Archive for Energy Star
Highlights of a Bridgid Coulter Green Home
Posted by: | CommentsThere are many celebrity projects that highlight green issues, including actress and interior designer Bridgid Coulter, longtime girlfriend of actor and environmental activist Don Cheadle. Coulter was recently featured on E! News for the Venice California green home she redesigned into an eco-friendly bungalow with many green living features and recycled materials. Bridgid Coulter is also known for her work on stage and screen, her credits include Rosewood, Class of ‘96 and Family Matters.
(Image Credit: bridgidcoulterdesign.com)
Coulter is a house flipper and also runs a boutique design studio, which is adjacent to her retail storefront. In her Santa Monica store, Bridgid Coulter Design, she features her signature line of textiles, pillows, eco candles and custom furniture; as well as other home accessories. Her longtime beau, Don Cheadle, is an UNEP Ambassador for the Environment, so being eco-friendly is something close to the couple’s heart.
The bungalow, originally built in 1953, was brought down to stud, and the debris was handled in a responsible and earth friendly manner. The eco design elements are evident in the great room (a combined living and dining room space) where all the light fixtures are made from recycled glass. The lights are also on dimmers, which not only allows you to add atmosphere to the room, but also helps control the heat in the room as well. The room also boasts an eco-designed fireplace, which runs on ethanol fuel. Ethanol is a clean burning fuel and the fireplace does not need ventilation to run. The fireplace is portable, so you could conceivably decide to move it into one of the bedroom easily.
The kitchen is outfitted with stainless steel Energy Star appliances. All the countertops are made of recycled glass, and the cabinets were made from FSC certified wood using green glue. Another feature of the house is that there is a water filtration system in the kitchen which eliminates the need for bottled water, a simple glass or reusable bottle can be filled from the tap.
The home office is filled with antique items. When you don’t buy brand new, you are reducing waste and decreasing the carbon cost of the items in your home. The new window shades were made locally in Los Angeles of all natural fiber. Coulter suggests buying local as it cuts down on shipping which further reduces the carbon footprint of the home.
The bedrooms are filled with repurposed furniture including an upcycled end table made of out old rubber tires. It’s unique pieces like this that add visual interest to a room while embracing green living ideals. The bathrooms tiles and sinks are made from recycled materials. The toilet has a fun eco feature because it’s dual flush, which means you choose from option one or two to use less water as the situation requires. Outside they planted greenery native to dessert temperatures, which means less watering. In LA, you would have to water frequently to keep greenery alive given the heat, so this is also a cost saving measure. Another great feature that the outside of the house boasts is the raised garden platforms, which were made out of the pallets that the siding was delivered in.
This million-dollar home is a shining example of a green home where a family can create many treasured memories. Kudos to Bridgid Coulter for green living designs at their best.
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Planet Forward is an online retailer of ethically-made, earth-friendly products designed for everyday use with a distinctly urban feel. Products include reusable stainless steel bottles, stainless steel thermal travel mugs, waste-free lunch bags, reusable shopping bags, Make-it-Yourself toxin-free Green Cleaning kits, organic fashions and other accessories. SALE 50% OFF ALL PRODUCTS – SHOP NOW !
Green News Weekly – Hybrid Sharks, Solar ATMs and Habitat for Humanity Building Green
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome back for another edition of our weekly green news highlights. This week: hybrid sharks were discovered swimming in the waters off Australia’s east coast; solar ATMs provide service to rural India; and Habitat for Humanity is building energy efficient homes and helping low income homeowners with reduced monthly utility costs.
Hybrid black tip shark containing both common and Australian black tip DNA (Image credit: uq.edu.au)
Ready for new hybrids? Australia’s hybrid shark reveals evolution in action. Is climate change causing different species of sharks to mate and create hybrids? MSNBC reports that Hybrid sharks have been discovered in the waters off the east coast of Australia. According to a research team, the hybrids may be driven by climate change and more hybrids could become common discoveries in the future. The hybridization is between the Australian black tip shark which prefers tropical waters and the larger, Common black tip shark, which favours sub-tropical and temperate waters. “To actually find something like this and prove it genetically is unprecedented,” said Bob Hueter, director of the Center for Shark Research at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida.
Solar ATMs Bring Change(s) to Rural India. Vortex Engineering has developed an ATM (Automated Teller Machine) that provides services to rural areas using solar power. The machine uses about as much electricity as a 70-watt lightbulb. “The initial lot of 400 solar ATMs, aptly called Gramateller (‘gram’ means village), the world’s largest order, placed by the State Bank of India ( SBI), has been winning accolades for performance and substantial energy savings. The ATMs were installed in 2010-11 across several states, usually within 20-50 km of the district headquarters, Vijay Babu, CEO of Vortex Engineering, which makes these units, told IANS from Chennai. Following SBI’s success with solar ATMs, the Catholic Syrian Bank also placed an order for 50 Gramatellers and Indian Bank for 20, while 10 more have been ordered by other banks, he added.” A solar-powered ATM saves over 90% of annual expenses in comparison to traditional ATMs.
Habitat goes green, saves green for residents. Antonio and Christie Miller of Nashville and Casey Greer are happy to see the decline in their utility bills thanks to their Habitat for Humanity built home that was designed to meet top energy efficiency standards. Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization, is responsible for building 4,800 homes in the United States and Canada in the last year, and they are committed to building energy efficient homes that are both affordable and green. Habitat homeowners agree. “Oh, my gosh, my utility bills are awesome,” Greer said. “This summer when it was extremely warm, I think the highest bill was 80 bucks. In my old place, the cheapest bill was almost $200.” Habitat programs in Nashville, Denver and Goshen, Ind., earned the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2011 Energy Star Sustained Excellence award for dedication to reducing greenhouse emissions through energy efficiency. With Habitat building homes for low income families, increased energy efficiency equates to lower monthly bills thereby making the ongoing costs to live there more affordable.
Are you afraid to go back in the water with new ‘hybrid’ sharks out there (I’m terrified of sharks)? Do you think solar ATMs will be popularized in North America? And bravo Habitat for Humanity, for green building and helping residents save on monthly utility expenses. Stay tuned for more green news.
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Planet Forward is an online retailer of ethically-made, earth-friendly products designed for everyday use with a distinctly urban feel. Products include reusable stainless steel bottles, stainless steel thermal travel mugs, waste-free lunch bags, reusable shopping bags, Make-it-Yourself toxin-free Green Cleaning kits, organic fashions and other accessories. SALE 50% OFF ALL PRODUCTS – SHOP NOW !
Exercise Generates Electricity with PlugOut Fitness
Posted by: | CommentsNow you can enjoy an even greener lifestyle while you exercise with PlugOut, fitness equipment that actually generates electricity with the energy from your physical effort. A good for the planet, good for your health workout – how cool is that? One workout session can generate enough electricity to power your smartphone or Blackberry for a week or directly offset the consumption of an Energy Star LCD Television. And, it’s not consuming electricity the way traditional fitness equipment does, so your physical energy exerted is providing both personal and planetary health. No, it’s not going to solve our climate crisis, but it’s certainly a much greener option to standard fitness equipment which consumes energy. Plus, it’s an added incentive for the person working out, knowing that they are actually producing energy.
PlugOut Cross Trainer Elliptical
PlugOut’s mission is “to help create healthy people and a healthy planet.” Based out of Seattle, PlugOut was the brainchild of observing rows of people at a fitness facility working out simultaneously and thinking “wouldn’t it be cool if all this energy could be harnessed and used?” Cool indeed. A sustainable workout that doesn’t consume energy and actually gives back by generating 50 to 250 watts of power in a single exercise routine. It’s a win-win fitness regime.
All of the equipment options work straight out the box as long as you have access to a three prong grounded plug, it’s ready to go. There are currently two options, PlugOut Cross-Trainer, a Commercial Grade Elliptical with Touchscreen, and the PlugOut Cycle, an Indoor Cycle Bike. The PlugOut Cross-Trainer’s Touchscreen will not only track your workout but also the power you’ve generated. Additional products are still in development but I for one would like to see this type of equipment revolutionize the way people want to administer their fitness routine and add to their green lifestyle.
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