Eric Michael Stitt, a journalist for The Beach Reporter, very kindly featured our house tours event in the Hermosa Beach section of the paper this week: http://www.tbrnews.com/articles/2012/02/16/hermosa_beach_news/news09.prt
We also wanted to make sure the other key sponsors of the event, the U.S. Green Building Council/South Bay Branch and Energy Upgrade California,
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We would like everyone to know that all four tours (of 35 people ea) on Saturday have sold out! You are still welcome to come and see the energy upgrade displays and get your name on the stand-by list for the tours.
If there are no openings on Saturday’s tours and
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We had a great experience during our four month trial of a 100% electric Local Use Vehicle (LUV) loaned to us by the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. We are honored that they have asked us to say a few words at an event this morning at 11am.
You are
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The U.S. Green Building Council, Energy Upgrade CA and Leadership Hermosa Beach have asked us to give a series of construction tours on February 11th. The tours will showcase the innovative technologies that make the Green Idea House net zero energy, zero carbon and responsive to the environment in terms
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It is not nearly done; but what do you think?
It is like the unwrapping of a present. We can’t wait!
We are also very clear that it is a present from all of you that are supporting us – from our contractors and suppliers to our friends Ruby and John who watched Carter the other day when we had to
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The U.S. Green Building Council, Energy Upgrade CA and Leadership Hermosa Beach have asked us to give a series of construction tours on February 11th. The tours will start at noon, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm and will be followed by a networking/ green networking event at one of the local
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In addition to allowing us to be a case study for their ThermalCore product (which should cut our heating and cooling needs significantly), National Gypsum did something simple, yet revolutionary this week.
Hanging drywall inevitably leads to a giant pile of scrap drywall. Normally that scrap goes into the landfill where
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We were given permission to turn on our 6.5kw solar array this week. That means that our LED holiday lights (adorned with ornaments that we made from the scrap metal leftovers from our stucco contractor) and the electric power tools that we are using on site are now offset by
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Many thanks to Gary Klein for sharing his genius with us yesterday. In two hours Gary took us through all the water related systems that are so crucial for us in hitting our net zero energy goals.
Gary is great at debunking myths about things like tankless water heaters and solar
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Gary Klein, one of the country’s leading experts in hot water technologies, will be visiting the construction site and leading a group discussion. We have invited officials from the city, other experts in the field and manufacturers and contractors who could benefit from the wealth of Gary’s expertise. The tour
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The thermal envelope of our building is what separates the interior from the exterior in terms of moisture, air, heat and cold. It is critical to the overall performance of the building and getting us to our net zero goals. It also ensures that the building is comfortable and is
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Now that he is back from Japan, Robert hopes to get caught up on his postings! The first is a video clip taken from the November City Council meeting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQqizZ02Vik
GIH updates to the City Council include:
Steel vs. Wood
Certified vs Non-certified wood
Low V.O.C. vs. Low Toxicity
Reuse vs New
View vs. Solar Panels
As part of his regular day job, Robert is honored to be invited to Japan next week to work with the Rotary Peace Fellows on leadership and strategy for their master’s level studies. It will be hard to be away from the GIH project for the week; but versus war,
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GIH Featured in Merlex Blog Spot
We are fortunate to have many bright, talented people supporting our project. Interestingly, they tend to know one another. Wes Harding from Harding Construction recently, introduced us to Nick Brown, the President of Merlex Stucco.
Nick came for a tour, instantly got the project and wanted
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We will be giving one of our periodic construction updates to City Council this evening. The meeting starts at 7pm and we should be presenting shortly thereafter. You can also view the meeting on Verizon Fios Ch. 31, Warner Cable Ch.8, and online at www.hermosabch.org under Agendas/Minutes/Video.
During
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On Wednesday, a video production crew from Ogilvy Advertising came to interview us re our choice to use SolarWorld PV panels on the GIH. Their Marketing Manager, Minnie Dimesa and the Ogilvy team made the whole thing fun. We look forward to seeing what they make of it!
The City Council meeting was packed on Tuesday night as Robert looked forward to giving the GIH update. He was second presentation on the agenda – but the first presentation went much longer than expected.
Sensing the vibe in the room Robert got up to the podium and, out of respect
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AOL’s Patch Press service published an article on the Green Idea House this morning: http://hermosabeach.patch.com/articles/hermosas-greenest-house-of-them-all Eric Farrell, the Hermosa Beach Patch reporter, did a very nice job summarizing the conversation we had last week.
On a related note, we will be giving one of our periodic construction updates to City Council
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Over the weekend Cater and Robert finished up the flashing that was needed as a result of the footings being poured too low into the ground in 1959 (see Foundational Problems). We started with Hohmann and Barnard’s environmentally friendly water based primer and mastic to ensure proper adhesion Then we
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Robert just returned from a week of lecturing at the international innovation school in Denmark, Kaos Pilot. The students and faculty there know of his interest in all things sustainable and Denmark is a haven for all things sustainable. Therefore, every time he goes to visit they take him on
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Amber Keenoy, the highly respected green building consultant and estimator very kindly mentioned the Green Idea House in an excellent article that is part of her weekly series: http://gogreenamericatv.com/global-green-sustainable-buildings/
We just sent the following letter to City Council and Staff to encourage them to vote for an item on tonight’s agenda that will support more waste diversion from the landfill.
Mr. Mayor City Council Members and Staff,
Thank you all for your continued support of our Green Idea
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Our friends Ken and Dorothy have very generously opened their home to the community for an Energy Upgrade California demonstration. See the attached notice from the city for further details. The program just announced that they have increased the potential rebate amount to $8,000. There may never be a better
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This weekend we took the redwood ship lap we got on our journey to The Reuse People Store and started the install. Monica and Carter fit the pieces on the roof like a puzzle and what we found was incredible. We thought it would look nice – what we didn’t
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Yesterday’s paper printed our letter (http://tinyurl.com/3e3jtb4) combined with a response from one of the uphill neighbors in the article from Saturday’s front page (http://tinyurl.com/3lketza). We are glad to see the neighbors are starting to understand that our solar array will be BELOW the height limit and we are building in
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As we look forward to the start of our solar panel installation this week, we would like to set the record straight re a couple of articles in our local papers on the height of our solar panels. Here are the facts:
Our uphill neighbors would have lost their first story
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Graduating students from YouthBuild spent part of their final week of school at the GIH, learning about green building and providing much needed assistance on critical tasks. Working with them and mentor VanRay was a real pleasure. They are welcome any time!
In this video clip, Gustavo talks about his experience
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Some of you may have noticed us driving a funny little car lately (see photo). It is a fully electric local use vehicle (LUV) and was lent to us by one of our partners, the South Bay Environmental Services Center. You can find out more about the benefits of these
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Picked up a huge load of scrap lumber from The Reuse People store in Pacoima yesterday. Our friends Arthur, Shannon and Louis hooked us up with some redwood shiplap that will replace pine roofing that was destroyed by termites.
Matt Megill, a student from LACCD joined us on the adventure
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