Jetson Green

Lotus Bleu puts a New Spin on Vintage Furniture

Buying vintage furniture is super green, but it's not always easy to find pieces in great shape, especially upholstered items.  Lotus Bleu has fixed that problem for us.  They offer vintage pieces redone in new, modern fabrics.  Lotus Bleu is located in San Fransisco, but if you're not in the area, you can order right online.  Current items for sale are displayed in addition to items that have already been sold, to give you an idea of what might be available at any given time.

DeFreitas Home Raises Bar for Modern Green Design

Sometimes the images just don't tell the whole story and that's where some quality video will do the trick.  I stumbled upon this video while doing research for a prior story and was blown away by the modern, green home.  It's ridiculous -- probably a dream residence for many of you out there.  The passive design, combined with good insulation, high performance glass, solar thermal panels, radiant flooring heating, and an efficient system, keeps this home operating very efficiently. 

How About SMEG's Retro Modern, Efficient Frig?

This fridge has a fantastic retro appearance and could save you a lot of money on your utility bills.  Designed by SMEG, it's a compact 9.22 cubic feet and uses only  305 kWh/year.  That makes it one of the most efficient it its class according to the government's energy guide, which is used to rate all Energy Star appliances.  This stylish fridge isn't big -- it's under 5 feet tall, but maybe it will encourage you to trade space for style and save energy as a result. 

A Stunning Flatpak House in Aspen, Colorado

This is a Flatpak house in Aspen, Colorado.  I stumbled upon these shots in Flickr, so I don't have much background on the project.  But we've featured modern Flatpak homes before in the Goodwin-Wise Flatpak and Lazor's Flatpak.  Flatpak houses each have their own particular and interesting features, but the Flatpak system is the same.  It's a menu of components for living that includes walls, cabinets, bathrooms, kitchen, and various built-ins.  The components are pre fabricated and designed to meet the needs of a various owner and/or site. 

Oceanside Glass Tile offers Beautiful, Recycled Tiles

Oceanside Glass Tile offers an absolutely beautiful line of glass tiles.  Not all tiles contain recycled content, but a good amount of them do.  The recycled content is according to the tile color.  For instance, cobalt, has almost 75% post-consumer content.  The great thing is that you can see which colors contain recycled content, and how much, right on their site; there is a simple table that makes it easy to evaluate your color choice. 

Vader Garage Rehab Will Take Your Breath Away!

My man over at 100k House ran into a guy in Philly that just finished this green garage rehab and has it for sale on Craigslist.  Long and short, three University of Pennsylvania Master of Architecture majors agreed to forgo the traditional route of finding summer internships and decided to buy, design, and rehab a house in Philly.  The result is this stylish renovation with undeniable appeal.  My two favorite aspects of the design are (1) the Cor-Ten facade that provides both privacy from the outside and visibility from the inside, and (2) the courtyard area that separates the living room / kitchen and office / bedroom area (it's nice to have a buffer between the noisy tv room and sleeping areas).

The Stunning Green Design of a Smart Box

Thanks in part to the recent launch of FreeGreen, I think I've found the green house of my dreams.  The home rendered above and below is called the Smart Box and it's a stunner.  Designed by FreeGreen, Smart Box is the newest free home plan that's going to be available from the website in the next couple weeks.  Smart Box was designed for practically any climate and can range in size from 1000 - 2200 sf.  In addition, the plans will identify do-it-yourself type opportunities so that you can find ways to do more on a tighter budget. 

Sustainable Eucalyptus Flooring by Duro Design

Duro Design is offering a beautiful collection of eco-friendly Eucalyptus flooring.  The wood is grown in managed forests in Europe and is available in 12 colors ranging from gray to natural to a warm apricot color.  Premium German and Swiss pigments give the flooring its wonderful tints and depth of color. 

Kirei Board, It's Kirei, So Use It! [Video]

I've mentioned Kirei in projects previously, but I've never really blogged about it.  Kirei, or きれい, is Japanese for pretty, beautiful, pure, or clean -- an apt description for this popular green product.  Constructed of reclaimed agricultural fiber (which is heat-pressed with a non-toxic adhesive), Kirei Board is lightweight and durable.  It's often used as a finish material in flooring, furniture, cabinets, and other interior design applications.  Use of Kirei Board may help contribute towards credits for LEED certification, depending on a variety of factors ...

Five Green Ideas for Your Kitchen Renovation

Gwendolyn Bounds invested about 16 months and $83k in her posh, green kitchen remodel.  The process was slightly more difficult than she imagined, but nonetheless, as you can see from the below video: the result is quite nice.  David Johnston, green building and renovation expert, unofficially inspected the work and gave her high marks for the eco renovation.  Her remodel included Energy Star appliances, locally made fly ash concrete countertops, Plyboo and Arreis cabinets, no-VOC paints, FSC-certified wood floors, Nu-Wool recycled newspaper insulation, LED lights, and double-paned efficient windows. 

Ms. Bounds also wrapped up her experience with the following list of five steps to get more value out of a remodel and make your home healthier and more efficient: