The Center on Sustainable Communities (COSC), Iowa’s Trusted Educational Resource for Sustainable Building, recently made a very generous offer. Thanks to COSC’s recent Re-Building a Sustainable Iowa statewide program, with support from the Iowa Department of Economic Development and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, this first printing of their Homeowner Handbook is available for free to the public. The purpose of this manual is to provide owners of existing and newly constructed homes with information and resources to assist them in efficiently operating and maintaining their homes. The information provided is guided by the fundamental green building principles of durability, sustainability, energy efficiency, healthy indoor air quality Continue Reading →
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Homeowner Handbook: A Seasonal and Operational Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your Home
Posted by: Larry Sims
For the volumes of green websites that focus on the environment and green industry, few offer such exemplary experiences as those created for the green education of our children. Those listed in this section represent a few of the best planned and most effective. By design, many offer excellent resources for the parents, with the intended effort to induce a shared experience.
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): NRDC is an environmental action group, and this webpage aggregates a large and comprehensive listing of resources for kids of all ages; categorized links to sites that cover the environment, animals, plants, habitats, oceans, air pollution, global warming, recycling, parks, forests and global activism
Care2: although Care2 is a great site for all ages, this section also presents a very nice collection of websites dedicated to kids
Environmental Kids Club: who better to present the environmental story to kids than the EPA
National Geographic Kids: exactly what we expect from National Geographic
KidsRgreen: Center for Environment Education, this webpage offers effective techniques for teaching the very young group the most basic green fundamentals
Recycle City: a great EPA site for kids to learn the basics of recycling by creating their own Recycle City
Charity Guide: a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire and facilitate flexible volunteerism with a Volunteering on Demand approach; how you can make a difference in 15 minutes, in a few hours or while on vacation, for a variety of concerns including children’s issues, animal welfare, health and safety, community development, poverty and environmental protection; however, the relevancy here is the information offered in the sections addressing the environmental education of children and consumers; many common sense tips on how consumers can be environmentally responsible and save money; this page is specific to the environmental education of children
Family Education: has Your Child sections for age groups 0-6 yrs, 7-11 yrs, 12-18 yrs
GreenMyParents: GreenMyParents is a revolutionary, nationwide program to help young people teach their peers and parents how to work together to help the economy, earn money at home, and save the planet through simple, everyday actions
Kids F.A.C.E. (Kids For A Green Environment): provides information on environmental issues to children, to encourge and facilitate youth’s involvement with effective environmental action and to recognize those efforts which result in the improvement of nature
Kids for Saving Earth: the mission of Kids for Saving Earth is to educate, inspire, and empower children to protect the Earth’s environment; Kids for Saving Earth provides educational materials, posters, and a highly acclaimed web site featuring environmental education curriculum and activities
Ollie’s World: child-friendly, comprehensive, fun and stimulating website presenting information on all sorts of issues relating to sustainability principles; an interactive sustainability resource site for youngsters covering topics such as recycling, water conservation, biodiversity, green projects and includes a family of characters for the children to relate to on their level
Kids Geo – Geography for Kids: comprehensive educational Kids Know It Network that must be visited; topics covering the earth, astronomy, biology, geology, history, spelling, math and so much more. Includes Miamiopia, a free educational virtual world
DITC Environmental Education Foundation, Inc: resource for education to all, particularly eight to twelve year old children learning about animals, trees, air, water and oceans, recycling and pollution
Biodiversity - Everything Counts: from the American Museum of Natural History, find out how biodiversity affects your everyday life - even if you live in a city
EEK!: an online magazine for grades four to eight created by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, is packed with short articles and activities about animals, plants and environmental issues
eartheasy: eartheasy is a good website for general green living information but also has a nice collection of children’s green websites
Meet the Greens: this site has created an array of high-traffic, compelling, award-winning content for getting kids to think about the world and their place in it; highly interactive, using animation and other visual techniques to keep its readers attention, Meet the Greens is a website for all ages
