a Depression Era decorating mentality and now we have arrived. Thank goodness we have artists living at the poverty level to show us the way. As seen in this feature in the New York Times, an artist who makes sculpture from driftwood and his resourceful partner have…
My heart goes out to the victims of Hurricane Irene. I feel your pain. (And I promise not ask this inane question: Why would you live/rebuild where hurricanes can hit? I’ve been to Vermont. I know why you live there.) Six years ago, when the federal levee system failed in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina,…