Did you know that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency claims about 40 to 50 percent of wood from demolished buildings can be reused in new construction? While in the past there were limited ways to recycle wood in the United States, it’s becoming a more common practice because there are so many ways recycled wood can be used by builders.

One of our favorite reclaimed timber projects was Trey Parker’s Steamboat Springs home. In his home, we used timbers that had been salvaged from a railroad bridge that had at one time covered a part of the Great Salt Lake, much to the delight of local wildlife who thought the salted timbers were dessert. Using reclaimed timber was a great choice to create the look that was desired for this home, as well as a way to continue in our efforts of creating an environmentally friendly home.

Reclaimed timber beams are also a great choice because aged wood is seasoned, which means it is more stable than newly cut wood. Along with using reclaimed timber beams, wood that has is historic, recycled, or reclaimed can also be used for flooring and walls in new construction. Recycled wood can also be useful as garden or yard art, or to create new furniture. Using reclaimed and recycled wood doesn’t have to stop at the framing of a home.

Here at Trilogy Partners, we strive to be as environmentally responsible as possible in our building practices. Using reclaimed timber and recycled wood is just one way we achieve that goal.

Reclaimed Timber Frame house

Sustainability has become more and more of a hot topic over the last two decades as the extent of the problem has become clearer and clearer. Since each of us contributes to the human impact on the planet, it is up to all of us to be part of the solution.

Source: Shutterstock.com

Use these tips to become more eco-friendly:

• Replace old, incandescent light bulbs with their compact fluorescent counterparts, which last longer while using up less power.
• Set up a bin for composting. Something like a trash can with a lockable lid and 20 to 25 holes drilled in its side should more than suffice.
• For shorter distances, you can either bike or walk. For longer distances, you should do all of your weekly errands in a single trip rather than spread them out over multiple trips.
• Be sure to turn off your lights as you leave the room.
• Even something as minor as using reusable bags rather than their disposable counterparts can help.
• Likewise, purchase a reusable water bottle that can be refilled again and again rather than stock up on plastic water bottles.

Please contact us for more eco-friendly tips about making specific parts of the home more sustainable.

Singapore is known for many things from their vibrant food culture to their rich multi-cultural heritage to their high-tech industry. To add to their list, Singapore is leading the way in Asia in terms of green building.

This shouldn’t surprise anyone since Singapore Island only covers 85 square miles and is one of the most highly urbanized areas on Earth. This level of urbanization creates many special ecological and economic problems which Singapore is dealing with via green building technology.

Buildings in Singapore use a wide variety of methods to go green. These range from advanced solar paneling, landscaping the buildings themselves, using better types of recycled/sustainable building materials, as well as improved ‘smart lighting’ which works in tandem with available natural light.

The Singapore government has promoted this move towards green building with a generous incentive plan which has led to 1,534 new buildings passing the local equivalent of LEEDs certification. Along with older retrofitted properties, green structures account for 1/5 of all Singapore buildings making them Asia’s most green country.

Contact us to learn more about green and sustainable building or remodeling as well as other sustainable building tips for custom home design or remodeling.

Source: via Trilogy Partners

LEED homes have come a long way in recent years as a number of significant changes have been made. The trends in green home design have seen a lot of progress, transforming into what you see before you today. What are these changes though, and how can they best benefit you?

• The great thing about LEED homes is that they are far more realistic in their goals, whilst allowing you to achieve your ideal vision.

• Sustainable treatments are the main methods used during their construction, meaning that they’re more innovative, as well as cheaper too.

• A quality LEED home will contribute to its surrounding environment as they each give something back. This could be either a rural landscape, or even the architecture of an urban setting.

• LEED homes should be set in the style of their surroundings.

There’s plenty more progress expected from within this particular area of green home design. For more information, or for any other enquiries, then get in contact with an expert today to see how they can help you.

We are always searching for unique ways to incorporate green design into our homes, and using reclaimed scaffolding wood for the home’s structure or in its interior design scheme is one way to accomplish this.

Image: Inhabit.com

An excellent example of a home that benefited from the use of reclaimed wood is ‘Casa Box‘, which is a spectacular modern renovation of a caretaker’s home located on a Brazilian island. From the coastline, the home is essentially a concrete cube, but its contemporary design utilizes reclaimed wood from the original structure for the doors, windows, and stairway. Architect Alan Chu of Silveira e Cristiano Arns Kato Architectos designed the home with the intention of using the recycled leftover wood from the original structure to create contrast and layers of depth to the unique and simple structure. The use of the recycled wood adds tremendous character to this already stunning home, reminding it of where it once came from.

To learn more about ways that Trilogy Partners has incorporated repurposed materials into our projects, please be sure to view our sustainable design portfolio.

