The building sector is also generating large amounts of harmful operational by-products and toxic emissions. Waste disposal and environmental pollution are always among the challenges faced by facility managers, because these can potentially and negatively affect the health and safety of human occupants.

With such high costs in terms of resources and impact, the Green Building Movement is looking more and more appealing to building owners and the painting companies who often deal with these cost challenges.

Why Painting Companies are Going Green

Environment-friendly buildings use less amounts of energy, water and materials during construction, and utilize resources more efficiently in the course of its operational life. Green designs work with the environment, not against it, such as in the use of natural light to illuminate interiors. Painting companies supporting green construction use low- to zero-VOC emitting products.

Because of the more efficient resource consumption involved in the construction and operation of green buildings, there is a great potential for cutting expenses. Green facilities are also built with sustainable features that imply long-term operational cost savings.

Costs

At the beginning of the Green Building Movement, there has been a general perception that green buildings are more expensive to build than conventional buildings. That was primarily due to the initial inexperience of the building experts — designers, architects, engineers, painting companies and contractors. Green building design was highly-experimental in those days, with designers taking more time to incorporate the new green features.

Furthermore, green materials such as the coating systems used by painting companies cost higher then, because these products were not very abundant. In those days, few manufacturers produced low- or zero-VOCs emitting formulations.

At present, however, environment-safe buildings are less costly to build, because the green building technology has improved greatly. Builders have more experience in environment-friendly construction, manufacturers have enhanced the science of green products formulations, and painting companies have grown in knowledge and expertise of green applications.

Financial Benefits of Green Building

At each green building successfully built, builders learned important lessons and gained new knowledge that allowed the sector to gradually decrease the costs involved in building and maintaining green buildings. Below are a few of the cost benefits in maintaining a green building:

1. Lesser energy costs

Better natural lighting and heat circulation within the facility lowers electricity and gas consumption. The adoption of renewable power sources also reduces energy expenses.

2. Lower maintenance costs

Green buildings implement sustainable systems that ensure longevity of the structure, from non-toxic and resistant protective coating systems installed by painting companies, to improved thermal systems for better air circulation and ventilation.

3. Health benefits

Lesser toxic emissions and lower pollution levels increase the environmental quality of within the facility. With cleaner air, building occupants and workers are less likely to contract pollution-related illnesses that drive up health care costs.

4. Increased productivity

Employees and occupants spend their indoor hours in healthier and more comfortable environs, increasing the sense of well-being that boosts productivity.

Steve Parker, Sr. Estimator. RaiderPainting.com is the leading painting company providing commercial and industrial painting services to over 1,000 Fortune 500 customers and small businesses nationwide. Call 877-724-3371 for a no obligation Estimate. Read our daily Raider Painting Blog.

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Well, truly, the world’s greenest homes are those which actually put many angles off energy production to good use. For example, the heat and hot water could be provided through solar/geothermal means. With water coursing through a network of pipes driven into the ground, the Earth’s heat can be transferred to the water running within the pipes which is then circulated throughout the house to supply hot water and also a bit of heat, while the passive solar energy heats up the home as well through strategic window placement and the use of insulated double or triple paned glass windows.

Besides that mentioned pair of hand-in-hand techniques, the world’s greenest homes might also use active solar power (through the use of photovoltaic cells, otherwise known as ’solar panels’) hand-in-hand with wind-driven electricity generation. When systems of extracting free energy from the environment can pair up and act as teams, energy efficiency just seems boundless. Through the use of multiple battery cells to store the accumulated electricity we can produce from the environment, and then regulate the current flow into the home, there seems to be an endless supply of harvested free energy taken from the environment for our personal use.

For this reason, the world’s greenest homes are those which use the effect off a multi-angle approach to green living. It is this type of green energy efficient technology that works best – the system of them all working together. When designing a green home, it is best to use as many combinations of green technologies as you can – create redundant systems in case something might happen to one (like, a tree falling onto a solar array).

Once you have as many angles as possible set into place, all working together, one complementing the other, then you’ll have one of the world’s greenest homes. From there, self sufficiency and “off grid living” are quite attainable. All it takes is a willingness to diversify your sources, your resources of renewable free energy. After all, the more ways you can benefit from using the abundantly available and ever renewable resources of free energy, the better – am I right?

If you’re interested in learning more about world’s greenest homes and other things related to alternative energy, then you’ve got to check out the EcoPlusHome project.

Bryan Kenny and his family are an average North American family with one exception…they’re living in the EcoPlusHome.

The EcoPlusHome is a prefabricated home powered by alternative energies like solar thermal, geothermal and photovoltaic. Bryan and his family will show the world that it is possible to live self sustained for a 12 month period by showcasing their journey living in the EcoPlusHome on their blog.

Bryan and his family welcome you to join their journey to self sufficiency on their blog http://ecoplushome.com/blog.

