Cascade Built Blog
June 3, 2010
California moves toward plastic bag ban
Posted by sritchie, 8:04 am
Who knew bags grew on trees?
Seems like a good idea.
SAN FRANCISCO — Paper or plastic? Neither.
The bagging options for store clerks could be severely limited after Wednesday’s vote in the California State Assembly to not only ban plastic bags from pharmacies, groceries, convenience stores and liquor stores, but also to make retailers charge at least a nickel for paper bags — which must include recyclable content.
The goal is to prompt 21st-century shoppers in California to do what 20th-century shoppers in Moscow did routinely — keep an avoska, or reusable sack, at the ready. China and Bangladesh already have plastic bag bans in place, and the United Nations has called for the bans to go global.
In the United States, California has gone further toward an overall ban than any other state, although North Carolina has banned plastic bags on the islands of its Outer Banks. However, approval in California’s Senate is far from certain.
But with new support from the state’s grocery store lobby — which wants a uniform statewide policy — and no active opposition from conservative power centers like the Chamber of Commerce, no one is willing to count out Assemblywoman Julia Brownley’s assault on the plastic bags she calls “urban tumbleweed.”
“They’re not only on beaches,” said Ms. Brownley, a Democrat from Santa Monica who sponsored the measure, which squeaked through the Assembly with just the 41 votes needed. “You look in trees and there they are.
April 6, 2010
Whiff of good news for Seattle Housing Market
Posted by sritchie, 5:27 pm
Just saw in Money Magazine, Seattle is one of only 3 US cities to have projected market value gains over the next 1 year. Only 0.6 percent, but that sure beats another 20% down!
March 31, 2010
All-Electric production car enters US market
Posted by sritchie, 7:26 pm
The Nissan Leaf all-electric passenger car is released this year, and pricing was just announced at $25K in the US market. It has a 100 mile range , which is sufficient for most driving situations like going to work, running errands, etc. Infinite MPG, and low operational costs, no more going to the gas station.
Backyard Box backyard cottages
March 29, 2010
Heat Pump retrofit triples the energy efficiency of your water heater
Posted by sritchie, 4:20 pm
Air Tap is a hot water heater retrofit heat pump. It cuts your hot water heating energy consumption by 70%, and only costs $700, so the typical family of 4 will recoup costs in less than 2 years.
Heat pumps use the latent energy from the air to heat the water, and are inherently 2-5 times more efficient than other methods of heating. It works well in the Seattle climate since our temperatures are pretty mild year round.
Pretty cool.
March 17, 2010
Energy Monitoring 2.0
Posted by sritchie, 5:03 pm
Finally an energy monitor that captures circuit level data. Most of the products on the market today are measuring total house consumption and providing it in a web-dashboard or similar. PowerHouse now offers the eMonitor which measures electric consumption at each circuit so you can set parameters to notify you when something’s not performing as expected, and it can even remotely control thermostats, and has an iPhone interface.
We’ll be offering this as an accessory to the pre-designed green Backyard Cottages from Backyard Box, as well as for custom home projects at Cascade Built. It’s around $1,000, which is more than the $200 ones but has so much more functionality for those with the need for information.
March 3, 2010
Green Sustainable Countertops
Posted by sritchie, 10:12 pm
Saw a nice listing of 10 green counter top products to choose from. Right away I found out that one is only available in California – BottleStone (wish I could get it in Seattle for my Backyard Cottage project), and some others are not really for wet kitchen use like DuraPalm, but the nice thing in here is the price per foot is listed to give you an idea about their relative costs.
Check it out on Jetson Green
February 27, 2010
Backyard Box launches Backyard Cottage product line
Posted by sritchie, 5:32 am
Responding to Seattle’s new ordinance legalizing Backyard Cottages, Backyard Box has designed a line of Backyard cottages for Seattle area residents. Seattle homeowners can now build a separate dwelling unit in a side or rear yard to use as a guest house, rental property, home office, or extended family and multi-generational living.
And did I mention that these are built to the highest energy efficiency standards – they use about 85% less energy to heat and cool versus “standard” code construction.
