There's a massive residential community under construction in Santa Fe Springs in Los Angeles County. Comstock Homes, developer of The Villages at Heritage Springs, says it's the largest solar powered community in the nation, which is partially why it's so interesting. These California homes come with roof-integrated Sunpower Suntiles, and they're built for efficiency, too.
As electric vehicles begin to proliferate, GE wants to be there to help you charge up at home or on the road. With the design assistance of Yves Béhar of fuseproject, the multinational company just released details of the all new GE WattStation. WattStation has an LED interface and retractable cable to provide a charge in about 4-8 hours, assuming a 24 kWh battery.
There's a lot of news coming out of the prefab world these days and we thought it was time to mention a new line of modular green homes from Marmol Radziner Prefab called Locomo -- or LOwer COst MOdular. With this new line, the company hopes to make “green prefab homes more available to individuals and small families,” said principal Leo Marmol in a statement.
For those of you on the East Coast, there’s now a weeHouse on Seneca Lake in New York that’s available for rent. The Finger Lakes prefab features a bamboo interior, Kohler fixtures, Anderson windows, and a small footprint carrying 1,000 square feet of space. That’s two bedrooms and two bathrooms and pretty much all the relaxation one could handle.
Today SoloPower announced the launch of its inaugural thin-film, CIGS-based solar product called SFX1-i. The company says SFX1-i is lightweight and flexible, while other outlets, such as Greentech Media, report that the modules have an efficiency of 10.5 to 11 percent.
To be considered
for this random giveaway, leave a comment below
through the end of Wednesday, July 14, 2010.*
Island Press, a nonprofit that publishes environmental books from thought leaders, was kind enough to send us a new book by Patrick M. Condon called Seven Rules for Sustainable Communities: Design Strategies for the Post-Carbon World. Condon starts out with the premise that cities are responsible for 80% of all greenhouse gas emissions and, since cities are the major cause of the problem, builds a set of rules as the solution.
To be considered for this random giveaway, leave a comment below
through the end of Wednesday, July 14, 2010.*
The authors of Green from the Ground Up, David Johnston and Scott Gibson, recently released a new book called Toward a Zero Energy Home: A Complete Guide to Energy Self-Sufficiency at Home, which the publisher sent to us for review. Johnson and Gibson explore net zero energy homes of all varieties -- bungalows, ranches, craftsmans -- and what it takes to build homes that are healthy, green, and ultra energy-efficient.
Also, follow @jetsongreen on Twitter or fan Jetson Green on Facebook for more news, links, and commentary.
A few months ago, we mentioned that PieceHomes was using green pieces, or extra modules, to help people expand or remodel existing homes. Recently, the company sent an eP: Studio module to Venice, where it was installed above a site-built garage. It arrived mostly complete -- the siding needed to be applied -- and was forklifted into place. Check out the finished interior below ...
We've mentioned several different prefabs from Hive Modular over the years, and this home, a B-Line Medium 003, was profiled by Epoch Times the other day. It's a beautiful, contemporary home in Minneapolis owned by T.J. Thoraldson and Vladimir Vukojevic.
