Our Green Streets Blog

Origin design from BluHomes. Photo: BluHomes

For anyone that has ever worked with a Lego set, it is easy to understand the appeal of modular thinking. Consistency and interchangeability immediately come to mind.

According to Jetson Green, the business today of off-site fabricated homes – shipped as modules, kits or panels – is robust.  Preston, Jetson Green chief editor, writes that prefabrication offers “several potential benefits that the housing industry cannot ignore: accelerated construction, controlled construction, construction without the elements, and minimal waste.”

Many of these modular homes are now being marketed under a green heading. For instance, last year, Nationwide Homes launched the eco-cottage (see photo on next page). Ranging in size from 300 to almost 600 square feet, the eco-cottage might be used for “a separate sleeping quarters or hobby space for your arts & crafts or even an office space,” writes Nationwide.

There are many reasons for the appeal of prefabricated homes: cost, less waste, factory precision, ease of construction and energy efficiency representing a few of the basic considerations. In addition, there is the real or perceived “green factor.”

According to Modular Homes, “Green modular homes are now being built that allow people to live comfortably without using as many natural resources.”

Of interest, a majority of these modular homes have been designed considerably smaller than traditional American homes.

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AireShare ductless system from Tjernlund Products

This much is true with most home heating, cooling and ventilation designs: no matter how appealing or green an abode might be, a person can usually pinpoint the cold spots in a house or the ones that are too warm.

Not to fret.

A Minnesota-based company  – Tjernlund Products, Inc. – sells a number of low-cost ductless systems that move air from one part of the house to another, whether through walls or through floors.

Here are two of its products:

• AireShare™ Level-to-Level Fan – Can move air from level to level. The unit either blows air up to a higher level or, when installed in the opposite orientation, down to a lower level. It can move stove or fireplace heat up or down a level or move cool air from a basement up to the main living space.
• AireShare Room-to-Room Transfer Fan – The tool for homes with split systems; pulls cool air from floor level or warm air from ceiling level to provide more even distribution.

This  case study from the Tjernlund website is worth reading:

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LED lighting system from Eco-story provides ambiance and cost-savings at Timberland stores. Photo: Timberland

Less than a year ago, Eco-story LED Lighting Solutions was selected by The Timberland Company (NYSE: TBL) to “help its stores make an eco-friendly shift in lighting.” The results are impressive – both economically and environmentally.

Timberland, an outdoor footwear and apparel company, opted to use Portland, ME-based Eco-story to create special LED track lights that would improve overall ambiance, while saving money.

According to a recent press release, 10 months after the LED system installation, the company has saved approximately $100,000 in electricity costs for 50 U.S. Timberland stores that were retrofitted.

Generally this meant that Eco-story replaced up to 150 50 to 90-Watt halogen spotlights in each store with 10-Watt Par 30 color-matched LED bulbs.

“Eco-consciousness led the way in our endeavor to make lighting changes, but with the Federal tax incentive and our lowered electric bill, the financial savings has been a significant advantage,” said Al Buell, Timberland store planning and construction project manager.

According to the release, Eco-story LED bulbs are predicted to last 6 to 10 years.  As for failure rate, less than one percent of over 5,000 lamps failed and replacement was not difficult.

The Eco-story ECO-PAR-30-WW LED lamp features lighting-class Cree XLamp LEDs.  For more information about Eco-story and its products, visit its website.

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Philip S. Miller Library, Castle Rock, CO Photo: Sunflower Corp.

Those wishing to have the best natural light for interior spaces may want to take a look at Sunflower Corporation and its Sundolier^®, a lighting system designed to deliver high quality indirect daylight to large spaces.

The line of “daylighting” products developed at the Boulder, CO-based Sunflower Corporation are designed with this objective: to provide sustainable natural lighting that meets the high quality lighting demands of education, office, retail and industrial markets.

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A composting toilet from BioLet in Sweden. Photo: BioLet

For those considering building without a septic tank or access to a sewer line, it might be time to look at composting toilets, especially if putrid smells can be avoided.  Swedish-based BioLet has manufactured waterless toilets for 35 years and indicates odor is not a problem, especially in Sweden where waterless toilet systems are required in many places. Here, the average American uses 7,665 gallons of water each year just flushing the toilet.

Just a few years ago mention of a composting toilet brought far more in the way of frowns than applause. As Peter Andersson, BioLet USA’s president pointed out in a press release, “People would go, “A what toilet…?!?” You either quickly changed the subject, or went into an ever-lasting explanation about what it is, how it works and especially why on earth anybody would want to have a toilet that doesn’t flush. Things are changing.”

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What is being done with beetle-killed forests. Photo: CSU

From the bark beetle epidemic that has already destroyed millions of acres of trees in Western states, good uses for the dead trees are now becoming more widespread as the wood is harvested.

Even with such huge damage, the wood, when harvested, has been put to striking uses in furniture, flooring, and paneling applications. It has also been used for  structural beams.  The list of structures built using beetle-kill pine includes everything from outhouses to garden sheds and benches. On a more expansive level, dead forests are now being considered as a source of biomass production to generate electricity.

As Colorado Senator Mark Udall has said, “Wood is the most renewable resource we have and as an energy source, it’s carbon neutral. Biomass generators can efficiently turn dead trees into electricity for our homes and offices, and new technologies have shown the potential to turn biomass into liquid fuels. Read more of this >>