Home Green Homes

“I’d like to describe what we do as wellness integrated living. That is actually the foundation and inspiration behind our book. Since it is so difficult to disseminate this information. A lot of people shot at Whole Foods, but they don’t even know or think about the house, “Is my house healthy?” like it’s just not something that’s on top of people’s mind yet. So I think that’s really going to be...

“I am an interior designer. I call the architect who calls the contractor. We all call landscaper because we’re all obsessed with plants right now. But all day we’re working in tandem in a circle. So I thought everyone needs to be involved here. What does it matter if I spend all my time trying to source responsibly and bill my clients may be a little extra for these efforts […] if the contractor...

“My modeling shows that the number one thing you can do to reduce the carbon footprint of your house is to switch from gas water heater to heat pump water heater.” As an energy consultant with Build Smart Group , Nick Brown, helps homeowners, builders and developers to design energy efficient and sustainable homes and buildings and ensuring they meet the California energy code. On this podcast, Ni...

“We are kind of in a new world order now. People are just loving driving electric. A study, a data showed that once you entered that market even if it’s plug-in hybrid electric, which is I have, you don’t go back so much.  You don’t go back to gas car. You stay electric.” Zan Dubin Scott, a communication specialist of ZDS Communications, one of co-founders of Plug-in America and the co-founder of...

“To me permaculture is really planning. It’s a road to sustainability. And I will add that may be not commonly used but its part of it is resilience.” Ruth Meghiddo, AIA, of Meghiddo Architects, founded Farm Urbana in 2014 with the vision for cities to become prosperous and sustainable. Ruth’s passion for urban farming began decades earlier, as a student at UCLA. There, she published a pioneering...

“Chefs don't like it. It’s not gourmet way to cook. … I won’t cook on gas any more. And in my private chef life, I literally bring my induction hub to my fancy clients’ kitchen if they don’t already have induction because it cooks better, faster and more accurate.” Chef Rachelle Boucher (a.k.a. “The Appliance Whisperer”) of Kitchens to Life is a celebrated national cooking appliance trainer, priva...

“We shouldn’t imagine that we’ll just get a $20,000 home loan and decarbonize the whole house. We could do that, but that’s not the most common way. More common, like you said, people are gonna have something that’s breaking or just broke, and they need to replace it. Now is the time to spend the money and I’m going to get an electrified version.  That means like a 8-year horizon. You can get the...

What you need to do is to talk to somebody that understands it all, that can look at and understand what’s going on in your home and help you decide what aspirational approach or what would be possible, and then back down as necessary. And you’ll get the best possible result. Passive House (Passivhaus) represents today’s highest energy standard for building performance with the promise of reducing...

“We have maximum above ground size limit for the homes. Sometimes cities or HOAs would have minimum size limits, but we have maximums. The reasons are two-fold: One to maintain the human scale so that we don’t have enormous homes. Also because one of the easiest ways to make homes more sustainable or to building in general is to limit their size.” Mulberry Grove in Moab, Utah, is a community devel...

“We now have a much evolved scope of how we are thinking about creating a better places for people to live, and looking at how to create regenerative neighborhoods that are truly creating more energy, more thriving lives for folks that more equitable, more vulnerable that helping address issues of climate resilience.” To facilitate new ways of thinking, Build It Green convenes stakeholders tacklin...

“I realized that I had to take the matters in my own hand. So it’s not just research the materials and the fixtures, and all the nice end product finishes. You had to make sure there’s no VOCs in your cabinets and flooring, and beyond that. I realized I had to research all the mechanical pieces and what goes behind the walls. It was frustrating but I realized if I didn’t do it, I’d be making a hug...

At certain points I think a lot of the building owners and management companies see the writing on the wall coming with policies changing not only at city level but also at state level with benchmarking, and conservation code is coming out, stretch code is coming out that they’re going to need to basically comply with within the next 10 to 20 years, next two decades. In a lifetime of a building, t...

