As the small wind industry grows, it’s becoming easier to buy certain models of turbines online and from big-box retailers. For example, Southwest Windpower offers the Skystream 3.7 through Home Depot and now offers the Whisper 100 through Lowe’s. Whisper 100 can produce up to 100 kWh a month in moderate to high winds, according to Southwest Windpower.
This is a home in North Vancouver that was originally built in 1958. The owners, architect Jim Paul and landscape architect Nancy Paul, acquired the home and invested in a significant overhaul that salvaged or retained 75-80% of the original fabric and materials. The result is a post and beam style, Pacific Northwest modern home that’s also a nice case study for renovating an aged structure.
If you’re looking for a cost effective alternative to a below ground rainwater cistern, the Rainwater Pillow, which was on display at Greenbuild NEXT, may be your answer. Easy to locate under a deck or in a crawl space, the Rainwater Pillow is ideal for a retrofit project where placing a typical above or below ground cistern may prove difficult. As long as you have a flat surface with no obstructions the Rainwater Pillow can be laid out tied into your landscape irrigation system with ease.
Smith & Fong debuted SoyBond, a bamboo flooring and plywood line with a soy-based formaldehyde free adhesive system, at this year at the USGBC’s Greenbuild. Smith & Fong has always promoted and offered non-urea formaldehyde resins; however, the step to a soy-based formaldehyde-free adhesive advances their product line further.
Insulated concrete forms (ICF) are an appealing method of construction because they offer a good combination of strength and energy performance. For foundations, they offer a far more insulated wall than conventional CMU or poured concrete. There are those who don’t like the plastics in ICFs, but not all ICFs are made with petroleum products. Durisol has been making ICF blocks using only wood fiber and cement, and these blocks offer a number of advantages that make them an appealing construction material.
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