green: The Next Green Step, some more things to understand
- 08/15/09 11:26 AM
Ok, We took the little steps towards some “GREEN” for Amador County Real Estate in the last post. Now we can look at some bigger steps. These certainly will not be for everyone, but information can only help, so don’t feel bad if these opportunities are a bit out of reach, just do what you can and try to think about what you are doing…The biggies, or” How dark is your green?” But first some background...In the last post we talked about turning off the stuff you aren’t using and CFL’s now lets talk about making your own energy. In case … (0 comments)
green: A Few Green Steps in Amador County Real Estate
- 08/13/09 08:58 AM
A Few Green Steps in Amador County Real Estate As Amador County’s First EcoBroker certified® REALTOR® and GREEN designee, I obviously have a thing for “GREEN,” I love to share and discus opportunities and choices in energy efficiency, sustainability, and the triple bottom line in Real Estate. In these next few posts I aim to share a few ideas on ways to save you money as you save energy, water, and other resources. Making good green choices is not about suffering for savings, but just the opposite, living a comfortable life with less waste.So lets go!Low Hanging Fruit.Lighting and electrical use…This … (1 comments)
green: Peak (snake)Oil! Thinking is back!
- 03/14/09 03:51 AM
In reply to the annual Green is Red Hot Challenge here on Active Rain, I will venture the idea that Critical Thinking is the thing that is RED HOT IN GREEN REAL ESTATE this year. People are hearing all sorts of things that remind them of the foolishness of the investment market over the last few years, and in response people are THINKING. People are noticing that a five dollar tube of caulk might be the best money that they can invest in their home, but that the best return on investment will always be the little life-style choices like turning … (12 comments)
green: Natural Building? Do people really buy or sell those weird houses?
- 01/17/09 06:27 AM
Let me put this thought out there for us to think about; The biggest hurtle in the growth of natural building is the lack of resale action.Until we in the community can generate substantial sales to people that want to live in these homes without actually building them themselves, we will not successfully promote these building practices into the mainstream. The average buyer these days is starting to think about “green” issues in their real estate endeavors, but they don’t know much about any of it, certainly not much about natural building. If they knew more they would look for these … (4 comments)
green: One Light Bulb
- 11/28/08 05:10 AM
So many of us feel down deep inside that our current lifestyles are not just “missing” something but actually in some way have “too much” but don’t know what to do about it. And that frustrates us. The rise in popularity of footprint surveys and rating systems point to this, 'am I good enough?' phenomenon.Often these things do little more than tell us that we are in some way “NOT GOOD” and how can that be true? In even looking aren’t we making some effort to “be good”? So I don’t promote the very idea of footprint rating. It is too … (9 comments)
green: Cob building workshop, Come out to the foothills and learn (Play) in the mud!
- 10/11/08 11:10 AM
Although not technically in Amador County this is about a wonderful real estate subject here in the Northern California foothills People coming together to build housing is a foundational human experience that so many of us these days never get to enjoy. The bond built between people who build together is something that has been part of the lives of our ancestors, but that many of us have sadly lost. Now you have the chance to get involved in a weekend of Cob building with a bunch of great new friends. So you say, “What is cob”? Well you might be … (12 comments)
green: Kirkwood Mountain Resort Is Going Green in the high country
- 07/16/08 08:29 AM
The wind that blows over the mountain will soon be powering Kirkwood Mountain Resort!Just above the top of Amador County, Kirkwood Mountain Resort is working to be the first ski area in the area to meet the lion’s share of its electrical needs with renewable energy generated right on site.The resort witch actually sits in Alpine County has come to an agreement to purchase 20 high tech wind turbines from Synergy Power Corp. of Reno, Nevada. These turbines will be hooked up to the resort’s present power system and should supply 6,000 kwh per day, or about 20 % of the … (5 comments)
green: Low VOC’s aren’t just for houses in Amador County
- 07/16/08 06:28 AM
Stymeist Auto Body and Frame shows us that Low VOC’s aren’t just for houses any more!Many of us know about the health and environmental benefits of using Low Volitile Organic Compound paints in our homes; paints that have much less "off gassing," don't smell as bad, and are much less harmful to both us and the environment. What many of us don't know is that not only is it possible to go low on the VOC's in our homes, but these days even automotive finishes are going Low VOC!Here in Amador County, Steve Stymeist, owner of Steymeist Auto Body and Frame … (3 comments)
green: MeMe 2.0
- 06/22/08 07:41 AM
Chris Fisher tagged me with this a while back so.. Who's your favorite musical artist? That is tough, I think if I had to have just one CD to listen to forever I would take a random grab out of Ziggy Stardust, the best of Stiff Little Fingers, and Armed Forces by Elvis Costello, but I would really miss the rest of the stack. Pogues, Ramones, Violent Femmes, DEVO, Clash, Boomtown Rats, Pistols… Who's your favorite artist? This is the easy one for me, Andy Warhol hands down! He would also be on the short list of anyone to meet. He … (1 comments)
green: JUNE CHALLENGE... I'm cheating!
