Good Green News

A 1.5 kilowatt solar electric system on my home's roof in San Francisco. Installation: ReGrid Power. Photo: Erik Kolderup.

With our attention riveted by the election and the economy this fall, it was easy to miss some good green news coming out of Washington, D.C. On October 3, President Bush signed into law the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.” Best known for authorizing the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, this bill also extends federal tax credits that expired in 2007 for energy-efficient home improvements. In addition, it increases tax credits for solar energy systems and extends them for eight years.

Besides benefiting homeowners, this law will likely spur the growth of the domestic solar industry, leading to the creation of thousands of green collar jobs and helping reduce the nation’s carbon emissions.

If you’ve been putting off buying a photovoltaic (PV) system because of the cost, it’s time to take another look. The previous federal tax credit for residential solar electric systems was capped at $2,000. Now, for systems placed into service from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2016, you can take a credit equal to 30% of the installed system cost, with no cap. [Read more →]

Pasture-raised chickens at Full Belly Farm, Guinda, CA. Photo: Erik Kolderup.

The California Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act (Proposition 2 on California’s November ballot) bans the practice of cramming farm animals into cages so small the animals can’t even turn around, lie down or stretch their limbs.

If you’re a California voter, please vote yes on Prop. 2. If you live in another state, I encourage you to look for ways to help end inhumane industrial agriculture practices that confine laying hens, veal calves and breeding pigs to cages barely larger than their bodies.

As the New York Times put it in an October 8 editorial, “To a California voter still undecided on Proposition 2, we say simply, imagine being confined in the voting booth for life. Would you vote for the right to be able to sit down and turn around and raise your arms?”

Apart from the ballot box, we’ve got so many ways to say no to factory-farm cruelty. I don’t eat meat but I do eat eggs from four hens that live in my San Francisco backyard. I started keeping chickens as a way to ensure that the eggs [Read more →]

I’m always glad when the less sexy aspects of the green revolution get positive media attention, like this past Sunday’s article in The New York Times magazine about building deconstruction (“This Old Recyclable House” by Jon Mooallem). Solar panels, wind turbines and plug-in hybrids create buzz and attract investors, but I believe it’s mundane activities like improving insulation, driving less, consuming less and reusing the stuff we’ve already got that will make the biggest difference as we grapple with global warming and “peak everything,” to use Richard Heinberg’s phrase.

Deconstruction, as I’ve written about on this site here, here and here, as well as in my books, means manually disassembling an obsolete building so that its components can be reused to remodel homes or construct new buildings. The more common approach, using a backhoe to crunch the structure and dump it in a landfill, costs less and can take a tenth of the time that deconstruction does. But deconstruction makes sense if you factor in all its benefits, including creating jobs, saving energy, wood and other resources, and providing people with a low-cost source of building materials.

“There is a compelling ethic behind deconstruction,” Mooallem writes, “one that is challenging our very standards of profitability and prodding us to rethink how

[Read more →]

Build It Green’s next green home tour in the San Francisco Bay Area is on Sunday, September 28. It features 14 new and remodeled homes in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Find out more about the tour here.

I write the case studies for Build It Green’s tour guidebooks, so I know there are some cool homes (and people!) on this season’s tour. The tours are a great opportunity not just to see green homes, but to get first-hand perspectives about green remodeling and new home construction directly from the homeowners and their design and building pros. [Read more →]

San Francisco architect Reuben Schwartz sent me an announcement about a new green house designed by his firm, Rothschild Schwartz Architects. Dubbed the Final(ly) House, this Sausalito, CA, home was built for a couple in their late eighties. The design marries universal accessibility features with green strategies including a living roof, FSC-certified wood and reclaimed local redwood, and passive solar design. 

The house is included on the Dwell/AIA-SF home tour this Sunday, September 14. Learn more from this PDF postcard or from Dwell.

I have a limited number of free tradeshow floor passes for West Coast Green in San Jose, CA — a $65 value, good for all three days of the conference (Sept. 25-27).

If you’d like one, please email info@jenniferroberts.com with your name and mailing address and I’ll put one in the mail to you. Please note the passes are good for the tradeshow floor only, not for the conference sessions, keynotes or receptions. First come, first served!

West Coast Green Residential Green Building Conference & Expo
Sept. 25–27, San Jose, CA

“A Healthy Home: Two Decades of Progress” — Fri. 9/26, 1:30 pm

Join a conversation between author Jennifer Roberts and Mary Cordaro, environmental consultant and certified Bau-Biologist, as they take you on a virtual walk-through of Cordaro’s own healthy home. Using video clips, they will show her ongoing “lab,” a 1950s Southern California house that she has been renovating over the past 18 years using principles that integrate Bau-Biologie and building science. In the process, they will highlight fundamental strategies for identifying and remediating common home-health problems.

After the talk, Jennifer will sign copies of her three books, Good Green Homes, Good Green Kitchens and Redux. Find out more on the Events page.

The Los Angeles Times ran an article today about a bill making its way through the California legislature that would ban perfluoroctanoic acid (PFOA) from food packaging like microwave popcorn bags and frozen pizza boxes. This synthetic chemical, also used to make Teflon and other nonstick surfaces, is considered a likely carcinogen.

In 2006, DuPont and other makers of perfluorinated chemicals agreed to eliminate their use by 2015. Environmental Working Group covers the PFOA issue at length.

Here’s what I wrote about PFOA in Good Green Kitchens:

Cookware Controversies

After studies in the 1970s found elevated levels of aluminum in the brain cells of Alzheimer’s patients, people ditched their aluminum cookware in droves. But since then the aluminum-Alzheimer’s connection has been largely debunked. As The New York Times reported in May 2000, “sick cells tend to accumulate toxic metals because they are unable to eliminate them. Despite numerous investigations, there is no scientifically reliable evidence that aluminum is the cause, rather than the result, of a diseased brain.”

Recent studies have raised concerns about another type of cookware, nonstick pots and pans coated with Teflon. [Read more →]

The New York Times today published an article, “What’s Lurking in Your Countertop?,” about the possibility of radon emissions from granite countertops.

Here’s what I wrote about the issue in Good Green Kitchens:

Radon and Stone

Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas derived from the natural decay of uranium in soil, rocks, and water. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States.

Radon is virtually always present at very low levels in outside air; it’s really only considered a health problem if it accumulates at high levels inside buildings. Although it is more prevalent in some regions than others, the U.S. EPA recommends that all homes below the third floor be tested for radon.

Can granite counters or other natural-stone materials used inside buildings emit enough radon to cause concern? [Read more →]

I served on the advisory board for National Geographic’s recently published book, Green Guide: The Complete Reference for Consuming Wisely. It’s filled with practical advice about greener living, from healthy eating to green remodeling to eco-friendly travel. Check it out on Amazon.com.