What images come to mind when you think of Colorado mountain homes? Are you visualizing pictures of attractive timber frame homes, stonework, natural and local materials, lots of windows, passive solar technology and homes blended naturally in to the surroundings?

Add expert financial management, sustainability and energy efficient home building to that list of images, and you will be describing the design-build philosophy of Trilogy Partners, award winning custom home builders located in Breckenridge, Colorado.

With years of experience in building custom Colorado mountain homes, Trilogy successfully manages the entire project including oversight of the design process, permitting, construction documentation, contractor coordination, and financial accounting.

Winners of the Summit County 2007 Builder of the Year Award, Trilogy Partners employs an integrated and seamless design-build process that serves the best interest of the client.  Committed to excellence in design and craftsmanship, Trilogy Partners are experienced custom home builders who micro manage all of the details, from the conceptual design phase right through to the completion of your beautiful Colorado mountain home.

Take, for example, the Trilogy Partners’ ‘Buffalo Terrace home.  Designed as a retirement home for the owners, Trilogy combined beauty, energy efficient technology, and green materials to produce a stunning illustration of the best in Colorado mountain homes, tastefully designed inside and out.  Utilizing timber frame design and meticulous attention to detail, ‘Buffalo Terrace’ proved to be a notable success.

Trilogy Partners specializes in energy efficient home building, and cutting edge sustainable architecture.  It’s more than just a design philosophy; Trilogy works to set an example of social and environmental responsibility by using new technologies and maintaining the highest eco-friendly standards.  For the best in custom home builders of Colorado mountain homes, contact Trilogy Partners.

Photo credit: Trilogy Partners

According to a recent article on Inhabitat, the Attorney General of New York, Eric Schneiderman, is suing the federal government for failure to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The lawsuit, filed in Brooklyn, states that the Delaware River Basin Commission, with full approval by federal agencies, proposed regulations on fracking without conducting a full review on the possible effects on the environment.

Fracking, the common term for high-volume hydraulic fracturing, uses enormous quantities of water mixed with chemicals and sand to break through the layer of shale and access natural gas deposits, and as other incidents in the past have shown, can endanger the local drinking water supply. (There are a couple of great documentaries on this subject, like 2009’s Split Estate and 2010’s Gasland.) The drinking water supply at stake in this lawsuit could affect up to 15 million people in the New York and Philadelphia areas.

Head over to Inhabitat (linked above) to read more about this important case, and visit the Denver Post to read about the impact of fracking here in Colorado.

photo via Split Estate

Last week the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) exhibit “Neighborhoods Go Green! Scaling up Sustainability” opened in Washington, DC. The exhibit models LEED for Neighborhood Development, which is the first comprehensive benchmark for green neighborhood design and is a framework to investigate the elements needed in a sustainable community. The exhibit is on display at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) headquarters.

"Neighborhoods Go Green!" will be on display at the American Institute of Architects headquarters until April 21.

The exhibit features text, photos, and illustrations that represent the features of a model green neighborhood, according to a press release from the USGBC. It also showcases several successful LEED-certified projects from around the nation.

Rick Fedrizzi, the president, CEO, and founding chair of the USGBC, said “’Neighborhoods Go Green!’ celebrates the projects around the world that are helping transform our neighborhoods into walkable, sustainable and economically thriving communities. This exhibit highlights the link between the importance of sustainability and the places where we live and work.”

“Neighborhoods Go Green!” will be on display in Washington, DC, until April 21, 2011, after which it will tour the U.S. You can learn more about the exhibit at www.usgbc.org/ngg.

Photo credit: Usgbc.org.

You may recall that a few days ago we told you that the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) named Denver the “greenest” city in the U.S. Just a few days ago, the USGBC released the list of the “Top 10 States for LEED Green Buildings,” and we are excited to see that Colorado placed in the top 10!

The USGBC based the list of the top 10 states for LEED certified buildings per capita on information collected from the 2010 U.S. Census, according to a USGBC press release. Scot Horst, the USGBC senior vice president of LEED, said “Using per capita, versus the more traditional numbers of projects, or pure square footage, is a reminder to all of us that the people who live and work, learn and play in buildings should be what we care about the most. 2010 was a difficult year for most of the building industry, but in many areas, the hunger for sustainable development kept the markets moving.”

The top LEED states per capita, including the District of Columbia, are as follows:

Colorado is one of the top 10 states for LEED certified buildings!

• District of Columbia
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• New Hampshire
• Oregon
• South Carolina
• Washington
• Illinois
• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Minnesota

Here at Trilogy Partners, we’re proud to do our part in creating LEED certified, sustainable, green homes. We think it’s awesome that Colorado placed in the top 10, and we look forward to continue building more LEED certified homes!

Photo credit: U.S. Green Building Council Colorado Chapter.

