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July 2008
More than food for fuel
In-Forum - Fargo,ND,USA
Cellulose, the most common organic compound on Earth, is found in everything from corn stalks and wood chips to fast-growing trees and grasses. ...
’Steve ONeil: Shining a spotlight on county energy efficiencies
Budgeteer - Duluth,MN,USA
This living roof will save heat, keep the building cooler in the summer and reduce storm water run off into Lake Superior. This project, as well as many of
UNR group to create organic farm today
Carson Times - Reno,NV,USA
The plants either were started from seed in a campus greenhouse or donated by cooperative extension master gardeners. "To make it a more sustainable garden, ...
Applications of Trichoderma in Hydroponics
American Chronicle - Beverly Hills,CA,USA
In my spare time, I love to work in my garden and yard and I also have a small greenhouse where I experiment with new formulas and techniques. ...
Lawrence couple spend almost 20 years developing a pristine vista
Lawrence Journal World - Lawrence,KS,USA
Under the living roof sits sturdy wooden furnishings and chipping antiques. All that is missing from this Tuscan inspired theme is a bottle of wine — but ...
Apartments to have a green touch
The Salinas Californian - Salinas,CA,USA
A mix of native grasses and wildflowers will be planted on the "living roof." The roof will not require irrigation and will attract native species of birds ...
California Academy of Sciences
Greenroofs.com - Alpharetta,GA,USA
The roof will be planted with over five plant species native to San Francisco, and approximately 1.7 million plants will blanket the living roof.
Green Travel: Newer, Earthier California Academy of Sciences
Jaunted - USA
The main component is the "living roof" which consists of an undulating hill-like design that's lined with seven inches of soil and planted with grasses and ...
Saying it with flowers
Telegraph-Journal - Saint John,New Brunswick,Canada
... scarecrows in the shape of a mermaid and dark knight; small playhouses, including one with a living roof, another with a climbing wall outside and, ...
Nature discovery centre opens its doors
Newbury Weekly News Group - Newbury,England,UK
The centre also includes energy conservation features promoting an awareness of sustainability in managing buildings and homes, with its ‘living roof’,
June 2008
——Living near the Homestake
Gallup Independent - Gallup,NM,USA
Evers dug out 30 tons of soil and repliced it wiht 50 tons of new soil in order to grow what she considered to be safe vegetables [Kathy Helms
The future of food is not on the farm
guardian.co.uk - UK
The greenhouses will capture so much energy they will be supplying electricity back to the national grid, rendering the facility almost carbon-neutral. ...
Going Green From The Ground Up
Associated Construction Publications - Norcross,GA,USA
A green roof is insulating, bringing down heating and cooling costs. And the plants on a green roof protect it from harmful UV rays, prolonging the life of ...
Facelift planned for library
MidWeek - DeKalb,IL,USA
Tobias said they also plan to have a “green” roof installed near the entrance area, which would feature grass and other types of vegetation.
Summit Fire victims try to restart their lives - on a nine-month ...
Santa Cruz Sentinel - Santa Cruz,CA,USA
The dream cabin would run on their new Honda 3000 generator and have a "living roof" of desert plants. The roof would be Locke's place to lay in the sun and ...
Caetani builds with straw
Vernon Morning Star - BC, Canada
In addition, a green or “living” roof will be installed on the building. "We will build a level frame and cover it with a solid deck and waterproofing ...
Adirondack Resort Features Green Roof
WCAX - Burlington,VT,USA
But building a living roof is not cheap. This one cost about $50000. There is some return on investment. It acts as a good roof insulator, requiring less ...
Green Gardening: A ray of sunshine for a vanishing lupine
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA
As grassy savannahs give way to subdivisions, the fragrant pea relative is vanishing. Sadly, it is the main host plant for the rare Fender's blue butterfly. ...
Environment - Green Roofing
Garden and Green - Newcastle Upon Tyne,Northumberland,UK
Weight bearing capacity, drainage, the amount of sunlight, the slope of the roof are all factors that must be considered carefully if the living roof is ...
From an accidental nick in garden, you can get a salad dressing
Baltimore Sun - United States
I once made the mistake of putting bales inside my car. Once a bale of straw enters your car, it latches onto the upholstery and never lets go.
–Living roofs, solar panels all standard in new homes
Northampton Chronicle & Echo - Northampton,England,UK
It is a green roof and will be made up of a material with plants growing from it. "This means it will absorb water when it rains heavily and then release it ...
City unveils self-sustaining water centre
Metro Canada - Calgary - Calgary,Canada
As well, the new Water centre has a green roof, useful for its insular properties, being used as a pilot project that may be transferred to other city-owned ...
Planting on your roof can save on energy bills
CBS 42 - Austin,TX,USA
The green roof, when compared to a black top roof, equals 21 percent savings in your energy costs, all while housing blossoming cacti and blowing grasses. ...
May 2008
Green Mountain donates solar panels to Chamber
Waco Tribune Herald - Waco,TX,USA
Features of the chamber headquarters include a living roof made of growing material to give the building “relief from the hot asphalt around it,” said ...
Taking the LEED in green building
Business Gazette - Gaithersburg,MD,USA
The ‘‘living roof” of sedums helps soak up storm water so the property needs no expensive storm water management ponds. The excess rain is collected in
Lace Elementary School Receives $90000 Grant From DuPage County ...
Earthtimes (press release) - London,UK
The green roof and rain garden will provide students with a chance to understand that rainwater is a resource, not a waste product.
