Jetson Green

MoMA Home Delivery Prefabs Debut This Sunday!

A while back when we heard about MoMA's prefab exhibit, Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling, we were pretty psyched.  I mean, if you can't tell by our archives with over 135 articles, we're pretty obsessed with green prefab as the future of home building.  The MoMA exhibit will tell an interesting story of the history of prefabrication starting in 1833.  I'm sure we've come a long way in over 175 years, but there's also the possibility that we've forgotten a few lessons in the process.  So I like the juxtaposition of the historical with the modern.  The modern will include five contemporary prefab structures, all of which have been assembled on the museum's 54th street lot.  Starting this Sunday, July 20 through October 20, visitors will get the chance to tour the below designs in real life. 

California Adopts Statewide Green Building Code!

[+] California adopts statewide green building code [SF Chronicle]
[+] State adopts nation's first state green building codes [Bizjournal]
[+] California code adopted for all new construction [GreenBiz]

[Updated] Gore Challenges Nation to 100% Renewable Energy Within 10 Years

Not unlike John F. Kennedy's goal to land a man on the moon, Al Gore challenges the nation to produce every kilowatt of electricity through wind, sun, and other earth-friendly sources within 10 years.  Here are some links ...

[+] The (Annotated) Gore Energy Speech [NY Times]
[+] Former V.P. Lays Down a Green Gauntlet [WSJ]
[+] Gore sets 'moon shot' goal on climate change [AP]

UniCube Green Dorm Concept Takes Competition Prize

I just noticed this interesting building designed by a college student in Australia and had to mention it.  Andrew Southwood-Jones conceived and rendered the building, actually a green dormitory, for an Autodesk competition and he took the prize in the architecture category.  Called UniCube, it was designed to maximize space, be sustainable, and look good.  Andrew designed the conceptual structure to use a number of sustainable strategies: drought-tolerant plant wall in checkerboard pattern on exterior; exterior "gabion walls" filled with rubble and stone; inner walls made from straw bales; a copper roof that catches wind for ventilation and air circulation (without requiring air conditioning); rotating solar panels generating power for the building's lights; and rainwater collection for use in irrigation, toilets, and laundry. 

[Video] GM Installing $78 M World's Largest Solar Roof

Earlier this week, GM announced that they were adding the world's largest, rooftop, solar photovoltaic power installation to its car assembly plant located in Zaragoza, Spain (a factory that manufactures Opel vehicles for sale in Europe).   When the project is completed in the fall of 2008, the solar installation will have 85,000 solar panels covering about 2,000,000 sf of roof space.   Bloomberg further reports that the $78.5 million installation will avoid about 7k tons of emissions per year.

Certified Green Homes to Save Coin on Insurance

It looks like the nation's first provider of green insurance coverage for the commercial sector has decided to expand that coverage into the residential sector.  Fireman's Fund Insurance Company will be offering green coverage to homeowners who either own a green home or who want to upgrade their home with green features in the event of a loss.  So in a loss situation, the homeowners can rebuild their home and have it certified under the LEED system. 

Homeowners with green homes will be offered a five percent discount on their insurance premium.  In addition, homeowners will be able to rebuild and replace as follows:

What About the Solar Corridor, Mr. Pickens?

It's clear our country is reaching what future generations will see as a watershed moment as it relates to our current energy situation and how we handle it.  In the U.S. alone, buildings account for roughly 70% of electricity use and 39% of energy use, so any discussion of our energy future naturally implicates the built environment.  The current state of discussions on our energy future has brought together some incredible minds and one of those is the great T. Boone Pickens, an expert in recognizing scarce resources and future energy trends.  Just today, he announced his efforts relating to the PickensPlan -- a plan he explains himself in the above video.

Now, I think Mr. Pickens is definitely probing one of the better ways to alleviate our dependence on foreign oil, but I also think he's skipping over an important aspect of this discussion on our country's energy mix. 

Re-Nest Hearts Us, We Heart Back!

There's a lot of positive stuff going on for Jetson Green these days and we're sure having fun keeping up.  Just this week, Stephanie from Apartment Therapy's Re-Nest gave me the grill on various green building topics and posted the "Green People" Q&A today.  We talk about my biggest green inspiration, my biggest green frustration, promising green building products, my favorite green building project, and finish it up with some green advice.  Don't miss the advice part -- you seriously need it!  Thanks Re-Nest!

[+] Green People: Preston Koerner (aka Jetson Green) [Re-Nest]

AIA Report: 42+ Million People Live in Cities with Green Building Programs!

The AIA has been publishing some interesting analysis of U.S. green building programs, which I wanted to share with all you enthusiasts.  In their report, Local Leaders in Sustainability, the AIA looked at 661 communities, or cities with a population greater than 50,000 people, and conducted research of each communities' green building programs.  The AIA spoke with planners and other officials from 606 cities, getting a 92% response rate.  They found that 92 of the 606 responding cities had green building programs -- or to put that in perspective, over 42 million people live in cities with green building programs.  The report also elaborated on program trends and includes case studies of programs in Portland, San Francisco, Scottsdale, Chicago, Austin, and Atlanta. 

JG Writers Make Top Green Girls & Guys Lists!

Well, I just want to kick out a shout to the writers at EarthFirst -- they've found a way to make us blush not just once, but twice.  Much to my surprise, I was invited on their list of Top 25 Hottest Guys in Green: 10 We Missed Last Time (scroll down to #7).  No worries, though, I'm working my way up the list, so hopefully you'll find me on the original Top 25 next year -- maybe somewhere between Brad Pitt and Leonardo Dicaprio?!  But enough about me, how about Jetson Green contributor extraordinaire Sarah Meredith Roe!  She made their list of Top 25 Hottest Girls in Green: 10 We Missed the First Time (scroll down to #3).  Sarah beat out green belles such as Sheryl Crow, KT Turnstall, Amber Valetta, and Norah Jones, just to name a few.  If that doesn't make a green writer blush, I'm not sure what does.  Thanks EarthFirst for thinking of Jetson Green!