Green Gab Podcast – Green Homes, Green Living And Green Companies

Being in your yard without mosquitos is just what Cloverwall is all about. Nicholas Citrin with Cloverwall shares their approach to mosquitos or rather getting rid of mosquitos Their multi-step approach helps to prevent mosquitos as well as treat them. Many of the treatments they use are natural based. Douglas Wolter of St. Louis County Parks and Recreation works with the Children’s Garden Club. The Children’s Garden Club is designed to educate, as well as bring delight in gardening and horticulture with projects they start themselves and take home to continue to grow and enjoy. The Children’s Garden Club also works with the Pollinator Project where kids learn about pollinators and how to help them thrive. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony Pratte

Carolyn Dickson of Second Sitting in St. Louis specializes in finding a “second sitting” for furniture and home accessories.  This resale and consignment home furnishings and accessories store gets a lot of furniture from display homes, staging companies, and showrooms in the area that are turning over their merchandise. A great way to reuse furniture and get beautiful homes too. Jenni Owens founded Upcycle Treasure Box to put recyclable materials back in the hand of the public for creative reuse.  Donations come in from organizations, individuals, schools and more and include things from toilet paper rolls to leftover jars and bottles.  Teachers also can bring in unused materials and for $5 restock with as much as they can carry from Upcycled Treasure Box’s tables.  Most states have similar creative reuse centers and resources. Their goal is to offer education and inspiration on a given green topic by providing basic concepts and vocabulary and offering some actions for people to start. Read more at The

Debbie Kinsinger, owner of Two Blind Guys, runs a family-owned and operated business. Debbie and her 2 sons specialize in residential and commercial window covering needs. Many window coverings help a home be more comfortable and energy-efficient with better insulation for windows. Window coverings look beautiful and offer performance too. Keith Kessler, a rep with Pella Windows, gabs with us about the importance of windows in a home. Pella Windows add architectural beauty and performance at all price points. Pella Windows are made in the USA in Pella, Iowa and offer durability and less maintenance for a good investment that lasts and that is also a good investment environmentally. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony Pratte on – The Web – Facebook –

Angela Adler and her husband Mark started SeedGeeks 4 years ago. They had started saving their seeds to preserve the many varieties out there. That blossomed into their company SeedGeeks to preserve the biodiversity of the different varieties. Angela and Mark are also bee keepers and offer a line of raw honey and honey products, as well body care. Jenny Murphy gabs about Perennial, a non-profit all about creative reuse by teaching people how to create new things out of old junk. At their workshop in south St. Louis, they offer classes on how to make rag rugs, building furniture from pallets, natural textile dyeing and more. Their outreach programs to women in transition, teach that their creativity is a powerful tool to live sustainably and resourcefully. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The We

Gabbing with Josh Vaughn, of Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore in St. Louis. Habitat ReStore sells new and used building and remodeling supplies at a discount to the public. The funds generated are then used to help fund building Habitat Homes in St. Louis. The ReStore program has helped divert about 33 thousand tons of waste since 1997. Paul McKnight is the owner of EFS Energy, providing solar solutions for residential and commercial buildings. With solar becoming more mainstream, organizations and people are adapting to solar power around them. And it is all advancing quickly. The cost of equipment has dropped so dramatically just in the last 5 years, when Paul Started the company they were installing for $7 a watt and within 3 years they were at $4 a watt. Between dropping equipment costs and the federal tax credit, solar power makes sense for more of us. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twi

Matt Belcher works with Hibbs Homes and is well known in the green home world and as the author of Build Green and Save: Protecting the Earth and Your Bottom Line from NAHB Builderbooks. It was written for builders to incorporate green practices into building. Matt has been a long-standing champion of green home building, as well as a hero and mentor to Marla. “Rising tides raise all boats” – Matt. Pat Dodd of Dawson-Dodd Heating and Cooling – we heat and cool the impossible Dawson-Dodd will work installations many contractors will walk away from. Heating and cooling older homes and even homes which do not have ductwork is their specialty. They offer systems and installation which cool from the top down as well. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony Pr