A green space on high
Manchester Evening News - Manchester,England,UK
The `living roof', worth £8000 was donated by Wigan-based firm Permanite Engineered Roofing Systems, who installed the pre-grown turf on the 150sq metre ...
Share this article:
Herald Times Reporter - Manitowoc,WI,USA
The water is circulated from beneath the rocks by a hidden submersible pump and travels through an underground pipe to the waterfall, down the stream and ...
City's Signature Roof
Vancouver Sun - British Columbia, Canada
At the moment, the grandest and most ethically ambitious architecture in the city -- the green, living roof of the new convention centre -- resembles a hair
Green Center
WROC-TV - Rochester,NY,USA
He also plans to add solar panels and a living roof, that will have wild grasses. Plus, an earth berm around the building will help keep heat in.
'Green' home concept goes beyond cutting rising energy bills
HaLife - USA
Consider a green roof. It can increase the life span of the underlying roofing materials, while reducing heating and cooling costs and the amount of storm ...
Eco-weak to Eco-chic
Richmond.com - Richmond,VA,USA
Newly construct underground structures provide for present-day urban use. A sprawling lawn, green roof, lessons the project’s environmental impact. ...
Joseph E. Newsome: An emerging energy apartheid?
Providence Journal - Providence,RI,USA
The three-story building has a 10-kilowatt solar-energy array, a living roof, a rainwater recovery/reuse system to flush toilets, interior light shelves, ...
WITH SEA VIEWS...
Plymouth Evening Herald - Plymouth,England,UK
The building, which will have solar panels and a 'living' roof, will replace a Swiss chalet-style home which has been there since 1902
Huge Collection Of 'Antique' Roses Goes Up For Sale As Vintage ...
FortBendNow - Richmond,TX,USA
Selected, tested and grown by nursery owners Bob and Marcia Roenigk, the 200 rose varieties on the 50-acre farm and nursery are "antiques," some of which
Bale Gardens A bold new strategy for hassle-free vegetable gardens
North Coast Journal - Arcata,CA,USA
Seattle Tilth had an exhibit at a garden show a few years ago in which they demonstrated how to plant a straw bale garden. The idea was to take what is ...
First 100% off-grid green building in San Francisco
Green Building Elements - San Francisco,CA,USA
... as well as the Green living roof that will reduce building needs for heating and cooling, provide retention of storm water on site for reuse, ...
Who Let the Dogs Out (Into the Eco-Movement)?
Discover Magazine - New York,NY,USA
When Stephanie Rubin, a landscape designer by trade, turned the five-square-foot prototype of her organic, self-sustaining, living roof concept into a home ...
’IHG launches the worlds first 'green' hotel
The FINANCIAL - Tbilisi,Georgia
The first inkling a guest will get of the Innovation Hotel's green attributes is the green roof - planted with low-maintenance plants - which improves the ...
Hotel, Rooftop Parks Pitched For Coliseum Site
New Haven Independent - CT, USA
“An expansive green roof tops the garage, providing an attractive public space from the residences, the hotel, the theater and the gym,” says the proposal. ...
Bernheim to celebrate its green design
Louisville Courier-Journal - Louisville,KY,USA
The building is based on a 12-foot grid that features a living roof, passive and active solar design, geothermal exchange, a roof water-capture system and ...
Rain or shine, the answer to climate change can be found on your roof
Times Online - UK
... washing floors and watering plants with rainwater. Buried in the ground beneath them are water storage tanks the size of tennis courts
April 2008
SAN FRANCISCO BREAKS GROUND ON GREEN EDUCATION FACILITY FOR YOUTH ...
SanFranciscoSentinel.com - San Francisco,CA,USA
Green “living roof” to reduce building needs for heating and cooling, provide retention of storm water on site for reuse, and encourage wildlife habitat. ...
Backyards Go Green: Environmentally Conscious Tips For Your ...
Emediawire (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA
However, they don't realize that a living roof does the job much more effectively. Plants actually help cool their surroundings through a process known as
Saving the planet - but which way is best?
Peterborough Today - Peterborough,England,UK Most striking of these is a "green roof" on the building, which is made of a grass-like plant called sedum. Green roofs produce oxygen and improve air ...
Researchers Trace Genetic Roots Of Earth's Most Ancient Plants
RedOrbit - Dallas,TX,USA
"The sudden appearance of flowers in the fossil record over 100 million years ago represents a great mystery," explained Claude dePamphilis. ..
Solar and wind duking it out in high-powered battle
Fort Worth Star Telegram - Fort Worth,TX,USA
And many more wind turbines are expected soon thanks to an aggressive and expensive plan at the PUC to build more transmission lines
New roofs on horizon for Faner and Ag building
SIU - Daily Egyptian - Carbondale,IL,USA
According to the Green Roof Web site, Green Roofs are grassy spaces on the top of a man-made structure. The roofs, widely used in Europe, also cut down on ...
Natural Phenomenon
Vanity Fair - New York,NY,USA
He would create a two-and-a-half-acre “living roof”—with hills—atop the academy, which houses three beloved San Francisco institutions: the Steinhart ...
SoMa sharks leave for a new home in the park
San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
The living roof of the building is green with plants and home to birds, bees and butterflies. The Planetarium dome is ready for its star machine, ...
Agilewaves dashboard displays green building's health
CNET News.com - San Francisco,CA,USA
Displays in common rooms show students the positive impact of a school's green features, including its 'living roof.' Agilewaves makes Resource Monitor ...
A new garden at UTA -- on a building's roof
Fort Worth Star Telegram - Fort Worth,TX,USA
The California Academy of Sciences completed the installation of its "living roof" in its award-winning San Francisco headquarters in September 2007. ...
