At a West Coast Green conference in San Francisco, we were lucky enough to not only get a sneak peek of the Michelle Kaufmann mkLotus prefab house, but also to speak with the designer herself to get the low-down on the sleekly-designed zero energy home. Check out the video to learn all the details about the energy, water, and materials packed into this compact sustainable home.

Read the rest of Video Interview with Green Home Designer Michelle Kaufmann

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Post tags: City Hall, eco prefab, jill fehrenbacher, Michelle Kaufman's MKLotus Green Prefab House, Michelle Kaufmann Designs, MKDesigns, MkLotus Bedroom, MkLotus Kitchen, MKLotus Resin Sliding Door, sustainable prefab, west coast green, Zero Energy Prefab

Read the rest of The Best Green Designs From West Coast Green Day 2

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Post tags: Sustainability, Technology, west coast green

Read the rest of West Coast Green 2010 Gets the Green Crowd All Revved Up

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Post tags: brammo, cars, cell car, Green Building, green building materials, green lite motors, greencycler, saba, sustainable design, vehicles, west coast green

Read the rest of Prefab for Multi-Generational Living Unveiled at West Coast Green!

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Post tags: "prefabricated housing", "sustainable architecture", Green Building, green design, inspired in law house, larson + shores architects inc, show house 2010, sustainable design, west coast green

Join Inhabitat at West Coast Green TODAY!

We’re thrilled to announce that one of our favorite green design events of the year kicks off today in San Francisco – West Coast Green! Each year this monumental green building trade show brings a fresh crop of cool eco products, enthralling speakers, and hands-on workshops to the Fort Mason Center, and team Inhabitat is on the scene to bring you all the latest from this year’s show! If you’d like to join us at this incredible event, pick up your tickets today – Inhabitat readers receive a 30% discount!

REGISTER FOR WEST COAST GREEN TODAY >

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Post tags: eco design, fort mason, Green Building, green building tradeshow, San Francisco, sustainable archtiecture, west coast green

Join Inhabitat at West Coast Green this month!

Heads up Bay Area architects, designers, and green builders! West Coast Green 2010 will be taking San Francisco by storm this September with another incredible event that explores green innovation in the built environment. We’re looking forward to an exciting lineup of offerings including talks by William McDonough and Michelle Kaufmann, an incredible exhibition of innovative green products, and of course, the unveiling of this year’s sustainable showhouse. The event takes place from September 30th to October 2nd and tickets are currently available, so check out this year’s schedule and register today – Inhabitat readers get a 30% discount!!

REGISTER FOR WEST COAST GREEN >

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Post tags: "announcement", "sustainable architecture", Green Building, green design, San Francisco, sustainable design, west coast green, west coast green 2010

If you were at West Coast Green this past weekend you would have surely noticed the elegant bamboo structures along the waterfront surrounded by beautiful native landscaping. What you may not have realized unless you looked closely is that the structure was actually supporting hanging gardens of marsh grass and was a way of preventing and remediating pollution from water runoff. A collaboration of The Natural Builders, Design Ecology, Floating Islands and Bertotti Landscaping, the installation was the talk of the trade show and highlight for us at Inhabitat.

Read the rest of Hanging Bamboo Gardens Make Beautiful Biofilters

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Post tags: bamboo sculpture, Bertotti Landscaping, Bioremediation, Design Ecology, Floating Islands International, storm water, The Natural Builder, waste water treatment, west coast green

While scientists work to increase the efficiency of photovoltaics, designers are striving to make them sleeker, more adaptive, and easier to install. Case in point: SRS Energy’s Solé Power Tile, a beautiful solar shingle that is designed to fit into standard Mission style roofs while generating electricity. We caught up with these ingenious modular solar panels at West Coast Green this year, where they stole the show alongside several other innovative solar designs.

