A couple months ago, we covered how to clean your microwave oven (in the green way) in time for your new showing so that prospective buyers won’t run screaming when they see the tiny civilization that has grown inside.

This month: how to clean your oven naturally and efficiently before the turkey takes over and makes you start all over again.

Well, I guess you could wait until after Thanksgiving, but this is so easy, you might not want to.

Our friend at Going GreenHouse cleaning service, April Prothero, tells us not to hit the self clean button on your oven right before Turkey Day.

That’s a bad idea, she says, and here’s why: self-clean cycles can be hard on your oven especially if it’s an older one. This may cause your oven to completely burn out and break down before your houseguests even have a chance to taste some of your perfectly cooked turkey—leaving you in panic.

But before you reach for the extremely harsh chemical storm of spray oven cleaners, check out her recipe for a natural and efficient oven cleaner to get your oven spic-and-span for the big holiday–with a little elbow grease of course.

All you need are a few items that are probably sitting around your house already:

• baking soda
• water
• white vinegar (for later)
• rubber gloves
• damp dish cloth
• spatula
• spray bottle

1. After removing the oven racks and anything else inside, mix up your cleaning paste. In a small bowl, mix ½ cup of baking soda with a few table spoons of water. Adjust the ratio of both as needed until you have a spreadable paste (usually about 3 tablespoons of water).
2. Spread this paste all over the interior of your oven, paying special attention to the greasier areas. Do not coat the heating elements. Let this sit for at least 12 hours, or overnight.
3. After 12 hours, take your damp cloth and wipe out as much of the dried on paste as possible. Use a spatula to help scrape off excess paste.
4. Put a little vinegar in a spray bottle and spray everywhere you see leftover baking soda residue. This will cause it to foam. Use your damp cloth to wipe away the rest of the foamy mixture its created. Add more vinegar and water as needed to clean it away.
5. Lastly, replace your oven racks and BAM! Clean, shiny oven!

This method may require a little sweat and elbow grease, but at least your nose hairs are still intact and you’re not struggling to breathe through harsh chemicals. Your oven will be perfectly prepared so you can put your guests into a turkey induced tryptophan coma!

And if you’re not in the mood to sweat, remember, you can always call April and the Going Greenhouse gang to schedule a special cleaning to include your oven.

I’m proud that my city is working on new ways to recycle and support up-start businesses at the same time.

Here is their RFP announcement, which calls for innovators who may be able to start new businesses around our waste stream. This is the kind of leadership we need to get serious about waste.

Go Phoenix!

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New RFP

The City of Phoenix has issued the Transforming Trash into Resources II Request for Proposals (RFP).  We’re looking for trash innovators who can transform carpeting, latex paint and urban wood into new products or reuse them for a new purpose.  The RFP is posted at www.phoenix.gov/solicitations/846.  All questions about this active RFP must be submitted in writing to Robyn.Skramstad@phoenix.gov 

Recent RFPs

Since our last update email, the City has made progress on the following RFPs:

• Community Outreach and Awareness Services RFP – the City has contracted with Recyclebank, LLC to assist the City in educating residents about our solid waste programs, including recycling and green organics, through Recyclebank’s rewards program.
• Palm Fronds Diversion RFP – the City is in contract negotiations with Palm Silage Arizona, LLC, which will transform palm fronds into livestock feed.
• Compost Facility and Temporary Mulching Area Operator/Manager RFP – the City is in contract negotiations with We Care Organics LLC, which will manage the City’s compost facility.

Upcoming RFPs

The City anticipates issuing the following RFPs:

• Textile Diversion Services RFP
• Materials Exchange Program RFP
• Anaerobic Digester RFP (feasibility study underway)
• Landfill Gas RFP (feasibility study underway)
• Boxes and Packing Materials Diversion RFP
• Recycled Plastics (#1 – #2) Diversion RFP
• Recycled Paper Diversion RFP
• Recycled Plastics (#3 – #7) Diversion to Liquid Fuel RFP

This article is a little old on the subject, but it gives you some good background.

Those of you who know me know that I’m very in to sustainability and protecting our environment. So, I figured its about time that I team up with a locally-owned business to bring you some tips about green cleaning to sell.

My friends at GoinGreenHouse.com are practicing what they preach in house cleaning and I’ve been impressed with their efforts. And they’ve got some good tips for you.

So, here is the first of many articles that we’ve collaborated on. This issue: green cleaning to sell your home. Enjoy.

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Not many people know this, but you can lose a sale in the first 30 seconds that a buyer is in your home.

You’ve often heard that cleaning and de-cluttering any room appear more spacious and attractive to the buyer, allowing them to visualize how their own items would fit.