Living roof survives drought, wins awards
New Zealand Herald - New Zealand
By Angela Gregory Renee Davies and Waitakere City councillor Penny Hulse with the roof garden. Photo / Dean Purcell A "green roof" on top of the Waitakere
Silver and blue make green
UNR NevadaNews - Reno,NV,USA
But when the six structures were fitted with their transparent glass windows this spring, the greenhouses came to life -- and many questions were answered
High incidence of glyphosate resistance in Arkansas pigweeds
Delta Farm Press - Bellevue,NE,USA
The first time back at the greenhouses, Smith walked into “a bunch of healthy pigweeds, had a look around, and said, ‘My goodness, if we’re not careful this ...
Hi-tech greenhouses open in Redlands
Redland Bayside Bulletin - Redland Bay,Queensland,Australia
Floor and roof vents, evaporative coolers and a chilled water plant allow complete temperature control within the greenhouses. There are additional areas ...
’Navans family of green thumbs
Orleans Star - Ottawa,Ontario,Canada
No matter: a reporter wants to talk to him about his greenhouses, and Cleroux drops everything to oblige. “I love to serve people,” says the rapid-fire ...
Keeping a legacy alive
Monroenews.com - Monroe,MI,USA
The garden center and greenhouses now occupy 10 of the acres. Planning included tours of hundreds of garden centers in the United States and other countries
Roof landscaping could be a growing trend
Portsmouth Herald News - Portsmouth,NH,USA
The green roof idea is hundreds, if not a thousand, of years old and, again, is seen more often in Europe than in North America. The benefits far outweigh ...
Curbing carbon emissions
Standard - Nairobi,Kenya
The world’s largest commercial project using solar panels for heating greenhouses was launched in Kenya at Naivasha. Kenya now is campaigning to have the
It's easy to give tropical plants perfect growing conditions
Modesto Bee - Modesto,CA,USA
So Pierrou and husband George started researching greenhouses. Now, their back yard is home to two of them, both built from kits. ...
Ethical Contribution
Guardian - UK
She also has plans for a planted 'living roof' which should keep the café warm in winter and cool in summer, plus there will be a rainwater run-off which ...
Lights dim, but photosynthesis thrives on Chicago skyline
The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
The green roof program began in 2000 at Chicago's City Hall. "We have grasses and cactus up there. We have butterflies and beehives, which we harvest for ...
Fruit, oil and leaf ... the new way to enjoy ancient olive
Daily Mail - UK
"We"ve known for a long time that olive oil is beneficial for heart health," says Bridget Aisbitt, nutritionist for the British Nutrition Foundation. ...
HEAVEN SCENT
Fort Worth Star Telegram - Fort Worth,TX,USA
It won't survive the winters in my rural garden, but I have a nice one in a large pot, which goes into the greenhouse each winter. Antique roses (white Lady ...
Growing asparagus requires hard work, patience
Connecticut Post - Bridgeport,CT,USA
If you douse the foliage with warm water, this not only cleans the leaves of dust, but also helps wash away any insects that might have made their winter ...
Gardening: Spring into the garden
GazetteLive - Middlesbrough,UK
Plant up baskets with fuchsias and tender perennials, then hang them in the greenhouse to develop. There are some crops you can sow outside or under cloches ...
Master Gardeners to hold plant sale
Southeast Missourian - Cape Girardeau,MO,USA
While winter lived up to its harsh reputation this year, Master Gardeners have met regularly at the Charles L. Hutson Greenhouse on the Southeast Missouri ...
March 2008
Fight climate change by turning roof green
International Herald Tribune - France
The principle behind rainwater harvesting is simple: Rainwater is channeled off the roof through a cleaning filter into a storage tank, from which it can be ...
Vertical planting: plant climbers to make 'green garden walls'
Times Online - UK
Putting dreams aside, we all know that space in the city is seriously squeezed – any private outside space, be it a garden, back yard, roof terrace or ...
Taking root : Botanical Garden of the Ozarks continues to grow ...
Northwest Arkansas Times - Fayetteville,AR,USA
On Tuesday, King sat in the main hall of the Carl Totemeier Horticultural Center as rain drummed on the building's roof to talk about the garden's new
Roof turns new home green in more ways than one
Yorkshire Post - Leeds,England,UK
The house has also been designed with the environment in mind, and a living "green roof" which was shipped in from Holland has just been laid
Even the roof is green
Toronto Star - Ontario, Canada
The building will have a green roof – covered with foliage and plants to increase waste water retention and evaporation and to reduce the "heat island" ...
'Hanging Gardens of Babylon' condo project is a green retreat
AZ Central.com - AZ,USA
"This is, I think, the largest green roof installation of any residential development in the world," Hovey said. Three landscape architects and a ...
Green roofs top the rest, but there are caveats
Globe and Mail - Canada
It's easiest to add a green roof to your home in a new build or a big renovation, but you can retrofit one on an existing roof. There are green roof ...
A Tacoma woman turns her sloping garage roof into an elevated ...
TheNewsTribune.com - Tacoma,WA,USA
Then inspiration struck: Why not turn the garage roof into a garden? The garage is on a downward slope, so the roof would be clearly visible from the back ...
Gardens good for the soul, good for the earth
The Union of Grass Valley - Grass Valley,CA,USA
The garden incorporates a water catchment system and cistern, solar hot-water roof tiles, a wall system of Durisol (a recycled building product), ...
Valley garden a work of art
Sunshine Coast Daily - Queensland,Australia
With the backdrop of their rammed-earth brick and recycled timber home, which was only built in late 1999, the water features, timber and stone retaining ...