Energy Kids: U.S. Energy Information Administration site that explains what energy is, what sources provide energy, how we use and can save energy, also has games for the kids
EekoWorld: PBS website teaches kids ages 6 to 9 how they can help take care of the earth; animated characters use games and activities to present facts about ecosystems and pollution; children can build their own “EekoCreature” and help it overcome
Children of the Earth United: geared towards youth and their families and teachers
Rainforest Heroes: The Rainforest Action Network is a site for teachers and families to help explain to the very young the importance of forest stewardship with regards to their ecosystems
Healthy Kids Go Green: good site for parents as well as children, with an interactive blog for interesting topics; also aggregates a collection of green websites for kids
Scholastic Act Green: interesting website for teachers, families and kids
Green (Environmental) Websites for Kids: neat collection sites, including links to the U.S. government and EPA
EPA Student Center: well-conceived EPA site for mid to upper level school age children that begins with environmental basics and includes topics such as ecosystems, air, water, conservation, waste and recycling, human health and climate change. Includes sections for games, videos and quizzes
EPA WaterSense Kids: Great site teaching kids about water, why save water, simple ways to save water, includes game
Cyberspace Safety
Every parent is concerned about the perils their children may be subjected to whenever they interact in cyberspace, whether it involves social networking, chat rooms, blogging or just surfing the web. We encourage parents to supervise their children so that they do not disclose any personal information about themselves in any of our public discussion areas.
Facebook’s New Anti-Bullying Tools
Whitehouse Conference for Bullying Prevention
If you discover any broken links, or have sites you recommend be included, please contact us or post here. Thank you.
The list of reference websites and blogs included at this level grew to be much longer than originally intended, and for good reason. The sites located at the top of the list were selected for their content focusing on environmental issues that need to be addressed if we are to adopt responsibly sustainable lifestyles - reducing waste generation, energy and water conservation, and indoor air quality. The remaining sites offer additional consumer oriented information, strategies, products and commentary.
Green Building: EPA’s Green Building Web site is a “portal” site designed to give users one convenient gateway from which to access numerous EPA programs and topics related to environmentally friendly building
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: the EPA site for waste reduction that challenges all citizens to conserve our natural resources by committing to reduce, reuse, and recycle at home, in your community, and at the office; learn what you can do to make a difference
WaterSense: EPA joint program on water conservation, products and resources; a good place to start learning about water conservation
GreenScaping – The easy way to a Greener, Healthier Yard: EPA website for water conserving landscaping strategies including information on maintaining healhier soils with compost and mulch
Save On Energy: EPA website with easy to achieve energy saving tips in the home
H2ouse: great interactive visual website that illustrates ways to save water in each area of your home
Energy Savers: U.S. Department of Energy site with energy saving tips and products for your home, vehicle and workplace; a good place to start learning about energy conservation
ENERGY STAR: EPA and U.S. Department of Energy joint program; like the Energy Savers site, another good place to start learning about energy conservation
Qualified New Homes: EPA’s ENERGYSTAR website for new homes
Home Improvement: EPA’s ENERGYSTAR website for home improvement projects
Indoor Air Quality: EPA website addressing the quality of air inside the home; room-by-room tour of the IAQ home, addresses mold, asthma, radon, carbon monoxide and more
Guide to Air Cleaners in the Home: EPA webpage for valuable information regarding indoor air quality in the home; it’s important to know there is more to air filters than what aisle they are located in at your local hardware store
Green Home Guide: USGBC site with reviews and advice for green remodeling and living; articles, directories of recommended products and green building professionals and retailers
REGREEN Program: USGBC site focused on home remodeling projects; plenty of useful information on bathroom, kitchen and basement remodels as well as additions, energy retrofits, weatherization and green products
Forest Stewardship Council: the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests
Sustainable Forestry Initiative: like the Forest Stewardship Council, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) label is a sign you are buying wood and paper products from a responsible source, backed by a rigorous, third-party certification audit
Cradle to Cradle: The Institute prescribes a set of design principles, based on the laws of nature, to help businesses create products that are safe for people and the environment.