Read the rest of Solé Power Tiles: Curved Solar Shingles Make Installation Easy

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Post tags: Armageddon Energy, green design, renewable energy, Soalr Panels, solar tiles, SRS Energy, sustainable design, west coast green

One of the most exciting new products we found at West Coast Green this past weekend is the latest innovation by Lemnis Lighting, the Pharox 60 LED Dimmable Lightbulb, that uses just 6 Watts and has the equivalent luminescence of the traditional 60 Watt incandescent bulb. The Pharox 60 fits a standard sized household light fixture, is made of recyclable material, and is the most energy efficient bulb of comparable light quality on the market today with a light output of 300 lumens and a warm white light of 3000K. A patented heat sink keeps the bulb temperature low (we think it’s the aluminum housing surround) and it is the most environmentally safe option on the market as well, containing NO lead, mercury, or wolfram, unlike it’s compact fluorescent competitors.

Read the rest of New Super Efficient Pharox 60 LED Bulbs Last for 25 Years

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Post tags: energy efficient lighting, green design, light bulb, pharox, pharox 60, sustainable design, west coast green

Each year, West Coast Green brings together the largest conference on green innovation for the built environment with leading sustainable businesses and an eclectic group of green technology and exciting design exhibitors. This year’s batch of booths focused mainly on natural building materials and alternative energy, with a few futuristic electric vehicles thrown in. Many of the products are already available, but some, including Armageddon Energy’s solar panels and the Stak Block, are still in the testing stages. Check out all of our fantastic finds after the jump.

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Post tags: corniche carpet, fort mason, green ray, imiev, liveroof, raintube, San Francisco, wcg, west coast green

Heads up all readers in the San Francisco Bay Area! West Coast Green is just one week away, and we’re giving away free tradeshow floor passes to 20 lucky readers! These passes are your gateway to over 280 exhibitors and 12 demo sessions showcasing the greatest green building developments around, and they’re good for all 3 days of the event. All you have to do to win is:

1. Sign up for the Inhabitat newsletter

2. Leave a comment below with your full name telling us why you’d like to go!

The first 20 responses win a tradeshow pass, so get cracking!

Read the rest of Win a Free West Coast Green Tradeshow Pass!

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Post tags: Architecture, conference, event, Green Building, green design, sustainable design, west coast green

Recycled shipping containers are becoming more and more popular as a viable sustainable building material, and this year’s West Coast Green show house highlights this growing trend. The showroom highlight of this year’s event is Lawrence Group’s SG Blocks Container House, fashion out of five shipping containers and a plethora of other eco-friendly building materials. As a prefab, the home is affordable, cute, and easy to assemble — demonstrated by the fact that the model at West Coast Green was erected in less than 5 hours.

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Post tags: eco friendly building, lawrence group, prefab house, sg blocks container house, Sustainable Building, west coast green, west coast green 2008

West Coast Green kicked off this morning and we’re excited to reveal this year’s stunning show house: the SG Blocks Harbinger prefab! Composed of five recycled shipping containers, the home features a durable steel envelope that is capable of withstanding hurricanes in Florida and earthquakes in California. A paragon of sustainability, the Harbinger house also features FSC-certified woods, solar panels, rainwater recycling, and an Agilewaves resource monitoring system. Designed by the Lawrence Group, the prefab was fabricated in a month and assembled on-site in just 4 hours and 47 minutes!

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", Green Building, prefab shipping containers, Recycled Materials, recycled shipping container, sg blocks harbinger house, sg blocks prefab, SGBlock House, shipping container house, shipping container prefab, west coast green

With West Coast Green right around the corner we’re excited to announce the winners of last week’s conference pass giveaway! With over 380 exhibitors and an extensive lineup of speakers, this year’s conference will be bigger and better than ever before, so we’ve chosen two talented readers to join us as Inhabitat correspondents. See our winners after the jump!

Read the rest of ANNOUNCING: Our West Coast Green Contest Winners!

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Post tags: green architecture, Green Building, green technology, san jose west coast green, sustainable building conference, sustainable building exposition, Sustainable Materials, west coast green

WIN A FREE PASS TO WEST COAST GREEN!

The last weekend of September is right around the corner, which can only mean one thing – we’re gearing up for West Coast Green, the nation’s largest green building expo! Inhabitat will be on the scene in Silicon Valley to bring you the latest and greatest green building innovations, and we’re looking to bring two lucky readers in on the excitement. That’s right, we’re giving away two full conference passes, worth $575 each. Read on to find out how you can get a free pass to this fabulous conference >

Read the rest of WEST COAST GREEN CONTEST: Win Free Conference Passes!

