It’s summer. Here in the drought plagued Southwest US, it’s a badge of honor to not water your lawn. It’s even more of a badge of honor to replace it with xeriscape, create water-retaining structures like a berm-and-swale system, and recycle your greywater onto your landscape where possible. That’s what I do.
For more of Katie McKissick’s work, see: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/symbiartic/2014/06/24/dont-be-a-water-jerk/
UPDATE: The Indiegogo campaign has ended, and we heard today that our new Romanian friends managed to raise €1,266 – not all that they’d hoped for, but hopefully enough to do a lot of what they’ve planned. I’ll update this post more as I hear news.
We recently got word of some people attempting to spread the word about strawbale construction and other natural building techniques in Romania. They’re doing an Indiegogo fundraiser to get the funds together to attend and exhibit at the largest construction expo in the country.
They only have until midnight on Feb 14th to raise the needed money, so let’s show them some love!
In their words:
Last year we started a project called Earth Safe Design, aimed at building straw bale houses in Romania and raising awareness about straw bale building and natural building in general.
In April 2014 we want to attend Construct Expo, the largest construction fair in Bucharest. This event gathers 17000 visitors over a period of three days and gets coverage all over the mass media.
We are sure that this event would be a big step on the way to establishing straw bale building as an acknowledged building technique, one that will be embraced by more and more Romanians in the years to come.
Unfortunately, we cannot afford the fee for taking part in this fair, nor the other expenses involved in printing and buying building materials. Below you will find a detailed list of our expenses.
We are addressing our appeal to straw bale builders, straw bale house owner, and straw bale enthusiast who know and understand the benefits and the delight of living in a natural house.
We encourage you to donate to their campaign. We have.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-us-spread-the-word-about-straw-bale-building-in-romania
The Los Angeles City Council has voted unanimously to require “cool roofs” for all new and refurbished homes, becoming the first major U.S. city to do so. “Cool roofs” incorporate light- and heat-reflecting building materials, which can lower the surface temperature of the roof by up to 50 degrees F on a hot day, according to Climate Resolve, the local organization that pushed for the ordinance. Such roofs do not necessarily need to be white, the Global Cool Cities Alliance says; they can also be shades of gray, or even red. Research suggests that by mid-century temperatures in Los Angeles will increase by 3.7 to 5.4 degrees F, with the number of days above 95 degrees F tripling in the city’s downtown. “The changes our region will face are significant, and we will have to adapt,” said UCLA scientist Alex Hall, who led the research. The cool roof mandate will not cost homeowners additional money because of expanded incentives.
On October 3, 2013 the International Code Council (ICC) approved final action RB473-13 as a new Appendix R in the upcoming 2015 version of the International Residential Code (IRC).
The approval marks the latest advance of straw bale construction in the building codes and permitting process. It is the highest approval to be granted for the construction method and will be adopted by thousands of jurisdictions around the United States in and after 2015.
The process of creating the IRC appendix was spearheaded by Martin Hammer of Builders Without Borders representing the California Straw Building Association, the Colorado Straw Bale Association, the Straw Bale Construction Association –New Mexico, the Ontario Straw Bale Building Coalition, the Development Center for Appropriate Technology and the Ecological Building Network.
Thousands of hours of work have been donated by Martin and various individuals within the straw bale construction community to make this milestone a reality. We thank all of them for their hard work and look forward to even more widespread acceptance of straw bale building in the construction trades.
For details and a link to a copy of the appendix, visit TheLastStraw.org. A huge thanks to the hard-working bale heads that spent years making this happen!
Our lighting section just got a major overhaul, courtesy of meticulous researcher Paul Robbins of the Austin Environmental Directory.
Paul sifted through a lot of material and presents a coherent and understandable overview of the differences between incandescent, fluorescent, CFL, and LED lights. He answers (with numbers to back it up) some of the common questions: how efficient are they, really; does the energy cost of manufacturing these fancy bulbs negate the savings; why do some CFLs and LEDs burn out prematurely; and more.
PS: comments are open in lighting – got a question or an update?
Note to those in the lighting industry: Now would be the time to list your company in the lighting page’s Resource Listings. And if your company’s web address is listed in the article (or should be) and you want it to be a live link, please contact us!
I’ve been following posts from National Geographic journalist Paul Salopek as he walks the path of humans out of Africa, across Asia, over to Alaska, and down to Tierra Del Fuego – a journey that’s expected to take 7 years. So far it’s been a facinating read.
I got a kick out of one of his recent posts titled Trail Notes – The Solar Camel.
This one speaks for itself. The LandFillharmonic.
Ecosa Institute will award several scholarships for the Fall 2013 term. These scholarships are funded by Ecosa donor Foster Stanback. Scholarships will range from $1500-$3000, bringing the total cost of tuition to as low as $3000 (currently $6000 before scholarship is applied).
Full details at http://ecosainstitute.org/blog/?p=2444
Do you know a Veteran or are you a Veteran yourself? Good news! Solar Energy International is offering 100% tuition assistance and career training in partnership with SEI’s Veterans and Active Duty Training Outreach Program and the Colorado Department of Labor.
In 2013, Solar Energy International’s (SEI) full certificate training program, the SEI Solar Professionals Certificate Program, received approval through the Colorado Department of Labor. With this approval, training funding was also unlocked for Veterans seeking career training in the renewable energy sector through the Veterans Workforce Investment Program (VWIP).
The VWIP has been funded again for 2013 for veterans in Colorado and many states throughout the country. VWIP funds can help veterans attain training through certificate program and certifications in various sectors that would help veterans become more marketable.
Other states may also have VWIP funds in place and should contact SEI.
We’re excited to announce that version 4 of our long running Green Building Professionals Directory is now live!
Right now we’re running a limited time promotion to get new listings in our Directory – you can list yourself/your company for a year for just $3.00 per category!
That’s right. THREE BUCKS.
We’ve added some great new features:
Tell your friends in green/natural/sustainable building to sign up now at <http://directory.sustainablesources.com>, because this offer won’t last long!
…Don’t forget to leave ratings/reviews on your friends’ listings!
Note: The Directory is primarily for services, not products. Contact me to find out about listing your products elsewhere on SustainableSources.com
Let me know if you have any questions or comments.