But cleaning works more at the subconscious level, which can be much more dangerous for your sale.

If these folks can’t keep the countertops clutter free for showing, what kind of clutter do they allow in the pipes?

If you don’t clean and de-clutter, you are signaling to the buyer a red flag that there may be other things that you are also not maintaining, like the air conditioner or the plumbing.

However, the easiest, cheapest and most-recommended DIY improvement for sellers is to CLEAN AND DE-CLUTTER. It’s easy to begin by removing clutter and personal items.

To get the most bang for your buck, you need to focus on the FOUR rooms that buyers are most interested in:

• Living Room
  • Store remotes, magazines, blankets, and other personal items
• Dining room
  • Streamline décor
• Kitchen
  • Keep out ONLY appliances that are used every few days, make sure to wipe them clean
  • Maintain a spotless stovetop and clean, dish-less sink
• Bathroom
  • Scrub grout free of mold and mildew
  • After each shower, towel dry or use a squeegee to prevent water spots on glass
  • Clear off countertops of non-essentials and store them in containers

In order to give the overall impression of a well-maintained home:

• Dust and wipe all surfaces, making sure not to forget baseboards, windowsills, and fans
• Wipe away dirty fingerprints from light switches, doors, handles, cabinet and drawer fronts
• Mop floors and vacuum carpets regularly
• Polish wood floors to a shine and be sure to clean grout on tile floors

But, don’t stop there. If you are going to go through all of this effort, I suggest that you green clean using environmental friendly and heavy chemical-free cleaners.  I’ve been in homes many times, especially renovations, where the chemical smell is overwhelming.

Buyers are increasingly aware of the negative health impacts of VOCs (volatile organic chemicals) and, just as in the case of an unclean house, it sends a subconscious signal that this space may be unsafe.

If all of these things are maintained on a daily basis, you’ll be ready for any buyers that come your way! So, if you are thinking to sell in a few months, or if you just need help, contact April at GoingGreenHouse.com and she will hook you up.

Then, once every couple weeks while the house is on the market, they can help you keep on top of the cleaning chores. This will make it easy to have the house ready for that final walk-through before closing!

And, as usual, if you need help building a successful strategy to sell your home, please contact us at 602-456-9388.

I was honored to be invited to the public presentation of a new pre-fabricated home that has been built for a returning war veteran named Said Ali, by a group called Rebuilding Together.

I was not part of the project, but I got a tour. This new home was build with impressive energy efficiency measures. It had solar hot water, a tankless water heater, energy efficient appliances, lots of insulation and LED ceiling lighting. I encouraged the planners to follow low water use landscaping for a lush desert look at the home, rather than grass, which would saddle the owners with huge water bills.

This use of energy efficiency in homes is not an academic issue. Let’s look at the numbers.

In a house this size, the inclusion of solar PV, solar water, water and electricity-efficient appliances and smart landscaping will save the owners between $150 and $200 per month. That is a savings of between $1,800 and $2,400 per year. If the owners of this home were to put that money in savings every month, they will have around $30,000 set aside for their young son to go to college 14 years from now.

That ain’t chicken feed.

Jump back to late 2010. At an urban infill site on the south end of downtown Phoenix, designer and visionary Vincenz Saccento has just installed three multi-units of his shiny, silver, boxes:  called V100 Modboxes. Watch this 3-min video produced at the time. Be awed. Be inspired. Be proud of these inventive Phoenicians. Then keep reading.

Did you watch the video?

Now hear this: From Get Your PHX, I bring August 2013 news of what has not been publically known until this very moment…

In the video you saw, you learned that the V100 Modbox can be constructed in just few days by people with no technical training. Well, get this. In my conversation with designer Vincenz Saccento last week, he told me something not previously announced to the public:

A full modbox can now be constructed in just 7 hours, by a single person, with no tools, and zero prior building experience!

That’s right. Seven hours. Still with no nails, screwdrivers, or hammers required. No screws, nails, or wood.  This baby is high-tech structural, aviation and aerospace materials that a school teacher or college student could build. But wait, there’s more!

That’s right, folks. When the last article about V100 Modbox was published in 2010 by Blue Vertical Media, the 2010 material for the walls was 4″ thick.

That’s the thickness of the walls in which Vincenz lives, today. They exceed the standards for LEED Platinum certification (meaning that out of 100 possible points in categories of the sustainability of the site, water efficiency, energy & atmosphere, materials & resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation in operations, the V100 Modbox far surpasses this rating).

