Control Your Lights and Shades

This week I received a packet of information I had requested from Lutron. Lutron makes systems which allow full control over your lighting and shading solutions. Not only can lighting and shading be programmed for automatic operation during your absence, but you can control both from keypads at home or from your auto.

I am mostly intrigued by Lutron for the energy savings it could provide. When home, I manually control my blinds and lights all day to maximize energy savings. Seems like automating this would maximize the energy savings from these controls. Similarly, having a control to turn off all the lights in the house, instead of hoping that my children remember to turn off their lights, would help us waste less energy.

While all of this technology seems best suited for new construction, Lutron has made technological advances to make installation possible in older homes.

If we decide to look into using Lutron in our renovation, I'll be sure to report back on our findings.

20x200 Art

Art collector? Art collector wanna-be? Jen Bekman's new project, 20x200, answers your need for good art at affordable prices. Her philosophy was that plenty of artists want to sell their art, collectors and regular folks would like to buy art, and the internet would be a great place to connect them. Fresh art will be offered for sale on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. Each piece of art will be sold in three sizes. 200 of the smallest size will sell for $20 each, 20 of the medium size will sell for $200 each, and 2 of the largest will sell for $2000 each. A simple, beautiful plan!

I first read about Jen's project in Dwell, and received my first e-mail this weekend. I love the idea, especially for residents of smaller cities where art opportunities may be somewhat limited. Texture and quality are always key to my purchasing decisions, so when I make my first purchase I'll be sure to report back to you on my experience.

A Windmill in Every Yard

Wind power -- what a beautiful thing! I'm fascinated by renewable energy sources, particularly sun and wind. I think the newest windmills are beautiful, graceful, and an amazing way of meeting our energy needs. I do understand that some controversy exists about windmills in the paths of migratory birds, and agree that we need to be sensitive to the placement of windmill farms.

Did you know that some windmills now are residential-sized? Basically you need at least 1/2 acre of unobstructed property, wind speeds which average 10 mph, a cooperative zoning board, and an interconnection agreement with your local power authority. Install a windmill, and you can power your house! You can even sell back your extra electricity! I find it absolutely amazing that we have potential energy resources which don't injure the environment, and yet we're not using them! We need a windmill on every house! I'd love to put one here -- we have the property, but apparently we don't have enough wind -- but it would make such a statement and then others would see it and want their own windmill. . . . next thing you know . . . . we'd have residential windmills all over suburbia . . . .! (Okay, so is someone working on the next generation of residential windmills which can run with less wind?)

Southwest Windpower makes Skystream 3.7 which is a residential wind generator. Andy Kruse and David Calley, who co-founded Southwest Windpower, shares my dream of windmills in backyards everywhere. I subscribe to their e-mail, and you can too by visiting their website. Right now they're trying to encourage people to write to their US Respresentative, to help encourage the addition of a tax credit for wind power -- thereby reducing the break-even time for homeowners which will encourage more purchases of wind turbines.

A windmill in every yard -- a beautiful thing!

Never Too Young

We often talk of environmental issues at home, and we were very thankful when Janice at ARTEMIS Environmental Building Materials took the time to introduce interesting properties of green materials to our children. Seems like getting kids excited about green ideas (just like fast food restaurants hook kids with their kids' meals) could have such a lasting impact.

My children just received the National Geographic Kids October 2007 issue. It's a special "Green Issue" and includes great kid-friendly tips. Here are a few of my favorites for kids:
1. Take short showers
2. Ride a bike or walk instead of using the car
3. Take a reusable bag to the store (maybe this could be a "chore" for a child -- remembering the cloth bags for grocery store trips)
4. Turn over used paper and use it for artwork or scrap paper
5. Scrape leftovers off the dishes instead of rinsing (another kid-friendly chore)
6. Share these tips!

ARTEMIS

Wow! And it's been right there under my nose all along! Intrigued by some rain-screen cladding by Paper Stone -- the same Paper Stone which can be used for countertop material -- I searched for dealers in Pennsylvania and found . . . right on Butler Street in Pittsburgh, ARTEMIS Environmental Building Supply!

My husband and I hauled our three children there the following Saturday and we were very impressed both by the materials which were available and the knowledgeable, helpful employees there. Janice took us under her wing, showing us all around, introducing us to great materials and always including our children in the conversation.

Artemis inspired us -- our children carried on a lively discussion during the drive home about conservation, while I tried to figure out how to promote Artemis and the products they carry -- how do I spread the word to everyone in Pittsburgh considering a remodel or construction? Guess I'll start with the blog.

Considering that last spring our family drove to Washington, D.C. to the National Building Museum to see a green building exhibit featuring Michelle Kaufmann's "Glidehouse" (and so that I could actually touch all of these materials I had read about in Dwell, Architectural Record and Metropolitan Home), I consider Artemis, who has the same materials right here in Pittsburgh, to be a fantastic source for all Pittsburghers!