“Anytime moisture is in the house, it not only can create a potential for mold growth or mildew, it can raise the humidity levels drastically based on what’s going on and how long it’s been going on, and that can actually create a very unhealthy environment inside the house.” Amanda Klecker is a Certified Building Biology Practitioner and Certified Professional Inspector trained with the Internati...

“What I envision is where everybody has healthy homes regardless of your income, your age, your ability, your race of gender whatever it may be. Everybody has access to clean, comfortable home that’s energy efficient, that’s run of clean renewable energy that’s not wasting any necessary resources.  I really think that’s possible. It’s possible even now. It’s not 20 years from now, but it’s possibl...

"We can talk about your particular situation and what’s best for you. Don’t ever get confused. Clients (home owners, buyers, investors) should recognize that they are the drivers. Everybody else is merely tools to help you get where you’re going. But you need guidance sometime to help you learn just what you can do and then you can make a qualified decision." Mike Young is a 203K consultant , who...

The new research has shown that when the humans are connected to nature in interior spaces, their blood pressure goes down, their serotonin level goes down, they got the dopamine kick in the brain that’s the happy hormone, and you end up with 15 to 20 % more creativity, happier wellbeing, 15% more productivity, and people want to be there so your attendance is higher and people would linger longer...

Net-Zero homes and energy efficiency, everyone knows that language. But materials are something people are just learning about. They are really getting pushed to the front. I think everybody knows that USGBC, International Living Future Institute, and Healthy Product Declarations. There’s this push the materials, and in so doing the green homes forward. Kate Bachner holds an MA in Contemporary Art...

After we had an energy audit done, we knew why some rooms in our home was cold in the winter and hot in the summer. In addition to our propane furnace approaching the end of its life, we needed to improve the energy efficiency of the home before we even consider of getting solar panels on the roof. Henry Francois of Gundlach’s Services from Bakersfield talked through the energy efficiency improvem...

  "There are many things inside our home that people can focus on before you even get the solar." Before homeowners rush to get the solar panels installed on your roof, it is recommended that the "envelope" of your home be inspected to make sure the energy is not being wasted.   Carl Reese , a general contractor and building inspector with many qualifications, discusses what energy audit also know...

“Banks love it because they know after the mortgage a lot of people’s next payment is utility payment. So if they see that you’re gonna have a home without $200 or $300 monthly utility payment, the banks would make the asset more valuable and to the new buyer it’s neat to get a net zero home and it’s more exciting for them.” Steve Nauert, a mortgage broker with Green Mortgage Advantage , as well a...

“We care about the home owner, and we care about the environment. We’re trying to lower emissions into the atmosphere where we’re trying to build it. We’re conscious, eco-conscious. So we care about sustainability, and we care about the toxins that are in your home. We don’t want VO2 emissions going off in your living space. The real heart of my messages are that we care.” - LeAn Fortunate Homes b...

… regenerative real estate can go as deep as regenerative design by looking at why are we considering the rain that falls on our roof storm water whenever it is the precious vital resources, and why are we powering our homes with fossil fuels that are extracted and degrading whenever we can be pulling from the earth and the sun and free resources, and why are we degrading mountain tops and far awa...

“…The National Association of Realtors, research shows that since the pandemic one in six homebuyers are purchasing multigenerational homes, which is bigger, accommodates grandparents who live with us and young kids. So this new ‘full house family dynamic’ can also lead to increased energy usage, obviously, and consequently, increasing our utility bills.” Dennis Stinson is the Vice President of Sa...

Joseph Gentile, Vice President of Real Estate at Pearl Certification "According to the Department of Energy, 25% of homes are sold undervalued every year and what are those homes have in common? Well, it's energy efficient features. If you went up to a buyer and said, “Would you like to live in a house that had less dust, less bugs, less mold, costs less money to run every month, and it was more c...

“The pandemic has done for energy efficiency and sustainable building practices in one year what we have been trying for 20 years.”  CR Herros Regina Marston is a passionate marketing executive with over 20 years of experience leading and directing the marketing and advertising activities for a variety of companies and organizations. Regina has experience in leading the marketing efforts for natio...