Disqus - Latest Comments for Concourse_E

Re: Green Clayton i-house Launches at $75k

Concourse E — Mon, 04 May 2009 11:10:16 -0000

I wouldn't necessarily classify this as modern.

Re: Building Future, Green Hotels, GSA Stimulus, + Recycled Countertops

Concourse E — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:29:05 -0000

Sean-

That's essentially my point. I think their needs to be less cheerleading for the less than mediocre and more focus put on things that are going make a significant positive impact. TIme is of the essence and to constantly convey this "doing something is better than nothing" is counterproductive and does nothing to motivate a more large scale paradigm shift. We don't have the luxury of limping into true sustainability over the next couple of centuries.

Re: Building Future, Green Hotels, GSA Stimulus, + Recycled Countertops

Concourse E — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:32:17 -0000

All things being equal, from a journalistic standpoint, I would think for the AJC it's fairly embarrassing to incorrectly print the definition of main subject of which your whole story is centered around. They could've Googled LEED and found that out. For me, an error like this is symptomatic of a deeper lack of knowledge, and desire to be more knowledgeable, about the fundamental subjects being discussed. This isn't the local free paper handed out at high school pep rally's. It's supposed to be the regions biggest and most reputable paper.Would you trust and respect information from CNN if they spelled Obama's name Obomba? I think one would argue their credibility and at that point. Yes, typos and mistakes happen even to journalists, but to flat out display ignorance about the lead of your entire piece is ridiculous. At that point, I cease to be interested in what they have to say. Just my opinion.

Re: Building Future, Green Hotels, GSA Stimulus, + Recycled Countertops

Concourse E — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:22:00 -0000

I did that about a month ago and knocked $100K off an already low price...nothing. They are priced $50K lower than similarly sized moderns around the corner with zero features. I'm aware of the market, and I actually don't expect them to sell at this point, but from the interested parties that have come through, very few of them have shown any interest in the green features we put into them.

I actually took the solar panels of the townhomes because they are priced so low now that we can't afford to sell the homes with them on there. Plus, since people seem to not care anyhow, I'm selling the panels to someone in Asheville and keeping the others for the next house I build for myself.

I just think the AJC article really shows how clueless Atlanta really is compared to other major metropolitans in the country. It's a freaking uphill battle here just to get correct information out to people in the community. So to me, the AJC article does more of a disservice to community than if it had not been written at all. There are people here concerned about sustainability, but don't know where to begin. So if they're reading about people and projects being touted as "green" that truly are not then that is essentially compounding the problem. Now you have larger numbers of people with wrong information and who are emulating less than effective methods of achieving sustainability. It's like teaching a class of children 2+2=5. Yeah, you got 2/3 of the equation right, but the most important part (the answer) is wrong. So why would you want to propagate knowledge which in fact is not knowledge at all?

I'm just saying, it's an uphill battle here already without the severely misinformed AJC 'uneducating' the locals.

Re: Building Future, Green Hotels, GSA Stimulus, + Recycled Countertops

Concourse E — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:14:00 -0000

Let me be the first to apologize on behalf of my completely backwards and uninformed city (Atlanta) who chooses to print stories about LEED and doesn't even know what LEED stands for (the AJC seems to think it's Leadership in Energy Efficient Design). It's also sad to think that because a condo development has UV film on the windows and sustainable furniture it's green.

You see what I'm up against here Preston? No wonder I can't sell a truly green project...people here think a little UV filtering is all you need to be green. You should consider taking that article down. Those authors are clueless.

Re: Green Dwell Home II Moving Forward

Concourse E — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:09:44 -0000

Jonas-

The fact that it's not LEED doesn't mean it's not being built green. Don't regurgitate the USGBC marketing. LEED is really green for dummies. For the people that know what they're doing and have sustainability as their main priority in designing; LEED often is more of an encumbrance than anything else. The prescriptive approach will always water-down any lateral thinking.

Aside from the entire facade being glass (seems the architect is a big Philip Johnson fan) the house appears to 'greener' than the average home. Don't know of many homes (LEED or otherwise) that have green roofs and solar PV systems (present writer excluded). I'm LEED AP so if anyone should be a cheerleader for LEED then it should be me. Unfortunately for the USGBC, I'm a bigger cheerleader for the planet so LEED more often than not takes distant second when it comes to truly sustainable priorities.

Re: Architects Are Creating 'Killing Machines'

Concourse E — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:38:08 -0000

Cradle to Cradle is full of solutions... and they are truly sustainable ones. Put down the remote typical ADD American and read it...might learn something.