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The ENERGY STAR label identifies a house having passed all efficiency guidelines. Builders realize that homebuyers are increasingly interested in the value of green homes and efficiency is the place to start. This is because the energy used to run the house is often from the burning of fossil fuels from power plants. The burning of fossil fuels contributes to smog, acid rain, and risks of global warming. That is why it is so important to use less energy which equals less air pollution. With these benefits, many homes builders are choosing to partner with ENERGY STAR. The best way to make sure a house is efficient is to look for the blue ES label, which is the government-backed symbol for efficiency.

Any homes that meet EPA’s guidelines and is three stories or less can earn the ES label including: single family, attached, manufactured homes, and low-rise multi-family homes, modular construction, log homes, and concrete homes. ENERGY STAR qualified new homes can contain a diversity of ‘tried-and-true’ efficient features that improved home quality, homeowner comfort, and lower energy demand while reduced air pollution.

Many home builders are realizing the benefits of building ES homes. For example D.R. Horton needed an edge to be successful in this challenging market. D.R Horton accomplished this by partnering with ENERGY STAR. They realized they must build the most efficient homes in the area to gain a leg up on the competition. This strategy not only made D.R Horton successful but benefited the homeowners’ as well with providing them efficient homes that saves them money on their monthly energy bill. Now D.R. Horton new homes feature 100 percent ENERGY STAR qualified fixture package!

Many ES home builders have been recognized for their energy efficient building processes. Aston Woods Homes won the 2009 ENERGY STAR Leadership in Housing Award and has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This award distinguishes the important contribution Ashton Woods Homes has made to energy-efficient construction and environmental protection by building more than 1,202 ENERGY STAR qualified homes last year. These 1,202 new homes will save homeowner about $537,294 on utility bills every year!

Another winner of the Leadership in Housing Award is SummerHill Homes. SummerHill Homes has committed to building energy efficient homes. With ENERGY STAR qualified new homes for sale offering new homebuyers all the features they want in a home as well as the benefits of a green home. Plus energy-saving features come standard with SummerHill Homes like, energy efficient insulation systems, energy efficient windows, tight construction and ducts, properly-sized and installed heating and cooling systems, third-party verification of energy performance, and energy efficient products. Plus not to mention that such appliances qualify for an energy tax credit!

ES builders are realizing the value of adding energy efficient products within the new home. Pulte Homes new communities now include ES appliances as a standard in each new home for sale. According to the Department of Energy, all Energy Star appliances use 10-15% less energy and water then standard models when certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy. Appliances and lighting account for more than one-third of the average homeowner’s utility bill according to the DOE. So including energy efficient appliances can translate into a considerable amount of savings. In Las Vegas, Pulte new homes for sale features LEED certification, is built under the Environments for Living® – Green Certified program, and is equipped with solar power panel roofs!

Many home builders are making sure to be ES qualified with energy cost on the rise, but one builder has been building green homes before it was trendy. With over a decade of building new green homes for sale and energy-efficient new homes, Pardee Homes has been a leader in building green homes with more than 24 LivingSmart and 14 California Green Builder-certified new communities (no wounder why California is one of the top Green building states). Starting in 1998 when Pardee Homes helped pioneer the EPA’s Energy Star® program, by building energy-efficient homes that exceeded code by 15% or more. In 2009 Pardee Homes pledged 100% commitment to building “LivingSmart” homes in all future developments

Find homebuilder information as well as new homes, new condos, and planned developments.

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An important factor in making ecologically friendly technology is how much resources it uses. For example, what is more friendly to the environment, gas or wind power? The obvious answer is wind power because there is an unlimited amount of wind and oil dwindles away. This is very true for concrete. The material that concrete comes from is limestone, and limestone is one of the most abundant materials in the world. Not only can concrete be made from limestone, but there are alternatives as well. One of these alternatives is ash. What better way to build your home than out of a by-product?

Again, what do you think is better, throwing away all of our trash or recycling? And again, the answer is obvious. Reusing products makes everything a lot better when you are trying to go green. Did you know that you can reuse concrete? When the concrete is no longer usable for what it was doing, it can be crushed down and used to make roads, curbs and other useful things. It is better to have a material that can be reused than one that is not.

The ways that concrete are green keep adding up by the fact that concrete absorbs heat and also reflects light. This makes your home and overall cooler place in the summertime, and also makes the house warmer in the cold winter nights. This, of course, reduces energy costs by saving money on air conditioning or heating.

As you can see, there is plenty that concrete is good for when you want to go green. It is one of the easiest and simplest of solutions that always get overlooked. Start your ecologically friendly mindset and have your next home finished with concrete.

Nancy Niblett is a well seasoned top award winning agent in the Valley of the Sun! Knowing how to sell your home or finding the perfect home for you is what she does best. She is number one in Arizona’s fifth top selling office and named one of Phoenix Business Journals top Individual agents.

Find this top agent or the home of your dreams in Gilbert AZ either in the Islands at The Islands Waterfront Property or in the community of Seville at Homes for Sale in Seville

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Now that the green building movement is gaining momentum, the construction industry is abuzz with environmental concerns, such as energy efficiency, lesser environmental harm, sustainability, to name just a few. For building designers and facility managers, this means that existing construction methodologies, products and materials must all undergo very deep scrutiny – from paint formulations to concrete finishes – to find out if they meet the standards of the environment-responsible.