Man's work in the garden helps Daisy Bridgewater's boys to branch out
Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom
Resisting the temptation to sit them in front of the television, their father suggested they start building a tree house. ...
A concrete jungle is transformed into a haven
ic Wales - United Kingdom
The stream is fed by rainwater from their roof, with a large holding tank buried at the top of their garden which enables a continuous supply of water. ...
Cape man markets mini wind turbines
Cape Cod Times - Hyannis,MA,USA
They have a maximum production capacity of 1.5 kilowatts per hour, but can be installed on the roof of any home or business that has sufficient wind. ...
Water-saving beauties at Flower Show
Philadelphia Inquirer - Philadelphia,PA,USA
Such conditions prepare them for taking root on an energy-saving green roof, like the one the Water Department built at the Flower Show. ...
Maze shows ways to go greener
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Pittsburgh,PA,USA
Bidwell students spent the past six months training in horticulture and have included a demonstration of green roof technologies. ...
Garden Paths
National Post - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
Learn how to make the most of your house by visiting ZinCo Canada's Green Roof booth (3). Here, you'll get tips on how to construct a viable green roof,
Aviation goes green from the ground on up
Chicago Tribune - United States
The air traffic control tower will be the first control tower in the US to have a vegetated "green roof." Green roofs reduce storm runoff, keep buildings ...
A vision that centers on green
Seattle Times - United States
Crossing these passageways would be sinewy brooks nourished by stormwater runoff, harvested from green roof gardens of various Center buildings, ...
Sun City olive trees to be chopped, pruned into bushes
Arizona Republic - Phoenix,AZ,USA
They also monitor about 3000 bubblers and 26 miles of underground sprinkler pipes. Annually, the value of the PRIDES volunteer service has been estimated at ...
Rules on green building needed: Entrepreneur
Jakarta Post - Jakarta,Indonesia
"Indonesia is far behind other countries like Singapore, Malaysia and South American countries, where it's not hard to find green-roof programs and parks on ...
Landscape/Architecture Firms Growing Closer
Architectural Record - USA
Renzo Piano’s design called for a green roof that would essentially lift a piece of the park and place it atop the building: seven earth mounds that would ...
How to get luscious fruits no matter what size your yard -- space ...
Mexia Daily News - Mexia,TX,USA
Generally, large trees also tolerate drought, poor fertility and other adverse soil conditions better than dwarf trees. With age, a large tree develops a ...
New condo projects are getting on the green wagon
Chicago Sun-Times - United States
EcoLogic Lofts, 2359 N. Seeley: Plans were announced this week for roof-mounted turbines that will generate a portion of the energy for this 94-unit ...
Phipps Conservatory will give its jungle a makeover
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Pittsburgh,PA,USA
They expect to use the next 11 months to develop educational displays, grow plants in greenhouses at the conservatory and import others. ...
Duke Farms increasing green projects, access
Bridgewater Courier News - NJ, United States
In order to meet future needs, Taylor said some popular tours will close in May, such as tours of the display of the garden greenhouses. ...
Whether pulled from yard or produce bin, leeks are four-season wonder
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Pittsburgh,PA,USA
Summer leeks, harvested the same season they are planted, tend to be smaller than hardy leeks, which can be picked throughout the winter, so long as the ...
Exotic fruit is a family affair
Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom
"We've also brought in new varieties from the USA and Canada, and now we hold three national collections: citrus, figs and greenhouse grapes. ...
Clematis, vegetables and vines can cling to interesting objects
Brantford Expositor - Canada
In a greenhouse in Belgium we saw geraniums and fuchsias which climbed up to the top of the greenhouse and all the way across. One building was devoted to ...
February 2008
Rubbertech steps up with a sound idea
ic Wales - United Kingdom
“We believe that the installation of sound deadening pathways will become an important part of the landscaping of a green roof.” The company has developed a ...
Museum seeks $120M
Cincinnati Enquirer - Cincinnati,OH,USA
"Right now, we're looking at the possibility of a green roof (a roof covered with dirt and vegetation)," he said. "There are also murals and original ...
North Dakota native now grows exotic plants in a cave
Bismarck Tribune - ND, USA
That orchid is among the plants thriving in the underground cave. Orchids, if properly tended, can live for generations. (AP Photo/The Topeka Capital ...
Demolitions continue on shaky ground
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
Scorched earth … a Palestinian farmer, Maher Amleh, beside a damaged water storage tank. Israel says the farmers were building illegally on state land. ...
ANTIQUE APPLES
Mother Earth News - Topeka,KS,USA
Of course, dwarf trees don't bear tiny apples: The fruit is of standard size ... or sometimes even bigger, since less of the tree's energy is put into
Fruit tree questions
Napa Valley Register - Napa,CA,USA
Here are a couple of Q and A examples of the challenges presented by fruit trees. I planted a dwarf Asian pear tree about years ago.
Two Ways to Have Tree Fruits on a Small Place
Mother Earth News - Topeka,KS,USA
Soon after we first moved to our place we became excited about dwarf fruit trees - pigmy trees that produce delicious, normal size fruit in only 2 or 3 ...
India demands change in the definition of forest
Times of India - India
The new norms if approved would help the local farmers to grow dwarf varieties of tree alongside the seasonal crops - ensuring that they do not have to give ...
Dwarf Fruit Trees
Mother Earth News - Topeka,KS,USA
The resulting dwarf tree (available in quantity for the first time this year) produces huge crops of succulent Bing-style eating cherries that cluster near ...