And no...there's no "For Dummies" version or 4 minute YouTube clip summing it up...you'll have to read it.

Re: New Survey: Consumers Want to Save Money Not the Planet

Concourse E — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:45:15 -0000

When you live in a consumption based economy as we do, the majority of people always will want more money to buy more things. Widespread acceptance of sustainability will never happen based on intellect, ideals, or altruism...at least not in the states.

People get green real fast when you have $4 gas though. That's why I was one of the few people who didn't want to see it go.

Re: Singing about Songbird

Concourse E — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:33:05 -0000

Yeah! The Songbird illustration makes me want it just for that. Maybe they'll do a vinyl of him.

Re: Eco Modern Atlanta Green Townhomes

Concourse E — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 18:33:19 -0000

Bruce-

These homes were designed to be efficient from day one, but also were designed for the marketplace here in Atlanta. You're not going to get people to go green by simply appealing to their ideals and environmental sensibilities (if they have any in the first place)...especially not here where sustainable living is only now seeping into the collective vernacular. It's almost a matter of tricking people into a more sustainable way of living by appealing to their inherent material desires for nicer more "posh" things. So the size, fit and finish of the townhomes is a result of what the marketplace here wants and a result of lot / building cost. As much as we want to bring greener homes to Atlanta, we want to do it in a manner that will allow us to keep food on our own tables. Green living is never going to take off if it doesn't appeal to the general marketplace, make economical sense, and, probably most importantly, enable businesses that provide green products and services to turn a profit (though given the current housing market that is looking less and less like a possibility at the moment in real estate).

This almost zealous viewpoint that going green and turning a profit are mutually exclusive and inherently reprehensible somehow is ridiculous and only stifling wider acceptance of a greener marketplace. America, and the entire globe in general, are only going going to be more environmentally responsible if it directly benefits, or appeals, to the individual themselves and that's the simple truth. Sitting around in an adobe hut eating off a reclaimed door dinner table by candle light while singing kumbaya is never going to take off no matter how little of a footprint that may make.

As far as your criticism of the materials, all I have to say is we worked within our means and what was available. I can also say we did our homework. Ceaserstone is actually not a bad option for countertops. It is a LEED approved material, antimicrobial and is less energy intensive than many recycled and quarried surfaces. There is no bamboo flooring harvested and manufactured in the US and Plyboo flooring is recognized as being probably the best source for bamboo flooring in terms of quality, sustainability and being VOC free. The soaker tub is quite common in asian cultures and has been proven to be much healthier for your limbic and muscular system since your entire body is submerged and you are in a seated position. As far as the gallons it takes to fill, it takes 75 which is equivalent to a standard garden size tub. Plus, the hot water is almost 100% from solar.

Our thermostat is set at 66 and given that February here averaged in the low 40s, and the fact that we have to keep about 10 exterior lights on 24/7 for security reasons, $4 for 614kWh isn't too bad in my opinion.

Short of living under the stars and off the land, any structure could be greener. We did the best we could and probably more so than we should have, financially speaking.

Re: Eco Modern Atlanta Green Townhomes

Concourse E — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:28:54 -0000

It's Hardi material used in a rain screen application.

Re: Method Homes Intros S-M-L Prefab Series

Concourse E — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:54:45 -0000

~$180 sqft with no solar or substantial energy efficiency features installed? Why is this appealing again? I still wonder what the business model is for pre-fab and who is buying this. Trust me I WANT TO MEET THEM cause have I got a deal for them:)

If you can go and buy a 3000+sqft stick built house constructed 25% with 100% recycled steel with 3.3kw solar PV, solar hot water, spray foam insulation, and countless other green features and finishes at $170 sqft with the land/landscaping, why would you want this pre-fab rectangle that, IMO, has very little architectural significance?

I want pre-fab to work more than anyone, but it's got to make sense economically. I use our project (which is packed full of expensive green technologies, features and finishes) as an example to show how expensive pre-fab really is; yet it's marketed like it's supposed to be affordable housing? I don't get it. And who wants to live in 550 sqft for $100k? Someone explain why this obvious disassociation isn't the case.

Re: Taliesin Mod.Fab Prefab Now Complete!

Concourse E — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:08:33 -0000

Are we ever going to see large scale rollouts of prefabs being built in something other than an academic / demonstrational environment? I think we get what they can do and what can be done at this poiunt...now let's find someone to do it in the marketplace; affordably.