I grew P. tenuifolium in Watsonville and was happy with the speed and denseness of the foliage. I planted 5 gallon size plants 3 feet apart on the north side of the lot as a screen of the neighbors. I kept it at 10 feet for several years before selling the house. Al

Hi, juniork, thanks for your compliments about our "sites"! We actually were referred to our home/plan designer by a general contractor who was an acquaintance of ours. What we liked about our designer was his laid-back personality and the fact that he was very easy to work with. We also really wanted someone who would let us design the home ourselves and who had the experience and knowledge to provide us with input and guidance on layout and flow, so he fit our needs perfectly. I know what you mean about the *cost* of building in the Bay Area, but one thing that has helped us with our budget is that we don't limit our bids to contractors/vendors that are located in the immediate vicinity of where we're building. You can see where our team members are from on the "team" page on our site, but I'd say so far it's 50/50 between local and out-of-area. Anyway, I'd love to share my resources with you, so please feel free to contact me either through my GW page or through my website: Here is a link that might be useful: Send me an instant message through VineyardAvenue.com

A site in the Bay area where you can build a house...What a lucky person! I would think that you would want to put the most beautiful and well designed and built structure on your property as possible. Given this rare opportunity, I would suggest that you find an architect - one who designs 'green' and is sensitive to the land. In the end, for many reasons, an architect can save you at least the fee that she or he charges, help you develop and express your own unique vision of home, and create a structure that will be a testament to conscientious building rather than another blight on the land. As an alternative, you may find architecturally designed homes on these websites: healthyhomeplans.com or architecturalhouseplans.com These plans have been designed and built for actual clients, and are offered as an alternative to standard stock plans. If you find a plan, you could take it to an architect or engineer to detail for your particular codes and conditions. I think there are a number of plans that were designed for sloped properties. An architect or engineer could easily modify the plans to work with your conditions. Good luck with your project!

True HEPA, is not just a filter choice (standard HVAC systems cant work with that static pressure) Real HEPA systems involve adding an additional piece of equipment with it's own fan, and filters approximately 15-20% of the return airflow, of the overall system return air.