Location
Walnut Creek, CA
Here is a juicy secret: The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) and the Contra Costa Water District (CCWD, both serving our county's municipalities, businesses, and residences, will give you money for taking out your grass lawns. It sounds…
Remodeling our “Forever Home” is testing our patience! There are so many little details to study and decisions to make. For example, we decided to make our bathroom wheelchair accessible. After coming up with the design for the perfectly sized…
"Thanks Allison! I'm glad I can chronicle the journey through SCOCO's newsletter."
"Excellent article that personalizes sustainability in the home! Good luck to you and Michele!"
Our house in Orinda has been “up in the air” since November. It’s jacked up because the foundation had partially collapsed. It didn’t happen all at once. The house was built in the early 1950s, and we think the foundation was exposed to water that…
"Thanks for answering my question Allison. Prop 65 is alive and well, if a little tainted by led insulation."
Concrete is everywhere. It is popular for buildings and infrastructure because of its compressive strength. Add rebar, and you add tensile strength—resulting in a material that can carry weight without cracking and resist bending or being pulled…
"Plastic is such a nuisance. I wish I were better about the good "rs". Thanks for the tips."
"Many exciting innovations, yet always good to keep an eye on environmental impacts."
"My spouse and I enjoyed the Ruth Bancroft lights display last year (or the year before?) and it was fantastic. If you can try out one or two of the many events listed here it can make your holiday feel complete."
"Some builders are looking to wood construction as a renewable form of building. But like Christmas trees, the devil is in the details—what kind of wood, how is it grown, and so on. It seems to me that the more we are in tune with natural processes…"
"Very informative and educational article, Jim!"
Dr. Geoffrey Hinton helped Google develop it’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities. He quit Google when he began to worry about the unintended consequences of using the technology. “I’m afraid of self-censoring,” he told Jeff Bennett and the…
"Good to know more about a product we all know and love to cozy up with."
