HowYouEco Interview

Luke at HowYouEco recently interviewed me with his patented list of 3 quick questions. Check out the site. It is beautifully done and provides some great information.

Follow the Leaders: 7x7 Magazine Names Environmental Leaders in San Francisco

I am honored to be named one of the environmental leaders in San Francisco by 7x7 Magazine for their April (Earth Day) issue.

The article begins:

You already know the elders of the green tribe–Gore, Waters, McDonough. Now, meet SF's next wave.

It is also great to see my friend, Matt Golden, from Sustainable Spaces as one of the honorees. San Francisco is a wonderful place filled with so many great people doing amazing things, and Matt is a perfect example of that.

Full Profile via 7x7 Magazine
All of the profiles for the issue

MetHome: How Green is my Renovation?

I participated in a round table discussion with some of the leaders in green building for an article in Metropolitan Home with:
Fellow Architect Rob Harrison
Planner Steven Lenard
Interior Designer Denise Shaw
Executive Director of Build It Green, Brian Gitt

My favorite part:

Freed: Some of my work is helping other architects “green up” their projects. But it’s ridiculous when someone unveils a 14,000-square-foot house and asks me, “What can we do to make it greener?” My usual answer is, “Why don’t we take off the second floor?”

via Metropolitan Home

Article in Metropolitan Home Magazine

I wrote an article for MetHome Magazine on fellow San Francisco architect Anne Fougeron. Fougeron is a wonderful modernist and her loft in the San Francisco South of Market (SoMa) district is an exploration of green adaptive reuse. The three main elements: folded steel stair, interior courtyard and penthouse addition, are a clever and unique approach to converting an old factory into a home.

Read the full story: Urban Ecotecture at MetHome

My interview with CalFinder

CalFinder is a site where you can find contractors to help you with a building project. They interviewed me to talk about the perceptions of green building and what is waiting for us in the future.

An excerpt:

The act of renovating your building is expensive, whether you’re green or not. Being green doesn’t cost you any more, in fact it’s an opportunity to save money.

via CalFinder

2008: Year of the Green?!

The Seattle Times has a great little story today postulating that 2008 will be the year for green. Actually, I thought 2007 was a great leap ahead, so I'm excited to see widespread acceptance of sustainability this coming year...

via Seattle Times

Tomorrowland: A design competition for eco-smart city-living aims to turn “what if” into “what is”

The innovative and forward thinking Urban Re:Vision is featured in a cover story in via Common Ground Magazine this month. As one of the advisors on this wonderful project, I have been amazed at the caliber of the entries.

An excerpt:
Imagine a city where energy is renewably generated from helium-filled “solar balloons” floating hundreds of feet above the rooftops. Imagine a city where public transportation doesn’t follow regular routes, but is instead efficiently directed on the fly, on demand — via cell phone and GPS technology. A city where residential structures designed to keep people apart — like walls and fences — are replaced with facilities that bring neighbors together, like shared kitchen gardens or childcare centers. A city where commercial systems are designed to generate social capital, as well as cold hard cash.

Those are a small sampling of the ideas already received by the design competitions, with the promise of much more to come.

I encourage you to submit your own ideas, but in the in the meantime, read the story:
via Common Ground Magazine

Book review in the New York Times

Here's a review of the book in the New York Times, featured today:

Those willing to expend even the tiniest bit of energy to help save the planet may appreciate “Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies”. This well-organized book aims to help ordinary people make decisions that have a gentler impact on the earth. Tips include everything from what constitutes a green kitchen to macro-level considerations for constructing a house, like whether to build up or out (up is usually cheaper and less damaging to the environment). There’s also a chapter on building methods, like creating walls from discarded tires. With every topic, Mr. Freed said, he cut out the technical complexities and described “just the parts people need to know.”

New York Times

Review of the book on Inhabitat

A nice review of the book appeared on Inhabitat today. Now they see a LOT of books and resources, so a kind word from them means a great deal.

