Geraldina's Blog

Green Obama

Geraldina Wise (Casa Concept inc.) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:54:53 -0600

When was the last time that we saw a tsunami of people get behind a cause in this great country? I saw it in Chicago at the Greenbuild Convention in November of '07. It was breathtaking. Interestingly enough, President Clinton was the keynote speaker, and he was far from breathtaking; he was unfocused and frustrated in his tone. Fast-forward only a couple of months, and we have the next tsunami: Barack Obama.

I see this country energized, believing in change, believing in new leadership and new ways. Obama has touched a chord in so many of us, in young people of all backgrounds and ethnicities. I hadn't made the connection about the green movement and Obama until today. All that he represents: hope, leadership, change, is what we need to institute structural changes that will turn around the calamities of global warming.

Obama says that the environment is the moral issue of this next generation. I believe the relevance of such thinking is self-evident. His charisma will lead to people wanting to do the right thing, starting by making small adjustments to their lifestyle and homes, and taking them to the workplace, riding the giant wave of green living and building.

I don't want to be accused of blindly supporting just words, like Mrs. Clinton has implied of Obama's supporters. So I went looking for his ideas and plans on how to attack the carbon emission problem, our dependency on foreign oil, and leadership in energy efficiency and reduction. At http://www.barackobama.com/index.php, may I add, written for all Americans in broad strokes, he does spell out overall goals towards a year 2030 deadline of becoming energy conscious.

His website talks about improving energy efficiency by 50% for new buildings and 25% for existing ones, towards a carbon neutral building standard by the year 2030. If you think about this, it isn't an effortless task. If you can comprehend the huge inventory of existing houses alone, the vastness of the newer suburban landscapes across America, the millions of smaller older homes from the 30's that make up the older neighborhoods in the large cities like Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Houston, making them 25% more energy efficient will take the largest investment that we will collectively have to make.

Visit my Greenstudio blog for more on Obama and the green movement. SI SE PUEDE!

Rain Harvesting a NEW/OLD Green Idea

Geraldina Wise (Casa Concept inc.) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 10:06:58 -0600

Rain harvesting, to the typical American urban dweller, is a new green idea. The country folk of Texas, New Mexico, Latin America and the rest of the world don't need a treatise on such notion, or an internet link to a water harvesting tank with special features. Water harvesting is back, and, as easy as it is to go at it low tech, it is a winning design entry at the Venice Biennale of 2007.

The water wall is a high idea, that could go low tech if in it's final permutation can be applied to any house. The idea of using rainwater as an insulator and the skin of the building as a reservoir for gray water use is genial. But for the purposes of forwarding sound notions of green design and living, it should be stated clearly that a rainbarrel at the end of a downspout will serve the purpose.

Entire communities can implement water conservation by harvesting rain water. One does wonder: why hasn't it been done systematically? Perhaps we could not see the need, like New Mexicans clearly see, at an average yearly rainfall of 3". In Houston, the average yearly rainfall is 50". You may ask why are we making any deal out of water conservation? It's about the carbon footprint for those of us priviledged enough to have ample supply of water. I'm not talking about water, I'm talkign about potable water. Water that has been processed, treated, and which uses up chemicals. Potable water= Carbon footprint. Rain water=0 carbon.

Read more on how to plan for rain harvesting, tips you could give to new homeowners who are open to greening their home.

Greenbuild Chicago

Geraldina Wise (Casa Concept inc.) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 20:28:41 -0600

Last week in overly chilly Chicago, around 24,000 + devotees of building green gathered for the USGBC's Greenbuild Conference and Expo. I had never attended such a large conference, but will not miss the '08 one in Boston. I met people from Mexico and South America, heard foreign languages and saw diversity among the attendees and speakers, yet we had so much in common. We <strong>spoke the language of green and sustainability</strong>, but most importantly, shared the commitment to heal the planet and try to reverse the damage that we have collectively inflicted on our country, continent, and earth.

The didactic sessions for LEED for Homes, LEED for Contractors, GREEN Specifications and Materials- among the ones I attended- were telling of the place we have come from and the lack of direction that has reigned in the development of cities, communities and housing. It was so clear to me, while much of what I have read and researched was being confirmed by the scientists, the researchers and other panelists, that this information was only coalescing in the year 2007.

WHERE HAVE WE BEEN?????Read my in depth view of what happenned in Chicago, and how what we are doing in this very forum, ActiveRain, is the hope for the future.

