Save Water, Save Energy: How Reducing Water Use Can Save Electricity

By Alex Wilson
January/February 2011


While the amount of energy needed to treat and deliver clean water varies tremendously by region, roughly 4 percent of the United States’ total power generation is dedicated to pumping and treating water—the largest single electricity user in many cities and towns. In southern California, for example, drinking water is pumped either from the Colorado River and its assorted reservoirs (including the nation’s largest, Lake Mead, which is now half empty) or from northern California. On a per-capita basis, energy use for water varies from about 350 kilowatt-hours a year in the South Atlantic states to more than 750 kilowatt-hours a year in the Mountain states.
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Small-Scale Green Roofs

Green roofs reduce stormwater runoff, aid natural cooling and attract native birds and pollinators, as demonstrated by this small green roof on a North Carolina garden shed.

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The Benefits of Natural Swimming Pools

By Michael Littlewood
June 2011 web

Imagine a swimming pool, and what do you see? A slab of sterile blue water, surrounded by tiles? It doesn’t have to be like that: imagine instead a pool of fresh, clear water, fringed by native plants and visited by dragonflies. Plenty of people are doing just that: the upsurge of interest in natural swimming pools, which I introduced to Britain in 2000, has convinced many owners of conventional pools to aspire to a natural one. The good news is that converting a conventional pool is usually possible – and much easier and cheaper than starting from scratch.

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Jewel Box: A Venice Beach Home Combines Modern Design and Sustainability

By Kelly Smith
July/August

Architect Andrew Mangan knows one way to spread the word about sustainable design: Build a can’t-miss-it, Technicolor, ultramodern home just blocks from the Pacific Ocean in Venice Beach, California. Built on a small lot, the colorful jewel box is a model of smart, green thinking.


We know the members of our editorial advisory board are on top of their fields, but recently their ...
Green Insulation 101: Cellulose, Fiberglass, Spray Foam and Cotton

Choose natural forms of insulation for your home.... Mangan designed the home’s colorful façade to attract attention. “Once it caught their eye, I knew people would want to learn more about it,” he says. “This opens up doors to learning more about its green characteristics.”
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Compost Bin Made of Shipping Pallets

By Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen
July/August 2011

Composting is the ultimate form of recycling, so shouldn't the container used for composting also be made from reclaimed materials? One of the most ubiquitious castoffs in our cities is the humble wooden pallet. It takes just a few minutes to hook together a few pallets to make a phenomenal compost bin.

You'll need:

3 wooden shipping pallets, all the same size (find them behind stores)
Attachedment hardware: your choice of screws, nails, bolts, teist-ties, or wire
Scavenged boards to act as slats for the front of the composter (2x6s, 2x8s, etc.)
12 to 16 total feet of 2x4 lumber (You can piece together scraps, if necessary.)
Chicken wire,hardware cloth, and/or flattened cardboard boxes (optional)


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Loan Requests Pick up as rates hit new lows

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages flirting with 4%

By Inman News
Inman News™

This Mortgage rates continued to inch downward into new record territory this week as worries about the European debt crisis continued to make Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities that fund most home loans look like safe bets to investors.


Borrowers finally seem to be responding to lower rates, with demand for purchase mortgages and refinancing picking up last week.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.09 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Sept. 15, a new low in records dating to 1971, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey. That's down from last week's record low of 4.12 percent, and a 2011 high of 5.05 percent seen in February.


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Water-Wise Oasis: A Tucson Desert Garden

By Marsha Scarbrough
September/October 2005

Not far from downtown Tucson, at the home of permaculture teacher Brad Lancaster, sun-baked sidewalks disappear into the feathery green foliage of a thriving oasis. Even more surprising than this welcome change of scenery, however, is the source of its sustenance. In one of the country’s most arid climates, this lush garden is irrigated entirely with harvested rainwater and graywater.

Brad transformed a barren yard on a blistering city block into an award-winning showcase for sustainable home horticulture through simple, inexpensive, low-tech strategies that can be effectively applied anywhere. He implements his philosophy—“just get the rainwater into the soil”—using basins, swales, berms, sunken beds, raised pathways and other water-harvesting earthworks to “plant water before you plant plants.”
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