Portland's Harpoon House

Tickets are on sale now for the City of Portland’s 9th Annual Build It Green! Home Tour and Information Fair on Saturday, September 25th!  

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This annual event in Portland, Oregon is a fantastic way to learn about the latest, greatest, and most inspirational things happening in green building in the Rose City! This year’s tour features 21 homes – each of which incorporate outstanding sustainable elements, from energy-savings to sustainable material use. These homes will be open for ticket holders to tour, and the homeowners will be on hand to answer your questions!   

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Among the homes open on the tour will be the super-energy-efficient Harpoon House (recently featured in the September issue of Portland Monthly) in which you can see the use of dramatic tigerwood flooring, rainscreen siding, and eco-roofs. You can also look around the newly retro-fitted Everhart home that is so efficient now that it no longer needs a furnace. Another “don’t miss” home on the tour is the Vermont Street Project , a timber frame home with walls covered in American Clay, and advanced mechanical systems for energy and water conservation.  To see a preview of all the homes on the tour click here.

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Tickets are available at Ecohaus Portland (cash only) or online. 

• $15 Adults
• $10 car free/students/honored citizens
• Free for children 14 and under

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The BIG! Tour ends, as usual, with a fun, resource-rich, Information Fair in the Ecohaus parking lot! Enjoy music by the Wicky Pickers, taste free beer samples from Hopworks Brewery, see green building product demos and visit our varied exhibitors like:
    - The Oregon Native Plant Trailer
    - The Portland Water Bureau
    - Solar Oregon
    - and more!  

You will also be able to ENTER TO WIN a free dual-flush, one-piece Caroma Toilet!  

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For information on having an exhibitor booth please  contact susannas@ecohaus.com. Availability is limited. 

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Three Bears Cottage (photo: Jeremy Liebman)

Portland’s Doernbecher Children’s Hospital is getting a boost this year from The Storybook Playhouse Project, a creative and fun fundraising effort! A group of Portland Architects, Designers, and Builders have created six wonderful playhouses based on storybook themes. Some of the completed playhouses will be raffled off, and the money raised will be donated to the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and efforts to help children with congenital heart defects. The Hospital will also get to keep a playhouse onsite for children to enjoy, while another will go to the Ronald McDonald house.

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Especially great for kids, all of the playhouses are made of eco-friendly materials. Yolo Colorhouse donated some paint for the houses and flooring came from Marmoleum.  Yolo paint was the first to qualify for strict new Green Seal 2010 Certification, making them a great choice for a kid-friendly structure. Marmoleum is completely vinyl free with linseed oil as the main ingredient – even better, it is naturally anti-bacterial, so it won’t harbour or spread bacteria.

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You can see all the playhouses on display, try them out yourself, and enter the raffle through August 16 at Bridgeport Village Mall in Portland, Oregon. There are also a bunch of special events scheduled for the Storybook Playhouse Village – visit www.storybookplayhouses.com for a complete list.

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Tigerwood Decking

Ah, Summertime! We are deep into deck-sitting season now so we figure it’s the perfect time to talk about our great, green outdoor material - tropical decking. 

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At Ecohaus, we have two kinds of decking in-stock: Ipe (also know as Ironwood) and Tigerwood. We carry these materials because they are naturally beautiful, FSC certified, rot resistant, easy to maintain, very long-lasting, exceptionally strong and cost effective on top of it all.

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Tropical hardwoods are very dense and resinous woods, full of tannins that will protect against rot and are often more dimensionally stable than local (to the Pacific NW) softwoods that are often used in deck construction. A deck made of Ipe or Tigerwood has a 25-30 year life span – unfinished! Tropical hardwoods also have high structural ratings (better  than most composite decking options) because they are not much affected by temperature changes. Decks with lower strutural ratings can require a lot more material for adequate support.

Microhouse has a range of backyard cottage plans.

In November of 2009 the City of Seattle voted to allow homeowners in neighborhoods across the city to construct accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on their property. These “backyard cottages,” as they are commonly known, have the potential to transform our communities in many positive ways. Not only do they offer individuals a way to create urban density, they can also provide housing for aging parents, grown children, and renters! Legal in Seattle and Portland, backyard cottages are also common in San Francisco, where vacationers can even rent them out by the week or weekend for a cozy retreat in the middle of town!

