I’ve been extremely patient with the City of Dallas.  We have been trying to obtain the final regulation/code that governs the use of harvested rainwater in a washing machine for eight months.  Our rainwater contractor presented information to the City twice early this past spring.  And now, in January, it seems that we’re not any closer to having the regulations than we were in April of last year.

Lonnie Erwin, the City’s Chief Plumbing Inspector, informed me in an email back in August that we would have new regs “after October”.  While technically that could mean 10 years after October, I assumed it meant November-ish.  My last email to him (and to City of Dallas Chief Inspector Zaida Basora) dated 11/17 was answered in December by someone informing me that Mr. Erwin was no longer with the City of Dallas. 

I was also told that Mr. Erwin left behind ZERO information regarding our request and our presentations.  NO ONE had been working on our request for months!  Thank you, Mr. Erwin!

Theoretically someone from the City Plumbing Inspection office is working on the request now, but it’s been almost a month since I’ve heard from him.

What should I do now?!?!

So I was going through my side links on the blog just to make sure that all of them still worked.  I found that a link that I have had on the site for probably well over a year was not the correct link! 

But that mistake gives me the opportunity to highlight Catalog Choice.  Since we’re all getting tons (literally) of catalogs during this time of the year, it might be worthwhile for folks to check out Catalog Choice.  It allows you to opt out or opt in to specific catalog lists.  Alternatively, you can also go to the website of any catalog and find the Contact Us or Customer Service section (if you can’t easily find it, check the very bottom of the company’s home page).  I’ve had a lot of success reducing the number of unwanted catalogs by going directly to the catalogs own website and sending an email (or using the catalog’s “unsubscribe” list).  For example, click here to see a specific catalog’s really good and flexible unsubscribe mechanism.

Note that I said “UNWANTED” catalogs.  I do like getting about 4 or 5, but there are dozens that I have no interest in.  Every little bit helps!

PS:  once you’re done with the ones you get, put them in your recycling!

This video is from Ray Brown, a high school student of a high school friend of mine (and my Senior Prom date from 1981!).  It’s informative and well-done.  Check it out!

(This is for you, Stephanie!)

We got many compliments on our dining table, and I couldn’t remember the artisan’s name at the time.  So here you go:  Cameron Van Dyke.  His work is absolutely amazing, and chances are we’ll collect more of his work soon.  Also, the coffee table (with all the holes in it) is also his work…the table is called “Fizz“.

We spent the last two years immersed in this project.  It’s been full of hard work, education, frustration, and fascination.  However, I’m happy to announce that yesterday afternoon we were notified that our home has been awarded the LEED for Homes Platinum Certification!

I want to thank the following folks:

• Robert Diago – my partner and co-homeowner
• Kelly Mitchell – our Architect
• Garry Walling – our Designer
• Sean Garman – our Green Consultant (and primary cheerleader)
• Jim Martinez – our Landscape Professional
• Andrea Fair – our primary contact at our Home Provider, GWS
• Ross Boorhem – our Contractor

And I’d like to thank our friends and co-workers who tolerated hours of me telling them about SEER ratings, HERS ratings, VOCs, U-factors, flow rates, permiability……….

Just got my electric bill for October 5th through November 5th.  The bill was $142.29.  Keep in mind, though, that the average high was 72 and the average low was 55 in October.  But this bill for my 3500 square foot house is still lower than it was for my 1400 square foot house!

During the Home Tour we received a couple of questions about the knife block in kitchen and the teak stool and shower mat in the master bath.  I couldn’t remember the catalogue I found them in at the time, but did dig up the information.  They both came from a company called Viva Terra.  Enjoy!

Our architect, Kelly Mitchell, and her husband, Sean Garman, have a couple of very exciting things going on these days (that’s the happy couple in the photo).  A couple of months ago Sean received his Architect credentials to match Kelly’s, and then a couple of weeks ago Kelly received her LEED Accredited Professional credentials to match Sean’s. 

The icing on the cake was having Kelly’s design (our home) chosen for the 2009 Dallas AIA Tour of Homes.  And almost simultaneously with the Tour of Homes Kelly and Sean released a newly designed website that showcases their work.  Visit it here.

Congratulations Kelly and Sean!

We are claiming points in the low flow categories of LEED for Homes (WE3).  I’ve posted before about our dual flush/low flow toilets, but we also claimed points for our low flow faucets.  We chose the style that is shown here, however these faucets are rated at, I believe, 1.8ish gallons per minute. 

That’s not low enough to get the “very high efficiency” rating, so we worked with our Kohler rep and found aerators that got us down to 1.5 gpm.  1.5 gpm got us the two points for very high efficiency.

For those of you who live in Dallas (and for those of you who don’t!), the City has published “The Green Guide”.  It’s an 8 page pamphlet that discusses how to Green your life.  Topics range from Renewable Energy to Water Conservation to Trees.  It’s a good overview.

I was, however, surprised to see that almost half a page is dedicated to the disposal of fats, oils and grease.  It’s obviously a problem that I haven’t been that aware of.  Check out the publication here.