Posts Tagged ‘Community’

Boardom on Labor Day Weekend
by Robert on September 5th, 2011 No Comments »

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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Setting the Record Straight on Solar Panel Height
by Robert on August 27th, 2011 No Comments »

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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Get a Free Test Loaner and Clear the Air re Electric Vehicles
by Robert on August 25th, 2011 1 Comment »

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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Lumbering Along
by Robert on August 20th, 2011 1 Comment »

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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YouthBuild Students on the GIH Tour
by Robert on July 29th, 2011 No Comments »

The latest crop of students from the Youthbuild program came for a tour last week.  YouthBuild is an excellent program that gives at-risk inner city kids the opportunity to finish school and learn a trade at the same time.  Graduates of the program have worked on the GIH and have
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Southern California Edison Tour Yields an Article in the Daily Breeze!
by Robert on July 12th, 2011 No Comments »

Yesterday about 20 Southern California Edison Energy Efficiency Interns came to the GIH for a construction site tour.  They were very interested and asked great questions.  Doug Morino and Robert Casillas from the Daily Breeze also joined the group and got their piece published in today’s paper: http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_18457632

Dwelling on William McDonough and Ed Begley Jr’s Keynotes
by Robert on June 25th, 2011 No Comments »

Watching Bill McDonough’s expanded version of his TED talk at the Dwell conference Friday night was extraordinary.  He is one of the key sources of inspiration for the Green Idea House.
Ed took the stage Sunday afternoon with a vigor and clarity that was masked in the nature of his “living
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Create your own Green Idea House with a $6K boost from Uncle Sam
by Robert on June 5th, 2011 No Comments »

Read about it in Eric Michael Stitt’s Beach Reporter article published this week.

Expo and House Tours Great Fun on Saturday!
by Robert on May 24th, 2011 2 Comments »

We really appreciated the opportunity to be in the Water and Energy Expo in the morning and on the EPN Green and Solar house tour circuit in the afternoon.
We were impressed by the interested and engaged group that showed up.  Thanks to all our friends (old and new) that
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Join us on Saturday the 21st for Two Big Events!
by Robert on May 16th, 2011 No Comments »

We have been invited to talk about the Green Idea House during two events on Saturday the 21st:
1. Our partners West Basin Water District and So Cal Edison are putting on a Water and Energy Smart Expo. They have set up a booth for us to explain the Green Idea
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The Reuse People – Youth Build Connection Yields $1,000 Donation and a Commitment to the Community
by Robert on May 11th, 2011 No Comments »

Arthur Renauld, Regional Manager for The Reuse People visited the Green Idea House a couple of months ago and saw the Youthbuild crew hard at work.  Arthur was so impressed that he connected them with the ReUse Haus project for AltBuild.  As a result our friend Wes Harding hired
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Hermosa Beach wins Wyland Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation!
by Robert on May 3rd, 2011 No Comments »

Congratulations, Hermosa Beach
You are Southern California’s Greenest City this Earth Month!
Hermosa Beach, led by Mayor Peter Tucker, has won the title of Southern California’s greenest city for Earth Month. Hermosa Beach fended off strong challenges from Redondo Beach, Gardena, Long Beach, Villa Park, Agoura
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New Video! How we diverted 97.5% of our demo waste from the landfill
by Robert on April 30th, 2011 No Comments »

The video clip is taken from the April 26th Hermosa Beach City Council meeting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sswh242BWTQ
Also, We’ve attached (SBESC Letter) a very kind letter from Jacki and Marilyn at the South bay Environmental Savings Center thanking us for speaking at the South Bay Cities Council of Governments meeting on
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How did we divert 97.5% of our demo waste from the landfill??
by Robert on April 26th, 2011 No Comments »

We will be briefing the Hermosa Beach City Council at their meeting at 7pm tonight!

Speaking at South Bay Cities Green Task Force Meeting Apr 21
by Robert on April 10th, 2011 No Comments »

The South Bay Environmental Services Center asked us to speak at the quarterly South Bay Cities Green Task Force Meeting to share information about our 97.5% landfill diversion milestone.  We will be complementing Lisa Coppedge’s presentation on Grades of Green’s incredible efforts to reduce trash and how that translates into
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Pouring (over) Concrete 2 – Fly Ash Doesn’t Fly at the GIH
by Robert on April 9th, 2011 2 Comments »

We got a number of responses to our post re concrete.  One of the most popular suggestions we got to reduce the harmful impacts of cement is to add fly ash to the mix.  This solution also gets you LEED and Build It Green points.
Fly ash is the leftover
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Will You Support the Mayor’s Challenge?
by Robert on April 5th, 2011 No Comments »