Posted By Mike Chino On February 11, 2011 – The idea of energy-efficient lighting appeals to most homeowners, but many people don’t have the time to research and understand all the complexity out there when it comes to finding the most energy-efficient and environmentally responsible lighting systems. That’s why Inhabitat is here to help in our Green Lighting 101 editorial series (which is generously sponsored by Philips). So far in our Green Lighting 101 series we’ve showcased the state-of-the-art in energy-efficient lighting tech and shared 6 green lighting tips to help cut down your energy bill – but what about the actual lamps fixtures that bring green energy technology to light? There’s a million ways to make a lamp – but all lamps are not suited to the same purposes, nor are they all made from eco-friendly materials or able to illuminate with energy-efficient light. With this in mind, we’ve rounded up the 15 most innovative, interesting eco-friendly lamps that bathe your home in low-energy light – read on for our top picks to suit any lighting situation!

Different types of lighting

Directional Lighting

Directional lighting refers to light fixtures that focus illumination in a single direction. When set in a series, these fixtures provide dynamic focus to a room and can efficiently distribute light throughout a room. Directional lighting is commonly provided by bulbs affixed to a ceiling-mounted track, where individual lights can be angled and rotated on a pivot. Another popular choice comes in the form of recessed downward lighting, where the light is regulated by “can fixtures.”

Task Lighting

Task lighting is a specific type of directional lighting that is focuses illumination upon a specific area where a task needs to be performed. Task lighting should not be used to replace overall lighting needs, but rather to complement or fill the void of existing lighting. Task lighting typically comes in the form of table and desk lamps, clamp-type flexible arm lamps, book lights, and for the more adventurous, headlights.

Ambient Lighting

Ambient lighting is designed to illuminate an entire room in a uniform and low-key manner. Ambient lighting should never be harsh on the eyes — it should create a comfortable environment that accommodates basic lighting needs. Popular lighting solutions for achieving this type of illumination include floor lamps, chandeliers, hanging lamps with low-watt bulbs, or hanging lamps filtered by cylindrical shades.

Hanging Pendant Lamps / Chandeliers

Bic Pen Chandelier by En Pieza

The Bic ballpoint is an iconic writing utensil that has been honored by the MOMA for its refined utilitarian design – so imagine the attention that this recycled pen chandelier will draw in your home! Each brilliant recycled chandelier is designed by En Pieza using hundreds of Bic Crystal pens that refract and disperse light from within. You can also step up this chandelier’s eco cred by popping in an energy-efficient CFL or LED bulb.

Cola Bottle Lamp by Sarah Turner

It’s hard to believe that Sarah Turner‘s brilliant starburst pendant lamps start out as a bunch of plain plastic bottles! The UK-based designer sandblasts old coke bottles, carefully cuts them into ribbon-like shapes, and then assembles them into orbital lanterns. Each elegant pendant lamp can be lit with a CFL or low-energy LED bulb.

Clothes Hanger Chandelier by Luis Teixeira

Luis Teixeira‘s elegant recycled chandeliers are composed of cast-off clothes hangers fanned out in a circular array. We love how each unique hanging lamp lights up with a sparkling gleam that rivals the finest crystal chandeliers.

Pop Pendant Light by Mauricio Affonso

We love seeing innovative new uses for everyday materials, so we flipped our tops when we spotted this Pop Pendant Light painstakingly crafted from soda can pull tabs by Mauricio Affonso. Like a disco ball or punched tin lamp, the 15″ sphere casts a beautiful array of light beams and shadows when illuminated from within by an energy-efficient bulb.

Recycled Coffee Stirrer Lamp by Studio Verissimo

Throwaway plastic coffee stirrers are a tremendous source of waste that plagues cafés around the world. Capitalizing on the way that plastic mimics the light-refracting properties of crystal, Studio Verissimo transformed hundreds of single-use stirrers into a stunning translucent chandelier!

Philips Ledino Suspension Light

Philips’ Ledino Suspension Light is a streamlined fixture that consists of a single strip of glass fused with brushed aluminum and three 7.5W LED lights. The fixture boasts a lighter-than air aesthetic that complements any interior space, and its array of dimmable LED lights can emit four different shades of light — from warm white to cool white.

Floor Lamps

Urchin Lamp by Molo

Molo’s brilliant flat-pack Urchin Softlights start out as condensed reams of craft paper – but they unfurl into beautiful hexagonal honeycomb forms. Simply install a CFL or low-energy LED bulb and these cloud-like lamps will lend a warm, enchanting ambience to any room.

Traffic Cone Light by Laura Haaker

This clever cone lamp by Laura Haaker is constructed from 6 connected traffic cones that expand outwards in a brilliant burst of color. This funky floor lamp can be easily outfitted with an energy-efficient LED or CFL bulb to add a dose of urban flare to any space.