Energy Conservation and Concrete Finishes

The dull gray slab of cement is shaded eco-friendly green because of its unique ability to help in managing the cooling and heating systems in the facility, making it a very energy-efficient material.

Concrete finishes have a remarkable capacity to absorb and retain heat when needed. In the summer months when heat permeates building interiors, they act as insulators, absorbing heat and keeping the area cool. In nighttime or winter, they also regulate the room temperature to achieve comfortable warmth, using the same heat absorbed earlier.

Adding to its value as an energy-saving application, concrete finishes often come in natural earth tones and hues. The lighter coloring helps the surfaces reflect more light and cooling the surroundings, further lessening the energy and lighting costs in the facility.

Green Concrete Finishes

When it comes to lessening environmental harm, eco-friendly building designers already give concrete finishes the highest scores in green building design and construction. After all, this material is sourced from the earth itself, being made from cement, which in turn is made from crushed limestone.

Limestone extracted from the earth’s bowels is abundant everywhere on the planet. This means limestone does not require the use of harmful materials for its extraction, processing, production and transport. Furthermore, green builders appreciate that cement is friendly to recycling – often using by-products such as ash in its composition, which are normally just thrown away as useless waste.

Sustainable Applications Using Green Concrete Finishes

Many eco-friendly building materials work because they lessen the harm to the environment during construction and application. But when it comes to longevity and endurance, concrete finishes are by far the best choices available for green builders.

Concrete is not only environment-friendly and energy-efficient, it can also last for long periods of time, impervious to physical damages that other materials are very vulnerable to. It is also resistant to decays, and can withstand physical damages brought by fire or water. When building materials have longer life spans, the facility incurs lesser replacement costs in the long run.

Sustainability is particularly important to modern consumers, who are increasingly demanding creative methodologies and materials with which to build their homes and work places. Architects, engineers and facility managers find concrete a very reliable material to satisfy the environmental concerns of consumers.

Steve A. Parker, Sr. Estimator, RaiderPainting.com – the preferred painting company for building owners and facility managers of commercial and industrial properties nationwide. Call 877-724.3371 for a free Estimate. And check out the Raider Painting Blog.

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Home builders and developers of new residential units are now instituting major changes in their design and development priorities in response to the growing desire of buyers for homes that meet higher standards for health and safety concerns for the household and Mother Earth.

Home developers are now actively engaged in the development and promotion of their respective green home dwelling options that have the following major features:

• Use of alternative steel framing which are more structurally sound and healthier than wood frames
• Low emission and energy-efficient window system
• Installation of HEPA air filtration modules
• Use of kitchen sinks outfitted with water filters
• Use of ceramic or hardwood floor materials as alternative to carpeting or vinyl floor materials
• Ventilators with heat recovery capability

Another home developer that is based in the British Columbia area has included in the mix of their home development specialties the use of healthy house features. If you are in search of new home design concept, regardless of whether you are buying from a home developer or going for custom-built units, it is important that you discuss with builders, architects and contractors about the use of healthy features in your dream home. This option may turn out to be more expensive upfront. However, the extra cost of using green elements in your home can easily be offset by long term benefits.

What are your options if you are not in the market to purchase or construct a new home property? What are your alternatives in incorporating earth-friendly aspects in your home renovations and improvements? If you are replacing something old in your home, or adding elements in order to enhance your level of comfort, you also have the opportunity to make your home a healthier and safer place for you and your family. It is also an opportunity for you to consider home repair and improvement concepts that are earth-friendly. With the incorporation of green elements in your home renovation and improvement projects, you instantly reduce your operating cost, increase home value and decrease waste and reliance to fossil fuels.

Here are some alternatives that you can consider if you are planning to incorporate green features in your home:

1. For your insulation, you may use cotton as your insulating material. Cotton delivers the same level of performance as fiberglass. It is also a safe and earth-friendly alternative.
2. You can use CA-B pressure treated wooden materials instead of the usual pressure-treated lumber for the external structures of your home. You have to remember that the latter type of lumber are treated with hazardous or toxic chemicals to prevent infestation and rot. You may also consider using sustainable construction material such as ipe, a type of Brazilian wood, for your outdoor constructions or decking. It is an attractive material aside from being rot-resistant and long-lasting building material.
3. You can also opt for the reclaimed type of redwood shingles if you require natural wood shingles in your home construction or renovation.
4. It is also wise to choose smoke detectors that don’t incorporate radioactive materials. While these trace amounts of radioactive materials in smoke detectors don’t affect the health of the inhabitants, proper disposal of these hazardous materials is a major issue.
5. You will significantly improve the quality of air in your home if you are going to replace the ordinary filters of your air conditioner and furnace with genuine HEPA filters.