- 06/21/08 09:41 AM
From the ECO-All-Stars~ GREEN Resources, Trends & Friends GroupJUNE CHALLENGE...YOU Design A GREEN Community…1) Pretend you are in a position to design this LAND for use by all living things...Human and animal and plant and yourself . . .2) WHAT STEPS would YOU take to create an eco-village/community/conservation neighborhood here? Would you bring in landscape architects? Environmental scientists? permaculture experts? Do a botanical survey? Hydrologists? Interview and select eco-savvy architects and green builders?Give us your process. Tell us the steps you would take if you owned 2,000+ AC and could create an eco-community there.3) Write a post about your envisioned Green-Built … (0 comments)
green: Ok, You say the house is Passive Solar, But what do you mean by Passive Solar?
- 01/07/08 03:34 PM
This post is not so much about Amador County Real Estate as it is about green building and general knowledge. Lots of people toss around “green” statements, one of the most common, often misused term in listings is “PASSIVE SOLAR DESIGN”. Now its not that these people are being dishonest or even trying to fool you. Its just that the term is not officially defined, so it is very unclear. I want to help clear it up for you. That way when you look at a house that someone has claimed to be “passive solar” you will have some background to … (8 comments)
green: My Amador County Green Dream House,
- 12/18/07 06:16 PM
A great game I like to play when thinking about real estate and the future is to dream about your ultimate abode. Sure this might never happen but this is the right time to put these thoughts together. For me these are a few of the things I dream of. First the building site, I want to be here in the rolling hills or Amador County, specifically Jackson Valley, below Lake Amador, This area has a good selection of five to ten acre parcels (although they don’t come on the market very often) with gentle progressively higher hills stacking up from … (6 comments)
green: "Take-It-Back!"
- 11/07/07 01:26 PM
Amador County residents now have a great new option for disposing of used batteries and fluorescent tubes & bulbs. We all know how much energy can be saved by using compact fluorescent lamps instead of incandescent light-bulbs, but some of the materials in CFL's are very hazardous to people and the environment, as are old household batteries. "Take-It-Back Amador!" is a partnership that promotes the proper disposal and recycling of used fluorescent tubes & bulbs and household batteries. In response to new waste regulations, Meeks Lumber & Hardware, in Martel and ACE Hardware and Lumber stores located in Pine Grove and Ione … (3 comments)
green: How I beat a guy with a Duck Billed Platypus.
- 10/24/07 10:55 AM
For the record, NO egg-laying, poisonous, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammals from South of the equator, were hurt in this story. Ok, I should probably give a bit of background on this one, I was hanging around with a bunch of friends one night and one of them piped up that global warming is just ridiculous, we could not be having that much of an affect on the whole earth. If it is happening it is just a natural cycle and there is nothing we can do about it.Now these are people that I have known for quite some time and we … (2 comments)
green: Twenty-one things that you might not know how to recycle, and how you can.
- 09/11/07 03:23 AM
1. Appliances: Goodwill accepts working appliances, www.goodwill.org, or you can contact the Steel Recycling Institute to recycle them. 800/YES-1-CAN, www.recycle-steel.org.2. Batteries: Rechargeables and single-use: Battery Solutions, 734/467-9110, www.batteryrecycling.com.3. Cardboard boxes: Contact local nonprofits and women's shelters to see if they can use them. Or, offer them up at your local Freecycle.org listserv or on Craigslist.org. If your workplace collects at least 100 boxes or more each month, UsedCardboardBoxes.com accepts them for resale.4. CDs/DVDs/Game Disks: Send scratched music or computer CDs, DVDs, and PlayStation or Nintendo video game disks to AuralTech for refinishing, and they'll work like new: 888/454-3223, www.auraltech.com.5. Clothes: Wearable … (6 comments)
green: “The most architecturally beautiful, Highest quality home I have seen in my career.”
- 08/30/07 04:17 AM
That is quite a quote from a professional appraiser, and while it says a lot about the magic and love built into this home, in this case it barely scratches the surface. This house is truly special. I have worked on a number of straw bale building projects, and each of them is different, with different ideas and approaches to design and application. At these building parties, sort of like, I imagine, an old barn raising would be, you meet people from all walks of life interested in this somehow, most human of building techniques. Maybe it is the new friends … (7 comments)
green: Building with straw!
- 08/22/07 09:09 AM
In these posts I am going to be looking at straw bale building. If you are not familiar with this fantastic building technology, hopefully I can help to inform you a bit. While I have not built my own straw bale home yet, I have worked on a few in the area. This custom, inviting interested people to help work on straw bale building projects, sort of like the old time barn raisings where all of you friends would come to help, is just one aspect of the charm that these buildings hold. Straw bale homes tend to be very healthy … (17 comments)
Michael I. Pulskamp of Mainstreet Brokers in Jackson, CA. Rambles on and shares thoughts about Real Estate, Amador County, Green homes, and foothill life in Northern California. buying and selling houses these days is anything but simple, you want a professional on your side. Finally Amador County has a real estate professional with the training and awareness to help you with green/efficient real estate.
That Amador County real estate pro is Michael I. Pulskamp. Lic. #0174833
Ok, We took the little steps towards some “GREEN” for Amador County Real Estate in the last post. Now we can look at some bigger steps. These certainly will not be for everyone, but information can only help, so don’t feel bad if these opportunities are a bit out of reach, just do what you can and try to think about what you are doing…The biggies, or” How dark is your green?” But first some background...In the last post we talked about turning off the stuff you aren’t using and CFL’s now lets talk about making your own energy. In case … (0 comments)
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