leangreen.org recycled renovation on a low-budget ration

Since competition and the threat of public humiliation spark motivation, we have decided to share our Wall of Shame. In the spirit of New Year's resolutions, January 2010 marks a renewed commitment to The Official Wheeler Street Fitness Quest 2000 Chalkboard Wall of Shame. Formerly recorded on our kitchen cabinet, back when we had a kitchen, this friendly competition tracks a completed set of various fitness exercises.

Here's how it works: each time you do a set, you get a check. For instance, in December (above image), Jen (yellow checks) completed 10 sets of sit-ups while Brian (red checks) only did 1. If you get twenty checks in any exercise within the month, you get an "all-time" point (on right). In December, no one got any all-time points but somehow Brian had points from November when we weren't even really playing yet. But by January (below image), Jen scored three all-time points in the Sit Up, Push Up and Balance-board Squat categories. Brian also chalked up two points for 20 miles of running and 20 sets of push-ups. The first person to get twenty "all-time" points decides the destination of our next trip...plus bragging rights. To equalize handicaps and keep it challenging, we've decided that each time you achieve an "all-time" point, you have to up the ante on your set. So Bri's Push-Up set went from 30 to 35 this month, while Jen's went from 15 to 16.

So far, it's a close race with no clear indication of a leader, although we're developing our own favorite categories. Of course we've convinced ourselves that being healthy and fit is an easy win for our lean and green goals. Yet questions remain: Can the chalkboard fitness quest save us a gym membership? Can we stave off the next flu scare with our outrageously healthy immune systems? And can Jen finally prove to Brian that she's the real athlete in this relationship?

Seven cans all in a row. Really? Did we go overboard? In some sense, the house is a sculptural volume. Our lighting layout will accentuate the planes, lines and cavities creating a space that we can enjoy with comfort and safety. Just look at the attention to lighting design in any restaurant and you start to appreciate the impact of good (or bad) lighting. Some call it atmosphere. In another sense, we're trying to be lean and green. More lights equal more energy used. More efficient lights are more expensive upfront but less expensive in the long run. And now, before any lights are turned on, we ask: are the 21 recessed lights we just installed worthwhile?

Recessed lights are like built-in furniture, but with very little imposition of style or trend. For spaces needing only accent or low-level ambient light (i.e. the hall and the bedroom), we opted for four-inch line-voltage recessed cans from Elco, a mass-market low-budget manufacturer. We avoided low-voltage lights because they require individual transformers, extraneous hardware with little gain. With the advent of low-watt LED bulbs to fit in standard sockets, we're betting that innovations in bulb output and efficiency will work for us in the future. For all 11 of our four-inch recessed fixtures, including LED PAR20 bulbs with a 50,000 hour life, we expect to spend about $350. We do not expect those 5-watt bulbs to emit major candlepower.

For areas requiring more light (i.e. the bathroom and entry), we're investing in high-quality LED innovation with CREE's LR6 recessed fixture. For our 10 six-inch cans, we expect each $90 fixture to emit the lumens and warm tone of a 60 watt incandescent at only 12 watts. We rationalize the cost with energy savings, recouping our investment within a year. Meanwhile, we gamble on the quality of the cheaper fixtures and bulb innovation in less critical areas.

Today, we finally decided on the placement of our breaker panel: in the south wall (near they entry) but accessible from outside (behind a locked gate). It's an easy run to the upstairs and back of the house (all those kitchen circuits) and we won't we need to hide any ugly metal doors on an interior wall. Our electrician will install the panel and meter on Friday. Brian will home run all the circuits over the next week. Once we get the rough electrical inspected, we can disconnect the temporary power pole (photo at top) and then it's time for insulation and walls. We can actually imagine the day when the lights are fired up. Will it be overkill, underlit, or just right?

As we say goodbye to winter and spring bursts into bloom we are excitedly trying to maximize the little land we have for vegetable production. Since the mandatory day of rest was imposed for Sundays we began using that time to prepare the back yard. The fine lines of the Sunday work ban state that "no house construction" can be performed, therefore we felt the construction of our raised bed was a perfect non-house related Sunday project.