Learn how to sell your own house here: For Sale By Owner

If you’re looking to buy a home from an FSBO listing check here: FSBO Listing

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As a result of homogeneous suburban neighborhoods and highway commercial sprawl, a strong emphasis is being placed upon the design and form of our built environment. One of the driving influences is to design places for people instead of the car. Vast seas of asphalt in front of stores or a line of barren garage doors on a residential street is vehicle based design. Interesting streets designed for pedestrian comfort is today’s vision of placemaking. This article will first look at land use growth management, its beginnings and the resulting urban form. Then an alternative growth management technique using the form of development will be examined.

Chapter One; Results of Land Use

Land use controls began in New York City in the 1870’s with the Tenement Acts and have been the primary growth management method in this country ever since. Like any system, there intended and unintended consequences inherent in the application of a process. In the case of land use growth management, the results have created many soulless places oriented to the auto. This chapter explores the history of our current condition and examines our behaviours and thoughts as a consequence of land use growth control.

LAND USE AS A GROWTH MANAGEMENT PROCESS; ZONING BEGINS

1916 New York; the Equitable Building

The Equitable Building was constructed and its significantly large scale caused a public outcry. Opponents of the building were outraged at the unprecedented volume of the building which cast a 7 acre shadow on the surrounding streets. In response, the city adopted the 1916 Zoning Resolution which limited building height and required setbacks for new buildings to allow the penetration of sunlight to street level. Specifically, new buildings were required to withdraw progressively at a defined angle from the street as they rose, in order to preserve sunlight and the open atmosphere in their surroundings for the good of city residents.

Zoning Codified; Euclid v Ambler Realty, 1926

Ambler Realty owned 68 acres of land in the village of Euclid, a suburb of Cleveland. The village, in an attempt to prevent industrial Cleveland from growing into and subsuming Euclid and prevent the change in character of the village, developed a zoning ordinance based upon 6 classes of use (residential, industrial and commercial), 3 classes of height and 4 classes of area.

The property in question was divided into three use classes, as well as various height and area classes, thereby hindering Ambler Realty from developing the land for an industrial use. Ambler Realty sued the village, arguing that the zoning ordinance had substantially reduced the value of the land by limiting its use, amounting to a deprivation of Ambler’s liberty and property without due process. The Court decided that the zoning ordinance was not an unreasonable extension of the village’s police power, the ordinance did have a rational basis and did not have the character of arbitrary fiat and thus the zoning ordinance was not unconstitutional.

Colors on a Map

At the time of Euclid, zoning was a relatively new concept, and indeed there had been rumblings that it was an unreasonable intrusion into private property rights for a government to restrict how an owner might use property. The court, in finding that there was valid government interest in maintaining the character of a neighborhood and in regulating where certain land uses should occur, allowed for the subsequent explosion in zoning ordinances across the country.

Results of Land Use Control

Planning has long been dominated by land use issues which are an awkward means of growth control as evidenced by our miles of highway commercial sprawl and auto dominated life. The main consideration with land use control is that adjacent land uses need to be compatible with each other. As a result, vast stretches of similar land uses have been developed all in the name of compatibility. This has then caused a total reliance on the auto to travel from remote suburban homes to jobs, shops, schools and entertainment.

Suburbia begins

The word suburb was first used in the 14th century to describe a residential area outside the wall of the city; between the city and the countryside. These first homes outside the urban area were for the underprivileged and the agrarian workers outside the safety of the town. With the advent of the industrial revolution, cities not only became denser but less healthy and dirty with primitive sanitation. The rich were the only ones who could afford to escape these early urban conditions by moving to the country in the original suburban developments. The first suburbs consisted of large lots designed in the English Landscape School such as Riverside outside Chicago and Llewellyn Park outside New York. Preserved open space systems, curvilinear roadways, emphasized view sheds all in a natural setting become the suburban design model for these early subdivisions all in a very park like setting.

A Better Suburban Model?

In 1929, Clarence Stein and Henry Wright designed Radburn, New Jersey twelve miles outside New York City. Known as the first “Garden City” in America because of its open space system, Radburn promoted itself as the “Town for the Motor Age”because it was the first community that planned for the automobile. Radburn broke with the established low density suburban practice by offering small lot sizes. Average lot sizes were forty-five hundred square feet fronting on a street and on an interconnected open space system to the rear. The open space system connected to commercial or civic uses providing a strong community pedestrian circulation system which was separate from the vehicular circulation system. The primary technique for separating pedestrian and autos was known as the superblock; a large block of land surrounded by main roads. Houses are grouped around small cul-de-sacs, each connected to a main collector road, introducing the cul-de-sac concept to suburbia.

Suburbia HO!; 1945

After World War II, there was a dramatic, national housing shortage. The lack of housing construction during the war coupled with the return of millions of young men, many who were starting families, created a critical shortage of housing. Between 1950 and 1960, new suburban developments on the outskirts of America’s cities drew 20 million inhabitants. One response to the suburban housing demand was to develop new communities of primarily single family homes. The development pattern of these new subdivisions borrowed from the historical suburban antecedents; unfortunately, most of these suburban design ideals were lost in translation while preserving only the design techniques.