The tables are turned! Erin McKee of Next Project Studio – a design build firm in St. Louis – interviews co-hosts Marla and Tony. She digs in about starting the Green Gab podcast and how they each got going in green homes and sustainability. They each bring something different to the podcast as intellectual partners in green. Their goal is to offer education and inspiration on a given green topic by providing basic concepts and vocabulary and offering some actions for people to start. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony Pratte on – The Web – Facebook – LinkedIn  Green Gab: About the Hosts of The Green Gab Podcast: Green Gab Podcast Host Marla Esser Cloos is the Founder of The Green Home Coach – a company leading the way to inspire you to learn about,

David Knoll of Walter Knoll Florist joins us to share his experience as the 5th generation in their family-owned company in St. Louis.  Working in a family business brings the realization that there are business decisions and there are family decisions and sometimes you make the sacrifice for the overall good of the company or the overall good of the family. Walter Knoll is very diverse, but is known for their flower shops. Their landscaping division offers all aspects of landscape services from turf to beautiful brick walkways to complete home landscaping.  Being a member of the Home Builders Association of St. Louis for the past 30 years brings a partnership to their relationships with others in the home building industry in and around St. Louis. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Tw

Andy Armstrong is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Fujitsu General America.  He is responsible for the sales of all the heating and air conditioning products from Fujitsu for the US and Canada and down into the Caribbean.Andy Armstrong is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Fujitsu General America.  He is responsible for the sales of all the heating and air conditioning products from Fujitsu for the US and Canada and down into the Caribbean. Andy attended Washington University in St. Louis, as did our show host Marla (though different years in school).  They both were part of the Greek system there and were instrumental in helping it re-organize and grow.  Andy was a member of Thirteen, which is a leadership honorary. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter –

Dane Glueck founded Straight Up Solar in 2006, where they look to create solar solutions for people in their homes or businesses.  Solar solutions save energy, help protect the environment and help grow a solar tribe in the community.   At Straight Up Solar, they work to help people see the bigger picture in clean energy. As the tribe or community of solar users has grown, these people now spread the good news and connect with their communities and others to help grow the tribe of solar users.   Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony Pratte on – The Web – Facebook – LinkedIn  Green Gab: About the Hosts of The Green Gab Podcast: Green Gab Podcast Host Marla Esser Cloos is the Founder of The Green Home Coach – a company leading the way to inspire you to l

Kyle Smith of GeoComfort Heating and Cooling joins us to gab about the comfort of geothermal heating and cooling. Geothermal heating and cooling uses the constant temperature of the earth to heat and cool a home or building with a heat pump. It is a technology that has been tried and true for several decades and continues to be a great way to keep a home or building consistently comfortable with very little energy use. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony Pratte on – The Web – Facebook – LinkedIn  Green Gab: About the Hosts of The Green Gab Podcast: Green Gab Podcast Host Marla Esser Cloos is the Founder of The Green Home Coach – a company leading the way to inspire you to learn about, focus on and put into place Green Solutions when it comes to your l

Dane Glueck founded Straight Up Solar in 2006, where they look to create solar solutions for people in their homes or businesses.  Solar solutions save energy, help protect the environment and help grow a solar tribe in the community.   At Straight Up Solar, they work to help people see the bigger picture in clean energy. As the tribe or community of solar users has grown, these people now spread the good news and connect with their communities and others to help grow the tribe of solar users.   Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony Pratte on – The Web – Facebook – LinkedIn  Green Gab: About the Hosts of The Green Gab Podcast: Green Gab Podcast Host Marla Esser Cloos is the Founder of The Green Home Coach – a company leading the way to inspire you to l

Connecting with a homeowner and understanding what’s important to them is just what Consort Homes does. Erin Whitehead of Consort Homes joins us to gab about the home buying and owning experience and the role Consort Homes plays in this experience. One of the first things asked at Consort Homes is “how do you (the future homeowner) live in a home?” It’s about how you live, how you entertain, what the most important part of the home is, and where you want to relax in your home. And then through understanding the future home owner, the people at Consort Homes can help create that space that fits. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony Pratte on – The Web – Facebook – LinkedIn  Green Gab: About the Hosts of The Green Gab Podcast: Green Gab Podcast Host Marl

Gabbing in two separate interviews with Celeste Rueter, Executive Vice President, and Diana Forbes, Director of Membership and Business Development of the Home Builders Association (HBA) of St. Louis.    Celeste directs the HBA in working with its members and the HBA staff to help HBA member businesses succeed in their business. Diana focuses on growing membership and sharing the benefits of membership such as industry news, advocacy, education and networking.    In St. Louis, there are around 610 companies in the St. Louis HBA, employing 43,000 people.  There are many types of businesses in the home building industry, from builders and remodelers to financial services, insurance, real estate and more. The HBA can also help home owners find builders, remodelers, and more – just visit the HBA web site. The HBA is “the place to be in the home building industry.” Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |

Eva Fryar of Payne Family Homes gabbing about building their fourth Dream Home in the St. Louis area to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Proceeds from raffle tickets for the Dream Home helps St. Jude kids and the mission of St. Jude: “Finding cures, Saving Children” from St. Jude.com. Payne Family Homes wouldn’t be able to do it without their trade partners and because of this commitment, the Dream Home by Payne Family Homes is able to provide St. Jude with a 100 percent donated home. Every trade donated – from the materials to the labor that go into the home.  This is testimony not only to Payne Family’s commitment, but also the commitment of the St. Louis community. Construction officially began February 6, 2017 and tickets are on sale now. Open house tours begin July 29 and the live drawing of prizes and wines will be announced on September 7, 2017. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Faceboo

Kim Hibbs of Hibbs Homes is gabbing about doing the right thing – whether its building homes, being involved with the home building industry or living life.  Prior to discovering this passion for homebuilding, Kim had a 20-year career in television and radio. He has served the Home Builders Association of St. Louis in many capacities including as President in 2016. Hibbs Homes is a custom home building company building high performance (a.k.a. green) homes in the St. Louis metropolitan area. While high performance and green building have gained a considerable following over the years, Kim states “you want the people who buy your homes and build with you to be happy – happy from a customer service standpoint and that comes along with building them a better home from a performance standpoint and that’s really what it’s all about.” Kim’s motto…“Do the right thing.” Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page

Mike Chance of Velux has been a champion of daylighting for years.  Velux has impacted the idea of daylighting and brought lighting into our homes and buildings from the fifth wall. “The fifth wall is the undecorated wall which is really the ceiling.” Bringing in light from above is the absolute best way to daylight a home or building.   While people often worry about putting a hole in the roof, it’s really no different than the other holes in roofs – chimney, pipes and flues.  When that “hole in the roof” brings in daylight up to 80% better than a windowv on a wall, it’s a solution for better daylighting. With Velux Skylights flashing systems, their skylights are warrantied not to leak for 10 years. People often are more concerned about the appearance of the house rather than the health and performance of it.   Daylighting can address all three! Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Pag

Shopping and buying locally or regionally supports our local community and region, and applies for materials and products for our home.  While helping your neighbors in your community and region thrive in business, this practice also contributes to a home being green or greener. Regional influence and the community’s influence really does make a difference, and it’s not just for relationships, it’s for everything! A little research helps find local and regional options for the materials and items that make up our homes and what goes in them.  With the ease and convenience of modern transportation and distribution, we can buy and use materials from just about anywhere, yet we often don’t think about the impact of those materials. Local and regional materials and items often offer the benefit of reduced time to transport and lower transportation costs, not to mention a local or regional flare.   Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscrib

When buying or renting a home, the way we look at the associated costs may be misleading. Rarely are all of the expenses of buying or renting AND operating a home taken into consideration. This total cost of ownership is what really should be considered and Kerry Langley with Project TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) has a tool to change that. Project TCO is a program to help get a more accurate picture of what the true costs of a home will be, especially when building or buying a home. Typically, mortgage associated expenses are where most of the effort is spent – interest, closing costs and fees, insurance. Rarely included in the buying process are the rest of the expenses of owning and operating a home – utilities (natural gas, electricity, water, sewer, trash, communications/cable), maintenance and repairs. It is this total cost of owning a home that truly allows buyers to compare the costs of homes. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   S

Andy Ellis of Half-Moon Construction in New York state is an outdoor enthusiast and a green builder. He listens to his customers to build a house that is affordable and meets their needs – “houses that last generations.” His job is to decipher the needs and wants, prioritize and then design. The magic happens when he listens to clients. It’s an “education process in both directions” and key to “design house properly.” Start with the wall system and Andy uses Logix ICF construction for their “resilience, sustainability and comfort.” (sic) Green “houses don’t really cost more, just shifting costs.” EPS foam in Logix is non-toxic and doesn’t lose R-value. Concrete takes a long time to change temperature and with ICF blocks, even longer. It’s a very stable environment in the house. Can build faster with ICF. Its a great air barrier and controls air in and out; healthy and comfortable Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed