BUY THIS HOUSE! PLEASE!

I am headed over to check in with my bargain priced listing in Upper Rainier Beach. Fresh flyers in hand, I will dry out the flyer box and replace the "forever" flyer in the front. I will sweep the floors, change light bulbs and make sure everything is in perfect showing condition. Then I will stop by the nearby Kubota Garden to walk with my dog, Sophia (see Cover Model in yesterday's post below), before heading to the office for the day.

Seriously this is a great listing and its time has come! This turn-key home leaves you guilt-free when adding your personal touches. Merely move in and decorate—or manifest your dreams with some hard-core remodeling.

Fully fenced back yard for your 4-legged best friend(s). Lots of great gardening space. The yard is a blank canvas for whatever your heart desires. Built with pride in 1945. Step light on the Earth and live in a “recycled” home that has great green spaces!

2+ bedrooms, 1 full bath, 1090 sq ft fin, 1780 sq ft total. Partially finished basement, extra finished space. New gas furnace, cabinets, fresh paint. Refinished hardwood floors. 2 fireplaces. 2 garages - 1 attached, 1 detached. Corner level lot, approx. 6,000 sq ft, fully fenced back yard.

The home is on bus route 7 and convenient to the new light rail station, downtown Seattle, Tukwila, Renton, several airports, etc. Views of Lake Washington in the neighborhood.

Presenting my Sophia as the Cover Model of the Spring issue of CityDog Magazine

Presenting my Sophia as the Cover Model for the Spring issue of City Dog Magazine.

We are charter subscribers and have crossed paths with the CityDog team on several occasions. We are proud to have been asked to be a part of this great West coast canine publication!

CityDog comes back from the printers on April 7th, so you can look for it in stores (or your mailbox) shortly thereafter!

And happy 6th birthday to you Sophia, on Wednesday April 1st. You look hot! Love your Sock Bunny...

Twitter note about Seattle Green Festival

I still have some posts to complete regarding GreenFest, but if you would like to see new social media technology in action, visit the Twitter feed on the Media page of GreenFestivals.org.

I spent a lot of time Saturday in the "Live Blogging Zone" answering questions (some people thought we were an info booth) and showing people how to "#" a message so it would show up on the live feed at the show (and the internet). I have over 20 new followers since first tweeting on Saturday morning. My tweets feed to my Facebook profile so my friends there were also able to keep up with what was going on and make comments or ask questions over the weekend.

This was the second event this month I attended on a "Media Pass". Blogging is recognized more and more as a broad-reaching form of journalism. I call it "the people's journalism". It was a super weekend, I learned a lot, and met some new friends/followers!

More later as I recap the rest of my #greenfest observations!

Teaming Up with Your Lender for a Loan Modification

Okay, someone beat me to writing this T3 list (Top Ten Tips).

We recently spent over two months renegotiating our mortgage with Wells Fargo. My tips were simple: call early, call often, stay cool (which is why I assigned "renegotiating our mortgage" to my husband - he stays calmer longer than I), and don't give up. Oh, and just to clarify we were current on our loan.

So two weeks ago we received the news that our payments were to be reduced by half for 6 months, leaving a big balloon payment due in September. Success! Of course we had to agree to the terms without actually getting to read them - they figure since they have you over a barrel they'll really do you while you're there and you can't squeak about it.

The directive is that as long as we pay on time (by cashiers check or Western Union only, and due on the date of the negotiation, not the 1st of the month) after six months they will modify our loan. My assumption is that the massive balloon payment of over $11k that is not being paid during those six months will be refinanced into a new loan, terms yet to be negotiated. We'll have an update in the fall as to how this all goes.

We are pursuing clarification that payments to our escrow account will continue for the purpose of property taxes and our PMI payments will also continue uninterrupted.

It's quite possible that my lender is being paid $1,000/month - according to some of the terms of the Obama plan - to modify my loan. So they really aren't "losing" too much money in all of this.


Today's Realty Times has a much longer and meatier list then my quick tips - so glad I saw this, so now I don't have to spend my day writing it! (Yes, it really was on my list of things to do today!)

This article reveals ten ways you can expedite and negotiate an affordable loan modification that enables you to catch up on any missed payments, lower your monthly mortgage payment, and keep your house.

Read Teaming Up with Your Lender for a Loan Modification

Washington Report: FDIC and Loan Pools

From today's Realty Times:

The Obama administration's latest plans to bring relief to the financial markets have been dominating the news from Washington, but it's far from clear whether they'll actually produce more money for people to buy houses.

Read Washington Report: FDIC and Loan Pools

What's the greenest way to pick up after your pets?

It doesn't seem quite right to entomb dog waste in the landfill. However, a four-year Snohomish County study concluded that putting it in the garbage in a plastic bag is the preferred method.

In the Seattle Times on Saturday Tom Watson had a great column that I actually got to hear a lot of in person at his joint session at GreenFest. I am still writing up my notes on what I learned, but I wanted to share his EcoConsumer column right away. I am convinced that man is a genius - or at least very good at parsing information out to the general public.

Read What's the greenest way to pick up after your pets?

This is not a presentation about shopping or shipping

I am interested in green consumerism, so have selected a couple of sessions today to go to. At noon I stepped in to hear Bryan Welch "Seven Rules of Shopping for a Better World".

He opened with that was a typo, and the sign outside said "shipping", the program said "shopping" and it was about neither. He doesn't seem to have a title for this presentation, then, but said there were three mountains we needed to climb as a species and had some ideas as to how we were going to get over them.

Bryan Welch

From the online program (which I didn't look at until after the session): As publisher and editorial director, Welch leads Ogden Publications, a diversified magazine publishing and affinity marketing company focusing on sustainable and rural lifestyles.

He leads Mother Earth News and Utne Reader and all of those other mags.

He said our objectivity is what makes us human and pointed out what other species can look around and be aware of its own impact on its environment? How do we create a sustainable human future on this planet? Start with a vision of the kind of planet we want to live on, and then get excited.

1. CONSERVATION - Conservation engages the human imagination. The imagination is the only fuel available to create a sustainable future.
   He said we have "destination fixation" - unlike a motorcycle rider who must focus on the exit of the curve with the tightening, humans are too focused on not crashing into the guard rail midway thru the curve, guaranteeing we are going to crash. I hope I got that analogy right because it was brilliant and my husband would have appreciated it, being a cycle and car nut.
   By paying too much attention to conservation we are not focusing far enough ahead , partly because of our ever expanding population. We need to assume conscious strategies for population control. Otherwise Nature will exert population control measures (famine, disease, natural disasters)
   It is here where I thought wow, this is why I am here in this room. Some people got up and left.
   As a conscious thinking self-aware species we are given the capacity to create birth control. Desertification and deforestation, both of which hit records quantities last year and will do so again this year, are symptoms of overpopulation.
   "We are arrogant to think we can direct another population how to live," They are also entitled to live as comfortably as they can just like we are.
   |He pointed out the obvious: we don't want to know about all of the horrible things going on in this world. When we are finally forced to face something like famine, what do we do?  We send food. and this sustains  them for awhile, long enough to grow the population. It is a continuous problematic cycle. (I don't think he is suggesting we don't send aid and let people starve, however).
2. POPULATION - He said we are in reach of a sustainable future if we are able to engage millions of imaginations to tinker with the problem. He reminded us the the pedal bike, the automobile and the airplane were all invented inside of a couple of decades. Why? Because so many people got fired up about it and tinkered with it and kept making improvements on it. There were so many people working on the problem, it was improved quickly.
   No one follows a pessimist. The only rationale state of mind is positive enthusiasm.
   The first step is making a step towards human consensus on where we are today - the TRUTH, the honest picture.
3. ECONOMICS - Unfortunately we have no tools to create prosperity without population growth. House values go up because there are always more and more people who need to live in them.
   If we are going to form consensus, everyone needs to have a stake in a positive future.
   This is the part we have trouble with.
   He talked about micro loans and how they have an incredibly low default rate.
   People are motivated by the common good on an emotional level. Next we need to create action from emotion.
   He believes economic justice (raising everyone up to above the poverty line) automatically lowers the birth rate (e.g. China). He doubts Americans will succumb to an authoritarion dictate to control how many children they give birth to however.

