First Name:
Kevin ContrerasJoined: March 7, 2007, 4:58 pm
Last Active: May 7, 2008, 12:04 pm
Status:
Offline
Personal Information:
City:
Santa BarbaraState:
CALIFORNIAKevin grew up in a family of builders and designers in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As a young child, his grandfather, a master cabinetmaker, taught him the fine art of woodworking. He graduated from University of Colorado with a degree in Business, but was soon sidetracked by an international career in acting and modeling, which afforded him the opportunity to study homes and building techniques around the world. Kevin likes to say that, had he been a better actor he would not have had time to build and design homes, but as fortune would have it, he was able to do both successfully.
In 1994, a trip to Bali introduced Kevin to bamboo construction techniques, which led him to discover other natural building methods, and ultimately to plan his own straw bale construction project. When he couldn’t find green builders to help, he decided to educate himself, and his architect and contractor, about green building. And so the idea for Building Green TV was born. “I am on a quest to find great projects, to let people see them, to know what is possible,” says Kevin. “We all need to be conversing to teach each other.”
Professional Information:
Company Name:
Building GreenCompany Website:
http://www.buildinggreentv.comBuilding Green is a labor of passion. Producer and host Kevin Contreras is as fiercely committed to building awareness as he is to building houses, which is why he and many other like-minded souls are now building a media company to do just that.
Building Green TV's mission is to provide homeowners with a glimpse of just how easy, cost-effective and healthy it is to go green, while dispelling the myth that an environmentally conscious lifestyle means doing without.
Through our nationally-aired TV series, Kevin takes viewers on a highly personal journey, showing them exactly what it’s like for an “ordinary guy” to make the commitment to go green.
On our website, buildinggreentv.com, we provide detailed how-to information and connect readers with resources. As fans of the social network, we also offer readers a place to share their own stories and tips, and to interact directly with Kevin himself and an ever-growing roster of self-taught green building mavens and experts alike.
Hey Kevin,
I was recently channel surfing when I came across your television show "Building Green" on a public programming channel. On the show, you were building a sustainable house for you and your family in an eco-friendly manner. I appreciated your concern for the environment and your desire to reuse materials to build your house.
I was deeply troubled, however, when you said that your tractors and bulldozers being used to build and move dirt were environmentally friendly because they ran on biodiesels, and you supported them. Biodiesels are appealing because they produce little CO2 emissions, but they are actually very harmful to the environment. Agrofuels, which include biodiesels, create competition between food for people and fuel for cars, leading to skyrocketing grain prices and increasing numbers of people who cannot afford to eat. For example, the amount of grain needed to create enough ethanol to fill the tank of a single SUV could feed one person for an entire year. Another horrible side effect of raising crops for agrofuels is that the increasing demand for land for agrofuel plantations causes deforestation and destruction of some of the last and largest primeval forests, which are being logged and burned to clear land for these agrofuel plantations. The logging and burning of these pristine rainforests in turn, releases huge quantities of greenhouse gases. These practices and methods create a false promise of independence from oil, and in turn are even more harmful to the environment and its precious ecosystems.
Kevin, I URGE you to correct your mistake. Biofeuls may seem appealing, but in the end they create more harm to the environment than good. People need to understand this before they start investing billions of dollars into the dangerous frontier of agrofuels. I hope to hear back from you. My email is moldysnackcake@gmail.com
Sincerely,
Simone N. of Washington, D.C.
Hi, Kevin!
When do we hear about next season's TV project?
Kevin,
I love that you promote education of green building and dispell the myths that surround it. Your next series should have Structural Insulated Panels. I am surprized how many people say they have never even heard of the product. Have you ever worked with SIPs?