Fast and Faster- going GREEN

Geraldina Wise (Casa Concept inc.) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 10:27:46 -0600

"Hola mi amor.? Que hay de nuevo?" The sweet telephone words of a mother that cares: "Hello my love, what is new in your life?" It's the caring voice of my mother who lives 3000 miles away, in a country by the sea, where crops have a season, where the earth is strained and stretched to its limits to sustain too many people. Can you picture mother earth having a pulse, a heartbeat, blood pressure, like my mother and yours? I can. How do we measure her blood pressure?

Blogs, Youtube,Twitter, podcastings, conventional media, Nobel peace prize winners, are painting a picture of a fast growing interest in green living, green construction, green, period. Is it growing fast enough? You tell me. In a pace scale of 1-4, 1 would be going at a sustainable accelerated pace (low blood pressure), and 4 would be going too slow (the pressure will tank).

Today I vote the movement is going at a 1 if we measure talk, but 4 if we measure walk. My eco friends at Active Rain, who have the pulse of the home real estate markets all over the US, complain that the builders are not producing enough green housing for them to market. Read more and come back for my experience in Greenbuild Chicago conference put on by the US Green Building Council.

Sustainability a game?

Geraldina Wise (Casa Concept inc.) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 01:58:16 -0500

We are experiencing a massive societal movement towards environmental consciousness. This movement has different faces to it, including Hollywood and the fashion industry, who make up their own definition of green, and brand their interpretation of sustainability. This has given rise to a new consumerism. Think about it: we are now to replace everything we own for green, organic, recycled? How about just keeping what we own, or recycling it? Doesn't that count towards sustainability?

Let's play a game. It's the sustainability game. It's about how many planet Earths would it take to sustain the population of the world if we all live...like you!!!!

We can blog about sustainability but the bottom line is that we need to have representation in all forms of government. Read about Tom Friedman's example about the Taxi cabs in NYC and how we effect change in my green studio blog.

Would you please post your sustainability game results? I'll go first: a total failure at 3.7 I'm dying to see how outrageous we can be! I can tell you this: big houses in Texas take you to another galaxy!!!!!! Go for it!

College of life

Geraldina Wise (Casa Concept inc.) — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:48:34 -0500

My daughter is off to college. How about that? I mean, how do I feel about that? I mean, how do I feel about my home being incomplete without her? My emotions range from "finally!" to "she can't grow up without me". College is the future, university our kids new home. I had the fortune to come to this country for college, and the sense to pick a good one. She had the sense to want to go to college and to chose the same one!

Colleges and universities have taken their time in leading the green movement. I was calling my alma matter-Rice University- about this subjectmatter 10 years ago, to deaf ears. They're jumping in, still rather timidly, in my opinion, given that we are so behind. A recent Newsweek features Williams College organic produce farming on its front cover, and looks at the ways Universities are joining the movement. I know for a fact that impressionable young people make up the student population, and they are a vital part of what can be done.

I've been thinking about all the things that I haven't taught my daughter yet, the ones she hasn't been ready to learn, and the ones that she will learn from others. This doesn't scare me, yet I know that some things can't wait any longer. I have made a list of the ones she needs to know soon in college, that her roommate would do well learning, that the dorm floor would benefit from, that the entire dorm should be doing, that the university could lead, and that the city could follow. So could moms and dads...

1. Recycle- paper can be reused, cut up into TO DO note pads, used for printing again. Keep a box in the room where you throw in white printer paper to reuse. Imagine how many trees you could save if your whole floor does the same, and the dorm, and the university.

2. Reduce your waste- take your own satchel to the supermarket, don't ask for bags, use a mug instead of disposable cups, keep a real bowl and take it to you ice cream socials, cardboard can be recycled, and anything you are ready to throw away could be put into a "flea market" at the dorm or outside your room with a hand made "take it, it's yours" sign. College kids are always looking for freebies!

3. Clean your room once a week- for a healthy dorm room or apartment without extra allergens. You will sleep better, when you sleep, and it will keep you out of health services for the small stuff.

4. Don't bring or introduce chemicals into your room- everything from nail polish to insecticide. If you need to use them, do so outdoors; your collective indoor air is precious to all.

5. Find a good source of filtered water; water is life- Not easily achieved, but I remember taking these "quality of life" issues to my dorm rep to take on with the administration. Four years of bad drinking water is not something to embrace passively...

That doesn't sound too parsimonious, does it? It's not nagging either. It's the common sense that all our young people should acquire SOON, because they WILL inherit the earth, they ARE the future, and they should know, VERY SOON, that each one is the master of their collective destiny, and that the results are not additive, but exponential. Think green.There.

I'm sending this blog to her new e-mail address, and it will be Mom talking the usual. You can send this to your child and say that Mrs. Wise said it, not you.

