Ms. Darby

Although it sounds vaguely like some sort of bacteria, rest assured, SIP’s are much less threatening. The acronym stands for Structured Insulated Panel’s. These efficient and ingenious panels are used in floors, walls, and roofs in mostly residential (and some light commercial) projects.

From the SIPA (Structured Insulation Panel Association) website:

The panels are typically made by sandwiching a core of rigid foam plastic insulation between two structural skins of oriented strand board (OSB). Other skin material can be used for specific purposes. SIPs are manufactured under factory controlled conditions and can be custom designed for each home. The result is a building system that is extremely strong, energy efficient and cost effective. Building with SIPs will save you time, money and labor.

I am told that because SIP’s are manufactured with the insulation built-in, the application is more reliable. Instead of having, say, a spray-foam insulation on your project, where areas can be missed and only show up once a blower door test is performed, SIP’s provide a tight and reliable envelope from the start. This, of course, allows your blower door test – if you are going after a specific building program compliance path -to be more efficient.

As you can see by the graph above, just by using SIP’s, as opposed to conventional timber frame building, you are reducing your energy needs by half. Those are great numbers, don’t ya think?

Also, by by using energy efficient building materials such as structural insulated panels, builders and contractors can qualify for a $2000 tax credit on residential homes or up to a $1.80 per square foot tax deduction on commercial buildings.

Filed by admin at 2:54 pm under Ceiling Systems, Products, Walls
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I think this is a Winterberry bush (a.k.a. Teaberry bush.) I can’t positively identify it, though. Anyway, instead of getting a tree this year, I cut some branches from our bush outside and voila! I love the organic shapes and bulbous berries.

Filed by darby at 9:13 am under General
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This is the mackeral David and I caught while in Florida over Thanksgiving. It’s been frozen since the day we caught it, and still tasted so fresh. I blackened it and finished it with some soy mustard sauce and a buerre blanc. Served with baked sweet potato and some blanched hericot vert almondine.

No points for plating, but the fact that I timed everything well was my goal. No Iron Chef just yet, either, but I’m working to refine. Bon Appetit!

This post is inspired by the ultra-talented and amazing Bohemian Girl. She is posting photo’s for the month of December, thereby taking one more “task” off her list in these busy times by eliminating the sometimes overwhelming feeling of needing to write a blog post. Funny, because I don’t have a job (she does), and this woman gets more done in a day than I do in a week. There are just those people in the world, nudging us to all stretch a little bit further…

Thanks, BG!

Filed by darby at 10:46 pm under General
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For as long as I can remember, my family has had the ritual of stretching out Sunday morning in the pursuit of newspaper reading. This tradition involves all kinds of newspapers, depending on the location of any given Sunday, but it ALWAYS involves The New York Times. I almost always go to the magazine first, if I am not sideswiped by an unsuspecting “Style” section headline. (Plus, I have a guilty pleasure of reading the wedding announcements. PURE east coast lineage postings, really…)

This week, the magazine hosted its’ 7th Annual Year In Ideas. I adore this issue. I’m not sure if its because I was blessed with the “wonder bug”, whereas seemingly mundane things become incredibly interesting to me, no doubt implanted by my parents, or if it is purely that some of these revelations are truly incredible.

Some of my favorites this year are:

- Fake Tilt-Shift Photography, which makes pictures of actual life-size vistas look like pictures of miniature model’s of said vistas.

- The Honeycomb Vase, sculpted by bees

- Left-hand-turn Elimination, which would make one of my best friend’s mom proud, as she never made left-hand turns. UPS has incorporated the practice, saving three million gallons of gas and reducing CO2 emissions by 31,000 metric tons

- Mindful Exercise, a study concluding that self-awareness can lead to actual, measurable health benefits.

- Lap Dance Science, which deduces that women earn more while ovulating.

Filed by darby at 12:37 pm under Docu Potent, raves
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Waste has plagued me since I was young. I still obsess ruminate on stuff – all kinds of stuff – and where it all comes from.

While personally declaring a “no obligatory gift giving holiday” and opting for a “no gift” wedding next year, the stuff I already possess is too much to handle. I don’t need more stuff. In fact, I need less stuff.

In my youth (my younger youth, of course), I had a rule. I couldn’t own more than what would fit in (the back of) my car. Freedom, movement, and spontaneity were part of my ethos. Now that I own a home, I find myself acquiring things like garden hoses and sanders and it causes me pause. Am I somehow trying to make myself feel better, trading in “freedom” for goods? Well, it isn’t working.

Over at Treehugger, I found a post on this great 20 minute video made by Annie Leonard through Free Range Studios called “The Story of Stuff”. It’s all about the “Materials Economy” and tells the real story. You can watch that, or (re)read Natural Capitalism. I suggest both.

Filed by admin at 8:02 pm under Activism
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The “greening of America” is on, and some major mainstream corporations continue to lead. While The Home Depot declared a full-time dedicated staff to environmental issues way back in 1990, their actions continue to prove their sustained interest.

From producing progressive consumer education programs to their ultra generous corporate contributions, it seems every time I turn around, The Home Depot is sponsoring sustainable building initiatives. In addition, they announced back in August that “products that meet the criteria will be tagged Eco Options to make them easier to find.” While this past years onslaught of mega-stores providing “green” options has no doubt acted as an incentive for this product attention, the positive outcomes continue to be the real story.

I know that without The Home Depot’s involvement, our local Habitat for Humanity would be unable to accomplish much of their work. The continued efforts and huge contributions of the orange DIY store makes me reconsider going anywhere else for my home improvement needs.

(This, by the way, is much more than any ad campaign would hope to accomplish. Although, their You Can Do It, We Can Help tagline IS excellent.