DOSOMETHING: 110 facts about Recycling
The Green Guide: National Geographic source for greening your life; includes tips on saving energy and water as well as sections on parenting, food and travel and a buying guide
David Suzuki Foundation: Small steps make a big difference on the path to living more sustainably and The David Suzuki Foundation will show you how to transform your home, office and community into a healthy and sustainable one; from everyday green living tips to helpful resources on fighting climate change, this site can help you make informed decisions to reduce your environmental footprint
Free Green: FreeGreen offers both Sponsored and Non-Sponsored or clean House Plans; you can either download their Non-Sponsored Premium Plans as soon as they are released for a nominal fee (currently $19.95 a year for unlimited downloads) or wait for them to line up sponsors, and only download their Free House Plans; now downloading over 36,000 free house plans a year
Inhabitat: dedicated to greener living through greener designs – from architecture to salt and pepper shakers; there is also a section devoted to green fashion and art
Treehugger: the mother of all environmental blogs covering general environmental news, events and products
Mother Nature Network: full of tips and tricks about how to “improve your world” – which also happens to be their motto; includes a “Family” section for tips on how to get kids involved
Lighter Footstep: part of the Mother Nature Network, Lighter Footsteps is all about sustainable living and leaving less of an imprint by making greener living choices
ecoki: not as extensive as Inhabitat, this site offers a well-rounded selection from green living to food
Sustainable Thinking: Sustainable Thinking is the process of considering how our daily choices affect our environment
Care2: as mentioned in the Beginners Level, this is a great site for all ages, as witnessed by the 14 million members
Charity Guide: a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire and facilitate flexible volunteerism with a Volunteering on Demand approach; how you can make a difference in 15 minutes, in a few hours or while on vacation, for a variety of concerns including children’s issues, animal welfare, health and safety, community development, poverty and environmental protection; however, the relevancy here is the information offered in the sections addressing the environmental education of children and consumers; many common sense tips on how consumers can be environmentally responsible and save money
National Center for Healthy Housing: create healthy and safe homes for children through practical and proven steps
Best Green Home Tips: the usual selection of topics but also adds tips for homebuilding and remodeling
PlanetPals: a community dedicated to making environmental education fun – for kids and parents
Get With Green: if you’re remodeling your home or building a new one, subscribe to Get With Green to learn about all the ways you can make your living space environmentally friendly
Start: U.K. based website that offers a broad selection of topics ranging from food, travel, recycling, saving water, things to think about and includes a blog
Inhabitots: with the motto “Sustainable design for the next generation“, Inhabitots is the baby / parenting focused website in the Inhabitat family with a focus on parents interested in ecofriendly choices for their children; one of the best selections of links on various topics concerning parenting, moms, infants, food and the entire gamut of children related interests
Great Green Baby: a site for the green parent, Great Green Baby reviews eco-friendly baby products
Healthy Child: has five easy steps to making your home more safe for babies and children with natural solutions to common problems that usually send people to toxic solutions
Mindful Momma: there are a lot of blogs out there about green parenting - it’s an entire niche unto itself - and Mindful Momma is one of the best
Green and Clean Mom: her site proudly boasts how being green can be sassy, sexy and fun! Sommer is a mom who is trying her best to be some shade of green every single day and provides a listing of her top 100 sites that support her goals
Pays to Live Green: not only features green living ideas and advice, but shows how living green ultimately pays off in saving money – and the environment
eartheasy: information and practical products for sustainable living, easy-to-navigate pages with encyclopedic information
Green Living Tips: a blog very well done at explaining issues, with stories and tips, related to building, cleaning, clothing, energy, family, food, health, home, pets, water and other topics.
