HR 2454 or the Waxman-Markey bill, named after its two major supporters Henry A. Waxman and Edward J. Markey of the Energy and Commerce Committee, was passed in the US House of Representatives on June 27. Its major mandate is a cap and trade system though it does have other green practices scattered throughout. There [...]

I am not sure how many of you read the recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle about a net zero modular multi-tenant townhouse being built by a bay area company. I am very glad that this article made the front page especially on a day when Michelle Obama visited San Francisco. It [...]

Contractors and bidders need to know what they are up against throughout the entire building process. By putting the requirements of commissioning and information about LEED Documentation in the bid packages, owners or project managers will get a much better understanding of what is entailed. It will also separate those who have experience [...]

Following our recent posts, the 7th Step in the 12 Steps to a Successful LEED Project requires team members to attend LEED workshops
7. Attend LEED Training workshops

Make sure everyone on the team has a copy of the LEED reference guide and their pages are highlighted. The LEED Consultant should provide the teams with the [...]

5. Charrette – More the better
An Eco-Charrette is a crucial tool for success. All ideas are put on the table and all sustainability goals are addressed. You will also get a chance to see where the experience is in the room and then can decide how to coach those less experienced folk [...]

I thought I would share with you some fun/disturbing facts about water and why it should become a priority in our buildings.
1) An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than the typical person living in a developing country slum uses in a whole day.
2) 3.575 million people die [...]

So a couple things are on my mind this week. The main one is water however. To date this blog has focused quite a bit on energy, materials, and sustainability however we’ve lacked on the water subject.

Since Karolina let me on to this movie FLOW I’ve been newly recharged to change the world. [...]

So I started writing a comparison/death match between LED’s and CFL lamps and I realized it is a terrible comparison. The more I learn about lighting the more I understand that lighting fixtures are like women - they come in all shape and sizes and the best one depends on the correct application. [...]

For those of you in San Francisco interested in learning about energy efficient buildings go to the PGE headquarters on 5th and Howard. It is really one of the best resources to learning about all items related to green building. They have great demonstrations on lighting, windows, HVACs and many more. It [...]

This weekend I was driving in traffic on the Oakland toll Bridge reading Van Jones’s The Green Collar Economy and was blown away by his forward thinking and by my multi-tasking abilities. Although I was impressed with my ability not to crash I think it is more important that I share with you Van [...]