Every now and then, I find an innovative real estate development group that just knocks my socks off.  After living in Japan for 2 years, I love to hear anything about the place, so you can imagine how cool I think Sakura Urban Concepts is.  Sakura is Japanese for the "cherry blossom tree," which buds in early April and you can see blossoming trees all over Japan for about two weeks.  It’s incredible to see.  This forward-thinking group is behind a new urban design building in Portland called Shizen, which happens to be Japanese for "nature."  Not only is Shizen going to be a net zero energy building, but it’s going to have sophisticated design, sense of community, and sustainable lifestyle written all over it.  Be sure to check out Shizen’s website!

Green Features:
This project is funded, in part, by a grant from Portland’s Office of Sustainable Development (via funds from a Green Investment Fund partnership).  First, the site was home to a famous Portland Bakery, the Helen Bernhard Bakery, so Sakura purchased the property and had the house moved down the street.  The house was renovated and looks pretty good.  By moving the house, 200 tons of material was diverted from the landfill.  The condo will have a 23 kW photovoltaic array that generates roughly 1/3 of Shizen’s annual electricity; a biodiesel fueled microturbine will generate the other 2/3 (and enough to heat domestic hot water and space heating); there will be radiant floors in entries and bathrooms; rain that falls on the roof will flow to a 25,000 gallon cistern under the parking level, and that water will be used for toilet and irrigation water; 60% of Shizen’s energy savings will be through its high mass, well insulated envelope and high efficiency lights and appliances; double-glazed, argon-filled, triple coated low-e windows will allow light and block solar gain in the summer; and the roof will be a r-38 insulation. 

Site Specifics:
Shizen will be located on 1706 NE Schuyler (one block north of Broadway/NE 17th).  There will be 7 units, and construction starts in March 2007.  The total building will have about 15,500 square feet (so average of 2,200 square feet per residence?) and the land site is 7,500 square feet.  Not bad at all…Once you go green, you don’t go back.

The fact of the matter is, if you’re going to build green buildings, you gotta have green materials.  And green building is getting easier because demand is increasing and creating innovative green products to fit all varieties of projects.  There are different angles to take with a sustainable project and it’s not all about energy efficiency.  You’ll want to look at everything.  I like to think in terms of consumption.  What are you consuming and how much of it are you consuming?  Is the building water efficient?  What does it do with waste (such as recycling)?  Does waste equal food (C2C)?  Did you have to ship it across the world to procure it?  What’s the indoor air quality of the building?  How does it look and feel?   Did you benefit the community by buying the materials, paying the laborers, or building the project? 

To make life a little easier, there’s the GreenSpec Directory, which includes more than 2,100 green product listings.  It’s a veritable idea bank ($89.90).  To give you a taste of what some of the products are, BuildingGreen announced the Top-10 Green Building Products during GreenBuild in November.  Here they are.  I’ve linked to the BuildingGreen product information and used "(company)" for the corporate website link.  BuildingGreen doesn’t receive money from these companies for placing a product in the GreenSpec Directory, so the information is totally objective in that regard. 

• Polished Concrete System from RetroPlate (company)
• Underwater Standing Timber Salvage by Triton Logging (company)
• PaperStone Certified Composite Surface Material by Klip Tech Composites, Inc. (company)
• Varia + "100 Percent" Recycled-content Panel Products by 3Form, Inc. (company)
• Recycled-content Interior Molding by Timbron International (company)
• SageGlass Tintable Glazing by Sage Electrochromics (company)
• Water-efficient Showerhead with H20kinetic Technology by Delta (company)
• WeatherTRAK Smart Irrigation Controls by HydroPoint Data Systems, Inc. (company)
• Coolerado Cooler Advanced, Indirect Evaporative Air Conditioner by Coolerado, LLC (company)
• Renewable Energy Credits from Community Energy, Inc. (company)

If you have an experience with any of these products, feel free to drop a comment so all the readers can benefit.  Once you go green, you never go back!

