Santa Monica Property Blog

LIVE GREEN –> IDEAS TO GREEN YOUR PROPERTIES

Edited by Jodi Summers

1. Double-Paned Windows

According to the Department of Energy, the typical U.S. family spends $1,300 a year on home energy bills. Double-paned windows are up to 40 percent more energy-efficient than standard windows, and allow you to save from 10 to 25 percent off your heating or cooling bill, on top of saving five tons of carbon dioxide emissions per household per year.

2. Caulking and Storm Panels

Double-paned windows are expensive, and it could take decades for their savings to counterbalance their cost. To improve insulation without switching windows, seal up any leaks or gaps around doors and windows with caulking and weather stripping, then add a storm panel to your single-pane window to increase energy efficiency for far less money than double-paned windows.

3. Plant Trees

On top of soaking up carbon dioxide, trees that surround your house can provide hading in the summertime, keeping your property cooler and requiring less energy-intensive air conditioning.

4. Swap Your A/C for a Ceiling Fan

Ceiling fans are remarkably effective in cooling and use far less energy than air conditioning. If you still need a little A/C, consider running it on low, and using ceiling fans to effectively circulate the cool air.

5. Get Your Ducts in a Row

Faulty duct work can cause serious, life-threatening carbon monoxide problems in the home. Check your ducts for air leaks. Look for sections that should be joined but have separated, and then look for obvious holes. If you use tape to seal your ducts, experts suggest using mastic, butyl tape, foil tape, or other heat-approved tapes (look for tape with the Underwriters Laboratories logo). A well-sealed vapor barrier on the outside of the insulation on cooling ducts prevents moisture buildup.

6. Be Reasonable with the Thermostat

No reason to be uncomfortable in your home to save energy or reduce emissions, but try to keep it as warm as you can stand it in the summer, and turn it down to 68 or below in the winter.

7. Change Your Bulbs

Electricity is the largest source of U.S. carbon emissions, using about 38 percent. A switch to compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) or light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can reduce emissions and energy use drastically. Keep in mind, CFLs still contain mercury; LEDs are considered the best bet.

8. Turn Off and Unplug

Research conducted by the DOE shows that in the average American home, 75 percent of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off. Unplugging seldom used appliances could shave up to $10 off your monthly electricity bill.

9. Reach for the Energy Stars

There’s an ENERGY STAR version of almost every appliance these days from a computer to a refridgerator. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), by choosing their ENERGY STAR-qualified products, consumers can cut energy use by 30 percent, a savings of about $450 each year.

10. Switch to Solar or Wind Power Without Buying Your Own System

According to the DOE, at least 50 percent of customers have the option to purchase renewable electricity directly from their power supplier. Such power is sometimes referred to as “green power” or “clean power,” and costs an average of $1.25/month extra.

11. Shower Efficiently

With our new tiered water rates, it’s wise to be conscious about how much time, and water, you’re spending in the shower. A one- or two-minute reduction in shower time can save up to 700 gallons of water per month.

12. Use the Cold Water

If your shower takes awhile to heat up, catch the cold water in a bucket and use it to water your garden or lawn.

13. Go Native

Using native plants in landscaping can reduce residential water use by 20 to 50 percent.

14. Green Paints, Materials, and Accessories

According to the California Air Resources Board, indoor air quality in the state is worse than outdoor air quality, thanks to the toxins in paint, wood finishes, carpet, adhesives, and solvents. Air quality in new and recently renovated homes can be up to 10 times more polluted than outdoor air quality. To cut down on indoor toxins, opt for Green Seal certified paints and solvent-free adhesives.

15. Displace Water

Put a plastic bottle or a plastic bag weighted with pebbles and filled with water in your toilet tank. Displacing water in this manner saves five to 10 gallons of water a day. That’s up to 300 gallons a month, even more for large families.

16. Seal Your House

Visit the DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy site for a printable home energy audit, check your home for cracks, and have adequate installation installed.