I am really glad I ended up in this session accidentally. My husband and I made a conscious choice to not have children because of overpopulation issues. I appreciated the many thoughts Bryan Welch had along these lines and hope to be able to read more about positive ways we can take action to help overcome the three mountains he has identified as surmountable.

"We are Solutionaries"

Kevin Danaher, cofounder of Global Exchange said it best - we are visionaries seeking a solution, or "SOLUTIONARIES. What a great word. Both he and Alisa Gravitz, cofounder of Green America (formerly known as Co-Op America), made welcoming remarks to the 2nd Green Festival in Seattle. There were more hands raised when they asked if you were a new visitor than a returning - all the evidence I need to see that the green message has spread into mainstream culture.

The Green Festival is a special event. Thousands of companies wanted to be here, but were not permitted since they do not meet the criteria of the cofounders Global Exchange and Green America. We were promised that every vendor or organization here meets the strict criteria of being a truly innovative/green company or product.

Mayor Greg Nickels then made opening remarks. As he took the podium, some guy jumped up there and held open a sign/flyer and yelling "Biofuels, Crime against humanity" and some other gibberish. He actually got to stand up there and yell a lot longer than I expected - obviously they were not expecting protesters or activists. He was moved to the back of the room and he was able to continue to disrupt the proceedings for a few minutes while Nickels tried to speak over him.

Nickels speech was almost the same as what I heard at the Built Green Conference in March 6th. He said that 935 mayors of American cities have pledged to meet the terms of the Kyoto protocol. "We are shifting from a culture of conspicuous consumption to one of careful conservation," he said. With the opening of the new light rail (supposed to be this year, but I have heard rumbles of delays", 70% of residences and 85% of regional jobs are reachable using mass transit.

Nickels also announced the City of Seattle would be participating in Earth Hour, and from 8:30 to 9:30 PM the Space Needle would be turned off and also the City Light sign on 4th Avenue South and S. Spokane Street (viewable from the viaduct). I admit, I will be catching up on my DVRd shows by candle light. I am happy to turn my lights off, but I am way behind on "Dirty Jobs" and "Bonnie Hunt shows from this last week!!

More soon!

Get your Undrivers License

What's great about getting to a big event like Green Festival early is that there are no lines keeping you from doing something you should. I skipped this last year but since the Undrivers License booth is right next to the Live Blogging Zone I had NO excuse to not do it first thing. Although I did not use a prop in my photo like most people do. Somehow a court jester hat just does not go with my jacket!

Follow live tweets from the Green Festival. Someone just walked up and said "Hanging out in the Twitter Zone huh?". Seems Twitter may be overtaking blogging as the term used to refer to quick online personal communications.

Off to see some booths before the opening remarks at 11:30 AM!

Earth Hour 2009 - an invitation

Hello everyone!

Tonight, March 28, 2009, at 8:30 pm, I am taking part in Earth Hour - a global event in which millions of people will turn out their lights to make a statement of concern about our planet and climate change. I want to invite you to join, too! Sponsored by World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour got started just two years ago and is now the largest event of its kind in the world. Last year, more than 50 million participated and the lights went out at the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sydney Opera House and the Coliseum in Rome, just to name a few. Even Google's homepage went black for the day! In Israel, President Shimon Peres personally turned off lights in Tel Aviv.

This year, Earth Hour will be even bigger-already 2900 cities in 83 countries have agreed to take part including Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York City, San Francisco and Washington DC, with more signing up every day. Around the world cities like Moscow, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai and Mexico City will turn out their lights.

But Earth Hour isn't just for big cities - anyone can participate. To get a better sense of the event, check out this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjWD8pbK5t8.

Participating in Earth Hour is easy, fun and free. I hope you will join me for this amazing event. To sign up, visit http://www.earthhourus.org/ where you'll learn more including ways you can spread the word about Earth Hour, plus creative things to do when the lights go out in case you need inspiration!

We want the US to turn out more lights than any other country in the world during this historic event so please pass this note along to anyone you think might want to take part. Let's all turn out and take action on March 28 at 8:30 pm.

If this means you watch TV by candlelight, that's ok. You are still participating in Earth Hour!

Thanks!

Wendy

Find me in the LIVE BLOGGING ZONE @ Seattle #greenfest this weekend-or roaming the booths/sessions http://tinyurl.com/d8oxxf

@GreenSpacesRE is on Twitter at the Seattle Green Festival this weekend #greenfest

Exhibit hall opens today at 10 AM.
11:30 Festival Opening w/ Alisa Gravitz and Kevin Danaher
11:45 Mayor Greg Nickels: Seattle’s Successes and Innovations

Check back here for live blogging of the event.

FREE Presentation ~ OASIS HYBRID HOME

Please note: You must RSVP by March 26th for this Live Eco-Friendly Free Presentation taking place March 31st

OASIS HYBRID HOME
Building Concepts For An Energy Efficient Home
Harvest the Elements (rain, snow, wind, sun) to Supply Water, Power, Heat and Food for Your Home. Use Multiple Renewable Energy Sources Seamlessly Backed Up with the Utility Systems to Save Money and the Environment.

Presented by Pouwel Gelderloos, Founder & Master Builder
Live Presentation, Slide Show & Virtual Tour, Q & A

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.
Elliott Bay Brewhouse and Pub
255 SW 152nd Street
Burien, WA 98166

Please RSVP before March 26th to: jan_gelderloos@yahoo.com

Greenies, it is orgy time!

Finally it is here! The green festival! Not only do we have a whole weekend to learn about green products and services (and get lots of freebies and samples), but "Green Week" leading up to the weekend is full of cool stuff.

In fact, I feel kind of silly that I did not know about "EcoTuesday", a professional network for people in sustainable business. I am correcting that today, but unfortunately can not make it to tonight's event which you might find interesting! Speaking tonight - Brad Liljequist, Project Manager for the Zero Energy Townhomes project in the City of Issaquah. This ambitious project will create 10 attached market rate housing units with numerous lofty environmental goals, the most impressive one being Net Zero Energy usage. You have until 5 PM tonight to register for this presentation.

There is a LIVE BLOGGING ZONE at this year's green festival. Since I cut my teeth live blogging at the Built Green Conference on March 6th I thought I would bring my netbook and post some informational and entertaining observations this weekend. I was going to go both days, but my sister is going to be in the area on Saturday and I don't get to see her or my little niece Abigail very often, so we're going to make a nice lunch and have a long visit. So you can find me there on Sunday. If you are there and have mobile email drop me a note and maybe we can meet IRL! I managed to score free tickets from someone handing them out at the West Seattle Farmers Market on Sunday.

