Miami City Hall Greening

Compact Living

Any interest in organizing an LHB team dedicated to a year of Compact living as described in the Living Green magazine (pg 16) Mary Larson e-mailed today? We could set up our own guidelines and see how creative we get with local sources...

Formula 1 Greening (Int. Herald Trib. Blog)

From the International Tribune:

Can Formula One really make motor sports green?

Posted by James Kanter in Automobiles, General

Once airlines and carmakers started rebranding as green businesses, it was only a matter of time before Formula One motor racing — the sport that is perhaps the most emblematic of our fossil-fuel-powered world — took a similar path.

This week in Geneva, Max Moseley, the president of the sport’s rule-making body, the International Automobile Federation, announced how he intended to deliver on earlier promises to adapt Formula One to a world where carbon profligacy is increasingly frowned upon, and in some cases (think of those bans on the humble incandescent light bulb) outlawed.

Starting this season, F1 cars must use some biofuel in their tanks. In addition, the practice of doing laps that serve little purpose other than burning off fuel will be dropped. Starting next season, clean technology systems to harvest kinetic energy from deceleration and to capture heat from machines’ powerful engines will become mandatory.

The measures, said Moseley, “will make the sport at once more environmentally friendly and road relevant” and put it “at the cutting edge of future automotive technology.”

Even so, it remains an open question whether the sport can survive and thrive in a world where performance is prized above efficiency — no matter how much F1 bosses insist that those goals are complementary.

For more on the greening of the sport, look out for a story this weekend by our Formula One correspondent and blogger, Brad Spurgeon, who will be reporting from the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Recycled Grape Juice Box Dress in Action

An Eco-Friendly Pianist Wears Her Heart on Her Sleeveless Dress

Julieta Cervantes for The New York Times

SOYEON LEE performed at Zankel Hall on Tuesday. She wore a dress made of recycled juice containers for the second half of the recital.

ST. Louis County Wind

Stopped by the St. Louis County wind power installation ribbon cutting this afternoon. A perfect winter day, 8 degrees, clear bright sunshine and fortunately not too much wind until the end of the ceremony so we could see the units spin. Six cool looking Architectural Wind units made by AV connected to a 6 kw Windy Boy inverter.

Greening the World

Some "Green" Projects being publicized that I saw in Dan Holohan's electronic newsletter:

A Green Office Building in Paris





Green Community based Project "Green Street" in Wales

A Green Homeless Shelter in Calif

Irish efforts to eliminate Plastic Bags.

International / Europe

Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

Published: February 2, 2008

The Irish have embraced the use of cloth bags to carry groceries, encouraged by a 33-cent tax on plastic ones.

Read Article Here

The statistics in the article about the number of bags used are unbelievable!!

Get Blogging

Here is an excerpt from Fireball Tim, a custom car guy in SoCal on why to blog:

"Design, Build and DRIVE with Passion!" FEBRUARY 2008 --------------------------------------------------------------

A NOTE FROM THE FIREBALL..."BLOG IT!"

We're all here to make a difference, ...in any way we can. And sharing our experiences is a great way to achieve that!

And THAT'S why I blog. Blogging is not only fun, but allows us all to communicate and share in new and exciting ways, helping to inspire us to be creative!

And getting inspired breeds ACTION!!

So, make it a point to visit you buddy's blog or start your own! And share what you know so that others can be inspired to make great changes and live life to the fullest. If your blog is cool, LET ME KNOW and I'll post it!! Yes, I like to learn things too!

Give more to get more! Share and Experience! THAT'S what it means to be FIREBALLED!"

Fireball Tim!

Test Blog

This is a test. Here is a photo. Send me a mail message.

Another discussion about Food miles

This from Dovetail Partners



http://www.dovetailinc.org/dovetailcomm0108.html

Open Eco-House at Hawk's Ridge

Hey LHB Green Team!