28. Keep Your Garden Green

It might surprise you to learn that homeowners actually use 10 times more pesticides and fertilizers per acre than farmers, on average; 67 million pounds of the stuff are applied on lawns each year. Opt for native plants, safer pesticides, and compost for fertilizer instead.

www.realtor.com

www.dinnergarden.org/victoryGardens.html

MARKET SNAPSHOT - SANTA MONICA CONDOS + HOMES UP AND DOWN

by Jodi Summers

Are we coming out of our recession? Perhaps when it comes to condos. From July 2008 – July 2009 condo prices in Santa Monica were up by 11% to a current median sale price of $685,500.

But truly, is it just about the price of what sells in any given month? In the single family realm, for the same time frame, Santa Monica Home Prices dropped 25% to an average price of $1.5m.

LA MINIATURA – FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S MOST ROMANTIC LOS ANGELES PROPERTY – BUY IT NOW FOR $4.95 MILLION

By Jodi Summers

The Millard House captures the romantic side of Frank Lloyd Wright. In his autobiography, FLW recounted his elation when he discovered the building site, “My eyes had fallen upon a ravishing ravine . . . in which stood two beautiful eucalyptus trees. . . . No one would want to build down in a ravine out there.” So fond was FLW of the property he designed for Mrs. Alice Millard, that he dubbed this three-bedroom, three-bath textile block villa “La Miniatura” This divine property can be yours for $4.95 milllion or thereabouts.

“I would rather have built this little house than St. Peter’s in Rome,” revealed FLW about the Millard House. One of only five Wright textile block homes in Los Angeles, La Miniatura is set in a picturesque arroyo near the Rose Bowl. The official location is the Prospect Historic District – a Pasadena neighborhood of admirable residences designed by such renowned architects as Charles and Henry Greene, Wallace Neff and Myron Hunt.

Originally designed for Alice (a.k.a. Mrs. George Madison) Millard, a dealer in rare books and antiques who knew Wright’s work in the Chicago area, La Miniatura uses more vertical lines than typical Wright designs. Built in 1923, La Miniatura features an open floor plan and the seamless indoor-outdoor flow, which is an identifying characteristic of FLW’s designs. A father/son property, son Lloyd Wright designed an additional studio in 1926,

FLW believed that La Miniatura brilliantly reflected his intention to create “a distinctly genuine expression of California in terms of modern industry and American life.”

The romance of this property comes from the dappled lighting that streams into the house through the carved, patterned blocks, and the scenic views from nearly every room. All three levels of the house revolve around a central chimney. The two-story living room opens to the pond and formal gardens; the textile block motif is pervasive throughout the home. At Millard’s request, Wright included rustic wooden doors and 18th century Delft bathroom tile in the home’s interior design. A long corridor on the third level, featuring a redwood ceiling, leads to the master bedroom, blossoming into high ceilings with views of the backyard arroyo and gardens. After the home was completed, Frank Lloyd Wright’s son, Lloyd Wright, added a complimenting two-story studio/guest house, with a sleeping porch. The younger Wright designed the property’s landscaping.

From 1919 to 1923, Wright spent time in Los Angeles, reinventing himself after the failure of his firm in Chicago. In was here he began experimenting with textile block designs (later to be used in the Arizona Biltmore hotel in Phoenix and the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo). His goal was to develop a flexible building system combining the merits of standardized machine production to his own innovative creative vision. He built a series of interlocking pre-cast concrete textile block homes in Los Angeles. These include the Hollyhock House, Freeman House, Storer House, Ennis House and our Millard House. Wright saw the relatively small scale of his textile block concept as a uniquely monumental, adaptable and efficient design which can closely follows the contours of the landscape.

La Miniatura was considered to be the most precious of Textile Block houses that Wright designed in the 1920s. It is constructed from a combination of plain-faced and ornamental concrete blocks, which were cast on site from molds designed by Wright. Many of the ornamental blocks are patterned with a design unique to the property; others are perforated with glass-filled apertures through which natural light flows into the home.

“The textile block method of construction consisted of stacking concrete blocks three inches thick, cast in molds, next to and atop one another without visible mortar joints. In all but the Millard House, thin concrete and steel reinforcing rods were run horizontally and vertically in edge reveals ‘knitting’ the whole together. A double wythe was common, held together by steel cross ties, the cavity air space serving as insulation,” explains William Allin Storrer in The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright: A Complete Catalog.