The war effort had caused industry to be more efficient (production lines) and produce much more cost efficient products; particularly true for automobiles and housing. While the suburbs had historically been the exclusive domain of the wealthy, they were now open to the working class. Thus, cars and the freedom they provide opened up the now suddenly affordable new suburbs to middle America.

Levittown

Abe Levitt built mass produced housing for the war effort. He translated this affordable product to a potato farm on Long Island with Levittown. It became a 14,000 home community loosely based upon the historic suburban model; however, lost in the translation were the open spaces, preservation of natural systems, pedestrian orientation and emphasized views. All that really remained were the curvy streets.

The houses were small two bedroom, one bath homes with the kitchen on the street side, no garage or carport, on a quarter acre lot. The price was affordable, breaking from the elitist past of earlier communities. It became a sign of status for the working man to be “admitted” to the heretofore unaffordable suburbs. To conjure up the vision of the exclusive, high priced suburbs of the past, streets were laid out in the English Landscape School’s curvilinear pattern. However, because it had been flat farm land, there were few natural features to provide a basis for site plan organization. The curvilinear pattern of subdivision design was for mere effect without the design purpose of Riverside or Radburn.

The Ranch House; 1954

Levittown also introduced the ranch house (wide not deep) illustrating the suburban mantra of cheap, abundant land. The rearranged floor plan moved the kitchen to the rear for a backyard view while adding a carport to the front. This built upon the Radburn model of making the backyard the family’s private retreat while the front yard was the domain of the auto (the primary transportation option) which was proudly displayed in front of the home.

Resulting Suburban Form

By coupling the lack of a strong pedestrian orientation with mandatory carports or garages, the Leavitt’s refitted suburbia for the auto. Curvy streets were for autos. The front yard had no purpose other than parking the car and ceremonial aesthetics while the family retreated to the private sanctity of the backyard. The new and prevailing suburban model had emerged. Vast stretches of mono land use (which are thus compatible with each other) all connected by a dendritic system of roadways (arterial, collectors, locals) which are incompatible with residential use. This leads to a linear configuration of commercial uses along major roadways and then leads to the scale of the car being the dominant development theme for the highway commercial strips.

Results from Colors on a Map

Land use compatibility requires different land uses to be physically separated as a mitigation measure. This in turn causes similar land uses to cluster together thereby separating housing from jobs from retail from civic uses. The only means to get between land uses requires travel; usually by car. This exhibit is an example of “compatibility” from a land use/zoning perspective. In the adjacent aerial photo, single family homes in the background are “buffered’ from the commercial use by a wall and physical separation. However, the only way to go buy a quart of milk at the nearby store is to drive your car out onto the collector streets to circle around to the arterial street and reach the commercial uses which are actually proximate to the housing. Because similar land uses are considered compatible, vast areas of a community end up with the same land use. With little diversity of use, basic needs are excluded from residential areas. The classic example of this homogenous land use pattern is single family sprawl stretching across the landscape. Adjacent land uses all being similar causes far greater problems than the mixing incompatible uses; poor and expensive public services, expanding carbon footprint, increased fossil fuel consumption and wasted time in traffic all result from this development pattern.

Colors on a Map Epiphany

Colors on a map do little to nothing for compatibility. I learned this when homeowners were arguing with me that the proposed 75 foot wide lots behind a wall with landscaping were still incompatible with their 90 foot wide lots. Land use compatibility is all a sham.

Auto Dominance; Commuter’s Behavior

The only possible land use compatibility measures are physical separation or similar land uses being grouped together. This has led to vast stretches of homogeneous land use which created a complete reliance on the auto for everyday activities like getting to work, shopping, school or entertainment. Listed below are commuter behavior patterns:

• About a third can be classified as aggressive drivers.
• Six in 10 concede they sometimes go well over the speed limit.
• Sixty-two percent occasionally get frustrated behind the wheel.
• Four in 10 get angry.
• Two in 10 sometimes boil into road rage.

As a commuting mitigation action, the following behaviors occur:

• Take a less direct route 68%
• Leave earlier or later 60%
• Skip a planned stop 40%
• Changed work schedule 24%
• Moved closer to work 20%
• Changed/left a job 14%

If transit is available, Americans still choose to drive their autos even at significant cost:

• Six in 10 Americans have public transit available
• Just 10 percent use it regularly.
• Ninety-three percent call driving more convenient.
• Eighty-four percent drive alone to work.
• 80 percent of solo drivers aren’t interested in car pooling.
• Switched to transit 4%

Auto Dominance; Roadway Design

The auto dominance is so complete that development codes are written to ease the use of the auto at the expense of people. Development engineering standards geared to vehicles is now the standard for our communities. Wider roads need wider safety margins so buildings are moved away from the street as a development requirement. Roadways become congested and need to be expanded. The increasing number of travel lanes allegedly can move more cars faster but the homogeneous development pattern only creates more and longer trips. Typical development standards are as follows:

Orange County, Florida Building Setback Standards

Principal arterial, urban   70 ‘ from the right of way

Minor arterial, urban 60 ‘ from the right of way

Collector, urban   55 ‘ from the right of way

Auto Dominance; Development Standards

With the heavy dependence on the auto for mobility, roadways and the surrounding development evolved to match the scale of wide, high speed roadways. The scale of roadways was “improved” to better fit the maneuverability of the auto and as such the orientation of development also switched to parking lots on the street side with buildings at the back of the lots out of view. Lack of visibility was resolved with large, attention grabbing signs scaled to high speed.

