The One Water movement is an approach to water use and infrastructure that places value on all water whether rainwater, watershed or ‘waste’ water. Especially in the continued California drought, H2O is highly valued no matter its source, and we need to shift our paradigm to support our own water-use cycle: use, then re-use, re-use and re-use!
Zero Net Carbon
By now, many people are familiar with Zero Net Energy (ZNE) and California’s pursuit of the standard for new residential and commercial buildings in the next decade and a half. While defining ZNE presents some challenges (see our recent blog post), work is already beginning to expand the concept to include the carbon footprint of a building’s energy as well.
Unitarian Universalists’ Roof-top Solar Installation
In Balance Green Consulting sized the system, gathering the previous few years’ worth of available electricity bills, and used that data to evaluate different options. In the end, the church selected a system designed to offset 99% of the annual electricity cost and around 90% of the actual energy use.
AIA Central Coast Design Awards
For the AIA Central Coast Design Awards program this year, we were pleased to submit Hilliard Bruce Winery, and honored to accept a Citation Award on behalf of architect Vladimir (Val) Milosevic. The Hilliard Bruce Winery is an 11,750-square foot production facility and event space in Lompoc, California. It achieved LEED Silver certification through a variety of sustainable building strategies including LED lighting, energy efficient space conditioning and dramatic reductions in water use.