Thoughts on Green Building & Beauty

Fresh from the Green By Design seminar hosted by Austin Energy, my mind is percolating on the concepts presented.

One that keeps coming up again and again was- Beauty. Beauty in our living space, beauty in our surroundings, beauty to bring about a calm relaxed state of mind. Beauty that makes us sigh.... ahhhhh. This is the third time Beauty as an inherent building concept has come up for me since September!

I'm a really practical person, I like to be efficient, get things done, be productive. That's just sort of been ingrained in me. Its part of who I am. This year all of my exposure to green design, green building and natural building have all centered upon creating a joyful experience, and the creation of something of beauty. This strikes me as vain in some ways- what? beauty? what about saving the planet? But hidden deep in beauty, on some subconscious level, we connect, our minds open and embrace ideas, thoughts, concepts.

This beauty aspect slows me down. It requires contemplation and thoughtful intention. It is probably EXACTLY what I need in my life. I trimmed back my basil that is trying to go to flower and I put vases of the fragrant flowers around my home. I can look at them and sigh.... ahhhh. Just what I needed. Something beautiful to rest my eyes on.

Beauty is also about Nature. Flowers are incredibly beautiful, trees, rivers, streams. The natural systems which have developed since the world was created. Natural systems that ease our minds. Why does a river make us feel relaxed, or the woods? Why does being in nature make us feel good? That beautiful system, those beautiful processes, those life cycles presenting their dance for us. Simply Beautiful.

This is your Green Realtor Signing Off-
Stay Tuned and Stay Green-
Patty Sylvana

Best Green $35 You Can Spend

The Best Green $35 I have ever spent is at the City of Austin's Green By Design Program. This 1 day seminar is a part of the City's Green Building Progream and is chock full of amazing ideas for making your home more green.

It covers how to start right when you are building a home, which directions the breezes come in for ideal ventilation (blows in from the SE here in Austin most of the year), why straw bale construction might not be the best for an Austin climate, and how to work with your own home to make it a little greener.

I'll be going for the 2nd time! Check it out at: Green By Design

Here's your Green Realtor Signing Off:
Take care and stay Green-
Patty Sylvana
Realtor by Trade, Green at Heart

Compact Florescent Bulbs -Don't throw them out!

Thanks to Jack Miller for the info on Compact Florescent bulbs. I just found out that they contain traces of mercury. As a precaution they should not be thrown into the garbage. Instead, when they finally wear out after 50 or whatever years, head to that great big Swedish store to the North (Ikea). Ikea is offering CF bulb disposal.

This is the second time I've posted about Ikea recently... hmmmm I wonder what's going on!

Here's your green realtor signing off-
Keep thinking green, and keep thinking me when you want to buy or sell!

Patty Sylvana
Green Realtor
Realtor by Trade, Green at Heart

Green Home Consultations

Thanks to the good folks over at Green Zone Home, I found out my house isn't quite as pathetic as I feared! I also learned that replacing my windows is probably not going to save me any money. Very interesting stuff! These guys do free energy audits from the City of Austin and also offer a more comprehensive report for $99. (This is the one I got). I especially like these guys because they are not a roofer/ hvac / window / insulation company which will, most likely, focus on how important it would be to get a new roof/ ac/window/insulation.

Surprisingly easy and inexpensive techniques to lower our energy bills! Also some troubleshooting on the one room upstairs that is always hotter than the rest of the house.

So, thanks to Greg over at Green Zone Home for taking the time to meet with us! Now I've got some projects to get working on.

You can give them a ring at: 512-467-0005.

Ikea Homes in a Box

Yes- its true! Ikea is not selling prepackaged 'flat-pack' homes in the UK. These cost effective lego-like homes might be a good solution for an easy low-cost diy home.
check out the following article courtesy of treehugger.com

KEA is taking flatpack construction to a new high – the BoKlok is a flatpack house offering hope to hundreds of thousands of people currently unable to buy a house in the UK. These timber frame, 1 or 2 bedroom homes will be available.. ..for lower income families. Affordable housing is a testing issue for the government as high house prices over a decade forced key workers and local people to the urban margins. Well-tested in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden, where 2,000 BoKloks occupy 45 sites, a new Anglo-Swedish venture aims to offer the flatpack housing at 13 IKEA outlets. Most BoKloks will be offered through the Hyde Group housing association, Paramount Homes and Skanska, IKEA’s partner in Scandinavia. Brits have shown considerable enthusiasm for minimalist Swedish design, with a stampede of 6,000 customers recently at a north London IKEA store. Whether the BoKlok (translating as Live Smart) aesthetic, a hybrid of country-and-western meets summer holiday home, will meet the romantic and practical aspirations of the British public, let alone the planners, remains to be seen. A glance to the post-World War II ‘Cornish Unit’ prefab concrete homes, and others of the same ilk, designed over fifty years ago to meet similar urgent housing needs, still sit awkwardly in the landscape. Whatever happened to ‘local is beautiful’? ::Hyde Housing and ::Ikea Boklok [by © Alastair Fuad-Luke, 2005.]