shelter – Page 19 – Things Are Good

Soy Habitats for Humanity

A company built a house to show off soy products and other environmentally friendly building techniques for the modern home and they have chosen to donate their model home to Habitat for Humanity.

The Soy House was built to showcase environmentally friendly, soy-based products used in home construction. It includes products such as spray foam insulation, soy board cabinets, soy-based adhesives, low-VOC paint, carpet backing, bathroom fixtures and foam for mattresses and furniture.

Dale Petrie, director of Strategic Development and Innovation, Grain Farmers of Ontario, says his group staged an exhibit of 101 uses for soy in December 2008 at the Toronto Stock Exchange and decided to showcase an entire home at the Royal. Because there would not have been time to construct a home from scratch, the province’s soy farmers approached modular builder Quality Homes Inc., which agreed to build the house in its factory and ship it to the fair.

“We don’t mind taking on a challenge like this at all,” says Howard Sher, executive vice-president of Quality Homes.

“And we weren’t concerned about the quality of the soy products at all. We are using the soy rigid insulation in our homes now.”

“But after the fair, the next step was, what are we going to do with this house?” says Petrie. The decision was made to offer it to a Habitat Canada affiliate.

Read the rest of the article.

Thanks Kathryn!

An Introduction to Green Roofs

Want to get the low-down on something that could be above your head? Well here’s what you’ve been looking for: an introduction to green roofs!

Roof types

There are two basic types of roof greening covers: intensive (roof gardens) and extensive. Intensive planted roofs have a greater depth of growing medium to support a wider range of planting, and often include shrubs and trees. Extensive roofs are systems with low growing plants, such as sedums, with no access other than for occasional maintenance; this type of roof is intended to be self sustaining.

There are three main methods of building up a green roof:

Inverted roof – has the insulation layer above the roof deck, on top of the waterproofing layer; usually constructed over a concrete roof deck.
Warm roof – has the insulation layer on top of the roof deck and the waterproofing layer on top of the insulation. In this system the insulation is always dry, giving a static thermal rating.
Cold roof – has the waterproofing membrane placed directly on top of the roof deck, with the insulation installed below the roof deck, or the roof may be uninsulated.

Sustainability issues

Green roofs are recognised as important in the delay of rainwater run-off entering the storm water system, and the general retention of rainwater. Other recognized environmental advantages of green roofs include:

Improved conservation and biodiversity.
Provision of new wildlife habitat.
Improved thermal insulation of buildings.
Reduction of airborne particulates.
Reduction in urban heat island effect.

Cyclists Can Raise Property Values

Providing a safe place to lock up bicycles can increase the rental and property value of a home or apartment complex.

To a cyclist like myself this seems painfully obvious, but to people living in the world of the car I guess, well, they don’t understand and need to be told this be a real estate company.

While car parking has long been a factor considered by potential landlords, Ludlow Thompson argue, it’s important now that they also think about where would-be tenants can keep their bikes. Decent bike provision could even increase the property’s price or rental value, it effectively says.

The chain operates only in London, but the advice of the eponymous Stephen Ludlow would seem relevant to anyone thinking of letting a property in an urban area:

Cyclists are increasingly important if you intend to let or sell to the 20-35 year old post-university market. Cyclists prefer not to leave their bike chained up on the street.
When renting a flat in converted houses, cyclists often ask if they can leave their bicycle in the shared hallway. Most contracts explicitly prevent this because if often leads to damage and can upset the other tenants. By agreeing, a landlord might have the edge if a tenant is weighing up two options.
Landlords of ex-local authority and new build housing can often offer the best solution, as those properties frequently provide storage sheds which are perfect for bicycles. But landlords in other housing types can make their properties more attractive to cyclists by installing safe storage, such as a secure shed unit which will fit in even a small front garden. Landlords that are leaseholders â€“ either in a converted house or in a more modern block â€“ can be proactive and negotiate with other leaseholders and the freeholder to provide shared storage. There will often be a net benefit as the desirability of the property is improved.

Read the rest at the Guardian.

Car Free Cities are Always an Option

Today I’ll cut right to the chase: car free cities are thriving in Europe. Awesome.

A quarter of households in Britain â€“ more in the larger cities, and a majority in some inner cities â€“ live without a car. Imagine how quality of life would improve for cyclists and everyone else if traffic were removed from areas where people could practically choose to live without cars. Does this sound unrealistic, utopian? Did you know many European cities are already doing it?

Vauban in Germany is one of the largest car-free neighbourhoods in Europe, home to more than 5,000 people. If you live in the district, you are required to confirm once a year that you do not own a car â€“ or, if you do own one, you must buy a space in a multi-storey car park on the edge of the district. One space was initially provided for every two households, but car ownership has fallen over time, and many of these spaces are now empty.

Vehicles are allowed down the residential streets at walking pace to pick up and deliver, but not to park. In practice, vehicles are rarely seen moving here. It has been taken over by kids as young as four or five, playing, skating and unicycling without direct supervision. The adults, too, tend to socialise outdoors far more than they would on conventional streets open to traffic (behaviour that’s echoed in the UK, too).

Read the full article at the Guardian.

Old Jeans, New Insulation

Good news everybody! Your old pants could be worth more than you thought!

Students at University of Memphis have been collecting used denim for insulation in housing for Habitat for Humanity. So hang on to your old clothes so you can make somebody else’s house a little warmer.