Lori's List » Green Building Guidelines

Living Green at California Mart

Lori — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:45:11 +0000

Yesterday I attended part three, Living Green :Sustaining Business with Sustainable Design Practices, of the California Mart’s Designer’s Forum 2009 Series. The lecture included panelist: David Hertz, Mariel Hemingway, Nathan Turner and was moderated by California Homes’ Susan McFadden. The audience was packed with many of the old guard at ASID, eager to learn more about green design. David Hertz, who I’ve lectured with at my Alma Matter, the UCLA Interior Design Program, gave a riveting power point presentation and ending with a preview of the Wing House he has been working on for the last three years. I’m pretty certain this house will be remembered in history with the same relevance as the Glass House or Falling Water, only sustainable. Then it was Mariel Hemingway’s way turn. Now I understand the draw of star power, and to be fair she has written some books on healthy living, but what that had to do with the business of sustainable design practices eluded me. These old guard designers left the CEU presentation thinking that, “slow down and eat right” was relevant information to their bottom line. Also speaking was Nathan Turner, an elegant retailer and designer with impeccable taste who runs a gorgeous little antique shop in West Hollywood. He did work on Entourage’s Adrien Grenier’s ultra green home. What bothered me about this presentation was that two of the most successful green designers in the business were sitting in the audience, Rachel Winokur of Etta Designs and me. California Homes must not have been paying attention to the design firm they named Best Green Designer, my firm, when they made decisions for the panel. Green design is a serious matter as the planet and people become sicker, resources shrink and energy costs rise. Educating designers and clients with applicable information would be a good start to help form real solutions. Wake up editors!

A gracious thank you to Palecek, one of my favorite green retailers, for the following reception.

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Feeling High on the Highline

Lori — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:15:17 +0000

Last week my husband, daughter and I returned from a trip around the world to show the 6 month old baby off to her relatives throughout the globe. One of our stops was New York City where we visited with my side of the family. I had been reading about the Highlinerenovation in New York for about a year and to my delight we hit the opening at the perfect time. It was a Monday afternoon on July 5th . I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better summer day in the city, perfect temperature, clear skies with an occasional puffy white cloud floating by us. We started our journey on 12th Street between 10 and 11th Avenue in the meat packing district where the old railway, now converted into an elevated city park, begins. It’s the lower Manhattan’s answer to Central Park. But it has a few things Central Park is lacking: a clear view to the Hudson, no street traffic and a vantage point to city rooftops you would never imagine existed. On our walk there my husband commented, “Wow, they still sell meat here.” It is a perfect example of urban civility when you see a Hugo Boss Boutique, next to quaint outdoor patio dining of a tasty bistro, with the Quality Meat warehouse in full view complete with blue collar guys loading sides of beef into cold trucks. In the mix is a sky scraping, modern condo sitting atop the Highline Park. The scene is sublime and even these great pictures can’t tell the story… you have got to go to the city and check it out for yourself.

See what I mean.

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Eco-Friendly Parking

Lori — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:52:32 +0000

I’ve driven by the Santa Monica Civic Center about a million times on the way to our design studio. This weekend, walking around while waiting for my car to be serviced, I got a closer look at what is arguably the hardest to miss piece of architecture this side of the 405. It will be the country’s first LEED-certified parking structure, a rating based on a green point system given by the US Green Building Council.

You’ve never parked so eco-friendly until now, even in a Prius. If you’re wondering what could make a parking structure “green”, read on. For one, the structure’s roof is clad with Photovoltaic (solar) panels to generate electricity. These panels, in turn, provide shade for the vehicles parked beneath, reducing the amount of air conditioning a driver might use when they leave for their next destination. The steel used to build the structure is made of 68% recycled material. Electrical charging outlets are provided in 14 of the spaces for electric vehicles. The list goes on….

The only thing that could make this structure greener is to require locals to ride their bikes rather than drive to the Civic Center! In fact, the facility actually provides “mini garages” for bicycles to encourage a fuel-free ride to the center.

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