Environment: The LivingHomes prefab we have been following for month after daunting month has been awarded LEED Platinum Certification - the first residential project in the country to do so. Treehugger says the home is a "Zero Energy, Zero Water, Zero Waste, Zero Carbon, Zero Emissions residence." And they should know.
· LivingHomes Awarded LEED for Homes Platinum [Treehugger]
Transportation: Screw those flat panel monitors showing repeat news programs. We want bus ticket origami, as provided by REZ. They've affixed stickers (as seen above) to the back of bus seats giving bored riders in Liverpool an alternative activity to keying their names into the bus windows.
· REZ livens up communte w/ Bus Ticket Origami [core77.com]
Bubble:The value of luxury housing in Southern California continues to grow, just not at the pace previously seen in years and months past. The "mid-tier of the luxury market" (who wants to be stuck in the mid-tier level?) has seen the greatest slowdown, with the sale of homes priced between $2.5 million and $5 million dropping 20 - 30 percent so far in 2006.
· Price appreciation slows for high-end homes [Inman News]
Retail: Apartment Therapy went to the Sears Outlet store in Santa Ana over the weekend and found some excellent deals. That's actually pretty cool. For those of you suffering in the mid-tier of the luxury market, maybe you can do your SubZero shopping here. 15-50 percent off retail. Sweet.
· Sears Appliance Outlet [Apartment Therapy]