This is the next generation of the popular Glidehouse, a home design originally created by Michelle Kaufmann that was later acquired by Blu Homes. Blu tweaked the design to fit the company’s custom fold-up system of construction, and this is the first, new Glidehouse to be delivered.
A few months back, the New York Times put a spotlight on the obscene energy use of cable, DVR, and other set-top boxes. There are 160 million set-top boxes in the US, according to the EPA, and these boxes annually consume about $3 billion in electricity. What’s shocking is the fact that about 66% of this electricity is spent when no one is watching and no shows are being recorded. In the home, the DOE estimates that two set-top boxes will use about 500 kWh of energy every year — more energy than it takes to run a new refrigerator!
Method Homes, a Seattle-based manufacturer of green prefab homes, recently introduced two new home lines, the Option Series and Elemental Series. The former was created in collaboration with Seattle-based Grouparchitect and the latter was created in collaboration with Seattle-based PB Elemental. Both lines offer flexibility in the form of multiple configurations and can be built from the $130s per square foot.
Toba is an award-winning pellet stove designed in Italy by MCZ Group SpA in collaboration with EMO. The simple, modern appliance can warm a space of about 1,800 square feet at more than 90% efficiency, according to Wittus, which announced plans in June 2011 to import Toba into the US.
I was given a copy of a new book and enjoyed reading it, so I want to share it with you. The book — Housing Reclaimed: Sustainable Homes for Next to Nothing — was written by Jessica Kellner, who is an editor of Natural Home and Garden Magazine. In Housing Reclaimed, released on October 4, 2011 by New Society Publishers, Kellner explains why the standard housing model is broken and how readers can find an alternative housing model in the form of salvaged materials and sweat equity.
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