Recent Green Living Posts
|
By Steve Rypka on August 25th, 2011
I found a great book and I’m recommending it to anyone who would like to know more about just what a high-performance home can be. It’s called “Recreating the American Home: The Passive House Approach” by Mary James. The publisher is Low Carbon Productions.
Ms. James has put together an extraordinary and diverse collection of profiles describing homes built using the Passive House approach. The small but very informative book is easy on the …(more)
Continue reading Recreating the American Home – The Passive House Approach
By Steve Rypka on December 16th, 2010
 My perspective of home expands when I think of the coming winter solstice. A few of the sun’s rays reach deep into my office as I write these words, an occurrence peculiar to this time of year and south-facing windows. Other beams of light meet a different fate, ending their eight-minute sojourn from the nuclear furnace at the center of our little planetary system by striking the panels atop my roof, transforming their marvelous energy into a useful flow of electrons. I can see it in my little desktop display: 4.031 kilowatts at the moment. Amazing! It’s all about angles and orientation, in step with natural rhythms that resonate throughout the infinity of space and time.
Continue reading Winter Solstice – Imagining Home.
By Steve Rypka on December 2nd, 2010
 Winter approaches. The sun is tracing a lower arc in the sky while cooler temperatures turn leaves to gold and cause us to bundle up against chilling winds. The days are accented with longer shadows and darkness comes earlier with every sunset. Nothing makes a home feel more inviting at this time of year than a good dose of holiday cheer, especially when it’s of the deep green variety.
Gift-giving is at the core of the holiday season and the best gifts also happen to be the greenest, but perhaps not in the way you might think. Green gifts can represent the best we have to give while reducing the more harmful aspects of our collective consumption.
Continue reading Green Gifts From the Heart.
By Steve Rypka on November 18th, 2010
 It’s interesting to watch evolution in action. Whether it is the evolution of a relationship, a species, a planet or, in this case, a sustainable society – we are constantly changing. Several years ago, at a U.S. Green Building Council leadership meeting, I witnessed the launch of an interesting new idea: the Living Building Challenge. I think it was a seminal moment in the evolution of the green building movement. Now the seeds of this bar-raising concept are bearing fruit.
Biophilia is defined as “a love of life and the living world.” This wonderfully simple but powerful concept is embedded in the core philosophy of this greenest of green building programs. Other interesting aspects of the challenge include net zero energy and water use, urban agriculture, social justice and (gasp!) limits to growth. These are just a few examples of the sort of “deep green” goals that make the Living Building Challenge program both unique and meaningful.
Continue reading Building Living Buildings.
By Steve Rypka on October 7th, 2010
 October has been officially proclaimed Energy Awareness Month – again. The first proclamation was in 1991 and now for the second year in a row by President Obama. It’s good to reinforce the concept of energy awareness, and by proclaiming the same month again and again, our leaders are also setting a good example by recycling October, a valuable, limited resource.
All kidding aside, energy awareness is of vital importance to everyone. Most of us don’t think much about our energy use except when it’s time to pay the bills. Many complain about the high cost but do they really understand what we get in the bargain?
Continue reading October is Energy Awareness Month.
By Steve Rypka on April 22nd, 2010
 April 22 should be a GLOBAL holiday of deep significance. Seriously, I mean that. I can’t think of any other day whose meaning carries greater potential or consequence for life. It should be a celebration, and calibration, of our future. Earth is home to all people; every religion, nationality, race and political persuasion – not to mention the millions of other species we share it with. Surely Earth Day should reign supreme as the Big Enchilada, the Mother of all Holidays. But in the overall scheme of our daily lives, it barely gets a nod in the mainstream media.
Continue reading Earth Day – or rather, Eaarth Day.
By Steve Rypka on April 12th, 2010
Want to make sure that you don’t miss out on any of the events that are being scheduled for Earth Day? The Southern Nevada Group of the Sierra Club (Toiyabe Chapter) has created a special website just for EarthDay – check it out at EarthDayLV.com. The site is aiming to list all the local events that will be happening around Southern Nevada to celebrate Earth Day. Events are being added every day so check …(more)
Continue reading Earth Day in Southern Nevada
By Steve Rypka on October 22nd, 2009
“Food and Hunger: Eating in America” was the topic of a panel discussion presented by the Black Mountain Institute last week at UNLV. The panel included celebrated chef and author Alice Waters, writer and organic farmer David Mas Masumoto and noted food scholar Raj Patel. The conversation was meaningful, thought-provoking, and at times, witty and humorous. The hall was overflowing and it was great to see so much interest in a topic that included …(more)
Continue reading Local Gardens – Organic Food
By Steve Rypka on October 8th, 2009
By now, the concept of sustainability is one that most people are familiar with. Though there are many ways to define a sustainable society, there is really only one alternative to it. Basically, you’re either on or off the bus. By definition, being unsustainable only lasts for so long. It’s the ultimate dead end.
What does that mean in the current context of our lives, our homes and communities, and life as we know …(more)
Continue reading Transition Town
By Steve Rypka on August 27th, 2009
Home has meant many things to many people over time. From natural caves to stone cottages, cliff dwellings to modern tracts, homes have provided shelter and comfort throughout the ages.
Early human dwellings were located near the natural resources necessary to sustain life, especially water. This is still true in many parts of the world, but it’s also true that many civilizations have, over time, devised ingenious ways to bring water to their dwellings. …(more)
Continue reading Thoughts on Water
|
|
Recent Comments