We have begun filling the raised bed with sprouts from seeds that Jen started on the shed roof. Traditionally we have used plastic trays for seed starting but even with great care these last at best 3 seasons, not very lean or green. Searching for alternatives Jen remembered seeing soil blocks somewhere and after a quick search we were inundated with information regarding the ins and outs of soil blocking and tips on creating your own soil blocker.

The concept is simple, create a medium for seed starting that contains nothing beyond the soil. The soil block is a compressed "block" of soil that, when released from the soil blocker, maintains it's form. This makes buying, maintaining and replacing the plastic trays a thing of the past. Beyond that seeds started in this manner have much more access to oxygen and therefore grow faster and start producing sooner as well.

For our first attempt I used a 3" piece of 1 3/4" PVC and then created a plunger using two 1 3/4" wooden discs cut from 1/2" plywood. I had to sand down the discs so they would easily pass through the PVC (since the soil is wet and the wood will swell I sanded them a bit beyond a loose fit). Then I attached the two discs to a wooden dowel (actually I used the pencil I had been marking with, it fit the holes from the circular drill bit perfectly). One disc at the end and one at the midpoint which was originally to stabilize the plunger as it was pushed through to release the block. I then attached a rectangular block of 1/2" plywood to the other end of the dowel for something to hold on to.

As it turned out the disc at the midpoint was perfectly positioned to provide the correct height of the soil block. By holding the plunger directly above this disc in between the index and middle finger I could insert it into the PVC and then scoop the contraption full of soil, cover the bottom with my hand and push down on the top of the plunger to compress it, then slip the PVC upwards to release the block. In order to provide a hole for the sprout to be placed in we added a screw at the end of the plunger.

Not perfect but made entirely from things we had around the house. ...

This summer's gas-price-fueled staycation hype never hit us. The outdoor barbecue is a daily reality in our kitchen-less world. Our backyard provides valuable inventory space, no room for palm trees just yet. Over the past few weekends, especially on noise-free Sundays (as mandated by our building permit), we've been itching to get away from the house, the project, the constant reminders of how much work remains. With budgetary restrictions in full effect, we found an alternative to the Walmart-style staycation and opted for the pedal-powered straycation.

We flip open our Kreb's North Coast Bike Map of Northern California to pick from the amazing range of trails, campsites, and vistas within reach of our house in Berkeley. How about a trip to the beach? After four years in in the Bay Area, we'd yet to mountain bike the Marin Headlands, the birthplace of the sport, just North of the Golden Gate Bridge within the 2,100 acre Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). On Saturday evening, we plan our route to Haypress Campground which lies in the Tennessee Valley, just 1.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean.

Our bicycle tour led from our front door to the BART, which tunneled us beneath the 7-mile bay crossing to the Embarcadero station in San Francisco. We followed the San Francisco Bay waterfront to Fisherman's Wharf where pedestrian crowds overtake the wide sidewalk while the trolley eats up a lane of traffic, leaving bicyclists without dedicated space. Otherwise, a separate bike path leads to Crissy Field and then up to the Golden Gate Bridge on a brand new connecting bike path (very smooth). The crossing is always a invigorating, especially when the oceanside bike lane is open and you can cruise without hitting the tourist crowds.

Once over the bridge, the twisting, turning and climbing begin. Biking through GGNRA feels safe, the cars drive slow and bikes abound. After passing Kirby Cove, we divert off-road down the Coastal Trail to the Permit Center near Rodeo Beach to pick-up our FREE camping permit where we're informed that the campground will be empty (a benefit of last-minute camping plans for a Sunday night in November!). Next, we start the trudge up Miwok Trail. Our packs seem to take on more and more weight but the views into the valley are gorgeous as the willows are starting to turn yellow and hawks fly overhead. With Brian carrying the tent, the food and the wine bottle, I can actually pass him on this long uphill stretch (the first time ever) until he learns that he's still in the middle gear. Once we reach the summit, we boogie down Old Springs trail, not a soul in sight, cross some small streams and head into Tennessee Valley where we reach a large horse stable. While looking confused at a ...