Roland Beinert

Do any of you more experienced LA’s have decent back-up ways of making money? What I’m thinking at this point is that the first thing I’ll start doing when I find a job again is start saving to buy a duplex or something, and then live in one part of the duplex and rent the other half. Does that sound crazy? I got the idea from my current…[Read more]

Here’s the article: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/05/best-buy-selling-electric-bikes-bicycles-west-coast.php
Looks like it’s just electric bikes and scooters, and only on the west coast (probably just California). It’s nice to see this happening, though. It’s pretty hard to find electric bikes and scooters, actually. I’ve only seen them…[Read more]

These turf wars are usually more academic in my limited experience. I’ve only met a few architects who seemed to want to do the part of the LA or engineer. One time I remember an architect did the contours on a site.
On the other hand, I think the client will always get a better project when there is more of a team mentality from the start, rather…[Read more]

I agree that this could have a huge positive effect, though I doubt it will make me shop more at Wal-Mart. I really only buy electronics and DVD’s there.
I also read somewhere that Best Buy will start selling small electric vehicles in some of their stores.

Here’s that book I was thinking of:
Energy-efficient and environmental landscaping : cut your utility bills by up to 30 percent and create a natural, healthy yard
by Moffat, Anne Simon.
I’m sure there are other similar books.

Concrete doesn’t have to be completely crushed. You can always use it as urbanite: http://www.terranovalandscaping.com/blog/2007/02/07/90/
It’s probably easier to reuse pavers, but, unfortunately, pavers are more expensive. So maybe it’s a matter of identifying areas that are likely to be used farther into the future vs. those that are likely to…[Read more]

I have a book about exactly this subject, but I’m not at home and can’t remember the title or author. I like it because it breaks the subject down by climate type. I’ll get back to you on the title and author at some point.
Passively cooling a building often seems to come down to creating air movement as much as shade. You can put a shaded outdoor…[Read more]

Good design balances the needs and wants of the developer, users of the site and the conditions of the site itself, in a creative way that does not neglect any of them. Good design connects well with the surroundings, but has a sense of place as well. Good design anticipates future maintenance needs and reduces them as much as possible.

Here’s something called an olla, which I bet a lot of us have never heard of: http://www.highcountrygardens.com/catalog/product/99804/ . I know it’s not a flashy modern product, but the simplest method is usually the cheapest, right? I bet on small garden areas it might work well, limit the amount of irrigation and add a decorative element. Here’s…[Read more]

Here’s an article about someone who harvests rainwater in Africa: http://www.theecologist.org/take_action/local_hero/270547/the_man_who_farms_water.html
It doesn’t go into a lot of detail about how the farmer accomplishes it, but the author of the article, Brad Lancaster, also wrote a book called Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond. It’s…[Read more]

Andrew,
Do you think developers and others see no practical side to environmentally minded solutions? Do you think they really only see it as some sort of new religion? Look at how you phrased one of your own statements: “using water and other stressed resources in an irresponsible manner is shameful and unethical”. I’d say it’s also impractical.…[Read more]

Trace,
Are there projects that provide examples of what would work better in your area? There must be some out there.

Keep in mind that when I say “forget ethics”, I mean that ethics is not the only reason we do what we call sustainable design. There are scientific and economic reasons for eliminating irrigation in the central valley. When we say “I have an environmental ethic”, it is easy for other people to say “yeah, so what, I don’t”. You can argue ETHICS…[Read more]

Bob,
I think whenever LA’s talk about this, we tend to do it in terms of ethics and values. What happens when we look at these issues as scientific and economic issues as well? If you can design a golf course that wastes fewer resources and reduces maintenance, why not at least bring up your ideas? Wouldn’t less waste and maintenance be beneficial…[Read more]

I think the lawyers are just taking advantage of a situation where people have a freedom to do anything, anywhere, and no one is ever there to make them think twice. To a large extent, the freedom to do what we want is a good thing. It’s just that people need to understand there are boundaries. Since the boundaries aren’t apparent, people do…[Read more]

My senior project in college was on the dutch shared street called a woonerf. The idea, for anyone who hasn’t heard of them, is that streets are safer when everyone (pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers) shares the entire street, as long as cars are not allowed to go more than about 16 mph. The separation of sidewalk and street is often only a visible…[Read more]

Google Earth is a great idea, especially for the projects in Reno. I actually drove by one of the projects I did here in Boise yesterday, and it looks like they are right at the beginning of putting in the landscape. I’ll definitely have finished pictures of it before the ASLA conference, at least.

Are you looking for anything in particular or are you trying to find a general set of products to use in a variety of projects?

Hopefully, someday I’ll have a place where I can experiment with an irrigation system. I’ve done some irrigation plans before, but I have a feeling you understand the whole system better when you install everything yourself.
I guess the veggie garden has given me a chance to try sheet mulching. I used newspaper rather than cardboard under the…[Read more]

I probably won’t be in this apartment for too long, so I also struggled with whether I wanted to invest too much time and money. That’s part of the reason why I went with a veggie garden. At least I get something out of it then.
I relied on pots up until now. It took me a while to figure out how to build the soil in a closed system, but now the…[Read more]