DAVID ARKIN AND ANNI TILT
ARKIN-TILT ARCHITECTS, Berkeley, California. (510) 528-9830
  Straw bale and rammed earth construction; passive and active solar; nontoxic and recycled materials.

PAULA BAKER-LAPORTE
BAKER-LAPORTE & ASSOCIATES, Tesuque, New Mexico. (505) 989-1813
Baubiologie; nontoxic building materials; energy-efficient systems; ecologically sensitive land use.

DALE BATES
LIVING ARCHITECTURE, Ketchum, Idaho. (208) 726-3691
Passive solar; radiant heating and cooling; nontoxic materials; European breathing walls.

DARREL DEBOER
DEBOER ARCHITECTS, 854 Allview Avenue; El Sobrante, California 94803. (510) 290-3669
Simplifying structure; reducing cost of building naturally; bamboo and straw bale structures.

KEN HAGGARD AND POLLY COOPER
 SAN LUIS SUSTAINABILITY GROUP, Santa Margarita, California. (805) 438-4452
 Natural forms; passive solar; fractal geometry; off-grid, straw bale, cohousing. 

MARY KRAUS AND LAURA FITCH
KRAUS-FITCH ARCHITECTS, Amherst, Massachusetts. (413) 549-5799
Cohousing and sustainable communities; ecologically and socially relevant design; LEED accredited.

KELLY LERNER
ONE WORLD DESIGN, Spokane, Washington. (509) 838-8812
Energy efficiency; nontoxic materials; straw bale; earthen plasters; solar; straw bale projects in rural Asia.

HENRY YORKE MANN
Oliver, British Columbia. (250) 498-4766
 Honors practical and spiritual needs of owners and building sites.

MARLEY PORTER
LIVING ARCHITECTURE AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT, Horseshoe Bay, Texas. (830) 598-9300
Spaces that enrich the spirit; healthy, durable, low-maintenance materials.

DAN ROCKHILL
ROCKHILL AND ASSOCIATES, Lawrence, Kansas. (785) 864-4024
Designs that rise from the land; salvaged materials and reuse; historic preservation.

PLINY FISK AND GAIL VITTORI
The Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, Austin, Texas. (512) 928-4786
Co-directors of the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems; sustainable community; local economic development.

BOB BERKEBILE
BNIM Architects, Kansas City, Missouri. (816) 783-1500
Founding chair of the AIA’s Committee on the Environment.

WILLIAM MCDONOUGH
William McDonough + Partners, Charlottesville, Virginia. (434) 979-1111
Communities with economic, ecological, and social responsibility; “cradle to cradle” design.

SARAH SUSANKA
Sarah Susanka, Raleigh, North Carolina. (919) 841-0124
Pioneer of “not so big” approach to architecture.

CAROL VENOLIA
Santa Rosa, California. (707) 538-1249
EcoDwelling faculty member of New College of California; author of Healing Environments.

HAVEN BY DESIGN & D.A. FOSTER CONSTRUCTION
Los Angeles, California. (310) 306-7837
Not architects, but a Master Builder who provides innovative design, full phase construction management and affordable solutions based on the principles of green building.

ADOBE is made of sand, clay and fibrous material (straw, etc.) that is dried or baked to form bricks, then stacked and mortared to make walls. “You can make an adobe block almost anywhere. It’s so cheap, anybody can do it,” says engineer Bruce King, who is writing an earthen construction building code through his Ecological Building Network.

RAMMED EARTH  is made by compressing a damp mixture of earth, sand, gravel, clay and sometimes a stabilizer (cement, for example) into structural forms that are stripped away after the walls have solidified. It creates a durable, stonelike, monolithic wall. “Rammed earth is a beautiful finished product when installed by experts,” says architect David Easton, who has been championing the material for decades.

CAST EARTH A structural material made with earth and calcined gypsum can replace wood or steel framing in residential and light commercial buildings, yielding energy and environmental benefits. Cast Earth has been demonstrated successfully in residences and commercial scale structures. It is a true "breakthrough technology", producing a product with all the properties of traditional earth construction, augmented by superior esthetics, rapid construction, and affordable cost.

Cast Earth does not involve laying bricks or blocks or slowly compacting earth by mechanical or pneumatic action. Instead, it consists of rapidly pouring an entire building in place, removing forms shortly after the pour. What makes this possible is calcined gypsum's fast set rate to a wet strength sufficient to support a wall, at an unexpectedly low concentration. Fifteen percent calcined gypsum provides surprising strength immediately after setting. Steel reinforcing is not used.

