June 20 Wood Window & Door Restorat...

Wood Window and Door Restoration and Weatherization Saturday, June 20th This half-day workshop will show you how and why to preserve and weatherize original wood windows, doors and architectural details. Presented by Dave King, owner of Eco Woodworks, this hands-on workshop will be held at a member’s residence.  Address information will be provided upon registration. Registration is required: $25 class fee.  To register, contact classreg.ecobuilding@gmail.com or call 360.754.6152. The Northwest EcoBuilding Guild is an alliance of builders, designers,...

June 18 Rain Garden Workshop...

NW Eco-Building Guild Rain Garden Workshop, Thursday June 18th Our monthly educational meeting features David Hymel from Nisqually Sustainable Building.  He will give a presentation on construction of rain gardens to control flooding, protect waterways, and provide beneficial habitat. Time is from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, at the Urban Onion ballroom, 116 Legion Way SE in Olympia.  Please arrive early to order from the menu.  Cost is $5 for non-members and free for members. The Northwest EcoBuilding Guild is an alliance of builders, designers, suppliers, homeowners,...

April 17 & 18 South Sound Green Tou...

The South Sound ECO-Builders-Guild Hosts: The South Sound Green Tour Innovation – Education – Inspiration April 17th and 18th, 2010 A community event to celebrate green innovations through education in sustainable building and inspired living. This year’s tour will showcase the greenest homes and buildings in our area that incorporate significant use of solar or other renewable energies, new and reclaimed materials, low energy consumption and water conservation technologies, and sustainable design techniques. Educational sessions will be held at various...

Ultra Grip Green Primer...

Ultra Grip Multi Purpose Primer. Though I just discovered a write up on this product, and haven’t tried it yet, it looks like one of those products that  could carry the weight of “making the job”.These are the kinds of products everyone should have in their arsenal for home projects. Dunn-Edwards Corporation is the manufacturer. They claim this primer is suitable for interior and exterior surfaces including wood, masonry, metal (non ferrous), drywall, and fiberglass, it even sticks to old enamel paint. It’s 100% acrylic and functions as a stain...

Peace Industry Felt Rugs...

The best parts of building a new home or finishing a remodel are the final touches that make it feel like home. It’s hard to resist a perfectly suited hand-made rug to put the period at the end of your project. Peace Industry out of San Francisco hand makes small batches from 100% lambswool and biodegradable vegetable dyes. These rugs are chemical free and fair trade and uniquely beautiful! These rugs are every thing ‘green’ should be. The story of their business is wonderful! Here’s a little quote: “Melina and Dodd Raissnia arrived in Tehran...

Our Own Passive House Consultant...

We received notice yesterday of news we’ve longed to hear… our  lead building designer, Tessa Smith, passed her grueling exams to achieve status as a Passive House consultant! Tessa is one of fewer than 300 certified Passive House Consultants in the United States. Tessa has been with The Artisans Group for 4 years; she’s been consistently producing award-winning remodel and new construction designs for us.  Her designs speak for themselves. Tessa has a deep background in sustainable design, and is very much a part of the new generation of designers that...

Natural Poplar Bark Siding...

Poplar Bark Siding It’s obvious when I think about it, though my only exposure, until now, to bark siding has been with staged replica “native” structures viewed in a museum, and my own first building project when I was eight. In both instances, I suspect the siding selection was based in resource availability, necessity, and in my case the typical age-related insolvency that leads all eight year olds to creative solutions. Plus, it looked really cool and kept the rain out. I just found this website that features natural poplar bark siding, Furniss...

500 Top Green Companies in US...

Newsweek compiled a 2009 list of 500 US companies by how ‘green’ they are. It’s an impressive list of some big companies. I always find these kinds of lists interesting, informative if not a bit sketchy in how to correlate an apple to an orange and have it make sense to the masses. Aside from that, if you are into this sort of thing, it’s fun to get an idea of the ‘big boys’ out there that deem ‘green’ a worthy pursuit. From a personal perspective, I work for a small company that pursues green or sustainable methods for...

FROGBOX-A Green Moving Alternative...

This is a notable Puget Sound resource I just read about in the Business Examiner, “FROGBOX Brings Totatable Alternatives to South Sound“. FROGBOX is a sustainable alternative to the resource-rich effort of moving. If you are are relocating your belongings whether from your home or business, FROGBOX supplies movers with plastic re-usable totes that can replace regular cardboard boxes. People can order the amount of boxes needed from the FROGBOX website, FROGBOX will then deliver the re-usable boxes to be filled by you and when ready, they will come back to...

Austria Passive House Update...

In an earlier blog post we mentioned the Austria House, which will be the party house for all things Austrian during the 2010 Winter Olympics. The house is designed and constructed to meet the rigorous Passive House standards.  At it’s essence, a passive  building will maintain a comfortable interior climate without an active heating and cooling system. Passive refers to the fact that the home will heat and cool itself. Our lead designer, Tessa Smith, visited the Austria House recently. Having gone through the Passive House training earlier this year, she knows...