There is an open eco-house up at Hawk's Ridge that showcases a house with a passive solar design & renewable energy. (Annual heating cost is $300!!!???? Can this be true?)

Advertised as every Tuesday & Thursday from 3pm to 8pm & the 2nd Sunday of each month from noon -4pm.

Address is 2809 Snowy Owl Circle, Duluth, MN
(218) 733-1451

more info on www.womenworking.org
Maybe we can get a group together to carpool.

Heidi

James Howard Kunstler at The TED Conference

In James Howard Kunstler's view, public spaces should be inspired centers of civic life and the physical manifestation of the common good. Instead, he argues, what we have in America is a nation of places not worth caring about. Reengineering our cities will involve more radical change than we are prepared for, Kunstler believes, but our hand will be forced by earth crises stemming from our national lifestyle. "Life in the mid-21st century," Kunstler says, "is going to be about living locally."

A blog post from the UK " Is this the end of south facing glazing?"

Link

Cool Stuff about really advanced windows are in this article and whether it makes sense for ZNE building to have south facing glazing.

Commercial Composters

If you aren’t handy enough or have enough time to make your own composter, here are some commercial units:

 

http://www.gardeners.com/Composters/20706,default,sc.html?SC=LNA7003A

 

This post was e-mailed to the blog.

 

 

SMART Certified Sustainable Products

For the Green Team meeting on January 8, 2008, we watched a webinar broadcast about Certified Sustainable Products, presented by Michael L. Italiano, CEO of Market Transformation to Sustainability (webinar was sponsored by the Environmental Design & Construction magazine). After the webinar I requested the list of SMART certified products and received the following response:


Kiiri,

Thanks for your inquiry! The certified products are:

• Forbo SMaRT© Platinum Certified Linoleum Flooring


• Forbo SMaRT© Platinum Certified Furniture Linoleum


• Forbo SMaRT© Platinum Certified Bulletin Board Linoleum


• Milliken Patterned Carpet Tile with ESP Cushion


• Milliken Modular Carpet Tile


• Knoll Life Chair

There were more carpet products certified but we now list only certified sustainable carpet that is PVC free in our USGBC Education Provider Program. Please let us know if you have any other questions. Thanks!

With best regards,

Michael L. Italiano

President & CEOFounder/Director/CEO Board, US Green Building Council CEO, Capital Markets PartnershipMarket Transformation to Sustainability1511 Wisconsin Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20007202-338-3131 p202-338-2800 fhttp://mts.sustainableproducts.comAccelerating the Global Market Transformation to SustainabilityObtain LEED credit for Certified Sustainable Products: http://mts.sustainableproducts.com/SMART/LEED

New to Blogging?

OK fellow bloggers, what we want to see is some stories or photo's or just about anything else that is of interest to you and pertains to Sustainability and the Green Team. Use the buttons above the edit box to add content like links to other sites photos and video clips. Use preview to see how it will turn out. Let me know if you want help with anything.

Toshio

New Web Site for LEED AP exams

LEED AP Credential Now Administered Through GBCI.org
Over the last seven years, the LEED Professional Accreditation program has verified that more than 43,000 building professionals have an understanding of green building techniques, the LEED® Green Building Rating System™ and the certification process.

Now, with USGBC’s enthusiastic backing, the LEED AP credential will be administered by a separately incorporated organization, the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). The formation of GBCI creates administrative independence between the LEED Rating Systems and the LEED AP credential—an important requirement in seeking accreditation for professional credentialing programs by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

USGBC will continue to handle development of the LEED Rating Systems and offer LEED-based education programs. GBCI will manage all aspects of the LEED Professional Accreditation program including exam development, registration and delivery.

Nothing will change for LEED Accredited Professionals except that the LEED AP Directory listing can now be updated at the GBCI Web site, www.gbci.org. GBCI.org is also the place to learn about LEED Professional Accreditation, register for the LEED AP Exam, find LEED Accredited Professionals in your area, and access your LEED AP exam records.

Visit GBCI today!