I was watching the Discovery Green channel the other night and I learned a new phrase: "cradle to cradle." In the show, the girl was describing her new faux granite counter tops.
Cradle to Cradle means that the product is made from either recycled synthetic material or renewable organic materials and can be recycled again when you are through with them or will decompose naturally. It is a term coined by environmental pioneer William McDonough.
The counter tops she was using were made from concrete and glass. They were very pretty, durable, stain resistant, and eco-friendly.
In my environmental business class we read a book by Paul Hawken called "The Ecology of Commerce." He discusses this theory as a business model to reduce waste. If more companies created products that they could reuse all of the components of, it would save them money in manufacturing and it would save us money in garbage disposal and environmental clean-up.
I was thinking about this in terms of home building. What materials are truly cradle to cradle? The counter tops are a start, but what about insulation, siding, roofing, and other key components of a house?
That's when I found this Seattle-based competition to build sustainable homes that have materials that can be re-used when the house has reached the end of its lifecycle. Not only is the winning design an eco-friendly accomplishment, it is also gorgeous! However, it doesn't say anywhere on there how much these technologies cost. So I wonder if it is affordable, or considerably more than normal, or if it pays itself off quickly?
Monday, April 20, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Buiding an Eco-Friendly House
House building has been on my mind a lot lately. Mostly from helping with my parent's house, but also from some research I've read about sustainable building practices, and lectures I have attended. I love all things innovative and green, but building is a fun way to release aggression too.
My parents were the first to peak my interest in green-building. Initially they wanted to build a straw bale house on their property, which would have been significantly more energy efficient. Unfortunately, because the practice is still not well known, they couldn't get loans to build a straw bale house. It strikes me as particularly strange because of the fact that the area they are building in is notorious for wildfires, and straw bale houses are more fire-resistant than regular houses are.
So the house they are building now is not all that eco-friendly, and at 4,000 sq. ft. it's not off to a good start. They have radiant heat floors, but that is about it. Their main complaint about building an eco-friendly house is that it costs too much. Which from my perspective right now is true, everything that touts environmental savvy does seem to be nearly four times the price. So I am planning to research new ways to design a house to help my parents keep costs low and reduce their footprint.
At a recent lecture on being green and keeping it local, I listened to a speaker from Bergey Windpower. His suggestions for "greening" your home were interesting. Bergey produces wind turbines that offset the use of electricity. However, at $30,000 for a 10,000 watt generator, they are not entirely cost efficient in the short-term. That may all change in the near-future, but there are other ways to increase energy efficiency in your home as well. One suggestion made by the Bergey representative was to weatherize your home. This inclides buying better windows, and using lots of caulk to seal holes where heating and air can escape, and making sure that there is good insulation in the walls.
My parents were the first to peak my interest in green-building. Initially they wanted to build a straw bale house on their property, which would have been significantly more energy efficient. Unfortunately, because the practice is still not well known, they couldn't get loans to build a straw bale house. It strikes me as particularly strange because of the fact that the area they are building in is notorious for wildfires, and straw bale houses are more fire-resistant than regular houses are.
So the house they are building now is not all that eco-friendly, and at 4,000 sq. ft. it's not off to a good start. They have radiant heat floors, but that is about it. Their main complaint about building an eco-friendly house is that it costs too much. Which from my perspective right now is true, everything that touts environmental savvy does seem to be nearly four times the price. So I am planning to research new ways to design a house to help my parents keep costs low and reduce their footprint.
At a recent lecture on being green and keeping it local, I listened to a speaker from Bergey Windpower. His suggestions for "greening" your home were interesting. Bergey produces wind turbines that offset the use of electricity. However, at $30,000 for a 10,000 watt generator, they are not entirely cost efficient in the short-term. That may all change in the near-future, but there are other ways to increase energy efficiency in your home as well. One suggestion made by the Bergey representative was to weatherize your home. This inclides buying better windows, and using lots of caulk to seal holes where heating and air can escape, and making sure that there is good insulation in the walls.
Oklahoma Wildfires
Hello all,
So this isn't entirely related to sustainable business, but I thought people might be interested. Oklahoma recently endured a rash of wildfires that burned a good deal of the state. Some of you may know that my parents own ten acres, and they are currently in the process of building a house/art studio on their property. There is no crew building this house, it's just my parents, my fiance Jason, myself and my brother and sister. We've been putting in weekends consistently since last June. Building the foundation in 110 degree Oklahoma heat nearly killed us. So last Friday when I was called early in the a.m. and told that wildfires were in the region of my parents house, panic was my first thought.
Jason and I dressed and ran out to the property. The damage was shocking, and the fact that it came very close to my parents house on all four sides was nothing short of a miracle. It did burn their water line though, so Jason and I stood on guard with shovels and buckets of sand putting out anything that flamed up and watching the smoldering ashes of their property while they went to town to get a new one. Here are some pictures of the damage:
This used to be a box truck with an aluminum box on the back
The aluminum actually melted right off.
Above is a view from the roof of the house.
The woods near the house. 
Above two are me and Jason on duty.
Me in the ashes.
So this isn't entirely related to sustainable business, but I thought people might be interested. Oklahoma recently endured a rash of wildfires that burned a good deal of the state. Some of you may know that my parents own ten acres, and they are currently in the process of building a house/art studio on their property. There is no crew building this house, it's just my parents, my fiance Jason, myself and my brother and sister. We've been putting in weekends consistently since last June. Building the foundation in 110 degree Oklahoma heat nearly killed us. So last Friday when I was called early in the a.m. and told that wildfires were in the region of my parents house, panic was my first thought.
Jason and I dressed and ran out to the property. The damage was shocking, and the fact that it came very close to my parents house on all four sides was nothing short of a miracle. It did burn their water line though, so Jason and I stood on guard with shovels and buckets of sand putting out anything that flamed up and watching the smoldering ashes of their property while they went to town to get a new one. Here are some pictures of the damage:
This used to be a box truck with an aluminum box on the back
The aluminum actually melted right off.
Above is a view from the roof of the house.
The woods near the house. 
Above two are me and Jason on duty.
Me in the ashes.
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