the Charles David Keeling Apartments at UC San Diego, designed by Spurlock Poirier Landscape Architects, feature an expansive roof with more than 4,000 plants that capture stormwater and provide thermal insulation. Courtesy

By Pat Sherman

Two projects in north La Jolla were honored last month by the San Diego chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), as part of the groups 2012 design awards.

ASLA recognized landscape architect Laura Burnett and the firm of Wallace, Roberts & Todd in the category of Planning and Analysis for the long-proposed Torrey Pines City Park General Development Plan.

The conceptual master plan for the parks design calls for replacing the existing, rain-rutted dirt parking area north of Torrey Pines Gliderport with clearly marked spaces. A layer of gravel, soil and clay will first be added to smooth the lot, which will be covered by permeable, asphalt-like pavement that allows stormwater to run through it. The vast amount of stormwater running toward the bluff from the UC San Diego campus will be filtered by the underlying layer of soil and gravel, and then channeled to native coastal vegetation that will be planted on the bluff and throughout the park.

Most important, Burnett said, the vegetation will help hold the soil in place, preventing further erosion. According to geotechnical consultants, the bluff could be losing as much as a foot per year from wind and rain, in addition to erosion caused by vehicle traffic, she said.

Nothing is better than native plant materials to keep that soil from washing and blowing away, Burnett said. The roots of the living plant material holds the soil in place.

The plan will retain the same amount of parking, though spaces will be delineated and organized in a way that allows for replacement of native vegetation, while maximizing parking and existing trails.

You gain a huge amount of area for habitat restoration just by putting things in an orderly manner, Burnett said. Its a really simple, sort of obvious design.

The citys Park and Recreation Board approved the plans last summer. An environmental report on the project was finalized last fall and received no appeals by a Dec. 27 deadline.

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La Jolla projects receive landscape architecture design awards

Austin, Texas January 9th, 2013 Protect America Inc., a leading provider of wireless home security solutions, has announced an effort reduce its environmental impact. New projects associated with the initiative include paperless billing, packaging redesign, and improving environmental awareness among employees.

Protect Americas green initiative is the result of an efficiency audit that sought ways to limit costs and reduce overall waste. Reducing the amount of paper waste associated with packaging, manuals, and invoices quickly became the focus of the new project as the cost of paper has increased substantially over the years. Employees were tasked with developing innovative ways to reduce paper, says Protect America executive vice president Scott Fleming.

It was obvious from the beginning that paper was an obvious area to concentrate our efforts, Fleming said. Many of our employees surprised us with their clever ideas for new boxes and ways to relay information to our customers. Our green initiative has been successful in the early stages and were excited to see where it goes from here.

Highlights of Protect Americas green initiative have been new installation manuals and a box redesign that drastically reduces paper use. The companys new box is intended to eliminate pages from the installation manual by incorporating certain information directly into the design. This one change will save thousands of pounds of paper over the next year and helped push forward other changes, like paperless billing.

We quickly realized the cost savings of our recycling and environmental programs, said Melissa Walker, a spokeswoman for Protect America. Were looking for more areas to expand our efforts and were confident more can be done to eliminate waste.

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Protect America Home Security Announces Green Initiative

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When you #39;re tired of looking at your "honey-do" list, or simply don #39;t have the proper tools to repair something in your home or office, contact Lee Stegmeier - Handyman Services! I offer . . . "Great Work - Reasonable Prices!" With my licensed handyman services, you can have your deck repaired, dryer vents cleaned, ceiling fans installed, just about anything you need done, inside or out. Repairs are my specialty, however I can install all types of major appliances and fixtures, even flooring and woodwork. I pay close attention to detail and maintain a clean and safe work space at all times to ensure your safety and satisfaction. When you #39;re looking for quality, professional, and affordable handyman services in Hyattsville, MD, contact Lee Stegmeier - Handyman Services at 301-801-8011. I work hard to always complete projects on time and within budget. handymanserviceshyattsville.com

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iRobot Looj 330 Gutter Cleaning Robot at CES 2013
Check out iRobot #39;s new gutter cleaning robot - Looj 330 in action!

