By: Johnny Hartsfield

On our Nation’s proudest day, GreenFab will not be sharing with you the top 5 ways to green your 4th of July party or how to have an Eco-friendly Independence Day.   By now we should all be making great strides to live this way everyday.  And frankly, we just hate to point out the obvious.  So, for this year’s 4th of July holiday, GreenFab would simply like to say - BE HAPPY and BE SAFE. 

The best thing we can do for our planet today is to spend time with friends and family sharing the passions and hopes we have for a more sustainable future.  Inspired dialogue leads to great things! 

By: Johnny Hartsfield

Join Seattle Great City Initiative for a brownbag lunch discussion led by Owen Richards of ORA and Robert Humble and Joel Egan of Hybrid, as they discuss their winning entry for the 99k House Competition. 

Come hear first hand how these local Seattle architects designed a house that is flexible enough to adapt to the changing needs of inhabitants while incorporating rainwater harvesting and a geothermal mechanical system.  The best part? - it can be built for only $99,000.  This concept was the winning entry in a competition to design an affordable, sustainable house prototype for the Gulf Coast Region devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

When: Monday, June 23, 2008 from 12:00 pm to 1:30pm

Where: Bertha Landes Room, 1st Floor, Seattle City Hall, 600 5th Ave

I encourage all to attend.  Cosponsored by Council Member Sally Clark and Seattle DPD, this brownbag lunch is especially timely as Seattle searches for ways to provide quality homes at affordable prices.   

By: Johnny Hartsfield

The following is from Councilmember Sally J. Clark’s May 2008 E-News.

Have you noticed townhomes propagating in your neighborhood? Not thrilled with much of what you see? Curious why this happens? If you’re like me, you answered “yes” to each of those questions. So, in my ongoing effort to take the Planning, Land Use & Neighborhoods Committee (PLUNC) into the neighborhoods once a quarter, I bring you: “Townhomes - Can the Patient Be Saved?” This will be a special PLUNC meeting slated for Saturday, June 7, 10 a.m.-noon at the Capitol Hill Arts Center (1621 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122).

The morning will start with a few examples of the good, the OK and the fatally wounded. Then we’ll hear from a panel of developers, neighborhoods activists, architects and planners with suggestions and ideas for remedies. I guarantee time for questions and comments from you, the attendees. I anticipate that PLUNC will receive the Mayor’s proposed changes to the City’s Multi-Family Code sometime this spring. Townhomes are just one issue among many that will be addressed in those changes. This meeting will be a great chance to talk proactively about housing choices, affordability and neighborhood-friendly design.

You may have heard that Capitol Hill isn’t known for its ample parking. Plan your bus trip here.

If you’ve not been tracking townhome design issues and want to know what all the bluster is about, check out this article from a few weeks ago.

New York, NY - May 2008.  The Organic Wine Journal-the world’s leading online magazine devoted to organic and biodynamic winemaking-has relaunched its website with a striking new layout and expanded content.  Celebrating wines that are as good for the planet as they are for the palate, The Organic Wine Journal is reaching more readers than ever before as wine-lovers, chefs and restaurants around the world embrace what the publication terms “responsible hedonism.”

The Organic Wine Journal originally launched in 2006 with the mission to offer its readers an informative but entertaining portal for discovering organic, biodynamic and sustainable wines.  The site has grown to reach thousands of consumers, retailers, winemakers, chefs, importers, distributors and general oenophiles weekly.

Continue reading for further details on The Organic Wine Journal relaunch 

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

The Cascadia Region Green Building Council has just issued the Living Building Leader program directed at green building practitioners to outfit them with “the diverse, broad and deep skill set needed to create Living Buildings.”  The Living Building Leader program works by engaging architects, engineers, interior designers, landscape architects, green consultants and contractors to learn the tools and technical training necessary to achieve a Living Building status.   

Living Buildings are achieved by following the six design prerequisites outlined by Cascadia’s Living Building Challenge.  Professionals become certified Living Building Leaders by completing a series of ten on-line sessions concluded with a short exam.  Although participants have up to three years to complete all seven Petals, it is expected that most professionals will complete the course in two years.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

It is still more than two months away but we are extremely excited to start talking about Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling, MoMA’s new exhibition on the past, present and future of prefabricated homes.  The installation consists of the selected works of five international architects and will display full-scale prefabricated homes in the outdoor space to the west of the Museum’s main building.

Continue reading to see more photos of the five projects.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

May is “Bike to Work Month” here in Seattle and thousands of people are strapping on helmets and pulling up their spandex to hit the streets for clean energy commuting.

This event is sponsored by the Cascade Bicycle Club, a non-profit organization serving 9,000 members and the Puget Sound bicycling community. Click here for a list of their events.

So, why is riding your bike good for you and the environment? There are actually a few good reasons.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

Beginning May 1st and going through the 4th is the Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival at the University of Washington in Seattle.  The 10th annual festival features 50+ films and shorts, speakers, and filmmaking workshops.  Festival highlights include: Oil+Water (a story of two kayakers on a biofuels-only roadtrip from Alaska to Argentina) and The Carbon Connection (two communities in Scotland and Brazil affected by the trade in carbon dioxide).

Where: Johnson Hall, University of Washington, Seattle                          

Getting There: First choice - Metro Trip Planner   Second choice - Driving 

View complete schedule and buy tickets >>

By: Johnny Hartsfield

Last night at the Living Future Conference here in Vancouver B.C., I listened to Paul Hawken - environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist and author - give an opening keynote speech inspiring all of us to continue the work we are all doing to respond to our earth’s current health crisis.  Hawken believes that our global society is undergoing a social movement of a magnitude and type that has never been seen in our entire history.  This movement does not have a name nor a leader - many people might call it ”green” - but it is so much bigger than that.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

Today I am on my first US train ride heading up to Vancouver B.C. from Seattle for the Living Future 08 unconference put on by Cascadia Region Green Building Council.  In Cascadia’s own words, “Living Future provides a different way of viewing our built environment in a way that requires new tools, new perspectives and better collaboration.”    

This will not be like most conferences held where expert figureheads speak of their knowledge and experiences.  Quite the opposite, the unconference is intended to be a forum where “deep green” professionals can interact in small groups with a panelist to be actively involved in creating solutions towards Living Buildings and Living Communities.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

The Seattle Green Festival starts this Saturday and runs through the weekend at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center.  As a joint project between Global Exchange and Co-op America, Green Festivals are a celebration of what’s working in communities for people, businesses and the environment.

The Green Festival craze began back in 2005 in San Francisco and has quickly bloomed to include Chicago, Washington D.C. and now Seattle.  Hosted by the City of Seattle and led by the Office of Sustainability and the Environment, the Seattle Green Festival will be highlighting some of the best green products and services the Northwest has to offer.

Take in more than 350 exhibits and hear more than 125 speakers on 5 stages.  Let’s make Seattle proud by participating in our first of many Green Festivals.

Admission is $10-$15 per person.  Click here to register

Show Hours
Saturday 10AM - 8PM
Sunday 11AM - 6PM

Venue Name and Address
Washington State Convention & Trade Center
800 Convention Place
Seattle, WA 

By: Johnny Hartsfield

Join Seattle Great City Initiative for a brownbag lunch discussion led by T Frick of Mithun. 

T Frick, an Associate Principle at Mithun and a former colleague of mine, will be leading a discussion this coming Thursday April 10, on how to transform Seattle streetscapes into usable, pedestrian friendly spaces. 

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