In a new development, not yet completely reduced to practice but put into limited field use in late 2003, the mix is treated after placing in forms to cause its normal one to two hour set time to take place in a few minutes. This set acceleration can speed up the rate of building significantly and opens new opportunities to create enhanced esthetics. During 2004, this exciting feature will be fine tuned and become a common part of the process.

COB is a mixture of clay, sand, water and straw hand-sculpted into walls without formwork or machinery. It allows for highly organic forms and lends itself to construction parties. There is no building code for cob in the United States, but many cob homes have been built in areas with owner-builder codes. Cob can be relatively inexpensive for DIYers. 

Bosch AquaStar
Chronomite Instant Flow SR
Noritz

Source: Dwell, Alternative Energy 101. November 2007

A Rinnai tankless water heater is about 50 percent more efficient than a gas-heated tank and 70 percent more efficient than electric because it heats water only upon demand. The Rinnai’s small size may also allow for installation closer to the kitchen or master bath, saving water by decreasing the wait for the tap to get hot.

Rinnai spokesperson Megan Harvey says tankless heaters also reduce landfill bulk. "The Rinnais have two to three times the lifespan of a tank but are about one-third the size," she says. "Plus they’re about 70 percent recyclable steel and copper."

Rinnai Tankless Water Heater Model R75LS: $1,073 to $1,142, plus installation, (800) 621-9419.

Source

On the most basic level, all green roofs require several things, according to industry association Green Roofs for Healthy Cities: a high-quality waterproofing system that also repels invasive roots; an adequate drainage system; a filter cloth; a lightweight soil; and, of course, plants. Among many benefits, green roofs can extend the lifespan of the roofing material, reduce heating and cooling costs and stormwater runoff, and provide noise absorption and a place to garden. If whole cities had green roofs, the heat island effect—warmer urban temperatures—could be mitigated.

Plants for green roofs in high-altitude, dry climates

Basket of Gold Alyssum montanum Mountain Gold

Cacti Escobaia leei Lee's dwarf snowball

Hens and Chicks Sempervivum spp.

Ice Plant Delosperma

Native Grasses Buffalo Grass, bluestem, blue grama, perennial ryegrass, blue fescue

Creeping Phlox Phlox stolonifera

Sedum Dragon's Blood, Tri-Colored, Golden Carpet, Angelina, Stonecrop

Thyme Thymus vulgaris Wooly, Pink Chintz, Creeping Pink, Elfin

Snow-in-Summer Cerastium tomentosum

■ Let large plants such as shrubs and sunflowers provide privacy and pathways, creating a “secret garden” effect.

How about a Vertical Garden?
Read the Dwell article

Ron Mertens, spokesperson for industry resource OLED-Info.com, explains that OLED pixels create colored light, meaning OLEDs don’t need a filter. Because liquid crystal display (LCD) technology does require filtration, OLEDs draw only a fraction of the power needed to run LCDs. Plus, it’s easier to make OLED displays flexible, transparent and superthin—highly desirable characteristics to today’s consumer. The technology is already popular for small-screen cell phones and MP3 players, and the potential for use in home lighting is huge.

“The more OLED that gets out there, the better, because it has very low electromagnetic emissions,” says Mary Cordaro, president of H3Environmental, a healthy home consulting group. “We first save energy by switching to OLED. Then we get the extra benefit of that electricity being cleaner, as it tends to produce lower radiation from electromagnetic fields than other technologies.”

Scientists must address one of OLED’s biggest drawbacks before they can market large screens: The blue color display doesn’t last as long as red or yellow, effectively shortening the product lifespan. TV manufacturers are in the research and development stage with OLEDs, though Sony recently introduced an 11-inch model in Japan with a price tag of $2,500—and the 1,300 units sold out in one day.

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G/Rated Home Remodeling Guide: Designing and Building a More Sustainable Home
If you're more a paper person, you can get much of the best information from the G/Rated program distilled into a handy little book, available ofr purchase online. The guidebook promises, "Whatever your budget or personal preferences, you can meet your goals while minimizing your impact on the environment."

Inhabit
The blog Inhabit offers "future-forward design for the world you inhabit," covering sustainable furniture, interior design, and architecture that's both really stylish and truly green.

Flex Your Power
The Flex Your Power web site is one-stop-shopping for energy efficiency. Although it's designed with Californaia in mind, it's a powerful resource that anyone can learn from. You can access information on how to buy the most efficient washer, dryer, dishwasher, refridgerator, furnace, air conditioner, or hot water heater; how to light your home with natural light and compact flourescents; how to insulate and weatherize your home and cool your roof; and how to save water using ultra-low flow shower heads and toilets. And that's not all.