Hey everyone, I justed wanted to kick out some shouts…over the weekend, the ole’ blog passed the 10,000 visits mark (page views was a long time ago).  Since embarking on this crazy, edifying, never-ending social experiment, my perspective has changed and I’ve been influenced by the sustainable movement in a big way.  I thank you for that.  This is the 120th post, so I guess that means my posts average about 85 visitors??  Well, back in the early days, I think I’d get about 5-10 visitors, and now that’s a lot different.  I know there are tons of blogs out there that get 10,000 or 100,000 or 1,000,000 visits per day, but I’m mighty proud of where Jetson Green is. 

So, I’m kicking out shouts to some of you blogs that keep traffic coming back.  Like I always say, keep commenting and sending emails.  I really enjoy interacting with you readers, whether you’re spearheading a major PR company for green businesses or looking to build a green home in South Carolina, that’s great with me. 

• Sustainablog
• Treehugger
• EcoSherpa
• TriplePundit
• Musings of an Eco-Entrepreneur
• Planet Relations
• Green Buildings NYC
• Green Building Blog
• It’s the Environment, Stupid
• LEED Boot Camp
• PrairieMod
• S.A.Johnson
• Stephen Schenkenberg
• Sushi Hawaii
• GreenerMIAMI

I look forward to the next 10,000 or 100,000 or 1,000,000 visits, and hope you stay along for the ride.  As Mike always says, "Keep it Contagious." 

Apparently, the mid-1980s was the last time a new high rise office building was built in Denver, Colorado.  We know what happened then and why skyscraper construction halted (hint: construction loans/S+L Crisis); knock on wood…S+L 2.0??  Recently, Westfield Development announced plans to build the most energy efficient high rise in downtown Denver, 1800 Larimer–actually, it’s a $150 million, 22 story, 500,000 square foot, energy-efficient, proposed LEED Silver tower.  Westfield Development President Rich McClintock said, "if it is not a sustainable building, it is outdated."  I couldn’t agree more. 

This LoDo area building was designed by Denver-based RNL Design.  Some of the features include the following:  subfloor air distribution system; 9-foot, 6-inch floor-to-ceiling windows; state-of-the-art health club for tenants; a half-acre terrace parklike environment 20 feet off the ground; tenant controlled temperature system; blue + gray glass facade; trees in the lobby; and a 30-foot high "wall of water" inside the lobby.  I’m excited that new construction is going green, but I will say that Denver is working hard to make the right choices.  This green building is, after all, only a small kog in the greater machine initiated by Denver’s Mayor Hickenlooper called Greenprint Denver. 

I keep saying this, but the smartest cities are also the greenest:  San Francisco, Portland, Denver, Austin, Chicago, and a trailing Salt Lake City.  The human capital + brain power of these cities is really mind-boggling, so where are you going to live?  Via RMN. 

UPDATE:  According to the global votes of over 100,000 people, Mayor Hickenlooper was ranked #9 in a survey of best mayors in the world that have made long-lasting contributions to their cities.  Only one other US mayor made the list.

If you’re new to CFLs, feel free to check out the Department of Energy’s information page on them.  When compared to incandescents, CFLs last longer, use less energy, and emit less heat.  While you need to pick the right one depending on your lighting idiosyncrasies and bulbs need to be disposed of at a hazardous waste center (see your packaging), groups like One Billion Bulbs are trying to get the word out on the benefits of CFLs.  It’s hard to calculate, but when energy is saved, the grid is called upon less and that’s a tangible benefit to your bill and your city.  Cities that keep using more energy end up debating with large companies like TXU about the pragmatics of building 11 more coal plants to meet out-of-control demand for cheap energy.  There are alternatives…

There’s an economic case for CFLs.  The City of Phoenix is saving about $600,000 a year after replacing traditional lighting with CFLs.  Mayor Phil Gordon said the city has replaced about 95% of the city’s lights with energy-efficient alternatives (as part of a $1.2 million one-time investment) and is starting to see the rewards.  At $600,000 in savings per year, that’s a 2 year payback on your investment.  This is smart business.