by Rob Jones on March 18, 2010
Buying a home is an investment, with an expectation for a long-term return. And with an energy efficient home, there is the hope of a shorter term return as well in the form of reduced heating and electricity bills. It’s no wonder that home buyers are favouring homes that feature tankless water heating, energy-efficient windows, low-flow plumbing, and other energy (and money) saving amenities.
According to USAToday’s Greenhouse blog, green homes sell at a better return, and faster here in the Pacific Northwest. I suspect that this is becoming true across the board as well, for reasons of energy savings as much as for the preservation of the environment.
I don’t think that this need to save money in a depressed economy necessarily diminishes what I feel to be a cultural shift. After all, economics and culture are strongly entwined. But a question I can think of is this: is simple economics enough? [click to continue…]
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by Rob Jones on March 10, 2010
This post is kind of an addendum to the post I wrote about the green wall in the Vancouver INGDirect offices. I suppose I’m still kind of thinking about this simple means of providing good air quality and overall humanity and comfort in spaces that are perhaps not known for either – like banks, and office spaces.
In any case, here’s another link to a blog post about green walls. This post goes into a bit more detail about different styles of green wall, or living wall. One such style is a sort of ‘wall of planters’, which (as the blog post points out) might be a bit more high-maintenance if you had to get up on a ladder to water them.
One thing that the post brings up is the installation of an irrigation systems, onto which a solid green wall would be backed. I wonder of grey water or rainwater harvesting might be the source for this kind of system? The integration of technolgies, it seems to me, is what really makes for the best ‘green result’.
Anyway, I’ve posted the question in the comments section on that post. Post your own comments over there – and here too – especially if you’ve got a green wall of your own and know a thing or two about day-to-day upkeep!
Cheers!
RJ.
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