Don't forget - one of the features of this event is having a zero carbon footprint. We are asked to bring our own dishes and silverware, and by now you should be packing your own water in a Klean Kanteen, right? There will be large water dispeners to refill your container. Now if you do not bring your own stuff you will still be able to eat BUT this is an opportunity to practice the ultimate in self-sustaining conference-going. Give it a try and don't forget to pack your linen napkin!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEATTLE HOSTS GREEN FESTIVAL FOR SECOND YEAR

Nation’s Largest Green Consumer Event Returns to Leading City in Sustainability As Our Economy Transitions, Political Interest in the Environment Increases and Numbers of Green Consumers Grow, Green Festival Stands Out as a Vital Resource

March 28 & 29, 2009
Seattle, WA (March 2009): Green Festival, the fastest growing green consumer event in the country, returns to Seattle for the second year on March 28 & 29, 2009. The Washington State Convention and Trade Center provides the space for the festival to take its platform and bring the most cutting-edge people, ideas, and organizations on the green scene to Seattle residents and the surrounding community. Co-hosted by the city of Seattle, the 2009 Green Festival will introduce sustainable options for a transitioning economy, growing consumer consciousness, and evolving environmental policy. This year, the Green Festival will have specialized programming to address the current state of the economy with extensive discussions and information on the growing sector of green jobs.

A joint project of Global Exchange and Green America (formerly Co-op America), two leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to environmental and social justice for more than twenty-five years, Green Festival is a forum to explore and build sustainable solutions for communities and the environment. The Seattle Host Committee of over 140 community leaders, elected officials, local businesses, and activists include Richard Conlin of the Seattle City Council, Stella Chao of the Department of Neighborhoods, and Janice Mathisen of Seattle Parks and Recreation, have all contributed to design the event with a local focus. With special appearances by Mayor Gregory J. Nichols and eco-conscious actor Danny Glover, the Seattle Green Festival will host 125 visionary speakers, 350 local and national green businesses, and dozens of community and nonprofit groups. All exhibitors must meet strict standards set by Green America, guaranteeing the highest level of social and environmental responsibility in all participating organizations. Each business is thoroughly vetted by Green America to ensure they are authentically sustainable. If the first few months of 2009 are any indication, this year has the potential to be a turning point in American history for environmental issues, social justice and economic redevelopment. All of these topics come together at Green Festival with programming that provides realistic options for people all shades of green, from how to improve household energy efficiency to building a greener economy to environmental education initiatives geared toward children.

This year, Green Festival welcomes one of America’s most influential chefs, Alice Waters, to discuss the local organic food revolution she begin in 1971. In “An Edible Education,” Waters will be joined by film director Chris Taylor to share her vision of potentially greening the White House to create a national model and expand the sustainable narrative school systems. Seattle-specific programming ranges from interactive panels on “Undriving Stories: Getting Creative About Getting Around” and “What Does Green Art Look Like” to Alisa Gravitz’s nationally relevant “Green Fixes for the Economic Mess” presentation. “In addition to bringing a diverse and exciting program to Seattle for the 2009 Green Festival, this year’s show will also provide insight into one of the most pressing issues of our time: economic stability,” says Alisa Gravitz, executive director of Green America and cofounder of Green Festival. “Through the many talks and exhibits at the Green Festival, participants will be able to experience first-hand that one of the ways out of this mess is to go green in their careers, investments, and lifestyle. Sustainability does, and always has, made perfect economic sense.”

In between the exciting presentations, festival participants can explore the show floor and experience a sustainable marketplace with local and national exhibitors providing the best in fair trade and eco-friendly wares. The Green Home Series offers eleven diverse 45-minute workshops to drive the sustainable movement home, with how-to’s ranging from “Bringing Home Baby” to “Composting for Apartment Dwellers.” The Fair Trade Café will provide participants with an extra jolt of energy from natural tea and coffee. The Organic Food, Beer and Wine Pavilion will satiate even the staunchest environmentalist with local eateries, breweries, and vineyards.

Not just an event for grown-up green enthusiasts, the Seattle Green Festival provides engaging activities for the next generation of budding activists in the Organic Valley Green Kids’ Zone. Kids can explore the insect world through song, story and dance in “Don’t Squish That Bug!” with Creepin Critters or learn about climate change in a “Shrinking Big Foot Performance.” Hosted by the Fair Trade Sports and Wilderness Awareness School, the Kids’ Movement Zone will feature eco-soccer games, yoga stretch breaks, and wilderness activities.

Since the first event in 2002, Green Festival has created a model of environmental and social leadership, consistently providing authentic information for consumers on every aspect of green living. A stringent screening process ensures all exhibitors and sponsors meet the best practices and highest standards for environmental integrity and social responsibility. While many events and tradeshows are notoriously wasteful, Green Festival demonstrates an unmatched commitment to reducing environmental impact by walking its green talk and reusing, recycling, or composting 97 percent or more of show waste. Green Festival was referenced as a model for “how it should be done” by USA Today for the festival’s commitment to producing a reduced carbon footprint experience. To further lower the impact of the event on the environment, those who arrive by bicycle are offered reduced admission along with valet bike parking. Green Festival also provides carbon offsets for the entire event and its participating staff and organizers.

“For eight years Green Festival has been bringing the most up-to-date information on the growing green movement to communities around the country,” explains Kevin Danaher, executive director of Global Exchange and cofounder of Green Festival. “As this movement continues to grow and evolve, Green Festival remains in the forefront as the most relevant source of information on a eco-friendly, fair-trade lifestyle. “

Green Festivals take place in Seattle, Denver, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, DC and saw over 125,000 guests in combined attendance in 2008.

Seattle 2009 Green Festival Speaker Highlights:
Nationally renowned speakers such as Alice Waters, one of America’s most influential chefs, Waters created a revolution in 1971 when she introduced local, organic fare at her California restaurant, Chez Panisse; Jerome Ringo, president of the Apollo Alliance and National Wildlife Federation’s Chair of the Board; Bryan Welch, publisher and editorial director of Mother Earth News, Natural Home, Utne Reader, and GRIT; Paul Stamets, who runs Fungi Perfecti, a family-owned, environmentally friendly company specializing in the use of gourmet and medicinal mushrooms; Amy Goodman, award-winning journalist, host of Democracy Now!, and coauthor of The Exception to the Rulers and Static; and many more

Seattle 2009 Green Festival Program Highlights:
Organic Valley Green Kids’ Zone
Community Action Center
Green Home Series
Fair Trade Pavilion
Music Stage Featuring Local Acts
Socially Responsible Investing
Organic Food, Beer & Wine
Eco Fashion
Eco Tourism
Green Careers

Event Details: Washington State Convention and Trade Center, 800 Convention Place, Seattle, WA.
Saturday, March 28: 10:00AM – 7:00PM
Sunday, March 29: 11:00AM – 6:00PM $15 for two days/$10 for union members, seniors, students, and all who arrive by bicycle
FREE: Children 18 and under, Green America or Global Exchange members

FRIENDS OF THE GREEN FESTIVAL – With a donation of $75 you’ll receive:
Full Green Festival admission
A coupon for two free drinks at the Organic Beer & Wine Garden
20% off at the Green Festival Store and the BetterWorldBooks Book Store
Exclusive tour of the Greening Operation at Green Festival - witness how we achieve 95% resource recovery
Visit with Alisa Gravitz of Green America and Kevin Danaher of Global Exchange and receive autographed book - The Green Festival Reader and Building the Green Economy.
Regular Executive Producer Updates about the Green Festivals from Global Exchange and Green America

Green Festival Partners: Better World Books, Clif Bar, Greener Printer, Honest Tea, Pangea Organics, Seattle Climate Action Now, Simple Shoes, T Mobile, KOMO 4/ KUNS

For more information on Seattle or any other Green Festival event visit: http://www.greenfestivals.org/

About Green America (formerly Co-op America): Green America (http://www.greenamerica.org/) is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1982, providing the economic strategies, organizing power and practicing tools for businesses and individuals to address today's social and environmental problems. Its Green Business Network is the largest national network of businesses screened for their social and environmental responsibility.

