The Whole HOG: December 2012

Water-centric Green Design News

We’d like to begin with a gift for you this New Year’s Eve. It doesn’t directly relate to rainwater harvesting, but it is a conduit to things that sustain us, such as creativity, inspiration, and LEGO metaphors! Here’s what Maria Poporova has to say about her web site, Brain Pickings,

“In order for us to truly create and contribute to the world, we have to be able to connect countless dots, to cross-pollinate ideas from a wealth of disciplines, to combine and recombine these ideas and build new ideas — like LEGOs. The more of these building blocks we have, and the more diverse their shapes and colors, the more interesting our creations will become.

Brain Pickings is your LEGO treasure chest, full of pieces…that enrich your mental pool of resources and empower you to combine them into original concepts that are stronger, smarter, richer, deeper and more impactful.”

Check out her musical side project Literary Jukebox, too! As for water-centric green news, read on for an affordable housing development in New York City leading the green way, and a stormwater public education campaign in Pittsburgh promoting water conservation. Don’t miss our comparison/contrast between two prefab homes with radically different notions of how to collect rainwater. In our B.U.G Design section, we share a bit of Christmas whimsy discovered via Krulwich Wonders.

The Whole HOG: November 2012

Water-centric Green Design News

As November comes to a close, we have lots to share and lots to be thankful for – including some great online press from AIArchitect, not to mention rain, rain and more rain. GreenBuild 2012 in San Francisco was certainly worth writing home about, and for that matter, sharing with our readers. Did we reconnect with you at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, or perhaps meet for the first time? Either way, welcome (back) to The Whole HOG!

Check out our B.U.G feature for our top five from Greenbuild including green roofs, green walls, big ass fans, and indoor/outdoor alternatives to traditional timber.

We’re partnering with old friends in Hawaii for a new sustainable housing development on Maui. Our tanks have been a vital piece of the ‘green’ puzzle for Armstrong Builders since they included HOGs in their 2010 Lai Opua development.

Speaking of green building in Hawaii, we recently came across Green by Design Hawaii’s post on an open house for the first NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) certified green home. What did we find? That’s right – a HOG tank industriously storing rainwater for garden irrigation. The Oahu home, rebuilt after a fire, is the first to meet the NAHB’s National Green Building Certification Program standards.

HOG CEO Simon Dominguez says, “Rainwater HOG is excited to be a part of helping advance sustainable building practices.”

November 2012: HOGs Wow Maui Homeowners

Rainwater HOG tanks to be included in Maui Housing Development

HOGs have already made a name for themselves in Hawaii. And the word is spreading. Through their affordable housing developments (such as the LEED-H Gold certified Lai Opua residential community) Armstrong Builders are one of the primary messengers on the islands.

Each home in the 2010 Lai Opua development has one HOG tank (and room for more).

“Water is already a scarce resource, even more so on an island,” says Daniel Sandomire, Vice President of Armstrong Development, Ltd. “We anticipate changes in utility fees and building codes to encourage more harvesting of rainwater. HOGs are an important first step in that dialogue.”

In partnership with the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, Armstrong Builders is building a 26-home sustainable subdivision in Kula, Maui. Each home is installed with one Rainwater HOG tank near the carport, which homeowners can use for irrigating a garden or lawn or washing cars.

The inaugural residents of the 2012 Kula development inspect their Rainwater HOG tank.

 

The first occupants moved into their new home this month on November 2, 2012.  Three to four new homes are being built each month. Other green features include solar photovoltaic panels, low flush toilets, EnergyStar appliances, and whole house fans to reduce the need for air conditioning.  Armstrong Builders expect the Kula development on Maui to be completed by July 2013.

“This house for me represents everything as a Hawaiian,” says Raenani, a Lai Opua homeowner, talking about the care and pride she saw in the construction of her home, and the partnership and support she received from Armstrong Builders. “Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,” she finishes, with a nod.

November 2012: AIArchitect feature

AIArchitect features Rainwater HOG

HOG inventor, Sally Dominguez.

“The HOG’s greatest virtue is its flexibility,” writes Sara Fernandez-Cendon for AIArchitect’s online magazine. She charts Rainwater HOG’s quest to create a simple, affordable and discreet rainwater storage system for the urban, residential environment here.

And the blogosphere takes notice: check out what Earth Techling has to say about our modular rainwater harvesting solution.

November 2012: Greenbuild

Snapshots from Stand 2838

Mattie Ivy, marketing manager, helps set up the booth.

Greenbuild 2012, the largest green building expo in the world, spilled from the halls of three buildings at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Sally checked out the green scene (check out her top 5), while Simon manned Rainwater HOG stand 2838 in the South Hall. With an estimated 35,000 people coming through from November 14-16, here’s a snapshot of who we met and what we saw at the two-day green bash, hosted by the Green Building Council.

Romilly Madew, CEO of the Green Building Council of Australia, stopped in for a visit with HOG CEO and fellow Australian, Simon Dominguez.

HOG distributor Jamie Rogers of Rogers Remodel (on left) gives a thumbs up.

November 2012: B.U.G. (Beautiful.Useful.Green) Design

Top 5 from Greenbuild 2012
A note from Sally Dominguez, HOG inventor and our in-house architect and design buff, “We saw so many innovative products and technologies at Greenbuild 2012. Here are five of the best from green roofs to green walls, to big ass fans and indoor/outdoor alternatives to traditional timber!”

LiveWall Green Wall Systems is my stand out winner for an awesome and innovative product at Greenbuild!! It’s a great modular design and it irrigates using integrated sprinklers rather than drip – simulating rainfall for healthy plants.

 

Friendly wall. From Canada, a prefabricated 3mm solid timber textured wall cladding on a plywood base brings the warmth and interest of timber in an unusual layered finish.

Hydrotech’s GardNet flexible green roof system for pitched roofs. Sometimes flat modular planter panels don’t fit the bill for a green roof refit. GardNet creates a wavy tile outline into which planting material and plants can be integrated on site.

It’s not just the name that we love about Big Ass Fans – they also make a great looking product that is really effective in moving air around a room. Did you know that an air conditioning system is doubly effective if used in conjunction with a ceiling fan?!

Resysta is a breakthrough simulated timber system from Germany sold in California by Marin’s own Matt Berg. It combines 60% rice husk with 22% common salt and 18% mineral oils to form a durable, grained timber deck and cladding product that stains beautifully. Sally plans to use it on the QuickDominguez Bondi Garden house, so stay tuned!