From Homescape

To say that midcentury architects were more practical is an understatement. Yes, we’ve seen a sudden green movement taking over, and NO, I don’t think this is bad — on the contrary, it’s something everyone should be aware of. But looking at Miami’s architecture, I have to admit that I have a soft spot for those buildings of the 1950s and 1960s. I have a special soft spot for certain architects such as Wahl Snyder, Marion Manley and Alfred Browning Parker.

When I walk into a house designed by either three, I feel it! My heart starts racing and there’s an unquestionable passion that can be felt through the construction and details of the space. I walked into a small Alfred Browning Parker home with a client not long ago, and I instantly knew it was his work. I asked the agent if the home was designed by BP, and to my disappointment the agent looked at me and said, “Who?”

Signature style

Browning Parker was the master of utilizing space, wide overhangs, clerestory windows and massing to take advantage of warm climates without air conditioning. Frank Lloyd Wright’s influence is obvious in his work, because of the organic nature and use of local materials. Snyder’s signature was to bring exterior spaces into the living areas. He would work with cross ventilation and create seamless transitions between the inside and outside of his spaces. Materials were key and clerestory lighting was a must. Take a look at his Miami Shores Residence. Manley was Florida’s first licensed woman architect, and at 75 she was still busy designing good quality homes. She used local materials, high ceilings, cross ventilation and never ignored our tropical climate.

The next generation
These three architects are the epitome of the green movement, and they created their masterpieces without today’s technology and media hype. Browning Parker, who’s about 90-years-old, continues to pass on his guiding principals to a new generation of architects when he gives special lectures at universities across the country. His five guiding principals till this day are: “Build simply. Build as directly as possible with no complications. Use the materials at hand and keep these sparse. Let your building love its site and glorify its climate. Design for use and make it beautiful.”

To read more on these wonderful architects, check out Georgia Tasker’s article published in The Miami Herald about two homes designed in the 1960s by Manley and Browning Parker. Both homes are open to their surroundings, and both are models for green living today.

Here’s a quote by Janet McIlvane, a research analyst with the Florida Solar Energy Center, that I think really defines the shift in housing and design that is evident in current times.

“After World War II, there was a move away from individually crafted homes....We began to produce homes with a subdivision production mindset. We were going to build 30 houses, not one, and build them all alike. And in that transition, we started looking at how to make things easier, how to build more easily and quickly.

“That’s how the industrial revolution transitioned into the housing market. So we jettisoned the front porch, made the windows smaller and sealed up our houses. In Florida, those were the very components that allowed us to survive in the hot, humid climate.”

Ines Hegedus-Garcia

After a marathon of a winter, I can’t begin to tell you how ecstatic I am to finally hear birds chirping outside my window and not to see snow barricading my sidewalk. With the first balmy weekend, I noticed my neighbor out in his yard replanting the grass that had wilted away during the winter months. Sprucing up the yard may be a basic cosmetic upgrade to a home, but its value stretches beyond the lawn.

Show me the green
The Turf Resource Center reports that a study conducted by Michigan State University and funded by the Horticultural Research Institute found that depending on where a property is located, high-quality landscaping adds 5 to 11 percent to the home’s value. The study reported that landscaping adds more value than any other home renovation project.

And a recent survey of 2,000 realtors by HomeGain.com reported that an investment of $500 in lawn improvements would likely yield 400 percent of that total when selling the home.

Smells good, sells well
Making over your lawn doesn’t have to empty your pockets, either. A great landscaping tip I recently got from fellow Homescape blogger Frank Schulte-Ladbeck is to add some aromatic herbs such as mint and lemon thyme patches to the yard to create a fragrant smell. A rolling breeze will carry the enticing aromas throughout the surrounding area. This is great for a seller having an open house.

Schulte-Ladbeck says many professional gardeners of large estates are gussying up their traditional lawns with more than just grass. “The use of various herbs and weeds are a great addition, because it doesn’t require as many herbicides or fertilizers, making it an eco-friendly option. These botanic alternatives will also fill in sparse patches faster than grass, so the lawns look fuller.”

First impressions are everything when you’re selling a home. So it only makes sense to spend a little quality time to improve your landscaping. It’s the first thing buyers see — and probably one of the last things they’ll remember.

Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Amy Le at openingdoorsblog@homescape.com.

Every morning I usually create a to-do-list of things I have to accomplish for the day, and in celebration of Earth Day today, I’ve decided to add a couple of eco-friendly chores to my list. While tasks such as opening the windows instead of turning on the air conditioning or turning the lights off in rooms that aren’t being occupied seems pretty minimal, I believe some action is better than no action.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to install a geothermal heat pump or a solar electric system in my home, but these energy-efficient gizmos come with a pretty hefty price tag. If you’re like me and are still trying to pay off college loans and credit card bills, you can still live an eco-friendly lifestyle without sinking further into the quicksand of debt.

Green revolution

Eventually, as demand increases for these types of green products, more builders will begin standardizing them into their designs. Here are some current data and trends:

• In the American Institute of Architects’ fourth-quarter survey of 500 architects, 61 percent said their clients are interested in “renewable” flooring materials like cork and bamboo, up 53 percent a year earlier.

• The market for green homes is expected to rise from $2 billion this year to $20 billion over the next five years, according to a 2007 report by McGraw-Hill Construction and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

• According to the Retail Industry Leaders Association’s New Sustainability Initiative (NSI), 66 percent of retailers have begun the transition to green. The study also found that green flooring will leapfrog from the slowest-growing segment of the green building market to the fastest-growing by 2011. Bamboo flooring imports grew 50 percent between 2005 and 2006.

