Ken Edelstein Aug 24, 2011
The world’s most ambitious green building certification program is getting a bit of push into Atlanta this month. Whether that results in construction anytime soon of an actual edifice that meets the exacting standards of the Living Building Challenge is another story. The Living Building Challenge is a certification program like no other. The U.S….
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Building a new house can be stressful, so imagine documenting all the problems, weather delays and permitting issues in a blog for the world to see and read. Architects Jose E. Tavel and Cara B. Cummins, who own TaC Studios, are doing just that as they build an environmentally friendly home in the Old 4th…
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Ken Edelstein Jul 25, 2011
Raquel Nelson’s ordeal has become a cause since I wrote about it here on Thursday. In that time, national petition sites have gathered thousands of signatures asking that the Cobb County mother — convicted of vehicular homicide and reckless conduct in connection with her four-year-old son’s traffic death — is treated with leniency during her sentencing…
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Ken Edelstein Mar 23, 2011
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Last Sunday evening, in a nondescript Midwestern subdivision backing up to an Interstate highway, the sun carved an unfamiliar path past an unusual looking house. It was spring equinox all across the northern hemisphere, and for the first time since Deb and Ty Newell moved in just before Thanksgiving, the sun was setting behind their…
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Ken Edelstein Mar 17, 2011
I’m Not So Fed Up with the brand known as Sarah Susanka. But I’m pretty darned close. Susanka, as you no doubt know, is an architect-turned-writer-turned-motivational-speaker — the author of the “Not So Big House” book series. She was a “master speaker” earlier this week at the Greenprints Conference and Tradeshow in Atlanta. It was…
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Ken Edelstein Feb 23, 2011
In an era of small remodels and “affordable” sustainable homes, the Midtown Green House stands apart for its ambition. Sawhorse President Matt Hoots calls architect Joel Kelly’s design midcentury modern; I find it more contemporary. Whatever the label, it’s a striking structure with high ceilings, lots of glass and a corner lot. The owners, Savas Koutsantonis…
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Ken Edelstein Feb 11, 2011
Conceived 20 years ago in Germany, the Passive House has suffered a bit of rap during its second infancy in the United States. The basic concept — super-insulated, passive solar homes with tiny HVAC systems — is suited, critics say, only for cold climates. Not so, insists a tiny vanguard of Passive House devotees who are…
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Advance Global Recycling Jan 26, 2011
The greenest hospital in Georgia was considered a dinosaur five years ago. Its electrical and mechanical systems were outdated, its brick façade breaking down, its emergency department and patient rooms poorly configured. Now, a $43 million transformation of the hospital, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding, has created an up-to-date facility with environmentally friendly…
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Ken Edelstein Jan 18, 2011
First of all, let’s admit that Top 10 lists can be kind of silly. But readers like them for their “gee-whiz” quality, and publishers like them because lists do well on search engines. Plus — hey! — they a good way to take a strategic view at the year ahead. Having perused a score or more…
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Ken Edelstein Jan 4, 2011
Amid builders’ complaints that Energy Star for New Homes guidelines are getting too tough too quickly, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has backed off in two key ways from tightening up the voluntary certification program. While the changes immediately affect a transitional phase of Energy Star for New Homes, known as Version 2.5, they also…
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