So those 4″ walls are maybe an R35 insulation rating. He then showed me a piece of the wall for the next incarnation they’re building with today:

It’s 5/8 of one inch thick! Much less expensive. AND…

It’s like an R-zero rating. It could be 3000 degrees outside and that heat’s not getting through,” said Saccento.

The neighborhood in this hugely rundown area of town has been changing for the better since the V100 Modbox came here. Attitudes are changing. Neighbors are cleaning up outside their homes. Surprisingly, nobody has graffitied the Modboxes.

More of the same?

The “shimmery 10’x10‘x10’ boxes” are ready to go. Vincenz Saccento could have 100 of them ready in a month, if an order asked for them. But that’s not what he’s preparing to do next. He’s got his sites on a pop-up mall.

You go to an empty piece of land for 3-5 years and put in coffee, breakfast, lunch, bar, working/co-working space. Maybe it’s 40ft x 40ft x 20 ft.” ~ Vincenz

I heard last year that 2011 was the first year since the 1940s that more people moved in to urban cores than moved out. Well, I was wrong. It was the 1880s!

Check out this article from the Daily Mail about the book called The End of the Suburbs: Where the American Dream is Moving, which maintains this point.

I’ve seen this anecdotally for a while now, as I help people who want to live more centrally. They are tired of the commute, the empty neighborhoods and “lack of cultural amenities.”

It is difficult to prove that this is represented in the housing market in Phoenix, but we agents see it. Below is a little bit of information that sheds some light on what it means to live in an urban core now. Notice that two major central Phoenix zip codes lost less of their value than most other zip codes in the study.

I stand by my position that density equals security and prosperity –at least for a couple generations, I hope!

To learn more about specific neighborhoods, please give me a call at 602-456-9388.

You have an established business in Phoenix and you need architectural services for a new building or rehab structure, but you can’t afford it.

What do you do?

If you’re aware that the architectural firm C&H Associates—informally known as Abraham James, Patrick Hallman and Weldon Alexander—just won (for the second year in a row, mind you) the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the City of Phoenix (in conjunction with HUD), you just might qualify within the City of Phoenix, as one of a few firms to get their architectural services they need for free.

The last time C&H Associates were awarded the CDBG was in 2011, and they were able to help Jobot Coffee, the Firehouse Gallery, and the Canvas site (Pallet restaurant and the former Scratch restaurant) on Roosevelt Row.  They also worked on an auto body shop and an electrician’s office.

When Patrick, Walden, and Abraham were originally presented with the RFP and the opportunity to work with low to moderate-income clients within the city of phoenix, they knew it was perfect for them since they were basically already doing what was required to apply for the grant.

Wow, this is what we do. We have done this before, who better to do this than us. This is our clientele. ~ Abraham James

Despite eight other firms pursuing the CDBG Grant in 2011, C&H Associates were selected by the City of Phoenix as the only architectural firm in the program. Here we are in 2013, and the architects with a passion for bringing LEED certified architectural help to those who could not otherwise afford it—and a passion for urban farming, to boot—have again been selected by the City with the honor of passing on the rewards of the CDBG Grant to a few qualifying businesses.

This year, the guys expect to help [insert the number of] businesses with the funds they’ve been provided by the grant.

We are currently in discussions with a beauty salon, a bakery, a food preparation kitchen, and doctors office about their qualifications for CDBG funding and the potential of their projects. There are so many considerations which go into a project before starting. We are looking at every material from the ground up [with the objective] in mind to have beauty, energy savings and affordability. We like to believe that by outlining a framework of those components, we are even helping those who ultimately decide to not move forward with an actual project. ~ Patrick Hallman

The CDBG program is ideal for the kind of business that is moving forward but struggling with the 5% – 10% architectural fees of their project. By example only, a $200,000 project may have architectural fees in the $10,000 to $20,000 range.

How can you take advantage of the CDBG Grant and put these community-driven architects to work for you?

• Understand:  The program is not for non-profits or churches, but small businesses.
• Now contact C&H Associates (602) 265-0660 or Abraham James (abrahamj (at) cox (dot) net)
• Give them your zip code and they’ll see if you’re in a qualified ‘HUD Red Zone’.
• Understand:  There are opportunities if you’re not in a red zone, but you must prove you’ve hired people. The program is flexible and is sincerely looking for people who really need the help.
• C&H Associates will give you a CDBG application.
• Fill it out and they’ll submit it to the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Service department.
• If approved, C&H will develop your proposal for other consultants who will be involved in your project.
• Understand:  This program provides the architectural services only. Other services, such as engineering and construction must be paid by the client.
• Once a client’s approved, C&H reviews a host of design services to help assess needs and give you a clear vision of what those needs are. This includes an understanding of what you can afford and options to lower your energy bills.