A .09-ACRE HOMESTEAD
Mother Earth News - Topeka,KS,USA
... Bruce and I continued to look for ways to increase our gardening space. On a whim, I planted a tomato in a plastic bucket of soil and put it on the roof ...
Green Roofs are Cool
By Wayne Senville
As part of this February's Smart Growth Conference, a group of us had the chance to visit the green roof atop the headquarters of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) in their historic downtown Washington, DC offices. ..
Garage-top garden
By Jenni P.
The next step will be trading tar-paper for a green roof. There must be some product suited to the purpose. If the Seattle Public Library trusts the Ballard branch’s living roof to keep its 66000 books dry, surely there’sa system that
Boston, Cambridge recognized as green cities
Bizjournals.com - Charlotte,NC,USA
... evaluating the feasibility of installing solar, wind, combined heat and power, and green roof installations, and requiring municipal departments to
Green Is the Word
Tampa Tribune - Tampa,FL,USA
Moreover, the county offers a "green roof" incentive that encourages builders to count space on the roof as part of required green space, and we provide ...
Oases in the sky are a growing trend in our concrete jungles
The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
The head designer of Planning South Australia has been pushing for a massive green roof project and Sydney City Council last year made a $48000 grant to ...
Home's owners took step into greener world
Charleston Post Courier - Charleston,SC,USA
Powers says she doesn't know of another green roof on a Lowcountry residence, and while she had some doubts about doing it, the owners pressed the point.
State Street parking lot to go green?
Battle Creek Enquirer - Battle Creek,MI,USA
... including the green roof and rain garden at the police department, and the La Vista Boulevard storm drain project at Goguac Lake.
From the ashes
SouthCoastToday.com - New Bedford,MA,USA
Edible pansies, for example, are just one of five varieties of edible flowers now grown in his Dartmouth greenhouses, according to Mr. Wainer. ...
Back to the basics
Livemint - Delhi,Delhi,India
Buildings of sun-baked mud blocks , a solar-powered flour mill, a biogas plant, wind turbines, fruit and flowering trees... on a 115-acre site, ...
—UPDATE State gears up for honey season by increasing number of bees
Times-West Virginian - Fairmont,WV,USA
The state Department of Agriculture reports that additional funding is helping bee keepers purchase new bees to make up for last year’s losses
Various citrus trees thrive in Yuma heat
Yuma Sun - Yuma,AZ,USA
This tree is small, bordering on the dwarf side. Great for small spaces, or can be grown in a container on the patio. Fruit are round, thin skinned,
Pay attention to form, texture and color for cold-season eye candy ...
Duluth News Tribune (Subscription) - Duluth,MN,USA
Dwarf varieties of trees and ornamental trees that hold their fruit into winter, as well as weeping varieties, are good choices, she says. ..
For this gardener, what's underground can't be ignored
Sacramento Bee - CA, USA
It's a fascinating and sometimes humorous journey into the hidden side of plant growth. He also covers such topics as how to buy ball-and-burlap trees, ...
Things looking up for increase in roof gardens
Las Vegas Review - Journal - Las Vegas,NV,USA
In a demonstration project by the American Society of Landscape Architects, its green roof retained thousands of gallons of storm water, reduced building ...
2.3 Acres Of Green Roof Installed On Top Of Mall
Groovy Green - Ithaca,NY,USA
By Michael d'Estries in Green Building | February 7, 2008 The largest modular green roof ever installed, a beautiful 2.3 acres, is now happily growing atop
Marquiss promises first ducted turbine later this year
Business Green - London,England,UK
When winds hit the one to three storey buildings that the system is designed for, they flow up and over the roof, creating a stronger combined force in what ...
Wind turbines proposal for store
Gloucestershire Gazette - Dursley,England,UK
The retail giant wants to erect six wind turbines, each more than 50ft tall, on the roof of its store at The Mall. Bosses say the £200000 scheme would ...
Garden blooms even in winter
Queens Courier - Bayside,NY,USA
BY VICTOR G. MIMONI “Winter may seem like a time when there’s not much to see in a garden,” said Fred Gerber, Queens Botanical Garden’s (QBG) Director of ...
A Short Guide to Dwarfing Rootstocks
Mother Earth News - Topeka,KS,USA
Trees grafted or budded onto it will usually grow to about 30% of their normal size, which means that the M-9 dwarf trees are between 6 and 10 feet tall at
MINIATURE FRUIT AND NUT TREES
Mother Earth News - Topeka,KS,USA
The more familiar semidwarf tree, by contrast, goes back to the early 1800s. However new, genetic dwarf trees are available in wide variety — almond, apple,
MINIATURE FRUIT AND NUT TREES
Mother Earth News - Topeka,KS,USA
The more familiar semidwarf tree, by contrast, goes back to the early 1800s. However new, genetic dwarf trees are available in wide variety — almond, apple,
Espalier Trees
Mother Earth News - Topeka,KS,USA
Look for a one-year "whip," or relatively unbranched tree, growing from dwarf or semidwarf bare-root stock. If space is very much at a premium, use dwarf
COLD FRAMES MADE FROM OLD BASEMENT WINDOWS
Mother Earth News - Topeka,KS,USA
Damping off is caused by a fungus disease that thrives when the surface soil around a young plant stern is damp. The fungus attacks the young, tender stem. ...
January 2008
50 simple tips from a year of living the green life
AZ Central.com - AZ,USA
We looked at less toxic housecleaning products, and green gardening techniques and pet products. We answered readers' questions and printed tips from the ...
(BPRW) Clean air for better living
Black PR Wire (press release) - North Miami Beach,FL,USA
Green roofing, or advanced gardening technology utilized to create green spaces on roof tops may be the answer to this growing problem.