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Post tags: green architecture, Green Building, green technology, san jose west coast green, sgblocks prefab, sustainable building conference, sustainable building exposition, Sustainable Materials, west coast green

Later this month Silicon Valley will be opening its doors to West Coast Green, the nation’s premier exposition of sustainable building, business, and design. Taking place from September 25-27th in San Jose, this year’s event will feature more than 380 exhibitors showcasing the latest and greatest in sustainable materials, technology, and practices, as well as an incredible lineup of speakers including Al Gore, David Suzuki, and Sarah Susanka. Inhabitat will be on the scene to bringing you coverage of all the cutting-edge developments – last year’s show-stopper was the unveiling of the Michelle Kaufman’s stunning MKLotus prefab, so we can’t wait to see what’s in store for this year!

Read the rest of ANNOUNCING: West Coast Green 2008!

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Post tags: green architecture, Green Building, green technology, san jose west coast green, sustainable building conference, sustainable building exposition, Sustainable Materials, west coast green

No more renderings necessary, Michelle Kaufmann’s gorgeous new eco-prefab home has just debuted and been installed on the grass in front of San Francisco City Hall. The lovely zero-energy prefab is open to the public as part of the West Coast Green show at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza. We were lucky enough to get a sneak peak of the house as it was getting set up in the past few days, and we can tell you firsthand that the renderings don’t do it justice. The home is compact and stunning, with gorgeous xeriscape landscaping, and the most high-tech green materials and sustainable systems available,including a greywater recycling system, green roof, solar panels, and even a spot to plug in your electric vehicle for charging!

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Post tags: City Hall, eco prefab, jill fehrenbacher, Michelle Kaufman Designs, Michelle Kaufman's MKLotus Green Prefab House, MKDesigns, sustainable prefab, west coast green, Zero Energy Prefab

The biggest and baddest green residential conference in the country kicks off TOMORROW, and this year promises to be better than ever, running from Thursday September 20th to Saturday Saturday 22nd. From the exciting launch of Michelle Kaufmann’s new mkLotus to a lineup of speakers that will rock your sustainable world, West Coast Green is one green event not to miss. And Thursday at 2pm, Inhabitat’s own Jill Fehrenbacher and Emily Pilloton will be presenting our Top 5 Great Green Homes and speaking about green design from around the globe. It’s not too late to register, or you can register at the door. See you there!

Read the rest of WEST COAST GREEN STARTS TOMORROW!

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Post tags: Green BUilding conference, green home event, green residential building, sustainable building conference, west coast green, West Coast Green 2007

The biggest and baddest green residential conference in the country kicks off THIS THURSDAY, and this year promises to be better than ever, running from Thursday September 20th to Saturday Saturday 22nd. From the exciting launch of Michelle Kaufmann’s new mkLotus to a lineup of speakers that will rock your sustainable world, West Coast Green is one green event not to miss. And Thursday at 2pm, Inhabitat’s own Jill Fehrenbacher and Emily Pilloton will be presenting our Top 5 Great Green Homes and speaking about green design from around the globe. It’s not too late to register, or you can register at the door. See you there!


Read the rest of WEST COAST GREEN STARTS THURSDAY!

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Post tags: Green BUilding conference, green home event, green residential building, sustainable building conference, west coast green, West Coast Green 2007

About two hours outside Stockholm lies this little green cabin with all the eco-friendly charm you could ask for. Sisters Thérèse & Louise Kristiansson designed “Björkbo” as a nature-laden summer home for their clients. Built out of wood from the forest it stands in and reused windows, the small dwelling opens its doors to the west to face a picturesque lake. Our favorite part? The forest is built right into the house, with two trees growing right through the roof!


Read the rest of GREAT GREEN HOME: Björkbo Summer Cabin

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Post tags: Björkbo, forest home, green home, green houses, inhabitat green homes, stockholm architecture, swedish architecture, Swedish green design, Thérèse & Louise Kristiansson, west coast green