February 14, 2010
FTC tackles Green washing
Posted by sritchie, 1:04 am
The FTC is taking a look at updating its guidelines around false or misleading claims in the green or sustainable arena. Kmart was busted for calling one of its products Biodegradable, when it in fact was not. Other misleading claims like “50% more recycled content!” that really mean an increase from 2% to 3% are also being reviewed.
It would be interesting if we could get a standardized nutritional facts type of labeling so consumers could compare products just like we do in the grocery store, at a glance: “hey, this one’s the same but has twice the sugar and half the protein” could also be: “They’re the same price but this one has 80% post-consumer content and the other has none.”
Read the article:
http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-vine/the-coming-crackdown-greenwashing
January 15, 2010
Healing or Stealing?
Posted by admin, 9:23 pm
Just came across this recently: Paul Hawken’s commencement address to University of Portland’s 2009 graduates. Sure it’s a tad off topic, but it’s inspirational and far reaching.
As a builder/developer, there’s a market reality out there, and there’s constant pressure (called market forces) to revert to the mean, and do exactly what everyone else is doing, which results in more of the same old energy wasting homes being built. Hey, if it’s behind the walls and under the slab no one will ever see it, so why work any harder to make it airtight, why insulate better than code, why strive to build something more than the market is currently demanding? And then your competition who builds code minimum Legal Boxes claims to be “leading the industry in sustainable building,” because they used a can of low VOC paint and bamboo flooring. But I digress.
Paul Hawken captures the essence of why we have to do what we have to do:
Healing or Stealing?
The unforgettable Commencement Address 2009.
By Paul Hawken
When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a simple short talk that was “direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate, lean, shivering, startling, and graceful.” No pressure there.
Let’s begin with the startling part. Class of 2009: you are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation… but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that statement. Basically, civilization needs a new operating system, you are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.
This planet came with a set of instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don’t poison the water, soil, or air, don’t let the earth get overcrowded, and don’t touch the thermostat have been broken. Buckminster Fuller said that spaceship earth was so ingeniously designed that no one has a clue that we are on one, flying through the universe at a million miles per hour, with no need for seatbelts, lots of room in coach, and really good food—but all that is changing….
read the rest
http://www.up.edu/commencement/default.aspx?cid=9456
November 3, 2009
City Council approves Backyard Cottages
Posted by admin, 5:20 pm
The Seattle city council approves Backyard Cottages citywide: (contact Backyard Box to build one for you)
SEATTLE – The Council today adopted legislation to allow the construction of backyard cottages on eligible lots in single-family zones throughout the city. Backyard cottages also referred to as “detached accessory dwelling units,” have been permitted in Southeast Seattle since 2006, and approximately 20 have been constructed since that time.
“This is a smart and modest step to create affordable housing options, help someone pay their mortgage, get older on their property, or to make a room for a son or daughter moving back home,” said Councilmember Sally J. Clark.
After more than a year’s work involving public testimony, surveys, meetings in the community, briefings, and tours, the Council voted to carry over the development standards from Southeast Seattle to the rest of the city. Backyard cottages will be limited to 800 square feet, including garage and storage space. The legislation also prohibits the construction of backyard cottages on lots less than 4,000 square feet or located in a Shoreline District.
The property owner must live in either the principle structure or the backyard cottage for at least six months out of the year. Other requirements include a side yard setback of at least five feet and limiting the total lot coverage of the principle residence, backyard cottage and any other accessory structures to 35 percent.
The legislation also states that if a homeowner currently has an attached unit, such as a basement or attic apartment, those homes would not be eligible to build a backyard cottage.
Amendments to the legislation include reducing the maximum permitted height to 22 feet unless the lot is at least 50 feet wide or served by a rear alley. It also eliminates the earlier proposed cap of 50 on the amount of cottage permits allowed per year.
“We learned a lot looking at the cottages in Southeast and the older ones in the North neighborhoods,” Clark said. “This will be a tool that gives people a new housing option while preserving single-family density and building rules.”
The full bill with amendments, C.B. 116528 is available on line from the City Clerk website.