• Homeowners are using green products such as kitchen countertops made with recycled glass and concrete for 40 percent of their remodeling work, according to McGraw Hill and the NAHB.

• The American Institute of Architect’s Local Leaders in Sustainability reported that since 2003 the number of cities with green building programs has risen from 22 to 92 percent.

Calculating carbon footprint
So how green are you? Author Alexandra Shimo-Barry has created easy steps for consumers to calculate their own carbon footprints. In Shimo-Barry’s new book, “The Environment Equation,” she teaches readers how to quickly calculate the amount of greenhouse gases in units of carbon dioxide by following a basic formula:

A) Multiply your monthly electricity bill by 105.

B) Multiply your monthly gas bill by 105.

C) Multiply your monthly oil bill by 113. (If you don't use either B or C, enter 0.)

D) Multiply total yearly mileage by .79.

E) Multiply the number of flights — 4 hours or less — by 1,100.

F) Multiply the number of flights — 4 hours or more — by 4,400.

G) Do you recycle newspapers? If no, add 184. If yes, add 0.

H) Do you recycle aluminum and tin? If no, add 166. If yes, add 0.

A+B+C+D+E+F+G+H = your carbon footprint. A number below 6,000 (reflected in pounds per year) is excellent. Over 22,000? Not so great. Good is anywhere from 6,000 to 15,999, while 16,000 to 22,000 is average.

I see a future where every homebuyer will be afforded the opportunity to live in a fully environmentally sustainable home. For today, on Earth Day, remember to think small and think practical, and your green habits will ease the burden on your pocketbook and the planet.

Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Amy Le at openingdoorsblog@homescape.com.

When a seller is preparing her home for an open house, she usually packs away the clutter, scrubs away stains on the walls and adds some fresh flowers to liven up the ambience. But sometimes not even fresh flowers can help a home when it comes to getting rid of stinky odors. From the pungent stench of tobacco to the nose-pinching reek of an unkempt kitty litter, no one wants to be “snuffed out” of a sale. While some homeowners like adding scented candles or spraying air fresheners to mask the smells, even the rich aromas extracted from these products can sometimes overwhelm those who are sensitive to strong scents.

To play it safe, I would recommend going with an aroma-free product. At the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago last week, I found Fresh Wave’s line of natural odor neutralizers as a good alternative for the fragrant-sensitive, environmentally conscious consumers.

From the gel crystals and home spray to the vacuum pearls, the Fresh Wave products do a good job of eliminating odor molecules. I don’t want to get too technical, — I’ll leave that to Bill Nye “The Science Guy” — but how these odor-eating products work, is the plant oils in the gels and sprays get picked up by natural airflow and attach themselves to the odor molecules, neutralizing the smells in a room.

The products are all made with a unique blend of natural ingredients like soy, purified water, aniseed, clove, lime, pine needle and cedar wood. When you open up the gel jar, you can initially smell a hint of pine and clove, but the smell quickly dissipates within minutes. The gels can be left out in the open or hidden behind air ducts. These products are all nontoxic, recyclable, non-aerosol and EPA approved.

The gel crystals last 30 to 60 days and cost $14.95 for a 16-ounce jar. So even after you’ve moved out of a home, and your agent is still showing the property to buyers, you can leave the crystals out to keep the home smelling fresh. Fresh Wave products can be purchased online at Freshwave.com or you can pick them up at Sur La Table, the Container Store and select Whole Foods and Ace Hardware stores.

Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Amy Le at openingdoorsblog@homescape.com.

On my lunch break yesterday, I stopped in at the 2008 International Home & Housewares Show to see if there were any new gadgets or home accessories worth writing home about. One booth that caught my attention was green-friendly home and garden design company Ecosource. The Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based company first left their imprint on the houseware scene two years ago when they debuted their biodegradable garden pots. At this year’s show in Chicago, the environmentally innovative company is moving the industry forward in the “green” revolution with the launch of their new Grēnware table-top line.

When I first noticed Ecosurce’s beautifully rounded bowls and sleek dinner plates atop the white square display tables, I instantly fell in love with the simplicity of the design and the dark earthy colors, which gave the product a very contemporary and elegant look. Grēnware’s slogan on their brochure reads: “Who says you can’t have style and still save the planet?”

The Grēnware table-top line, which includes dinner and appetizer plates and bowls, are made with renewable plant fiber from coconut, bamboo, straw and rice hulls. Without using any chemical dyes, the products rich colors come from its natural plant cellulose, such as the dark brown from the coconut shell. The products contain no petroleum or plastic, making it both food safe and also completely eco-friendly.

Chad Callihan, co-founder of Ecosource, said the grēnware products have a shelf-life of up to five years, and when it comes time to dispose, they are completely biodegradable. “In today’s market, consumers are spending more time educating themselves on environmental issues, and they aren’t afraid to spend more money on green-friendly products,” Callihan says.

Ecosource’s products won’t burn a hole in your pocket book. Their new Grēnware table-top products retail for $9 to $15 per piece and their flower pots range from $5 to $20. To find a Grēnware retailer near you, check out Ecosourceonline.com list of directories. And if you just want to educate yourself more on environmentally friendly companies, I recommend checking out Co-op America.


Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Amy Le at openingdoorsblog@homescape.com.