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Kiplinger’s Magazine Recognizes Salt Lake City as the #5 Best City to Live In.
The July issue of Kiplinger’s Magazine just announced Salt Lake City as the #5 Best City for 2010! I think we should be #1, but I will take #5.
You can read the whole article HERE and enjoy the short video below.
Living Green in 9th and 9th. – 1048 S. Lake, 84105
UPDATE: A Home Energy Rating was recently conducted on this home and it came back with a HERS score of 55! Click here to learn more about what a HERS rating means.
Living green in the city is not always easy to do when the inventory of green homes is as small as it is. Well, your opportunity to live green, while enjoying the convenience of one of Salt Lake City’s most walkable neighborhoods, is here with this home at 1048 S. Lake Street.
Designed by A. K. Smith Architects this home was built with the environment in Mind. With an exterior of Structural Integrated Panels (SIPS) this home is already 65% more energy efficient than standard frame construction and 2 1/2 times stronger! But the exterior is only the beginning, an emphasis on green living was made throughout this home with everything from home automation systems to carpet made from soy and corn oil.
So what makes this home so green?
-ICF Foundation and Insulated Slab: An insulated concrete foundation excludes the interior of the home from the temperature fluctuations of the outside world. The slab maintains ambient temperature of Earth, 55°.
-Radon Gas Removal System: Ensures healthy air and proper vetilation to the outside.
-SIPS Panel Construction: With the walls and roof made up entirely of SIPS Panels this foam features strong walls with an R40 insulation value. The ceilings, being twelve inches thick have an R80 insulating Value.
-Solar: This home has been built with passive solar features to reduce heat gain in the summer and optimize sunlight in the winter. Natural daylighting is featured with optimal window placement, skylights and unique translucent panels in the upstairs hall that allow daylight to move between floors. To top this all off the home has been built with the future in mind and is ready now for your future active solar needs.
-Radiant Heating: Powered by a tankless water heater, the highly efficient , 3 zone radiant heating system will not only heat the home, but your hot water. A highly efficient secondary forced air system will take the chill off of the second floor on those super cold winter nights, but the open stairs and living area will allow the radiant and fireplace heat to rise throughout the home on most nights, without the need of the forced air system.
-Pella High Performance Windows and Doors: These ultra efficient windows protect you and your home from extreme heat and cold along with blocking UV rays.
-Low Flow Water Fixtures an High Efficiency Hallogen and CFL Lighting.
-Interior Finishes: With no or low VOC finishes throughout this home you know that the air you breath is free of harmful compounds. The Timbercreek cabinetry is custom made of bamboo and feature Blum softclose hardware, the kitchen counters are IceStone and made up of 70% recycled glass and the clear glass backsplashes are also recycled. The Mohawk Carpet throught the home has been manufactured from Soybean and Corn sugars and is 100% recyclable.
-Home Automation: Control everything from the fireplace to the thermostats with your Control4 Home Automation System. Not only is this extreme convenience it is also energy efficient. Wouldn’t be cool if you could control everything in your home with your iPhone? Well, you can with this home.
Control4 uses dimmers, timers and occupancy sensors to reduce energy waste. A typical 3-bedroom home with a Control4 system will eliminate over 850 pounds of CO2 emissions each year. That’s like not driving a car for a month! Control4 also lets you control the amount of wattage used by light bulbs, which not only saves electricity and reduces energy bills but extends the life of bulbs as well.
Appliances: In your kitchen you will find highly efficient Bosch Appliances with an EcoSense Dishwasher and Energy Star rated refrigerator along with a Bosch gas cooktop and Bosch Convection Oven.
[book id='5' /]
[srpmap lat="40.7462680" lng="-111.8700200"]
1048 S. Lake Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84105
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Salt Lake Newcomers
When times are hard, they’re harder at restaurants. Even in flush times, about half the restaurants that open end up folding. It’s just a tough business. And in a state where you can’t count on the extra bucks that a bar brings in (although we’re all happy about the new club law), it’s even tougher. So I was heartened to hear from Jason Mathis at Downtown Alliance about these new places set to open downtown:
J Wong’s – Chinese restaurant: Just opened on 200 South across from the Salt Palace
Simply Sushi- Sushi restaurant: Opening soon on the corner of 200 West and 400 South
Eva- restaurant: Next to Cheers to You and Shogun between 300 and 400 South Main
Bay Leaf- Café- 159 South Main – supposed to be opening in a couple of weeks
The Beer Hive- Brew Pub: 100 block of Main St. next to Vienna Bistro – supposed to be opening in April
Sandbar Mexican Grill- Old Pierpont Café on Pierpont Ave: Opening mid April – owned by same group that owns Lumpy’s, Club Bliss, and The Hotel
Small Plate Restaurant & Wine Bar opening in the old Exchange Place Club in mid April
Bruges Waffles- Belgian Waffles: Uffen’s Marketplace across from Pioneer Park
Tapika- Restaurant: Matt Caputo’s new restaurant inside Caputo’s deli
How exciting!!!
from http://www.saltlakemagazine.com/Blogs/On-the-Table/March-2009/Salt-Lake-Newcomers/
The Art of Dining- ’09 Dining Awards
Eight deserving downtown Salt Lake City restaurants were honored at the 11th Annual Salt Lake magazine Dining Awards. We applaud the choices and believe the celebration of life is enhanced by exceptional flavors. Support your local dining community and experience the savory satisfaction offered in downtown SLC!