#7 not so lucky after all

Geraldina Wise (Casa Concept inc.) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:14:52 -0500

How clueless we can be about the world that surrounds us? I'm not even talking about comparative global politics, I'm just referring to the things that are placed before us to consume. When my first baby was born, I refused to buy into the new generation of baby bottles. Do you remember the plastic shells that one could outfit with a plastic bag/pouch for the formula? Disposable bottles, I think they were called. I had a gut instinct - new mothers would be served well by listening to their proliferating gut instincts- about baby formula delivered in a plastic bag.

My youngest brother Mario is 8 years younger than I, and I was very much part of the ritual of feeding him his milk when he was a baby. How simple things were: 8 glass baby bottles, 8 nipples, 8 screw tops, recycled from my next to youngest brother, washed and sterilized with boiling water every night, and fresh untainted formula into the baby's tummy, every day, 7 days a week. I can still smell the sterilized kit of bottles,particularly because when I had my baby, I did the same.

There was no 7, 8 , 9 or for that matter, there was nothing stamped onto those bottles that could come back to haunt us. I'm referring to hard plastic made with the molecule BISPHENOL A or BPA, which is now being found harmful to humans, and definitely so to infants. The number 7 is the one you are looking for and unlucky me, I found it in several plastic containers in my all-plastic-container drawer. The Nalgene bottles that had solved so many health and recycling issues for me: STAMPED 7, my favorite recycled container: STAMPED 7.

A professor at the University of Missouri at Columbia, discovered in 1997 that BPA could transfer from the mother to the fetus, acting like estrogen. Read more about this scary thought at http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2138565&page=1

I installed my favorite water filtration system in four faucets in my new house (they are not STAMPED 7), because quality of drinking water, ice and cooking water is at the top of my list of how to live in a sustainable, healthy, green home. It is the Everpure 400. That may not sound familiar, but if I tell you that Starbucks uses that very filter to open up anywhere in the world? Now we're on the same page. There is nothing comparable to the sweet pleasure of soft water that tastes...like nothing, not to mention my gourmet cafe salvadoreno -roasted the day before I come back from El Salvador by my Tio Coco, who takes care of my coffee needs- which tastes like gold.

I installed the filter in my kitchen, bar, butler's pantry and upstairs media room to service our evening needs. I've noticed guest drink more water and coffee than ever before. Unconsciously, its the taste of purity that makes an impact. Most importantly, having these filters would allow me to use reusable container to grab water on the go, to stop buying individual bottled water, and to have the best water on the road. Do you understand my plight at this very moment?

The #7 has been uncovered, my Nalgene bottles have been shelved, and I'm leaving the house to go exercise every morning having to gulp a glass- yes GLASS- of water before I leave, and chug more when I get back. I'm going to solve this, because water is all I drink, so I'll keep you posted on my solution. As for baby formula, glass is recyclable and pure so chuck your plastic bottles, and be sure to use the best filtered water for your baby's needs.

If you have a solution, would you share? For more information on the drinking water filter, visit my website http://www.casaconceptdesign.com/ and visit my resource guide.

Tank-less: more than you expected

Geraldina Wise (Casa Concept inc.) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:27:04 -0500

Tank-less water heaters are the rage. In the mind of homeowners, replacing the 40 gallon tank with a tank-less is a simple step to take towards the greening of a home. It's simple in concept, particularly when you who have traveled abroad, and have noticed that they are the status quo in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and have been for decades!

We are just now waking up. In all fairness, I woke up too early, 20 years ago, when, years after having to fight for the right to take a warm shower after digging in the trenches during my stint as an archaeologist in Italy, I knew that there were more efficient ways to heat water, and proceeded to experiment in my first home by installing a whole house tank-less water heater. Suffice it to say that the experiment failed. The metal box just wouldn't spit out water on the other end, much less hot water, and there was no one to help. I kept a grudge for a long time...

That was then, and now, in my new awakening, I installed three tank-less water heaters for my Casa Concept house. And I love them. One year later, I have all the hot water I need or demand, anywhere in the house, for as long as I need it. It is the sweet result of having done some research, because at the time of filling in the line item in the budget, it looked like a mistake or a dumb move, and we know it was neither. I put three different brand reps through the test, and after hours of grilling them, I ended up with Noritz.

I was hoping for one whole-house unit..but that was not to be given the number of plumbing fixtures that were hooked up to the hot water. I compromised with three; two- installed in tandem- service the main hot water guzzlers like the kitchen and laundry, and master spa bath and shower. That means that at top use, in the dead of winter, there is endless hot water for all appliances and plumbing fixtures if all were to be turned on at once. It's almost too good to be true. It is particularly well suited for the new generation of master bathrooms gadgets, such as multiple shower heads and spa tubs for two.