About Global Exchange: Global Exchange (http://www.globalexchange.org/) is a membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world. Since its founding in 1988, Global Exchange has successfully increased public awareness of root causes of injustice while building international partnerships and mobilizing for change.

###

Contact:
OrganicWorks Marketing
212.253.0474
Katie Hunsberger
katie@organicworksmarketing.com
Courtney Greenwald
courtney@organicworksmarketing.com

Use a black search engine to save electricity

I am "re-tweeting" something that came across my Twitter today from @MyGreenFinds. It actually is something that was written around Earth Day last year at ReadWriteWeb (another site I have never been to before today).

15 of the Best Green Search Engines

I never knew there were search engines with black screens to help you reduce power usage on your computer monitor. According to blackle.com, they have 1,147,375.828 Watt hours saved.

Try it and tell me what you think!

"If green is the new black, then five-star is the new three-star" ~ Seattle Homes and Lifestyles mag that I was interviewed for on stands now

The opening paragraph:

Green homes may not be trendy 10 years from now, but that’s OK with those in the business of building and selling them. In Seattle, the standards of “green” are constantly changing, challenging architects and builders to push harder toward environmental responsibility. Many involved in the green building movement in Seattle believe that before that happens, however, more knowledge about sustainable building practices is needed in the community. “There’s just so much information at a deeper level that we’re discovering,” says Wendy Hughes-Jelen, a real estate agent for Seattle-based GreenWorks Realty.

This article is the first time I have appeared in print or on radio appropriately quoted IN CONTEXT to the conversation and topic. I am very happy with how the article turned out and it is good information.

I sent the author to my broker when she began asking me questions about his research, and Ben Kaufman wraps the article with a great perspective:

“America is changing, and the opportunity to upgrade our housing is one of the largest opportunities we have across the country to promote job growth, to lower our collective carbon footprint and to better utilize our energy resources,” GreenWorks co-owner Kaufman says. What’s exciting now may soon be normal: “We had the computer age, and I think you’re looking at the beginning of an energy age.”

Read Onward and Upward by Lindsey Rowe
Find out how a growth in knowledge is driving the green building movement, and why builders and architects are more inclined to go green

Solid as a rock - concrete homes gaining in popularity

From today's Realty Times

The U.S. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 declared as its goal a national policy to "create and maintain conditions under which [humans] and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.

AND

According to ConcreteNetwork.com, concrete homes on average require about 44 percent less energy to heat and 32 percent less energy to cool than a comparable wood-frame house. Plus, it added, the walls contain no organic material and won't support the growth of mold, mildew and other potentially harmful microorganisms that can cause allergies and other health problems.

Read Concrete Gains in Popularity as Building Option by Peter L. Mosca

Mayor Nickels working in High Point tomorrow

I guess I am most curious to see how serious Nickels is...like, is he going to wear jeans or will he still be in a suit? Inquiring minds want to know. Guess I am rearranging my schedule tomorrow for this photo op!!

From SeattlePI online: Seattle mayor gets new job
~ by Aubrey Cohen

OK, it's only for an hour. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is scheduled to volunteer Wednesday morning at Habitat for Humanity construction site in West Seattle's High Point Community. The mayor is slated to help remove boards from home foundations from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the site, 3205 S.W. Morgan St.

Kiplinger.com "Rock-bottom prices and mortgage rates are luring buyers back into the market."

...it's a good time to snag a bargain if you're confident in your job prospects and you don't plan to sell for at least five years.

Read Great Homes at Deep Discounts

Tour a Built Green Certified Community and Homes for sale

Have a friend/colleague considering a move to West Seattle? Perhaps they are considering High Point and interested in learning more about this community?

How about YOU?! Have *you* ever been on a tour of this community and seen all of the neat environmental features? You are in luck! I have scheduled one of my regular tours and it is less than three weeks away! Spread the word!

What: Walking Tour of High Point (West Seattle)

When: April 4, 2009 11:00 AM

Get an up-close and personal look at the environmental aspects of this Built Green certified community. The tour includes exterior bio-features, and then we tour a few of the homes for sale based on vacancy and what people are interested in.

Learn more at Green Spaces RE meetup site!

Round-up of Built Green Certified homes for sale in High Point (West Seattle)

I am considering scheduling a comprehensive "Walking Tour of High Point". The tour includes exterior bio-features that make this a Built Green Certified Community, and then we tour a few of the homes for sale based on vacancy and what people are interested in.

I held these tours quarterly in late 2007 and the first half of 2008, and then essentially the economy created a lack of interest in touring - even if it was just to learn of Built Green environmental features. I created a Green Spaces Real Estate Meetup group to organize these tours, and I had the intention of putting together tours of other green homes but that wasn't as easy to coordinate. One of my colleagues here at GreenWorks, Dean Martinson (also a West Seattle resident), has just launched a new site to coordinate green home tours as well, called GreenHomeTours.net. Between the two of us we should be able to provide comprehensive tours of green homes in the Seattle area.

Spring is just about here and us real estate professionals are all getting the bug to house hunting - along with our clients. As for my own neighborhood there is so much to see and appreciate in this West Seattle community, who better to show it to you than the resident Built Green Certified real estate agent? (Yes, that's me).

I admit I have a couple of favorite High Point listings - 29021678 (photo below) and 28146523, priced $336,500 and $310,000 respectively, the last down from an original list price of $340,000. $310 is the original sales prices of the home in June of 2007 when it first completed construction. It was only lived in for a short time as I recall and I never met this particular neighbor. But I love the townhouse! It is nicely staged, and it is hard to find a 2-car garage these days, so you would think it would have been snatched up long ago! You certainly can't beat the price and it is a great location.

You can schedule a private community tour and home showing by contacting me (phone or email on the right hand side of the page), or check the Green Spaces meetup site for scheduling.

RECs vs. VERs - do you know the difference?

I will be the first to admit that I certainly don't know even half of what there is to know to lead a completely green lifestyle. In fact, I have never personally purchased a carbon offset. I don't travel much and try to take steps to be efficient with my driving. That being said, I am always trying to educate myself and I saw a tweet come across from someone I am following on Twitter that alerted me to a very educational article about Renewable Energy Certificates vs. Carbon Offsets. Evidently it really is all about emissions...

In the U.S., there are two parallel and related, but distinct,environmental markets -- the market for renewable energy certificates (REC) and the market for voluntary emission reductions (VERs), also known as carbon offsets.

Learn more by reading REC vs. Carbon Offset: Do You Know the Difference?

Warning - fake HUD website discovered

Just reported by HUD ~

A fake "HUD" website was recently discovered - http:/bailout.hud-gov.us/ - It tries to dupe people into giving out personal information (phishing) and because the site appears to be an "official US government website" some people may fall prey to this scam.

Please advise people to stay away from this website. This matter is under investigation by the Inspector General's office.

LEED Gold Coming Soon To High Point

I am blogging live from the quarterly High Point Neighborhood Association meeting. The theme is "Doing MORE with LESS Impact on the Environment".

We are using the meeting room at Elizabeth House, and can not WAIT for the High Point Neighborhood Center construction to be complete. I will post a picture soon of how the construction site is looking - it is finally going vertical. Ray Li, the Director of Strategic Initiatives for Neighborhood House,, just gave an update to how the project is going and the opening is planned for October. The handout that was passed out is very exciting, and I will try to find an online version to link to or upload a PDF. A rain garden, solar panels, and the use of pervious and light-colored (reflective) natural materials to reduce runoff and the "heat-sink" affect of concrete (respectively) will all be implemented at this site.

The building will be the first LEED(TM) Gold-certified building constructed by a nonprofit agency in Washington, meeting the highest standard of environmental design and sustainability as designated by the US Green Building Council.

