sustainable style foundation*

After your done (or before your start) with the kitchen or bathroom renovation, Building REsources is the place to go in San Francisco when you have or want old cabinets, flooring or other building materials. For contractors, artists, or home DIYers, the nonprofit, business, education center and a materials exchange facility believes that a sustainable society is an educated society, so they offer free workshops to help you make the most of your repurposed stuff. [Building REsrouces]

organicARCHITECT was founded in 1997 by Eric Corey Freed in San Francisco as an alternative to the traditional design practice. Today, our team practices what he preached. They believe green design does not have to be boring. High end design and environmental responsibility are not mutually exclusive. After all, in the future all buildings will be green. We believe this to be inevitable. The office is different from most, and divided into several areas: architecture, consulting, education, community, events, publishing, and research.[Organic Architect]

Founded to empower, enrich and educate their clients, Green Key Real Estate is the first and (so far) only green real estate company in San Francisco. They focus on incorporating environmentally responsible and socially just principles and practices into all aspects of their business. Green Key runs an office waste minimization program, powers their offices with wind energy, and donates a portion of their profits to promote green building practices. [Green Key Real Estate]

Located in Berkeley, Ecohome Improvement is bursting with "ecological and healthy home improvement products," including flooring, cabinetry, countertops, tile, paints & plasters and stains & sealers. They also offer a Cabinetry Design Service, with a free design estimate, as well as complete kitchen and bathroom design services. Their extensive products and services will help you make just about any home-improvement project more sustainable. [Ecohome Improvement]

Promoting both an organic and individual approach to design, architect, author & educator Eric Corey Freed sculpts innovative buildings that embody ecological & social responsibility. organicARCHITECT creates designs to question, innovate and delight their clients. They believe green design does not have to be boring. [organicARCHITECT]

Energy-Star qualified living in the Bay Area can be found here. From the windows and paints to the roof and floors, this one of the best modern eco-living examples in all of Northern California. Settled in Emeryville and close to public transporation, GreenCity Lofts are available for purchase in a range of different sizes and layouts. [GreenCity Lofts]

SFIA was created to offer new alternatives in design education while retaining the best features of exceptional traditional schools. In the process of creating one of the first and most comprehensive programs in Ecological Design in the U.S., they are developing curricula and textbooks in cooperation with other schools in an emerging Ecological Design Consortium. Above all, SFIA is dedicated to helping all students reach their highest creative potential. [San Francisco Institute of Architecture]

UC Berkeley's virtual library has just about everything anyone would ever want to know about green building and design. Building codes and specifications, home design, building materials, civic projects, journals; you name it, they pretty much have it, and their website will help you find it. [UC Berkeley Environmental Design Library]

With offices in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Columbus, New York, London, Beijing and Shanghai, NBBJ is a truly global architecture and design firm that believes that ideas change everything. As the third largest design firm in the country (and fifth-largest in the world), NBBJ has experience with just about everything, and they do it all with a smart growth approach and a goal of fostering meaningful, socially reinforcing communities. [NBBJ]