Sustainable Flooring by Eco Timber

Photo Courtesy: Teragrin

The walls are up and the time is NOW to start choosing our final selections for the interior finishes on the current project near Butterfly Beach in Montecito.  We will be choosing FSC Certified Flooring to keep in line with our Platinum LEED Certification.  Ecotimber floors FSC Certified and are made from the highest quality woods that are harvested in a sustainable way. Instead of simply clear cutting a forest in order to get all of its hardwood, Ecotimber is obtained through selective cutting where only the highest quality trees are used. Responsible companies ensure that they do not deplete the forest, but instead plant trees and engage in other sustainable practices.  

Two of their most popular finishes are in the EcoBamboo line.

EcoBamboo in Amber

EcoBamboo in Honey

EcoBamboo-Dyed Woven Bamboo-Black Tie

Green Doesn’t Mean Boring. EcoTimber hardwood flooring is available in some of the richest and most luxurious wood.  Brazilian Cherry, Rose Teak, Royal Walnut, White Tigerwood, Santos Mahogany, Angico are some of the most popular exotic woods available. 

One of my favorites for a 'beach-y look" is in the EcoVintage line.

Walnut Pre-finished in Summer Calm.

A couple other favorites in the EcoVintage line :

EcoVintage Standwoven Poplar- Afternoon Tea

EcoVintage-Woven Engineered-Pinstripe

Look for the certifying stamp to distinguish between "greenwashed" and genuine ecological forest products.
Today, a growing number of timber producers and traders are making environmental claims. Some are accurate, but others are misleading or exaggerated.

To make sure that you are getting your unfinished hardwood floors from a true Ecotimber source, check to see if the company has been independently certified by an organization such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Eco Timber is currently donating Proceeds to benefit "Voice of the Wetlands" a charity for Gulf Oil Cleanup.

WOW! Saturday Shopping with 1st Dibs

French Art Deco Crystal Globe

France, 1930

Kerson Gallery

Rare 18th Century Spanish Colonial Iron Escutcheon Collection

18th Century

Colonial Arts

Carlo Hauner Pair of Lounge Chairs

Italy, 1957

Eccola

Hey Hey Post

Mali, 20th Century

VW Home

Large Mobile Chandalier

USA, 1970's

Rewire

Maurice Calka Boomerang Desk

France, 1960's 

J.F. Chen

Danish Leather Chesterfield Sofa

Danish, c. 1950

Lief 

Exceptional Free-form Desk, Andre BLOC

France, 1953

Diane de Polignac

Versatile Blue Metal Industrial Storage Bins

USA, c. 1940's

Andrew Spindler Antiques

Steel and Painted Ceiling Light

Italian, c. 1960

Gordon Watson Ltd

Ikat Wall Hanging

Uzbekistan, 19th Century

Sarajo

Carved Wooden Sculpture by Mario Dal Fabbro

 USA, 1981

Johnson Trading Gallery

Abercrombie & Fitch Leather Buffalo Footstool

USA, 1960

Palumbo

Stilnovo Two Arm Chandelier

Italy, 1950's

Rewire

Pair of Modernist Table Lamps attributed to Hugo Gnam

USA, 1930's

Retro-Modern

Pair of Italian Welded Iron and Upholstered Armchairs

Italy, c. 1950

Amy Perlin Antiques

REDUCE,  REUSE, RECYCLE

WOW Saturday Shopping with 1st Dibs

Pair of glass and aluminum wall sconces by Jean Perzel

USA, 1940's

Wyeth

Wing Back by Mogens Koch

Denmark, 1930's

Wyeth

Rosewood Craft Extention Dining Table by Jeffrey Greene

USA, 1967

Johnson Trading Gallery

Pair of Paul Evans Studio Upholstered Stools

USA, 1971

Douglas Rosin

Takashimaya Building NYC Pair of Bookcases

American, 1993

The Warehouse

Belgian Lockers

Belgium, 1800's

Galerie Half

Hans Wegner Papa Bear Chair and Ottoman

Denmark, 1950's

Oliver

Restauration Period Pinewood and Painted Copper Lined Bathtub

France, early 19th Century

Robuck Company Antiques Ltd.

Early Edward Wormley for Dunbar Walnut Desk

USA, early 1940's

Robollo Home

Pair of 4' Hand Thrown Ceramic Lamps

USA, 1970's

Wyeth

Rosewood bench by Paul Frankl for Johnson Furniture

USA, 1940's

Tom Gibbs Studio

Queen Size Four-Poster Bed by Tommi Parzinger

USA, 1960's

Dragonette

Sustainable Living In San Fransisco's Presidio District

The Belles Townhomes are San Francisco's first LEED Platinum-certified multi-family housing units. The seven unit multi-family building is designed and built by Kieran Timberlake and LivingHomes in a modern vernacular.  It's an adaptive reuse project which has turned a hospital into an apartment building in the city's historic Presidio district (and National Park!)