I have to admit, it's strange to work on something for a year, finish months ago (I finished the manuscript back in July) and NOW have people talking about it. As my friends will tell you, I cannot keep secrets, so keeping the book quiet while writing it was very hard! I love people are finally getting the information in the book.

An excerpt:
Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies provides an introduction to every facet of green building, from start to finish, including the materials, architecture, and construction methods of green building and remodeling for both homeowners and professionals such as architects, interior designers, and contractors.

...You won’t be a dummy with this book in your library... check out [this] truly helpful, informative reference guide, and get smart about green building in the New Year.

Thanks, Piper and Inhabitat for the kind words!
Few reviewers can seem to resist making a Dummies joke, and I think I've heard them all! Keep 'em coming.

Full Review at Inhabitat

Buy your copy of "Green Building for Dummies" now!

Reindeer Greetings

Reindeer Greetings is a project from the great folks at Urban Re:Vision and has reinvented the greeting card. Rather than sending a paper card (with the wasted resources of paper, ink, postage, and fossil fuels), a Reindeer Greeting costs the same price but sends an electronic greeting card. Proceeds from the sale of these beautifully illustrated cards benefits a different organization each season (Architecture for Humanity is currently the receipient).

visit Reindeer Greetings

Inhabitat Holiday Party Photos

The lovely ladies of Inhabitat: Piper Kujac, Sarah Rich, Jill Fehrenbacher, Emily Pilloton

One of my favorite blogs, Inhabitat, shares office space with my favorite community organization, Architecture For Humanity, and my favorite design competition, Urban Re:Vision. Friday night was their collective holiday party.

This is why I love San Francisco: here you can find a room filled with the greatest people doing the most interesting things on the planet. In attendance: Michelle Kaufman, Allison Arrief, Cameron Sinclair, Sarah Rich, Jill Fehrenbacher, Emily Pilloton, Stacey Frost, Willem Maas, Bill Cahan, the gang from Ecolect, the gang from Branch and the gang from Worldchanging... plus so many friends and interesting people. (Google any names you don't recognize!)

Perhaps the most interesting thing is how connected these various groups have become. They're all friends, all working to change the world and all full of hope for our future. Hard to believe that the truly most influential people in design today are a handful of young, hip bloggers (like those pictured). Women seem to be leading the charge. There are noticably more women than men in this group. I don't know what this indicates, but it's something to consider.

Full story via Inhabitat

Flickr gallery of photos from the event

ED+C Magazine: Sustainable Perspectives: Nature Boy

I wrote a story for Environmental Design + Construction Magazine as part of a feature they call "Sustainable Perspectives."

You should subscribe to this free magazine, but here is an excerpt:
"Being an environmentalist is often like being a struggling actor. You spend your days trying to convince people to see your viewpoint, only to be rebuffed again and again. Yet, we keep coming back for more. In fact, for years I invented slight reassurances for myself as my own way to dealing with the rejection. “They’ll come around...” I’d say to myself, “eventually the world will change for the better.” (Hey, we all have our coping mechanisms.)

Yet from my perspective, today I find myself more hopeful, more excited and more enthusiastic than ever before. The evidence for my exuberance can now been seen everywhere, but twenty years ago the story was much different..."

Full Article

Book Launch Party

Last night nearly 550 people packed into the Temple Nightclub in San Francisco for the book launch party for my new book, "Green Building for Dummies".

Temple touts itself as a green nightclub and generously donated the venue for the event. As usual, the hardline green people kept coming up to me with their nitpicky "helpful" suggestions:
"Why are the cups plastic and not corn based PLA? You should tell them to change that."
"Why aren't these bulbs compact fluorescents? You should tell them to change that."
"Why didn't they serve organic chocolate? You should tell them to change that."
(Very helpful indeed. For the record, I don't run the nightclub!)

We sold out all of the books, though my hand still hurts from all of the signing (I'm typing this with my left). It was a great evening and thank you to all those in attendance. There was even a special surprise announcement. (If you weren't there, ask someone who attended!)