Auto Dominance; Compatibility

These roadway development standards have resulted in creating an environment for the auto. The roadway is a noxious use from a compatibility standpoint so line it with similarly noxious uses (auto dominated commercial) all designed to non-human scale. No wonder residential uses need to be physically separated from this “place” in the name of compatibility. Roadways only become more noxious; thus the land use option is to line roadways with similarly noxious uses such as commercial all in the name of compatibility. The suburban model is dominated by the need for autos with resulting suburban design standards based around the dimensions and maneuverability of a car and the human is relegated to second class standards.

Land Use and Auto Use

Land uses are categorized by trip generation and uses are then more or less intense by the number of trips generated by that use. The auto is the common denominator in all land use equations. This can be witnessed with trip destinations as well. The shortest average trip destination is 6.9 miles due to homogenous land use pattern.

Trip type % Miles driven

Commute 18 11.9
Shopping 20 6.9
Recreation 27 11.0
Other 38 9.3

Auto Dominance; Wasted Time and Money

For the nation as a whole, the average daily commute to work lasts about 24.3 minutes; thus, Americans spend more than 200 hours commuting to work each year. This far exceeds the two weeks of vacation time frequently taken by workers over the course of a year. The average commute costs $6.00 a day or $1,500 a year. Over the course of a working lifetime, this would equate to $800,000 if invested wisely.

Predominant Housing Choice

Single family subdivisions have evolved in the last 100 years from the domain of the wealthy to the predominant housing choice for most Americans. In 2002, the National Association of Home Builders stated “American homebuyers prefer large houses and large lots and are willing to live in distant suburbs and accept longer commutes in order to have more space inside and outside the home. 76% prefer a conventional single family detached community.”

Time for a Change

There is a growing sentiment to resolve the ills of suburbia and its absolute reliance on the auto. There needs to be an alternative to land use based growth regulations and one such alternative comes from the New Urbanism development model.

CITY DESIGN; ORIGINAL APPROACHS

Humans have been gathering in urban areas for thousands of years; from early Greek cities to mid-evil fiefdom towns to pre-auto industrial revolution cities in the US. These cities were for people prior to the introduction of the auto. Yet there are many examples of successful urban places which conformed to the auto yet kept the original human scale.

The food bounty from organized agricultural practices allowed people to start living together in hamlets, villages, towns and, ultimately, cities. These were the first urban places as, prior to this time, all life had been in a rural setting. These urban places became denser as the population grew and the cities were organized around the street as a place for multi-modal transportation including walking, wagons and rail.

Savannah, Georgia 1733

Historic antecedents for city planning are found in Savannah, Georgia. This City was planned from scratch with a different motif than today; placemaking. There is a balanced land use program with the emphasis on creating great people oriented spaces for the residents, workers and guests.The city of Savannah was founded in 1733 by General James Oglethorpe based upon a repeating pattern of squares. Each square sits at the center of a ward. The lots to the east and west of the squares, flanking the major east-west axis, were considered “trust lots” in the original city plan and intended for large public buildings such as churches, schools, or markets. The remainder of the ward was divided into four areas, called tythings, each of which was further divided into ten residential lots.

Washington, DC 1791

Pierre L’Enfant developed a Baroque plan for Washington that features ceremonial spaces and grand radial avenues while respecting natural contours of the land. The result was a system of intersecting diagonal avenues superimposed over a grid system. The avenues radiated from the two most significant building sites that were to be occupied by houses for Congress and the President.

Chicago 1891

In 1891, Daniel Burnham was the lead planner for the 1893 Columbian Exposition World’s Fair in Chicago. Burnham’s concept called for a plan suggesting permanent buildings of a monumental scale; a dream city. Burnham used classical motifs as the general aesthetic of the fair grounds and structures so as to better blend with other architectural styles.

Garden Cities by Ebenezer Howard

Howard designed a prototypical city on 6,000 acres with a town center of about 1,000 acres and a population of 30,000. On the outer ring of the town there were to be factories, warehouses, etc., fronting on a circular railway. The remainder was to be an agricultural estate developed for agricultural purposes.

Historically, city design was form based to create memorable, endearing places. Land uses were an issue but the primary design principle was form. Older cities have had to deal with retrofitting the urban fabric to make room for the auto. Greenfield development has taken the opposite approach; development acknowledges reliance on the auto and is scaled to the auto with a corresponding loss of places for people.

