Costa Pacific Communities was honored by the National Association of Home Builders with four gold awards for its new community, Villebois. Category wins include Community of the Year, Best Logo, Best Website, and Best Product Design of an Attached Home Plan.
For more information on these awards, visit www.thenationals.com. For more information on Villebois, visit www.villebois.net.
Legend Homes was honored by the National Association of Home Builders with two silver Sales and Marketing Awards for the company’s television and radio advertisements, both designed to promote Legend’s new EarthSmart homes.
The television and radio ads feature L.E.S. (Legend EarthSmart), a talking home that explains Legend’s new goal of creating smaller, affordable homes employing state-of-the-art building practices coupled with the company’s strong focus on energy and resource conservation. The ads were created in conjunction with Art4orm.
To watch the award-winning commercials, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu_yWKFdc_8
From apnews.com
Ben West was scheduled to fly into Haiti’s second-largest city on Jan. 15, to launch a project designed to address a critical problem in a country stripped of as much as 99 percent of its forests.
Haiti needed stoves. Haiti needed stoves because an estimated 800,000 of its residents cook either on an open fire or with an unimproved stove that resembles a baby’s crib with no mattress in it “horribly inefficient,” said West, general manager of the fledgling company StoveTec, a for-profit spinoff of the Cottage Grove nonprofit Aprovecho Research Center.
His trip to Haiti was intended to kick off an effort to put hundreds of thousands of cheap, durable, clean-burning, highly efficient stoves into the hands of as many people as possible for as low a cost as possible.
Then came a 7.0-magnitude earthquake, and “the whole game has changed,” West said.
Now it’s an urgent, emergency Band-Aid project, at least for the short-term, which is why StoveTec has shipped 1,344 cartons filled with flower pot-sized “rocket stoves” that stand a mere 12 inches high but can combust wood and biomass fuels at a scorching 850 degrees Celsius. They’re portable, up to 50 percent more efficient than an open flame and they emit up to 70 percent fewer greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
And they’re an essential component of what people fleeing Port-au-Prince need right now. As many as 25,000 people are scattering out of the city each day and setting up tents in fields on the outskirts, or on the way to Cap Haitien. They have beans and rice distributed by aid workers, West said, but they need to boil water to make it safe, and they need a way to cook that food.
What they need are stoves.
The stoves are being shipped to Miami, where they’ll be loaded onto a container bound for Haiti. Once in the country, representatives from the nonprofit groups Trees, Water and People and the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group will receive the stoves and distribute them to needy citizens, free of charge.
West’s company produces and sells the “rocket stoves” for prices starting at $8 to some of the 3 billion people who cook over an open fire or use unimproved stoves on six continents. He already had put together a partnership between StoveTec and nonprofits based in Haiti, with the aim of 5,000 stoves sold each month.
The company’s cost to manufacture the 12-inch high biomass stoves is about $20, but by funneling money it earns from carbon credit programs into the effort, and selling the stoves to consumers in the United States for about $40, StoveTec can subsidize the venture, getting stoves into the world’s poorest nations for half the production cost. StoveTec can reach 80 percent of the market for these stoves by selling them for $10 apiece, West said.
Selling them, instead of giving them away, makes the effort financially sustainable, but it also fosters entrepreneurial opportunities for distributors and retailers in the target countries and ensures a “buy-in” from customers, West said. People are more likely to use and care for something they had to purchase.
The stoves quickly pay for themselves. The improved fuel efficiency means people save money on expensive charcoal and wood. And tests based on the few dozen units that StoveTec has in Haiti now show even more impressive results than average. Much of what people use for fuel there now is charcoal StoveTec’s stoves can burn wood, charcoal or other biomass such as corn cobs and dung and the stoves in use there now are cutting down on the amount of charcoal needed for cooking by as much as 70 percent, West said.
The plan was to find nonprofits in Haiti that would be exempt from the 35 percent duty on imported goods that could raise the retail cost of the stoves from $10 to $18 apiece, to jump through the necessary hoops to qualify the effort for carbon credits, and to figure out how best to market the stoves to the people.
West’s aim now is to get several hundred thousand stoves into Haiti “quickly,” he said, at a rate of about 5,000 per month.
