A Great Evening at Room & Board

I had the pleasure last night of being part of a panel discussion on green home remodeling, presented by the Orange County chapter of the USGBC.  My fellow panelists were award winning architect Brion Jeanette, landscape architect and TV personality Dean Hill, and energy efficiency expert Dan Thomson, president and founder of The Building Doctors.

Our moderator was the ever charming Cathy Baranger (with me above), one of the founding members of the USGBC chapter in Orange County.

Our setting was the beautiful Room & Board store at South Coast Plaza Village.  Love those recycled aluminum Emeco chairs.  So sharp!

They really pulled out all the stops to accommodate us, including setting up a terrific room for our panel discussion.

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USGBC “Refine Your Toolbox” Event and… PRIZES!

Just thought I’d give a quick heads-up that I will be part of a USGBC panel discussion on green residential remodeling this Thursday night at the Room and Board at South Coast Plaza.  I’m joined by:

Dan Thomsen, The Building Doctors, Building Performance
Brion Jeannette, Architect, Brion Jeannette Architecture
Dean Hill, Landscape Architect, Green Screen

Cathy Baranger (LEED-AP Consultant and Residential Green Building Advocate) will moderate.

And (drumroll please),… there are PRIZES!  All attendees will be entered into drawings for both a $500 gift certificate to Room & Board, and a Toto Soiree toilet.

For more information, please check the USGBC Orange County website

Hope to see some of you there!

AltBuild 2010 Wrap-up

I came, I saw, I…, only stayed for a couple of hours.  Yes, AltBuild, aka the Alternative Building Materials & Design Expo, was smaller this year.  In fact, I would say almost half the size it was at its zenith a couple of years ago, which I’m sure is just another indicator of how our economy has affected the building industry.

That being said, there were still a few cool things to look at, like the work of L.A. Box Collective

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The Cooper-Hewitt Asks – “Why Design Now?”

Cabbage Chair, prototype. Oki Sato, Photo: Masayuki Hayash

If you’re going to be in New York between May 14th, 2010 and January 9th, 2011, you must go to see “National Design Triennial – Why Design Now?” , at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum.

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Reduxiture show at New Puppy Gallery

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If you are in the Los Angeles area in the next few weeks, and you love artisan furniture as much as I do, you will not want to miss this show at New Puppy Gallery!  Featuring the work of many accomplished local furniture makers, reduxiture is concieved as a place to “see how to responsibly and elegantly furnish your home with reused materials”.

Just look at some of the great pieces that will be there:

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Brandon Morrison - Light

William Stranger - Light Gets In table and chair

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