Will Your First Smart Home Arrive on a Flatbed? - Dwell
My essay on prefab homes and their advantages when it comes to automation was published in Dwell's August/September issue.
Read it online here.
Within and Without - Dwell Magazine
A Texas interior designer expands her vision outdoors with a water-wise garden.
The first thing that strikes you about interior designer Lynn Rush’s home is that it’s black. The second is that its dark plaster walls are slowly being enveloped by swaths of brilliant green ivy. Surrounded by peach stucco mansions, this LEED Platinum residence on the outskirts of Dallas is wholly different, but without sticking out like the proverbial sore thumb. Instead, its low profile seems to dissolve into a backdrop of native plantings.
Read the full article here.
How to Monitor and Control Indoor Air Quality in Your Home | care2.com
The air that we breathe is, quite literally, our life source. But it could also, quite possibly, be killing us. Air quality is becoming a modern crisis, with the World Health Organization (WHO) classifying air pollution as the world’s largest health risk, linking one in eight total global deaths to air pollution exposure, both indoor and out.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the air inside our homes is commonly five times more polluted than that of the outdoors, and in some cases, up to 10 times. So, what can you do to protect your health, and that of your family, from this silent killer lurking in your home? Detect and correct. Find out what is causing air pollution in your home and then take whatever steps you can to help correct or mitigate those causes. Here we’ll look at how you can achieve this.
Read the full article here.
HOW AMERICANS ARE EMBRACING THE POWER OF THEIR HOMES | Earth911.com
Just a few years ago, living off the grid conjured up images of tiny cabins in the middle of nowhere. Today, the dream of average American homeowners powering their homes with alternative energies is coming true. Solar panels on your neighbor’s roof are no longer an oddity, and electric cars are less of a curiosity and more of an everyday sight. It’s not hard to imagine a time when wind turbines in the backyard will be commonplace and geothermal heating an expected utility in all new homes.
Read the full article here.
How smart home devices help monitor and mitigate indoor air quality | MultiBriefs.com
There are a significant number of connected, Internet of Things-powered devices that incorporate some sort of indoor air quality (IAQ) monitoring that can help mitigate indoor air pollution. From standalone IAQ monitors and devices that do double duty as security systems to smart HVAC systems that filter the air when dangerous levels occur, consumers can now easily monitor the health of their homes and businesses. For more read the full post here.
Mother Earth News Articles
I've been writing for the earth-wise website Mother Earth News for three years now! You can read all of my posts for them on green living and sustainability right here.
Green Renovations: The Best Eco-Friendly Countertops for NaturallySavvy.com
Remodeling a kitchen is on many homeowners’ to-do lists, and putting in new countertops is often the biggest part of that remodel. For most of this century, granite has been the go-to material when redoing countertops, and while it is still a great option, the growing interest in sustainability and green living has meant many people are looking at alternative materials. This has prompted a surge in options with stronger eco-credentials, such as wood, metal and recycled countertops.
Deciding whether a material is environmentally friendly or “green” is not as easy as just looking at a label or finding out if the manufacturer is certified by one eco-working group or another.
Read the rest of this post here.
How to Choose the Greenest Outdoor Grill - for MotherEarthNews.com
Summer is here, which means it’s time to get outside and enjoy your backyard, deck or patio area. What better way to do that than with a cookout? Plus, cooking your food outdoors is the more environmentally-friendly way to do it, right? Well, it can be.
As with many eco-friendly choices, it depends on a confluence of factors, including the careful selection of the right equipment. Whether you prefer cooking inside or out, the tools you use can affect the carbon footprint of your cooking.
So before you fire up the grill, think about what you can do to make your barbecue greener and cleaner. Here’s a look at the relative environmentally friendly attributes of the different grill options—gas, electric, charcoal, pellet—so you can decide which is the best fit for your green lifestyle.
Read the full post here.
Harness the Power of the Internet to Conserve Water in Your 'Smart' Garden - for MOTHER EARTH NEWS
How many times have you seen someone’s sprinklers on during a rain storm? Or even worse, arrived home to find yours going while it’s pouring? I think you’ll agree that it’s a truly painful-to-watch waste of Mother Earth’s most precious natural resource. With today’s climate issues, where some parts of the country are living through significant droughts, it’s even more imperative that we be mindful of our water use.
Read more here.