Task Lamps

Leaf Lamp by Yves Béhar

Although it was initially released in 2006, Yves Béhar’s Leaf Lamp continues to set the standard for energy-efficient task lighting. The desk lamp consists of two beautifully-sculpted strands of aluminum that are highly recyclable and keep material use to a minimum. The adjustable arm bristles with 20 bright LEDs, and a set of touch-sensitive controls at the lamp’s base allows for easy adjustment of light intensity. The entire lamp is made of 37% recycled materials and is 95% recyclable.

Equo Desk Lamp by Koncept

Koncept’s svelte Equo lamp benefits from a pared-down profile that is as easy on the eyes as the light it sheds. A set of 28 bright white LEDs consume just 6 watts of energy, and a counterbalanced arm makes adjustments a snap.

Ledino Desk Lamp by Philips

This minimalist Ledino Desk Lamp by Philips packs a powerful LED light source and a lighter-than-air aesthetic. Its streamlined aluminum arm can be easily adjusted into any position, and its warm white light source is rated to last for 20 years of use.

Seagull Light by QisDesign

This streamlined Seagull LED lamp by QisDesign takes off with a lyrical design reminiscent of a bird in flight. The pared-down light improves upon conventional task lamps with a dual-panel design that can be easily adjusted to suit a wide range of lighting needs.

Table Lamps

Paper Tube Light by Ruth Oh

Ruth Oh transforms everyday paper postage tubes into elegant cylindrical table lamps by simply slicing away sections of carboard. They’re designed to use energy-efficient bulbs like LEDs or CFLs which run at cooler temperatures than incandescents.

Crystal Lamp by QisDesign

Designed by QisDesign, the Crystal Light consists of a series of modular icosahedron LED blocks that snap together to form practically any shape. This gorgeous glowing table lamp can be also configured to light up in an array of colors and patterns – perfect for setting the mood in any interior space.

Ledino Table Light

Philips’ Ledino Table Light is a versatile lighting solution that makes a great centerpiece for any room. The space-saving compact lamp is illuminated by a 3 LEDS that can cast either a directional spot light or a diffused lighting effect for at least 20,000 hours.

Bedroom Lighting Tips

When it comes to lighting your home, there are a few little technicalities to consider — but thankfully they’re easy. Lets start with bedrooms, which are actually one of the easiest areas to light in your home. For general lighting you have three options: a flush-mounted fixture, a semi-flush mounted fixture, or a chandelier. Chandeliers can only be used if the bottom of the chandelier is at least 6 feet from the ground — more space is preferable unless it’s directly over a bed, in which case no one will be hitting their heads on it. The question of flush-mount vs semi-flush mount is also simple — the advantage to having a semi-flush is that light bounces of your ceiling, so you get more illumination for your buck — but of course it also depends on your style.

Supplement your general lighting with table lamps for good ambient lighting, and remember these table lamps aren’t for reading — lower wattage is great here! You can save energy with lower-watt lights that are gentler on your eyes if you need to turn them on in the middle of the night. If you do read in bed, purchasing a task light instead of a table lamp could be a great idea to maximize the light when reading and save your eyes from straining. In general floor lamps can also be used in bedrooms that do not have power in their ceilings. In this is the case the best thing to do is to look for a torchiere-style floor lamp which typically uses a high watt fluorescent to shine light at your ceiling so it can reflect and light the room.

Kitchen Lighting Tips

As for the kitchen, pendant lamps look great over counters/islands/peninsulas and provide good light for cooking. Just remember to mount your pendants about 32-34 inches from the top of the counter. If the island is very narrow or isn’t a sit-down island, around 36 inches is the sweet spot. Determining the light size is simple — most pendants categorized as mini-pendants will do just fine for islands that are not very large. Just take into account how many pendants you would like, and space them out as symmetrically as possible for the best results.

Hanging a Dining Room Chandelier

The next part of lighting your kitchen or dining room that many people find frustrating is putting a chandelier over a table — just how big should that chandelier be? Well, there is a simple formula that will fix the frustration — take the shortest width of the table if it’s rectangular (or if it’s round then take the circumference), divide it by two, and then add a couple inches. For instance if you have a 48 inch table, you would use a 24-26 inch wide chandelier. The same rule for hanging pendants applies for chandeliers as well — mount it about 32-34 inches above the table, depending on the style of the chandelier. Take all these helpful tips and combine them with some of these green lighting options below to have your home look and function beautifully.

Green Lighting 101 >

+ 6 Green Lighting Tips

+ Your Guide to Energy-Efficient Lighting

Article taken from Inhabitat – Green Design Will Save the World – http://inhabitat.com
URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/15-green-lamps-to-light-up-your-life/