“People are going into the Dominican Republic, harvesting firewood from there to create charcoal and shipping it illegally across the border to Haiti because they can get over 10 times the price they can in the Dominican Republic for the same fuel,” said Sebastian Africano, stoves program consultant with Trees, Water and People, a Fort Collins, Colo.-based nonprofit that is distributing StoveTec’s devices in Haiti and elsewhere. “Fuel is very expensive there.”
From Forbes.com
The U.S. government has pushed hard to make homeowners out of one-third of Americans who still rent their homes. It introduced and later extended a tax credit for first-time home buyers, and has kept federal interest rates at their lowest levels since the 1940s.
Market conditions are such that now is a particularly good time for some renters to take the hint.
In Portland, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., the premium to buy–the spread between what you’d spend on renting and what you’d pay each month for a mortgage–is far narrower now than its 15-year average. And economists predict a significant home-price hike in five years. So upgrading will cost much less than usual, and home buyers are likely to get a good return on their investment.
Note that buying isn’t necessarily cheaper than renting in these metro areas. In fact, it often remains a more expensive proposition. But for those determined to own, that investment is a better one now than it normally is.
Take San Francisco. To live here has always required a hefty bump in monthly costs from renting; it’s normally an incredible 296% more expensive to buy than lease a home, and the city’s residents know this. That’s why 42% of them stick to renting. Even though in the third quarter of 2009 the premium was still in the triple digits–233%–it had shrunk by 63 percentage points from the above 15-year average. As with the other cities we’ve highlighted, you’re not getting nearly as good a deal by renting as you might have just a few years ago.
“Rents are falling, but not nearly as rapidly as home prices,” says Ron Witten, founder of Dallas-based Witten Advisors, an apartment market consulting firm. “Part of the reason is a shift away from home ownership toward renting,” he says, in part because mortgages have become harder for many to obtain.
Behind the Numbers
To find cities where it’s a good time to go from renting to buying, we used data from Witten Advisors, which calculated the premium to buy for 42 Metropolitan Statistical Areas across the country using data from the U.S. Census, the National Association of Realtors and a blended average of fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgages from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (which oversees and regulates lenders). We compared the premium in the third quarter of 2009 with the average premium over the last 15 years to find the biggest drops.
We also wanted to pinpoint markets where home buying is a smart investment, so we factored in the five-year forecast in the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index from Moody’s ( MCO – news – people )Economy.com. The cities on our list have some of the biggest discounts on the premium to buy coupled with big projected increases in home prices over the next five years.
One major market we didn’t look at is New York City, another spot where rents have softened less than home prices. Witten Advisors doesn’t track the metro area because accurate historical data on rental costs there is exceedingly difficult to obtain.
Quality of Life, at a Discount
Portland, Ore., makes our list for much the same reason that San Francisco does: It’s a picturesque, culture-driven city with good local services and amenities. The city is still not particularly cheap for buyers–but it’s cheaper than normal.
A family hoping to put down roots there would normally pay a 62% premium to go from renting to buying. In the third quarter of 2009, however, that premium shrank by 16 percentage points. At the same time, Moody’s Economy.com anticipates that home prices will jump 19% over the next five years. That’s partly because, like San Francisco, Portland has strict government limitations on building and a coastal location that keep sprawl in check.
“Portland has one of the most controlled environments in the country in terms of development rights,” says Stuart Gabriel, director of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. “Those supply constraints will push prices up.”
Jobs Stability
The presence of jobs–along with strong industries that will keep generating new ones–is a big factor in keeping demand for homes, and therefore home prices, high. The weak national economy has helped reduce the premium to buy for the time being, but where the labor market is relatively healthy, home prices are predicted to shoot up.
In Minneapolis, for example, where large companies including Target ( TGT – news – people ) and General Mills ( GIS – news – people ) have their corporate headquarters (and there’s a large university system), home buyers will only pay 14% more than if they were renting (24 percentage points lower than average), and home prices should climb by 15% in five years.
Similarly, in Washington, D.C., government jobs are plentiful, and anticipated to stay that way. The 6.1% unemployment rate here is well below the national average, which is partly why Moody’s anticipates a five-year jump in home prices of 15%. And, at the moment, the premium to buy is 20 percentage points lower than its usual 57%.
Of course, whether buying or renting is best is ultimately an individual choice, and one driven by a lot more than map coordinates. When subprime lending was rampant, many without the means to buy were encouraged to do so anyway–and it’s no secret how that turned out.