Right around now, I've probably sold you on the idea of going tank-less. But remember my failure in 1987? It was a failure to take into account ( and the seller never brought it up) that the tank-less water heaters work by passing the water through multiple copper coils inside the tank, and that every bend of those coils is susceptible to scale, which is prevalent in Houston due to the hardness of the city water, and to large particles of debris. Did I tell you that the first heater lasted three months? I'm not about to divulge what the cost of that entire fiasco was, but know that the cost of having a tank-less water heater has a soft cost associated with it, which is having to install a conditioner for the whole house.

That is the generic recommendation. Any system that you install for whole house water conditioning is expensive. Most are bulky, with huge tanks or boxes, to be installed outside because ,who has the space inside? I call expensive $3-6K . I'll share with you my specific recommendation: use a two part system, to be installed inside your home, that includes a rust and silt filter at the entry of the water main into your home, and a de-scalinator (miracle little gadget!) that is wrapped around the water main, directly after the first filter, to charge the water particles in such way that they don't bond to produce scale.

This system is easy to install (about 2hours max by any plumber) and easy to maintain ( change the filter about every 6-9 months). If bought directly from the supplier it costs $995. But given that so many people have followed what they saw in Casa Concept, Sam, the supplier will give anyone who mentions Casa Concept a huge CASA CONCEPT discount!!!!! Plus, you can get the Noritz tank-less heater from him at a discount. If you are in Houston, his company will install the entire system, and warranty it. He likes to come around to see his system and installation once in a while, and I like it to keep working. That is a successful experiment. Go to http ://www.casaconceptdesign.com , click on the resource guide, and look for Hot Water Solutions.

Stay tuned on tricks to best use your new tank-less water heater.

Tank or no Tank

Geraldina Wise (Casa Concept inc.) — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 17:00:26 -0500

The environmental movement is hot. It is not as hot as the steel mega-bullets that the transformer that blew up behind my house yesterday sent flying like meteors into yards and houses, setting off mini fires. So how hot is it really, and why should the average Jose be paying attention? Mark the year 2007 in your calendar; it will be the year (give or take one year) that will deferentiate houses, not unlike pre-war housing and post-war housing, or pre-911 and post-911. The reason is simple: the environmental movement has heached a tipping point, and after 2007, if you invest in your house doing any remodel, or build or buy a new home, you better have a standard of green, energy efficiency, high efficiency, healthy home features, or sustainable living that can be documented to compete, retain value, or add value in the resale market. The forms that describe the house to sellers are changing as we speak, so as to reflect the new standards for houses.

What's the cost of membership into the post-2007 environmental market? At the top of my list are water conservation and purification and energy efficiency. The marriage of these two standards points to changing your water heater. Echo-brokers ( see what I mean about post 2007?) are positioning themselves to play the new echo-monopoly, Stephanie will attest to that, and at the top of their recommendation is to go tankless when changing your water heater. The reasons are many, inlcuding the flow of limitless hot water, and the energy efficiency of the system that only heats up the water you need hot. But there is a cost and system differential to this entry into the environmentally conscious housing arena.

System- whole house water purification and descalination or water softener from $1250-$6000 installed

Cost- tankless heater starting at $1300 for one whole house, possibly two depending on the size and usage of the house. Cost of an installed 40 gallon conventional replacement water heater? $450

Cost of joining the new era? priceless

Stay tuned for the details on the systems. I've done the research and I can deliver. Email me if you need to know NOW.

Generation E

Geraldina Wise (Casa Concept inc.) — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 16:37:28 -0500

It is noble to be considering the move into the Generation E. Generation X is a thing of the past...something to do with young people. Says who? I say so. I've never heard of Generation E, but mark my words, you read it from my blog first: the Generation E -E for environment- has little to do with age and much to do with heart and mind.

I saw and heard the focus groups go through my first green house- Casa Concept-, and how they responded to the mature thinking that went into the architecture and systems of this house. The opening of minds happened across generations and ages. The older set lamented not knowing much about environmentally friendly thinking when they had a chance to build or remodel, the younger set asked probing questions about the technology and systems for when they build. Everyone left with their eyes wide open. Most wanted to know how to start being EF ( Environmentally Friendly).

Wonderful things are coming my way as a designer with a higher consciousness. I started my Green Studio Blog to share my knowledge and ongoing research; Casa Concept inc. was formed to supply environmentally friendly products for home and home construction; I design housing under Towards Sustainable Design Studio. I wonder still how I spent 25 years in the architecture business going about it almost without an inner compass. I don't stop at that thought for long, because I woke up, way before most who are only now joining Generation E. I do stop often to marvel at the beautiful world that we inhabit, and can only hope that we will collectively redefine our purpose in doing design and architecture, and in consuming for the home.

I'm committed; are you?