*new* Sunset Garden Book
For many of us the Sunset Western Garden Book (which has been around for 80 years) is our landscape bible. It has become the essential guide to the region’s ornamental and edible gardens. And now in its just released ninth edition, The NEW Sunset Western Garden Book has awesome new features and more than 1000 [...]
water, water everywhere…
written by Shannon Bloemker (home owner, client, co-designer of reLEED house)
Living in California gives you a heightened appreciation for water resources. It only rains for about 4 months of the year, and some years it hardly rains at all. So when it came to planning for our remodel, I knew that water sources and uses [...]
DIY garden apartment
Below is a fantastic TED talk by Britta Riley about her quest for creating an edible garden in her small New York apartment. Her project turned into much more than that. It became an open-source movement of innovation and a framework for global collaboration and shared idea ownership. I love every single thing about this.
www.rndiy.org
www.ourwindowfarms.org
green materials + systems
With all projects we work on, we use sustainable principles when designing, including:
thoughtful design (designing to use less)
material efficiency (materials that are renewable and recyclable)
energy conservation (with the goal of achieving net-zero)
water efficiency (reducing water consumption and recycling water for irrigation)
healthy spaces (materials that are low and no-VOCs and incorporating air filtration systems).
systems built (utilizing [...]
the beauty of the car wash
When considering what is the most eco-friendly way to wash your car – at the car wash or in your driveway – most people don’t realize that washing a car in ones driveway can be one of the most environmentally unfriendly things we can do. Unlike household waste water that enters sewers or septic systems [...]
sky planting
Defy gravity and reduce watering by 80% through the use of these unique upside-down planters by Boskke. These plants in the Smart Home: Green + Wired at the Museum of Science and Industry show that you can save space (maximize your floorspace), conserve water (potted plants commonly lose water through evaporation and drainage which these [...]
celebrate the water
One of my favorite parts of working with people on their homes is seeing their innovative ideas come to life. This rainchain on a home we designed (and built with modular construction) is a perfect example. These homeowners have a lovely sensibility combining beautiful simplicity with a zen-like connection to the landscape, intertwining architecture and [...]
youtube shows us how to live green
In anticipation of Earth Day on April 22, YouTube has teamed up with Sun Chips to launch an entire channel devoted to all things green. The new Live Green YouTube channel is a one-stop-shop for videos devoted to helping you live a more eco-friendly life. In addition to videos from Live Green partners like Discovery [...]
