My excellent colleague Natasha Selhi passed along some interesting information from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this morning. The EPA wants renters to know that, much like single family homeowners, they do have control over how green their apartment homes are; in fact, they can express their dissatisfaction with a current apartment community by moving to another. According to EPA, “A common misconception is that renters have little control over the environmental impacts of their homes. The truth is that renters can influence many environmental aspects of their housing, from choosing where they live to adopting everyday practices that save…

Today… The laws of nature will be broken. Matter as we know it will be altered. Time will have no relevance. The past is hot. The future is COOL!” Not since our ancestors squatted around an open fire, cooking the catch of the day of the day on a stick over an open flame has there been such a leap in cooking technology. With today’s modern kitchen consuming as much as 30 percent to 40 percent of household energy, the magnetic induction cook-top uses 90 percent less energy than that of a conventional gas or electric cook top, making it…

I was chatting on the phone with a publicist earlier this week. After he got done with his editorial pitch, the conversation turned to other topics. He and his wife are thinking about downsizing and also moving to a warmer climate… maybe Florida, where there are condo bargains waiting to be snatched up. It was just one consumer talking, but his optimism was contagious. This anecdotal evidence reinforces the May numbers released by the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® which now stand at 63.3, up from 57.7 in April. The Present Situation Index increased to 30.2 from 28.2. The Expectations…

On March 31, just days after signing his controversial healthcare legislation, President Obama advanced another piece of his domestic agenda. In what he has called “one of the most significant investments in higher education since the G.I. Bill,” the President signed The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which includes legislation to revamp the federal student loan program. “We will provide the support necessary for you to complete college and meet a new goal,” President Obama pledged to the American public. “By 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.” The…

OK, so it’s like we’re all in the locker room, right, and, say, the other team has a lead of at least one, and maybe two touchdowns. We’ve just received some combination of dress down and build up by our fearless leader and mentor/coach, and we’re all chomping to get back on the field to see if we can’t rally to pull this one off. Our industry is such a mutually dependent thing. Though each of us on a development team may carry the ball for a different stretch of the field, no individual would really have a salient function…

Imagine a kitchen where you will no longer have to wander about like a desert nomad with your blender or toaster in hand searching for an oasis of power or at least a clear space near a free outlet. The idea of wireless electricity was first conceived by legendary inventor, Nikola Tesla in the early 1900’s. His idea was to build giant transmission towers across the US that would emit an electrical frequency that your home appliance or light bulb would receive and be powered, much in the same way as a radio picks up a broadcast signal. After a…

I love to cook and enjoy the process of preparation, selecting the ingredients, laying out my tools, cooking my meal and then to finally serve it to my family and guests. As with most chefs, professional or amateur, I nibble my way throughout the undertaking and have little room to actually sit and eat with my guests, but to sit and talk, to eat and drink and just commune with one another is its own reward I am glad to say that there has been a renascence in kitchen design over the last few years, maybe it’s because of the…

Naturally, when I saw an article in my local paper extolling the advent of the first LEED Platinum rated building in Orange County, Calif., I was pretty darn excited. It was a single- family residence, which was a bit unusual, but a notable benchmark nonetheless. There was to be an open house that very afternoon, and, with a bit of time at my disposal, I decided to head on over there. A steady stream of Priuses, old and new, braked successfully and deposited their optimistic occupants curbside. (I parked mine around the corner.) With a curious but somewhat critical eye,…