You don’t need a LEED certificate to build green. And, you can go green without sacrificing good taste. I have a friend who built the ADU (additional dwelling unit) on his property and implemented several green solutions while sticking to a rather pleasing aesthetic. Ok, I’ll admit, he is a highly experienced woodworker and carpenter so this can’t be done just by anyone. But I did want to share his work with you so you can get a feel of how much you can do in such a small space.

(I’m also doing a shameless plug for him because I adore his work)

As you can see, Jeff installed some solar panels on his roof. Interestingly enough, Santa Cruz doesn’t have any sort of credits (I know! Santa Cruz of all places!) for solar, but Jeff installed them anyway because he believes in the contributing to the grid. Jeff also devised a clever way of adding a water feature to his front garden without wasting–he designed this very cool system to reroute rainwater from the roof to the street. I’m a fan of water builds so this speaks to me.

Other green projects in the ADU:

• Trex for his decking
• skylights wherever he could to cut down on lighting
• LED lights
• energy-efficient appliances
• non-VOC paints

If you want to see it for yourself, Jeff is having an open studios this weekend in Santa Cruz at his ADU. You can also see his woodworking pieces. I’ll be there on Saturday on my way to Big Sur.

Santa Cruz Open Studios
October 13 & 14
11am-6pm
210 Glover St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 [google map]

DIY, Do it yourself, green, Sustainability, Uncategorized

Ok, I can’t take credit for finding this one… but my fiance was perusing Inhabitat the other night and pointed out the post on Blackle. Unfortunately, the site is down, but there are other black background sites using Google’s search portal. So far, my favorite is Ninja.

The premise is that white backgrounds consume a lot more energy than black backgrounds. There have been numerous comments from naysayers that claim LCD monitors actually have the opposite effect–black backgrounds use more energy in this case. The naysayers also quote the stat  that only 25% of the world’s computer users are still using CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor. I’m sorry, but 25% is still a pretty large number of folks. I only recently switched from my vintage 15″ Sony Trinitron monitor to a brand-spanking new MacBook Pro.

Anyway, my point is, if you’re using an old CRT monitor, make the switch. You’ll still get the same Google results. Maybe you’ll even save your eyes while you’re at it.

green, Sustainability