About Us

About Us - Green Home and Dirty Jobs!

Hi! We're just your average family of 4, Dad, Mom, daughter, and son. We live in St. Louis, Missouri and in 2007 we had a very busy year. In addition to outlining the scope of our Waste Diet project, we had the fortunate opportunity to design and build a new green home for our family. I'm an architect and my husband runs a scrap metal yard and together, we designed a 2600 s.f., 4-bedroom home that conserves water and energy, and is built with environmentally friendly products. Our house is certified under 2 green building programs, the NAHB Green Building Initiative and the USGBC LEED for homes program. In July of 2007, we moved into our new Kirkwood (St. Louis suburb) home that was built for us by Belcher Homes. Our house has been featured in several articles listed below.

In October of 2007, John's Scrap Metal Yard, Cash's Scrap Metal and Iron, was filmed for the reality TV Show "Dirty Jobs". To learn more about scrap metal recycling and to see John's debut, you can click on the links below. Look for the program called "Steel Mill Worker".

Click on any of the logos below to access the articles.

USA Today, Nov. 1, 2007 "Eco-friendly homes are moving into mainstream", page 13A. Growing awareness among builders and home buyers of environmentally friendly building materials and methods - plus government Efforts to address climate change are fueling the focus on eco-friendly single-family homes......
St. Louis Commerce Magazine, Nov. 2007, "Eco-Friendly Homebuilders Are Seeing Green", page 90. Environmentally conscious homebuilders are increasingly seeing green in the St. Louis area, which is developing a reputation as an eco-home hot spot. St. Louis was named new Green Homebuilding Program of the year by the National Association of Home Builders at its nationwide conference held here in March......
GreenBuilder Magazine, Aug. 2007, "St. Louis VISION House shows sustainability and Style", page 44. After years with her family in a drafty starter home, Engelmohr wanted a higher-performance house. As an architect, she had seen the spectrum of green possibilities in larger buildings, and thought the best option for her would be new construction......
GreenBuilder Magazine, Apr 2007 "Siding Showcase", page 24. First Line of Defense - It doesn't matter what green or energy-efficient principles you use inside the house if the outside doesn't keep the elements at bay.....
Green Building Blocks, "Kirkwood Development". When sustainable home building becomes mainstream, it will not be costly McMansions loaded with radical technology that turn a trend into everyday reality. It will be because affordable, sustainable homes for average American families are placed in intimate, well-designed pockets that seem to belong intrinsically. It will be because of developments like this five-home community in Kirkwood, Missouri......
KSDK Channel 5 News, "St. Louis Housing Market is Going Green." Green homes are going up across the St. Louis area. Green homeowner Maren Engelmohr learned about the benefits of green through her professional experience as an architect. Click on the video link to see a video of our house.
KSDK Channel 5 News, Jan 15, 2008 "St. Louis Business is getting national attention." Cash's Scrap Metal and Iron can be described a dozen different ways, but peaceful and clean definitely aren't two of them. click on the video link to see a promo for "Dirty Jobs"
St. Louis Post Dispatch, Jan 15, 2008 "Bargin' In". Somebody had to do it, right? That's how it works with dirty jobs. And they're doing it in St. Louis. Tonight's episode of "Dirty Jobs" — the popular Discovery Channel show that airs at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays — will take place on the hard-edged shore of the St. Louis riverfront.
Dirty Jobs "Steel Mill Worker". Mike Rowe gets dirty in St. Louis as he works with a river barge demolition team and then melts down the scrap steel into molten metal.

House photo album:

	USA Today, Nov. 1, 2007 "Eco-friendly homes are moving into mainstream", page 13A. Growing awareness among builders and home buyers of environmentally friendly building materials and methods - plus government Efforts to address climate change are fueling the focus on eco-friendly single-family homes......
	St. Louis Commerce Magazine, Nov. 2007, "Eco-Friendly Homebuilders Are Seeing Green", page 90. Environmentally conscious homebuilders are increasingly seeing green in the St. Louis area, which is developing a reputation as an eco-home hot spot. St. Louis was named new Green Homebuilding Program of the year by the National Association of Home Builders at its nationwide conference held here in March......
	GreenBuilder Magazine, Aug. 2007, "St. Louis VISION House shows sustainability and Style", page 44. After years with her family in a drafty starter home, Engelmohr wanted a higher-performance house. As an architect, she had seen the spectrum of green possibilities in larger buildings, and thought the best option for her would be new construction......
	GreenBuilder Magazine, Apr 2007 "Siding Showcase", page 24. First Line of Defense - It doesn't matter what green or energy-efficient principles you use inside the house if the outside doesn't keep the elements at bay.....
	Green Building Blocks, "Kirkwood Development". When sustainable home building becomes mainstream, it will not be costly McMansions loaded with radical technology that turn a trend into everyday reality. It will be because affordable, sustainable homes for average American families are placed in intimate, well-designed pockets that seem to belong intrinsically. It will be because of developments like this five-home community in Kirkwood, Missouri......
	KSDK Channel 5 News, "St. Louis Housing Market is Going Green." Green homes are going up across the St. Louis area. Green homeowner Maren Engelmohr learned about the benefits of green through her professional experience as an architect. Click on the video link to see a video of our house.
	KSDK Channel 5 News, Jan 15, 2008 "St. Louis Business is getting national attention." Cash's Scrap Metal and Iron can be described a dozen different ways, but peaceful and clean definitely aren't two of them. click on the video link to see a promo for "Dirty Jobs"
	St. Louis Post Dispatch, Jan 15, 2008 "Bargin' In". Somebody had to do it, right? That's how it works with dirty jobs. And they're doing it in St. Louis. Tonight's episode of "Dirty Jobs" — the popular Discovery Channel show that airs at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays — will take place on the hard-edged shore of the St. Louis riverfront.
	Dirty Jobs "Steel Mill Worker". Mike Rowe gets dirty in St. Louis as he works with a river barge demolition team and then melts down the scrap steel into molten metal.