Getting green building certified

The Austin Green Home Meetup group (of which I'm no longer the organizer, due to my crazy schedule) passed this information to me. There is now a way to become "Green Builder Certified". The Green Builder College is offering online courses for homebuilders and . Here's a snippet from their site:

"Green Builder® College is an educational program focused on one of today’s most pressing questions: What is Green Building?

While green building rating systems throughout the country have done an excellent job of certifying building projects, Green Builder® College is the first educational program to offer certification and continuing education to individuals in the homebuilding professions. This program augments the information provided in existing project rating programs so homebuilders and their employees can learn the science behind high-performance, resource-efficient construction."

Building in art in your home

It's been awhile, but I've been swamped with work as a Tech Writer, building our house, and also working the Keep Austin Bizarre Christmas Bazaar selling my Scandinavian wares. It's been slow sometimes, but I'm sure it will pick up! Besides, everyone here is so friendly and fun, so we're really enjoying ourselves. There's a lot of unique gift items and stuff for the house.

Anyway, I've talked to a couple of vendors here that would be interested in doing some art projects for our house. For instance, we wanted some art of different mediums that would really make our place look like an art gallery. This guy, Darren Minke, said he could integrate these lovely stained wood pieces into our walls to give it a very unique look.


And here's a sample of his digital artwork:


Another artist that speaks to me is Rassouli, who makes very positive and spiritual images of women. I love his use of color and the radiance his paintings evoke to me. Here is a couple of samples of his work:


Also, I found a guy that will make some outdoor benches for us here in cedar mixed with some very cool New Mexican tiles :-). It will be certainly eclectic and interesting.

I think it's always great to surround yourself with art or objects you love and admire, as it brightens your home and your spirits!

P.S. I am taking it easy until '08 before beginning up again on the house. It will be crazy busy with everything during the holidays.... talk to you next year and have a happy holidays!