Congratulations to Rosa Parks Elementary  in San Francisco – one of three Grand Prize Winners of the CBS & EcoZone Green My School Contest!

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In total, 45 schools across the nation participated in the contest. Each participating school submitted a short standard submission form and a creative response exploring what being green means to them and why their school should receive a green makeover. The three winning schools are Rosa Parks Elementary School in San Francisco; Everett M. Dirksen Middle School in Chicagoland; and Miami Northwestern High School in Miami. The winning schools recieved extensive green makeovers with the eco-remodel at Rosa Parks including a solar installation on the roof, a rainwater collection unit, and alternative interior wall coverings like American Clay.

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Our friends at Yolo Colorhouse Paint in Portland Oregon contributed Zero-VOC exterior paints to Rosa Parks Elementary School for the striking murals that now adorn the walls of the school and playground.  All YOLO Colorhouse coatings are completely free of carcinogens, formaldehyde, phthalates,  hazardous air pollutants and ozone depleting compounds. You can find Yolo Colorhouse online at www.yolocolorhouse.com.  Scroll down for more pictures of the new colorful murals at Rosa Parks Elementary!

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Poor indoor air quality can contribute to an array of health symptoms and developmental disorders such as headaches, respiratory disorders, ADHD, chemical sensitivities and more. The  objective of the Home Health Assessment program is to promote health (especially lung health) by increasing awareness of home environmental pollutants and encouraging people to take action to reduce exposure.

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Last week the ALAW used our Seattle showroom as a venue for a volunteer appreciation party. The accomplished mountaineer, and ALAW volunteer, Lou Whittaker addressed the crowd and expressed his gratitude for the support of all the volunteers at the event – from the teens that participate in the program Teens Against Tobacco Use to the people who collect pledges to participate in the Climb for Clean Air on Mt. Rainier.  ALAW Executive Director, Astrid Berg, gave each volunteer a token of appreciation – a red rose.

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If you would like to have your home assessed by a Master Home Environmentalist, please click here.

If you would like to go through the (free) 35-hour Master Home Environmentalist training program, please click here.  To complete the program, participants follow the training with 35 hours of community service over the course of a year – offering assessments of people’s homes.

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To learn more about the American Lung Association in Washington, please visit www.alaw.org.

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Sustainability explored through Multi-Media Dance Performances:

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Deborah Slater Dance Theater celebrates 20 years of theatrically innovative work with the world premiere of Men Think They Are Better Than Grass in seven performances April 30-May 9 at Z Space / Theater Artaud in San Francisco. The large-scale, evening-length work is inspired by the beauty and fragility of the natural world and W. S. Merwin’s poetry (from which it takes its title) and explores the interrelationship between humanity and the environment. Choreographed and directed by Deborah Slater, Men Think They Are Better Than Grass incorporates text, animation, visual design, an original score and video. The work uses interactive technology to create a stage environment that changes over time, through a wikipedia-like web component that will be uniquely different from performance to performance. This reciprocity between art, technology, and the stage–artistically innovative, participatory and solution-oriented–is at the heart of Men Think They Are Better Than Grass and will shape the creative process and the performance experience for artists and audiences alike. Performances will be given Friday, April 30, at 8 p.m. (Preview); Saturday, May 1, at 8 p.m. (Opening Night with post-performance Gala); Sunday, May 2, at 5 p.m.; Thursday, May 6-Friday, May 8, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, May 9, at 5 p.m. Z Space / Theater Artaud is located at 450 Florida Street, San Francisco.

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Tickets for Men Think They Are Better Than Grass are priced $20-25 with discounts for seniors, students and groups and may be purchased at www.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 1-800-838-3006.

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Zem Joaquin at our San Francisco Grand Opening

The Grand Opening Celebration for our new San Francisco store is picking up steam! 

Our celebration kicked off last weekend with big events in our store and exhibiting at the Green Festival just two blocks away!  The glamorous eco-celebrity and founder of ecofabulous, Zem Joaquin, helped set the tone on Friday night. As she welcomed us to San Francisco, she shared a story about the positive effects of green building materials on the health of her family – her kids have gone five years without an asthma attack since she decided to go green in her own home.  You can see her tell this story herself – and give us a nice plug too – on Kelly Ripa’s first Green Idea Swap webcast (she comes on around 8 minutes in!) 

