the editors's blog

Adobe-Sante Fe, New MexicoAdmittedly, I've always thought the Adobe floor was for houses that looked like this, somewhere in New Mexico. But come to find out, there are many reasons to choose an Adobe floor for your home. Adobe floors or Earthen floors as they are called, have a unique look, and feel. What's it made of? It's earth, 'compacted with straw and stabilized with various oils.

If you're wondering how it feels, the surface is actually spongy, making it soft and very comfortable to walk on. Waste from building an Earthen floor can be reincorporated into the landscape, making it 90% pollution free. Unlike vinyl, the Earthen floor is repairable, too. Although it may be difficult to find a contractor to pour you an Earthen floor, they are manageably done yourself.

Just looking at a photo of an Earthen floor it might look dull in appearance, but there is actually a polish on it that gives it a great finished look. This look is achieved with linseed oil and then a beeswax polish, some eco-favorites.

They are also, durable, and non-toxic, and potentially lower heat costs, as the floor functions to retain heat from the sun. But if that's not warm enough, you can install underfloor heating! These features certainly make the Adobe floor seem less pre-historic and very up to date.

Local governments now have a new, standardized framework to plan, track and document their environmental and sustainability work. The Star Community Index, a collaboration between the U.S. Green Building Council, the Center for American Progress and the ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability, builds upon the highly successful methodology established by LEED.

The Index aims to deliver a standardized formula for gauging a community's sustainability. Like LEED, it will include tiered levels with classification based on actions achieved consistent with a given goal.

The Star Index aims to do the following things: 1) drive integrity and rigor in actions cities are doing to reduce climate impacts 2) increase accountability in data and actions 3) facilitate prioritized and informed decision making 4) create a roadmap for cities to track and achieve sustainability goals 5) offer globally recognized green standards for cities 6) enable peer-to-peer learning among communities and citizen engagement 7) engage the public in supporting and advancing their city as a Star community.

Gauging a community's sustainability is a laudable and important goal. Will Star become as popular as LEED as become? Only time will tell.

compost crock, lakeland.co.ukCollecting scraps from the kitchen makes for a nutrient rich addition to the backyard compost bin. You can collect scraps in the kitchen and put them in old yogurt containers under the sink, or you can purchase an attractive composting crock that sits right on the countertop. Compost crocks, as they are called, fit in with the kitchen decor.

They are odorless, attractive, and provide more room than an old yogurt container for storing scraps. The crocks come with either a carbon filter or charcoal in the lid to eliminate odors. Gardeners.com has crocks in cobalt blue and white. They also have ceramic stoneware compost crocks that look like cookie jars! If stoneware is not for you, there are copper pails and stainless steel available, designed for countertop composting. Vat19.com sells their compost pail for 35.95.

If you visit Gardeners.com, check out the liners available in biodegradable cornstarch plastic. Liners make it easy to lift your composting scraps right out of the container without making a mess. Remember, never put cooked food, fish, dairy, meat, or bones into your compost bin.

As we know, carpet, vinyl, ceramic, insulation all common building materials that give off harmful chemicals causing indoor air pollution. While we're in the process of getting rid of these things and replacing them with their eco-friendly counterparts, the indoor house plant has been tested and found to purify indoor air pollution at the rate of 15 plants per 1800 square feet. A study done by NASA and the ALCA, tested twelve types of indoor plants against trichloroethylene, (adhesives, paints, inks) benzene, (detergents, inks, plastic) and formaldehyde, ( foam insulation, pressed wood, grocery bags, waxed paper, facial tissue, paper towels).

The results were very specific from plant to chemical. www.humeseeds.com

THE RESULTS, FIVE TOP (in order) EFFECTIVE IN REMOVING TRICHLOROETHYLENE CONCENTRATIONS FROM THE AIR Gerbera daisy, Dracaena Marginata, Peace Lily Dracaeena 'JANET CRAIG' Bamboo Palm REMOVAL OF BENZENE CONCENTRATIONS: Gerbera Daisy Pot Mum Peace Lily Bamboo Palm Dracaena Warneckei English Ivy Mother-in-law's tongue REMOVAL OF FORMALDEHYDE Bamboo Palm Dracaena 'Janet Craig' Mother-In-Law's Tongue Dracaena Marginata, Peace Lily Green Spider Plant Golden Pathos

Other studies show great results from indoor plants citing their efficiency for increasing humidity levels and decreasing dust. This alone reduced fatigue and sore throats in people by 30 percent. For more purifying plant choices, check out 'How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 House Plants that Purify Your Home by B.C. Wolverton, at Amazon.com.

Summer in the city means a rise in pollution from the 'urban heat island'. Cities remain warmer than suburbs from the lack of evaporation and vegetation but implementing landscaping on roof tops is providing relief. By building green roofs, landscaping the roof tops with sedum and other vegetation, negative environmental impacts from the urban heat island are greatly reduced-- see more here

Energy savings on the operation of power generating plants show a reduction of carbon dioxide. More days at the beach also result from the reduction in storm water runoff. Less pollution, less erosion and reduction of green house gasses, all from combined efforts of landscaped rooftops. Green roofs also provide opportunities for local food production. These landscaped roof tops are beautiful and practical, lasting up to twice as long as regular roofs. Urban ecology has far ranging consequences and green roofs are providing a new eco-friendly direction.

If you are making eco-friendly changes in your home, you are probably noticing the repetition of natural colors and their calming effect. But what if you want to jazz it up? Decorating with tile is one way to add color, and to personalize space. Now there are many eco-friendly choices in vibrant colored tiles. The floor, the ceiling, the wall, even outdoor pathways, can all be decorated with eco-friendly tile. My favorite is the tumbler pathway see here.