We also have a guest from Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association here to discuss "Team Delridge", a new program of King County Food and Fitness initiative. There will be a meeting on Monday, March 23rd, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Southwest Community Center. The community conversation will include goals that will form the Community Action Plan supported by the Kellogg Foundation over the next 10 years.

• What kinds of businesses and programs will make a more vibrant Delridge?
• What are our largest community concerns and how can they be addressed?

"Delridge" is defined as zip codes 98106 and 98126 and goes from So. Spokane Street all the way south to SW Roxbury Street, from South Seattle Community College to the east to 35th Avenue SW to the west.

Conley Kirschner, a volunteer for American Lung Association, is here to tell us some things about chemicals in our home. He stresses specifically allergies and asthma, their causes, and how to do healthy cleaning to get rid of dust and pet hair and other issues that effect air quality. Cleaning fluids like bleach and ammonia can be very bad to use. Ordinary household cleaning doesn't require such strong chemicals. He passed out a "green cleaning recipes" handout. I understand he will be giving a cleaning demonstration and then giving away these products to the attendees of the meeting. (Baking soda, vinegar, Borax (Bon Ami)).

Some of the biggest keys to whether something is a healthy green cleaner is either lack of odor and cost. Most natural cleaning products cost a LOT less than name brand products. Those name-brand cleaning products also have a lot of warnings on the label. This is an environmental justice issue - immigrant families who speak English as a second language (if at all) are unable to read and/or fully comprehend the warning labels on cleaning products. They often buy expensive products because they saw advertising on TV and believing that product to be "the American way" may actually be harming themselves and their children because they are unaware of the many dangerous things that can happen when using these products in the home.

This was a rich agenda this evening and I saw many new neighbor faces here (maybe they came because of my email blast this morning?) My favorite parts of our neighborhood meetings are the food (the Somali samosas always burn my mouth but I love them) and the translation to Cambodian and Vietnamese just washes over me in a soothing way. The meetings take longer because of the translation, but I enjoy the entire experience every time.

Biggest tip of this evening - that caused quite a stir in the room - was that the CFL squiggly light bulbs (that were also handed out for free) can NOT be put in the garbage can. They need to be recycled at the library or Home Depot. Obviously we are still not talking about this enough with our friends and neighbhors. These light bulbs often last up to 10 years. But when they do finally go, they must be treated as hazardous waste because of the mercury in the bulb.

The next HPNA meeting will be on June 11th. There will be elections for 3 Trustee positions. If you are interested in being more involved in the High Point neighborhood, please contact Andrew Mead, current Association President, at mandrewmead@gmail.com

A backyard-habitat workshop at Camp Long in West Seattle

I tried to volunteer for this event but it took a long time to get a meeting with the naturalist in charge and she didn't seem very open to my help once I finally did. I can't seem to shake my failed attempt in trying to volunteer for an event that so closely matches my training and experience at a place that I love dearly. Apparently they don't need the help of another Native Plant Steward and Certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat builder. I guess I will get over it eventually.

I've lived near and loved Camp Long for almost 12 years. In fact, when my then-fiance (now husband) and I looked at an apartment on SW Holden Street we stumbled in to Camp Long looking for a place to sit and talk. We then found Schurman Rock and this is where we made the decision to rent the new townhouse (in 1997) and move to West Seattle. Now we would never leave, and actually live in the neighborhood adjacent to the park.

Once you visit Camp Long and experience it you will understand why I wanted to be involved in this event. It is just the right training for people who are interested in turning their backyard into a habitat for wildlife.

This four-part backyard-wildlife workshop will show you how to:
~ attract birds and other wildlife
~care for native plants
~conserve water
~manage your yard without chemicals and pesticides

Classes take place 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, March 17 and March 24, and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. March 28. Cost is $75, or $140 for couples. You can register by phone at 206-548-2500, ext. 1516, or go to http://www.zoo.org/educate/adult/workshops.html.

Camp Long is convenient to all points just across the West Seattle Bridge. At the top of the bridge take a left on 35th Avenue SW (first light), go up a really steep hill an after it flattens out look for the green square signs that read "Camp Long". It will be on your left. The address is 5200 35th Avenue SW.

Learn lots!

It's not too late to plan your own Recession Garden

P-Patch gardeners who already have their spots reserved for this year are in a good position. If you are thinking of growing some of your own food this year, you might want to check to see if your local P-Patch has space. I will be growing in pots on my deck (faces north - salad and other greens) and front porch (faces south - strawberries, tomatoes, lemon and lime) again this year. I may just convert some of my ornamental pots to vegetable... I am waiting for the High Point P-Patch to open an ADA gardening space. No sign of construction yet (I know, it is still "winter" even though it is March).

Don't forget your local farmers market is also a great source of affordable organic vegetables and fruit. If you focus on buying only what you can eat and eliminate wasted food, you can also save money. This is my personal focus this year - eat what I buy. Many vendors have starts already at their stalls. Not as cheap as seeds, but if you didn't plan very well you can still "grow your own" this year.

A blip from today's Seattle Times

Seed sales are up 20 to 30 percent at wholesalers such as Irish Eyes Garden Seeds in Ellensburg because of the bad economy and worries about genetically modified crops. Burpee, the world's largest seed company, says it's selling thousands of a $10 "Money Garden" package that it says will grow $650 worth of vegetables.

Read Seed companies have a bumper crop of customers
Read How to grow potatoes at home

Recreating Community in Our Day Series - some really good stuff here!!

“Recreating Community in Our Day” Series

Posted using ShareThis

Yes, honey, you were right all along

 

LIVE: I am holding an open house  at my "traditional home" listing in Upper Rainier Beach. After this morning's snow, the sky cleared and I loaded up the dog and some of my signs and headed over. I've been promoting this open since Friday via NWMLS, Craigslist, my blog and its RSS feeds, Twitter and Facebook. The marketing I have at postlets.com for 10246 62nd Ave So, automatically syndicates to a number of other sites including Google Base, Zillow, Oodle, Backpage (I have received an email inquiry from someone who saw my ad at this site), HotPads, Vast, Trulia, Enormo, DotHomes, and FrontDoor among "Others".

Once I arrived and unloaded my bags I turned up the heat (I keep it at 63 degrees during showing hours, but when I am here I turn it up to 67), swept the floor, turned on lights and lit candles, made sure the Aerobed was fully inflated, and put a chicken pot pie in the oven. A local broker toured the house and I answered questions with broom in hand. And then I settled onto the loveseat with Sophia and instead of getting out a magazine like a usually do I broke out my new netbook and using my pocket PC as a wireless hub, connected to the Internet to WORK.

I admit, I enjoy doing open houses because it does give me three hours minimum of forced unplugged time to read or talk on the phone. Sometimes people tour the house, some days not a soul comes. But now that I have a way to get online...well, let me qualify that. My mobile device has enabled me for years to use the Internet. But the screen is so small and I am such a fast reader, I just don't bother because I find it a frustrating experience. But with this new netbook - larger than a handheld mobile device but much smaller than a laptop - I can catch up on blogging, watch a movie over Netflix online, and make an attempt to catch up with the over 500 unread emails in my Inbox (subscriptions only, not personal messages).

My pot pie is out of the oven and cooling. And what am I going to do next? I am going to listen to the  audio from Friday's keynote speech by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Built Green Conference. I blogged live for this event but as anyone knows you miss things when you are busy taking notes. So I am going to the site of another local green blogger, onegreener.com to watch the video he streamed live during the event. I haven't met him, but I want to thank him for doing this so I could get another chance to hear these great jewels of wisdom!

Honey, you were right. I should have gotten a laptop long ago. But I am also glad I waited this long so I could have something small and manageable to enjoy instead of 15 pounds to lug around. I hope you are having a nice day at the race track!

