Green Studio Blog

Fingerprint the footprint: CDP rocks!

Have you heard about the Carbon footprint? It refers to the measurement of total emissions into the environment from energy usage throughout the process of manufacturing any good and transporting it to the end user. Everything has a hidden cost. I learned that early in my career. If I drew an extra line in a plan, it translated to a built cost of a $1000 or a multiple thereof. If I made any change during construction it cost $500 or a mutiple thereof. If I import something from China- and join the rest of the human race in doing so- I may be paying little, but the world is paying in multiples too large for the environment to take.

I never have trusted Bill Clinton. From the minute I tuned into his first debate during the primaries of the 1992 elections, just out of curiosity to see what the buzz was about, I knew I couldn't trust him. It didn't help his credibility with me that I happened to meet his lover of 33 years and heard the excruciating details of their long-lasting affair...I saw him in person, recently, at Rice University in Houston, and I experienced a change in attitude about him. When this ubercharismatic man sets his passion, inner compass and power to save the environment, to sit Wal-Mart at the table and coerce it to become an agent - a leader- in global sustainability, and to open the eyes and passions of our young people so that they may take the torch to save our planet, I experience a change of heart.

Some say that Wal-Mart is only thinking of its image in starting the pilot program with the Carbon Disclosure Project , outlined in the recent article of Business Week . I say that Clinton has hit the nail in the head, and that Clinton and Wal-Mart putting their heads together is a powerfully explosive combination. Leaders must act like leaders. They just can't be followers. What will Wal-Mart do with the results of their pilot studies on Carbon footprint of their products? Your guess is as good as mine. The worst case scenario would be that they simply share the information with consumers, and that would put us in the driver's seat: we get to make our choices! The best case scenario is that Wal-Mart starts buying locally, we develop our local economies with environmentally friendly practices, and that we enjoy cleaner air and water. I never thought I'd say this, but...luv ya Bill!!

College of life

My daughter is off to college. How about that? I mean, how do I feel about that? I mean, how do I feel about my home being incomplete without her? My emotions range from "finally!" to "she can't grow up without me". College is the future, university our kids new home. I had the fortune to come to this country for college, and the sense to pick a good one. She had the sense to want to go to college and to chose the same one!

Colleges and universities have taken their time in leading the green movement. I was calling my alma matter about this subjectmatter 10 years ago, to deaf ears. They're jumping in, still rather timidly, in my opinion, given that we are so behind. A recent Newsweek features Williams College organic produce farming on its front cover, and looks at the ways Universities are joining the movement. I know for a fact that impressionable young people make up the student population, and they are a vital part of what can be done.

I've been thinking about all the things that I haven't taught my daughter yet, the ones she hasn't been ready to learn, and the ones that she will learn from others. This doesn't scare me, yet I know that some things can't wait any longer. I have made a list of the ones she needs to know soon in college, that her roommate would do well learning, that the dorm floor would benefit from, that the entire dorm should be doing, that the university could lead, and that the city could follow. So could moms and dads...

1. Recycle- paper can be reused, cut up into TO DO note pads, used for printing again. Keep a box in the room where you throw in white printer paper to reuse. Imagine how many trees you could save if your whole floor does the same, and the dorm, and the university.

2. Reduce your waste- take your own satchel to the supermarket, don't ask for bags, use a mug instead of disposable cups, keep a real bowl and take it to you ice cream socials, cardboard can be recycled, and anything you are ready to throw away could be put into a "flea market" at the dorm or outside your room with a hand made "take it, it's yours" sign. College kids are always looking for freebies!

3. Clean your room once a week- for a healthy dorm room or apartment without extra allergens. You will sleep better, when you sleep, and it will keep you out of health services for the small stuff.

4. Don't bring or introduce chemicals into your room- everything from nail polish to insecticide. If you need to use them, do so outdoors; your collective indoor air is precious to all.

5. Find a good source of filtered water; water is life- Not easily achieved, but I remember taking these "quality of life" issues to my dorm rep to take on with the administration. Four years of bad drinking water is not something to embrace passively...