The recycled glass is laid in pathways where you would commonly see rock, bark mulch, brick, etc. The effect of the colored glass is a look of motion, adding the illusion of movement to an area. Tumbled glass is softened and safe for children and pets. It is available in 3/8'', 1/4" up to the size of a half dollar. Sample packages are sold in 5 lb bags. Bedrock Industries doesn't use pigment in addition to its use of 100% recycled glass. Indoor flooring gets vibrant with crushed glass mosaic tiles, too. Recycled glass tiles and other eco-friendly flooring is available on www.ecofriendlyflooring.com.

The designs you commonly see in kitchens, bathrooms, and around fireplaces are mapped out for you in a concept design section of their web-site, www.sandhillind.com. Sandhill, uses a low energy method to produce it's 100% recycled glass tiles. They have field tile priced per square foot, Mosaics and specialty pieces. The great colors and textures available in eco-friendly tile are an inspiration for decorating projects. Adding colored tiles to lighting fixtures, frames, borders, pots and coffee tables can really make it pretty, and personalize your space.

'Dayism' is a term used in building to describe putting daylight to work. People are choosing natural light because it is aesthetic pleasing, can cut heating costs and have impressive health benefits. Health benefits were proven from the natural light through the retina in the eye effecting the pineal gland, the hormone gland that effects mood, making us happier. In schools where natural light sources were implemented, improvements in student attendance, attention span, and even growth from the additional vitamin D from sunlight, were observed. Heat gain and loss were an issue with the old fashioned skylights.

Today glass is specifically designed with small dots placed on the glass, called fritting. Fritting keeps the sunlight from heating up an area too intensely, allowing heat to escape in colder months, and fading furniture. The glass is part of one of America's largest LEED projects, a massive skylight at the terminal of the Indianapolis Airport.

For your home, there are Sun Tunnels, and Sun-Domes which are tubular skylights that provide maximum effectiveness for balance against heat loss or gain. Both sun-dome and Sun Tunnel offer instructions on how to install tubular skylights yourself. They install in a day, and cost from 150-600 dollars depending on size.

On July 17, 2008, California became the first state in the nation to incorporate green building standards into its building codes. The codes, developed by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), will be phased in over the next three years.

The standards address the following key issues:

• Energy Efficiency (to be phased in beginning July 2009): The HCD standards require compliance with the California Energy Commission’s Residential Energy Efficiency Standards, which will increase the stringency of existing statewide energy standards by 20 percent. The new standards will make new California homes approximately 50 percent more energy-efficient than homes built to national energy standards.

• Air Quality, Moisture Control & Resource Conservation (to be phased in beginning January 2011): There are 16 features in this category that will become mandatory at the same time as the new 2010 edition of the California Building Code takes effect. Among these features are requirements for low- or no-VOC (volatile organic compound) adhesives, paints and coatings; high-efficiency air conditioning filters to better filter out dust and particulates; and always-on exhaust fans to ensure better fresh air circulation in the home.

• Water Conservation (to be phased in beginning July 2011): The HCD standards require a 20 percent reduction in overall water use within all new homes . While this new water-conserving building code will allow a variety of compliance options, it is anticipated that compliance with this requirement will commonly be met via installation of new super-low flow toilets and showerheads.

Los Angeles and San Francisco have adopted even stricter rules, and the state regulations won't trump these higher standards (this had been a major sticking point in the legislation).

We applaud California for passing this law and hope that other states will follow California's lead.

I wanted to spare you all from having to look at some ugly termites, however, I'm not sure the Aardwolf, (shown), who eats termites, is much cuter. The AardwolfThe best way to keep from seeing a termite is prevention, for instance, the use of physical barriers, such as metal and sand. Also, how you plant your shrubs and other landscaping in proximity to your home.

If termite troubles happen to your home, it's good to know there are some green choices to get rid of them.

Nematodes which are microscopic worms are host specific, and can be used to kill termites in the soil. This rivals the injecting of chemicals into the soil under the house, which can get into water tables. Other environmentally friendly choices include Boric Acid, and Freezing. The most popular environmentally safe choices are orange oil and heat. For more on orange oil visit, www.marintermite.com.

So why use Tenting/fumigation? Whether or not green alternatives when used exclusively actually remedy termite trouble to completion is still being challenged. This would imply further cost and inconvenience, making Tenting/fumigation more popular with building owners looking for a one-shot deal.

Cooling a house in hot weather can be achieved by having vents high on the warm side (south side) and low on the cool side (north side). Vents are used in the Frank Lloyd Wright house Falling WaterFalling Water as shown. A 'free' breeze can be obtained. The warm air is pushed up by the cooler air and goes out through the vents high on the south side. As the air gets warmer it also expands as well as rises, so the vents that are high on the south side should also be larger than those that are low on the cool side.

Geothermal cooling is another cheap way to cool a house. "I can cool your home for 40 a month" according to www.dougrye.com. Geothermal cooling involves pipe buried in the ground . The pipe, filled with antifreeze and water travels in a loop, to bring the heat from the house into the earth. The simplicity of the systems make for low maintenance and last about 50 years.

This inexpensive strategy for cooling is also the popular choice being considered for cooling the London underground railway system. But don't let the fun stop there! Marina Develpments, Ltd has a unique method for low energy cooling. It is their design for 'seawater-chilled ceilings'. The method is used to cool guest rooms in a Southampton, England luxury hotel. Check it out at, www.archrecord.construction.com.