There are so many green building conferences, expos, and tradeshows that it’s hard to keep of track of them all. For the past two years I’ve attended West Coast Green here in San Francisco, which to me, is a rather important one to go to, as they put everyone together under one roof!

The conference is still a month away yet everyone is abuzz with its keynote speaker this year, former Vice-President, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Eco-Warrior Extraordinaire Al Gore! Also not to be missed is Sarah Susanka, best selling author of the book The Not So Big House , and author David Suzuki who is also the TV host of The Nature of Things.

This year the conference has moved to the San Jose Convention Center in the heart of Silicon Valley. It will be held on September 25-27. One of the unique things that sets this conference apart from others is the “Homeowners Day” on the 27th. Most conventions are geared toward the professionals in that particular industry; West Coast Green offers a day that’s open to the public and all of the events and speakers are formatted for homeowners and their interests.

(If the price of admission is a little too steep for you there are volunteer opportunities available which give you free pass to all of its events.)

It looks to be another fun-filled, educational event. I hope to see some of you there!

Hi Everyone-

I’m back after a very long break. I wasn’t on vacation or anything; just trying to finish up school and get through this wretched exam. I’ve been working on my certification in sustainable building, and can now officially say I am a Certified Sustainable Building Advisor (CSBA). This distinction was hard earned – the test was the equivalent to passing the bar exam and you only had three hours!

In addition to finishing school I had begun teaching as well at the local city college. This summer I taught a hands-on construction course to adults looking for a career change and to young students hoping to get into the trades. I’ve also been approached to pen a green building textbook!

I am happy to be back to normal (somewhat) and look forward to resuming posts on what’s going on here in the US of A as well as any and all things related to sustainable design and building as I am up to my eyebrows in it.

Ciao for now,

Arcadia Maximo, CSBA!

PS: If you have any questions or comments regarding green building please feel free to drop me a line.

“On April 22, 1970, Earth Day was held, one of the most remarkable happenings in the history of democracy…” American Heritage magazine, October 1993

Did you know that today is actually the 38th anniversary of Earth Day? I have to admit I didn’t know that either. Senator Gaylord Nelson, the founder of Earth Day actually had this idea seven years prior to its official celebration. He knew then how important it was to bring attention to the demise of our environment. He had this idea in 1962 on how to bring environmental issues to the fore front; so he persuaded President Kennedy to take a five day, eleven state conservation tour in September 1963. The tour was not as successful as he had hoped in bringing national attention to the environment but it did plant the seed to what would become Earth Day!

“At a conference in Seattle in September 1969, I announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. The response was electric. It took off like gangbusters. Telegrams, letters, and telephone inquiries poured in from all across the country. The American people finally had a forum to express its concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air – and they did so with spectacular exuberance……….” -Senator Gaylord Nelson (www.earthday.enironlink.org)

Today, because of this one day 38 years ago, when millions of Americans decided to act, we now have laws protecting our most precious resource, our Planet! We have the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and so many others that help us live in a healthy environment.

Earth Day isn’t just about going out and hugging a tree, it’s the one day to pause and recognize that our very existence depends on how we manage and maintain our surroundings; and to ignore it is to do so at our own peril for now and generations to come.

I’ve always liked the reason why the company Seventh Generation chose that as its name: The company derives its name from the Great Law of the Iroquois that states, “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” This is something to think about on day like today.

I hope you enjoy your day today as there are so many celebrations happening all over. *Fun Fact:  Today is also the birthday of Julius Sterling Morton, founder of Arbor Day (the national tree planting holiday)!

Here’s a small timeline of just how far we’ve come in such a short amount of time:

In the 1970s 20 million people gathered to celebrate the first Earth Day.

In the 1980s Congress declares the public’s right to know when toxic chemicals are released in the air, land, and sea.

In the 1990s the EPA (environmental protection agency) issues tough new air quality standards for smog and soot, an action that would improve the air quality for 125 million Americans.

In the 2000s school buses across the country are retrofitted through the Clean School Bus USA program removing 200,000 lbs. of particulates over the next 10 years.

”Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.” Senator Gaylord Nelson.

Happy Earth Day!

Earlier this month Pope Benedict XVI declared pollution a sin.  I laughed and clapped, but it got me thinking about eco-sins I commit fully knowing that what I am doing is bad yet refusing to give up.

What eco-sins do you commit?

I’ll go first.  I refuse to give up my long hot showers.  I take one every morning without guilt.  I also loathe public transportation.  I take it on days when I have to, not because I want to.

The 70s had the Hippies, the 80s had the Preppies, the 90s had the Yuppies now the new millennium has the Scuppies.

It’s a new term I just read about – it stands for Socially Conscious, Upwardly-mobile person, a term coined by Chuck Faila, president of a Manhattan based financial planning firm.  He says he’s tired of being called a yuppie and hopes this new term will take its place in the American lexicon as the natural progression from Hippie-Preppie-Yuppie to Scuppie!

