Recently, GSH was chosen for Florida Magazine’s cover story!
As you might imagine, we are very excited to be able to be bringing affordable, sustainable design concepts of our green homes to more and more people. It really is a joy to be able to offer sustainable housing that looks great, and that you can brag about to your environmental friends as well.
Chances are, if are on our waiting list, or have signed up to get a GreenSteelHome, your house will probably be greener than your friends!
If you are looking to read the cover story about us in Florida Magazine, you can download it for 99c on their website here.
As always, we would love to know your thoughts and comments on the green movement on how it is affecting where you live. Stay tuned for more updates soon!
Here at GSH, we couldn’t agree more that where you choose to make your home, and what home you choose to live in, does indeed define a part of who you are.
Across the country, thousands of communities are trying to fight urban sprawl and global warming from the ground up.
Instead of adding eco-friendly touches to existing neighborhoods, developers are building whole new communities designed along green principles. Some of these developments offer very basic solutions to environmental concerns, such as street layouts that promote walking and discourage driving.
Others go much further, incorporating environmentalist ideas into every aspect of community life. Some, for instance, use eco-friendly building design and set aside a portion of the neighborhood property as preserved land. Some save on resources — and build community spirit — by having residents share amenities such as washing machines.
Here’s a look at four basic types of environmentally friendly communities that are flowering across the country.
NEW URBANIST
When the Congress for the New Urbanism was founded in 1993, the emphasis was on fostering a sense of community, not saving the planet. The founders were fed up with neighborhoods that separated residential areas from commercial ones — and forced people to drive everywhere.
The Hard-Truth Challenges Behind Florida’s Homes Turning Green and Sustainable
By Ben Brown
There are three, interdependent challenges to Florida housing providers: a) Safety; b) Affordability; and c) Energy efficiency.
If we can’t find a way to address all three challenges at the same time, we’re likely to complicate solutions for two of them while we focus only on the third. For instance: We can make houses super-safe and super-energy-efficient while driving costs beyond the abilities of most folks to pay.
We can make houses cheap enough for most people to own by taking short cuts on safety and energy efficiency. But making homes that are safe and energy efficient and also within the reach of most citizens requires addressing the ways these challenges are connected.
Green building requires green community planning. As important as GreenSteel’s innovative approach is, we can’t address the larger carbon footprint/climate change issues through housing technology alone – no more than we can address the problem through automobile technology alone.
Going Off The Grid
Creating off-the-grid, energy-efficient housing in “greenfield” suburbs and rural enclaves will still require each adult in the family to commute to separate daily needs in separate automobiles, canceling out many of the energy gains. Over the last 30 years, the number of miles
Americans drive has grown three times faster than the population and almost twice as fast vehicle registrations. Spread-out development-sprawl is the main reason for that. Research suggests that people who move into compact, walk-able neighborhoods are making as big a contribution to fighting global warming as those who buy hybrid vehicles but remain tied to car-dependent lifestyles. We need to make living in more dense configurations appealing.
Practical Can’t Be Ugly
To succeed, green community planning needs housing alternatives that are not only practical-safe and energy efficient-but also beautiful. Neighbors have to be willing to welcome these new additions to their communities. Even if they can’t explain why, neighbors must instantly associate these new house designs with admired regional vernacular, and they must immediately sense quality in the choice of materials and construction approaches.
Affordable Can’t Be Cheap
The trouble is, quality design and construction costs more than inferior design and construction. Factory-built housing approaches can help deliver higher quality at manageable price points. But up until now, the manufactured home industry has focused on using systems building technology to reduce prices and not to raise design and construction quality.
The result is factory-built housing’s image as the last resort for home ownership. Many communities, including those in hurricane zones along the Gulf Coast, have zoned manufactured homes out of existing neighborhoods for fear of lowering surrounding property values.
GreenSteel’s mission is to re-invent a whole category of manufactured housing that delivers optimum safety, energy efficiency, and curb appeal, while making the most of cost-saving advantages inherent in factory building.
1. Resistant to storms, fire, mold and termites
2. Quick, precise construction saves time and money
3. Lower insurance costs
4. Lower utility costs
5. Lower maintenance homes
6. Constructed of recycled, renewable resources
7. Architecturally designed and professionally engineered
8. Higher quality, more affordable homes
9. Potentially higher resale values
10. Being part of the “greening” of our country
Who wants a flooded home, with a roof to repair and damages to fix?
Not many, finds a new survey by Harris Interactive.
People are waking up to realize not just the environmental advantages of using steel for their homes but also the advantages to the economy and their wallets.
The survey, conducted by the global research firm Harris Interactive, also found that 42 percent of consumers say that steel is the roofing material they would prefer if living in an area that could be affected by hurricanes. These findings indicate that consumers recognize the important role that steel plays in protecting their homes and families.- Modern Trade
It’s funny when you start thinking about green electronics such as printers, tv’s, iPhones, PC’s or Macs.
A survey of 5,000 American adults conducted by Forrester Research found that 12% are ready to dish out extra dollars for computers and TVs that use less energy or come from an environmentally friendly company.- L.A Times
Why is this huge news?
The Power of Percents
Because 12% is a huge chunk of the American population that is not only thinking about going green but is willing to act on that notion as well. Not just greening their houses, but greening gadgets and toys as well.
The financial and economic benefits of going green in every way shape and form far outweigh the costs we would pay if we continue to overuse our resources.
An article from the L.A Times suggests that companies that have green initiatives such as Apple, Toshiba, and HP do more to educate their customers to this fact.
Suppose you could combine the safety and speed of steel fabrication with the appeal of architect-designed custom homes? And what if in the process, you could meet high green building standards while delivering the whole package at or below the costs of typical production homes?
The market for true green homes is expected to rise from $2 billion to up to $20 billion over the next five years.
Standard homes are becoming increasingly green, with homeowners using green products for 40% of their remodeling work.
Most Americans find out about green homes through word-of-mouth, followed by television and the Internet.
Homeowners are buying green homes because they are concerned about the health of their families, as well as to reduce energy and other home operating costs.