ALTERNATIVE APPROACH

A Dramatic Change; Seaside 1982

The history of Seaside began in 1979, when developer Robert Davis inherited 80 acres of oceanfront land. Davis hired Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk to make his vision come true. They toured communities like Key West, Florida; Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia and the adjacent Grayton Beach to reveal the physical fabric that produced both the visual comfort and social interactions that made these communities famous.

New Urbanism

Traditional Neighborhood Design or New Urbanism was a reaction to the state of suburban development. In the 1980’s, designers started to question sprawling suburbia. Multiple car dependent residents living in single family homes spread across the landscape has placed an increasing demand on roads and the resulting roadway congestion has proved irresolvable. Other public infrastructure, such as schools and parks, fell below acceptable levels of service. TND was a modern adaptation of the historic pattern of development from small town America’s past; compact development with a full mix of compatible uses oriented to the street with a strong pedestrian orientation.

The most dramatic New Urban factor is the change from auto dominated design standards to human and pedestrian oriented design standards. Couple this with regulations geared toward the form of development (not land use) and there is an entirely different mindset on growth management. This new thought pattern is being implemented as evidenced by Miami 21; Dade County’s Form Based Code adoption in September 2009. There are now entire New Urban communities offering the advantages of New Urban design principles as compared to land use controls. One of the key differences is that compatibility is handled through the intensity of development and not by use. Denser areas of the community transition to less dense areas. This is greatly enhanced by controlling street design with two lane streets. By controlling the size of roadways, there are less noxious uses needing significant compatibility measures. In fact, the scale of New Urban communities is for the human; the pedestrian. The auto is still easily accommodated but not at the expense of the person living in the community.

BEHAVIOR TODAY

According to National Association of Realtors and Smart Growth America; 2004, 61% of soon to be home buyers would prefer to buy in a Smart Growth community with following community characteristics:

• Mix of housing types
• Sidewalks
• Shopping and schools at a walkable distance
• Public transit available

A recent study by RCLCO (the Market for Smart Growth; 2009) found that “Due to their compact design, pedestrian friendliness, protection of natural features and other smart growth approaches, it is significant that consumers not only prefer New Urban communities, they are willing to pay a premium to live in such communities.”

In 2004, the National Association of Realtors and Smart Growth America concluded the following 61% of soon to be home buyers would prefer to buy in a Smart Growth community with the following:

• Community characteristics:
• Mix of housing types
• Sidewalks
• Shopping and schools at walkable distance
• Less than 45 minute commute
• Public transit available

RCLCO finds a correlation between life stage and the desire to live in a New Urban community as follows:

• Empty Nesters
• Singles
• Over 60 years of age
• Under 40 years of age
• Over 50’s for close shops and restaurants
• Baby Boomers
• Health conscious

Recently, public opinion has swung from conventional suburban development towards a New Urban life style. This has caused the development industry to investigate conventional practices and examine other approaches to the housing marketplace. This ties into other current trends such as green practices and long lasting sustainable initiatives.

Planning Today

Today’s planning emphasis has rightfully shifted from land use controls towards these goals:

• Sustainability
• Low Impact Development
• Multi-Modal transportation
• Urban Design
• Form Based Code
• Mobility

All these concepts are inherently about compact development. With increased densities and intensities, compatibility is the paramount concern. Thus, land use control is the wrong model to use for compatibility. New Urbanism with its form of development approach is much more in tune with compatibility measures.

Jim Hall; VHB Director of Urban Planning, Florida

• Over 20 years experience in central Florida
• Successfully worked in 35 different municipalities
• Primarily private client practice including:
• site design/master planning /urban design
• permitting and entitlement attainment
• land acquisition due diligence/site selection
• expert witness services

A rich design background provides exciting and realistic development solutions. Strong leadership skills allow the successful completion of projects in an increasingly difficult public approval arena while balancing the many competing interests on complicated projects.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_R_Hall

What is Energy-10?

In a nutshell, Energy-10 is much like any other home design program in the market. It too is a piece of software that helps engineers, architects, and builders create excellent designs through the use of cutting edge features and functions. However, what sets this product apart is that it has the well-being of Mother Nature on top of its priority list.

Aside from having the capability to create aesthetically pleasing designs, this program also ensures that the said designs are as cost and energy efficient as possible. In more technical terms, Energy-10 is perfect for examining both residential and commercial buildings that are distinguished by 1 or 2 thermal zones (usually less than ten thousand square feet).

Green Minded

One of the most impressive features of Energy-10 is that it is able to estimate the energy performance of a building with very little information provided by the user. By inputting basic data such as the nearest weather data recorder, the building’s air-conditioning system, ventilation, heating, total floor space, and its geographic location, this program can come up with an accurate initial estimate of how much energy the said building will use. By doing so, Energy-10 ensures the production of home and building designs that are truly efficient in every sense of the word.

Collaborative Efforts

Energy-10 is a home design software developed by the NREL or National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Their Center for Building and Thermal Systems is the department that is at the forefront of this highly publicized initiative. They teamed up with other entities including the Berkley Solar Group, the Lawrence Berkley National Library, and the SBIC or the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council to come up with this groundbreaking software.

