Discovery, aka "the number-one nonfiction media company" and recent purchaser of Treehugger, now has legit green digs.  LEED-EB stands for LEED Existing Buildings, but the certification standard has recently undergone a renovation to LEED Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance.  Up until now, the LEED-EB Platinum certification has been pretty rare, but we’ll see if that changes post-renovation.  The Clinton Library got a Platinum and so did the headquarters of both Armstrong and Adobe.  So, it looks like Discovery’s 540,000 sf building is in good company.  Here’s what they did to get the high distinction:

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This is just another example of micro-green technology in an entirely necessary and functional setting.  The video shows a streetlight running on both wind and solar in front of Panasonic Center in Tokyo.  In addition to the helix turbine and butterfly solar panels, there’s a high-efficiency light bulb and battery for capturing energy during the day (to be used at night).  Someone tell me why we don’t see more any of this in the U.S.?  Via EcoGeek.

I just caught wind of an incredible new collection of transparent, glass mosaic tile called LIBERTY.  LIBERTY was designed by Giulio Candussio for Trend USA, a company we profiled previously for their Trend Q product.  These images are incredible.  The hand cut tiles contain a minimum of 50% post industrial recycled content and are available in 12 colors.  LIBERTY retails for about $45 psf, which is not bad depending on the use.  A wall might be expensive, but an accent will be more reasonable.  I’m gonna let the images speak on this one, but if you want more information, LIBERTY will be in tile shops all over the country (visit here or call 866-508-7363 for nearest location). 

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Your version of the proverbial American Dream may not include a house, dog, and white picket fence, but I’m sure it’s something like that.  But what happens to your American Dream when future development policies encourage greater density and vertical construction?  Don’t get me wrong.  Greater density is a good thing and it alleviates the harmful effects of sprawl.  But, at the same time, our vision of the American Dream becomes more and more obsolete.  Unless … you see greater density and vertical living as something similar to the above.  Designed by Reinier de Jong, MoCo Loco reports on the concept: "Tuin project is a proposal that places a typical two storey dwelling with a garden within a highrise framework in order to keep those who flee towards suburbia in search of space firmly in the city."  Why not, right?

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Friends, I think my eyes are bigger than my website hacking skills, so you might see some glitches.  Apparently, the site was loading differently in IE as compared to Firefox.  I’m a Firefox person, so I didn’t realize that, but maybe I should take the time to say Jetson Green is optimized for Firefox?!  I decided to get the top right ads out of my face, so I tried to make that different.  If you see glitches, feel free to comment below, so I can figure them out.  Thanks, and:

++Please Refresh Your Browser a Few Times to Upload Changes++

There’s an excellent article in NY Times on what’s believed to be the first green homeless shelter in the country.  It’s an extraordinary $11 M shelter.  Homeless shelters usually operate out of an old warehouse or derelict building, but this place, Crossroads, is different.  It’s a reality primarily as a result of the tenacity of Wendy Jackson, executive director of the East Oakland Community Project of Alameda County.  After seven long years and lots of hard work, Jackson was able to make it happen.  The newly finished, modern building accommodates 125 residents.

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