The block system was intended to be an efficient, low-cost method of building that incorporated ornament, but it proved to be time consuming and more expensive than traditional construction. The Freeman House featured 54 varieties of blocks - hand-created at a speed of 75-100 per day. 11,000 were needed to complete the whole house.

Issue for FLWs in LA is several… time and study have shown that Wright textile block construction style had inherent design flaws. The steel reinforcements used inside the blocks does not compliment the concrete block material. Concrete and steel expand and contracts at different rates in different temperatures; causing major preservation issues. Additionally, the composition of the concrete in the blocks and the way they have reacted with our air pollution –leading to premature decay.

The Ennis House – which is currently on the market for $15 million is said to need significant renovation. The price may be negotiable, but the cost of restoration is not.

One of the most beautiful things is that the Millard House has already had significant restoration. When La Miniatura last sold in 2000 (for $1.3 million), it was reported that the cost of restoration exceeded the price of the house. Inspection reports revealed that “glass was incorporated internally into the concrete blocks by hand. This method of construction caused the imploding/exploding difficulties found in Wright’s other concrete-block houses in Los Angeles.”

The University of Southern California owns the Freeman House and has worked diligently on its restoration. When they picked it up after the Northridge Earthquake, the property was actually sliding down toward Highland Avenue, and the walls were said to be bulging to the point of failure.  The $1.5 million restoration focused on bolting the walls on the uphill side. Engineers also installed 10 caissons to be lowered by a crane for stabilization on the uphill side.  12 caissons were placed on the downhill side.  They removed about 700 damaged blocks (and cataloged them).  1600 new blocks were made—essentially the house was rebuilt…on a site said to be virtually inaccessible by construction machines.

Many historic Southern California properties are facing major conservation issues…and there are two schools with how to approach solutions.The Europeans believe the architect’s intentions are paramount; Americans feel the historic fabric is more important, perhaps because we’re a younger nation. Buy great real estate and you, too, may have a say in history.

**

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/04/rumormongering_2.php

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-home24-2008aug24,0,3971050.story

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildbell/sets/72157603802723285/

http://www.santamonicapropertyblog.com/?page_id=1327

http://www.architectureforsale.com/press_details.php?nid=29

http://www.lottaliving.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=11983

Listing agent: Crosby Doe,(310) 428-6755,Mossler & Doe

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/resources/estates/2008/05/estates

http://www.arlisna.org/news/conferences/2001/proceedings/session_6.htm

http://www.millardhouse.com/

https://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?artistFilterInitial=X&criteria=O%3ACL%3AI%3A1&page_number=51&template_id=1&sort_order=1

A GLOSSARY OF GREEN LIVING TERMS

A GLOSSARY OF GREEN LIVING TERMS 

 by Jodi Summers

A glossary of green living terms. Be green + grow:

·         2000-watt society — The 2000-watt society (2,000-Watt Society) is a vision, originated by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich at the end of 1998, in which each person in the developed world would cut their over-all rate of energy use to an average of no more than 2,000 watts (i.e. 17,520 kilowatt-hours per year of all energy use, not only electrical) by the year 2050, without lowering their standard of living.

·         Carbon Diet — A carbon diet refers to reducing the impact on climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (principally CO2) production.

·         Carbon Footprint — A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact that human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels for our everyday living.

·         Carbon Intensity — The ratio of Carbon Dioxide to energy: a measure of the “greenness” of different fuels.

·         Chief Green Officer — A Chief Green Officer (CGO), or Chief Environmental Commitment Officer (CECO), is a corporate officer responsible for implementing and managing the corporation’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint and protecting the environment.

·         Dual-flush toilet — A type of water-conserving toilet that is relatively common in the commercial sphere but is only now becoming available for the home. After each use you have a choice of low flush (using as little as 0.8 gallon) or a more powerful flush (about 1.8 gallons).

·         Earthcheck – An adaptable environmental benchmarking tool that measures an organizations environmental output. This is done across a variety of areas, including energy consumption, waste production and resource conservation for the core areas of an organizations operation.

