*Leave a comment below through the end of Thursday, February 2, 2012, to be considered for a random giveaway of one copy of Urban Ecological Design. The second book that I want to share with you is Urban Ecological Design: A Process for Regenerative Places , which is authored by Danilo Palazzo and Frederick Steiner. Read more here: Urban Ecological Design [Giveaway]

*Leave a comment below through the end of Thursday, February 2, 2012, to be considered for a random giveaway of one copy of Sustainability in America’s Cities. In the next two articles, I want to share a couple books that I think you may find interesting. The first is Sustainability in America’s Cities: Creating the Green Metropolis , which is edited by Matthew I. Read More: Sustainable American Cities [Giveaway]

I was happy to read all the comments and suggestions to my first article on HouseLogic , where I’m documenting a water-wise bathroom remodel.  So you know, my next installment is live today and, as with the first article, HouseLogic is offering a chance to win another $100 with this second article.  I hope you enjoy me sharing some of the process of this remodel — it’s been fun! I just want to take a second to provide a little more detail in response to observations from kind readers. For example, some have suggested that I take this down to the studs .  The main reason I decided not...

Inventive micro homes . Visit link: Efficient Apartments, Hungry Homes, Benefit Corps, + Passive House in Shambles

Recently I realized that we neglected to follow up on a Passive House project discussed in pre-construction way back in March 2010. It turns out the New England Passive House , or Little Compton Retreat , received LEED Gold certification from the USGBC in recent months. The background is this is a home by ZeroEnergy Design , who performed mechanical and architecture services, and Aedi Construction , who built the home. View original post here: Passive House Retreat in Rhode Island

For the Solar Decathlon enthusiasts and early planners, here’s a heads up that Solar Decathlon 2013 will be held at Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California, according to the Department of Energy .  In August 2011, we mentioned that the DOE was shopping around for a new location.  Turns out the new location is the site of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, which Irvine will convert into sustainable parkland for family recreation.  Teams will install their homes on the paved runway. In addition, the DOE announced the 20 teams that will participate in the solar-powered event. ...

It turns out that “ building reuse almost always offers environmental savings over demolition and new construction, ” according to a new study published by the Preservation Green Lab of the National Trust for Historic Preservation .  The Green Lab published its findings after a life cycle analysis of environmental impacts of various buildings located in four cities around the country. Green LAB compared building reuse and renovation with new construction in four environmental areas (climate change, human health, ecosystem quality, and resource depletion), six building types (single-family,...

What’s planned for construction by students on an infill lot and aiming to meet the Living Building Challenge with LEED Platinum certification?  That would be Canada’s Greenest Home in Ontario.  Students enrolled in The Endeavour Centre’s Sustainable New Construction: Building a New Future program will build the 2,000 square-foot home during a five-month period this summer. The home is expected to use a fraction of the energy of a conventional home and will have an energy-efficient foundation, prefabricated straw bale walls, grid-tied photovoltaics, solar hot water, rainwater collection,...

California-based kWh Power is tackling phantom energy loss by introducing the Plugwise system in the United States. Developed by Dutch company Plugwise in 2006, this system allows you to monitor, track, and control unnecessary energy use throughout your home or office. Read More: Plugwise Eliminates Excess Energy Use

Panasonic Corp. recently announced a breakthrough tankless toilet called “ Arauno V ,” according to newswire AFP Relax News .  This isn’t one of those toilets where the tank is hidden in the wall, rather the toilet draws water directly from the home water supply.  And the bowl is engineered like a tornado to cleanly circulate waste down the drain. Arauno V is expected to go on sale in Japan on February 21, 2012 from between ¥118,000 – ¥184,000 ($1,500 – $2,400, according to current exchange rates) Originally posted here: Panasonic Intros Inventive Tankless Toilet