Video: Building A Better Green House
Project7ten , named for the address of our model green house, is a three-dimensional example that showed people the reality of green building and green living. People can come and tour the house to see how beautiful, but also how possible it is to live green. It's a showcase of how you can live both in the green and in style. Business-wise, the house also provided a sustainable fundraising model that supports environmental organizations (the proceeds from the public tours of Project7ten and the sale of the home help to support Healthy Child Healthy World and the NRDC).
Designed by Melinda Gray of Gray Matter Architecture and built by Tom Schey of Minimal Productions it provides a living example of a cutting edge home, with an aesthetic in harmony with the environment.
It has been an amazing and positive experience to me as both an environmentalist and a fundraiser. Definite hats off to my partner Tom Schey for his great ideas and the consciousness and care he put into building this home. We as a team feel really positive about the outcome of this organic process and, courtesy of Attention Span Media, are thrilled to share it with anyone who is interested.
Special thanks to Attention Span Media.
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Well, I don't want to double post but I'm not seeing my last one so I'll try again.
This film disappointed me because it appeared to repeat the word "Green green green" many times but the proof was somewhat lacking.
How much did those energy panels cost? How many years before they pay off? Does the glue in the recycled wood put more stress on the environment in it's creation and use than simply growing new trees, trees are green and renewable you know.
How much more than the average house does this house coast and how long, if at all, would one have to live in it to get the payback?
We all have water saving toilets and those of us that care have already bought energy saving bulbs and energy saving appliances.
My concern here is they are glossing over a lot of details that make their house not very competitive and maybe not so green. They may not even know the answers, they may simply be marketing a GIMMICK.
Lots of people these days are pushing JUNK SCIENCE and JUNK "GREEN" labeling in order to gain political power or economic power.
I would have to know much much more about the bottom line before I signed off on this house as the way to go, the way of the future, or as anything beyond a marketing gimmick.
The video was disappointing. I heard a lot of Green green green but very little reality.
How much did those solar panels cost that provide power? how many years is the expected pay back in California or wherever they built it? How much MORE does this "Green house" cost than a similar house made with no green considerations?
How about all the Glue used in the recycled wood chips. Is is safe for a home? Does the production and use of the glue do more damage to the environment than just using trees which can be grown again and again? Which is better for the environment?
Everyone had a water saving toilet these days. More and more people are putting in energy saving bulbs because they SAVE MONEY.
This film left me a little flat, The design was bizarre, the environmentalism sounded weak, the question of cost was not adequately addressed.
And I'm thinking they left out a lot of details because the devil is in the details and didn't promote this nice, rosy, "Green green green" picture they wanted to present.
And this post is green, I've made it with recycled electrons.
This is positive and perhaps will help start a green trend. However, it is sad to see company names on the wall getting their plug in. I would hate to see "Green" go totally commercial.
You know we all ultimately live on dirt. Sand plus clay plus straw can equal a house too - no visits to home depot, no trucking in foreign materials and polluting the atmosphere. Just digging in the dirt and learning how to turn it into a house (even kids and disable folks could build it).
The truly green stuff to building with has no green label painted on it. Don't let green go totally commercial, there's a non-commercial side too.
Well......
A large number of newly built houses in Germany are
green, not just the exclusine McMansions but affordable housing units. There is one village that has it's own generator powered by a fast moving stream, in the center of town. They have enough for their needs and to share with their neighbors.
27 years ago I coveted a passive solar house being constructed in Mt Laurel NJ. It was just simple post and beam construction, with air-lock vestibules at either end, open plan inside with a central woodstove, that heated the 2nd.floor rooms,( on the South side) open by balcony to the great room.
My own log cabin, faced due east west, with the windows on the south facing length warming the interior all winter long.
Unfortunately greed intervened and logic fell out of fashion...
Yes now the big boys are getting into the act, and they will make us pay through the nose to have what logically should be avaiable to everyone!
To all those MANY unsophisticated builders over the past 27 years, who have descimated the landscape with houses built to meet the wrong value system, " what goes around comes around!"
---or perhaps inflatable green dwellings for the homeless---
Exciting home and probably an early prototype of what's to come. Someone this thread mentioned using recycled plastics. If this could be done sans toxicity a crushed plastic wall could be an artistic addition. The neo Mod designs are beginning to look cliche'.
It looks terrific. I'm sure that (1) it costs an arm and a leg, and (2) that a careful investigation would reveal that it is not as "green" as supposed.
What a gorgeous house!
