Tag: "green building"
Facebook and Frank Gehry: Will the New Building Be A Marriage of Sustainability?
Facebook hired Frank Gehry to design its new building. Why? If the 'book wanted a green building (and who'd dare to build in the Bay Area without "a big emphasis on being eco-friendly"?), Gehry is a less than obvious choice.
Post on Sep 04, 2012 by Danna Staaf from QUEST Northern California
Behind-the-Scenes at the Cal Academy Building
Learn about the interesting methods needed to operate a "green" building and it will show you some of what goes on behind the scenes at the Cal Academy.
Post on Mar 31, 2011 by Cat
Cats and Dogs Forming Acronyms (and furthering green building in California)
It started in Santa Clara County, then spread to Marin, and now its everywhere in California; builders, developers, city governments, and environmentalists, all getting along and creating green building standards together. It's the new PC – Policy Collaboration.
Post on Aug 06, 2010 by Jim Gunshinan
California On the Green Cutting Edge Again
The eyes of the nation are once again upon California for making bold steps in the water efficiency, energy efficiency, and global climate change arenas.
Post on Jun 25, 2010 by Jim Gunshinan
Field Notes From New Orleans
Historians will one day come to view the post-Katrina rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast as the first major example of green design and technologies.
Post on Apr 30, 2010 by Jim Gunshinan
Reporter's Notes: The Godfather of Green
My head is swimming with energy efficiency facts after producing this week's QUEST radio piece on efficiency guru Art Rosenfeld. Rosenfeld is retiring, stepping down after two terms on the California Energy Commission.
Post on Feb 12, 2010 by Andrea Kissack
Blowing up the House for Energy Efficiency
How much air is your house leaking? Are you unknowingly slurping in dirty air from your garage and attic? Perhaps a blower door test can help you find out.
Post on Aug 26, 2009 by Jim Gunshinan
LEED or Get Out of the Way
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) has become so popular and well known that many cities now require that new municipal buildings be built to LEED standards. But do these buildings actually save energy?
Post on May 15, 2009 by Jim Gunshinan
Reporter's Notes: Building Blocks Go Green
I got interested in this story after hearing Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla speak at a conference this fall in Sausalito. He explained how he decides where to invest in green tech and it was fascinating. He and other top venture capitalists think they can help stop global warming and make a ton of money at the same time.
Post on Dec 19, 2008 by Andrea Kissack
Watts In Your Kitchen?
Do you know how to spot hidden energy guzzlers in your house? You can compare your home energy use over time and spot those peaks and valleys that indicate something is wrong, or something is right.
Post on Dec 12, 2008 by Jim Gunshinan
Plant a Tree, Invent the Future
We planted several young trees at our home in October. I feel good that those new trees are sucking carbon out of the air as we speak. But a recent talk at Berkeley Labs, where Home Energy's offices are located, made me think much bigger.
Post on Nov 14, 2008 by Jim Gunshinan
The Most Efficient Home Is One That's Built Already
Making new homes more efficient is not enough. To solve our energy and environmental problems, we have to make our existing homes much more efficient.
Post on Oct 17, 2008 by Jim Gunshinan
The Building is Platinum
The California Academy of Sciences is officially the greenest museum on the planet.
Post on Oct 15, 2008 by Cat
Cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger
The more I examine our lifestyle, the more I find that it has an impact on the environment equal to, if not greater than, that of our technology.
Post on Sep 05, 2008 by Jim Gunshinan
Of Birds, Poets, and Architects
A Passivhaus is so well designed that it doesn't need a furnace for heating or an air conditioner for cooling. Because the house is so well sealed, it needs to be ventilated mechanically. That is done through a heat recovery ventilator, a device that pulls up to 80% of the heat from exhaust air and transfers it to the incoming, fresh air.
Post on Aug 08, 2008 by Jim Gunshinan
Producer's Notes: Beyond Solar: Do It Yourself Home Energy
When we started working on this project, we thought it would be easy to find people to interview: D.I.Y.ers with a passion for sustainable building who were testing out new technologies in their backyards. We found a handful of great subjects, but we never quite tapped into that centralized hub we'd envisioned. And that, it turned out, was the point. When you're a D.I.Y.er, you tend to D things Y.
Post on Aug 01, 2008 by Amy Standen
One Part Perspiration, Five Parts Inspiration
These 5 folks are full of bright ideas. Image Source: PiccoloNamekACI trains home performance professionals through national and regional conferences and through the Web. Last week I participated in my eighth ACI national conference. The annual conference is where I go to network; learn about all aspects of home performance; recruit authors for Home Energy [...]
Post on Apr 18, 2008 by Jim Gunshinan
Who Controls Your Thermostat? Part 2
No, this is not Big Brother. Credit: Jim GunshinanThe answer to the question, Who controls your thermostat?, which I raised in an earlier post, is now clearly answered. You control your thermostat! The California Energy Commission (CEC) was to require, as part of the 2008 Title 24 building standards, that all new homes be outfitted [...]
Post on Jan 25, 2008 by Jim Gunshinan
2007 Energy Bill a Mixed Bag
It would be easy to think that the 2007 Energy Bill, signed by President Bush at the end of last year, was all about automotive fuel economy. The legislation that requires fleet-wide average fuel economy for cars and light trucks to reach 35 miles per gallon by 2020 has generated a lot of buzz. On [...]
Post on Jan 11, 2008 by Jim Gunshinan
Green Collar Jobs
Home designers and constructors are realizing that all houses are organic. The California Energy Commission asked the Davis Energy Group in Sacramento to evaluate new home construction in California a few years ago. The following excerpt from Home Energy Magazine tells you what they found. The increasing architectural complexity of new homes requires greater vigilance [...]
Post on Nov 16, 2007 by Jim Gunshinan