The Green Guy: the Green Guy writes about “ethical living” and about how to go green without making drastic, life-altering changes to your routine
Got2BeGreen: a blog focused on all sorts of cool green technology; one of the top rated blogs of any category
the daily green: the consumer’s guide to the green revolution offering news, tips, living, homes, cuisine and much more
The Chic Ecologist: eco chic sustainable green living
ecohome: an AIA magazine on green products + technology
It’s to Live Green: filled to the brim with important green living tips, tricks and ideas
Michelle Kaufmann Studio: one of the architectural pioneers in modular green home design, this is a more sophisticated offering of environmental topics
Haute Nature: ccologically based creative ideas, art & green products for your children, home and lifestyle, blending style with sustainability
Buy Green: source for green products, offering a wide variety of ecofriendly products, with good information for consumers; has a rating system for each product according to its degree of greenness
Alternative Consumer: environmentally friendly products
ecoFabulous: reviews of great green stuff for the house, home, and body
Saving the Planet, One Bag at a Time: recycled, reusable canvas bags; they’re everywhere, you can customize them, and now they have a planet-saving blog
Reusable Bags: is the ultimate online destination for cracking your plastic bag habit; they have so many cool, affordable, sustainable, stylish, compact and multi-functional bags that there’s just no excuse for not making the switch from plastic
Eco Friend: EcoFriend is a blog about all those sexy, environmentally aware products you want but can’t afford
Hippy Shopper: Hippy Shopper is about all the eco-friendly stuff you covet
Sustainable Style: you can have your cake and eat it too, or in the case of Sustainable Style look good and do well for the environment
EcoGeek: kinda says it all - writes about gadgets that are earth friendly
Life Googles: a great general green living blog, with a slight focus on TV and movies as they relate to the environment
Green Options: a good general enviroblog and community based out of Berkley, California
ecoStreet: a well-written and actively updated general environmental news and commentary blog
SelfSufficientish: a blog about how to live more sustainably in an urban environment; no access to a rooftop garden, or a compost bin in your tiny apartment? this is the blog for you
Green TV: the broadband TV channel for environmental films http://www.green.tv/?set_location=en Green Thinkers: an informal forum for ideas and thoughts on how to live a more green life
World Environmental Organization: if you haven’t seen enough already, here is a categorized selection of 1,000 environmental websites
Simple Steps: NRDC Simple Steps aims to fill this void in consumer information, and be the premiere “news-you-can-use” portal, the go-to info-site on how to be safe, be secure, live well at home and in your community
WebEcoist: one of the most popular green websites in the world, WebEcoist is a global source for sensational, educational and inspirational green design and sustainable technology as well as environmental science and natural wonders
Cameron Diaz’s Favorite Green Websites
greenwashing: 10 Ways to Know Greenwashing When You See It
SourceWatch: greenwashing site giving rules-of-thumb ideas for detecting greenwashing
GREENWASHING INDEX: another greenwashing alert site
TerraChoice: authors of the Sins of Greenwashing studies
If you discover any broken links, or have sites you recommend be included, please contact us or post here. Thank you.
Organizations, Associations and Councils:
U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)
Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI)
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
LEED Online website
LEED Online GBCI
LEED Online login
Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC)
Building Research and Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM)
Green Building Initiative (Green Globes)
National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)
Greenroads Greenroads is a sustainability rating system for roadway design and construction projects
NEXUS a project of the Green Round Table
American Institute of Architects (AIA)
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)
Form-Base Codes Institute (FBCI)
SmartCode Central model transect-based planning and zoning document based on environmental analysis
Center for Applied Transect Studies
Government and National References:
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
U.S. Department of Energy Building Energy Codes Program
U.S. Department of Energy High Performance Federal Buildings Database
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative
Terms of Environment EPA Environmental Glossary, Abbreviations and Acronyms
California Environmental Protection Agency
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association (SMACNA)
Brownfields and Land Revitalization
Code of Federal Regulations Definitions of prime agricultural land and wetlands
FEMA Definition of 100 year flood
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Endangered Species Program
NOAA Office of Protected Resources Endangered Species Act
Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) National Institute of Building Sciences
California Building Standards Commission
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA)
International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) Uniform Plumbing Code
International Code Council (ICC)
Publications:
Environmental Design + Construction (EDC)
Housing Zone Professional Builder, Professional Remodeler, Custom Builder Online and Housing Giants
Stratford, Naturally list for US and Canada
Legal:
Green Energy and Development Law
Environmental Law Professor Blog
Websites & Blogs:
Autodesk Buildings Resource Center
Harvard Green Building Resource
YRG Sustainability Consultants
The Encylopedia of Alternative Energy and Sustainable Living
Trendir - Modern House Designs
Facilities Management Resource
If you discover any broken links, or have sites you recommend be included, please contact us or post here. Thank you.