Today, the GSN team extends our help to Maui - we are here to provide our expert ‘Green Building’ services should anyone need to call upon us and we will do our best to direct a portion of non-profit donations this month to your community.
GSN believes home-offices waste too much energy, emit greenhouse gasses, and place excessive strain on the local environment.
There’s a mindset that building environmentally-friendly, ‘carbon negative’ home-offices is complicated and expensive and GSN’s mission to prove differently.
We want to be part of the solution. Go Sustainable Now is a non-profit with a mission to address these problems and provide ongoing education to our community stakeholders to ‘Go Green.’
Building with Hempcrete & Hempwool
For definition, ‘Hemp (aka ‘industrial hemp’) is a botanical class of Cannabis sativa cultivars which is grown specifically for its industrial and/or medicinal use. Hemp is cultivated for its industrious fiber quality and when milled it becomes a medium to fine shiv (similar to a wood mulch texture). Hemp is a global industrious material dating back centuries used for building block insulation, rope, clothing, sails and more.’
Today, the use of hemp as a building material is on the rise based on its environmentally friendly qualities and natural impact to reduce CO2. The two most popular products in the market are Hempcrete and Hempwool.
For over a decade, GSN’s technical experts has studied the benefits of building with both rammed earth and Hempcrete. Today, GSN is pioneering its first ‘carbon negative’ home-office residential build using both Hempcrete and Hempwool — all showcasing their insulation and natural properties. For example, hempcrete will be applied within traditional wood framing to insulate the main walls of the structure, while hempwool will be used as a soft insulation in the ceiling. Together, the hempcrete and hempwool will provide up to over 40 R Value, which is three times that of traditional materials, e.g., concrete, gypsum, drywall, etc.
A 2022 project photo to illustrate a hempcrete / wood frame structure. This is considered the tamping method of hempcrete representing the mixture of hemp hurd, lime binder and H2O.
is a mixture of water, lime binder (finely ground limestone) and hemp chiv. Once dried, it hardens similar to concrete, yet its properties are far more valuable: mold proof, fireproof, bug proof and breathable encouraging passive cooling and heating throughout a building structure.
Hempcrete
is a sister building product to hempcrete. The hemp shiv is finally milled into a hemp wool texture, which once compacted into square building insulation pads feels like ‘sheep wool.’
Hempwool
These two hemp products combined—when finished with a natural lime-based plaster—create interior and exterior walls that are undeniably beautiful, resulting in a venetian-like plaster with a smooth feeling to the touch.
How GSN is ‘Going Green.’
Rainwater Collection Systems
Did you know…if you could collect 1 inch of rainwater from any hard surface that is over 1000SF, you would get 620 gallons of water? Just imagine, if you multiply this over a one year period you’d collect 7,440 gallons of water! Based on your square footage of space, we invite you to do the calculations.
Over time, we all know consistently removing water from our lakes, reservoirs and rivers adversely impacts the environment–which limits the abilities to properly serve the needs of people, animals and our communities. Our GSN rainwater collection systems along with our partners positively impact our surrounding environment and ultimately, supports our mission to sustainably Go Green.
Protecting the Monarchs
Monarchs have been in decline since the mid-1990’s, largely due to the destruction of their primary host plant, milkweed, and the degradation of their habitats (Kost, Oberhauser & Villalobos, 2011). This decline has been particularly pronounced in urban areas, where the lack of natural habitats has led to a lack of food for migrating monarchs (Kost et al., 2011). The decline in monarchs has serious consequences for the environment, as the absence of monarchs can disrupt the delicate balance between plants and pollinators (Kost et al., 2011).
Monarch butterflies are an important species of pollinators, playing a vital role in sustaining the balance of the ecosystem; especially, along the Central Coast of California which is one of their direct migration paths between Mexico and Canada. GSN’s goal is to establish with several community partner collaborators, including Native Monarchs located in Ventura County, to identify, develop and maintain natural habitats to support indigenous pollinators – together, we can identify home gardens, large farm acreage and/or schools to plant milkweed to support our monarch’s migration cycles, but also provide the education and resources needed to maintain milkweed – ultimately helping our monarchs survive and thrive.
Energy Conservation Technology
The GSN leadership team has deep-seated knowledge in the SaaS industry and is bringing its commercial-grade technologies into its home-office plans through its ‘One-Touch Entertainment, Security & Environmental Control Platform.’ From the ease of any of your mobile devices to your home remotes, the GSN One-Touch suite of solutions will lower energy costs by nearly 40% in a dwelling size between 1500 to 2000SF.
Today’s society and future generations will have a high demand for exceptional, functional and low-cost technical solutions; therefore, GSN is actively incorporating smart SaaS in its building project sites.
Ancient Techniques + Materials = Technological Sustainable Innovation
By 2024-2025, our goal is to build GSN’s carbon-negative home-office educational ‘headquarters’ center in Ventura County. GSN aims to stimulate enthusiasm for sustainable living and prove that these building techniques can be inexpensive, uncomplicated, and highly effective. This headquarters location will give GSN a platform to bring our carbon negative building ‘know-how to communities across Ventura County, greater-California and eventually, across the United States.
Architectural draft renderings of a Go Sustainable Now 'Carbon Negative' Home-Office concept
