Ecological Home Ideas: A Review
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 02.15.06
We received a press kit for a new green shelter porn mag, Ecological Home Ideas. We are favourably disposed to such magazines- anything that promotes good green design and educates readers is a good thing. We want to like it. We were a bit surprised to find the press kit in a heavy plastic folio that we would not think appropriate for anything, let alone a green magazine, but perhaps they had the wrong PR firm so we will not blame the magazine for this. We opened the magazine and the smell was redolent of glossy magazines that sort of give you a headache and we looked for any indication of recycled paper or vegetable ink and could find none, but again ploughed on. There were things we liked: Julie Gabrielli did a neat comparison of different materials as wood substitutes; there is a wonderful do-it-yourself solar collector that we want to build. There is a good calendar of events that we will milk for posts, many events that we have not heard of.
Unfortunately there were other things that did not impress us.
1) Design. We talk often about green design having "no edge, no buzz, no style" - in this mag, even the house by Duany Plater-Zyberk and Co, heroes of this treehugger, is, well, lets just say it is not up to the usual standard. Everything else in the magazine is earnest but does not make the design cut.
2) There is a big article on ICF's (Insulated Concrete Forms) We remain unconvinced that building a house out of concrete and styrofoam is ecologically correct- there is so much excess material that has huge inputs of energy and CO2 output that it is hard to call it a green solution. It is cheap for the owner to operate but the burden on everyone else in its creation makes it an unacceptable solution. In the article a manufacturer says "ICF's make use of locally derived materials and capitalize on the green benefits of concrete" - like give me one- the stuff is not green, it is grey. We think ICF's are questionable for foundations but so is almost every other solution below grade. Above grade it is inexcusable.
There is a lot of great green stuff out there, and a lot of stories to tell; we look forward to a stylish, informative and consistent magazine covering green design and sustainability. This isn't it. ::Ecological Home Ideas
Kick a dog while it's down why don't you! I know, doesn't that kill you? I get review copies of green books clung so tight in bubble wrap, styrofoam packing pellets, and Tyvek envelops all the time. You wonder some time, what the L are they thinking?
lloyd u too funny!! now i will be eagerly awaiting my eco-tech porn!! hopefully witout the double bubble pack
it does kinda suck that they (ecological home ideas) are not more stylee, though with that name.... remeber Natural Home? (now nautral home & garden?) That was kinda fly.. healthy home looks pretty green & serene (tho maybe it's no Architectureal Design), and it's sister mag the former T.o EnviroGuide, Green Living is aiight for certain sets (think its a canadian geographic publ tho), and of course Plenty has the BEST name and great vibe!!
so long as they don't use virgin trees, this may actually be an interesting development (it is totally doable to make glossy hemp/kenaf mags ask living tree paper in eugene Or) i mean that could be the worse problem we face, too many glossy eco mags?? let's hope more are stylee tho-- (Hey! know who would make a killer tree free magazine?? huh? graham?? you need another project don't you? ha ha ha)
i forgot my point (aside frmo bugging graham) it would be great if y'all here had some sort of who's who of the green magazines, like a guide or primer.... everything, from the hippy Mother Earth News to the sleek & stylee ones.. i'd like that anyway
I get Natural Home and Garden, which seems to be going back to its roots a bit after its sellout. I think a lot of people complained when they tried to change format. Yeah, it's eco porn. It's sad to me that so much of this stuff seems to be very high end. I liked this month's issue because they actually showed some really simple tips and ideas. It's a lot simpler and easier for many of us to put in double pane windows than to go out and build a brand new straw bale house with eco plaster, after all.
I really do wish there were a cheaper way to build eco houses. I understand that that long term benefit offsets the upfront expense but to a customer who thinks that if they pay more.. they get more house, its hard to comprehend. We do all the normal things in our houses I haven't seen a house of ours built without home wrap and douple pained insulated glass in over ten years. We also offer geothermal AC/Heat. But past that its really difficult to get people to make the right decisions. I was really excited when I saw Shetka stone because I thought it was a recycled product that I might actually be able to get people to look at but they are still waiting on investors.
Lloyd I'm in agreement with earthchange a list of green mags would be nice I could really use an in your face way of introducing green to my customers and having a collection of green magazines in the lobby may help.
Hi everyone, thanks for the comments! Regarding the paper and ink, we forgot to put it in the masthead of the first issue (I wonder how many people noticed that we also forgot to put the price on the front cover? Beginnings are painful....) but we did use the best we could afford (10% post consumer and soy-based inks) and we plan to go all the way when we're more stable. But isn't that the problem with everything green? It needs to be more affordable and standard all around. That's what we're working towards, doing what we can now and in the future. The more people who buy environmentally friendly items, the better off we all are.
Regarding design, what can I say? Sexy isn't the style we're going for, so I'm glad to hear we didn't achieve it.
Regarding Mike's comment, have you considered getting the homes you build certified by Energy Star? To homeowners, having that Star logo on all your paperwork certifying that their house is better than standard might justify the 2-5% extra cost to a house that, along with good design and materials, make up a decently efficient and environmentally friendly home.
I'm glad you found merit in most of the stories, and we look forward to providing readers with a lot more useful information for home projects large and small. Until there is a totally ecologically friendly home that regular people actually want to own, we'll be talking about all the little and big things homeowners can do to make their space greener!
Not all ICF is made of styrene. I'm looking into Durisol, a company that makes the foam part out of waste wood and concrete. They claim no off gassing and better performance than plastic-based foam ICF systems.