Time worn, but thoroughly modern
Globe and Mail - Canada
Atop the house is a roof garden where edible plants and vegetables are grown. "We have four to six inches of soil," Mr. Shephard explains.
Green Roof Proposed For Stretch Of California Highway
Groovy Green - Ithaca,NY,USA
A plan has been submitted to cover a stretch of California highway with a 24-acre park. It would be built on a deck constructed over the below-grade portion ...
The Green Roof Dog House
Groovy Green - Ithaca,NY,USA
They’ve introduced “Green Roof Animal Homes” that ’smell good, grow plants, attract butterflies, filter water, insulate, and repeal fleas naturally.
Solar panels installed at i.Park complex on Wilton town line
Wilton Bulletin - Wilton,CT,USA
Mercury Solar Systems of Greenwich is now installing an array of solar panels to generate solar electricity in the middle of what will become a green roof ...
Smart citites
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
"The whole roof of the city can be a solar collector so there is democratic access to solar energy, which is the technology of the future.
Bring the outdoors in with miniature gardens
MSNBC - USA
By P. Allen Smith You’d think that we gardeners would spend the winter months curled up by the fire, perusing seed and bulb catalogues daydreaming about our
Wanted: More winter vegetables
Douglas Daily Dispatch - Douglas,AZ,USA
Fresh vegetables: Montoyas (lettuce, spinach, mustard greens and shallots), Grammie’s Garden (green beans, summer and winter squash, their own greenhouse ...
New Middle School Opens with Garden Roof Classroom from American ...
PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung) - Wien,Austria
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http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/1973-03-01/The-Eco-House.aspx
THE ECO-HOUSE
What in the world are the professions coming to? First radical lawyers, then young physicians who thumb their noses at the AMA and now a troublesome breed of architect whose avowed aim is to provide—as one of them puts it—"a realistic alternative to the exploitational vision of the environment".
The writer of those words, a young English designer named Grahame Caine, belongs to an anarchist architect group called "Street Farmer" and startled the British wing of the profession back in 1971 when he entered a competition for a housing development with a plan for a self-growing bamboo shelter. Now he's up to a new scheme that has been two years in the planning and is likely to have much more widespread applications than the bamboo effort. In fact, his current project is receiving a good deal of publicity in England (as well as a surprising amount of support from municipal authorities).
Caine's new idea is his final examination project for the Architectural Association of London, where he's a fifth-year student . . . but the structure he's erecting on the corner of an athletic field in Greenwich (for under $2,000) will also be his home for the next couple of years. This kind of testing is essential because the Caine Eco-House—unlike a conventional building—is planned as a self-contained working system that incorporates plant and animal life (Grahame's own) in harmonious interdependence. Since the 37 X 40-foot timber and plastic dwelling will include a garden that is to supply most of the householder's food, the architect—single and a vegetarian—is his own ideal guinea pig.
Grahame's principles of design—conservation of resources, independence from wasteful, dirty public power and respect for natural ecosystems—are shared by growing numbers of people in the U.S. and Canada . . . and I'd like to comment on his plans with an eye to how they might be modified for use on the North American Continent.
THE PLAN OF THE ECO-HOUSE
The plans for Grahame Caine's Eco-House are included here for clarity and interest. No one should use them exactly as they are, however . . . unless, of course, he lives next door to Grahame. If you want to build such a dwelling from scratch, you must consider the climate of your site and modify the design accordingly.
The difference of even one degree of latitude, or 1,000 feet of elevation, will affect some key points in the plan of an Eco-House. The building should be in a position to get maximum sun in cold climates, for example, but might need shelter from the heat in the South. Again, insulation will be needed to keep the house warm with minimum fuel use in the North, and cool without air conditioning in the South . . . but on an island in the tropics, insulation might be unnecessary. It all depends on where you are.
WATER
Grahame's water source—the key to his own health and the life of the greenhouse plants that will supply most of his food—is the rain that falls on his 600-square-foot roof. The notoriously damp British climate, which dumps 25 inches of precipitation on London per year, should provide Caine with about 20 gallons or so a day. This is only, about half the amount one person uses in an average home . . . but Grahame's dwelling is a long way from average. (The normal toilet, for instance, uses two gallons of water when flushed. The Caine model takes two pints.) Nevertheless, the father of the Eco-House is a realist and is installing pipes to city water as a backup "just in case" of drought.
Though the quantity of London's rain is ample for collection by householders, its quality is a drawback. Besides the sand filter that will clean the dust and impurities from his water supply, Grahame is considering more sophisticated devices to remove some of the high lead content of the precipitation from a dirty urban sky.
In a cleaner area, though, rainwater may well be freer of pollution than well water. Caine's method of supplying himself with water also has other advantages worth considering. For one thing, rain is sure to be more pleasant to the taste than chlorinated city water, an—as generations of farm women know—it's very soft and excellent for washing everything from hair to the family laundry.
Is reliance on rainwater practical in North America? Clearly, that depends on the area, since rainfall on this continent varies from 80 inches annually on the extreme West Coast to less than 5 inches in the deserts. If you're considering rainwater for your own household use, find a precipitation map in your nearest library and check the average yearly figure for your location. If it's more than 30 inches, the supply is ample . . . if it's less than 5, give up the idea.
How much water you can gather depends, of course, on how big a surface you have to catch it. In Table 1 I've set out the area of roof needed to supply one person with 25 gallons of water per day for various rainfalls ranging between 5 inches and 30 inches annually. This is much less than an average individual uses . . . but then, our pioneer ancestors got by with bucketing 5 gallons a day each, and there's no reason why we can't limit our consumption with a little care.