·         Ecological Footprint — a measure of human demand on the Earth’s ecosystems. It compares human demand with planet Earth’s ecological capacity to regenerate it. It represents the amount of biologically productive land and sea area needed to regenerate the resources a human population consumes and to absorb and render harmless the corresponding waste, given prevailing technology and resource management practice. Using this assessment, it is possible to estimate how many planet Earths it would take to support humanity if everybody lived a given lifestyle.

·         Ecosharing – is an environmental ethic for people to live by: that their own impact on the Earth’s biosphere be limited to no more than their own fair ecoshare.

·         Energy Neutral Design - an Energy Neutral Design is a design of any type (Website, Multi-media, Architecture, Art, Music, Entertainment, etc) that has the environment and low energy consumption practices in mind during all stages of planning and production.

·         Energy Policy –  The manner in which a given entity (often governmental) has decided to address issues of energy development including energy production, distribution and consumption. The attributes of energy policy may include legislation, international treaties, incentives to investment, guidelines for energy conservation, taxation and other public policy techniques.

·         Energy Star (www.energy star.gov) — An energy-efficiency rating system sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency. A high Energy Star rating means that the product — from small household appliances to entire homes — is designed to minimize its energy consumption. The theory being, using as little energy as possible helps protect the environment, conserves fossil fuels and saves you money on the electric bill.

·         Forest Stewardship Council (www.fsc.org) — A third-party certification for wood, wood products and forests. The FSC tracks the wood from its forest of origin all the way through the chain of custody to where the product is sold. If a product is FSC certified, you can count on its having been harvested and produced in a stringently eco-sensitive manner.

·         Formaldehyde — A toxin found in many adhesives, such as those in plywood and panel board; it also can be found in paints, caulks and other building materials. The World Health Organization recently upgraded it from a possible carcinogen to a known one. When present in the home, it tends to “off-gas” and pollute the indoor environment.

• Global Warming — The increase in the average measured temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century, and its projected continuation. In media, it is synonymous with the term “climate change.”

·         Greenhouse Debt - The measure to which an individual person, incorporated association, business enterprise, government instrumentality or geographic community exceeds its permitted greenhouse footprint and contributes greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and climate change.

·         Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design  (www.usgbc.org/leed) — Developed and administered by the U.S. Green Building Council, the LEED rating is the most widely known and accepted green certification program.

·         Life Cycle Analysis — The process of tracing a product, material or practice from its origin through its final disposal or reuse, from factory to landfill or recycling plant.

·         Linoleum – A natural and eco-sensitive alternative to petrochemical-based vinyl. Linoleum is typically made from the renewable materials jute (used for backing), linseed oil, pine resin and sawdust. Eclipsed by vinyl in the 1960s and ’70s, it’s now experiencing a revival; it comes in both sheets and tiles, in a wide variety of colors.

·         Low Carbon Diet — A low carbon diet refers to making lifestyle choices to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from energy use.[1] More specifically, a low carbon diet refers to making choices about eating that reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe) as a response to estimates that the U.S. food system is responsible for at least 20 percent of U.S. greenhouse gases.

·         Low-flow faucets and shower heads – Installing low-flow fixtures is a simple and cheap way to conserve water. If you’re in love with your current faucets and shower heads, you can instead choose to amend them by installing aerators, which slow the flow and disperse water. These simple steps can reduce water use by about 10%.

·         Off-gassing – Also known as outgassing, this is the emission of chemicals from building materials, furniture, textiles, bedding or other products in the home. Many of those “new house” smells that we’ve come to enjoy are actually hazardous to our health — they accumulate in the bloodstream and have been linked by some scientists to the increasing rates of asthma and some cancers, particularly in children. The best way to avoid off-gassing is to look for natural products that don’t contain toxins such as formaldehyde.

·         Recycled content — Refers to the amount of recycled (reused) material in a given product. There is post-industrial recycled content, which refers to the use of scraps from industrial manufacturing, and post-consumer content, which is the reuse of products that consumers have used and thrown away.