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iRobot Looj 330 Gutter Cleaning Robot at CES 2013 - Video

Feng Shui Tabletop Fountain
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Feng shui expert Tracy Green and the host

Feng shui expert Tracy Green, left, and Great Indoors host Tracy Briggs discuss the ways to use the ancient Chinese art to bring balance to a home. LaurelLee Loftsgard / The Forum

Is feng shui the secret to a happier home life? The ancient Chinese might say so and some modern day Midwesterners too. What is feng shui? According to About.com:

Feng shui is an ancient art and science developed over 3,000 years ago in China. It is a complex body of knowledge that reveals how to balance the energies of any given space to assure health and good fortune for people inhabiting it.

There are many ways to use feng shui to tackle problems or challenges within a home.

I heard about feng shui expert Tracy Green of Fargo and invited her into my home to give it a whirl. In the video, youll see me interview her, but she spent a good part of our time interviewing me about my family life and challenges we faced. Almost immediately she asked me if I have trouble making decisions. I had to think about it for a while (just kidding) but the answer was a definitive yes. She says its not uncommon for people living in split level homes or bi-level homes to be indecisive since were faced with a decision about where to go immediately upon entering the home.

She also diagnosed that based upon the placement of my daughters bedrooms, they have more power in the home than they should (well, I could have told her that a long time ago).

Short of moving, what are the solutions to my problems and others? According to Feng Shui experts like Green and others, there are a few simple things you can do:

Clean out the clutter. Clutter blocks energy. Have you ever noticed how much lighter you and your house feel after putting your junk out on the curb during clean up week? Green says think about your desk at work, when its crowded with stuff, its hard to focus on anything.

Live with good quality air and light. Open the windows, have air purifying plants. Think about using full spectrum light.

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Great Indoors: Using feng shui to bring balance, joy to your home

Fences - Paramore Guitar Cover
"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use." Gear used: Fender Telecaster Deluxe 72 Line 6 pod x3 live Cubase 5 Iphone 4S (video) Sorry for mistakes. Hope you like it 🙂

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Last summer, while driving through the vast open spaces surrounding Denver International Airport (DIA), I was impressed by the equally vast array of snow fences, which seemed to stretch for miles. (Later, after driving up 14,200 foot Pikes Peakbelieve it or notI caught a shot of an isolated snow shower during late summer,snow fence

After seeing so many miles of snow fences, I began to wonder whether these decidedly low-tech, old-fashioned structures were as valuable today, in this age of technology, as they were in the past. Although I knew the answer would be yes otherwise they wouldnt still be built I wanted to investigate the cost-benefit ratio of the fences in serious snow country. But before expanding on the present-day utility of snow fences, it might be worthwhile to provide a brief history of how snow-clearing efforts evolved in the U.S.

( University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service - A typical snow fence.) Snow fences are actually an ancient technology. Archaeologists have discovered what they believe is a 20-foot section of snow fencing near Stonehenge (circa 3000 B.C.) on Englands Salisbury Plain, an indication of what the English climate might have been like at that time.

Geologist/geophysicist Dr. Garry Denke believes the fence was used to channel drifting snow in predictable ways, possibly for water storage.

On the other hand, theres also a theory that the fence may have been constructed to prevent prying peasant eyes from viewing ceremonial Stonehenge activities.

During the colonial era, deep snows often crippled mail service and overall commerce for daysand even weeksat a time. Although snow-clearing ordinances werent yet in widespread use, cities and towns generally took A September snow shower from near the top of Pikes Peak matters into their own hands, clearing drifts so the sleighs could get through.

Ranchers learned that by erecting snow fences near the windward side of roadways and other areas they wanted to shield, significant savings in time and money could be achieved by minimizing snow-clearing operations.

Later, despite technological advances such as the Barber-Green Snowloader (introduced in Chicago in 1920), which plowed, scooped and dumped the snow into haulers, snow fences still maintained their popularity. At small airports, for example, runway-clearing costs could be greatly reduced by minimizing snow depth in critical areas. Overall, the sheer simplicity of snow fences struck a chord with farmers, ranchers, highway workers and the general public.

Today, in conjunction with many new and ingenious snow-clearing devices, such as the Next Generation Snow Plow, the Single-Lane-Obstructing Rotary Snow Plow, etc., snow fences have retained their popularity. In fact, theyve even been improved upon, as the Japanese have developed a blower snow fence, which increases air flow in the area of the fence, resulting in even less blowing snow on the roadway.

( University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service - A September snow shower from near the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado.) So what exactly is a snow fence and how does it accomplish its task?

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Snow fences: Do they still serve a purpose?

On The Floor REMIX feat. Chase Nation (DEMOLITION MAN)
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