One Way to Build Green: Use Reclaimed Beams

Reclaimed Beams

The Straight Goods on Green Building and Energy-Efficient Home Design. Green building is the catch phrase for the creation of houses that are energy efficient and environmentally in their design and construction. …… The article expands the information about what Green building means and what is needed to build and energy efficient home. These are the four things that I feel are important considerations when trying to build Green. ( the video illustrates item #2)

Design a house that uses less energy to heat, cool, light and maintain.
Use materials that consume less energy to produce and transport are non-toxic, and can be re-cycled or safely disposed of when no longer useful.
Use building products made from materials that are not limited in supply and are quickly and easily regrown, reproduced and replaced.
Use energy sources that are readily replenished and have an unlimited supply

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Get a House That Works and Is Energy Efficient

House Entryway

Energy Efficient House Design Today, I spent the day in a class called Houses That Work, a class about how to make houses more energy efficient and healthier. It was presented by EEBA, The Energy & Environmental Building Alliance. As an architect, I have to participate in continuing education classes, seminars, and other learning activities…

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Birth of Building Green

Green Building

The birth of “Building Green” arguably happened in Austin, Texas in the 1970’s. There’s a good article in Ecohome about Austin’s sustainable building program and their continuing progress. But the trigger for Austin may not have been what you might have guessed. Here is the first paragraph of the article by Jeffery Lee: Austin, Texas…

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Green and Sustainable Building in Historic Old Town San Diego

Historic Green

Passive solar design, green and sustainable building are not new inventions. Who would have thought that we would be returning to the house design principles of more than a century and a half ago? I was in San Diego recently and visited the part of town they call Old Town San Diego. I don’t think the buildings…

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LEED Certification for Homes

Green Leaves

Do you want to know that your new house design is “green,” or as I prefer to call it, energy and resources responsible? There is now a way to certify that it is so. The U.S. Green Building Council conducts a program of LEED certification, a nationally accepted benchmark for design, construction and operation of high…

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Green Mansions: Building Green – Part Six

Green Mansions 6

Sustainable building materials are more and more available these days. “Sustainable” means the materials are manufactured in environmentally responsible ways. They may be made from recycled materials, such as tile or wallboard.Some are made from agricultural wastes, like wheat straw and rice hulls. Still others are made from rapidly renewable materials, such as bamboo or…

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Green Mansions: Building Green – Part Five

Green Mansions 5

An energy management system can reduce your electric bill and help reduce energy demand at peak times. This system monitors and controls what equipment can come on during certain hours of the day. It may block an electric water heater from starting until an air conditioner that is already running has completed its cycle. Most…

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“Green” Mansions: Building Green – Part Four

Green Mansions 4

When it comes to “building green,” There are other energy-saving measures that can occur behind the scenes. Proper insulation, including draft blocking to prevent convective loops of cold or warm air within walls and ceilings will reduce heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer. I’ve found that in southern climates insulation and building tightness…

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Summertime Energy Tips

Summertime Sun

Are your windows locked? We don’t tend to think of air leakage in the summer like we do in the wintertime. When it’s cold, we can feel the cold drafts wafting through the house. But in the summer, warm drafts are not as easily felt. But the more hot air that seeps into your house,…

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Are CFL Light Bulbs Green or Hazardous?

Green Bulbs

Last week, at BookExpo America, I was discussing my book with a young woman and I mentioned that it concerned me how there is such hysteria and fanaticism surrounding anything touted as being green or environmentally friendly and often these things are not very “green” and maybe have negative environmental implications that are not readily appreciated. I pointed to compact…

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