Boulder's Leading Green & Zero Energy Home Builder - Green Building Feature of the Week

Green Materials for Your Home

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:17:14 -0700

Here is a great, easy-to-understand guide to choosing green materials for your home created by Boulder's VaST Architecture!

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E Source Visions of Efficiency Video Contest Winners

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:04:59 -0700

Check out these fun clips!

The E Source Forum held annually in Denver, Colorado, hosted a video contest this year, calling for people to submit short videos that promote energy efficiency in a fun, imaginative way. Visit the E Source site to view the grand prize winners!

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PCD Engineering Feature

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:23:09 -0600

Ecofutures trusted building optimization engineers, PCD Engineering were featured this week in the Boulder County Business report! PCD is Ecofutures' favorite engineering group because they are willing to go beyond conventional mechanical and envelope systems design, and crunch the numbers for us to help deterimine what may be the next cutting edge practice in net-zero energy design.

PCD Engineering helped to design the Broomfield Net-Zero Energy Project, the South Boulder Net-Zero Energy Retrofit, and the Niwot Net-Zero Energy/Cradle to Cradle home.

PCD's skills extend beyond the unordinary, however: the article talks about how the firm has adapted best practices in energy efficiency that can be applied to a range of homes, from townhomes to large custom buildings. Click here to read the full article.

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Our Favorite Quote this Year

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:18:02 -0600

"As the former Saudi Arabian oil minister Sheikh Yamani once said, the Stone Age didn't end because there were no more stones. It ended because people became more intelligent."

-Roland Stulz, director of the 2,000-Watt Society project

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Adding to the HRV / ERV debate

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:46:45 -0600

ERV or HRV, which should we use?

For several years we have been asked and asked ourselves that question. So far, we are pretty sure that the answer is an ERV, but like many other green building solutions, the answer depends on the needs of the individual home.

To date, all of Ecofutures' new net-zero energy homes have been equipped with a UltimateAir Recoupaerator ERV. We chose this model believing that provides the best living conditions at the lowest energy use possible. Since our homes are built to the best of building science standards, we are confident that the low moisture levels conserved by the Recoupaerator will not cause moisture or mold problems in the house. And, since many of our homes are located at high altitude, the added moisture in the air is desirable.

But, while we have arrived at this conclusion through field tests and experience, the debate rages on among engineers on both sides of the argument. Here is a publication issued by NuTech presenting many "myths" that support the argument that HRVs are the superior technology. And, here is a counter-statement issued by Stirling in defense, soundly dismissing all of NuTech's claims.

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Can green building survive economic conditions?

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:41:49 -0600

In the midst of abundant negative media hyping a potential economic crisis in our country, I'd like to take a moment to share a very positive and powerful message from Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and President of the US Green Building Council:

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DNC Event Calculators

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:01:51 -0600

Did you attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver this year? If you did, you may be wondering how much of a carbon imprint you left behind. Check out these calculators developed by Camco for the DNC to calculate your CO₂e.

Travel

Event

Green Meetings

These carbon footprint calculators are the first such program of any convention bureau in the nation designed to help meeting planners measure, reduce, and offset the carbon footprints of events. This is a wonderful success story for the convention's legacy impacts in Denver! The carbon team worked really hard for this and now it's ready to go!

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REPORT: Greenwashing Rapant

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:17:47 -0600

If you're like most people living - and consuming - in the United States, you may have adjusted your lifestyle in the last few years to be just a little "greener" - you might have made more of an effort to recycle, bought energy efficient appliances, or traded the car for a bicycle a few times a week. If you have done these things, you may have appreciated that many of your favorite companies have suddenly started producing more eco-friendly products for you to buy.

But, how much do you trust that the "green" product you just bought is really green?

According to a report released today by Terrachoice Environmental Marketing, many companies are not really producing more environmentally sustainable products. Instead, they are "greenwashing" -- deliberately misleading consumers about the environmental practices of their organization to make their products appealing to the changing consumer habits.

TerraChoice identifies 6 Sins of Greenwashing: 6 ways a companies may be making you think they are greener than they really are. These six sins are:

The Sin of Hidden Trade Off: Emphasizing one green attribute while ignoring a product's other - potentally more significant - environmental issues.
The Sin of No Proof: Products claiming to engage in certain environmental practices but offer no evidence or certification of this claim.
The Sin of Vagueness: The use of meaningless descriptive words like "chemical-free" "all-natural" and "earth-friendly" without offering a clear definition of what this means for the environment.
The Sin of Irrelevance: The practice of claiming certain environmental benefits that while true are unhelpful. For example, claiming a product is CFC free is irrelevant because CFCs have been banned for almost 30 years.
The Sin of Fibbing: Flat-out lieing to the public. While rare, some companies do simply claim their products are environmentally kind when in fact the company has done nothing to make it so. Fortuantely there are a variety of environmental certifications we can rely on like EcoLogo.
The Sin of Lesser of Two Evils: The practice of hyping up a certain "green" attribute without addressing that the product itself is inherantly bad for the environment.

