Products + Materials Category

Smart Solutions: This Sink Hides Dirty Dishes.

February 9th, 2010 by andrea in Lifestyle, Products + Materials, Water

smart sink hides dirty dishes(NC)—Run a search on dirty dishes on the internet and you will find that not only is this a topic of much discussion and debate, it is a highly personal and emotional issue.

Forums offer advice, suggestions and tips for how to hide those dirty dishes when company comes—in the oven, under the sink, in the laundry basket—to name just a few. Some write to vent their frustrations—“how can so many dirty dishes pile up so fast when there are just two of us?” one woman asks. A highly-rated video shows three young men dealing with their angst when the kitchen is overrun by an unsightly pile of dishes and cookware. The problem is solved when one waves his hand and the dishes magically disappear, no doubt accounting for the popularity of the movie. Read the rest of this entry »

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Cork. A Warm (and quiet) Introduction to Nature’s Perfect Floor

February 3rd, 2010 by andrea in Products + Materials, Projects

(NC)—While it’s relatively new to us, cork flooring has been used in Europe for centuries because of its resilience, durability and surprisingly versatile, attractive designs. Today, cork is taking North America by storm due to all of those attributes, plus its unsurpassed eco-friendliness and sustainability.

Cork is hand-harvested, and no trees are harmed in this ancient practice. Century-old cork trees, harvested every nine years, still thrive in the forests of Portugal and Spain.

Eco-engineering of modern cork floors allows them to be installed over existing flooring including tiles. And, once installed, cork doesn’t merely beautify the home, it mutes and muffles sound with its natural acoustic properties, provides exceptional cushioning and warmth with its natural insulation properties, and is hypo-allergenic to safeguard your family’s health. Read the rest of this entry »

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Window Coverings

January 14th, 2010 by Conrad in Air Quality, Blogs - Mill Creek Net Zero Home, Energy, Energy Conservation, Green Building Blogs, Products + Materials

IMG_2416

The temptation has always been there for eco-house builders. It’s those damn windows; they are just so useless once the sun goes down. There must be some way to insulate them once they no longer need to be seen through, right? Read the rest of this entry »

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Family Support is Priceless

January 9th, 2010 by andrea in Blogs - Andrea's Green Kitchen, Community, Green Building Blogs, Projects, Reclaimed + Recycled Materials

Recycled content moldingOh, how the little things can make such a big difference! As some of you may have noticed, our green kitchen reno slowed to a stop. There has been nothing to report for several months, which was really demoralizing, especially as I prepared newsletters with updates from other bloggers who were building entire green homes from scratch!

Meanwhile we were left with an assortment of glaring niggly finishing tasks that we had neither time nor energy to complete, not to mention a floor that turned out nothing like what I had imagined.

Enter Super Dad. Read the rest of this entry »

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Reuseit.com’s Top Ten Holiday Gifts That Help People Consume Less

November 25th, 2009 by andrea in Lifestyle, Products + Materials

(ENN)

CHICAGO, Nov. 23– Modern culture’s gift-giving often comes at the expense of our environment (during the month of December, it’s been estimated that households generate and extra 1 million tons of garbage per week). The holidays are the perfect opportunity to make a significant, long-lasting difference for the environment - by giving gifts that actually help people consume less, preserve natural resources and save money.

“We pioneered the concept of gifting reusables five years ago,” stated Vincent Cobb, founder of Reuseit.com. “With each reusable you gift, you effectively empower the recipient to reduce thousands and thousands of disposables. The net effect is enormous.” Reuseit.com is a one-stop-shop for hundreds of innovative, high-quality, eco-friendly reusables that continue to give back after every use.

To help consumers select the right reusable for anyone, the company has created a comprehensive Gift Center to make the process easy, with buying guides, videos and hand-picked gift ideas For Him, For Her, For Kids and more. Below are the company’s Top 10 overall reusable gift picks for the holidays – innovative, well-designed products that help replace some of the most common disposables. Read the rest of this entry »

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More than Just Wood: The Many Faces of Reclaimed Building Materials

November 10th, 2009 by andrea in Products + Materials, Reclaimed + Recycled Materials

Reclaimed wood, reclaimed bricks, reclaimed windows

Mention reclaimed materials and the image pops: salvaged wood beautifully repurposed as paneling or flooring. While reclaimed wood is indeed one of the most popular reused materials, the range of materials sought and available extends far beyond that.

“Reclaimed wood is a classic, and it’s an idea most people are familiar with,” said PlanetReuse operations manager Tim Bensman. “But we’re seeing a growing market for steel, doors, access flooring, granite and marble. Steel, especially, offers huge potential for reuse, and along with that a huge potential for cost savings as well as a greater ability to achieve additional LEED material reuse credits.” The LEED MR system awards credit for reuse of a variety of reclaimed materials. PlanetReuse works with the design team early enough in the process to allow a huge list of options for consideration. Read the rest of this entry »

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MCNZ - Progress (part 7)

October 12th, 2009 by Conrad in Blogs - Mill Creek Net Zero Home, Green Building + Design, Green Building Blogs, Green Homes, Products + Materials, Reclaimed + Recycled Materials, Renewable Energy, Solar

IMG_1973

The Mill Creek NetZero Home is substantially completed.

The stucco is finished on the outside. We went with a cement-based stucco because of its looks and durability.

Peter Amerongen built a brick wall behind the wood burner. We used the bricks from the foundation of the house that used to be standing on the property. This wall adds more thermal mass (to capture both solar and wood heat) to the house, as well as a bit of history. Read the rest of this entry »

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Airtight

September 22nd, 2009 by Conrad in Air Quality, Blogs - Mill Creek Net Zero Home, Energy, Energy Conservation, Green Building + Design, Green Building Blogs, Green Homes, Insulation

The importance of air tightness in building construction cannot be overstated. Very few factors affect energy performance in a cold climate more than air moving in and out of a building.

The Mill Creek Net Zero Home (MCNZ) has achieved an air tightness test result of 0.36 air changes per hour (ACH) at a pressure of 50 Pascal. In other words, when it’s really cold out, which creates a big pressure difference between the inside and the outside of a house, the 0.36 of the air in the MCNZH would leak out and be replaced with cold air over the course of an hour. It has the equivalent of a 13.8 square inch hole in it leaking air all of the time. Read the rest of this entry »

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BuildingGreen.com on Polystyrene Insulation

September 9th, 2009 by andrea in Energy, Energy Conservation, Insulation, Products + Materials, Toxicity

Oh, curse the green product tradeoff! Case in point: Polystyrene insulation is oh so effective at keeping the heat in…or out. Pity about the toxic benzene required to manufacture it and the nasty toxic and bioaccumulating HBCD (hexabromocyclododecane) it contains.

Saving Energy = Good, but Toxic Chems = Bad. And what’s the solution? Perhaps it’s time to make friends with thicker walls insulated with less toxic but slightly less effective materials. Check out the original article at BuildingGreen.com

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Healthy Home

August 28th, 2009 by Conrad in Blogs - Mill Creek Net Zero Home, Green Building Blogs, Green Homes, Products + Materials, Toxicity

14-08-2009 1-08-46 PM

You can’t put a price on your family’s health. When we set out to build the Mill Creek NetZero Home, we were determined to make it a healthy living environment for us, our children and those who visits us.

The factors that are most responsible for making a home’s air toxic are paint, formaldehyde and carpet. Read the rest of this entry »

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