Green Building : Jetson Green

First Look at West Coast Green Container Showhouse 2008

For the past two years, we've been media sponsors for the always excellent West Coast Green conference.  WCG pushes the envelope on innovation and sustainability, and this year will be no different.  Today I received renderings of the West Coast Green Showhouse, aka the SG Blocks 2008 Showhouse, built by SG Blocks and designed by The Lawrence Group.  It's a 1700 sf container home, but you probably can't tell just by looking.  Sustainability will be number one, with GreenPoint and LEED certification in the plans.  Plus, it seems that ecofabulous will be doing the interior design work, so the home, you can believe, will be modish, posh, and green. 

LA Remodel Emphasizes Sustainability

This is a post and beam house in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles owned by Elaine Wakeland and Eric Garcetti, President of LA City Council.  As you may have previously read in this Dwell article, they're both environmentally- conscious and highly active in their community.  As a result, they wanted to update their 1950s home and retained the help of Scrafano Architects to suss out its modern traits.  They also wanted to make the home as energy efficient and healthy as possible.  So they removed walls, took out an extra bathroom, and found ways to draw in more natural lighting.  They installed a tankless water heater and solar panels on the roof -- a move that now provides 50% of the home's energy. 

Visualizing Benefits of Roof Overhangs

If you're in a sunny location and your home has windows, then you probably like to pull a curtain or close the shutters to keep direct heat from entering the home.  Just today I was driving by a modern home with slight overhangs and nodded my head in approval thinking: "buya ... such a simple design element and it's providing shading for those super large windows during the heat of the day."  I realize we're talking about something basic, but if you have the chance, roof overhangs can make a difference as to how much you're manipulating the interior temperature with mechanical systems.  Check this ranch house by Cottam Hargrave.  With that much glass in Georgetown, Texas, a little roof overhang is a prerequisite, don't you think?!

A Green Business Rule

This went popular on Digg the other day ... just thought I'd share because we have opinions on the related concepts of lifestyle minimalism and consumption ... Jetson Green focuses on new construction, renovations, sustainability, and the like, but we're also thinking about consumption, conservation, and minimalism. 

Modern Green Seattle Home Opens Doors

I received an email from Modern Dwelling in relation to this contemporary, green pad and pretty much had to share some details.  First things first, if you're in the Seattle area, there's going to be an art showing at the home this Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 7 pm, so make sure to check that out.*  Otherwise, the Mount Baker Residence, as it's known, is perched on a slope with views of Rainier Valley to downtown Seattle.  With tons of natural lighting, four bedrooms, two and a half baths, and 2470 sf of living space, it's tough to go wrong in a home that looks like this.  Here are some of its green features:

Zero Energy Idea House Breaks Ground

At the tail end of last week, Shirey Contracting broke ground on the Zero Energy Idea House located at Bass Cove near Bellevue, Washington.  The house is intended to be kind of an inspirational structure that can help homeowners move toward energy independence.  As a zero energy house*, the goal is to generate all the necessary energy from on-site power and efficiency measures.  Specifically, the Idea House will have rooftop solar, solar hot water, and a vertical-axis small wind turbine, judging by the rendering.  In addition, the 1700 sf home will have a large, 1200 sf green roof and a host of other green features, such as:

High Design at The Riverhouse

This is an interior shot of the new Vivavi Pop-Up Store at The Riverhouse in Battery Park City.  I was emailing with Josh Dorfman, founder and CEO of Vivavi, about the store prior to the giveaway last week and he's pretty excited about the designers slated for the store.  You may notice the Girado chairs, Signature 2.0 console, club chair & ottoman, and Spring Chairs, but probably one of my favorite designs in the store is the artwork by Sandy Schimmel.  I've included a few images below -- they're made from junk mail scraps. 

Geos, a Sustainable GeoSolar Community

Geos is a community located in Arvada, Colorado.  With homes starting in the low $200,000, it is an affordable green community seeking status as the first fossil fuel free community in the United States.  The homes combine the benefits of both geothermal and solar energy.  Homes range from 850 to 3500+ square feet and include a variety of living options from live/work townhomes to single level flats. 

Concourse E Tells a Modern Green Story

Several months ago we blogged about Concourse E and two projects going up in Atlanta.  Today Concourse E's owner Jeff Demetriou shot me an email with a link to the new Concourse E Blog.  I was reading back into their blog archives and noticed that 81 Weatherby, a serious modern looker, will have what seems to be the first residential green roof in Georgia.  Impressive!  Concourse E is getting pretty close to finishing both homes that we talked about in the rendering phase, so we'll keep you posted.  In the meantime, go check out articles and photos at the new blog. 

ECOBAY Focuses on Sustainability

One thing we're seeing for sure is an increasing amount of activity in the masterplanned, sustainable city area.  Last January, schmidt hammer lassen architects won an international competition to design ECOBAY, a new town situated on the Paljassaare peninsula near the Estonian capital of Tallinn.  In collaboration with Buro Happold Consulting Engineers and Møller & Grønborg, ECOBAY has been designed with everything one would need in close proximity: housing, schools, local shops, businesses, and other amenities -- all within walking or biking distance.  In addition, the town will utilize geothermal, small-scale wind, and surplus energy from the nearby wastewater facility.