While these 6 Sins describe here conditions of Greenwashing in the marketplace, we would also like to propose that they be similarly applied to the home building industry. So often we see claims of homes that are "zero emissions" "zero energy" and "sustainably built" but we see little or no verification that this is true. Except in the case of the most simple earthen construction, it is impossible to build a zero-emissions home - every product used in a home has to be cultivated and manufactured from somewhere. True, emissions can be offset if they are calculated correctly, but how many builders actually know what that calculation entails? And more importantly, how many builders actually do it?

Next time you are considering building or purchasing a new home, we encourage you to reflect on these 6 Sins and ask if your builder is engaged in any of them.

For more information on the 6 Sins, visit: www.terrachoice.com/Home/Greenwashing/The%20Six%20Sins

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SouthWest Energy Efficiency Project

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:31:00 -0600

SWEEP, the SouthWest Energy Efficiency Project, is a Boulder-based non-profit organization focused on promoting energy efficiency in a 6-state region including:

Colorado
Arizona
Nevada
New Mexico
Utah, and
Wyoming

SWEEP identifies these 6 states as high-growth regions where energy efficiency efforts have, on the whole, been lagging in comparison to the fast growth trend. SWEEP's efforts are aimed to benefit both the environment and the economy of these states and the greater US.

Visit SWEEP online at: www.swenergy.org

In their work, SWEEP published an impressive list of educational and effective documents about how to approach energy efficiency from across many sectors. Standing out among these resources (available online at: www.swenergy.org/pubs/index.html) is the online resource: Energy Efficiency Guide for Colorado Businesses (available online at: www.coloradoefficiencyguide.com)

This guide asserts that:

every 1 kWH of electricity saved in Colorado prevents 5 times more greenhouse gasses from being emitted at the site of production than does saving 1 kWh of natural gas

and

every 1 kWh of electricity saved prevents 1/2 gallon of water from being used for production

These facts are strong evidence that choosing efficiency first, then renewables can take us a long way towards encouraging a cleaner, more sustainable future.

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Boulder Homeowners Eligible for Solar Thermal Rebates

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:08:43 -0600

Savings up to $3000!

Boulder County residents who are installing solar hot water systems for their existing homes or incorporating the systems as they construct new homes can now participate in a pilot program that offers rebates of up to $3,000 for the renewable energy-powered systems. Boulder County, the Center for ReSource Conservation and the City of Boulder are piloting a new rebate program from the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) Residential Solar Program for Solar Domestic Hot Water systems.

The Center for ReSource Conservation is administering the program. Existing homes will be required to receive an energy audit from the Residential Energy Audit Program (REAP) to be eligible for the rebate. New construction in the jurisdiction of Boulder’s Green Points or the County’s BuildSmart program will meet efficiency performance requirements through those regulations.

Rebates will be offered in a lottery format. The first 15 applications drawn will receive a confirmation letter that guarantees them a rebate payment so long as their system is installed by the end of 2008. A signed contract with an installer must be submitted to the Center for ReSource Conservation within 60 days of winning the lottery, and installation must be completed by December 1.

To be included in the lottery, send your name, address, phone number and email address to reap@conservationcenter.org starting on Monday, July 14th. The title of the email must state Solar Thermal Rebate Lottery. The lottery will be Monday, July 28, at noon.

Click here to check out our website for a list of approved installers and additional rebate requirements.

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Green Building TV on the Net

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:49:53 -0700

Too busy to catch up on the latest Environmental Building News issue? Overwhelmed by the hundreds of thousands of internet sites that result from a Google search on "green building"? Well, I've got good news for you! Now you can stream the latest in green building developments directly into your laptop, cell phone or other internet-enabled device!

Over the last few years there has been an amazing growth in the number of green building organizations who have recognized the power of web-streamed videos as an educational tool. Many of these organizations have also recognized that their audience has increasingly shorter attention span by creating 3- to 5-minute clips that explore a wide variety of issues.

Some of the best green building video websites I've found so far are:

Building Green TV

Energy Policy TV

Best of Building Science

Green Building TV

Your Environmental Roadtrip (not as technical, but definitely fun!)

