Comments on: GREEN BUILDING 101: Water Efficiency

By: Kadek Ayu Susiani Dewi

Kadek Ayu Susiani Dewi — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:55:45 +0000

This is a good article and very inspiring! The idea about the Green Roof is helpful.

By: Inhabitat » McMansion Wetlands: Transforming Foreclosures Into Natural Water Filters

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:49:03 +0000

[...] Many believe that a shift of suburban population to higher density dwellings is inevitable. A Frog’s Dream bridges the existing gap between city and suburb by not only re-purposing existing infrastructure and domestic real estate but also efficiently utilizing their potential for enabling sustainability. The project outlines a new approach to waste management by transforming vacant McMansions at the periphery of cities into eco-water treatment machines. [...]

By: Kid Kilowatt

Kid Kilowatt — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 03:18:39 +0000

Pat, I purchased a 55 gallon rain barrel at a local garden/feed store and rerouted one of my house’s gutters to it. After a half hour / 1 inch of rain this afternoon, the rain barrel was full and overflowing!!

If you can’t find a rain barrel reseller locally, try contacting your local Pepsi/Coke distributor, winery, or brewery. Most have leftover storage barrels they’ll sell you for cheap. You can easily modify them into rain barrels with a little effort.

Hope this helps!

By: Pat

Pat — Thu, 17 May 2007 18:36:36 +0000

Is there anyway to collect rain water or gray water in Colorado?

By: Kirsten Hay

Kirsten Hay — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 23:34:33 +0000

Beautiful presentation of important information. One small thing Glen Murcutt is from New South Wales, not South Wales, different hemisphere. Thanks.

By: Inhabitat » Blog Archive » GREEN BUILDING 101: Materials and Resources, Part I

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 08:14:10 +0000

[...] In Bill McDonough’s famous 3-line vision for the transformation of design, waste=food. With this in mind, it’s best to turn as much of the material you discard at home into potential nutrients for plants and products in the future. Start a compost bin, separate household waste into organic, recyclable, and trash – and then find ways to cut down on the size of that third pile. Outside, you have options, too. Where frequently we let rainwater get away, there are materials such as biopaver, which capture and use rain, reduce storm water run-off, and use less overall material than impermeable paving. [...]

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 02:54:39 +0000

Lets not forget the savings of the water utility. In canada toronto a bill of $70 for $13 worth of water for 3 months!

You would think $13is nothing for 3months … and it is nothing look at all the cost on charges for delivery use of whatever and so forth.

By: andrew

andrew — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 22:31:51 +0000

These guidelines seem very skewed towards residents of the Midwest or Eastern US. Here in the Southwest, (specifically, Phoenix) I found that very few of the criteria apply to me. LEED-H is obviously not designed for homes in the Southwest.

By: Gheda

Gheda — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 19:30:04 +0000

Just a note of caution that in a lot of places,especially in the West, you actually do not have the right to collect rain water or re-use any of your grey water. You essentailly have paid for the right to use it once and then it needs to be returned to the city where it is processed and returned to the river for the right of use of others downstream.

By: Janne

Janne — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 17:39:16 +0000

The information here is great, but the images shared are inconsistent with the first principle in the series: Location and Linkages. You show us many pictures of “sustainable” homes in the midst of nature, but as you clearly pointed out two weeks ago, “as common sense tells most of us, avoid looking at developments that are a long way from the places you need to be. ” Not only do urban locations save on transportation cost to the environment and households, those who live in urban environments tend to consume less, living in smaller homes and with less (often nicer!) stuff.

Please give us more pictures of great urban sustainable design.

By: Rodger

Rodger — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 14:01:45 +0000

Excellent post. I live in Baja California, and it is hard not to notice the waste that well off home have through their large watered gardens, and cleaning staff that see need to hose down the drive way and sidewalks every day. Some other suggestions could be to have gardens that are representative of the natural environment. Trying to keep a semi-tropical garden (needs moist ground) in a Mediterranean area (i.e. very dry) is very water heavy. Tuscon was a great city for this. Beautiful desert gardens in front of many houses. In California people seem to want to live in the tropics, and even water plants on the side of the highways. I’m told that from sea the border between San Diego and Tijuana is visible since one side is green and the other is not (partially visible on google earth).. Quick tip… if you must water your lawn, do it at dusk or dawn. It is more water efficient as less is lost to evaporation, and it is better for the plant as water droplets act like small lenses focusing the sunlight, burning the plant.

By: jerad

jerad — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 08:25:02 +0000

All very good info – however, while I have read the same quote of 100 gallons per person per day, if you look at actual studies on a city by city basis, average us is usally closer to 250 gallons per day. Despite a reputation of everyone having hot tubs and pools in their backyards, Californians tend to use far less, with east coast residents using far more. All the more reason to be looking to reduce our usage.

By: kyle

kyle — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 20:15:10 +0000

This is less of a comment and more of a question. I’ve become very interested in the idea of green roofs, and was wondering how effective a green roof would be if it were coupled with a rain collection system. I would like to think it would work, but fill up slower. I’d also like to think that the rainwater collected would be cleaner having passed through a natural filtration system.

Are there any examples of this, or at least an educated (moreso than me) guess/answer?

Thanks.