Low Impact Living

Blu Homes Completes a Chalet in Colorado

Bridgette Meinhold — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:00:47 +0000

One of our favorite prefab home designers, Blu Homes, just completed a home in Colorado at the beginning of the October. The Fischer Chalet, a modern green prefab home in Breckenridge, Colorado, is a perfect example of what Blu Homes is capable of. While designed as a custom home built with the Colorado climate in [...]

Winning Homes of the 2009 Solar Decathlon

Bridgette Meinhold — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:00:02 +0000

We’ve been watching in eager anticipation to find out which amazing solar powered green home would win this year’s Solar Decathlon. This year marks the fourth competition, with teams from around the world journeying to Washington DC to showcase their most technically advanced and energy efficient prefabricated homes. The best and brightest turned out this [...]

Blu Homes Acquires Green Prefab Pioneer mkDesigns

Jason Pelletier, Low Impact Living — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:36:33 +0000

Blu Homes, a LIL favorite in the green prefab sector, announced today that they have purchased the assets of mkDesigns, the pioneering prefab company founded by architect Michelle Kaufmann that has been one of the most visible leaders in modular sustainable design. The plan is to bring some of mkDesigns' leading models (Glidehouse TM, mkLotus TM, Sunset Breezehouse) to customers around the country via Blu's proprietary manufacturing and building system innovations. This could be an intriguing combination, for mkDesigns and Blu were targeting different segments of the market and didn't overlap much.

Straw Bale Home in Sonoma County

Bridgette Meinhold — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:00:03 +0000

Passive solar design is the most economical way to provide heat for a home and also reduce cooling loads. But what do you do when passive solar design is impractical because your lot or the surrounding terrain makes it challenging or impossible? You make sure the home is very well insulated and install a very [...]

New Green Product Reviews and Information

Jason Pelletier, Low Impact Living — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:00:52 +0000

While it’s easier than it used to be to find truly green products out there, it’s still not that easy. It’s often hard to find that Energy Star label on appliances or home electronics, even if the product qualifies. And there seem to be five dubious green claims for every one legitimate one. Through time, better [...]

Tax Credits for Plug-In Hybrid Conversions

GreenOptions.com — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:00:57 +0000

If you live in Colorado and own a Prius, here’s a New Year’s Day gift for you: $6,000 off a plug-in hybrid retrofit. Earlier this year, Colorado passed House Bill 1331, “Incentives for Efficient Motor Vehicles,” which creates new tax credits of up to $6,000 for the purchase of, or conversion to, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. The new credit will be a substantial discount off the average price of a plug-in conversion, which generally run around $10-14,000. On top of the Federal Tax Credit of 10% (up to $4,000), plug-in retrofits could start to make a lot of sense for some car owners.

New Guide to Cell Phone Radiation

Bridgette Meinhold — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:50:56 +0000

Over 4 billion people in the world have cell phones. They’re handy, portable, inexpensive and we wonder how we even got along with out them before we had one. Cell phones are here to stay, there’s no doubt about that. But there are mounting concerns about the adverse health affects from radiation emitted from your [...]

From Parking Lot to Paradise

Jason Pelletier, Low Impact Living — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:54:00 +0000

Pavement is one of the defining characteristics of our urban existence. From pop-culture terms like “asphalt jungle” to the Joni Mitchell song and its famous lyrics about paving paradise for parking lots, pavement is often used as a symbol of both the progress and peril of our urbanizing ways. Unfortunately, all of this pavement is [...]

The Phoenix Commotion - Houses From Salvaged Materials

Bridgette Meinhold — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:34:58 +0000

When houses cost upwards of $150 per square foot, the prospect of building a new house can be downright frightening, even if it is green, sustainable and energy efficient. And for many, that price is absolutely out of reach. With prices skyrocketing and wages low, affordable housing is even more important these days, which is [...]

One For The Funnies: Electric El Camino

GreenOptions.com — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:24:31 +0000

Written by Christopher DeMorro, courtesy of Gas2.0, originally published on September 1, 2009 I’ve always held a certain affinity for the El Camino. It makes no apologies for what it is; niether car nor truck nor particularly attractive. But it lasted a long time and plenty of people purchased one. With the body of a truck but [...]