Construction Junction

Next time you need construction materials, check out Construction Junction in Pittsburgh's Point Breeze. Construction Junction is "Pittsburgh's only non-profit building material reuse retailer." They accept donations of new or used building materials and resell to the public. Items available include windows, doors, flooring, hardware, cabinetry, etc., with new materials added frequently.

Construction Junction also hosts a large recycling center for materials including cardboard. When I visited this weekend I found exciting pieces from a church deconstruction, including pews and statues.

CMU Solar Home -- check it out!

Yesterday at Construction Junction (more tomorrow) I discovered the CMU Solar Decathlon Home -- CMU's entry to the 2007 Solar Decathlon, to be held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. October 12-20 (check the website for specific shedule details as the homes are closed at times).

From the Solar Decathlon website: "The Solar Decathlon is a competition in which 20 teams of college and university students compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The Solar Decathlon is also an event to which the public is invited to observe the powerful combination of solar energy, energy efficiency, and the best in home design."

Pittsburghers don't need to wait until October, though, to check out the CMU entry. You can view it from behind its gates any time at Construction Junction. I was told yesterday that it will be open for tours on September 20th -- I'm hoping to confirm that date and will post when I do.

The Solar Decathlon is sponsored by the Department of Energy.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Sometimes Replace

When the time comes to replace that worn-out, unrepairable washing machine, consider a front loader. Less common in Pittsburgh but everywhere in Europe, front loader machines typically use about 1/2 as much water, are gentler on your clothes while getting them cleaner, use less electricity, hold larger loads, and have twice the service life of a top loader. The spin cycle spins clothes much faster, so clothes come out nearly dry. Some models even include a heating element, so you can "sanitize" towels, for example, with almost boiling water. If you're cramped for laundry space, the units can often be stacked, or you can create a countertop across the washer and dryer to be used for folding.

What About the Worms?

My three children always worry about the worms which get paved over when someone paves a driveway. I worry about the absence of ground for absorbing rain, and removing that much more grass from suburbia. I'm intrigued about GrassPave(2) which is a system in the ground over which grass is planted. The grass can then be driven over. I'd love to know how it would hold up in a Pittsburgh winter, and what I would do when I need to remove snow -- can I shovel it? Or use a snow blower?

Let there be light

Pittsburghers see only 43% of the sunshine possible if all our days were sunny (US Census information, 2000), compared to 68% in sunny San Francisco! Especially with winter coming, bringing light into our homes becomes a priority. Polycarbonate panels continue to pop up in use in lots of creative ways -- bringing light into and through homes as exterior cladding, roofing, and interior wall material. September 2007 Metropolitan Home features a home by Richard Williams (his own) in Chevy Chase, MD, in which he uses polycarbonate panels by CPI Daylighting as both exterior and interior surfaces. Richard raves about their qualities, including UV reduction, thermal-insulation, impact resistance, and ease of installation.

The panels seem to be fairly environmentally friendly, some are even 100% recyclable, and one impact stands out in this climate -- swapping carbon-fuel provided electric lights for natural sunlight!

Dwell -- "Pittsburgh Steeler"

Now I'm really anxious to meet architect Harry Levine. The house he designed for Jeff Walz, now at Google, and featured in the October 2007 Dwell which arrived today, is exactly what "Steel City Modern" is all about. What beautiful modern architecture, rooted in Pittsburgh tradition. I love the use of the steel frame, prefinished sheathing and galvanized roof all from recycled scrap by Nucor.

By writing the steelcitymodern blog and by including readers and visitors in our own home remodeling journey, though, I hope to help introduce the power of good design and sustainability to such people as the visitor to Walz's home, who demanded of Levine, "Are you responsible for that godless building?"

Thursdays

I can't wait for Thursdays -- the House& Home section of the New York Times arrives. Today's featured a ranch home renovation in La Jolla -- exactly the sort of renovation we'd like to undertake in the Steel City, but hopefully for a more reasonable price, with some additional space. I really liked the conversion of large windows, combined with pivot hardware from Rixson, to create front and back doors that pivot. I am also intrigued by the use of honeycomb polycarbonate (Lightben from Bencore) for countertops -- does anyone know how this holds up for a family with three young children? I'm also very interested in the use of polycarbonate as an exterior or interior wall material. Using reasonably priced materials in an innovative way could really help bring modern architecture to a more affordable point.

Introduction

Our family lives in this bungalow style home (possibly a Sears catalog home -- Pittsburgh model) in a suburb of Pittsburgh on a PA State road. After 3+ years living in Germany (and the birth of our three children) we developed a greater awareness of and interest in green, healthy living and in modern architecture.

We've lived in this home for over 5 years and while it no longer meets our needs, we love the convenience of the location (can walk to schools, swim club, community center, library, small store) and the open, no-wasted-space feel of our craftsman-style home. We've therefore decided to expand the home to meet our needs and to make a healthier home for our family.

As we've discussed our dreams with family and friends we've discovered a true need for education about and visual and tactile experience with both green trends and modern architecture. We hope to publicize our journey through this blog and by making our home (in such a public location) a visible reminder of all that's possible in the modern Steel City.