Green Real Estate Appraiser

7 Practical tips to consider when designing a kitchen

Posted on May 18, 2016 | Leave a comment

1. A breakfast bar overhang
Kitchen islands with bar stools are must-have commodities in modern kitchens. These breakfast bars are the perfect way to separate the living area from the kitchen, while maintaining an open living environment. Parents can cook dinner and keep one eye on their kids as they do homework, and friends can sit and have a glass of wine while their hosts cook. If you are planning to include a breakfast bar in your kitchen, ensure you include an overhang on your island. This will provide legroom for those sitting on the bar stools. Anywhere between 30 – 48 centimeters overhang on the back side of the island will ensure the sitters are comfortable

2. Close dishwasher and sink placement
If you wish to avoid dripping food and grease on the floor, place the dishwasher within arms reach of the sink. That way, when you rinse the excess food off plates, you can place them straight in the dishwasher. Otherwise you will have to travel across the kitchen dripping dirty water as you go, and I am yet to meet anyone who enjoys mopping the kitchen floor! It is also important to place the dishwasher by the sink in order to connect the dishwasher plumbing to the drain and taps.

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Here comes the next huge wave of solar panels

Posted on May 17, 2016 | Leave a comment

The solar industry is booming. The millionth set of solar panels in the United States was installed sometime in the last two months, and industry leaders expect the number of solar-powered systems to double within two years.

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That’s a huge deal, experts say. While solar still only makes up 1 percent of the country’s energy mix, the swift rise in solar capacity portends a bright future for an energy source that, less than 10 years ago, a leading solar tech scientist dismissed as “green bling for the wealthy.”

Just 30,000 residential solar installations dotted the country a decade ago. Since then, the cost of generating power from solar has dropped by over 70 percent. Falling production costs, combined with improvements in electricity storage and a decline in the number of coal-fired power plants, has fueled the industry’s breakneck growth, according to Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association.

“The power sector is being turned on its head,” Resch told reporters on Wednesday. “The ones that land on their feet are the ones that figure out how to produce clean energy at scale.”

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Could a home on stilts above a parking lot offer a solution to the housing crisis?

Posted on May 16, 2016 | Leave a comment

Small, skinny prefabricated houses placed on stilts above car parks could offer a solution for the housing crisis.

Architect Bill Dunster reckons the two-level Zed Pods are a way to provide low-cost housing in crowded cities, while making ugly and wasteful parking areas attractive and more useful.

The pods are being built by Dunster’s company Zed Factory. Each unit is thin enough to just cover two parking spaces, one behind the other, although double pods that cover four parking spaces can also be constructed.

disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

7 Practical tips to consider when designing a kitchen

Here comes the next huge wave of solar panels

Could a home on stilts above a parking lot offer a solution to the housing crisis?

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