If you want to buy or sell a home, instead, please give me a call at 602-456-9388 or email me at ken@getyourphx.com.

We’ve known it intuitively and anecdotally for a long time, but here is some great news that proves it: home values next to light rail are stronger.

In a recent blog by Michael Melaniphy (President and CEO, American Public Transportation Association (APTA)) he said:  “Average sales prices for residences in close proximity to high-frequency public transit were more stable during the recession”. This is not a guestimate, but backed up by strong data drawn from a nationwide report commissioned by APTA and the American Association of Realtors®.

The five cities upon which the study was based are a representative sample of the types of high-frequency public transit systems throughout the U.S. The five cities were Minneapolis-St. Paul, San Francisco, Chicago, Phoenix and Boston.

“During the last recession, residential property values performed 42 percent better on average if they were located near public transportation with high-frequency service.” ~ APTA and the American Association of Realtors®

Enter Phoenix’s $2.9 million Sustainable Communities grant (2011, from the Department of Housing and Urban Development) for Reinvent PHX —  a way to produce sustainability action plans for the five districts along the existing light rail line and establish a new transit-oriented model for urban development along the city’s light rail corridors.

As the nation continues to assign us with the unofficial title “World’s Least Sustainable City”, we’re still a “Bird on Fire” worth writing books about and paying attention to.  You may recall that in November last year, I wrote about Phoenix leading the Nation in Innovation and Efficiency.

A year ago, January, Native American Connections built a community for our growing, city-dwelling Native American populations in the mixed-use, mixed-income apartments of  the Divine Legacy, just across from the Campbell & Central light rail station.

In my post last September, I mentioned a great story on KJZZ’s Changing America series where the reporter talked about how retirees are moving into downtown areas and urban cores along the Valley Metro light-rail line.

And as The Atlantic noted in a post a couple days ago, it looks like Phoenix’s walkability gamble just might pay off.  Light rail homes gives people quicker access to alternate ways to get around town, access to jobs, and lower transportation costs in walkable areas.

All of this is particularly important if you are thinking to list your home. If you bought before about 2004 or between about 2009-2011, you are probably in a really good position to sell.

In the immortal words of one Hannibal Smith, “I love it when a plan comes together.”

If you want to buy or sell the right property near public transit, please give me a call at 602-456-9388 or email me at ken@getyourphx.com.

[metro image: King Chung Huang]

The folks at Co+Hoots have been temporarily working out of monOrchid for a couple months while their new office digs are finished, further downtown.

We’ve had a great time together, but when they leave there will be a few coveted spaces open around here. This is a great place to work.

I should know, I work here. We have a coffee shop, inexpensive but urban-hip office space, access to specialists in all fields and other amenities.

Check out this PDF document with the expected upcoming vacancies and the prices.

Give me a call at 602-456-9388 for information.

Energize Phoenix (not to be confused with the ever creative Ignite Phoenix) and Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton will unveil “Go Green Like Your Grocer“, a community energy efficiency showcase at AJ’s Fine Foods on Central Avenue and Camelback Road from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  this Saturday, June 30.

Why should you attend the Go Green Like Your Grocer event?

Other than hearing the Mayor’s announcement that rebates are doubled, up to $3,000, for the rest of the program?

“We are thrilled to showcase AJ’s commitment to energy efficiency and officially name them an Energize Phoenix Energy Saving Superhero,” said Mayor Stanton.  “Our goal is to encourage residents within the Energize Phoenix Corridor to complete a free home energy check-up so they can save money by saving energy and contribute to a sustainable community.”

What is Energize Phoenix?

“The city of Phoenix was awarded a $25 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Better Buildings Program and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to launch, in partnership with Arizona State University and Arizona Public Service, “Energize Phoenix,” a project that will save energy, create jobs and transform a diverse array of neighborhoods along a 10-mile stretch of the light rail line.” ~ energizephoenix.com

In addition to being a visible support of our great Phoenix community, applauding the energy saving efforts of Mayor Stanton, Energize Phoenix, and fine examples like AJ’s, you’ll be energizing your own awareness of the cool savings to be had this  monsoon season and through the year.

“Did I mention APS will be on-site giving away a free CFL bulb to attendees, as long as supplies last? Or that in a lot of cases double rebates will pay for 100% percent of energy efficiency project costs?” ~ Ken Clark 

(If you can quote yourself, you know you’re onto something good, right? 🙂

Energize Phoenix offers cash incentives and financing to help pay for energy saving projects for homes and businesses located within the Energize Phoenix Corridor, a 10-mile stretch (PDF) along the light rail line.

Get the full skinny in the Energize Phoenix Press Release.