Green Open House: Take A Tour And Get Some Tips With "Dreaming Green"

When Lisa Sharkey and her husband Paul Gleicher decided to remodel their Manhattan townhouse, they decided to construct an eco-friendly home from top to bottom. Not only did they create a home environmentally sound but they made sure it was done elegantly. And it was.

Sharkey, senior vice president and director of creative development at HarperCollins and Gleicher, a LEED-accredited architect share 17 beautifully designed green homes, including their own, in their new book Dreaming Green: Eco-Fabulous Homes Designed to Inspire.

Here's a slideshow featuring photos from the book and tips from the authors for you to start and maintain a green healthy home -- and a more complete list of tips, straight from Lisa, is below.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • Lisa Sharkey and Paul Gleicher's Manahattan Green Townhouse featured in their new book "Dreaming Green: Eco-Fabulous Homes Designed to Inspire"

Living Room Replace wall-to-wall carpet with area rugs. I recommend using Interface FLOR carpet tiles which require no carpet pads, stick directly to the floor and can be washed individually Install motion sensors, so lights that you might forget to turn off when leaving a room, turn off automatically Consider a spare and simple style that doesn't require buying too many expensive home accessories

Bamboo and lyptus are less expensive and more renewable alternatives for flooring

When buying a rug look for the RUGMARK label, which insures that no child labor was used in the production of the rug

Bedroom

When installing cork floors, consider buying sheets of cork and cutting them to make your own mosaic. This option is far less expensive than buying cork mosaics.

Install ceiling fans to cut down on your air conditioning costs

Lower your thermostat and instead sleep in warm organic pajamas and pile on the blankets!

Buy bamboo and beech sheets for your beds

Investigate mattresses that contain no formaldehyde


Kitchen

Use organic baking soda and organic vinegar as cleansers in your kitchen and around the house

Auction off your old appliances on eBay or craigslist, giving them a new life and saving you money
Marmoleum is the way to go if you're looking for an inexpensive and eco linoleum which is installed with no toxins

Limit meat on your menu to save money for organic food

Whenever you can, buy locally grown food


Whole House

Place shoe racks at your front door, so you don't track dirty toxins from the street into your home.

Recycled doorknobs and cabinet fixtures can be found in local salvage stores, and they're cheaper than buying new

Paint all walls with low VOC paints

Air drying your laundry saves energy and adds a nice fresh scent to your clothes

Salvage wood from local demolition sites to use in your own home

If you have limited yard space, plant a mini-organic herb garden in a large metal pot outside

If you must cut down a tree on your property, think of creative ways to use its wood in your home

Replace your bathroom fixtures with low flow fittings

Insulate, insulate, insulate your windows to reduce both waste and your home heating and cooling bills

When refinishing your floors, use non-toxic wood finishers

Placing shades on your windows will help keep your house cool in the summer sun and will keep your furniture from fading in the winter

Comments

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

It's gorgeous, but seriously, I don't have the millions.

[curiousasheck]

Uhhh I don't think this book was intended for the poor and huddling masses.

[doggie]

love the idea about cleaning products and especially the shoe racks. Have to admit - its a bit daunting to ask friends to take off their shoes but now that you connected up the 'eco' element I am going to give it a try. The house is beautiful and the light and airy feel, definitely something to aspire to. Thanks.

[MiDemFem]

I don't understand how removing carpet from a home in cooler climates is "going green" in any way. Perhaps if you live in an apartment building it would be different. But if you lived in an actual house in an area of the country where the winters are cold removing carpet is going to make your home colder, resulting in higher heating bills. I know this from personal experience.

[southernfried]

exactly...­..........­..........­....

[debwk]

Where do these people "air-dry" their laundry? Not a clothesline, or a clothespin in sight! Or would
a clothesline spoil their very deliberate and very self-conscious aesthetic?

[Semaj51]

Some of these "suggestions" are way too costly for the average person who can't afford a New York townhouse.

[Willow712]

Some of the suggestions make sense for everyone, eating less meat, buying organic linens if you can, insulating your windows (they'd buy new windows, I just bought new storm windows for 800 dollars) air drying what you can, etc. I am sure they just do it up in a bigger way than we would. We can add thermal curtains, eat less meat, that kind of thing. But I agree that their idea wasn't for the huddled masses, but rather for New York high rises with outdoor garden space.