This thoughtfully designed home in Jackson, Wyoming, was designed by Stephen Dynia Architecture for Alice Cornell.  Other than possibly the bamboo flooring, low-E glass, natural materials, and long-lasting standing seam metal roof, I’m not aware of any materials or elements that qualify or disqualify this home as being "green."  It hasn’t been certified or anything, but the design is smart and efficient, relying on abundant natural lighting and thorough consideration for space. 

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The South Waterfront area of Portland is a new and interesting neighborhood.  All the buildings in South Waterfront will be LEED certified and thoughtfully planned.  The 35-acre, 17-block district abutting the Willamette River is also the first urban neighborhood to achieve Salmon-Safe certification.  The mission of Salmon-Safe is to restore the health of watersheds so salmon can spawn and thrive.  Here’s what the certification tells us about South Waterfront:

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• Green cement may set CO2 fate in concrete.
• NAR establishes new green designation for realtors.
• EcoTimber benefits in eco-friendly wood flooring market. 
• Eight strategies to improve the performance of existing building stock.
• Size matters when you go for green bragging rights.
• Phoenix Suns install 1,125 solar panels on parking garage.
• Cost of LEED is debatable, but savings are significant.
• "Zero-energy" pilot homes planned for Fort Campell military base.
• The environmental cost of a pizza joint.

*WIR = Week in Review; a Saturday showcase of excellent links.

This technology by Swedish company Home Energy has taken the web by storm over the past couple days.  The Energy Ball is an aberration in a small wind market that seems to be dominated by vertical axis, helical, miniature, and three-blade designs.  It takes the shape of a puffed up flounder — with an orb of six blades and a fin to guide the orb towards the wind. 

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How about kicking out a shout to the newly established blog by EcoSteel?  I was emailing with EcoSteel’s Kelvin Findlay about their new projects and the blog came up.  So I start looking through the first few posts and, of course, this Venice Live/Work home caught my eye.  I mean, how can it not?  Apparently the home is ready to go in California and EcoSteel is bidding out the contractor work at the moment.

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