Navigating the LEED for Homes point checklist is a lot easier with the new LEED for Homes Self Scoring Tool. Viewers are able to fill in blanks and work through different sections of the checklist instead of fumbling through workbooks and chicken scratch writing from their design charrettes. It can be complicated what to count and what not to count, if you score points here than you can't score points over here, and so on. With this new system design teams can glide through the process making the whole precess much more enjoyable.   About the Scoring Tool - from www.leedforhomes.org The LEED for Homes Scoring Tool is an easy way for anyone to get acquainted with green building and the LEED for Homes rating system. There are two main…

Imagine a day when you're your own power plant and have the ability to monitor your system's performance from the palm of your hand. Well, that day is upon us, my friends. It's an incredible thing to think about, to have such an ability. Something that will go under appreciated and taken for granted, I'm sure.     Solar industry powerhouse SunPower recently released their own iPhone App that takes their SunPower® Monitoring System software from your laptop computer straight to your iPhone or iTouch. Giving the user the ability to brag about their $5/month electric bill and show off how many kWhs they're producing at any given time from any board room in the world. 

It's not all that well respected, even among the converted greenies, but why? In my opinion it's because not everyone has had a chance to sit in front of Brad Lancaster for an hour and been brain washed with real rainwater religion. What I took away from Brad's presentation in 2008 at one of the Center for Spiritual Living's wonderful sustainable dinner and presentations was passive rainwater collection.     Instead of trying to hold up fresh rainwater in your little barrel and make it late for wherever it's next appointment is, let it run back down into the Earth. Let rainwater do what it's been doing before Orange County was Orange County or... the dreaded "OC". By letting rainwater permeate back into our natural aquifer with…

If you're involved in the green scene around Orange County, there's a good chance you've had the pleasure of meeting Chris Prelitz, seen him speak or at least heard his name thrown around. He's one of Orange County's most prized possessions when it comes to moving our community in a more sustainable direction. Sticking it out in Orange County where the average resident is overcome by the desire to look like a million dollar TV princess with the knowledge that someone like Chris has, isn't easy and I'm grateful when the Chris' of Orange County don't migrate North towards greener pastures.

On April 15th of 2009, Chris released a new book titled, Green Made Easy: The Everyday Guide for Transitioning to a Green Lifestyle. Like an encyclopedia for

…