Cheaper than a Margarita, Just as Refreshing

CET Solar usually has some of the most reasonably-priced DIY energy-efficient products on the web. And shipping's FREE (i.e., already included int the price, but hey.). Go all out and spend $13.50 on the 1.5 gal/min. aerator above and you can cut your kitchen and bathroom sink's water use by 20+% in under thirty minutes.

We can also personally recommend their 2.0 gal/min. Spoiler-P shower head ($13.55). It's possibly only a 20% water use reduction from the common 2.5 gal/min, but prices for the best-looking-and-acting 1.6 gal/min (or less!) products are many multiples of $13. We'll keep looking.

L.A.'s Tipping Point?

In our three minutes of free time we occasionally look into metropolitan pipelines in an effort to assess what percentage of projects in any given city are planning on going green. L.A. has more than 9,000 units in its residential for-sale 2007-2010 pipeline, and seventy five(!) projects (in greater L.A., which might include San Diego soon,) are slated for green. That's a tipping point by our standards. And, like all good tipping points, it's probably 70% marketing-driven, 30% policy-driven.

The brand builders: "(Biscuit Company Lofts' LEED status) has marketing cachet more than anything else." The political: "A Council motion introduced in January would raise those standards, requiring that all city construction meet LEED Silver levels." Read more...

Green Light for Green Condos

North Carolina gets its first green towers, and prices are starting to sound exactly like those at L.A.'s first green towers: "The market-rate condominiums at Greenbridge would cost $350,000 to $1 million." Maybe there is a 20% green premium after all.

Portland, Oregon MLS listing green homes

"The Portland area's most comprehensive real estate database went live with a feature Tuesday designed to help Realtors identify and sell homes with environmentally friendly features... " Read more...

Solar Umbrella House

As promised, the favorite residential selection from '06's AIA awards: the Solar Umbrella House. Inspired by Paul Rudolph's 2,000SF Umbrella House of 1953, the Solar Umbrella House is a) in Venice, CA, b) slightly smaller (at 1,700SF) and c) doesn't retain the 9 interior levels (9 levels!) and entirely glass-backed concept of Rudolph's work.

It is, however, clearly driven by the original overhanging roof on Rudolph's home (removed by its first owners); Pugh + Scarpa architects transformed the design element into overhanging solar shades instead, which provide 100% of the home's energy. Why did everything turn out so perfectly? Lawrence Scarpa lives here. Read more...

Photo copyright Marvin Rand

The Solaire

We were at a green seminar last week, and someone asked "What one project should I know about if I'm going to talk about green successes?" The speaker naturally said The Solaire, Tribeca's now-famous green apartment building that rumor has it fully-leased in under five seconds. So, old news perhaps, but it reminded us every green residential blog should probably include the project somewhere.

The site's green feature shortlist isn't terribly in-depth but here's the quick skinny:

- nation's first green residential tower: 27 stories, 293 units, 580+ residents

- LEED Gold certification

- awarded Top-10 Green Projects by the AIA in 2004

- uses 50% less potable water, 35% less energy, and black water treatment on-site

Tomorrow, a selection from the AIA's most recent awards.