These days, more Americans not only want to live well, but want to also do good (or at least do no evil). They still love money and conspicuous displays of affluence. But now, the way to achieve status is to trade in the Beemer for a Toyota Prius, spend $50,000 putting solar panels on the roof, shop at Whole Foods for $7-a-bunch organic endive, and acquire a chic new wardrobe fashioned entirely of hemp, soy fiber, and recycled tires, Failla says.

He hopes to get the word out through a national promotional campaign and he is also writing a guide: “The Scuppie Handbook: A practical guide to living well while doing good.”

Visit the website and read “A Scuppie Believes”, it’s funny!

Having friends over to celebrate Earth Day and don’t know what to serve?  Let Earth Dinner help you plan your meal for your family or your community.

This event was started three years ago by America’s largerst collective of organic farmers: Organic Valley, to honor Earth Day with it’s own special meal.  This is akin to what we Americans do at Thanksgiving.  It has now grown and is taking root all over the nation.

“Many Americans are detached from what they eat and the tremendous impact of their food choices,” says Theresa Martinez, Earth Dinner Founder.

Go to their website, Earth Dinner to see which public events and fundraisers are taking place near you, or for recipe ideas for your own dinner.

To say our housing market is in a slump is like saying Hurricane Katrina was just a few heavy winds!  It’s bad.  So what are home builders doing to attract buyers, they are “greening” their inventory.  Because we all know that green is the hot buzz word of the day and put eco in front of anything and people will come a running!

I’ve been reading in the Wall Street Journal how the big production builders are adding green elements such as Energy Star rated appliances and increased insulation so they can market their homes as “green” and sell them.

My question is why aren’t these few features standard in any home? And why are they only implementing them now – when forced by a housing crunch.  This leads me to believe that if our housing market wasn’t in such dire straits then the big builders would not be using any green features at all.  The WSJ agrees with me as they state “it is a strategy born out of neccessity.”

Basically it all comes down to money.  Homes built truly green cost a few more dollars yet they are better built.  Why? Because truly green built homes exceed building codes, we go above and beyond what is required of us.  When any contractor comes up to you and says “oh yeah I build to code” you should run the other way.  We green builders have a saying around that, “building to code is just the bare mininum anything less would be considered illegal!”

Although I despise the “greenwashing” in my industry, eco-terrorism is not the answer either, which is what is suspected in some housing developments in Washington State.

If you are in the market for a new green home please keep the ancient code of Hammurabi in mind: “BUYER BEWARE”

There is is fascinating new book titled Earth: The Sequel by Fred Krupp, President of the Environmental Defense Fund and Miriam Horn.  I have to admit I have not read the book- yet- but I have been receiving so many emails and hearing a lot buzz surrounding it, that I finally went to its website to see what all the hype is about.

It’s about hope, inspiration, ingenuity, entrepreneurship, and optimism, plus the biggest explosion of wealth for whoever wins this race (their words not mine)!

I even found the few minutes of the video educational, as there are many things happening as we race to end global warming and reinvent energy; that I have never heard of; and from what I gather the book is about all these innovative technologies and the inventors behind them.

The book tells us we can’t wait for governments to change the world, it’s the thinkers, risk takers, and innovators who will save the planet, in other words it’s us – the people!

I found this story online at the New York Times so fascinating that I had to share it.

Two scientists are proposing a concept for removing carbon dioxide from the air and turning it back into gasoline.  They call their idea Green Freedom.  The air would be blown over a liquid solution of potassium carbonate, the CO2 would be extracted and subjected to a chemical reaction that would turn it into fuel.  Sounds simple enough.  And is it actually doable?  Yes!  So why hasn’t anyone done it yet?  Because apparently it takes a ton of energy to produce, preferably a huge nuclear power plant!

The article goes on to evaluate and compare all alternative fuels we are looking into nowadays – hydrogen, biofuels, and electric cars.  They all have their pros and cons; but here’s a paragraph I found really interesting:

Gasoline, it turns out, is an almost ideal fuel (except that it produces 19.4 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon). It is easily transported, and it generates more energy per volume than most alternatives. If it can be made out of carbon dioxide in the air, the Los Alamos concept may mean there is little reason to switch, after all. The concept can also be adapted for jet fuel; for jetliners, neither hydrogen nor batteries seem plausible alternatives.

Gas is the most perfect fuel!?!  If this idea can actually come true, we could have the perfect close-loop cycle: gas to CO2 back to gas.

Here’s the link to the full article written by Kenneth Chang on 2.19.08 at the New York Times.

Please read Vicky’s post below to learn more about Earth Hour.

I just received the press release that Mayor Daley of Chicago has declared his city the official flagship city for Earth Hour-US.  Atlanta, Phoenix and we here in San Francisco have signed on as leading partners!  Here’s the link to Earth Hour US to sign up.

This is going to be amazing!