Posted on: 10/25/2011

Yes, the residential marketplace is still waiting for quick and easy access to planet- and/or indoor-air-friendly wallpaper, and part of the reason is lack of demand.

Posted on: 10/10/2011

Not only does American Clay offer a number of styles, including Venetian plaster and a luminescent plaster that contains crushed sea shells, but it is free of chemicals that pollute indoor-air, and it goes a step beyond by ensuring comfort and energy savings.

Posted on: 3/25/2011

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) label is arguably the best guarantee that a hardwood floor was sustainably harvested. But that isn’t enough for homeowners who want flooring that does not emit chemicals. Manufacturers of polyurethane and aluminum oxide floor finishes have appeased some of these customers by developing finishes with lower-VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) content. But a growing number of people want a floor that’s prefinished without potentially harmful chemicals.

Posted on: 3/21/2011

Whether you’re Natural, Desperate or somewhere in between, enter The Natural Housewife Contest for your chance to win $500 in chemical-free, wool Nature’s Carpet.

Posted on: 2/8/2011

The Natural Housewife shares tips for choosing products that do not pollute your indoor air. Join the conversation for a chance to win $500 in Nature’s Carpet.

Posted on: 1/20/2011

The Natural Housewife says the home should be a non-toxic zone. Add your tips to the conversation for a chance to win $500 in Nature’s Carpet and other prizes.

Posted on: 12/19/2010

Are you wishing that you had protected your home from drafts and lost energy, now that the snow and New Year are upon us? If you delayed because you didn’t know where to start, here’s my simple, Top 10 DIY Weatherization project list. It’s not too late.

Posted on: 11/10/2010

The Department of Energy estimates that electric lighting accounts for about 11 percent of a home’s energy usage. This percentage can be more for businesses as they use artificial lighting for longer periods of time each day. High-efficiency lighting automatically means energy savings and lower costs. But the savings vary with the type of lighting. And the type of light varies from product to product. Of special note with winter approaching: Fluorescent and LED lights are among those used in light therapy for an array of problems, including Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

Posted on: 11/1/2010

Even the Sun was intimidated when he heard the word “photovoltaic” during the Cincinnati Solar Tour a few weeks ago. But this is just a big word for producing electricity from the Sun’s light, captured by solar panels. Confusion or insecurity, as the experts in this week’s episode of Natural Interiors® TV explained, is unnatural. In addition to collecting light for solar-electric power, solar panels are used to collect heat, which gives us solar-thermal power. In a whole-building solar energy project, solar-thermal power is most commonly used to heat water or the building, while solar-electric, or photovoltaic, is used to power everything else. Natural gas also often remains in the building’s heating equation. And there are appliances like the attic fan shown in the video, available at Greener Stock (www.greenerstock.com) though it is not a whole-building solar dealer, that operate independently of the whole-building energy system.

Posted on: 10/1/2010

More than 70 percent of the Earth is water. So why worry when your water pressure rises, and your sprinkler waters your driveway in addition to your lawn?

Because almost 97 percent of the world’s water is salty or otherwise undrinkable. Another 2 percent is locked in ice caps and glaciers. That leaves only 1 percent for all of our agricultural, residential, industrial and commercial needs. Our supply is diminishing, and demand is increasing.

This increased demand and increased drought in some regions are cause for serious conservation efforts around the world. Increased demand also places a financial burden on the companies and municipalities providing clean water. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis (2002) estimated that if “capital investment and operations and maintenance remained at current levels, the potential funding shortfall for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure could exceed $500 billion by 2020.”

So what can we do each day to conserve water?

Posted on: 9/10/2010

Dear Heather:

My neighbor, I’ll call her “Nina,” is gloating about her new granite countertops. She has come up with a number of reasons lately to invite the women in our subdivision into her kitchen. It’s clearly a status thing for her, and her constant show-off style is annoying. But her kitchen sure looks nice.

With the holidays coming, I am a little embarrassed to say that this has pushed me to consider similar counters for my kitchen. But I am wondering if you, as a green designer and architect, can recommend something better that will bring “Nina’s” ego down a few notches when she attends my New Year’s open house.

Thanks for any suggestions.

- Irritated “Irene” in Iowa

Dear “Irene:”

The hottest styles in countertops now available are not made from solid granite, and they have an added benefit because they are made without depleting the planet’s resources. It also should make you feel better to know that with the money “Nina” spent, she could have been a “green” trendsetter and spent the same or less on her counters.

Stone-like sustainable countertops divert waste from landfills, they emit low or no chemicals into your indoor air, and the companies that make them have standards in place to decrease natural resource consumption during the manufacturing process.

For example, in making my favorite, Eco by Cosentino ® countertop, the company recycles 94 percent of the water used in the manufacturing process.