Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Target’s Economical Eco Furniture - formaldehyde-free
- affordable
- made with FSC/Rainforest Alliance Certified SmartWood
- 100% formaldehyde-free
- 100% nontoxic, water-based glues and stains
- furniture ships flat to conserve packaging and reduce waste
- designed and manufactured in USA (reducing shipping distance)
- and requires no hardware to set up
Monday, November 19, 2007
National GreenBuilding Conference
Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building
Approximately, 50% of green house gas emissions come from buildings and associated activities in Canada. The increasing pressures to reduce green house gas emissions, rising energy costs, and a growing global interest and demand for efficient, responsible growth and development are fuelling the trend towards green building and design and have reinforced the need for a stronger focus on sustainability.
National GreenBuilding Conference will focus on all aspects of green design, construction, retrofit, and maintenance leading to high performance buildings, and will examine best practices and project delivery models that result in more efficient methods of designing sustainability into any project.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
AQUS from WaterSaver Technologies
coolest thing (and almost affordable!!!) i've seen in years.- AQUS can reduce metered water usage in a two-person household by about 10–20 gallons a day – or approximately 5,000 gallons a year - conserving water and helps save money in reduced water consumption charges and wastewater treatment or sewer fees
- tucked inside the vanity below the sink
- reservoir works in conjunction with standard lavatory pipes
- reservoir holds up to 5 ½ gallons of water from the sink
Santiago Calatrava's Chicago Spire
- aka The Twisted Tower
- Popular Science Engineering Grand Award Winner from their Best of What's New 2007
- 2,000 feet
- 1,193 condos
- the tallest residential building in the world (tall enough to see the curvature of the planet from the top floors!)
- completed in 2011
- green touches:
- cooling system that draws water from the Chicago River
- cisterns for collecting rainwater for landscaping
- reflective glass that will prevent migratory-bird collisions
- aiming to earn LEED “gold”
- thechicagospire.com
Friday, November 02, 2007
Largest Low-Rise Green Development in Canada
Oct. 24 - The Toronto Economic Development Corporation (TEDCO) and Monarch Corporation announced today that they will develop the largest low-rise green residential community in Canada.
- called Evergreen
- environmentally friendly homes built to the new LEED-H
- Toronto's Midland and St. Clair area (Scarborough)
- combined development area will equal close to 24 acres
- eventually encompass a mix of 196 town homes and single-family homes
- cost for green building for each unit could rise by as much as 8-9% or $12,000 of the direct building cost
Canadian green building information sources
Sustainable, High-Performance “Green” Building in Canada
Green building – also often referred to as sustainable, high performance building – has its roots in the energy conservation, healthy building, interior air quality, building envelope, commissioning and integrated design movements. It is international in scope. Here is a list of the major Canadian green building information sources.