CalFinder is a site where you can find contractors to help you with a building project. They interviewed me to talk about the perceptions of green building and what is waiting for us in the future.

An excerpt:

The act of renovating your building is expensive, whether you’re green or not. Being green doesn’t cost you any more, in fact it’s an opportunity to save money.

via CalFinder

The Seattle Times has a great little story today postulating that 2008 will be the year for green. Actually, I thought 2007 was a great leap ahead, so I’m excited to see widespread acceptance of sustainability this coming year…

via Seattle Times

The innovative and forward thinking Urban Re:Vision is featured in a cover story in via Common Ground Magazine this month. As one of the advisors on this wonderful project, I have been amazed at the caliber of the entries.

An excerpt:
Imagine a city where energy is renewably generated from helium-filled “solar balloons” floating hundreds of feet above the rooftops. Imagine a city where public transportation doesn’t follow regular routes, but is instead efficiently directed on the fly, on demand — via cell phone and GPS technology. A city where residential structures designed to keep people apart — like walls and fences — are replaced with facilities that bring neighbors together, like shared kitchen gardens or childcare centers. A city where commercial systems are designed to generate social capital, as well as cold hard cash.

Those are a small sampling of the ideas already received by the design competitions, with the promise of much more to come.

I encourage you to submit your own ideas, but in the in the meantime, read the story:
via Common Ground Magazine

Here’s a review of the book in the New York Times, featured today:

Those willing to expend even the tiniest bit of energy to help save the planet may appreciate “Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies”. This well-organized book aims to help ordinary people make decisions that have a gentler impact on the earth. Tips include everything from what constitutes a green kitchen to macro-level considerations for constructing a house, like whether to build up or out (up is usually cheaper and less damaging to the environment). There’s also a chapter on building methods, like creating walls from discarded tires. With every topic, Mr. Freed said, he cut out the technical complexities and described “just the parts people need to know.”

New York Times

A nice review of the book appeared on Inhabitat today. Now they see a LOT of books and resources, so a kind word from them means a great deal.

I have to admit, it’s strange to work on something for a year, finish months ago (I finished the manuscript back in July) and NOW have people talking about it. As my friends will tell you, I cannot keep secrets, so keeping the book quiet while writing it was very hard! I love people are finally getting the information in the book.

An excerpt:
Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies provides an introduction to every facet of green building, from start to finish, including the materials, architecture, and construction methods of green building and remodeling for both homeowners and professionals such as architects, interior designers, and contractors.

…You won’t be a dummy with this book in your library… check out [this] truly helpful, informative reference guide, and get smart about green building in the New Year.

Thanks, Piper and Inhabitat for the kind words!
Few reviewers can seem to resist making a Dummies joke, and I think I’ve heard them all! Keep ‘em coming.

Full Review at Inhabitat

Buy your copy of “Green Building for Dummies” now!

Reindeer Greetings is a project from the great folks at Urban Re:Vision and has reinvented the greeting card. Rather than sending a paper card (with the wasted resources of paper, ink, postage, and fossil fuels), a Reindeer Greeting costs the same price but sends an electronic greeting card. Proceeds from the sale of these beautifully illustrated cards benefits a different organization each season (Architecture for Humanity is currently the receipient).

visit Reindeer Greetings

The lovely ladies of Inhabitat: Piper Kujac, Sarah Rich, Jill Fehrenbacher, Emily Pilloton

One of my favorite blogs, Inhabitat, shares office space with my favorite community organization, Architecture For Humanity, and my favorite design competition, Urban Re:Vision. Friday night was their collective holiday party.

This is why I love San Francisco: here you can find a room filled with the greatest people doing the most interesting things on the planet. In attendance: Michelle Kaufman, Allison Arrief, Cameron Sinclair, Sarah Rich, Jill Fehrenbacher, Emily Pilloton, Stacey Frost, Willem Maas, Bill Cahan, the gang from Ecolect, the gang from Branch and the gang from Worldchanging… plus so many friends and interesting people. (Google any names you don’t recognize!)

Perhaps the most interesting thing is how connected these various groups have become. They’re all friends, all working to change the world and all full of hope for our future. Hard to believe that the truly most influential people in design today are a handful of young, hip bloggers (like those pictured). Women seem to be leading the charge. There are noticably more women than men in this group. I don’t know what this indicates, but it’s something to consider.

Full story via Inhabitat

Flickr gallery of photos from the event

I wrote a story for Environmental Design + Construction Magazine as part of a feature they call “Sustainable Perspectives.”

You should subscribe to this free magazine, but here is an excerpt:
“Being an environmentalist is often like being a struggling actor. You spend your days trying to convince people to see your viewpoint, only to be rebuffed again and again. Yet, we keep coming back for more. In fact, for years I invented slight reassurances for myself as my own way to dealing with the rejection. “They’ll come around…” I’d say to myself, “eventually the world will change for the better.” (Hey, we all have our coping mechanisms.)

Yet from my perspective, today I find myself more hopeful, more excited and more enthusiastic than ever before. The evidence for my exuberance can now been seen everywhere, but twenty years ago the story was much different…”

Full Article