Photo and a review of the evening courtesey of: Greenerati (Thanks, Keith!)

Greenpeace Photoclima: Landscapes in a changed climate

Spain: Landscapes in a changed climate

Greenpeace has launched a new book, Photoclima, in which images of some of Spain's most emblematic places have been altered to show what they could look like if action is not taken to tackle climate change.

Full Report from Greenpeace

Free webinar: Emerging Green Building Products

Yesterday I took part in an online webinar sponsored by the Sustainable Industries Journal.

(A webinar is a virtual seminar, where people listen to the audio on a telephone conference call, and watch the slides on a website.)

I was joined on the webinar with:
Eden Brukman, Research Director for Cascadia Green Building Council's Pharos Project and Living Building Challenge
AND
Becky Brun, Associate Editor, Sustainable Industries Journal

The Webinar can be downloaded for viewing/listening here.
(scroll down to "Missed the Webinar?")

or find a direct link here (WMV format).

You need to have Windows Media Player to view it.

Interview with HousingZone

I just did a short interview with HousingZone on green issues.

Read the interview here...

My current TV Profile

I was just interviewed for Current TV (the Al Gore user created content channel). I hate the sound of my voice, so I couldn't watch the whole thing, but it is beautifully edited.

Please be sure to vote for it when you watch.

Watch now...

A World Without Us?

In a wonderful thought experience, Alan Wiseman's new book A World Without Us poses the question, "What would the Earth be like if we just vanished?"

The idea poses a unique method to look at the issues surrounding environmentalism, especially in a reverse engineering kind of way.

Wiseman's site offers images of what this transition would look like.

Order Wiseman's book here from Amazon.

New Scientist Magazine touches on the same idea in their article:
"Imagine Earth without people "

The article begins:
Humans are undoubtedly the most dominant species the Earth has ever known. In just a few thousand years we have swallowed up more than a third of the planet's land for our cities, farmland and pastures. By some estimates, we now commandeer 40 per cent of all its productivity. And we're leaving quite a mess behind: ploughed-up prairies, razed forests, drained aquifers, nuclear waste, chemical pollution, invasive species, mass extinctions and now the looming spectre of climate change. If they could, the other species we share Earth with would surely vote us off the planet.

Now just suppose they got their wish.

Pretty freaky, huh? The article continues...
The same lack of maintenance will spell an early demise for buildings, roads, bridges and other structures. Though modern buildings are typically engineered to last 60 years, bridges 120 years and dams 250, these lifespans assume someone will keep them clean, fix minor leaks and correct problems with foundations. Without people to do these seemingly minor chores, things go downhill quickly.

KBB Top Product Picks for your kitchen

Kitchen & Bath Business (KBB) recently interviewed me about my favorite kitchen products. It is hard to narrow it down to a list of just five, but that's all KBB would allow me to include. From the article:

First on his list are Oceanside Glasstile mosaics. Not only are the tiles made of 20 to 86 percent recycled glass (depending on the color), "they're gorgeous and work well with curves," said Freed, who likes to incorporate arced walls into his designs. For an added punch of color, he pairs the tiles with grout in a cool tone.

For countertops, although several materials have caught his eye, Alkemi by Renewed Materials (5) especially piques his interest because of its unique appearance. Formed of 100 percent recycled scrap aluminum set into a resin, Alkemi comes in different colors and offers an intriguing alternative for those, like Freed, who are tired of granite.

Another company that transforms recycled metal into beautiful product is Eleek. Freed likes the company's aluminum tiles, which can be applied to an entire countertop or backsplash, and its sinks, which are available in aluminum or bronze and an assortment of shapes (Ellipse is shown) and bowl configurations..."

GreenHomeGuide: my recent articles

GreenHomeGuide, an incredible green building reference for homeowners, is building an archive of information around sustainable design. I recently wrote two short articles for them, found here:

What can I do to reduce my home’s carbon footprint?

Should I worry about the mercury in fluorescent light bulbs?