OPEN SUNDAY 3/8/9 1-4 pm Any home can be green - ask me how!

Recent price reduction of $30,000 and the agent interest and showings have been growing over the last 10 days. Nice view of lake from street. Check out the potential this Sunday. If you have "green" questions, now's the time. Any home can be green!

NOTE: Will be cancelled if snow keeps up.

Remember - Real estate inside the city limits retains value over its suburban counterparts. Aren't you sick of the commute anyway?

Early Adopters: Taking Ourselves and Our Networks to the Next Level

At the Built Green Conference, 3/6/9, 3:15

Jon Alexander, Sunshine Construction LLC
Ben Kaufman, GreenWorks Realty
Terry Phelan, Living Shelter
Joanie Parsons, Parsons PR.

The tide has turned. For many years green building has grown slowly. Two years ago awareness of global warming reached a tipping point, and with that the interest in green building significantly increased. We in the green building field are now in the midst of an enormous opportunity to rapidly grow green building in a powerful and sustainable way.

This highly participatory workshop is designed to support breakthrough thinking and collective action to take advantage of this opportunity. This workshop will offer cresting wave information and provide a facilitated environment to support and enable the masters of green building to exchange ideas and strengthen their networks.

 

This is a "participatory workshop" so  I do not know how much reporting I will b able to do. Looks like there will be a small group. There are 5 concurretn sessions running right now and it is difficult to decide which one to go to. Well, not too hard for me - my boker is one of the panel members. -

We went around the room and each introduced ourselves - there are a lot of builders here. Also someone from the City of Seattle trying to make the Green Building Council work, someone from ecoHaus, ReStore, Friends of the Cedar River Watershed, and someone from Spokane who built the first 5 star home in Spokane under the Built green program.

West Coast Green web  site under Jon Alexander there are a ton of interviews of people who have been involved in green building. Over 400 years of combined green building experience in this group.

3/8/9 Update We broke into small groups and each had about 5 minutes to talk and explain any difficulties we faced in growing our businesses and suggested what might be next steps that we might take. Members in our group ,made additional suggestions. As a group we then decided on three major themes of challenges we faced, wrote them on a big sticky and then the entire session posted their issues and most all fell in three categories. Rather than reporting what I remember I will wait for the notes to be emailed to me from the panel and then will post a follow up with that information, since it was quite profound.

The Market Value of Green-Certified Residential Projects

Ann Griffin, Earth Advantage Institute
Ben Kaufman, GreenWorks Realty
Sterling Hamilton, Hamilton Investments, LLC

This is live blogging from the Built Green Conference in Seattle today.

The Green Building Valuation Initiative

Definition of Comparable Sales 
Date of Sale
Location
Age
Size
Quality
Value
Not "green"

Homes built in 2006-2007
Seattle - 47% of homes below $400k, 43% sold for more than $500k
Portland - 43% below $400k, 24% between $400-500k

Seattle Metro Results
68 subject props, 207 comps
Price premium of 9.6%
Sq ft oremium avg $20
Certified homes on market for 38% more time

Consumer Survey
90% consumers would choose a certified home again
80% reported that they would pay up to 5% more in order to move into a sustainable home.

Ben Kaufman is presenting the recently released Seattle area study for traditional and green home sales. Please refer to the ECert Report on the GreenWorks Realty web site. Stock market fluctuations in 2007 and 2008 directly affected home sales (as seen in the study).

Overall market share of green homes is building over time, even with the drop in price and sales we have seen in recent economic times. Green homes may be 23% smaller in sq ft, but they still sell for 3% more.

He notes that in areas outside of Seattle, where there may not be such a strong building program, builders may be losing value at the point of sale if they do not educate their buyers as to the benefits of the green features in the home for sale.

Sterling Hamilton's information is from the tax assessor.
His findings for East King County don't necessarily show a premium for certified homes. The difference in value is balanced by the idea of value of absolute price vs the value over time. As we went from a boom market (2006) to a bust market (3007) then you see an increase for certified homes vs. uncertified. He pointed out that the eastside market is made up of a lot of custom homes, not all spec homes by large builders.

In the Seattle townhome market, homes built 2004-2008, certified vs uncertified. Example: in 2004, average price is $4for uncertified and $433k. By 2997, $470k average price for homes and negative appreciation for noncertified homes.

Sterling reminds us that it is not just about sustaining the environment, it is also about sustaining value - and they are not necessarily in conflict with each other.

 

During Q&A, Ben pointed out that what builders had been doing is just building bigger and bigger homes with green features and the homes were more and more expensive. And buyers said umm, I don't think so. Maybe you need to meet the same price point and make the homes smaller. I personally can speak to living in a "smaller" than average home. My townhome (3 star Built Green in High Point) is 1,681 sq ft per plan, and the design is so smart and efficient we are able to use all of the space to our best advantage and live quite comfortably in that amount of space. I previously lived in an older home of the same square footage but not all of it was usable and comfortable space. i actually now have more home to  live in than I used to.

 

Sterking's email address: srhamil@gmail.com

Creating Community as part of Green Building

Graham Black, gProjects, LLC
Brad Stohl, b9 architects

3/6/9 10:15-11:00 am

There are loose notes from the Built Green Conference in Seattle, the morning session I went to. I will clean this up later - but it is good to get it up now for all my readers!

Omitting square footage and creating a framework for people to have shared experiences makes for a better life and gives them a sense of confidence and community and enable them to engage at another level elsewhere.

Their two key points are: Providing space for spontaneous interaction. Putting car at edge of project and creating space at the center of the community for pedestrian movement opportunity is created.

Project at 19th and Pine. 7 home project. 5 star BG, clustered around reclaimed brick courtyard. Deconstructed 3 homes that were there. They reused materials from the 80-90 year old homes in places where they encourage new homeowners to linger, creating a direct connection back to the homes that used to be there. Site planning is important to creating this sense of community. They allowed the brick path to run and fall with the ground contours - they did not resculpt the land. It gives the project a feeling of depth or a sense of having been there for a long time.

Half of the homes are set into the slope 4.5-5 feet. So your kitchen window, when looking across the "canyon",  is looking at the wall across, not a window - and you are experiencing texture. So your neighbors does not have a view into your private space.

Some of the siding is from the barracks at Ft Lewis. Also wind fallen timber. Found mid-project and incorporated into e construction. The barracks siding is fir, which is unusual for building exteriors. Each home home has a different width so there is variety in texture in the canyon.

They really do not want to provide space for cars. They did not build garages. Some of the covered parking is a deck for one of the homes. One of the carports has a green roof. They discouraged use of cars to the extent of shrinking the driveway width to 8 feet from 10, and there is a tree there that must be navigated around. The thought process was when you wanted to go to the store, getting the car out was such a hassle that you would decide to walk or use your bike instead. They have a community agenda and look actively to discourage its use.

They have a community garden (about 700 sq ft) and the mailboxes are in the center to encourage accidental interaction. Another example, the deck was off one of the bedrooms and far from the kitchen, encouraging the owner instead to put the grill out in front of the house, which was much  closer to the kitchen, and would allow interaction with neighbors and perhaps "picking up a new spice rub",

Site specific approach needs to be for more than just the architecture, but in relation to the building code. Do you have to do just what the code says?

Front doors are required to face the street. The homes that are only in the canyon have their front doors in the canyon so they also face the street. The decks of the homes are also in the canyon, to encourage interaction and connectivity with people there, no matter what space they are in (on a deck, or on the ground). Private outdoor spaces are also provided, on the outside of the homes, that are screened with landscaping materials and low fences.