The result is a magnificent product that is not only effective in terms of its design capabilities, but also a breath of fresh air in the world of building construction wherein the well-being of nature has seemingly become irrelevant. Energy-10 is currently available through the SBIC and more information is available on their website.

Buying Home Design Software.Visit Home Design Software store for products information including customer reviews.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Diarioti

There are so many options in today’s market for green flooring. These flooring materials can be sand down, painted, or refinished. All this can be done with using material that contains volatile organic compounds or VOC’s. The finishes and glue used for some floor installations can contain formaldehyde resins. It is important to use non-toxic materials with little to no VOC within the sealants, cleaners, finishes, adhesives, polishes, etc. As a result you will create a home that has less toxicity in the air and is healthier for the planet.

Nothing is guaranteed 100%, so even buying materials with little to no VOC doesn’t assure you that it is completely safe. This is because there are so many chemicals produced today. Regardless of that, if you want to remodel your home using green home design techniques, you need to select products that are environmentally healthy.

Every area of your home can benefit from green design. When constructing or renovating your home, be sure to install many windows, glass doors, skylights to allow the natural light to enter. These measures conserve energy and make the home bright and inviting. Concrete floors are very stylish, an come in many patterns, colors, and textures. This flooring is one of the greenest because you can install it without the uses of chemicals like glue or finishes. Concrete can also be used as kitchen counter tops, which have become very popular. They are natural in appearance and create a modern looking style. This material also works well in the bathroom and on the fireplace. Recycled glass is another option for green kitchens. This is a very versatile product that can come in different colors. Try recycled glass as a kitchen counter top, back splash, or even tiles. Recycled glass is a great alternative in green kitchen design. Green Building Supply provides recycled glass in various sizes. The prices range from $1,129.00 to $4,223.00 for 30″ x 54″ to 60″ x 108″ slabs, and each are 1 1/4″ thick. You choose from five different color palettes.

Appliances are major purchases for you home. You need to think about function, and style, but most importantly energy saving capability. Whirlpool sells a Whirlpool Black 21.7 Energy Star Certified Side by Side Refrigerator for $765.00; item #ED2KVEXVB. Energy efficient appliances are readily available in the market today. It is actually very easy to to find appliance that save energy and water usage, and there is something for every budget. Be sure to recycle your old appliance properly.

When planning green home design, install a lot insulation for your ceiling and walls. This the best way to help your house be energy efficient. Make sure the the insulation material is earth-friendly. High quality glass windows, doors, and skylight with multiple panes help to also conserve energy. The cost of energy is steadily increasing. Being energy conscious makes good economic sense. After your initial investment, you will save money, reducing the world’s exposure to harmful chemicals, and aid the environment.

Fay Salmons writes about green home designs at http://www.theinsulationreport.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Faye_Salmons

With this in mind, consider the benefits of an eco-friendly home features as you go house hunting. Eco-friendly homes help protect nature, but also less expensive. The benefits of buying a green-featured home includes reduction in pollution, greater energy efficiency, healthier air indoors, preservation of natural resources such as native habitats and water and lower maintenance costs. These homes also maintain their value even in the current slow real estate market, appraising up to fifteen percent more than conventional homes.

How do you find out if the home you are contemplating to buy has green features? You would know if a home has eco-friendly features if it has the following:

1. It should have a U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certified ratings.

2. Possess an air quality enhancing features

3. Low emissivity and double paned windows

4. Appliances that are energy efficient such as Energy Star appliances

5. Makes use of solar power or natural lighting from the sun

6. Native, drought-tolerant landscaping

7. On-demand hot water system and water saving showerheads

8. Low-flow toilets

9. t uses paints, adhesives and stains with low or zero volatile organic compounds to improve indoor air quality.

10. It makes use of structural panel systems and eco-roofing systems.

11. It should have deciduous trees growing on the south and west parts of the house.

12. The home should “breathe” naturally, built with sustainable materials like adobe, straw-bale, rammed earth or insulated concrete forms.

13. Native, drought-tolerant landscaping and rain-catchment or gray water system

14. A green home is smaller compared to conventional homes. Since this requires few construction materials, it leaves less damage on the environment.

When looking for a nature friendly home, bear in mind that these homes are designed, constructed and operated using resources that has a lesser negative effect to nature. You can verify whether the home has been certified through one of the many nature building programs, which includes Austin Energy’s Green Building Program, National Association of Home Builders Green Building Program. There are also some programs for new and existing homes through Energy Star, a joint program by the Department of Energy and the Environment Protection Agency. These groups provide certain standards for certification. They can recommend on how to create a more energy-efficient home.

You may also have a third-party home energy rater to check out the energy features of a home. There are several recommendations on the sites of Energy Star, Austin Energy and the National Association of Home Builders green programs.

It is also important to ask your real estate agent how much they understand about eco-friendly homes, environmental issues and healthy house building practices. He or she should be able to help in your search for the nature friendly home of your dreams.

Rental property that comes with a wealth of amenities at Mesa AZ Rental Property and green homes at Mesa Eco-Friendly Houses.

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