That doesn't sound too parsimonious, does it? It's not nagging either. It's the common sense that all our young people should acquire SOON, because they WILL inherit the earth, they ARE the future, and they should know, VERY SOON, that each one is the master of their collective destiny, and that the results are not additive, but exponential. Think green.There.

I'm sending this blog to her new e-mail address, and it will be Mom talking the usual. You can send this to your child and say that Mrs. Wise said it, not you.

#7 Not so lucky after all

How clueless we can be about the world that surrounds us? I'm not even talking about comparative global politics, I'm just referring to the things that are placed before us to consume. When my first baby was born, I refused to buy into the new generation of baby bottles. Do you remember the plastic shells that one could outfit with a plastic bag/pouch for the formula? Disposable bottles, I think they were called. I had a gut instinct - new mothers would be served well by listening to their proliferating gut instincts- about baby formula delivered in a plastic bag.

My youngest brother Mario is 8 years younger than I, and I was very much part of the ritual of feeding him his milk when he was a baby. How simple things were: 8 glass baby bottles, 8 nipples, 8 screw tops, recycled from my next to youngest brother, washed and sterilized with boiling water every night, and fresh untainted formula into the baby's tummy, every day, 7 days a week. I can still smell the sterilized kit of bottles,particularly because when I had my baby, I did the same.

There was no 7, 8 , 9 or for that matter, there was nothing stamped onto those bottles that could come back to haunt us. I'm referring to hard plastic made with the molecule BISPHENOL A or BPA, which is now being found harmful to humans, and definitely so to infants. The number 7 is the one you are looking for and unlucky me, I found it in several plastic containers in my all-plastic-container drawer. The Nalgene bottles that had solved so many health and recycling issues for me: STAMPED 7, my favorite recycled container: STAMPED 7.

A professor at the University of Missouri at Columbia, discovered in 1997 that BPA could transfer from mother to fetus acting like estrogen estrogen. You can read more about this scary thought at http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2138565&page=1

I installed my favorite water filtration system in four faucets in my new house (they are not STAMPED 7), because quality of drinking water, ice and cooking water is at the top of my list of how to live in a sustainable, healthy, green home. It is the Everpure 400. That may not sound familiar, but if I tell you that Starbucks uses that very filter to open up anywhere in the world? Now we're on the same page. There is nothing comparable to the sweet pleasure of soft water that tastes...like nothing, not to mention my gourmet cafe salvadoreno -roasted the day before I come back from El Salvador by my Tio Coco, who takes care of my coffee needs- which tastes like gold.

I  installed the filter in my kitchen, bar, butler's pantry and upstairs media room to service our evening needs. I've noticed guest drink more water and coffee than ever before. Unconsciously, its the taste of purity that makes an impact. Most importantly, having these filters would allow me to use reusable container to grab water on the go, to stop buying individual bottled water, and to have the best water on the road. Do you understand my plight at this very moment?

The #7 has been uncovered, my Nalgene bottles have been shelved, and I'm leaving the house to go exercise every morning having to gulp a glass- yes GLASS- of water before I leave, and chug more when I get back. I'm going to solve this, because water is all I drink, so I'll keep you posted on my solution. As for baby formula, glass is recyclable and pure so chuck your plastic bottles, and be sure to use the best filtered water for your baby's needs.

If you have a solution, would you share? For more information on the drinking water filter, visit my website www.casaconceptdesign.com and visit my resource guide.

Tank-less:more than you expected

Tank-less water heaters are the rage. In the mind of homeowners, replacing the 40 gallon tank with a tank-less is a simple step to take towards the greening of a home. It's simple in concept, particularly when you who have traveled abroad, and have noticed that they are the status quo in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and have been for decades!

We are just now waking up. In all fairness, I woke up too early, 20 years ago, when, years after having to  fight for the right to take a warm shower after digging in the trenches during my stint as an archaeologist in Italy, I knew that there were more efficient ways to heat water, and proceeded to experiment in my first home by installing a whole house tank-less water heater. Suffice it to say that the experiment failed. The metal box just wouldn't spit out water on the other end, much less hot water, and there was no one to help. I kept a grudge for a long time...