April 1, 2011 was the start of the Wyland Clean Water Pledge. Mayors across Southern California are squaring off to see whose city is the greenest.  Our Mayor, Pete Tucker, has our support on this initiative: www.mywaterpledge.com

Dency Nelson Featured in SouthBay Magazine
by Robert on April 1st, 2011 No Comments »

Dency Nelson, the most passionate activist we know and one of the first supporters of the GIH, is featured in SouthBay Magazine

Today’s activities include Environmental Fair and Sitting in the Dark
by Robert on March 26th, 2011 No Comments »

We are off to the Torrance Environmental Fair, a free event from 10-2pm today.
During Earth Hour at 8:30pm we will be sitting in the dark with millions of other people – a good metaphor for our energy policy, or lack thereof.

Speaking of Green
by Robert on March 21st, 2011 No Comments »

Robert was honored to speak about the GIH at the “Green Building: Legal and Regulatory Realities” conference.  It was held at the  Annenberg Community Beach House, an unbelievable public facility right on the water in Santa Monica.
The conference had an outstanding faculty.  A couple of the standout speakers were
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The GIH Won’t be Winning the $100K, But You Certainly Could!
by Robert on March 15th, 2011 No Comments »

We didn’t feel it was fair if we entered LA County’s Home Energy Makeover Contest, but you still have 15 days to submit your entry at:  https://energyupgradeca.org/county/los_angeles/makeover_contest

Partnering with YouthBuild
by Robert on March 14th, 2011 2 Comments »

YouthBuild is a youth and community development program that simultaneously addresses core issues facing low-income communities: housing, education, employment, crime prevention, and leadership development. In YouthBuild programs, low-income young people ages 16-24 work toward their GEDs or high school diplomas, learn job skills and serve their communities by building affordable
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Permit Issued!
by Robert on February 24th, 2011 No Comments »

The advice and support of all the incredible people in Hermosa Beach’s Planning and Public Work’s Departments makes the impossible possible.

Robert Asked to Speak about the GIH at Upcoming Conference. Discounted Admission Available Here.
by Robert on February 15th, 2011 No Comments »

The conference, Green Building: Legal and Regulatory Realities is on March 18, 2011 in Santa Monica, CA.  A discount of $100 off your regular tuition rate is available when you register by phone using the code “FAC101” to 206-463-4400 or 800-574-4852.
Read more about the conference here:  http://www.theseminargroup.net/brochures/11.GRNCA%20Brochure%20ni.pdf

Getting the Lead (and asbestos) Out
by Robert on February 9th, 2011 No Comments »

In their day, lead and asbestos were seen as miracles.  They worked very well for their intended purpose, were inexpensive and easy to manufacture.  Only later were they found to be dangerous.  What materials will be the lead and asbestos of the future?
Prior to starting demolition, we had the house
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Green Moving Alternatives Makes Moving Day Easier
by Robert on February 2nd, 2011 1 Comment »

Moving is never easy and usually not green (e.g. cardboard boxes, diesel trucks…).  Thankfully we found some very good local companies with affordable products and services that are environmentally friendly – and made the process easier.
Rent a Green Box reinvented how we loaded up our stuff with recycled and recyclable
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Get up to $4,500 to make your house more comfortable, healthy and reduce your bills!
by Robert on January 21st, 2011 No Comments »

Hermosa Beach is hosting an event on Jan 26th.  Find one near you.  http://www.sbesc.com/programs/residential

Green Patriot Raises the Flag on the Green Idea House
by Robert on January 5th, 2011 No Comments »

Over the holiday, David Steinman an acclaimed environmentalist, consumer health advocate, publisher and author featured the Green Idea House in an article about Koch Development: http://www.greenpatriot.us./blog/?id=1027&showEntry=1

Recycled Christmas Tree Cycles Back
by Robert on December 22nd, 2010 No Comments »

Our son Carter is very happy to see his old friend from last year (see photo), thanks to Scotty Claus and his elves at The Living Christmas Company.  This is an amazing group that helps cut carbon – not trees.  Their innovative business makes it easy to support a forest. 
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Greywater gets Clearer
by Robert on October 21st, 2010 No Comments »

Last week we hosted a meeting with Leigh Jerrard from Greywater Corps who is doing innovative, yet simple and affordable things in the water conservation arena.  Leigh led six of us through a very informative dialogue on making the reuse of laundry and shower water for irrigation easy, practical and
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