Flowers are blossoming, and spring is in full bloom! Cherry blossoms lining the street and bright blue skies have inspired me to put together this moodboard. Read more about the products after the jump. More

Oil and gas are of the past... or so the solar companies at the West Coast Green Expo would have you believe. And they make a pretty convincing argument! From high performance solar collectors to solar shutters, the following companies produce a number of products to harness the sun's power for our energy needs:
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In case there was any question, LEDs are the lights of the future. Their presence dominated at West Coast Green over any other lighting alternative. So whether you're working with an architect or doing your own research on various energy-saving lighting and control systems, you'll want to keep these companies in mind: More

I spotted this algae tank on tap from The Algae Lab at West Coast Green. The scientists at The Algae Lab believe that algae is the green crop of the sustainable future. Algae can make impressive amounts of food or fuel all without the use of land, soil, or fresh water. It grows 100x faster than conventional crops, and can be harvested every day, producing much more than land crops, and some types of algae (like the kind seen on tap here) have amazing health benefits as food. And The Algae Lab wants you to grow your own, and is telling you exactly how you can do it. More

I almost missed Eric Corey Freed (of architecture firm OrganicARCHITECT and Green Building for Dummies) at West Coast Green. I was headed to a different presentation when a casual chat with another conference attendee convinced me I shouldn't miss out. "He's phenomenal," she said. Freed's talk this year addressed our dependence on fossil fuels, and how it led to the tragedy in the gulf and our current state of affairs. Rather than give you a rundown, I thought you should hear the talk yourself. The talk (and slideshow) was engaging, funny, and super interesting. Here's a taste: Eric thinks that to get people to fear global warming, we should change the name to "Climidia." More

The West Coast Green trade show last week featured over 140 exhibitors showcasing the newest innovations in green building. I saw a lot of products related to water: how to collect it, how to use it, how to reuse it, how to heat it, how to cool it. Here's a roundup of some of the companies and products you'll want to know about: More

Last week I was in San Francisco for the annual West Coast Green conference, a heavy-hitting green building trade show with presentations from notable industry professionals and an expo featuring the latest in green building materials and products. For 2.5 days I threw myself into seminars and talks on everything from net zero energy homes to how oil has negatively affected our built environment. But the highlight of the whole weekend was undoubtedly the very first presentation I heard: a 3-hour (yes, 3 hours!) deep dive from Cradle-to-Cradle founder and design visionary William McDonough. More

The highlight of this year's West Coast Green had to be the Harbinger Showhouse -- a shipping container home, assembled on the tradeshow floor in the San Jose Convention Center in under 5 hours. Here's the tour!
Elsewhere: We're looking for your creative reuse ideas (and the first 15 we post will get a free AT T-shirt)! Also, we're discussing how green those reusable totes really are and if you're using yours enough. And we're using egg cartons all over the house. Get all the links after the jump.
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