One of the great things about living in a Built Green Certified Community is the seasonal decorating that comes with certain holidays. Halloween is a real hoot, but Christmas is very beautiful. The “front porch” community built in 2006/07 (and some 2011) really gets into the holiday spirit every year. Every porch has en electrical outlet so it makes it easy to have fountains or lights outside.
You can view the entire public album on Facebook, and it will continue to be updated as more people decorate – all the way up to Christmas! Have a wonderful holiday season.
Last March I published a blog post here about my being accepted into a federal training program for energy efficiency accounting and benchmarking. The City of Seattle is getting ready to do a big mailing out to building owners of structures 10,000 square feet or larger and 5 units or more in the multifamily category (so anything larger than a 4-plex). Most property owners don’t know they are required to report benchmarking information to the city (and elsewhere in the state interested parties can demand the information but you are not required to proactively report it). A number of individuals of qualifying backgrounds in real estate, construction, HVAC and building maintenance, were invited to this training and we became certified to use Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager.
The assumption is that many property owners would rather hire a third party expert to perform this benchmarking instead of going through the hours it will take to become familiar with the procedure and doing it themselves. In the case of rental property, every single tenant must give permission in writing to the property owner to obtain individual billing information from each account. It will take some leg work to get all those forms signed off on, and that’s where I come in. I can get all of the permissions, the data transferred, and complete the benchmarking report to the City of Seattle as required.
The Built Green Community of High Point in West Seattle has an approx 2.5 acre pond, with a 1/4 mile walking trail around it. High Point totals 120 acres, which makes up 10% of the Longfellow Creek watershed downhill in Delridge. All of the runoff from homes and streets and parks goes into bioswales placed throughout the community. Plants then filtrate the water for a time before the water makes it into a permeated culvert, that then directs the water to the pond. The pond holds water here so during heavy rains there is less flooding in the valley below.
If you missed the video when the pond was first drained (labeled Part 1), you can watch it here:
In August I went to a photo shoot for Seattle Magazine for a dog-centric article for the October issue. The article is called Seattle’s Dog Obsession, and it has a very nice slide show of people and their dogs who answered the call for models. Sophia and I are toward the end, look for the Italian greyhound with the ostrich feather collar!
Personally I believe living with animals is a good way to have a home-based, affordablem very rewarding hobby – although not always low cost depending on the mishaps your pet gets into. I have had some very expensive visits to the 24 Hour Emergency Vet because Sophia has a nose for chocolate and she has learned how to undo zippers on backpacks. I am lucky in that Sophia also travels with me for work much of the time, whether I am out touring or consulting and working in an office somwhere.
News today that interest rates have reached below 4.0% for the first time in history. How low can it go? Some of the over 700 comments (so far) think it can go even lower. I don’t see how it’s possible, but who knows? I have given up trying to predict what the housing market is going to do. But I am patient and here for anyone who wants help finding that steal-of-a-deal house with the help of a real estate broker!
I have been having lengthy discussions with a neighbor trying to explain how real estate market values work. I’ve explained things in more than one way but I can’t seem to get my point across. Really we just have to accept that our houses are worth 30% less than they were when we bought new four years ago, if they aren’t a distressed sale. I came across this article that I think will help those wrestling with reality.
Special Offer
Seattle City Light is offering additional incentives above our standard funding for retrofits and new equipment that save electricity.
Medium & Large Commercial: up to an additional 15% incentive on most measures for new commercial projects.
Small Commercial: additional incentives now rebate 80% of the average installed cost for most lighting retrofit fixtures.
Learn More
Increased incentives are anticipated to last through 2011, as budget allows. We encourage you to submit your projects early to ensure ample time for project review and processing. Please note the following program information and guidelines: Medium & Large Commercial:
Download an updated list of Medium/Large Commercial incentives here
70% funding cap; excludes projects with a pay-back of 6 months or less
Contact your Energy Management Analyst or SCL Energy Advisors at (206) 684-3800
Small Commercial:
Download an updated list of Small Commercial incentives here
Incentives are provided to encourage small commercial business owners to invest in changing out their old T-12 lighting fixtures to T-8 lamps and efficient ballasts
Help commercial customers take advantage of increased Seattle City Light energy-saving incentives to improve their bottom line this year. Upgrading now will reduce overall operating costs, lower electricity bills and improve customer and employee satisfaction. And new increased incentives mean shorter pay-back times.
If you have any questions, please reach out to your Energy Management Analyst or call SCL Energy Advisors at (206) 684-3800.
There was an important article that came out this week that I wanted to call to your attention. After 4 years in a Built Green Home and almost as long being certified in green housing, I’ve starting to see real meat and potato information coming out after more homes have been built/renovated, and it is being embraced by the consumer/home buyer.
Building green is getting big, better and cheaper. And it’s not just for new construction: from simple energy efficiency projects to “deep energy retrofits,” owners and leasers of existing homes and commercial buildings can join the green building boom.
I love it when big things happen locally to me. The Admiral Theater in West Seattle is proud to present the only Seattle theatrical premiere of FREEDOM, the jolting new documentary that takes a hard look at America’s perilous and unsustainable addiction to foreign oil on Saturday, August 6th at 7 PM. The documentary, which focuses on a surprising solution to America’s oil dependence, is from the filmmakers of the award winning Sundance documentary FUEL. I plan to attend and I am partway through FUEL, available to stream on demand on Netflix.
The Freedom Bus has a 30 city tour planned.
In a move that harkens back to the grand old days of showmanship, the husband and wife FREEDOM filmmaking team of Josh and Rebecca Tickell are embarking on a three month, 30+ city North American Clean Energy Tour in a fully customized Freedom Bus, a “green” constructed, highly energy efficient vehicle that will park at movie theaters playing the film. The FREEDOM Bus (@Freedom_Film on Twitter) will be open to the public for free and will showcase the latest biofuel-efficient, advance fuels and wind, solar and water technology. They’ll be filming webisodes of The FREEDOM Drive! Come participate, debate and be inspired…
FREEDOM features an eclectic array of personalities, including former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former NATO commander Wesley Clark, singer/songwriter Jason Mraz, (who scored the film), international author Deepak Chopra, and such “green” actors as Ed Begley, Jr. (seriously one of my favorite people!!), Amy Smart, and Michelle Rodriguez.
FREEDOM invites audiences to not just get mad, but to get motivated, offering serious fuel for thought for empowering people with knowledge and inspiring social change. The film explores the role that Ethanol plays as a homegrown alternative that will boost the domestic economy, create jobs and reduce our need to rely on dangerous and unstable parts of the world for our fuel. There is widespread agreement that America needs to wean itself off oil yet Ethanol has become a lightning rod of controversy. An anti Ethanol coalition made up of both big oil and radical environmentalists stokes the fires of that controversy every day. Debate rages on the pros and cons of Ethanol but what is the truth?
Both Josh and Rebecca Tickell will be available after the film for an audience Q&A. Tickets are $10.00 for the exclusive screening and can be bought at the Admiral starting Friday, August 5 or through Brown Paper Tickets. Or donations can be made at the door. You can RSVP for the event on Facebook here.
FREEDOM is a Green Planet Productions release. More information on FREEDOM, its theatrical release, its DVD release, and the North American Clean Energy Tour may be found here.
