FREE BOOK on GREEN BUILDING

Engineering A Sustainable World
Design Process and Engineering Innovations for the Center for Health and Healing at Oregon Health & Science University, River Campus
by Interface Engineering, Inc.

Busting a key economic myth, a leading Portland building engineering firm has published an illustrated guide to achieving a top-rated green building on a conventional budget. Interface Engineering Inc.'s 48-page book "Engineering a Sustainable World" shares the principles and secrets behind its engineering of the "Center for Health and Healing" at the new River Campus of Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). The book is available at no charge from THIS LINK.
Follow it to the bottom of the page and click on the BOOK REQUEST LINK

Houston EVENTS

+ Last chance to see:
White Webb: Eminent Domain +
10 November – 11 December 2005 @ the rice gallery
Excerpt from brochure:
In man’s desire to study nature, there often seems to be a need to
bring it indoors and own it. Materialism has always been a factor in
art and nature. By creating prints of the world’s specimens, early
artists made nature understandable for some and controllable for
others. The wealthy patrons who commissioned this art had cabinets
of curiosities filled with natural objects – objects they owned. Our
installation begs the question – between man and nature, who truly
has eminent domain?

Gallery Hours
Tuesday - Saturday 11 - 5
Thursday 11 - 7
Sunday 12 - 5
Closed Mondays and university holidays.
+++ U R B A N G R E E N +++
P R E S E N T S
The 2005 Winter Cocktail Soiree
Thursday, December 8, 2005, from 7 to 9pm


The Jones Reflection Pool in Hermann Park
Featuring music by the Gospel Melody Makers

UH Mock Up Progress

November 2005


Mock ups are thriving ...Monarchs arrived...we'll see what winter brings.




+ see a section of the mockup here.
+ view more pics of plants and mock up here

Fanny Mae offers energy efficient Mortgages

Increase Borrowers' Buying Power
Energy Efficient
The Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) option is offered through the Housing and Environment Initiative, which promotes the design, construction, and purchase of more energy- and resource-efficient homes or the retrofit of existing homes to be more efficient.
+Lender Benefits
Serve more borrowers
Combine with most Fannie Mae products (1-unit, owner-occupied)
Energy improvements can be financed
+Consumer Benefits
Energy savings can increase borrowers' qualifying ratios
For purchase or refinance
Up to 100% LTV
Energy efficiency may help the borrower achieve lower monthly operating expenses
EEM Highlights
• Recognize energy savings as qualifying income
• Allows energy improvements to be financed
• Increase home-buying power
• Lower energy costs and household expenses
• Serve more borrowers — all incomes eligible
• Flexible and affordable finance options
• Increase home value
• Help improve air quality and create a more comfortable living environment
To see the EEM at a glance sheet click here

For more information about Fannie Mae’s Energy Efficient Mortgage visit the Housing and Environment Initiative page on www.efanniemae.com

Greenroof for doggy

This “green” doghouse features a vegetated roof, a photovoltaic solar panel,daylighting, and recycledbuilding materials, and fetched $525 during the “Animal House 2005,” fundraiser.
This pooch palace, a.k.a the “Dog Box” by its creators at Frank Harmon Architect, Raleigh, demonstrates that the principles of green, or sustainable, architecture can be applied to any built structure—even if the inhabitant is of the four-footed variety.
Read more here>

More pics of the greenbriar roof

Zero Energy House

Glass & Bedolla House

2305 W. Adams Street
Chicago, Inner City
2004-05

Aim
....construct an urban single-family house that is ecological, socially regenerative and self-sustaining. We will only use energy generated on site. We would like this building to be an inspiration to other homeowners and developers in urban environments.

Zoka Zola's Zero Energy House, the 3 story, single-family home will be completely self-sufficient: consuming zero energy except for that which is generated on-site with solar panels and wind turbines.

For most homes, solar and wind energy would not be enough to power a single-family house. The Zero Energy house, however, has been specifically designed to maximize light, heat and energy intake in the way it is positioned in relation to the sun, wind and landscaped elements like trees.

