Green Building 101

This month’s WIRED and E/The Environmental Magazine both have great features on the many and varied ways of constructing an eco-home.

E Magazine’s coverage focuses on the history and current status of green building in the US, including lots of stats, facts and info (like that buildings consume 65% of electricity, 12 of drinking water and 40% of raw materials) emphasizing how new construction can drastically reduce those numbers (and how prices keep coming down for eco-friendly options). There are also excellent sidebars, including an interview with Michael Braungart, the co-author of one of my favorite books, Cradle to Cradle; a look at eco-construction around the world; a review/synopsis of Cradle to Cradle; and discussions with architects and how they have insinuated green design into their own homes and projects.

Not surprisingly, WIRED covers green home technology in a flashier and more superficial way, but is it fun to read/look at! Content will be available online on January 17, but it is well-worth buying the mag (which, as usual, has lots of super-fascinating content outside this section). The Green Home section features a main article on pre-fab green design (with an illustrated How To: Turn Your Grey Water Green) and a secondary piece on “Six Ways to Live Green”, which includes climate analysis for your home prior to building; renewing urban spaces to transform factory to fabulous loft; how to modulate temperatures whether it’s dealing with chilly winds or hot, hot, hot Texas climate; geothermal energy; and how to use as little energy as possible in your all-windows apartment with a view. Gorgeous photos and infographics will make even the Hummer-driving frat-boy-turned-investment-banker want a Green Home.

Amazon, book, books, cradle to cradle, design, drinking water, driving, electric, electricity, Energy, farm, Home, interview, magazine, reduce, spa, Technology, urban, water

Starre Vartan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Eco-Chick and author of The Eco-Chick Guide to Life (St. Martin's Press). A problogger and oft-quoted green living expert who has been featured in the NYTimes, Elle, Glamour and Whole Living, she is a contributor to The Huffington Post, Inhabitat, and Hearst's The Daily Green, and is currently editor-at-large for Coco Eco Magazine. An active ecofashionista, she has style edited for Plenty magazine and coordinated runway shows. She splits her time between Connecticut and NYC and calls Sydney, Australia her second home, even though it was her first (as that's where she was born and most of her family resides). When not writing, blogging, or researching her next book, she is trailrunning, trying to cook, or snowboarding.

Heroines for the Planet: Green For All’s Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins

3 Comments on “Green Building 101”

John

Poison in your pool!

I purchased a new home about 18 months ago. It was our first pool home. I quickly realized that I was allergic to chlorine. After just 15-20 minutes in the pool I started to feel sinus pressure. At first I really didn’t relate it to anything. After several times of feeling like hell after a half hour swim, I started to put it all together. After doing some research I found that chlorine is BAD. Chlorine was invented in the late 1700’s. It was first used as a chemical weapon in WWI. I thought “a chemical weapon”? And we readily dump it into our pools on a regular basis. Just the thought of poisoning the family made me look for chlorine free alternatives. I found one with ECOsmarte Central Florida. I purchased the product and now I have the cleanest, non chlorinated water one could ask for. While it was getting installed the technician told me how much chlorine was in the city water that my family drinks. I was disturbed. As soon as I get enough money together I will be getting a system for our house water also. I researched more about chlorine only to find that the World Health Organization’s studies have linked chlorine to cancer. Yet, we are still drinking it in our city water systems.

03/16/07 » 9:19 pm »
Andrew

Interesting that “John” links to a website selling – you guessed it – EcoSmarte products. Also interesting that there are essentially NO positive reviews of the products to be found anywhere except on EcoSmarte’s own pages. Their PR rep refuses to engage in a discussion on one site [http://troublefreepool.com/viewtopic.php?p=13222&sid=377ef183a4c38354ca04f7e883e5095a] and there’s an FTC page about a similar sounding product [http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1996/08/caribb2.shtm]. I want to like this product, and was seriously considering buying but… And then I saw this – -Free University Classifieds -
SALES PERSON WANTED FOR ECOSMARTE WATER FILTRATION SYSTEM.COMM. ONLY.AVERAGE COMM 500-800 PER SALE.FULL TRAINING NO EXP. NEEDED. …
http://www.universityclassifieds.us/smclassifieds/ templates/template1.asp?action=addetail&adid=1959

08/04/07 » 2:32 am »
Paul

John

I had essentially the same experience. I wanted to replace our chlorine system, was ready to go to salt but then found some scaling and other issues. I suppose I’m a natural skeptic – I was wary of Ecosmarte when I heard about it. I saw posts like Andrew (this guy is all over the place – reminds me of a born-again vegetarian) but then I communicated with people who had them (I live in a rather affluent area with lots and lots of pools). Some people had lousy experience – turns out they didn’t read or follow the directions, or turned over care to their pool guys, who didn’t read the instructions, either, and added the standard chemicals – a big No-No. But Ecosmarte refunded their money, anyway. Since I know how to read directions and follow them, I bought it. I’m quite pleased. As long as you do weekly tests for copper and ph, keep the pool brushed and the filters clean, no problems at all.

BTW – those other posts – I laughed when I realized how many were run by people in the traditional chlorine/salt technology sales. Hostility usually gets back to who stands to lose money. Buggy whip makers felt the same way about the Model T!

10/28/07 » 7:41 am »