Products
Simplify Rainwater Harvesting with HOGs
How can you beat a name like Rainwater HOG (HOG)? When I walked through the March 2009 PG&E Water Conservation Showcase in San Francisco, my attention was drawn to a group of tall, handsome, and …
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Buildings
The Story of The Fireside: Seeing the Green in Value Engineering
Value engineering. The term often evokes trimming down a project. However, used properly, it can be a positive tool that helps one take a systematic approach to evaluating a building system or product from different …
Buildings
Mosaica: A Sustainable Community
Years ago, I came upon a bustling weekend flea market situated on a lot disfigured by broken concrete and asphalt, and anchored by a dilapidated warehouse structure in the middle of the site. Who would …
Buildings
The Story of The Fireside: Green, Affordable Housing
Right off of California Highway 101 and along the way to Stinson Beach, there sits a project “that could.” It accomplished many feats over the course of its development. As the construction manager on this …
Products
The First Green Replacement for the Concrete Block
Four years ago, I asked a contractor and architect whether or not there exist concrete masonry units (CMU) with recycled content. “CMU is CMU, just use the standard specs,” they said. Fast forward to 2009, …
Buildings
Berkeley’s Latest Super-Green Project
During my student days at U.C. Berkeley, my friends and I would go to the Great China Restaurant for dinner and the California Theaters for a movie. Along the way, there was a big parking …