RITA UPDATES

Rita is currently rated as a category 5 although when it hits land it is expected to go down to atleast a category 3...still bad and is currently heading towards Galveston. I hope people are careful driving out of town and not panicky drivers.

Wind in Houston, Friday night, are forcasted to be high of 70MPH with gusts of 80 to 100MPH...not good for flying objects and windows. Take precautions.

Strike Probabilities
The image shows the probability, in percent, that the center of the tropical cyclone will pass within 75 statute miles of a location during the 72 hours beginning at the time indicated in the caption. The caption also provides the name of the tropical cyclone and the advisory number from which the probabilities were generated. Contour levels shown are 10%, 20%, 50% and 100%.

++ Click here for NOA updates for Houston and Galveston

++ Also, for a visible loop (video) of Rita's path click here. click on the last box to get the forcast points.

++ another good site for maps and info

ENERGY CRUNCH

It's coming, the experts say, and much sooner than you think.
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle, Sept. 19, 2005, 9:03PM

"It's already too late to avoid an energy crunch, Simmons, West and other experts say, but the need for action is more urgent than ever. U.S. energy policy must include higher fuel efficiency requirements, more use of mass transit and other conservation measures. The nation also needs a massive R&D program to develop vehicles that run on fuels other than petroleum."

Gatekeeper Residence at Ronchamp

The gatekeeper's lodge at Ronchamp (Corbusier 1950-1954) has a green roof too!

Le Corbusier, born as Charles Edouard Jeanneret in 1887, is best known for his pure works of modern architecture such as the 1929 'machine for living', Villa Savoye. In contrast, his 1955 design for a small chapel near Ronchamp, France, is a sculptural expression of mass and light. Masterfully situated upon a small hill, the chapel with its towers and sail-like roof, presents a spiritual pilgrimage for the thousands of people who visit each year. Turns 50 this year!

Houston "goes green"

Sustainable development: Houston 'goes green'
Houston Business Journal, by Robin Martin
September 16, 2005

* $81.8 million of energy savings in 1997 dollars ($95.4 million in annual electricity savings less a natural gas deficit or winter heating penalty of 14 percent).
* 734 megawatts of peak power avoided (62 percent from residential, 53 percent from office and 70 percent from retail).
* 170,000 tons of annual carbon emission reductions.

These figures from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Houston heat-reduction pilot project indicate what can be achieved by "going green."
READ MORE

Rooftop Garden Sponsored by the Greenbriar Apartments. Houston, TX

777 Greenbriar
Houston, TX
by Rockwell Management, Intexure Architects and Site Design Landscape
Architects

"The city, eager to see this sort of development in Houston, was very responsive through the code analysis process and in the end a solution was achieved that both served the project needs and meet all the regulatory requirements."

Russel Hruska of Intexture Architects hopes that his project will become a catalyst for similar projects.

Read more

"Isolated green roofs are expensive insulation," Ms. Hoffman (Director of Earth Pledge) said. "But when you have a whole community of green roofs, it changes the microclimate of the area and reduces demand for energy. Think about one sidewalk in front of a building. That doesn't make a transportation path. But if everyone has one in front of their property, you have a way to walk around the city. Only a citywide effort can achieve that."

Neutra's 1950 Helburn House in Bozeman Montana

Photo Courtesy of John Brittingham at U of Montana.
"Sunday may have been a day of rest for some Bozeman residents in the 1950s, but not necessarily for Nicholas Helburn. That was the day he mowed his roof."

About the Green Team

Green Team Houston is a research and design group focusing on projects benefiting the Texas Gulf Coast.

The team's current volunteer project is a vegetated "Green Roof" for the University of Houston college of Architecture's Keeland Design Exploration Center.

As the FIRST SLOPED vegetated roof in Houston, the Keeland green roof project is visibly accessible to all and will showcase the opportunities that creative sustainable design holds for Houston and its surrounding communities.

We look forward to providing information on Houston/ Architecture / Sustainable design and of course green roofs.