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analyze web stats Viola Verde: Mar 14, 2008

Friday, March 14, 2008

Environmentally Friendly Swimming Pool


I have always wondered, with private pools been such a waist of water, how someone that really enjoys having this unnecessary extra at home, can at least follow some guidelines of responsible use and to minimize the impact on environment, or buy or build a green rated pool from a responsible manufacturer . Well, for everyone that had the same question on their mind, here is a partial answer from Green Homes and American Pools and Spas.

Green Office Advice


This interesting and unfortunate fact is relevant to everyone that spends considerable time in their office. As published in GreenMachineShop.com by Thomas, it states that “Particulate Dust Kills 370,000 Europeans per Year. Particulate dust, very small particles that are smaller than 1/10th of a human hair, is responsible for the death of up to 370,000 Europeans per year and shortens the average life expectancy by about 3 years, reported the German SWR radio station today.

Dust sources are for example the particulates that come of your car tires when you’re driving. In a household or office environment the bigger particulate sources are laser printers and copiers and vacuums.

To reduce the particulate dust at the workplace, best is to replace laser printers, with ink jet printers and solid ink printers. These printers don’t use toner. Also, open windows and doors as much as possible.”

So if you work in office, talk to your Boss, or if you are a Boss, please do something good about your people.

Thank You.

Nation’s First Green Residential Remodeling Guidelines Launched


New Orleans, LA (Vocus/PRWEB ) March 14, 2008 -- The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Foundation and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) today launched the nation’s first green residential remodeling guidelines at a press conference during INTERIORS 08: The ASID Conference on Design, held in New Orleans.

Organized into the ten most common remodeling projects, the REGREEN Guidelines are designed to provide professionals and homeowners with resources and tools to green their home remodeling projects. The guidelines can be applied to a variety of projects, from remodeling a kitchen to executing a full-scale renovation.

"Green homes are fundamental to leading healthier, more sustainable lives," said Victoria Schomer, ASID, LEED AP, interior designer and principal of Green Built Environments. Schomer was on the team to develop and write the REGREEN program. "In America , we spend a startling 90 percent of our time indoors. Home interiors have a profound effect on ourselves and our families, and the interior design professional has a central role in making them healthier and green."

To read the full news please click here.

The Difference Between High Performance and Green Homes


Sitting at my desk, and planning on which of all the interesting news from the last couple of days regarding our green building topic to post, I came across an attention-grabbing article about The Difference Between High Performance and Green Homes, posted on her blog by Stephanie Edwards-Musa, Realtor ® The Woodlands, TX Real Estate. A very interesting toping that I have been planning to write about in the future, well explained in this case by Stephanie. Recommended read to anyone in the real estate marketing and sales, construction or future home owners.

Differentiate or Die



While researching some information on the net, I remembered months ago reading an interesting article called” Differentiate Yourself with Earth Friendly Green Products” written by Ingrid Weir.

It is a well written article full with interesting statistics showing that only 0.3% of existing homes in US qualified as "Truly Green" whereas, 2% of homes incorporated a green product, such as energy-efficient doors and windows, appliances, or heating, never the less 40% of the people who renovated their houses in 2007 used green products. One of the main points the writer makes in the article is the need for everyone in the construction business, from GC’s to big construction companies, in order to prosper, and continue to develop as a successful business one should differentiate its self from the rest, and as in this case make room for greener projects in the future, as quoted from Jack Trout's "Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition", he warns, "Those who fail to differentiate their product or service, in the mind of the consumer, won't stand a chance." . If you’re interested in reading the full article, please use the provided link.