Glazed terra cotta was extremely popular in the first half of the 20th Century.  Clay could be inexpensively molded to complicated shapes and could be glazed to give it a stone-like appearance.  Gladden McBean was a local manufacturer of glazed terra cotta and continues to make ceramic products in Northern California to this day.  I try and keep Gladding McBean in mind because they are local and ceramic tile is pretty sustainable -- earning possible LEED points.

Built in 1937, this building at 9th and Harrison in San Francisco was a Gladding McBean office  building -- just a block from our office.  It is completely clad in glazed terra cotta and is now the home of the Salvation Army.  I once thought glazed terra cotta was great, but if it was chipped it was gone for good.  I had noticed the nicks and chips on the building, but last a few months ago I noticed someone was repairing the damaged terra cotta.  He said it was no problem repairing it.  You fill in the voids and then they can "re-glaze" it in place.  The restoration was completed by Lewis Restoration and Consulting of San Francisco.  Now it looks good to go for another 70 years. 

We've been looking for bicycle storage solutions for our UA Homes project in Berkeley.  Perhaps this is most fun thing I've seen in a while.  Huntco is producing a secure bicycle storage product that not only secures the bike, but also shelters it from the weather.  It probably satisfies the LEED requirement for secured covered storage.    See their website here.

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.  Two years ago, I became a LEED accredited professional by taking a comprehensive exam.  The LEED certification of an existing or new buildings is probably the most well known and respected standard showing an owner has made a commitment to sustainable design.  As I walk around town, I'm seeing more and more buildings proudly displaying a LEED Certificate on the exterior of the building.

In order to continue to be an LEED accredited professional, you need to take at least 30 hours of continuing education courses evert two years.  I just finished submitting my hours and am re-accredited for another 2 years!  LM   

Life used to be simple. There was one kind of light bulb, the "A" style incandescent that was invented by Thomas Edison. Then fluorescent light bulbs provided another choice.  I first saw this on-line earlier this year and was really fascinated with the whimsical look that is intended to be exposed.  Now I see they are available locally at the City Lights - Light Bulb Store. They are 8 times more energy efficient compared to incandescent bulbs -- just be sure to dispose of them properly.

Over the years, the numbers and types of light bulbs grew larger and larger.  Now when you buy a light fixture, you have to be sure you know a source for a replacement light bulb as your local grocery store may not carry them.

City Lights - Light Bulb Store is the place I go to find any type of light bulb.   I just walk in and show them the specification for the light bulb and they magically produce it! Its located at Folsom and 12th Streets in the SOMA district of San Francisco.    Street parking is not too bad.  Click here for their website.  LM

Acuity OLED lights were awarded the most innovative product of the year at Lightfair International 2011 in Atlanta.  There was a mini Lightfair show at PG&E in San Francisco recently and I got a chance to look a the award winning light fixture and hear a lecture from the developer Peter Ngai.  See a video here.   

OLEDs are different from LED lights just now coming into use.  LEDs are replacing fluorescent lights, which in turn were replacing inefficient incandescent bulbs.  The problem with fluorescent light bulbs are their toxic materials and  landfill issues.  LED lights are made of inorganic materials while OLEDs are made of organic materials.  Organic LED or OLEDs are microscopic thin layers of organic materials that glow when given an electric charge.  The "bulb" is a thin layer of material and "bulb", the housing, and the lens fixture are all now merged into one element.  The product is just coming on the market now and Peter Ngai anticipates increasing efficiencies in OLEDs that will make it competitive with LEDs and other lighting products.  The big plus with OLEDs will be energy efficiency, efficient use of materials, and no disposal of toxic materials.  LM

Apartment Therapy recently showed a graph of the average home sizes in square feet in the US and in Europe + Australia.  Big may be better, but this graph shows  why the US is consuming more than its fair share of the earth's resources.  The era of cheap energy and automobiles that allowed people to spread out and build bigger has created a gigantic aging infrastructure that needs maintaining. 

There's a hopeful trend toward using our resources wisely and relies more on the "Less is More" of Mies Van der Rohe, or "Less is Better" of Dieter Ram.  In future posts, I will be exploring some of these ideas of creating more value using less.  LM

I recently attended a seminar about the Living Building Challenge.  It's another approach towards sustainable design complementary to LEED Certification.

In many ways, it takes a broader approach to the notion of what is sustainable. The seminar was held at the EcoCenter at Heron's Head Park near the old Navy Shipyards.  Heron's Head Park was built as a demonstration project to show what can be done in terms of sustainable design.   It features a "black water" systems that treats water from the toilets that is re-used to water the grounds.  Once, they obtain the final permits, they will be able to use the water to flush the toilets as well.  Once this is completed, they will completely free of City power and sewer utilities. LM

Whole Foods has opened a store in the venerable and historic Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco showing that nothing is sacred.  Kidding aside, the cashiers area features a re-cycled gymnasium floor from DeAnza High School in the East Bay. 

The designer had fun just using the pieces with colored stripes installed in a random fashion creating a handsome floor.  As a bonus probably could have earned some LEED credits as well for using re-cycled materials.  LM