At the store our Grand Opening Specials continue and Yolo has extended their Spring Sale rebate to San Francisco Customers through May 2nd! Also, check out our schedule of workshops and events on our San Francisco Community Page. 

The community gathers at our Grand Opening

Ecohaus is buzzing with activity this week as we get ready for the GRAND OPENING of our new San Francisco store this weekend! If you are in the Bay Area, stop by our location on the corner of 9th and Bryant. To help us celebrate, product experts from many of our suppliers will be in the San Francisco store throughout Saturday and Sunday to answer your most in-depth questions. You will have the opportunity to meet the inventor of Squak Mountain Stone Countertops; a Bamboo flooring expert from Eco-Timber; an American Clay Earth Plaster Artisan; carcinogen-free, plant-based paint innovators from Safecoat; an Eco-friendly Cabinet specialist from Neil Kelly – and MORE!

Every weekend for the month of April and into May the San Francisco store will be hosting how-to workshops on a range of our products – from the application of American Clay to installing  a click floor! Click here to see the line-up!

We are also putting many products on special, across all three stores, for the entire month of April! Click here to see our Grand Opening Specials.

We are also gearing up for the San Francisco Green Festival on April 10th and 11th, 2010 at the Concourse Exhibition Center!

As the world moves toward a more sustainable future of resource and energy management, we are experiencing a fortuitous, simultaneous growth in awareness of issues about human health. Somehow, the sustainability movement and the push for healthy indoor air quality have always gone together. Perhaps it is the natural result of attentiveness to the material sources and ingredients that makes people notice the health effects of their choices. Or perhaps health and sustainability go together simply because eco-friendly building materials are hardly worth it if residents’ health and quality of life still suffers. Whatever the reason behind it however, it is good news for everyone that the importance of indoor air quality has been getting more attention lately.

From formaldehyde in the FEMA trailers and the off-gassing of PVC shower curtains, to the Sulfur compounds in certain drywalls, indoor air quality has been in the news more and more. Evidence is mounting that exposure to the chemicals commonly found in homes (in adhesives, finishes, paints, cleansers, synthetic carpets, vinyl flooring etc) can have serious, cumulative effects.  The American Lung Association of Washington reports that these chemicals (less than 5% of which have been officially tested for toxicity) can be linked to asthma, cancer, impaired child development, reproductive disorders and more!

At Ecohaus, we strive to find building and remodeling materials that are as low-toxic as they can be, and people report that they really experience a positive difference when they choose safe options. Benefits can include: painting a room without getting a headache, or being able to finish a floor without having to move out to avoid dangerous fumes.

Our carpets and rugs are free of polluting stain guards and flame retardants (natural wool doesn’t need them!) Our cabinets are free of added urea-formaldehyde. The resins and cements in our countertops have nothing harmful to off-gas. You don’t have to compromise your indoor air quality for lack choices – we’ve got materials for your whole job!

Now through January 3, we are celebrating the healthfulness of our products with special Healthy Home Combos! 

-  Take 10% off your purchase of tile with any countertop purchase!
-  Take 10% off select area rugs with any flooring purchase!
-  Get a free $1,000 Ecohaus gift card with cabinet purchases over $10,000!

For more information about indoor air quality, please visit the websites for the Washington Toxics Coalition, and the American Lung Assocation of Washington.

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In case you have never heard of it, the Green Festival is a HUGE event sponsored by Green America, that takes place annually in Seattle, Washington DC, San Francisco, Chicago and Denver. Whatever your city, the Green Festival is a great opportunity to find environmental and humanitarian focused community organizations; sustainable, organic and fair trade personal and household products; and to hear informative and inspirational speakers on a whole range of topics.

Though we’ve been regulars at the Seattle event, Ecohaus just exhibited at the San Francisco Green Festival for the first time this year, and it was fantastic.  The airport sized building was packed with people from open to close all three days and the energy and enthusiasm from everyone was truly inspirational.  The warmth with which we were received was uplifting – not just because it was our first time exhibiting at the SF Green Fest, but also because this past weekend we announced our plans to open an Ecohaus location in San Francisco.

Our booth - set up and ready for the start of the Green Festival.