They included public art in the project. Timber in the arbor is from the homes that used to be there. The mailboxes are standard mail boxes that have each been painted. He recommends pushing back at the USPS, it really wants you ot use those big square hulking things.

There are PVC on the roof of the shed. During the day they put energy into the grid, and in the evening the power goes to the community.

The project is set up as an LLC.

BGC09 Keynote Speaker: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Audio was recorded by onegreener.com

"The challenge facing us today for the future is how to use energy efficiently."

"Biostitutes"

Our nation is being beggared by the greatest transfer of wealth to a country that does not even share our values or beliefs (China).

RFKJ 1.3 trillion in subsidies to the oil industry in the USA every year. A trillion to coal, and half a trillion to nuke. Every nation that has decarbonized its society has experienced immediate and instantaneous prosperity. Iceland. Sweden. Brazil. Costa Rica. Entrepreneurs then rush to these countries to build theire\ business - especially environmentlaly related ones.

Solar thermal plants in the desert of the Southwest would power 100% of America's needs, evne if everyone owned an electric cr. We have enough wind power in MT, Dakotas and TX to power the needs of this country. "The impediments are the huge subsidies we pay to the carbon cronies." The market advantage the carbon companies gain frmo these government subsidies is what is creating this imbalance.

The grids are under-built, misaligned, or non-existent. People who are able generate their own power (wind farm) can't connect to enough grid in order to transfer enough electricity to make a difference.

We need a smart grid. $150B to build a grid to erach every American home. Also public utility commissions are an impediments. They restrict access to the grid. Instead of being paid based on for consumption, they should be paid to conserve. (Pull vs push.) Right now buildings that do produce their own power, when they do sell it back to the utility (where they can), they are limited to how much they can return, and they are not paid market rates. This thinking is just wrong.

Solar plants - in the SW they are being built for cheaper than a coal plant, or nucleur plants - and once they are built they are practically free to operate. Electrons are hitting the Earth for free every day - if we could just build a way to capture that and transport to every home in America. For one investment of $650-750B we should have free energy forever.

We've done this before. We built an internet grid, a national backbone to every home in America, in 1979. It is practically free to use/maintain today. The cost of electrons will do the same if we build a national grid. We need a national marketplace that rewards good behavior - efficiency - and punish bad behavior, inefficiency, that is waste. We need to realign our marketplace rules so they rationalize with our national interests.

Israel is going thru transition now. Every parking space is having an outlet installed next to it, and swap stations are being built. You would drive your car in and a robot would swap out your exhaust battery and put in a new one in less than 2 minutes - less time than it takes to fill your tank. They are going to give the cars to Israli drivers for free, and they will be charged based on their usage. like cell phones today - most are free, and what you pay for is minutes and other services.

The reason why the cars can be given away for free is because the internal combustion engine is just inherently inefficient. It is heavy and costs a lot to move. An electric car weighs a lot less and requires less inputs to operate it. The driver owns the car, and the utility owns the battery. Batteries not currently in use are a power storage facility for the national grid. Conversations to make this happen in Hawaii and parts of California are currently under way.

He is listing a number of people who are head of major initiatives and departments in our national government that are actually against the thing they have been appointed to "protect", I will sum it up this way - those damn lobbyists. He says there is nothing wrong with busines people being in government. But there is something wrong with people entering government service to enrich corporate pockets and not protect what they were appointed to protect.

Shoot, he said something about Brittney Spears and I missed it!

Control of the press - Reagan abolished Fairness Act in 1988. Instead of informing us, now they entertain us. This was a big tangent he went one, I can't possibly keep up. There is a gap in scientific information and public perception because media no longer is responsible for reporting.

Pediatric asthma epidemic in our country - there a number of arguments of what is causing it, but the attacks are triggered by what is in the air. He lays out the different presidential administrations and The Clean Air Act. He also said that in many states it is not even safe ot eat the fresh water fish because of mercury contamination. He says he has so much mercury in his body from eating fish that his levels are more than double what is considered safe by the EPA. You can have your mercury levels tested by sending a lock of your hair to the Waterkeeper Alliance. (Will insert details later). Mercury levels can be reduced within about 5 years when cleanup happens.

"It is not just the destruction of the environment, it is the subversion of democracy."

We are not protecting nature for the birds and the trees. Nature is the infrastructure of our communities.. That is why we are protecting it.

"Good economic policy = good environmental policy."

It is not diminishing our wealth, it is an investmemt in infrastructure. He says there is no stronger advocate for free market capitalism than himself.. The best thing that can happen to the environment is if we had true free market capitalism. It promotes efficiency, not waste. And pollution is waste. The undervalation of resources causes waste. In a free marker society, when you make yourself rich, you make the people around you and your community rich. Polluters make themselves rich by making everyone else poor - and they do it by escaping the free market. "Show me a polluter and I will show you a subsidy."

The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment. Humans have appetites for things other than money. This is why the environemnt must be protected.

Factory farming has ruthless market control. The only way they are able to shut out the family farmer is because they are given free subsidies for inputs to run the factory. If they had to internalize the true expense as they do their profit, they would never survive in a true free market society.

There was a lengthy religions parable - most religious rebels challenged the established hierarchies. It's not just about destroying a landscape - it is an attack on our values. The roots of culture come from nature. Art, poetry, literature - nature is the unifying value found in these things humans value. A respect for nature and a respect for future generations. It is about creating communities with dignity. It's not just about reducing global warming emissions - it is about pride in being Americans and the moral sense we are going to be respectful of future generations and leave something for them, and not just be selfish for us.

STANDING O!!

3/8/2009 Follow-up: Another local green blogger, onegreener.com, live streamed video during the event. Unfortunately the audio is pretty bad. I tried listening to this on my desktop with the speakers at full blast and still could not hear it clear enough to listen to it for nearly two hours. I have tried contacting onegreener.com via Twitter and also an email from his blog to see if there was any way to improve the audio portion but he has not responsed. If I find a link to a similar speech I will post it (he was doing an event in Whistler BC two days before appearing in Seattle.

At the BGC (Built Green Conference)

 

We are getting close to opening comments at the Built Green Conference in downtown Seattle. We are on the very top floor of the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. To my right is a contractor from Kettle Falls, WA, an hour and a half of north of Spokane. He just told me an amazing story - the wildlife they have there is abundant. On my left is a student from the UW who is working on her thesis. Her speciality is essentially where the land meets the water.

Morning announcements - beginning at noon you can sign up for the after party at the new LEED certified Hyatt hotel - the party is at the Olive 8. Free drinks!

Industry comments - BG props consistently carry higher value, retain value, and sell faster than non-green products. Quality, value and message are what sets BG props apart.

The WA state Director of Department  of Ecology is now speaking. He is referring to a modeling workshop that was done here a couple of weeks ago. I saw this in a newsletter I received at the office this week and will come back to this later. He says the modeling predicts negative impacts in the future. He knows the future definitely holds change based on the number of people here at today's conference.

He is basically now speaking of where I live- a Built Green home in a Built Green community, where you walk everywhere and know your neighbors. (I live in High Point in West Seattle). He proposes by reducing our petroleum usage by $16B a year, we can put that money towards building more communities (and emission free cars are a part of this scenario, and he does not mean golf carts). He suggests in the future you will be working in a LEED certified building that will produce more energy than it uses.

He is introducing Mayor Greg Nickels.

Mayor Nickels is recapping current economic times, but assures us that we will all get thru this. This afternoon he will be breaking ground for the 2nd light rail line, out to the UW. You will be able to get to the airport from downtown Seattle in 19 minutes. UW to downtown in 7 minutes. This is a great step forward. It will employ 2,900 workers onsite, so local jobs too! He thanks the voters who approved final funding for this project this last fall.

