Earth Day: GreenStream gets front page coverage!
Many questions abound on this special day, Earth Day. Will Al Gore make a come back? or run for Vice President again? or simply retire to his 10,000 square-foot green home? Will we finally take on climate change? or will terminology still baffle us as we debate the differences between climate change and global warming? And most importantly, will the “little camper that could” change the world? Wait…little camper? We’re talking about the GreenStream of course!
Perhaps it won’t change the world, but the GreenStream still aspires to be an incredible educational tool. This is especially true for those fence-sitters still debating whether green is for hippies, or whether they might actually get something out of it. Actually, we all should get something out of being green, regardless of your agenda. And the beauty of green is that we all can.
Today, Earth Day, marked the GreenStream’s prime time introduction with coverage on the front page of the Santa Fe New Mexican. No, the New Mexican doesn’t quite equate to the New York Times, Dwell, or Tree Hugger, but interest in what the GreenStream could represent, demonstrate, and possible change is growing every day. Click here to see the prime time coverage of the GreenStream.
Happy Earth Day!
- The GreenStream Team
Bathroom: The Slick but Simple
I particularly like the design and finish on this bathroom. It is multifunctional, clean, simple and slick. We are still debating at GreenStream wether to have a separate bathroom and shower, or a combined unit; a separate bathroom would allow more flexibility for the “long-seater” – i.e. two people traveling together with one who prefers to meditate, read, or sing on the can; the single unit, on the other hand, would allow more space for storage or other things.
Battle of the Insulations!
Probably in no other place is the battle for “the greenest and the best” more intense than on the insulation frontier….and the reason is obvious: most of your heating needs, environmental comfort, and operating expense can be attributed to a well, or poorly, insulated structure. Some would argue that how you insulate (i.e. sealing) is as important as the insulation selected. But lately, the battle has heated up on the green side of things as people take into account cradle-to-cradle assessments, production and processing impacts, and even carbon-negative products.
Airstreams have traditionally been insulated by “pink insulation” – or fiberglass insulation – infamous for it’s innate ability to irritate the skin and eyes, it’s low “R-value“, and tendency to be drafty due to poor sealing and installation. A critical problem with the pink stuff in Airstreams is critter control; critters love to nest in the pink insulation for it’s obvious ease of “reconfiguration”. In New Mexico, where the GreenStream is based, this problem can be life-threatening due to the hantavirus. And there’s always a clever pack-rat or field mouse who can find their way into to your home, no matter how well sealed. Most importantly, the pink stuff has raised red flags as a potential carcinogen due to its fibrous particles that can get lodged in the lungs (not unsimilar to it’s predecessor, asbestos). This risk may be limited to just the installation period; nevertheless, people are on the hunt for the more environmental, higher R-value product.
The GreenStream and it’s team of reviewers will assess a variety of insulation materials that will showcase the best of green building practices taking into account:
a) the production process (material content and sourcing);
b) product life-cycle (recyclability);
c) thermal performance;
d) cost;
e) weight (the GreenStream will have to carefully consider it’s total renovated load);
f) ease of installation and maintenance;
g) moisture control;
h) fire resistance; and
i) critter control.
Below is the list of insulation products currently being reviewed. We encourage you to comment if you have had particular experiences with these products beyond what may be evident on the cover (i.e. R value, etc).
1) EcoBatt – a more environmentally friendly form of fiberglass insulation
2) SheepBatt – sheep wool insulation
3) UltraTouch – cotton fiber insulation
4) UltraTouch Radiant Barrier – cotton fiber insulation with radiant aluminum side
5) SpaceLoft – nanoporous aerogel blanket insulation used by the aerospace industry
6) ThermaFiber - mineral wool blankets
For the GreenStream’s purposes, insulation may be used in accompaniment with radiant barriers, depending on the location (i.e. floors versus walls).
Contribute your input below!!! We’d love to hear from you.
Renovation: More sample interiors
These are some more interior renovation samples. As usual, perhaps not the exact style to be employed for the GreenStream, as much of an example of contemporary upgrades.
Example of Contemporary Kitchen and Bath Area
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Vintage Airstream Kitchen and Eating Area Sample
Sample: Complete Green Renovation
Finding an airstream renovation that is green seems to be more difficult than it would seem. While airstreams are generally considered “green”, the concept is a fluid one depending on the author, renovator, or critic. Usually, no one is ever “green enough” – just like there is nothing sustainable about our society, other than becoming “more sustainable”. Paul Hawkin is famous in saying that sustainability is half way between destruction and restoration. Perhaps “restoration” in an ecological sense can’t be a goal of the Greenstream, but it’s worth considering – i.e. how can some profit (however unlikely) from the Greenstream endeavor be diverted to restoration projects. Here is a link to one green renovation. It is simple and clean – which is why I like it. What I don’t like about it is it’s lack of contemporary appeal. If the Greenstream is to have impact in it’s efforts to educate – it has to appeal to a wide audience, including something a magazine like Dwell might catch on to. The other photo’s I’ve posted on this site match more closely to the design aesthetic I might target. My vision (or dream!) would be something contemporary, Japanese, “light” in all senses of the word, and Zen. The Greenstream should ultimately be a comfortable, contemplative, and efficient space that can make people thing differently about green, small, and luxurious!
Renovation: Bathroom Sample #1
Airstream Bathroom Sample
Renovation: Interior Kitchen Area Sample #1
Gypsy Contemporary Kitchen
Renovation: Exterior Sample – Vintage Flying Cloud
Exterior Renovation Complete Sample