 Of course, we had our latest star-product on display – the Caroma Profile Toilet/Sink combo. It was hooked up to a pump so that folks could see how it worked. It was fun to watch people as they figured it out and reacted to it. As people passed through, we heard about a variety of incentives offered by local water utilities to help people save water. Please ask your water provider if they happen to have a rebate program for switching to Low-Flow or High Efficiency Toilets, and if they do – post a comment on this blog! We’d love to hear about it, and help spread the word.

Anyway, we had a great time at the Green Festival in San Francisco. The Ecohaus team had too many good Green Festival conversations to count, too many great San Francisco meals to list, and a good time dancing at post-Festival gatherings  too. We were stunned and inspired by the sheer numbers of people who came through the event over those three days – and we were overwhelmed by the warmth of the welcome we felt. One man happily shouted “I can’t wait for you guys to get here!” and we say in return ”Thank you! We can’t either!” Please check the Ecohaus blog for updates as we move toward our third location!

This picture is blurry - but you get the idea - this Festival was PACKED!

Free valet bike parking!

For more information about Ecohaus visit: www.ecohaus.com

On November 19, 2009 the Ecohaus Portland store will be hosting NW Energy Star and Imagine Energy for an event around Energy Savings of all kinds!

The Live Better Northwest 2010 Prius will be there – which you can enter to win! All you have to do is pick up a game board at Ecohaus and then collect stickers at 3 local events where you can “Spot the Prius”. Finally turn in your gameboard for the drawing! For more information visit: www.livebetternorthwest.com

While you’re at the store  on November 19, you can also talk to our home-energy-auditor partners Imagine Energy. They can help you save money around your house by saving energy – and give you advice about how best to take advantage of the Federal Tax Credits!

Why, you ask? It’s simple: American Pride paint is such a fantastic product, we want the folks in Stumptown to give it a try! 

American Pride paint is completely ZERO VOC, and CARCINOGEN FREE! It has great coverage and exceptional durability (tests have shown it to have one of the highest scrubbability rates on the market!) And not only is it high quality and low toxic, it is also available in any color you fancy – choose from their palette or get a custom match. American Pride is available in flat, eggshell and semi-gloss.  This is one of our most popular products and we repeatedly get praise from our customers, many of whom say that they like it especially for it’s low odor.

VOCs vs Toxicity:

Because Zero-VOC paints are touted by green design and government experts, as well as retailers everywhere as the way-to-go, many people mistakenly believe that a paint or finish that is VOC free is also low in toxins.  That is why we specify that the paints at Ecohaus are free of both VOCs and known-carcinogens.

Volatile Organic Compounds are  counted and regulated because they generate SMOG. While some VOCs are considered hazardous, there are many VOCs that are not toxic to people at all. Likewise, there are toxins in paint that, because they are not technically VOCs (do not create SMOG,) do not get counted. Basically, a paint can be VOC-Free, but still contain toxic chemicals. At Ecohaus we look for products that are as safe as they can be while still maintaining a high level of performance. We are delighted to be able to offer paints, like American Pride, that hold up to our rigorous requirements for both safety and function. 

But don’t take our word for it! If you live in the Portland area, you can smell the difference yourself! Stop in to Ecohaus Portland with a print out of the coupon (click here) this Sunday for your free gallon of American Pride paint – your choice of color and sheen. (Please note: Be one of the first 100. Limited to one per household. Custom matches can take up to 24 hours. )

Zero Energy Idea House at Bass Cove

A new project has just been completed in Washington State that strives to push the envelope of energy conservation – the Zero Energy Idea House – built by Donna and Riley Shirey. Their goal was to build a house that generates all the electricity that it requires. Combining solar panels, and a solar powered water heater – along with built-in efficiency they nearly got there. In the end they did opt for an efficienct, gas-powered, in-floor radiant heating system. Even with that, however, they expect the energy bill for this house to be under $500 per year.

Other energy efficient and green features of the home include use of SIPS (structural insulated panels), a green roof, salvaged wood, rainwater collection systems and much, much more! Click here to see the full list.

 The Zero Energy Idea House will be open for self-guided tours every weekend through November 8th. For more tour info, click here. While you’re there, check out the Handscraped Hickory Flooring, rubber/cork floor tiles, and Marmoleum that they picked up from Ecohaus!