Filed by darby at 9:39 pm under Community, Products, Resources
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The “greening of America” is on, and some major mainstream corporations continue to lead. While The Home Depot declared a full-time dedicated staff to environmental issues way back in 1990, their actions continue to prove their sustained interest.

From producing progressive consumer education programs to their ultra generous corporate contributions, it seems every time I turn around, The Home Depot is sponsoring sustainable building initiatives. In addition, they announced back in August that “products that meet the criteria will be tagged Eco Options to make them easier to find.” While this past years onslaught of mega-stores providing “green” options has no doubt acted as an incentive for this product attention, the positive outcomes continue to be the real story.

I know that without The Home Depot’s involvement, our local Habitat for Humanity would be unable to accomplish much of their work. The continued efforts and huge contributions of the orange DIY store makes me reconsider going anywhere else for my home improvement needs.

(This, by the way, is much more than any ad campaign would hope to accomplish. Although, their You Can Do It, We Can Help tagline IS excellent.

Filed by admin at 9:00 pm under Community, Products, Resources
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Threads to the Past by Marty LeMessurier

While with my “in-laws-to-be” over Thanksgiving, I was introduced to this amazing gift idea by my “mom-in-law-to-be”. It is a book entitled The Story of a Lifetime, and it seems to me every member of every family should have one.

The book is substantial in size, nice and heavy, and will eventually contain the life story of the recipient, after s/he fills in all of the (nearly) 400 pages of questions.

Questions like:
What was your first year of marriage like?
How did your mother and father meet?
What were your dreams and goals during your first years of independence?
What does your ethnic and cultural background mean to you?

While this gift can be given to anyone of any age, it seems especially suited to relatives who are older, wiser, and have much to tell. I love honoring our elders’ experiences and stories in this way.

Filed by darby at 12:04 pm under General
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What’s not to like about pink sustainable houses conceived by Brad Pitt? In response to rebuilding New Orleans Lower 9th ward – after the (still) devastating effects of Katrina – Global Green, Brad Pitt, Home Depot, and the people of the 9th Ward’s Holy Cross Neighborhood Association teamed up to produce the first low-income sustainable housing community.

Global Green and Pitt sponsored an international design competition in the summer of 2006. The New York based architecture firm Workshop/APD won the competition, and the completion of the first home there is underway.

The Holy Cross Project consists of 5 single-family homes, an 18-unit apartment building, and a community center/sustainable design and climate action center. The goal of the project is to achieve LEED Platinum standards…, net zero energy and carbon neutral building. By using solar panels, high performance building design, HVAC systems, energy and resource monitoring systems, and energy efficient appliances, the buildings in the Holy Cross Project will use at least 75% less energy than typical buildings. In addition, Global Green is also exploring the use of river turbines in the adjacent Mississipi River.

My favorite part of all of this is that “Global Green has assembled a highly skilled and dedicated project team of national experts paired with local professionals with the goal of transferring knowledge to ultimately make green expertise indigenous to New Orleans.” Teach a ‘hood to fish. True sustainability.

So, where does the “pink thing” come in, you ask? Well, The Pink Project is a huge installation, combining architecture, film, and art to raise funds for the rebuilding effort in New Orleans. Check out the super cool concept and more on the Make It Right website.

On December 3rd, over 100 pink houses will be unveiled along the Industrial Canal in the Lower 9th Ward. Upon commencement, the components of each house will lay haphazard on the site. It is only through monetary donations that these pink placeholders become reassembled, registering the effects of a collective consciousness, ultimately enabling the construction of 150 real homes.

Filed by admin at 11:59 pm under Building Programs
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I have been searching for the perfect used Mercedes diesel for some time now, in hopes of converting it to run on SVO, or straight vegetable oil. It seems that even before the conversion, the diesel will perform better than its’ counterparts.

A new study by the Pardee Rand Graduate School, a non profit that researches public policy issues, finds that the “advanced diesel provides better performance and fuel economy for the price.”

Graham’s team calculated the individual and societal costs and benefits of conventional gasoline vehicles, gasoline-electric hybrids, high-tech diesels and flex-fuel vehicles burning E85 full time. Conclusion: Unless gasoline prices, averaging $3.10 a gallon now, rise above $4 and average $3.50 or more the next few years, or ethanol prices drop a lot, diesel’s the best overall solution; E85’s the worst.

At a time when ethanol organizations, together with GM and Ford, (both pro-ethanol entities and supporters of the Rand school), are ramping up promotion of ethanol fuels, this news is less than encouraging.

I like the closed loop approach of using “waste” to provide a new energy source. Watch out, fast food restaurants. Here I come, and I need your leftover vegetable oil.

via USA Today

Filed by admin at 4:49 pm under Alternative Energy
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My experience with low VOC paint in my own home has been, well, less than stellar. Still, I am always on the lookout for great products, and as the industry demands better “green” alternatives, more arise. Like Mythic Non-Toxic Paint.

Developed with help from University of Southern Mississippi, the paint not only has zero VOC’s, but Mythic claims their paints “are better performing than any paint on the market today.”

It is great to finally see no VOC paints with texture options other than flat. Eggshell, Satin, a multi-purpose primer, and even a drywall primer round out the offering’s. They have 1232 standard palette colors, and can also match virtually any other company’s color.

While Mythic paint is just launching and is not in stores yet, they unfortunately were not able to answer the question of how much their paint costs when I called their 1.888.714.9422 number. Hopefully, this will soon improve. (I was told to call Monday for the info. While I look forward to trying their product, this is a poor display.)

Filed by admin at 6:15 pm under Paints
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