Green Building and Real Estate Blog

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If you are looking for green properties around the country, and do not know where to start, send me an email, or give me a call. While your real estate agent may not know the specifics of green buildings, he or she would know the local market. In combination, our expertise will help you to chose the right type of a house.

If you are planning to build a house, with a builder, or yourself, also do not hesitate to contact. Many green aspects do not cost anything extra, or have a minimal additional cost, if applied at the construction. For example, light color shingles do not cost extra, but easily can save 10-30% on cooling cost. Positioning of your house can have a dramatic effect on bill, while not adding a penny to the overall cost.

So, drop me an email at timourau@hotmail.com, or call 405.229.9165 to get you into a right kind of building!

Temur

The Green Realtor

"By MSN Money staff

Declines during the fourth quarter erased earlier gains, pushing U.S. housing appreciation into negative territory for the year for the first time in 17 years, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight."

Find your metro area and see how it performed - click here

The chart just proves that all real estate is local. Some markets are slower, but not down, as general nationwide overviews state in media reports. Talk to professionals to better understand the state of your local market.

Temur

405.229.9165

While Los Angeles was handing out Oscars, the city itself has won an award for having the tastiest tap water in the United States.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California shared the award with the Canadian town Clearbrook, British Columbia.

Read the article.

An unbelievable massive island of plastic floats in the Pacific. It even has its own name - Garbage Patch. Some of the images in this article are disturbing. The content of it is horribly alarming.

Read the article.

Scroll down to January 14 posting about MSN video - Life after Humans: Trash.

Why don't you check for a week what is it that you throw away. Just a thought..

The technology is aimed at cutting CO2 emissions

The world's first commercial cargo ship partially powered by a giant kite is setting sail from Germany to Venezuela.

The designers of the MS Beluga Skysails say the computer-controlled kite, measuring 160sq m (1,722sq ft), could cut fuel consumption by as much as 20%.

Read the article.

My 2 Cents: We definitely need to look into old technologies and ideas. Thousands of years of human thought did produce some good ideas. We might as well use the results of many trials, errors and hard work of generations of inventors.

Encouraged by rising property values over the past few years, many homeowners rushed to refurbish their homes, assuming they’d get their money back at resale. But amid today’s sliding prices, many are finding they spent far more than they can ever hope to recoup.

By Shelly K. Schwartz, Bankrate.com

Read the article.

My 2 Cents: I would suggest everybody to seriously look into energy efficiency and building integrated renewable energy as a way of improving health, efficiency and, ultimately, value of their homes. Energy prices will keep going up - there are no economic and political reasons for these prices to go down. So, any improvement, done at a budget now, will be a valuable addition in just a year or two.

A special Russian American Folklore Course for kids aged 5-10 has been established at University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) in Edmond. We now have 2 groups learning Russian poetry, songs, traditional dances and preparing a show based on Russian fairy tales. And all of this is done in Russian.

There are parents of English speaking children, who are interested in setting a similar program in English.

Talented teachers Tatyana Kuleshova and Svetlana Manning teach kids anything from reciting poems, to performing on stage, and to playing various instruments. Tatyana Kuleshova, a daughter of World renowned pianist Valeriy Kuleshov, teaches piano at UCO. Svetlana has years of experience of teaching music and drama to preschool children in Russia. Svetlana wrote her own scripts in Russian and English for plays.

I provide as much support as possible, because I do believe that courses like this are essential for child's development. To find each child's talent is a mission and a duty of each parent. When children learn arts, crafts, sports and sciences, they will have so many more ways expressing themselves. And the hope is that children will stay away from drugs, violence and crime, simply because they will have other ways to try themselves, other channels to express themselves, and many more options to spend time.

This course is just one of the tools. Help us make these options available to other children.

Temur

by Matt Vella

In the windswept deserts of Abu Dhabi, construction is under way on a green oasis planners say represents one of the most ambitious urban building projects ever. On Feb. 7, the United Arab Emirates-funded consortium behind Masdar City, a zero-carbon, zero-waste, self-contained community meant to house 50,000 people, finally broke ground, launching the first of seven building phases to be completed over the next eight years."

Read the article in Business Week.

An interesting article on MSN:

Why you might never own a home

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has attended the launch of a new high-speed train made by engineering giant Alstom. The AGV (Automotrice Grande Vitesse) train will travel at up to 360km/h (224mph), powered by engines placed under each carriage, the company says. Read the article.

My take: We probably should take a hard look at successful fast rail systems in Europe, Japan and China. This seems like a good environmentally friendlier, somewhat safer and definitely faster than many airplane options. Local electric train lines could work as a good substitute for commuter trips for large areas like Dallas, Houston, and even our Oklahoma City. So much traffic goes up and down I-35 to and from Oklahoma City every day, that radio always reports of "usual congestion areas", without even mentioning exact locations. When choice is available, many people would choose to get to work in 30 min as opposed sitting in traffic jam for an hour, breathe exhaust and be frustrated.

Markets need to be pointed in the right direction, Sir Mark says

Sir Mark Moody-Stuart told BBC News the motor industry would adapt to cope with stricter environmental rules.

The UK Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders opposes the idea, saying drivers of the most polluting cars pay extra through road tax and petrol duty.

Read the article.