Seattle has a reputation as a green city. He speaks of the Kyoto protocol 2/16/2005. He and the Mayor of Tacoma stood up at a press conference and urged people to shower together to save water, and even for Seattle that is a radical thought. The snow melt that year was so drastic. He stood up on that day and said Seattle would reduce its carbon emissions even further than what the Kyoto protocol called for - 7%. He said last week even Detroit signed on to the Kyoto protocol, and that's no easy feat for that city.

He now introduces our keynote speaker, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a frequent visitor to Seattle. He says during the last 8 years RFKJ has been a loud voice speaking up for the protection of our climate, to protect it for future generations.

Reminder: Live Blogging Event Tomorrow Morning from the Built Green Conference

Just a reminder to tune in here tomorrow morning to hear news, quotes, and other gems & tidbits I learn at the Built Green Conference. My netbook arrived yesterday and by tonight I will be an expert at using it with my PPC as a wireless hub (or something).



Two days ago I posted about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as pick for the keynote presentation "How business can utilize sound environmental policies and procedures through the adoption of green business practices." at 8:15 AM. All I can say is, I am glad they are providing breakfast because as a real estate professional I am more used to working the evening shift, not pulling an early morning one!!



Here is the agenda for tomorrow's conference. I haven't finalized my picks for the break-out sessions yet. Guess you will have to stay tuned!



Mar 6, 2009
07:30 am
Complimentary Breakfast and Registration


08:15 am
Conference Introductions and Keynote Presentation by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.




10:15 am Educational Sessions


Going Beyond Green Building - Community Development and Social Connectivity


Multifamily Post Occupancy Evaluations


Open Round Table Discussion on the Keynote


The Growing Green Job Market




11:00 am
Exhibit Floor Opens/Complimentary Lunch




1:30 pm Educational Sessions


Built Green/LEED Comparison Report


Does Green = Quality?


Fostering Balance Between the Built & Natural World/Gaining a Competitive Advantage with Salmon Safe Certification


Selling and Promoting Green Without the "Wash": How to differentiate and make green meaningful to your customers and the media


The Market Value of Green Certified Residential Projects




3:15 pm Educational Sessions


Early Adopters: Taking Ourselves and Our Networks to the Next Level


Future Smart Heating Choices


Green Homes and the Mass Market


Market, Political & Financing Solutions for Energy Retrofits: Energy Performance Score, the Future Market for Measuring Energy Performance


The Myth of Sisyphus: A Roadmap to Greening Our Buildings




5:00 pm
Post-Conference Reception
Hyatt at Olive 8

New Tax Breaks on the House

My husband and I spent over 8 hours last Saturday doing our taxes - self-employment definitely creates more work and I haven't seen a 1040EZ since I was 25.

Using Turbo Tax you see at the top of the screen in a red box "Federal Tax Due" and a dollar amount. It wasn't until we entered our mortgage interest and our PMI payments that we went from a red box to green and a Federal Tax Refund. Reaffirming once again what a great asset (although it is a huge debt) a house is to have.

From today's Realty Times:

Your home likely provides more tax relief than any other acquisition, thanks, in part, to new federal laws designed to ease financial suffering in the recessionary economy.

Read New Tax Breaks on the House by Broderick Perkins

So, just who is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and why is his keynote at the Built Green conference on 3/6/9 important?

As I posted last Thursday, (Looking for live blogger at Built Green Conference), I will be blogging live from Friday's 2009 Built Green Conference at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. Earth911.com will be linking to me for the benefit of their readers, and I will also tweet green gems via #SeattleGreenRE on Twitter (follow @greenspacesre). What is all of the hullabaloo about?

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (I will refer to him as RFKJ) is nephew to former president John. F. Kennedy and senator Edward M. Kennedy. He is "an environmental activist and attorney". He's had a few dustups with the law in his history, most recently serving jail time for trespassing at Camp Garcia, the US. Navy training facility on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. He was part of a group that protested use of a small section of the island for naval training exercises. The incident did suspend live-fire exercises for almost 3 hours, and he was sentenced to 30 days in jail even though his attorney was former Governor of New York Mario Cuomo. Interestingly enough, his youngest son, born 5 days before his sentending in July in 2001, has "Vieques" as one of his middle names. It obviously was a memorable experience.

I think RFKJ can thank his 1983 arrest for heroin possession for getting him involved with the environmental group that launched his career, the Riverkeeper organization. His in a regional airport in South Dakota led to two years probation, periodic tests for drug use, treatment by joining Narcotics Anonymous, and 1,500 hours of community service. He joined the Riverkeeper organization in 1984 to satisfy his community service sentence. He worked with the group to sue alleged polluters of the Hudson River in New York (the location of the recent plane crash where everyone survived thanks to "Captain Sully"). After he fulfilled his community service hours, the group then hired him as their chief prosecuting attorney.

It obviously has been a great partnership, as he is still with Riverkeeper. From his formal bio on the Built Green Conference web site,

"Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s reputation as a resolute defender of the environment stems from a litany of successful legal actions. Kennedy was named one of Time magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet” for his success in helping Riverkeeper lead the fight to restore the Hudson River. The group’s achievement helped spawn more than 160 Waterkeeper organizations across the globe. Kennedy serves as senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and president of Waterkeeper Alliance. He is also a clinical professor and supervising attorney at Pace University School of Law’s Environmental Litigation Clinic and is co-host of Ring of Fire on Air America Radio. Earlier in his career, he served as assistant district attorney in New York City."

RFKJs family connections and lengthy body of work (even his run-ins with the law) have made him the man he is today. He is a prolific author and defender of the environment.

At the Built Green Conference on Friday he will be speaking on "the state of environmental activism and how to meaningfully address the environmental problems that face us". I for one am really looking forward to this speech.

I also am appreciative of the opportunity to share this event with everyone around the world who is interested in hearing what he has to say, and what conference goers and participants are also doing to help improve our world. Individually we need to pay attention to what is our own largest contribution to our personal carbon footprint - our home.

Be sure to tune in Friday morning for live updates from the conference floor and the keynote presentation that may change your world for the better.

Real Estate Outlook: Housing Positioned For Growth

From today's Realty Times:

No economist has more information at his or her disposal than Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, and what he told Congress last week should be encouraging news for anyone interested in real estate: The recession that has gripped the country painfully for 18 months will "end" later this year - moving us into positive economic growth.

Full Story: http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20090303_realestateoutlook.htm

Testing mobile blogging for live keynote from Built Green Conference

While I am waiting for my new netbook to show up, I am testing mobile blogging from my PPC.

Friday morning Robert F. Kennedy Jr will be opening this year's Built Green Conference at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. I am looking forward to tbis event It will be the first time I have gone; the last three years during conference time I was working on other real estate contracts. This year I am able to exclusively focus on my green real estate business and I am very excited that my blog will be linked to www.Earth911.com for the keynote speech.

I will also be posting little gems via Twitter. You can follow me @greenspacesre and also check #SeattleGreenRE.

More soon!

Sweet little starter in SE Seattle, 2+ bedrooms, 2 garages, corner level lot, garden space and room for the 4-legged friend to romp!

My out-of-state seller client recently reduced the price of his home near Kubota Garden in Upper Rainier Beach by $30,000. The area provides easy access to just about everything, like I-5, the new light rail station, etc. The house is ON bus route 7, so if you use mass transit you will love how convenient this is for you.

The home is staged and the heat is on. Full basement has tons of potential. Lots of new features including a new gas furnace. Nice view of Lake Washington as you come and go daily.

Real estate inside the city limits always retains its value. Be sure to check this home out and make an offer! If you are a DIYer and want to make an appointment to see it, call me at 206.686.HOME.