If you own a home, you’re likely to have a remodeling story. The good, the bad, the never-quite finished.  One thing’s for sure; every remodel is different.  Given the depth and breadth of residential remodeling, the USGBC, in collaboration with the American Society of Interior Designers, is formally releasing their REGREEN Residential Remodeling Guidelines today at the INTERIORS 08 conference in New Orleans.  Not to be confused with the LEED for Homes rating system (a certification program), REGREEN is a set of remodeling guidelines.

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++The House in a Box [WSJ]

You also might enjoy these related articles on prefabbers:
++Building the Goodwin-Wise Flatpak
++Business of Modern Prefab, a Rocio Romero Perspective
++Napa Rocio Romero Prefab, Open to the Public

I just noticed fresh news of this newly formed company called Torresol that’s developing a Solar Tower of Power for both  Spain and Abu Dhabi.  It’s cool news and interesting technology, but it strikes me: Does anyone want to use their celebrity or political influence to bring more of these to the U.S.?  Hillary?  Obama?  Gore?  Buffett?  Pickens?  There’s a ton a raw land in Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Texas, etc., and any given state could take a stab at a plan with transmission lines, right?  I know we talked about an EnviroMission tower before, but I haven’t seen any movement on that front.  It might take a green blogger coalition to get more of these built, but if we can’t figure it out, we’re going to see a new generation of dollars going to the same group of people.  If you know what I mean …

A concentrating solar concentrating power plant like the one pictured above could generate power for something like 30,000 homes (17 mw).

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Allison Arieff tells it like it is in this interview with LA Times.  This weekend, Arieff, Michelle Kaufmann, Jennifer Siegal, and Rocio Romero will be doing a panel called "The 4 Women of Prefab" at CA Boom Show in Santa Monica, California, March 14-16, 2008.  I’d do anything to be there for that!  Any one handy with a video that will be there, email: jetsongreen at yahoo dot com. 

Also, check the CA Boom Show Flickr photos, if you can’t be there. 

It’s a story that I’m seeing more and more, although I’m not too sure we’re seeing a good thing.  Nissan USA spends $100 M to build a brand new office building and plans for LEED Silver certification, but in the end, they decide to spend certification cash on the wetland "rather than have a plaque on the wall."#  Certification gets dropped, but we should ask ourselves a serious question:  Is LEED certification merely about the plaque?  Is that the only benefit we see from LEED?  Spending money to get a plaque?

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