Now, they did it up fancy, I can tell you that. If you pair that up with the fact that it's in the Los Angeles metro area, it's true that it will not be affordable to many people.
Having said that, my middle-class family has done MOST of what they showed in the video to our California home. It was done gradually, over about ten years. The following improvements have been made: extra insulation, compact fluorescent lights, Energy Star appliances, a retractable awning, double-pane glass, drought-tolerant native landscaping -- and, lastly, solar photovoltaic panels. My house doesn't exactly show like a model, but it's getting quite green.
I can vouch for the numbers they quote for the solar energy system. They say that the system produces 4.5 kilowatts (peak power, presumably) which, over the course of a year, offsets the electric bill for the house by 100%. Since it's a luxury home, they might be using time-of-use metering. If so, they might be offsetting as little as 70% of their power, even as they cover their bill. Still, how much power does your house generate?
My system peaks at 4.2 kW, and offsets my bill by considerably more than 100%. I offset about 96% of my power needs. Thus I have spare electrical capacity when the time comes to convert my Prius to a plug-in hybrid.
I consider my money to be far better spent than the guy down the street, who bought a Ford Expedition and a speedboat.
It ought to be a patriotic duty for Americans to go green at home, like buying war bonds during WWII. And before you sneer about the expense, it's ALREADY economical to do so -- if you account for the environmental, human health, and military costs of the alternatives.
Check out earthships: earthship.
"the pious (prius) costs twice as much energy as a Hummer. Now that's what I call "green."
wow
there's always a limbaugh disciple lurking around to clue everyone into the "fact" that the people who are interested in a better way to live are just dumb.
instead of saying, lets look at that closer, their answer is to make fun of an idea or outright lie.
do you easy to lead "experts" on everything ever stop and try to think of what the future holds for the world, our country, or simple little ol' you?
This is a wonderful home, but it is out of reach of most people. I also did not see much bamboo used, or, maybe I missed it. This same kind of concept and building can extend to multi-family living, with shared outside environments. Plus for teenagers *bombfree rooms* where they can continue living until after graduation, and for elderly parents smaller, separate apartments in the same building. If the units are owned, they can be either subletted, or sold, after members of the family move on or out. These three generations could share kitchen facilities, even eat together. Clusters of such multifamily homes could have shared community spaces, swimmingpools, playgrounds, and learning spaces, to replace the current schooling system. That, moreover, would cut down on paved over land, which absorbs heat, for large school complexes. This is a grassrootsendeavour to embark on. Those studying at university should get an added degree in education to better be able to homeschool (or small community school). Living green also means cutting down on exhaust, so, communities or families should order their groceries and supplies in for delivery, rather than everyone going out to get one forgotten item, again and again. Homeschooling, with internet support, also means cutting down on paper products, such as books and supplies, paved over facilities for manufacture and delivery of such supplies, etc. and more beautiful and useful space available for recreation, which should include plenty of sandboxes for the kids to build "castles". It will take a generation, or two, to implement this, and the first order is to build good cooperative families, just to get the capital together, human and financial, to make this work. Clusters of such homes make communities. Communities should be based in wholesome family units first, where members can rely on each other.
Excellent.
As someone who took the time to research, get professional advice, and then build a green home, I appreciate that people are trying to bring this message into the mainstream.
Thank you to all those involved in the project. And thank you to those large companies who have active "green divisions.
I'm hoping that some of the prominent citizens in this country will endeavour to make it "cool" to build "Not So Big" houses. One of the reasons that we load so much carbon into the atmosphere is that we are constantly heating or cooling large amounts of square footage. For that reason, we chose an architect in our area who knows how to build small luxury homes. It can be done - I think of our house a jewel sitting on a natural, wooded hillside, and not as a 1700 sq foot house with lazy landscaping. It's all in how you say it!
For more ideas and green home projects, some in less solar-friendly locations than this one, check out the November issue of Dwell magazine.
And also, watch Living With Ed on HGTV for more tips on how to green up your present home.
it's an attractive home. what was the sq.ftsq.ft vs. conventional construction (excluding land)?
Glad to see models of sustainable housing being made available. But as more people find themselves shut out of the housing market, what we really need most is models of sustainable living quarters, communities and environments that are also affordable. So far most of this kind of thing is being done "experimentally" by do-it-yourselfers behind the scenes in small pockets off the grid. Now is the time to start going mainstream with new builds and remodels. Skeptics say "wacko environmentalism," but savvy entrepreneurs will find gold in them thar hills as energy and materials costs rise and increasing toxicity develops in the conventional world.
hemp
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