Green Building
Forget my treehouse fantasy (at least for the moment). Now I'm dreaming about working out of a container.
London-based company, Container City, uses shipping containers linked together to create building shapes for offices, retail spaces, artist studios or even a live/work environment.
The modular technology enables construction times and cost to be reduced by up to half that of traditional building techniques while remaining significantly more environmentally friendly.
We're pleased to announce the launch of 5 more blogs which will focus on Kitchens, Paint, Green Building, Tools and Home Security.
The depth of these categories is huge so we felt they needed their own websites.
You can reach these other blogs from the navigation bar at the very top of the page and don't forget the content on every blog is also segmented into specific categories which you'll find along the right-hand side of the website.
We can now offer direct advertising opportunities across our entire network or on a single blog within the network.
We'd like to thank Maggie Hong of Pixrelated for creating our great crest logos and Chad Everett for his Movable Type mastery in developing the back-end of our blogs.
We'd also like to thank our bevy of bloggers who pump out great content on a daily basis, Katy Ryan, Tabatha Muntzinger, Laura Serino, Diana Dart, Deren Monday and Jennifer Volland. You can also check out the rest of our team here.
If you're interested in blogging for Charles & Hudson or have a product or service announcement you think would be a great fit for our home improvement blog network please contact us.
Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoy our new blogs.
Tankless water heaters have been the rage for sometime but if you still crave a more traditional water heater but want the energy savings then you may want to consider the Hybrid Water Heater from GE which we saw at the 2010 Builders Show.
It's the first water heater to be to be listed on the U.S. Department of Energy's website as Energy Star rated. GE claims it will reduce energy expenses up to 62%, saving as much as $320 annually on energy bills. This is achieved through a unique technology in addition to electric power explained below.
Universal design was a major theme at the 2010 Builders' Show and Kohler delivered with their assisted living toilet, Fountainhead elongated one-piece toilet.
It was displayed prominently in their gorgeous exhibitor space and you couldn't help but press the buttons to see the seat rise and fall effortlessly. The toilet as all others in their display were working models and this toilet looks as if it was designed by engineers who saw form and function equally.
We appreciate simple products that upon visual inspection are easy to recognize what purpose they serve. The PermaFLOW is one such product. Simply remove your current p-trap located below a kitchen or bathroom sink and replace it with a the PermaFLOW which will allow you to easily remove a drain buildup before a clog develops. This in turn eliminates the use of plunging, toxic drain cleaners and expensive service calls.
If your drain starts to slow down you reach under the sink and give the external dial a spin which moves the debris back into the water stream and you've got a clear drain again. This product is clear which also makes it easy to locate lost jewelry or valuables that may have fallen into a sink. Because it also eliminates the need for drain chemicals your home waste water will always remain much cleaner.
While attending CES last week we took a brief diversion to checkout the newest addition to the Las Vegas skyline, City Center, which bills itself as "Capital of the New World". That's quite a boast in a city built on big claims but after walking through Crystals (only 40% occupied), Aria and Vdara we think they've got the goods to back it up.
It's truly a marvel and such a unique and fascinating departure from anything else on the strip, which is really what all great Las Vegas strip properties are seeking to achieve.
The City Center new slogan should scream "I'm so 3008, you so 2000 and late" just as Fergie from BEP does. Regardless of whether or not this is a true "green build" the City Center is a must stop on any itinerary.
We hope these photos provide enough of a glimpse that you'll be wanting more.
Today California approved a building code that is the most aggressive eco-friendly statewide code in the US.
"Calgreen" won by unanimous approval by the state and will take effect in 2011. All homes, hospitals, schools and shopping malls must abide by this code.
Highlights include:
Builders must divert 50% of construction waste from landfills to recycling
Building materials must be eco-friendy such as low-pollutant paints, carpets and floorings.
Water-efficient plumbing and fixtures must be used.
This new building code had support from the Chamber of Commerce, many builders and realtors and the Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ironically it was opposed by the US Green Building Council who is worried that it will create confusion for builders who want to achieve a standard.
Seattle, one of our favorite (and we feel most underrated) cities in the world, has an enormous amount of interesting homes and a plethora of DIY resources. From luxury houseboats to modern and modest bungalows there are homes of every taste and many are gorgeous and green.
There also plenty of house bloggers in Seattle that chronicle their home improvement projects or builds and one of the most compelling to read and look at is A House By The Park. The homeowner is building his dream home 10 minutes from Seattle and in his words is "sustainable, energy-efficient, capturing the full potential of the property without spending an arm and a leg."
We love the live web cam and the time lapse feature is fun to look through. The live cams we had setup at This Old House were always the most popular house project feature and its great to see a house blogger implement the same.
Home Depot won't come into your home to perform an energy audit, but with the Cash for Caulkers program a go they should consider it. Hey if President Obama delivered a speech from our store we'd do what we can to capitalize on that.
Home Depot is doing their part online as they've built an interesting website application that allows you to self-diagnose your energy use through a series of questions regarding your at-home energy and resource consumption.
We went through the questions and the results were a great reminder of what more we can do to save energy and money. An on-demand water heater, more energy star rated appliances and a low-flow toilet would make the most impact right now for us, new windows no so much.
If you've never given energy savings a second thought you might learn a lot from this online energy audit.
It's official the Cash for Caulkers program is a go. Today while speaking at the Brookings Institute, President Obama announced that new spending is required to give the economy another push. The new plan would cut taxes on small businesses, increase spending on infrastructure and offer new rebates to reward energy efficiency.
The plan would include a so-called Cash for Caulkers incentive program that would provide rebates for consumers who make energy-efficient retrofits on their homes. The official name is Home Star taking a cue from energy efficient appliances, Energy Star.
All the mainstream media news outlets are finally taking notice of this story and we chatted with a rep from Neil Cavuto's show on Fox today who was interested in our take on the Cash for Caulkers program and how it will effect "Joe the Plumber".
Let's hope this program raises awareness for energy efficiency in homes. Even without this program there are many techniques you can apply to your home to save energy and money.
