MIT wheels out new bike prototype at climate conference -The Green Blog - A Boston Globe blog on living Green in Boston
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Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Good Eats: Some of my favorites Part I
Moo
15 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02108-2902
617.670.2515
Must Have: Ribeye steak, Moo Mac-N-Cheese, Bananas Foster
King & I
145 Charles Street
Boston, MA 02114
617.227.3320
Must Have: Roti, Chicken Pad Thai, Thai Iced Tea
Trattoria Il Panino
11 Parmenter Street
Boston, MA 02113-2306
617.720.1336
Must Have: Carpaccio Di Bresaola, Spaghetti Carbonara
More to come...
15 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02108-2902
617.670.2515
Must Have: Ribeye steak, Moo Mac-N-Cheese, Bananas Foster
King & I
145 Charles Street
Boston, MA 02114
617.227.3320
Must Have: Roti, Chicken Pad Thai, Thai Iced Tea
Trattoria Il Panino
11 Parmenter Street
Boston, MA 02113-2306
617.720.1336
Must Have: Carpaccio Di Bresaola, Spaghetti Carbonara
More to come...
Monday, November 9, 2009
Green Tech: A LEED-esque home is a happy-esque home.
As some of you know, I have been preparing myself to take the LEED AP exam (see USGBC). Between reading the LEED handbook and procrastinating, I am starting to see opportunities to make me (and hopefully you) a more conscious consumer.
The one issue I have is that all of the hype about sustainable design and construction is focused on NEW structures. Let's face it, being able to build a LEED Certified home from scratch is a pipe dream. There should be more focus on making EXISTING structures more efficient and habitable. At no point do I think that everyone should push to get LEED certified, but the framework has opened my eyes to an overall direction we should all aim for. The take-away from all of my studying is that the one should at least try to extract some of the philosophy of LEED and apply it in a more practical manor. Here are some simple ideas I have extracted out of this that just abut anyone can do to improve the efficiency of any home.
Change to low-VOC paint
According to the EPA, poor indoor air quality is one of the most common hazards to humans. Volatile organic compounds (VOC) used to be essential in the composition and performance of everyday house paint and this is one of the biggest contributors to poor indoor air quality. Now though, low and no VOC paints are being sold at big box chains like Home Depot and Lowes.
Displace some water in your toilet tank)
Take a plastic water bottle, fill it with sand/gravel, and place it inside your toilet tank to reduce the gallons per fill (GPF) usage. I'll bet you that you probably won't see much performance difference.
Add aerators to faucets
This is probably the simplest modification to your home that helps saves gallons of water a year. The water looks bubbly and cool too!
Change to Compact fluorescent bulbs in the house
CFL's will cut your energy usage due to the low wattage at a minimal sacrifice to the amount of light displaced. Place these in bathrooms since the 20-30 second "warm up" will save you energy costs because a good amount of time spent in the bathrooms tend to be less than a minute.
So there you have it; a few simple changes to your home that will go a long way for your own health as well as mother earth's. My point here is to demonstrate that you do not need to add solar panels, capture rain water, or build a green roof to be more LEED conscious.
The one issue I have is that all of the hype about sustainable design and construction is focused on NEW structures. Let's face it, being able to build a LEED Certified home from scratch is a pipe dream. There should be more focus on making EXISTING structures more efficient and habitable. At no point do I think that everyone should push to get LEED certified, but the framework has opened my eyes to an overall direction we should all aim for. The take-away from all of my studying is that the one should at least try to extract some of the philosophy of LEED and apply it in a more practical manor. Here are some simple ideas I have extracted out of this that just abut anyone can do to improve the efficiency of any home.
Change to low-VOC paint
According to the EPA, poor indoor air quality is one of the most common hazards to humans. Volatile organic compounds (VOC) used to be essential in the composition and performance of everyday house paint and this is one of the biggest contributors to poor indoor air quality. Now though, low and no VOC paints are being sold at big box chains like Home Depot and Lowes.
Displace some water in your toilet tank)
Take a plastic water bottle, fill it with sand/gravel, and place it inside your toilet tank to reduce the gallons per fill (GPF) usage. I'll bet you that you probably won't see much performance difference.
Add aerators to faucets
This is probably the simplest modification to your home that helps saves gallons of water a year. The water looks bubbly and cool too!
Change to Compact fluorescent bulbs in the house
CFL's will cut your energy usage due to the low wattage at a minimal sacrifice to the amount of light displaced. Place these in bathrooms since the 20-30 second "warm up" will save you energy costs because a good amount of time spent in the bathrooms tend to be less than a minute.
So there you have it; a few simple changes to your home that will go a long way for your own health as well as mother earth's. My point here is to demonstrate that you do not need to add solar panels, capture rain water, or build a green roof to be more LEED conscious.
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