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Erica Reiner is the owner - principal of Eco Method Interiors, where her company helps families and businesses through a unique eco-friendly approach to interior design. Through her former career in environmental business and environmental education as well as a lifetime of creating and studying interior design, Erica combined her two passions to create this unique business in 2014. Since then, Erica has helped clients with their health and happiness through design that goes deeper than aesthetics, across the residential, commercial and short-term rental market using the “Eco Method” way. Erica loves sharing her knowledge and has been featured in Better homes and Gardens, Forbes, Apartment Therapy, Reader's digest and more. Looking forward, Erica is working towards leading the home decor and design industry into a greener, cleaner place. Eco Method is an approach where eco-friendly, non-toxic, sustainable pieces are incorporated to any design projects based on the style and budget by using pieces and products that are cleaner and greener for the particular projects. Eco Method can be approached from different askpects. Take a dining table for example, a table would be "sustainable" if it is made out of wood materials that are FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified, manufactured and shipped from local sources; and would be "clean" if it uses water-based finish and non-toxic adhesives. If you were to do the interiors yourself, start with looking for things that marketed as "better," "eco-friendly," "cleaner," etc., rather than trying to identify "bad" chemicals. To access more of Erica's wisdom about eco-friendly interior design, find her on Instagram (@eco.method.interiors)!

Robert Fortunato is the President of ForStrategy Consulting, and Owner/Builder of the Green Idea House in Hermosa Beach. He is a trusted advisor to businesses, developers and non-profits, helping them scale solutions that are less costly and better for our health, lifestyle, economy and the environment. In 2012 Robert designed and general contracted the multiple award winning Green Idea House, one of the first affordable, net zero energy, zero carbon case study houses built with standard construction materials and off-the-shelf technologies, which I got to photograph and writing about in my blog. His and his wife’s journey began when his son was born and the family needed more space to their existing home they lived. They took the ideas and inspiration from their travel around the world from what they saw how different cultures managed energy, waster, water and toxicity, and wanted to build their house to be better for health, lifestyle, economy and the environment; hence the genesis of “Green Idea House.” As an economist, Robert thought, “If we use less water, waster, energy and materials, it should actually cost less to build and manage over time.” He had to find people who were willing to do things differently; from architect (whom he hired because of his credentials for green building design but in the end fired) to contractors who kept going back to their default process. He understood that most of them were operating on the paradigm that “repetition leads to profitability” while he was trying to do it differently that could save money if they were open to it. So is it possible to build green to generate profit? Robert and I have a discussion about how that would be possible.

While energy efficiency alone doesn't make your home all green, it is the most commonly integrated element of "green homes" mostly due to the leading edge of building codes in California requiring higher standard of efficiency. Yet there are so much information to know what would be the best way to upgrade the energy efficiency of your home, what types of incentives there are, what do the solar panel companies actually offer. Blake Usilton of CleanNRG gives us an update on what's happening in the state and federal levels for energy efficiency; what can homeowners look for when considering of updating their efficiency. The SB315 Initiative from 2015 mundates the energy we use in California to be 30% from renewal energy by the end of 2019, 50% by 2030, and 100% by 2045. Homeowners should know there are different programs available to make the energy efficiency upgrade more accessible such as Power Ownership Program ("POA"), Power Purchase Program ("PPA") and various types of leasing programs. With POA, the federal government has an incentive known as ITC ("incentive tax credit") through the end of 2019 where you will get 30% of the cost of purchasing the energy upgrade in the form of tax credit. So this is actually a great time to consider taking that action of getting the energy upgrades done. Of course, solar panels alone don't constitute the "energy efficiency upgrade" as it also involves replacing light bulbs, installing a programmable thermostat, more efficient insulations and window panes, and having efficient roof. Blake Usilton's organization CleanNRG helps homeowners to identify which program would apply to their homes by simple research of the property and facilitates the installation if the homeowners decide to move forward. Contact Blake: [email protected] or 760-689-2818

This is the first episode, and I could not start this podcast without having my green home guru, Marla Esser, as a guest. Marla is THE green home coach and the author of a book, “Living Green Effortlessly, Simple Choices for a Better Home,” and a host of her own podcast, “Green Gab,” which is how I found her. She inspires and educates about how green practices and homes help people to have safer, healthier, more comfortable homes, whether it’s a few green practices in an existing home or remodel or a whole new green home. Her mission is to empower people to live better lives and be part of the solution for our future by taking action in their own homes. Marla explains what a green home. It's not all or nothing. It's something you can do a little bit at a time by making smart choices everytime you do something to your home regardless of the types of homes you live in. Green homes come in every shape, size and forms. There are 6 categories of green homes - you can take: Place Stuff/ResourcesEnergy Water Breathe/AirEducation/Knowledge Kitchen and bathroom are the rooms that we spend the most time, and are important rooms that most people care about when buying or renting. It makes sense to make these rooms more comfortable and healthier. Marla shares tips to make the kitchen and bathroom "green" from some simple, easy steps to the more extensive work. You can find Marla on her website, podcast, and most social media platforms.