Lots and Lots of Water

Monte Sereno, CA resident Jerry Block has upped the ante on residential rainwater collection. The 20k gallon capacity of the tanks, a figure dervied from the area's annual rainfall, are projected to collect enough water to irrigate his acre of crops and, in turn, feed 2 people for the year. More photos and article here.

via The Los Angeles Times

The Story of Particleboard

Slate recently published a good beginner's-guide to buying wood products. From the standpoint of a sustainably-minded kitchen designer, durability is at the top of list. Unfortunately, with durability often comes a higher price, which for many people is out of reach. The compromise, we find, is to find lower-cost and less durable materials that are manufactured more efficiently, from recycled fibers, and without the formaldehyde. Read the full article here.

Fred Pearce at the Guardian

I recently came across Fred Pearce's recurring article for The Guardian. Fairly depressing, but enlightening nonetheless. Find Pearce's articles here.

For the Love of the Planet...And Scotch

Scottish utilities provider, ScottishPower, announced this week plans to construct an tidal energy system projected to supply the island of Islay, known for its historic Scotch distilleries, with 100% of their power. The project foreshadows the Scottish government's goal of 2GW of tidal-generated electricity throughout Scotland by 2020. While there's no consensus among the island's 3000 inhabitants (one objection being the danger to fishing nets), substantial government subsidies and far-sighted investment groups appear to have won out. Furthermore, the "out-of-sight" nature of project seems to have quelled the NIMBY populace. See the full article here.
via The Guardian

Introducing: LEED for Homeowners

The USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) recently introduced its "LEED for Home Affiliate Program," and created a much more layman-friendly set of guidelines in the process. In a collaboration with ASID, the USGBC developed a program that is meant to cater to both the "renovation professional or a savvy do-it-yourselfer." While we admittedly have yet to dive too deeply into the material, those of you familiar with the New Construction LEED program might find the REGREEN Guide, that is; renovating single family dwellings, a bit tangential to the pretext of efficient urban density. In any case, the program may help to bridge the gap between the abstraction of "Going Green!" and the hard numbers used to actually make the project happen.

Take a Look.

Modern Desolation

I am admittedly late in sharing this slideshow of Roger Black's Cinco Camp in West Texas. On a personal note, this is just about my ideal set-up. Five stilted shipping containers, each with a specific purpose (kitchen, utility room, etc.) and completely impervious to the elements when sealed-up in his absence. Purportedly built for around $200k, the simplicity of its design and its choice of materials seems to have done its job.

Via New York Times