weekly round-up

Welcome to the most recent installment of our weekly round-up of BuildingGreenTV.com's reader-generated content. Actually, this time around, we've got a two-week round-up for you. Sorry we missed last week's report; there were just too many leftovers to eat!

To start with, we want to share with you an incredibly cool and important project that one of our most prolific contributors, Slow Home. The project is called Project Outrage and it is an online protest against "poor construction, bad design, misleading marketing and environmental neglect in the housing industry." Learn all about it at the Slow Home Project Outrage Blog.

Slow Home also has their most recent Slow Home Report up in our Share section. This week's report includes a visit with Mexican architect Jorge Gracia -- check it out!

Elsewhere in the Share section, myleenjan shares more on their home-building process with "Thinking outside the building box, some sources." Read all about their SIPS, blue jean insulation and ventilation ducts ...

Lastly, GreenModernKits.com writes in with a thoughtful meditation on thrifting in their post, "Consider Thrift." Is it possible to Over-Thrift? Read GreenModernKits.com's post and let us know what you think.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Helloooo Friday!

It's been a long cold(ish) week here in Northern California, and we're seriously wishing we had some radiant in-floor heating, like Kevin.

Oh well, such is life! We are looking forward to cuddling up for the weekend with something hot to drink and plenty of blankets.

We're also looking forward to giving you a taste of all that's gone on in our Share section this week.

First off, we feel obliged to explain the odd picture above. What is it, you ask? It's a Hydro Wall, a fantastic design developed by Virginia San Fratello. It turns water into insulation (among many other wonderful things) -- read about it in a post Susan Szenasy shares with us from Metropolis Magazine.

We've also got a little something for all you history buffs this week: SunDesign has posted a Brief History of Heating and Cooling America's Homes. Do you know what year the first riveted-steel coal furnace was built? No? Read on.

And, finally, we want to direct your attention to an intriguing entry from Spectrum Skateparks. And, what do skateparks have to do with green building? A lot! Just take a look at this really fascinating post on Photo Catalytic Concrete.

Have a great weekend and stay warm!

Hello Building Green TV readers! This week's weekly round-up of reader contributions to our Share section is brought to you by StarStyle.com.

StarStyle is our loyal partner and the keeper of our online store. StarStyle has a brand new site with a new design, improved navigation and product reviews. You can shop for all the great stuff you've seen on Building Green as well as products from other great shows such as Weeds, the L Word, and Californication. Check it out!

Before we get to our reader contributions, we want to also congratulate our sponsors Burt's Bees. Burt's has been acquired by Clorox, a company we're thrilled to see embracing natural products and supporting the type of sustainable practices Burt's Bees has always been known for.

Now, on to our reader content: This week we've seen a high volume of wonderful contributions and some of our favorite come from Susan Szenasy, Editor-in-Chief of Metropolis Magazine. "7 Steps in the Lifecycle of a Green Product," by Martin C. Pedersen, is a fascinating read and a "possible road map for a new model of twenty-first-century manufacturing."

"25 Tools For Greener Living," by Paul Makovsky, offers just what it promises: a list of 25 green products that go beyond basic sustainability.

Elsewhere, Green Living Technologies LLC has offered up a green wall bonanza of sorts. Start off reading this mini primer on the concept of green walls; then, take a look at these fantastic images of interior green walls; and, finally, read about how green walls can be incorporated into smaller spaces.

That's all for now. Have a wonderful weekend!

Hello Building Green TV readers! This week the Friday round-up of content from our Share section is going to be presented a bit differently. This week's round-up isn't sponsored by any company or person; instead, it's inspired by the Bioneers 2007 Conference.

The conference, which started today and runs through Sunday the 21st in San Rafael, Ca., brings together people who are dedicated to the connection between the environment, health, social justice, and spirit, for a weekend of education and celebration. Building Green TV will be in attendance, and we hope to see you there!

So, speaking of the intersection of the environment and health, have you checked out our Share section this week? There's a brief, but powerful post on indoor air quality and why we should all build greener from ecohomedesign. Did you know that the average person spends 80% of their time indoors? If you answered "no," check out the post.

But, buyer beware, just because a home is labeled "green" doesn't mean it's the real deal. In their post on green washing, listedgreen looks at false green claims in the real estate market. Curious about how some sellers try to dishonestly persuade buyers that their home is green? Read on.

And, finally, a little levity for your Friday afternoon: SpudRus logs in to give Kevin a hard time about his wardrobe and ask a few great questions about Kevin's house. Read Kevin's response here.

Have a great weekend!

Time again for a round up of reader contributions to the Share section of Building Green.

