Green Building Blog - Jetson Green

LEED Platinum Home of the Future Reduces Energy Costs by 80%

This home is the first LEED Platinum certified home in the Sacramento area.  Located in Folsom, this "Home of the Future" is the product of a collaboration between BP Solar, OCR Solar & Roofing, R.J. Walter Homes, and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.  Working together, the focus of the home was to design it using state-of-the-art energy efficient materials.  It has dual pane windows, solar-assisted hot water and space heating, LED lighting, energy efficient appliances, and advanced framing and insulation. 

Cool Green Tech at West Coast Green

I really enjoyed West Coast Green.  After spending several hours helping with the Innovation Pipeline, promoting the conference through our website, and flying down to participate as a second-year media sponsor, I'm certainly happy I was able to hang out on the exhibit floor and view the Harbinger house.  I met some very nice people and left with the feeling that the best and brightest are hard at work trying to market products that can help everyone live healthy, sustainable, and comfortable lives.  Although you may have seen a few of these companies previously, they all caught my eye.  They're all very cool. 

I'm a PC and I Design Green Buildings

Folks the media storm that started with the venerable Bill Gates and tired Jerry Seinfeld has just taken a new direction with the "I'm a PC" ads for Microsoft.  Check them out below, we have all three new videos embedded in this article.  As you watch, though, don't get distracted by the likes of Eva Longoria, Tony Parker, Deepak Chopra, Bernard Harris, Geoff Green, or even Pharrell, as tough as it is, because there's a green architect in the mix:  Edouard Francois.

World's First Dual LEED Platinum Building

There's an interesting story to the green building certification of the historic Mutual Building in Lansing, Michigan.  Not only did it receive LEED Platinum certification in both the LEED-CS and LEED-CI ratings systems, making it the world's first building to do so, it's also an historic building that's been preserved, renovated, and certified.  People will, in all likelihood, discuss the building's double platinum certification, but I think it is more commendable and noteworthy that they did all that in the context of a building listed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks.  It's quite incredible ...

Muffler Shop Converted to First LEED-NC Architect Office in Georgia

As an interesting example of adaptive reuse, I thought it would be fun to showcase the design of Menefee + Winer's office in Atlanta, Georgia.  Located at 1075 Brady Avenue near Georgia Tech, the 4,100 sf building used to be bland, gray muffler shop (see bottom) -- but now with its vibrant colors and fierce shape, how about the transformation?  This LEED Silver building is also, interestingly, the first LEED-NC certified architect's office in Georgia.  Here are a few things they incorporated through the gut rehab:

Zero Energy Buildings Database Launched

As with all terms environmental, the devil is in the definition and the lawyers have been hard at work with so called zero energy buildings.  A net ZEB, by definition, produces as much energy as it uses over the course of a year.  To get to that point, buildings owners make their buildings as efficient as possible and then use, in the typical case, on-site renewable energy to get into zero energy territory.  But there are other variations, including net zero site energy, net zero source energy, net zero energy costs, net zero energy emissions, and near zero energy, all of which have been kindly defined by the DOE.  The DOE, as assisted by Building Green, has also launched a Zero Energy Buildings Database, with the following four buildings.

Design Shizen for Green Inspiration

I'm psyched to announce and introduce a sister site to Jetson Green called Design Shizen.  Design Shizen was built to become a source of inspiration for people seeking the best information relating to green architecture, news, design, and innovation.  You'll notice that it operates like most community generated content sites out there, namely Reddit, but the big difference is the community behind it.  The Design Shizen community will be readers like you and me: green entrepreneurs, innovators, thinkers, thought leaders, and professionals.  There's a little to explain so keep reading.

Colorfully Green Graham Street Lofts

This is a small little mixed-use building called Graham Street Lofts.  With 12 residential units and some ground floor commercial, the infill building sits in the Eliot neighborhood of Northern Portland.  Residential units start at ~$324k and each home is energy efficient and modern inside.  The R-30, 10-inch thick PerformWall ICFs are made of recycled polystyrene and cement and help to keep the interiors quiet.  Combine the efficient envelope with hydronic radiant floors and overall home energy use is quite low, too.  Additionally, Graham Street Lofts has some of the following green amenities and finishes:

RuralZED Zero Carbon Eco Homes

I've been intrigued by ZEDfactory ever since I first started seeing their homes and designs.  The three letters "ZED", which stand for Zero Energy Development, seem to show up in all ZEDfactory designs.  But I must admit: their designs have a certain whimsical, if not playful, look.  That's no big deal, though, because future solutions are going to look different.  Certainly, ZEDfactory is serious when it comes to pushing the envelope towards sustainable housing options.  The above and below RuralZED was on display earlier this year at EcoBuild in Earls Court, London.  To be clear, RuralZED is more than a house, it's a system for developing zero carbon, zero energy, healthy homes. 

Certified Green Professionals in Demand

The NAHB rolled out its Certified Green Professional ("CGP") program earlier this year and already 1,000 builders, remodelers, and other members of the home building industry have earned the CGP educational designation.  Potential CGPs must complete 24 hours of classroom training, of which, 16 hours must be qualified green building instruction.  In addition, potential CGPs must have two years industry experience, sign a code of ethics, and commit to fulfilling continuing education requirements.

[+] Find a local CGP
[+] Become a CGP