“If there’s anything we should have learned from this housing cycle, it’s that the decision to buy or rent ought to be a personal lifestyle decision,” says Witten. “In part, it’s a question about, ‘Do I want to be a homeowner’ in general, and specifically, ‘Do I want to be a homeowner now, with this economic uncertainty?’”
Get your running shoes on– Runner’s World named Portland “The Best Running City in America”.
See article here Runnersworld.com.
By ANGELA BLACK, Mother Nature Network
Although the EPA has not established official criteria for ranking the greenness of a city, there are several key areas to measure for effectiveness in carbon footprint reduction. These include air and water quality, efficient recycling and management of waste, percentage of LEED-certified buildings, acres of land devoted to greenspace, use of renewable energy sources, and easy access to products and services that make green lifestyle choices (organic products, buying local, clean transportation methods) easy.
Mother Nature Network’s editorial team rounded up their top 10:
10. Austin, Texas
Carbon neutral by 2020 – it’s an ambitious goal, but according to the U.S. Department of Energy, Austin Energy is the nation’s largest provider of renewable energy, which makes its goal to power the city solely on renewable energy within reach. As the gateway to the scenic Texas Hill Country, acreage in Austin that’s devoted to green space includes 206 parks, 12 preserves, 26 greenbelts and more than 50 miles of trails.
9. Chicago
The Windy City has embraced land sustainability far longer than you may think. In 1909, pioneering city planner Daniel Hudson Burnham created a long-range plan for the lakefront that balanced urban growth, and created a permanent greenbelt around the metropolitan area. This greening of the city continues through the Chicago Green Roof Program. More than 2.5 million square feet of city roofs support plant life – including Willis Tower (formerly called Sears Tower) and the city hall building. Also, about 500,000 new trees have been planted.
8. Seattle
The unofficial coffee klatch capital of the country is also sustainable-living savvy. More than 20 public buildings in Seattle are LEED-certified or under construction for LEED certification. Through an incentive program, residents are encouraged to install solar panels on their homes for energy conservation. Sustainable Ballard, a green neighborhood group and sustainability festival host, offers ongoing workshops about how to live in harmony with the environment.
7. Berkeley, Calif.
A great place to find an abundance of organic and vegetarian restaurants is also on the cutting edge of sustainability. Berkeley is recognized as a leader in the incubation of clean technology for wind power, solar power, biofuels and hydropower.
6. Cambridge, Mass.
In 2008, Prevention Magazine named Cambridge “the best walking city.” Thoreau’s Walden Pond can be found in nearby Concord, and education powerhouses Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University are located here. In 2002, city officials implemented a major climate protection plan and today most city vehicles are fueled by B20 biodiesel or electricity. All new construction or major renovations must meet LEED standards. And a project called “Compost that Stuff” collects and processes organic waste from residents, restaurants, bars and hotels.
5. Eugene, Ore.
Known as the Emerald City for its natural green beauty, this baby boomer haven and second largest city in the state has been doing the “green” thing since the 1960s. In 2008, after only one year of service, the Emerald Express, a hybrid public transit system, won a Sustainable Transport award. Cycling is the preferred mode of transportation, made possible by the 30 miles of off-street bike paths and 29 dedicated bike routes, which total a whopping 150 miles of smog-free travel throughout the metro area.
4. Oakland, Calif.
Residents of this port city have access to an abundance of fresh, organic food, much of which is locally sourced. It’s also home to the nation’s cleanest tap water, hydrogen-powered public transit and the country’s oldest wildlife refuge. Oakland also plans to have zero waste and be oil-independent by 2020, and already gets 17 percent of its energy from renewable sources.
3. Boston
It’s hard to think of this city without also thinking of tea – as a commodity, not a drink. Boston ranks high among the urban green elite. Sustainability efforts include a “Green by 2015″ goal to replace traditional taxi cabs with hybrid vehicles, recycle trash to power homes, use more solar panels and use more electric motorbikes for transportation. The city’s first annual Down2Earth conference was held in 2008. It’s designed to educate residents about how to live the most sustainable lifestyle.
2. San Francisco
Declared by Mayor Gavin Newsom to be America’s solar energy leader, this vibrant city of cultural tolerance was a 1960s icon and epicenter for the Summer of Love. But in addition to peace, love and solar power, there’s also an innovative recycling program with an artist-in-residence at the recycling facility. The artist uses his work to inspire residents to recycle and conserve. San Francisco is also the first U.S. city to ban plastic grocery bags, a concept that supports its effort to divert 75 percent of landfill waste by 2010.