·         Solar — Simply put, solar processes harness energy from the sun. The solar panels that most of us associate with solar energy are called photovoltaic panels; they transform the sun’s rays into usable electricity. Solar thermal processes can be used to heat our hot water. Technological advances in recent years have made both photovoltaic and solar thermal systems amazingly effective. And prices are more affordable nowadays, in part because many utility companies and local governments offer rebate programs that lower the initial costs of purchase and installation.

·         Water Footprint — an indicator of water use that includes both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer. The water footprint of an individual, community or business is defined as the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community or produced by the business. Water use is measured in water volume consumed (evaporated) and/or polluted per unit of time. A water footprint can be calculated for any well-defined group of consumers (e.g. an individual, family, village, city, province, state or nation) or producers (e.g. a public organization, private enterprise or economic sector). The water footprint is a geographically explicit indicator, not only showing volumes of water use and pollution, but also the locations.

·         Weighted Average Cost of Carbon — A term used in finance to measure a firm’s specific cost of carbon. It expresses how much an organization is expending to either reduce carbon emissions internally (abatement) or offsetting externally (carbon offset). As such, the weighted average cost of carbon is the cost a company incurs to balance its carbon liability (carbon footprint).

·         Volatile Organic Compounds — The toxic or noxious chemicals that are found in or released from paints, stains, adhesives and sealants. Whenever possible, look for products labeled as having low, no or zero VOCs.

Please help us add to this list.

Info courtesy of:

http://www.globalgreen.org/gbrc/

http://wikipedia.org

REAL ESTATE PRICES ARE STILL UP THIS MILLENIUM IN LOS ANGELES

by Jodi Summers

A recent report on Forbes.com citing the 10 Best and 10 Worst U.S. Housing Markets noted that in Los Angeles, if you bought in 2000, paid your mortgage on time and are still in your home, you’ve seen a 71.5% price appreciation.

Up north, San Francisco’s prices are up 30.12% from 2000. It still has the potential for a further fall, given the 31% drop for 2008.

Forbes analyzed monthly declines and year-over-year declines in home prices to determine where prices were falling fastest and where those drops were picking up momentum. They noted, “It’s not a good thing for San Diego that prices from November 2008 to December 2008 fell 2.13%, but as prices declined by 2.29% from October to November, and 2.44% from September to October, the speed with which prices are falling is slowing.”

The information is based on an S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, which measured metro home prices in 20 cities through December 2008.

Info courtesy of:

http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/24/housing-cities-ten-lifestyle-real-Estate_home_prices.html?partner=alerts

SANTA MONICA ELECTED OFFICIALS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

Edited by Jodi Summers

State Senator Fran Pavley — Her District Office is in Sunset Park at 2716 Ocean Park Blvd. #3088. Staffer Rebekah Rodriguez-Lynn will work on healthcare, education, child welfare, and Santa Monica issues. Stephanie Molen will work on environmental and water issues. Aron Miller will work on transportation issues such as the Exposition Light Rail. Steve Lane will help constituents with unemployment benefits, DMV issues, and SSI benefits. The office can also provide information on legislation and has brochures on issues such as consumer protection and small business assistance. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 9 to 5, and the phone number is 310-314-5214. Website: www.senate.ca.gov/pavley

Assemblymember Julia Brownley—Local office is located at 6355 Topanga Canyon Blvd. #205, Woodland Hills 91367. Phone: 310-395-3414. Website: www.assembly.ca.gov/brownley

Representative Henry Waxman—Local office is located at 8436 W. Third St. #600, Los Angeles 90048. Phone: 310-652-3095. Website: http://waxman.house.gov

Senator Barbara Boxer—Los Angeles office is located at 312 N. Spring St., #1748, L.A. 90012. The phone number is 213-894-5000, and the website is http://boxer.senate.gov

Senator Dianne Feinstein—Los Angeles office is located at 11111 Santa Monica Blvd., #915, L.A. 90025. The phone is 310-395-914-7300, and the website is http://feinstein.senate.gov/public

Santa Monica City Council website—go to www.smgov.net/departments/council/ for meeting dates, agendas, Council Wrap Up (informal minutes) and contact information.