Best Green Effort: Squatters
Best Bakery: Carlucci’s
Best Indian: Himalayan Kitchen
Best Japanese: Takashi
Best Chef: The Chefs’ co-op at Metropolitan
Lifetime Achievement Award: Will Pliler, The New Yorker
Food and Wine Education Award: Matt Caputo
2009 Hall of Fame: Cucina Toscana
from www.downtownslc.org
Wallpaper with your TV? Turn on the wall to let in some light? Could be.
With Toshiba’s new (currently in development) OLED (organic electroluminscence) Wallpaper, a TV or light fixture coming from your wallpaper may be a reality sooner or later.
The technology itself is adding a green dimension to things that typically would not be considered very green. It is doing so with fewer raw materials used and significantly reduced energy use. Also eliminating the need for additional space for lamps and televisions could reduce the amount of space we need for living. Of course we could do that by eliminating TV from our lives.
From the Telegraph article:
The problem that the scientists have had to overcome is increasing the efficiency of existing OLED devices, such as televisions that use the reduced-energy material. To achieve that, the wallpaper uses light that has been redirected by an ultra-fine grating that is fabricated by self-assembled nano particles, said Kaori Hiraki, a Toshiba spokesman.
Another key advantage, the company points out, is that OLED uses a fraction of the energy required for an LCD or plasma television.
The project – which would also enable walls to simply provide light, doing away with the need for traditional lighting – is one of the key areas of research for the nanotechnology department at Toshiba and was first announced at the Yokohama Flat Panel Display International event last year.
Despite the breakthrough, Toshiba said that its television wallpaper project is still in the research stages and is several years away from commercial production.
Source: Telegraph.co.uk via inhabitat
How does the new $8,000 tax credit work?
There is a lot of confusion between last years $7,500 tax credit and the $8,000 tax credit so here are some key points to the $8,000 plan.
1. $8,000 for new buyers: This credit is equivalent to 10 percent of the purchase price of the home–although it’s capped at $8,000–and applies only to first-time home buyers and principal residences. Unlike last years $7,500 tax credit, this one does not have to be repaid.
2. Who is a first time buyer? A “first-time home buyer” is someone who hasn’t owned a principal residence for three years before buying a house. (The date of purchase is considered the day that the title is transferred.) If you’ve owned a vacation home–but not a principal residence–within the past three years, you would still qualify for the credit.
3. Only those who purchase a home on or after January 1 and before December 1, 2009 are eligible for the credit. If you purchased a home last year after April 9, 2008 and before December 31st, 2008, you would qualify for the $7,500 that must be repaid.
4. The tax credit is subject to income limitations. Single buyers need a modified adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less to qualify for the full credit, that’s $150,000 for married couples. Those earning more than these thresholds may be eligible for reduced credits.
5. It is Refundable. Because the tax credit is refundable, buyers can take advantage of it even if they don’t have much tax liability. So, if you owe $2,000 you would get a refund of $6,000. If you $0, you would get $8,000.
6. Buyers have to own the home for at least three years in order to capitalize on the credit. If they sell the home before then, they will have to repay (yes, repay) the credit to the government. (Exceptions will be made in certain cases, such as death or divorce.)
As with anything that has to do with taxes, you should contact your tax advisor or accountant with any questions on how this credit would apply to you.
Green retrofits make a 100+ year old home green.
The ecohome owned by Gil Schalom and Penney Poyzer and located in Nottingham, UK is an excellent example of everything that is right about turning existing home green. Granted there is a great need for new green homes and urban infill, but ultimately the greenest thing you can do is make an existing home green and avoid the disruption of more land and the use of new materials.
So what makes this home so special. Well, everything they have done over the last 10 years or so has taken this home from a leaky, drafty space to a tight, ecofriendly abode.
From Treehugger:
Penney and her partner Gil Schalom have been hard at work for over ten years converting their home into what they hope will prove a model for other retrofits. Along the way they’ve cut their gas bills to just UK£20 a year (US$30), and their modelled domestic CO2 emissions from 19 tonnes to just half a tonne.
Below, you can see a rendering of the home with the full list of updates.
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Flat-plate solar collectors for heating water -
Roof insulation 300/400mm thick, made of shredded surplus newspapers
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Roof lights with insulating (low emmissivity) glass
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Natural plasters - clay and lime based
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Super-insulated hot water tank100mm -
Ozone friendly drylining to front face to maintain exterior brick appearance
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150mm exterior wall insulation with rendered finish
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Space saving bath and thermostatic shower -
controls can save water Heat recovering fans limit ventilation heat loss
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Draught lobby in porch -
Environmetally friendly paints -
Energy efficient appliances -
Triple- and double-glazed timber windows treated with natural fungicides and stains
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Second hand, natural and reclaimed furnitur -
Stripped floorboard -
Copper rainwater goods with filter for rain harvestin
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160mm natural floor insulatio -
Rainwater storage for use in WCs, washingmachine and outside ta
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Low-flush WC -
Non PVC waste pipe -
Composting chamber for solid waste from WC
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Separator lets liquids drain off and solids into composting chambe
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Decking from English green Oak provides longevity without toxic pressure treatmen
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Organic land management utilising the principles of permaculture. Growing our own food saves on packaging and transpor
Source: Treehugger and ecohome