The water supply, as it comes from the roof, should pass into a setup that allows the first few gallons to run away after washing the collecting surface clean. What's gathered thereafter should go through a sand filter—to remove any dust washed out of the atmosphere—and then into a storage tank with an outflow that sends the water through an activated charcoal purifier before use.
To store enough water to supply four people for 60 days (a surplus that allows for two months with hardly any rain) you'll need an 800-cubic-foot vessel. Probably the most practical form is a concrete tank in the ground. A rectangular container 9 X 9 X 10 feet would do, and so would a cylinder 10 feet in diameter and 10 feet deep.
A single use for kitchen or bathroom purposes is all the conventional household gets out of any one gallon of water. In a home like Grahame's, though, that's just the beginning . . . and what happens to the used fluid, and the other normal "wastes", is the most unusual feature of a very unusual house.
THE WASTE RECOVERY SYSTEM
All the waste water from Grahame's kitchen and bathroom, as well as all organic solid wastes, are passed on to an ingenious system that converts the material to methane gas for cooking fuel and liquid nutrients for the greenhouse.
As Figure 2 shows, the wastes first enter a two-compartment (one mainly for solid fuel, the other for liquids only) digester. The double container resembles an ordinary septic tank, with two important differences. First, Grahame's version is airtight to provide a happy home for the bacteria that convert part of the raw sewage and garbage into methane. Also, since the optimum temperature for the gas-producing bugs is between 70° and 95° Fahrenheit, the receptacle is insulated and equipped with a solar heating panel. (For more details on methane production by anaerobic bacteria, see THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS, NOS. 3, 12 and 18.)
The material from the liquid compartment in the digester next passes to another tank . . . this time airy and sunlit to accommodate the tiny, fast-multiplying algae plants that devour organic matter still in the waste. The algae also add oxygen that helps bacteria digest the sewage and nitrogen that enriches the end product (which eventually becomes plant food). Also, any dangerous microorganisms in the human excreta portion of the sewage should perish at this stage, killed by the oxygen and the ultraviolet radiation of the sun.
Since the algae need warmth, as well as light and air, Grahame will keep them comfortable in the dull, cold London winter by extending part of their tank into his house in the form of a loop. This indoor section of the algae pool is to be continuously illuminated with electric light (only 500 foot-candles are needed, so one 40-watt fluorescent tube should suffice).
When the plants have done their work, the liquid passes on—algae and all—to a final tank . . . another digester in which the contents are kept at 110° F by means of a solar panel. This temperature kills the algae (which are soon replaced by the fast-growing colony in the open pool) and decomposes them to furnish more methane.
The gas from the first and second digesters collects in the tops of the tanks and is piped to Grahame's kitchen stove . . . which will also have cylinders of store-bought fuel standing by, since the young designer has no illusions about how much methane a single person's wastes can produce. To be precise, some large sewage-disposal outfits (which use methane to run their power plants) count on one cubic foot of gas from each individual's daily wastes. Though Grahame expects to do better than that—since he'll be using kitchen garbage as well as sewage—he certainly won't be able to heat the house, run an electric generator or fuel a car from his output. He'll be lucky if he gets enough to cook with. A family or commune, of course, would produce more methane and would also use it more efficiently, since approximately the same amount of fuel goes into cooking one potato or ten.
And what about the liquid that remains in the second digester after the methane is piped off? That's Grahame's plant food . . . his replacement for the mixture of commercial fertilizers that's normally used in hydroponic gardening. If Caine finds that he can rely on the algae pool to free his personal wastes of harmful bacteria before the sewage is passed on to the greenhouse, he'll have attained one of his ideals: a complete cycle of organic material based on the interaction of plant and animal life as it occurs in nature.
As you may know, waste-recycling dwellings are being attempted in our own country (see "Grassy Brook Village" in LIFESTYLE! NO. 2 for a description of one such effort). The main difficulty is keeping the digester tanks at their correct temperatures, since they might overheat in the southern summer and—though they generate some heat of their own—require protection and added warmth in the cold North. (One possible solution is to surround the tank with a warm-water jacket.) Anyone who imitated Grahame's use of an algae pool in a severe climate would also have to take extra measures to keep the plants alive during the winter.
THE GREENHOUSE
The cycle of organic material in Grahame's ecosystem is completed in a 500-square-foot greenhouse next to Caine's own living space. Here the vegetables the young architect will rely on for his main food source, and the flowers he's planting among them just for fun, will be raised hydroponically with household wastes for their fertilizer. (This inventive Englishman has even planned a hothouse—above the main growing space to catch the rising heat—where he intends to cultivate bananas and other tropical fruit.)
Hydroponics, as it's usually practiced, is the antithesis of organic gardening because the plants live in an inert medium like sand and are nourished entirely by a water solution that contains plant food. The technique—though valuable in lab studies of plant nutrition—is seldom used commercially except sometimes to produce fine chrysanthemums and other flowers. Because my own feeling is that organically grown food tastes better than hydroponic products, I'd be interested to know whether Grahame obtains any improvement in flavor by watering the plants with natural instead of synthetic fertilizers . . . an innovation that brings these two schools of gardening a step closer together.
In any case, people who have no soil—because their land is hard rock, too full of moisture or otherwise not tillable—could certainly grow their food by Grahame's method where an organic garden would be impossible.
