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.