Its own sustainable community, the Presidio Landmark was built with the love of nature, culture, community, and urban conveniences in mind. It's within walking distance to both the Lobos Valley Overlook and the artsy boutiques and Asian markets of the Richmond District. Laurel Village cafes and shops are nearly as close as the serpentine cliffs of Baker Beach. A short bike ride brings you to the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands—or a 20-minute bus ride lands you in the Financial District. 

Each home features an energy dashboard to monitor energy usage in hopes that residents will become more aware of their usage and lower their footprint. Rainwater is collected from the roof and stored in an underground aquifer to minimize stormwater runoff and drought- tolerant plants are used in the landscaping. Over 90% of the interior spaces receive natural daylighting.  With solar panels on the roof, energy monitoring and efficient appliances inside, rainwater collection and a lot more,  new tenants are sure to feel happy-go-lucky.

Each 3-bedroom unit is a 3-story design with low- or no-VOC carpets, paints or adhesives and uses a high concentration of recycled-content materials.  Each home has its own roof top solar system to provide some of the energy needs. The first and second floor feature the garage, storage and the three bedrooms and bathrooms; the third floor contains the main living spaces.

This is truly city living that aligns with your values, your interests and your desire to live life to the fullest.

If you haven't seen our current Platinum LEED Certified project on Butterfly Beach in Montecito, check it out here.

 

Futuristic Shell Homes

"The Jetsons" meets James Bond and equals Sustainable Design.  Architect Dante Bini, who received widespread attention in the 1960's era of Buckminster Fuller and Saarinen’s swooping TWA terminal, is making a comeback with his son Nicolo Bini. Together they have developed a protype for a home to be built in in Palm Springs this winter. It will be made up of Binishells, self-supporting concrete shells erected in hours using only air pressure. 

This LEED platinum certified home featuring the latest eco-technologies and materials, will set the bar for low impact environmental construction.

Revisiting his father's work several years ago, Nicolo realized that, with some tinkering, the technology could be incredibly green. He supplies some impressive stats to back up that claim: because of the simplicity of their design and construction, the shells reduce energy use by up to 80%. Even better, they also reduce costs by half, and can be erected in a third of the  time needed for traditional construction.   

Binishell is an efficient, low-cost and low-carbon building technology that uses an inflatable membrane (basically a balloon) on a concrete foundation.  It's covered with concrete, and then inflated.  When the concrete is lifted to the required height, it is allowed to set. The membrane is then removed and is ready for use in the next structure. These shelters are strong and able to resist hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes and fires. They are easily deploy-able anywhere as they can be fabricated from locally available materials and require no factories for prefabrication and no heavy machinery for installation.

Binishells are ideally suited to eco-resorts. Their minimal carbon footprint, minimal visual impact, unique look and feel and the fact they can be made from locally available material makes them an ideal choice for eco-developments internationally.

The structure above can be built for a small fraction of the construction costs of conventional building.  But, airports or maybe even space ship terminals could be in the future. Binishells can be used for a variety of large projects. Several 120-foot-diameter domes with multiple floors have already been built. They can therefore be used to build large public or private structures less expensively, faster, stronger and more ecologically than any other system. The rendering below shows three hour-glass- shaped Binishells joined by a tensile structure. The resulting structure would not only be contemporary and visually appealing, but also resistant to high winds, earthquakes and highly efficient in terms of resources and energy used in the life cycle of the building. 

These unique buildings can be used for everything from high-end residential, to school gymnasiums, commercial buildings, or low cost housing and emergency shelters. Love it.

Bio Glass by ECOverings

In searching for new exciting materials for our current project on Hill Road in Montecito, I came across some extraordinary and beautiful 100%-recycled glass tiles.  The colors are amazing when playing off natural light and even more so when back-lit.  Distributed by Coverings Etc., this exciting company was founded in 1998 to source innovative natural stone and mosaics. They expanded in the new millennium to cater to a growing popular demand for eco-friendly and engineered-stone surface materials. They are a a member of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and use of their products contributes to LEED points that are essential when going for LEED Certification--especially the Platinum level we are striving for.

Amazing. Right?

The six shades will make it hard to choose your palette.  Emerald Forest (below)

Fossil Amber


Oriental Jade

Aquamarine

Malachite

White Diamond

ECOVERINGS  has many other products that are equally as elegant and environmentally friendly.

ECO-GRES  is highly sustainable, easy to install and maintain. High impact and slip resistant, it is also scratch, stain and fade resistant.  And, there's no need to ever seal or wax.

BIO-LUMINUM™ is a Future Friendly material made from 100% post-consumer recycled aluminum from reclaimed aircraft parts. 100% unique, it's also 100% recyclable. 

The ECOVERINGS® line of products are naturally occurring, recycled, and/or manufactured with concern for the conservation of natural resources.

They are also a RedDot Design Award winner of 2010.