Since we last mentioned his efficient home built for under $70,000, Caleb Schafer's been quite busy. He has a new website for Simple Modern Homes with a number of new home designs. He's also doing new work with new clients, and one home in particular looks interesting. Referred to as CL24, the design is for a 2,000 square-foot green home in Canyon Lake, Texas.
In a forthcoming keynote address to the Green Cities conference of the Green Building Council of Australia, green building guru Jerry Yudelson intends to tackle a important concern in the sustainable building world: performance. His keynote, entitled “If it doesn’t perform, it’s not green,” is at the center of a hot button topic that seems to be taking on new fervor these days.
You’ve probably already seen this toilet and sink combination before. It’s the W+W – short for washbasin and watercloset – from Roca. The product, currently available overseas, reuses waste water from the sink in the discharge of the cistern, which helps it reduce water usage by up to 25% compared to a standard 6/3 liter dual-flush toilet.
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A little over a month ago, this home received the first LEED Platinum certification for a home in the state of Indiana. Located in Franklin, the 2,000 square-foot contemporary residence has three bedrooms and two bathrooms for a family of three and a dog. Castalia Homes built the home, which has a number of green features.
Despite the fact that we are now living in the 21st century, aerogel insulation seems like a material out of science-fiction. It is the lightest solid known, although by volume it is 99% air. It is breathable, but it doesn't absorb water. It is incredibly strong for its weight. But most importantly, it is a fantastic insulator.
As in the prior years, HGTV is planning the giveaway of a new green home. The HGTV Green Home 2010 is located in The Pinehills neighborhood of Plymouth, Massachusetts. The home is still under construction, so HGTV is in the process of trickling out new details from time to time. Here's a little of what we know so far:
Richard Hammond and Gensler's Santa Monica office contributed to a unique container project for a Boy Scouts' campground in Emerald Bay (on Catalina Island off the coast of southern California). According to Metropolis, the low-impact cabin was made with old shipping containers, reclaimed lumber, durable rubber flooring, LED lighting, and solar photovoltaics. The roof -- which is, perhaps, more eye-catching than the transformed containers -- was made with a stretched silicone-coated fiberglass material.
Kroon Hall, the new home of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, has been awarded Platinum certification, according to the Office of Public Affairs of Yale University. Kroon Hall was designed to use 81% less water and 58% less energy than a comparable building, helping it receive a total of 59 LEED points. With the help of a massive and beautiful solar array, about 25% of this building's electricity should be generated on-site, too.
Most address numbers probably don't have back lights, but I suppose if you're going to light them, you might as well do it with solar power and LEDs. That's how it's done with these Solar LED Address Numbers from Think Geek. The numbers turn on automatically and can last up to 10 hours on a full charge. Each number runs about $16. My place is in dire need of a number swap, so I guess these are now at the top of the list. What do you think?
