GREEN BUILDING PROGRAMS RATED
Labels: sustainability
Sat 03 Nov 2007 09:24 AM |
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GREEN BUILDING PROGRAMS
Two Southern California Cities recently passed so-called “Green” legislation. West Hollywood promises “flexibility, responsiveness to local conditions, and cost-effectiveness.” as key features of its new Green Building Ordinance. The rules cover “all new development” and remodels, touching on resource use at construction sites as well as the energy consumption of finished buildings. The ordinance employs a point system not unlike that used in USGBC LEED certified projects, which can be exempted from the West Hollywood requirements. The City of Santa Barbara adopted a new Energy Ordinance, inspired by Architect Edward Mazria’s Architecture 2030, which sets out benchmarks for “dramatic reduction in the global-warming-causing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the Building Sector by changing the way buildings and developments are planned, designed and constructed.” Santa Monica's Green Building Program focuses on larger structures, as does a proposed Green Building Ordinance for The City of Los Angeles (for buildings over 50,000 sf or more than 50 residential units), which is currently working its way through the city government system toward adoption. Lest you view us Californians early adopters, know that Austin, Texas has had a Green Building Program since 1991.
Labels: sustainability
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Thu 01 Nov 2007 05:16 PM |
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TUESDAY TOUR
Yesterday's Broker Open House tour included this new West Hollywood project. Brix Realty's David Sudeck promotes the two unit structure designed by Bruno Bondanelli of designx-architecture (who currently seems quite busy in West Hollywood) as "eco-luxury", with US Green Building Council LEED Gold certification pending, featuring: "...Energy-saving Bosch appliances. Rooftop solar electrical systems and high-efficiency air condit./heating with catalytic air scrubbers/UV air filtration...."
Labels: listings, sustainability
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Wed 31 Oct 2007 09:07 AM |
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IN THE LINE OF FIRES
Now that many of the recent area fires have been quelled (The LA City Fire Department blog links to a Google map showing which fires are active, contained and extinguished) it seems timely to ponder the fact that many of LA's coolest houses, highly flammable and, perched as they are for seclusion and view in the hills, are located in formerly designated “mountain fire district” areas. The Fire Department now has a "Brush Clearance Zones" map which unambiguosly identifies, in red, "Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones." For Westsiders, that's basically everything north of Sunset, all the way over the hill to the Valley.
Labels: area, fire, hazards, location
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Tue 30 Oct 2007 05:09 PM |
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SUNDAY BEST
Our favorite among open houses we saw yesterday was Steve Frankel's (Coldwell Banker-BH East) listing at 8630 Fennell Place. It appears frozen in 1955, down to the turquoise appliances.Labels: listings
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Mon 29 Oct 2007 10:35 AM |
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AT HOME WITH BUDDHA
We've been encountering a good deal of Buddhist statuary on our visits to homes on the market. Some of these Buddhas may reflect the spiritual inclinations of the sellers, others seem to be decorative. Many have clearly been placed by the professional staging designers. We saw the head at the top left on the Sunset Strip. The reclining figure below was in Los Feliz.Labels: buddha
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Mon 29 Oct 2007 09:13 AM |
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RELAX: TARANTINO, NEUTRA, ZEN.
We’ve noticed a good many listings touting “zen” among the property’s assets. One of the latest is at 8427 Ridpath Drive in the Hollywood Hills (MLS#: 07-228579). Jason Reitz of Rock Real Estate describes it thus: “Straight Out Of A Tarrantino Movie, This Hand Crafted 1930’s Modernist Zen-Architectural Canyon Retreat Is Influenced By All The Masters Of The 20th Century Including Wright & Neutra As Interpreted By A Master Carpenter W/ Form Following Function, Relaxing Asian Qualities...”Labels: listings, zen
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Sun 28 Oct 2007 11:06 AM |
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RIDING THE RAILS
We took the subway to get somewhere in LA! Interested in taking a look at a new multi-family project in Long Beach, a train ride seemed more appealing than another day on the freeway. So, this still being LA we first got into the car and drove east to the Red Line station at Wilshire and Western. A train pulled in before we could make sense of the ticket vending machines, so we stole the first leg of the trip. We had more time when we changed trains, and paid retroactively. The blue line train (inexplicably decorated on the outside with ORANGE lines) pulled out and within a few minutes quickly emerged into daylight for a relaxed sight seeing ride south. We spent about an hour on the two trains. Including the initial 15 minute car ride, we figured the whole trip might have been shorter had we driven the whole way, depending on traffic, but the wear and tear on the car and on us was a good deal less.Labels: Transit
Sun 28 Oct 2007 09:25 AM |
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