1. Portland, Ore.
The city of microbrewery mania and home to megastore Powell’s Books – one of the few remaining independent booksellers in the country – is No. 1 in sustainability. Declared the most bikeable city in the United States for its 200 miles of dedicated bike lanes, Portland certainly makes forgoing gas-powered travel easy. And for lessons in DIY sustainable food sources, classes are available for container gardening and cheese making, or beekeeping and chicken-keeping.
Don’t forget there will be no Fort Vancouver fireworks show this year. If you need an alternative location to get your yearly fireworks fix click here for a list of all the local fireworks displays.
Hope you have a happy and safe 4th of July!
Did you know: Robert G. Heft is a designer of the 50-star flag for the United States of America. He spent his childhood in Lancaster, Ohio, where he created the flag as a school project.
He designed the current U.S. flag in 1958 while living with his grandparents. He was 17 years old at the time and did the flag design as a class project. He unstitched the blue field from a family 48-star flag, sewed in a new field, and used iron-on white fabric to add 100 hand-cut stars, 50 on each side of the blue canton.
He originally received a “B-” for the project. After discussing the grade with his high school teacher, Stanley Pratt, it was agreed that if the flag was accepted by Congress, the grade would be reconsidered. Heft’s flag design was chosen and adopted by presidential proclamation after Alaska and before Hawaii was admitted into the union in 1959. According to Heft, his teacher did keep to their agreement and changed his grade to an “A” for the project.
In this market, affordable homes abound.
But price is only part of what makes a home a good value. If you want a home that you’ll love today and 20 years from now, seek out high-quality materials, a breathable moisture barrier, and thoughtful building and maintenance, say people in the homebuilding industry.
“One of the things I believe in is that you get a feel for a home, whether it’s been maintained or not,” says Susan Walker, board president for the Oregon Association of Home Inspectors. “I really encourage people to look at a lot of houses, because you’re gonna get a feel. Don’t be afraid to turn the water on, open the cabinets.”
Standing in her Southwest Portland kitchen, Walker makes her point by swinging open one of the original white cabinet doors. She knocks on it, and the sound is solid — the cabinets are made of wood. In many newer homes, she says, the cabinets are made from lower-quality particleboard or medium-density fiberboard. The problem with those materials, she says, is that moisture can seep into them after just a couple of years if they’re not properly sealed.
In cabinets and elsewhere, high-quality materials are essential for a well-constructed home, say experienced builders such as Jerry Reeves, owner of J.C. Reeves Development & Construction, who has been building homes in the Portland area for more than 30 years.
Reeves’ luxury homes are rich in wood and stone, which he says are superior to processed materials because they don’t contain toxic chemical compounds such as formaldehyde and they require little maintenance, aging gracefully for decades and even centuries.
“Quality materials to me means natural products,” says Reeves. “It’s kind of like with food — we (say) you shouldn’t eat anything that your grandmother or your mother wouldn’t know or recognize. In the homebuilding business, it’s a bit like that. The real wood, the real stone, the real earthy stuff is what’s going to last.”
Do you have questions about who qualifies for the $8,000 tax credit and how to get a loan to help cover downpayment or closing costs? The National Association of Home Builders is providing answers to frequently asked questions.
(Background Information: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced on May 29 that the Federal Housing Administration will allow state housing finance agencies to provide second mortgages “monetizing” the tax credit so that borrowers can use the funds for upfront costs for the purchase of homes with FHA-insured mortgage loans.
HUD announced that FHA-approved lenders can purchase the tax credit from the home buyer in advance, so that the home buyer can use the funds for closing costs or make a downpayment in addition to the 3.5% minimum. Home buyers who go directly to FHA-approved lenders still need to come up with the 3.5% minimum downpayment that is required for an FHA-insured loan.)
What does “green living” mean in an urban setting? Hear from experts in all aspects of sustainability, from health and fitness to transportation, recycling, urban composting and more.
2:00 p.m., Saturday, April 18th
Location: American Institute Of Architects, 43 NW 11th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209
Presenters:
Dr. Howell, Pearl Health Center
Glen Andresen – Metro Natural Gardening, educator
Julie Kramer – Zipcar
Information will be available from:
Trimet
BTA – Bicycle Transportation Alliance
Metro Sustainability Center