I ran the Guardsmen Presidio 10 Miler/10K this morning in San Francisco’s Presidio.  We ran over the Golden Gate Bridge and back (I just ran the 10K) and finished in Crissy Field. I’ve run many races in my time but never have I seen such an array of quality post party food and product giveaways such as breakfast burritos from Asquew, coffee from Peet’s, giveaways of Accelerade drink and San Francisco Magazine, oh and even a free Bloody Mary drink if you felt so inclined. But what really caught my attention was the complimentary bottle of a hand sanitizer from Method and the brochure on how to ‘Detox Your Home’.  If you are unfamiliar with Method, please pay attention! Method develops non toxic, planet friendly cleaning products that smell fantastic. And now, they have a handy ‘Detox your Home’ brochure that I will summarize for all you San Francisco and Marin homeowners.

Cleaning can be gentle on your eyes. Do you ever clean and get stinging eyes or burning lungs from the smell of the cleaning product? That’s your body reacting badly to the chemicals. Method’s products are friendly to the body.

You are naked under your clothes. Hmm….so it makes sense you may want a non toxic laundry detergent cleaning your clothes. Method deveops a detergent with products you wouldn’t mind wearing.

Your kid knows what your tile tastes like. Method believes cleaners should be safe for your bare hands (or your bare kids). And that goes for your floors too. Kids are down on the floor all the time. Just think what they must be sampling…At least with Method products you know you are cleaning with toxic free cleansers.

If you own a San Francisco property, a condo, single family home, commercial property or if you are a Marin homeowner, you will be pleased to know the Method founders live right here in our own backyard.

A consistent question I pose…Do we live in paradise or what?

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jdavis@mcguire.com

Can green be luxurious? I attended a panel this evening presented by The Luxury Marketing Council in San Francisco. The panelists consisted of Eric Corey Freed principal of organic Architect, Mike Freed co-owner of Passport Resorts (resorts such as Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur), Kimberley Gardiner, Hybrid Marketing Manager with Lexus, and Helge Hellberg, Executive Director of Marin Organic. A touching answer to the question whether green can be luxurious came from Eric Corey Freed. He explained to the roomful of San Francisco and Marin realtors that being green (nature) is naturally luxurious and abundant. Think about it, leaves fall off trees and are recycled into the earth to prepare for the next cycle of trees.  The concept is that our environment is naturally abundant if left alone. How luxurious! This applies to almost every consumer product. Unused clothing can be recycled into new hip, trendy clothes. Discarded wood can be recycled into beautiful tables, chairs, and hardwood floors. Recycled materials can be used by developers of green buildings. Green hybrid cars have come to be a very comfortable, stylish ride (luxurious) all while conserving on fuel (good for the environment).

 The overall recommendation from the panelists to live a green life was to pick one green mission and do it well. Do it with authenticity. Recycle, eat organic foods, buy green products, learn how to green your San Francisco or Marin home. The green movement is not perfect and there is still a lot of ground ahead of us. However, there are several experts willing to share their knowledge.  Many were in the room this evening. You may find ‘living green’ is luxurious, tasty, and satisfying.

Jenn - your San Francisco EcoBroker

www.jenndavis.com

jdavis@mcguire.com

The board of directors for the American Institute of Architects voted this week on the top 25 Architectural Gems of the City. Among the newer constructed buildings on the list are the Federal Building and the de Young Museum. The Federal Building with its green architecture has gone up with some controversy. I happen to like the design of the sleek exterior but some do not. It’s rumored that more tweaks need to be done to make the experience of working inside this green building more comfortable. The glare from the windows makes it difficult to read computer screens and the noise from the street pentrates the open air windows.  All in all however, this is a great building on the forefront of green technology.  What are a few tweaks, anyway?

The de Young Museum is also a sleek building, quite a departure from the traditional architecture in San Francisco. It’s very appealing to those with modern tastes. Personally, I am quite excited to see the diversity of architecture in the city and enjoy this building.  

 Here is the list of the top 25!

Religious

Grace Cathedral, 1051 Taylor St., 1928, Lewis Hobart

St. Mary’s Cathedral, 1111 Gough St., 1971, Pietro Belluschi, Pier Luigi Nervi and McSweeney, Ryan & Lee

Temple Emanu-el, 2 Lake St., 1926, Arthur Page Brown

Swedenborgian Church, 2107 Lyon St., 1894, Arthur Page Brown

First Unitarian Church, 1187 Franklin St., 1888, George Percy/1970, Callister Payne & Rosse

Residential

Plaza Apartments, Sixth and Howard streets, 2006, Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects and Paulett Taggart Architects

Curran House, 145 Taylor St., 2005, David Baker + Partners, Architects

3200 block of Pacific Avenue, houses from 1900 to 1913 designed by architects including Ernest Coxhead, Bernard Maybeck, Willis Polk and William Knowles

Russell House, 3778 Washington St., 1952, Erich Mendelsohn

Haas-Lilienthal House, 2007 Franklin St., 1886, Peter R. Schmidt

Commercial

San Francisco Federal Building, 90 Seventh St., 2007, Morphosis/SmithGroup

1 Bush St. (former Crown-Zellerbach Building), 1959, Skidmore Owings & Merrill and Hertzka & Knowles

Hallidie Building, 130 Sutter St., 1917, Willis Polk

Transamerica Pyramid, 600 Montgomery St., 1972, William Pereira

JPMorgan Chase Building, 560 Mission St., 2002, Cesar Pelli

Historic

Palace Hotel, 2 New Montgomery St., 1909, Trowbridge and Livingston

Circle Gallery, 140 Maiden Lane, 1948, Frank Lloyd Wright

Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon St., 1915, Bernard Maybeck

War Memorial Opera House and Veterans Building, Civic Center, 1932, Arthur Brown Jr. and G. Albert Lansburgh

Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, 1878 (restoration architects, 2003: Architectural Resources Group)

Civic

M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, Golden Gate Park, 2005, Herzog & de Meuron and Fong & Chan Architects

City Hall, Civic Center, 1915, Bakewell & Brown

Yerba Buena Gardens: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 1994, Fumihiko Maki; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, 1994, James Stewart Polshek; Metreon, 1999, SMWM, Gary Handel + Associates

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St., 1995, Mario Botta, Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum

Palace of the Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park, 1916, George Applegarth

Source: American Institute of Architects

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