This time around, our weekly round-up is brought to you by Central Desktop. Central Desktop is an online resource that provides simple project collaboration tools for business teams, tools that help businesses organize and share information efficiently. Central Desktop is what we use here at Building Green to stay organized and, quite honestly, we don't know what we'd do without it.

Contributors to our share section this week are keeping their calendars organized. Want to know where you should be the weekend of Oct. 26-28? According to a post from greenthumb22, West Coast Green is teaming up with Western Interiors for the Western Interiors Home Show in San Francisco. Should be a great expo and conference.

Another very interesting post came to us this week from Steve Pesce. Steve is looking for ideas -- he has a 24 lot subdivision in New Hampshire that he'd like to develop responsibly. Got any ideas? Steve is all ears.

This week's eye candy comes from Solaleya. Check out their post (and beautiful pictures) on living in a perfect Domespace home. We're ready to move in.

That's all for now. Have a great weekend!

The Share section of our site saw some great posts this week, and it's our privilege to highlight them here for you:

First up, Metropolis Magazine has announced their 2008 Next Generation® Design Competition. "We call on your innovative design solutions at all scales and sizes," reads their post. "Products, interiors, buildings, landscapes, communication systems, or anything else you’ve dreamed up—for handling this most precious and most threatened natural resource. The time for new thinking on water is now." Get all the details here.

EllenLeroyLeed cross posted a super-informative piece about the cost-benefit analysis involved in building green from her site www.sustainabuild.net. Anyone considering new construction or an intensive remodel should take a look at her post, "Hard Facts on Soft Costs."

And, just today, the people from Slow Home posted their Slow Home Report for Oct. 3, 2007. Take a video tour of the Union Square Loft project with architect Paul Cha. It's almost as good as being there!

Time again for our weekly round-up of reader contributions!

Our favorite post of the week might just be slhomer's post and pictures of a neighbor's recycled concrete wall. As she explains, there's no shortage of easily-accessible broken up concrete and it's relatively easy to work with (if you have a strong back)!

Moving away from concrete and toward SIPs (structural insulated panels), we saw a nice dialogue bloom in the Share section this week. Readers myleejan posted a question about SIPs (which was originally posted on their blog).

Then, SpudsRus responded with an intriguing post about an organic SIP he is looking to possibly patent and produce. If you've ever had any questions about SIPs, both posts are worth the read.

File under cool, new green technology: Reader dput broke the story on Cyber-Rain's new wireless sprinkler control system on Friday. The system actually schedules your watering based on your local weather forecast, and could save users 30-70% on their water bills.

Thanks to everyone who contributes to our Share section! Have a great weekend.

It's Friday, and things are in bloom! In the last week, we've been the happy beneficiaries of tomatoes from our neighbor's yard and green beans from a co-worker's. It's a good time of year for gardening (and a good time of year to know gardeners)!

Appropriately, this week's round-up is brought to you by the National Gardening Association. The NGA, a non-profit founded in 1973, promotes home, school, and community gardening as a means to renew and sustain the essential connections between people, plants, and the environment. Their web site offers information and tips that will aid beginners and expert gardeners, as well as regionally specific gardening reports and blogs. Want to know what's in season in your neck of the woods? This is the place to look.

And now, without further adieu, here's the cream of this week's reader contribution crop:

Keeping us up-to-date on green building news is Jetson Green. Check out his Noteworthy News and Information post for a number of current, newsy green items.

Speaking of timely updates, listedgreen reminds us that the West Coast Green Expo and Conference will be in San Francisco, the weekend of September 20-22nd.

Elsewhere, materialicious checks in with a great post (with fantastic pictures) on a six container home in Mexico. Anyone who is at all intrigued by shipping container home design and construction should definitely check this out.

And last, but certainly not least, new user yjenkins raves about a blue jean donation program at Barney's in NYC.

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

It's Friday, which means it's time again for our weekly reader contribution round-up.

If you haven't visited our Share section recently, now's the time to check it out -- this week our readers have posted a number of fascinating bits of green news and green building information.

Take, for instance, Danish architect Søren Korsgaard's post on his Prefab Weekend Cabin and the accompanying animated video. Just click and watch the whole thing being built, piece by piece, right before your eyes. We guarantee you'll want one of these for your next vacation.

Once you've seen that video, check out JohnCommoner's post about the new hiveMODULAR blog. If you like modern, beautiful prefab, then this post is definitely worth clicking through!

And, Champion Indoors is back with a great behind-the-scenes peek at the "Living Green Pavilion" at the Las Vegas World Market Center's furniture tradeshow (pictured). What happens in Vegas usually stays in Vegas but, when it comes to sustainable furniture, Champion Indoors is all about sharing.

Have a great weekend!