Grahame expects 250 square feet of cultivated space in his greenhouse to provide him with eight pounds of vegetables per square foot . . . enough to feed him all year round with no trouble. I myself question the need for so much indoor growing area, because in most cultivated regions an outdoor garden will produce enough of many vegetables (potatoes, for instance) to last the winter. On the other hand, the greenhouse does allow controlled growing conditions and more efficient recycling of waste . . . and this is probably important in a demonstration project like the Eco-House.
If you want to follow Grahame's example and grow all your own food under shelter, you'll need to work out the space requirements carefully. For instance, a family of four would require 1,000 square feet of greenhouse space. A structure, let's say, 20 X 50 feet . . . which is perfectly practical now that large plastic sheets are cheap and readily available.
Your local climate, however, may force you to make some alterations in the greenhouse project. While a solar-heated growing area is practical all year round in England, the extremely cold winters of the Northern States and Canada would require artificial heat for the plants during the coldest months of the year. Certainly, it would be difficult to make Caine's overhead hothouse work when the outdoor temperature is zero. (New Alchemy Institute East — located on Cape Cod — is experimenting with winter indoor growing environments that also incorporate fish and animals.See LIFESTYLE! .NO.-MOTHER.)
THE SUN AS A HEATER
Naturally, Grahame will have to keep himself warm, as well as his plants, and he'll need hot water for household use. He plans to fill both these needs—partly, anyhow—by trapping the heat of the sun in an array of black-painted hot-water radiators (the kind that are used for central heating) on the south wall of his dwelling . . . though it seems to me that a 100-foot coil of black plastic pipe would be simpler, cheaper and lighter. While an April test run for this system produced a hot-bath temperature of 140° F in a 30-gallon tank of water, this result can't be hoped for in winter, especially during the long gloomy periods which are common in England. Therefore, Caine is hooking into the public electricity supply as a backup source of heat until he gets started making his own power.
And how about using Grahame's hot-water system in this country? Well, in the South, of course, his form of solar heating is perfectly practical . . . and even in the North, on a bright day in January or February, the sun can feel very warm in a sheltered spot. Apart from the fact that such bright days are none too common in some parts of the country, though, the difficulty is the coldness of the air. The radiators could, of course, be placed behind a screen which would allow them to collect the sun's heat without losing to the air more warmth than they gain . . . but, even so, there's still the problem of keeping the water from freezing overnight. Still, as the article on "Grassy Brook Village" in LIFESTYLE! NO. 2 shows, solar heating—in a somewhat different form—is being attempted in the cold climate of Vermont.
POWER
Grahame is using public-utility electricity at the outset to light his Eco-House and—as I've said—to help his radiator array on cold days. Eventually, however, he hopes to install a wind generator and power-storage system to make the house independent of the electric grid and fossil fuels.
When he does undertake this project, I'll be interested to know how he tackles the problem of storing energy for windless days. This is the difficulty that every user of alternative power runs into. To show you its dimensions, I'll use my own house for an example, even though I don't heat electrically: Just 1,000 square feet of old farmhouse—well insulated—needs the equivalent of 20 kilowatts of heat during the coldest days of winter. Now, to store 20 kilowatts as electricity for one hour would require 20 car batteries . . . and, to provide for three consecutive windy days, you'd need 1,440 of the storage units!
In short, there's a great reward coming to anyone who devises a practical, light, small energy store. The standard car battery holds about 1 kilowatt-hour or 1-1/3 horsepowerhours. What we need is a device that will cost no more, occupy the same space and contain at least 10 and preferably 100 kilowatt-hours.
Since no such device now exists, though, let's look at some of the alternatives Grahame might use when he undertakes to make his own power.
Grahame could—for instance—use the windmill's energy to heat water to a temperature of 80° to 180° F, by means of a 20-kilowatt immersion heater that's made for this purpose. Power stored in this form won't light Caine's house, but it will give him heat. How long it will do so depends on the volume of his storage area. A tank of 125 cubic feet will hold 230 kilowatt-hours . . . one of 500 cubic feet, nearly 1,000 kilowatt-hours . . . and a container of 800 cubic feet (10 X 10 X 8 feet) will retain enough warmth to keep a house the size of mine comfortable in the depth of winter for three days.
In many ways, water is an attractive heat store. It's safe, and—in most areas—it's cheap and plentiful. What's more, it can act as its own pump and will heat the radiators in a house by thermosiphoning. However, it does have a couple of drawbacks: It's bulky, and it won't store heat above water's boiling point. (If you hold power as steam under pressure, the Man will—rightly—send his inspector 'round to see that your "pressure vessel" isn't a danger to you or to innocent bystanders.)
Sand, used as a heat store, can outperform water by holding a much higher temperature . . . but bulk for bulk it will retain only half as much warmth. What's more, it won't flow. To get the heat into the sand in the first place, then, Grahame would need something more complex than a common immersion heater, and he'd also have to devise a network of pipes or the like to get it out. In short, I'm dubious about the sand storage idea in practice.
Well, as you can see, it's quite a challenge to overcome the sporadic nature of wind power and turn its energy into a reliable household servant. Still, Grahame Caine is an inventive man, and maybe his solution to the power-storage problem will be as novel as his use of algae in the Eco-House's waste-recycling system. This, and the other ideas he'll be working on during his life on that corner of land in Greenwich, may go a long way toward freeing us all from the cumbersome wastefulness that's built into modern housing.
Many of us think a new kind of housing design is long overdue in our society . . . and, to judge from the response Grahame's been getting from official circles in London, at least some urban authorities are worried enough to agree. Just possibly, then, the Caine Eco-House may turn out to be one revolutionary idea that came along at exactly the right time.