It's finally happened. The green building movement now has a retailer to call its own, Treehouse.
Treehouse opened last week in Austin, TX and is the country's first home improvement center that will sell only sustainable and healthy-living products.
TreeHouse will carry a wide range of carefully selected merchandise including paint, floor and wall coverings, kitchen and bathroom fixtures, cleaning supplies,storage and organization options, solar power products plus a wide range of smart-home technology solutions that will allow customers to run their houses or businesses more efficiently.
The Barbie dream house -- such a splendid creation, isn't it? I know I confessed my extreme tomboy tendencies yesterday, but I also had a Barbie dream house. Mansion is a more accurate description, and I spent hours concocting elaborate storylines as Barbie, Ken and Courtney lounged in their sprawling plastic paradise.
In keeping with yesterday's redesigned toy theme, we stumbled across this story on the Barbie dream house of the future and had to share. Designs were submitted to the American Institute of Architects' Barbie Dream House competition, an event created to help encourage women to pursue architecture, a traditionally male-dominated field.
According to a story published in Fast Company Design, the winning house (created by recent Harvard master's grads Ting Li and Maja Paklar) includes solar panels on the roof, a greenhouse, bamboo flooring, zero-VOC paint, EnergyStar appliances and low-flow toilets and faucets.
Who doesn't love a good top 10 list? David Letterman, I'm looking at you! Product lists are especially helpful if you're looking to branch out from your usual favorites. You probably have your eco-friendly mainstays like programmable thermostats, CFLs, VOC-free paint and EnergyStar appliances.
If you're looking to broaden your green horizons, try incorporating something from Sustainable Industries' top 10 green building products. Some of the products may be better suited for commercial applications, but we picked a few of our favorites that would be excellent additions to your eco-friendly home.
Greensulate: Created by Ecovative Design, Greensulate "is the world's first sustainable rigid board insulation," according to the company. It's grown, not manufactured, from agricultural byproducts such as cotton seed and buckwheat hulls. The result is a product that's safe to touch and requires no safety gear during installation. It's also chemical- and VOC-free, and comes with a class 1 fire rating. The standard-size insulation sheets are great for exterior, roof and floor insulation, and custom sheets can be cut if you're in need of a specific application.
Who doesn't love lists? To-do lists, top 10 lists (especially the David Letterman variety) -- they're informative and entertaining. So we've added a new list for your reading pleasure. The U.S. Green Building Council recently released their list of the top 10 states (including the District of Columbia) that have the highest number of "institutional and commercial green buildings per capita," according to the USGBC, which is based on 2010 Census data.
In first place? Our nation's capital, which boasts "25 square feet of LEED-certified space per person in 2010," according to the USGBC.
The leading state? Nevada, which may surprise you -- thoughts of a continually illuminated Las Vegas strip don't necessarily conjure up eco-friendly images. Yet in 2010, Nevada recorded 10.92 square feet of LEED-certified space per person.
