By: Johnny Hartsfield

So I don’t confuse anyone about what GreenFab is, let me explain what’s going on in my first ever blog entry!

I am 31 years old and have spent the majority of my life to-date going to school, traveling, or working for someone else. My career paths have been all over the board with photography, environmental science, archeology, landscape architecture, and real estate. At one point, I even thought that it would be a good idea to open a drive thru coffee business in Switzerland - hmmm.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

I am a Seattleite and wouldn’t have it any other way. This has been my home, and always will be. We are lucky here in Seattle to have such easy access to natural beauty and resources. Along with Portland, OR and Vancouver B.C., Seattle has received some positive media attention over the years for our environmental awareness and focus on sustainable building practices.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield  

We’ve been impatiently waiting for a quality prefab product to hit the Seattle market. It has finally arrived with a slurry of modular designs from the local design firm, HyBrid Seattle. Hybrid’s work “resurrects the viability of affordable high density, high quality housing in cities.” Unlike many other modular design firms like Michelle Kaufmann Designs or LivingHomes, both out of California, Hybrid incorporates many different prefabricated systems into their line of products. These include wood frame modular, pre-engineered steel, panelized wood, site-built wood, and cargotecture. 

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By: Johnny Hartsfield  

Currently featured at the Museum of Modern Art Design and the Elastic Mind exhibit in New York City, SMIT’s (Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology) new product called GROW.1, is designed to harness power from both sun and wind. Using emerging technology from the photovoltaic and piezo industries, this hybrid device is not only innovative but also aesthetically pleasing. Imagine the sides of your house fluttering in the wind like leaves on a tree - all the while providing your home with renewable energy. Wind power is generated by the fluttering of the solar leaves which can be attached to any building surface.

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By: Gareth Loveridge

We would like to explain a bit what we intend to accomplish with the “Materials” category.

In the first round of discourse, we hope to begin to explore the broad range of materials and systems that exist. Culturally, we seem to be quite hesitant to explore, or experiment, with our building systems. We feel that we need to recognize this tendency, and at the same time find ways to get over it. Solving the complex problems of global sustainability relies on innovation and progress, yet there is relatively little support for either.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield  

For me, there is no better way to kick off our conversation about site design than with my own personal experience. It’s been three years and eight months since Sarah and I purchased our first home in Ballard. Coming from a Landscape Architecture background, it took me all of two weeks before I ripped out the newly laid turf blanketing our yard. It has taken three complete summers of long days, a hernia operation (blue stone is heavier than I thought) and money we didn’t have for us to get to this point. What we have so far, in my prideful opinion, is a landscape that incorporates native and drought tolerant plants, bird habitat, a green roof and beauty that we can enjoy everyday.

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