That was then, and now, in my new awakening, I installed two tank-less water heaters for my Casa Concept house. And I love them. One year later, I have all the hot water I need or demand, anywhere in the house, for as long as I need it. It is the sweet result of having done some research, because at the time of filling in the line item in the budget, it looked like a mistake or a dumb move, and we know it was neither. I put  three different brand reps through the test, and after hours of grilling them, I ended up with Noritz.

I was hoping for one whole-house unit..but that was not to be given the number of plumbing fixtures that were hooked up to the hot water. We compromised with two- installed in tandem- to service the main hot water guzzlers like the kitchen and laundry, and master spa bath and shower. That means that at top use, in the dead of winter, there is endless hot water for all appliances and plumbing fixtures if all were to be turned on at once. It's almost too good to be true. It is particularly well suited for the new generation of master bathrooms gadgets, such as multiple shower heads and spa tubs for two.

Right around now, I've probably sold you on the idea of going tank-less. But remember my failure in 1987? It was a failure to take into account ( and the seller never brought it up) that the tank-less water heaters work by passing the water through multiple copper coils inside the tank, and that every bend of those coils is susceptible to scale, which is prevalent in Houston due to the hardness of the city water, and to large particles of debris. Did I tell you that the first heater lasted three months? I'm not about to divulge what the cost of that entire fiasco was, but know that the cost of having a tank-less water heater has a soft cost associated with it, which is having to install a conditioner for the whole house.

That is the generic recommendation. Any system that you install for whole house water conditioning is expensive. Most are bulky, with huge tanks or boxes, to be installed outside because ,who has the space inside? I call expensive $3-6K . I'll share with you my specific recommendation: use a two part system, to be installed inside your home, that includes a rust and silt filter at the entry of the water main into your home, and a de-scalinator (miracle little gadget!) that is wrapped around the water main, directly after the first filter, to charge the water particles in such way that they don't bond to produce scale.

This system is easy to install (about 2hours max by any plumber) and easy to maintain ( change the filter about every 6-9 months). If bought directly from the supplier it costs $995. But given that so many people have followed what they saw in Casa Concept, Sam, the supplier will give anyone who mentions Casa Concept a huge CASA CONCEPT discount!!!!! Plus, you can get the Noritz tank-less heater from him at a discount. If you are in Houston, his company will install the entire system, and warranty it working. He likes to come around and see his system and installation once in a while, and I like it to keep working. That is a successful experiment. Go to http://www.casaconceptdesign.com/en/cms/?57 and look for Hot Water Solutions.

Stay tuned on tricks to best use your new tank-less water heater.

Generation E

It is noble to be considering the move into the Generation E. Generation X is a thing of the past...something to do with young people. Says who? I say so. I've never heard of Generation E, but mark my words, you read it from my blog first: the Generation E -E for environment- has little to do with age and much to do with heart and mind.

I saw and heard the focus groups go through my first green house- Casa Concept-, and how they responded to the mature thinking that went into the design and systems of this house. The opening of minds happened across generations and ages. The older set lamented not knowing much about environmentally friendly thinking when they had a chance to build or remodel, the younger set asked probing questions about the technology and systems for when they build. Everyone left with their eyes wide open. Most wanted to know how to start being EF ( Environmentally Friendly).

Wonderful things are coming my way as a designer with a higher consciousness.  I started my Green Studio Blog to share my knowledge and ongoing research; Casa Concept inc. was formed to supply environmentally friendly products for home and home construction; I design housing under Towards Sustainable Design Studio. I wonder still how I spent 25 years in the residential design business going about it almost without an inner compass. I don't stop at that thought for long, because I woke up, way before most who are only now joining Generation E. I do stop often to marvel at the beautiful world that we inhabit, and can only hope that we will collectively redefine our purpose in doing design and in consuming for the home.

I'm committed; are you?