Posts Tagged ‘Renovation and Repair’

Dealing with Wildfires and Drought


Wildfires aren’t usually on my radar, because I don’t live in a region that is much susceptible to them. But, in the past couple of weeks, everyone has become more aware of them. They have been widely across the news because of the number of serious wildfires in southern California recently. At the same time, recent news coverage has also looked at drought conditions which are being felt in Georgia

[...]

Prohibited Green Technologies


Green technologies make good sense to most of us, but incomplete or uncoordinated implementation can lead to circumstances where green technologies are not able to provide the full benefits that they can. In some instances, regulatory requirements can even lead to making green technologies counterproductive.

Waterless urinals present one striking example of how regulations and green technology are not yet working together. In some municipalities, waterless urinals have not been allowed by building

[...]

Five Home Winterizing Myths

It is time to start thinking about getting our homes ready for winter. Maintenance and repair work done while the weather is still mild will pay off not just in the coming cold weather, but with year round benefits. Here are five common issues to think about when considering your winterization projects, and how to avoid making some common mistakes while improving your house.

Window film insulates windows. False.

A window

[...]

5 Ways to Make Your Home More Energy-Wise: Ron Jarvis, Senior VP of Environmental Innovation, Home Depot


In April, home improvement retailer Home Depot launched its Eco-Options program in the United States. Designed to help customers identify products that have less of an impact on the environment than their counterparts, Eco Options has received both praise and criticism around the blogosphere. Last week, I had a chance to talk with Ron Jarvis, the company’s Vice President of Pro Business, Tool Rental, and Eco Innovation (pictured on the right),

[...]

Eco-Effective Events: 3rd Solar Decathlon Exhibition Opens Friday

This Friday is the opening day of the 3rd Solar Decathlon Exhibition. The exhibition takes place on the National Mall in Washington DC from October 12th to 20th. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the competition invites 20 teams from colleges and universities across the United States, Germany, Spain, and Canada to participate. The objective is to "design, build, and operate

[...]

Food Deserts: How a Community Group in Detroit is Changing Ideas About Food


How far away do you live from the nearest grocery store? More than likely, you pass one on the way to school, two on the way to work and maybe even three on the way to the gym. If this scenario is something you can relate to even slightly, you do not live in a food desert.

According to The Low Income Project Team, food deserts are "areas of relative exclusion

[...]

Architecture 2030

The city of the future is not going to be a Jetson-esque collection of bubbles in the air, or towers connected by monorails, or any other radical vision. The city of the future will be more like that in Blade Runner, mostly recognizably familiar older buildings. Most of the city of the future has already been built and is standing. Certainly new buildings will

[...]

The Green Conference Series: West Coast Green

Welcome to the first official entry of a multi-part series documenting the green business, building, marketing, branding, and festival-izing conferences that are ramping up as the summer comes to a close (including Opportrunity Green). I’ve previously provided a first-hand account from WINDPOWER 2007 and Green Festival Chicago, and missed countless others.

I recognize all the benefits of green building, but, as I’ve never owned any kind of

[...]

Eco Effective Events: Chicago to Host Largest GreenBuild Expo

This November 7-9, Chicago will host the largest GreenBuild Expo in history. Put on by the USGBC (United States Green Building Council), this year over 18,000 attendees will gather to learn about the trends in green construction and get inspired about future projects. In a city aiming to be the greenest, this is a monumental event. On top of it all, GreenBuild will be held in one of

[...]

Book Review: Trash Talk

Thriftiness isn’t really "new" or "green"; people have found ways to reuse scrap or discarded items for years. The pre-industrialization U.S. didn’t have what we call "trash." Every bit of scrap and waste from the home was remade, reused in some way, or sold to peddlers where it was eventually recycled. With the Industrial Revolution came more products to buy with new kinds of packaging, and trash as we know it

[...]

Daily Tip: Get a Home Energy Audit

Whether you do it yourself or leave it to the professionals, conducting a home energy audit will help you determine what improvements you’ll need to make your home more energy efficient, so you can live more comfortably and start saving money on utility bills.

An energy audit requires a look at your annual energy usage and an examination, or walk through, of your home. Unfortunately, since houses aren’t built as energy

[...]

Advertisement