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Ensuring Good IAQ After Move-In

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:30:23 -0700

Time and time again clients come to green builders seeking to build a healthy home - a home free of chemicals, cancer-causing agents, and other harmful materials that are rampant in new homes across the US - yet they fail to realize that some of the most dangerous materials are introduced to the home long after construction is finished.

Building materials most commonly targeted during construction are: formaldehyde, commonly found in cabinets and plywood; cancer-causing Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) found in plastics and flooring; VOCs that are abundant in toxic paints and finishes; and adhesives like those used in most carpeting, that continue to offgas into the home for 30+ years. But while we as builders can choose materials devoid of these harms during construction, many consumers do not know that these materials are abundant in many of the common household items that fill their homes.

Products to watch out for are:

Shower curtains, window treatments, and other plastics that contain cancer-causing PVCs
Paints, solvents, and adhesives that contain harmful VOCs: learn more from Air Quality Sciences
Mattresses, furniture, and other goods containing PBDEs - a chemical cousin to carcinogenic PCBs that acts as a flame retardant

IKEA finished phasing out PBDEs in their build-it-yourself furniture in 2002!

Ready-to-build furniture kits that use particle board laced with formaldehyde, a carcinogenic preservative
Cosmetics that contain dangerous chemicals, learn more about the products you use at SkinDeep.com
Indoor air fresheners and fragrances that can contain a lethal cocktail of chemicals including: formaldehyde, phthalates, naphthalene, camphor, and dichlorobenzene (banned in California!)

Because the fragrance industry does not require manufacturers to disclose the ingredients of these products, consumers cannot even read a label to discern the harm contained within! Download this printable handout learn more about dangers of and alternatives to indoor air fresheners

To learn more about these issues, or find chemical-free products for your home, visit some of these trusted sites:

Nirvana Safe Haven Chemical-Free Products Shop

Skin Deep Cosmetics Database

Indoor Air Quality Association

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YERTpod 16: Energy Sipping Homes in Colorado featuring Ecofutures Building

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:23:58 -0700

Your Environmental Road Trip - fondly dubbed "YERT" is a year-long expedition currently being undertaken by three eco-enthusiasts seeking out the best, brightest, and most bizarre accomplishments of the eco movement in the US. This summer, Ben, Julie, and Mark, the "YERTians" made a pit-stop in our town to speak with the best of Boulder's green and high performance home builders and designers. In December, the video product of their visit went public! Click the video screen below to watch!

Many of Ecofutures' friends and business partners were interviewed to film this video. Follow the links below to learn more about each person and their green company:

Norbert Klebl and Ben Apple, Founder and Designers of GEOS Village
Pete Chandler, President, Living Space
Stu Galvis, Chief Visionary and Realtor for Boulder Green Properties speaks about Solar Village
Eric Peltier, Owner, Dovetail Lending
Rob Jenkins and Rick Felton of SIP/Con

Visit our links page to see other websites of fellow green builders, entrepreneurs, and designers in Colorado, along with some of our favorite educational resources!

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Green Drinks Warming Environmentalists WorldWide!

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:05:54 -0700

"In 1989, at a pub called the Slug and Lettuce in Northern London, Edwin Datschefski was sitting with several of his green design colleagues when he noticed an enviro-minded acquaintance at a nearby table. As it turned out, the friend was sitting with a few of his eco-conscious mates, so they pulled some tables together. And so a movement was born." -Joel Gershon, greendrinks.org

Fifteen years later, the concept now called "Green Drinks," has planted roots in cities worldwide. In each city an individual or group acts as coordinator, orchestrating the time and place for the monthly gathering. The meetings are generally held in a popular bar, coffee shop, or restaurant, and are open to anyone to join.

Discussion may be focused on a particular regional issue, or whatever comes to mind that day: from global warming to building insulation to plug-in hybrids. "But while different cities spawn different types of meetings, the common thread is fun."

To get involved in Boulder's Green Drinks chapter visit the GreenDrinks Headquarters website, check out the newest Squidoo Page for Green Drinks Boulder, or contact: bryan@ecogreenoffice.com to receive monthly mailings.

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Geos feature on the City of Arvada Channel

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:51:13 -0700

The City and Community of Arvada featured the GEOS net-zero energy residential development underway on their television broadcast, "The A-File". The 8-minute clip takes a look at some of the design objectives and tools planners are using to build the first zero-energy, low-impact community.

As of 12/2007, the link is no longer available for the GEOS feature.

To learn more about the GEOS concept, visit the website: http://www.discovergeos.com/geo_solar.php

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