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Because by nature it  must be small, an ADU can provide a manageable opportunity to experiment with a building project that incorporates efficient and creative space design, sustainable practices, eco-friendly materials, and implement recent energy saving innovations! There are a number of architecture firms around that specialize in backyard cottages – and help with all aspects of the project, including the often-perplexing permitting process.

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Microhouse, a collaborative firm of architects, designers and landscape architects in Seattle, is even offering construction-ready plans which come standard with Ecohaus materials and finishes!

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You can see some other nice examples of backyard cottages in Seattle by clicking here.  

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Backyard chicken coops are becoming more and more common in our urban centers – and chicken owners are coming out of the woodwork to tell us they have found the perfect finishes for the structures that house their hens – Osmo Park Lane and Osmo One Coat Only!

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These finishes, available in a full range of colors, are engineered from natural oils and waxes. They go on easily, dry quickly, and once dry, are completely non-toxic – making it extra safe for the birds. The oils in the Osmo allow the material to penetrate into the wood grain and you end up with a  finish is breatheable and has flexibility to it, so it won’t crack, peel, blister or crack the way regular paint will over time.

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People love these Osmo finishes as a quick way to bring long term protection – and a splash of color – to their backyard coops (and fences, and railings, and wood trim, and the siding on houses, and interior woodwork… the list goes on!) 

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If you want some inspiration, or if you live in an apartment and can only dream of having your own backyard chickens, here is a fun chicken-cam! And here is another one!

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Thanks to Christine for sharing this photo of her OSMO coated Chicken Coop! (Scandinavian Red)

You can find some more great chicken coop tips at these websites!:

http://www.thegardencoop.com/
http://www.urbanchickens.net/
http://www.growing-gardens.org/portland-gardening-resources/chickens.php#coopdesign
http://seattletilth.org/learn/resources-1/city-chickens

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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.

 

From the desk of our product specialist:

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Here at Ecohaus, human health is just as important to our mission of sustainability as is the health of the environment. So, when we look at bringing a product on, we have a list of features that we energetically avoid in the products that we sell. We call this our “Bright Lines” policy (as in “bright lines in the sand” that we do not cross) and this is one of the cornerstones of our product-selection process. Our “Bright Lines” list includes things like persistent bio-accumulative toxins (PBTs), hormone disrupting chemicals, radioactive ingredients and more!

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We have just added another chemical called triclosan to our “prohibited” list and we want to tell you about it. You might recognize it as the active ingredient in many “antibacterial” products. Triclosan really seems to be everywhere.  It is present in hundreds of popular consumer products including liquid hand soap, toothpaste, lotions, undergarments and children’s toys (just to name a few.)   We are seeing triclosan being used in many building products as well. 

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Why does Ecohaus work hard to avoid this popular chemical in our products? Officially classified as a pesticide, triclosan is a persistent bio-accumulative toxin. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), lab studies link triclosan to thyroid dysfunction, developmental defects, and liver and inhalation toxicity — it persists in the environment, breaks down into substances highly toxic to wildlife and pollutes the human body.  Triclosan has been found in 58% of rivers, 97% of breast milk and in the urine of 75% of the population.   The EWG recommends that consumers avoid the use of triclosan-laden products whenever possible.

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Given the above, it is especially interesting to note that anti-microbial soaps, where triclosan is widely used, have not proven to be any more effective at preventing the spread of infections than plain soap and water.  Even the American Medical Association recommends that people avoid using anti-microbials such as Triclosan.

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According to a report in the Washington Post posted on April 8th, mounting concerns about the effects of triclosan have spurred the FDA and the EPA to begin a reevaluation of this widespread substance.

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Triclosan is only one of hundreds of such chemicals that raise serious concerns about their effects on our bodies and our environment. Currently, we have a regulatory system in which products are only regulated once the damage is already done.  To learn more about what you could do to help change the system, and ensure that chemicals used in consumer products are first proven to be safe for people and ecosystems, check out these links at the EWG:

http://www.ewg.org/kid-safe-chemicals-act-blog/kid-safe-chemicals-act/

http://action.ewg.org/t/1875/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26526

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To read more of the Environmental Working Group’s extensive report on triclosan, click here.

And here are a few additional links to more information:

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticides/factsheets/Triclosan%20cited.pdf

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/07/AR2010040704621.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triclosan

http://abetterwaytoclean.com/?p=39 

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 For detailed information about personal-care-products and how they rate for toxicity, be sure to visit the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database.

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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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