How a Desert Farm Taught Me Everything About Real Self-Sufficiency
Last April, I drove out to this farm near Tucson after getting an invitation from a woman named Maria who claimed she’d built what she called a “closed loop paradise.”…
Testing Real Eco-Friendly Mattresses at Furniture Stores – A Materials Engineer’s Hunt for Non-Toxic Sleep
The chemical smell hit me the second I walked into that furniture warehouse outside Charlotte last spring. You know that particular cocktail of off-gassing polyurethane and flame retardants that furniture…
When Building Materials Started Making Their Own Power
You know what blew my mind last summer? I’m standing on this job site in Asheville watching a contractor install what looked like regular slate roofing tiles, except each one…
Testing Green Materials for 15 Years – What Actually Makes Them Sustainable
You know, when architects ask me about green building materials at trade shows, I can literally watch their enthusiasm drain from their faces as I start explaining the technical details.…
Why That Early Morning Panic Call About “Toxic” Building Materials Changed How I Think About Green Homes
Got woken up at 6:30 AM on a Tuesday by my old roommate Jake practically yelling over what sounded like a construction site. “I need your brain,” he says, no…
Six Weeks, Three Continents, and Why Everything I Knew About Green Materials Was Wrong
You know that feeling when you think you’ve got something figured out, then reality smacks you in the face? That’s exactly what happened to me last month during what was…
Finding Real Sustainable Materials Suppliers in Green Valley (Not the Marketing Fluff)
You know what drives me nuts? Walking into a Home Depot and watching someone ask about sustainable building materials, only to see the sales guy point them toward whatever has…
Finding a Real Sustainable Building Supplier (After Years of Marketing BS)
I’ve been putting off writing about Green Square Building Materials for way too long, honestly. Found them almost by accident last spring when I was trying to source some reclaimed…