“Colorado bus maker Proterra Thursday officially announced they plan to build a state of the art research and manufacturing facility at the Clemson University ICAR campus, an investment of $68 million that should create 1,300 jobs over the next seven years.” – excerpt from journalwatchdog.com. Click HERE for more information. The image above is from the article.
Doesn’t this home look like something straight out of The Hobbit?
The “low impact woodland home” exists in Wales. It was built by the owner with regard for the environment. It’s dug into the hillside, which means it’s probably energy efficient too. The foundation and retaining walls are made with mud and stone. Straw bales in the floor, walls, and roof help insulate the home. Reclaimed wood was used for the floor and fittings.
This building is one part of a low-impact or permaculture approach to life. This sort of life is about living in harmony with both the natural world and ourselves, doing things simply and using appropriate levels of technology. These sort of low cost, natural buildings have a place not only in their own sustainability, but also in their potential to provide affordable housing which allows people access to land and the opportunity to lead more simple, sustainable lives. For example this house was made to house our family whilst we worked in the woodland surrounding the house doing ecological woodland management and setting up a forest garden, things that would have been impossible had we had to pay a regular rent or mortgage. This is an excerpt from Alternative Housing
Many buildings constructed within the last decade have already experienced major failures due to water damage and air leakage across the building envelope that caused condensation and mold growth. Now, building scientists are emphasizing the benefits of using effective air barriers for homeowners and trades. Air barriers significantly reduce random air leakage, conserving up to 40 percent of a building’s energy loss and improving indoor air quality, when combined with mechanical ventilation. Air barriers also extend the life of a building by minimizing the flow of airborne moisture that can breed condensation, mold growth and decay.Icynene delivers high-performance solutions for efficient building envelopes, thermal comfort and a healthy living environment – all of which are integral components of green building and design. Icynene can also contribute points/credits to LEED for Homes + the NAHB National Green Building Standard. – excerpt from Icynene.com
“A new publication provides a thorough yet easy-to-read overview of the issue of climate change in our state. “Climate Change in South Carolina” describes the impact of climate change on South Carolina’s environment, public health, and economy. It goes on to detail solutions both individual and collective: efficiency and conservation, renewable energy innovation, and political leadership. The 24-page booklet is the product of former Upstate Forever intern Colin Hagan’s yearlong Compton Mentor Fellowship and was co-sponsored by Upstate Forever, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and Abell Muiltimedia”. – Excerpt from Upstate Update monthly bulletin.
Click on the link below to view the guide.
SC Guide to Climate Change
Â
“The Sustainability Institute is embarking on a new project to make green building a little easier. The institute has launched the S.C. Green Building Directory, on online resource that lets users search for products and services that further green building efforts. Companies register on the site at no charge, and the institute approves each company before adding it to the directory. Users can search by company, product, service, LEED credit or construction topic. “Overall, the goal is that it (the directory) really promotes green commerce in South Carolina,” said institute Executive Director Bryan Cordell. “We hope it turns into a green building exchange.”
About 120 companies have registered, and Cordell said he hopes to quadruple that number.Â
The project is funded through grants from the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control, Department of Commerce and Energy Office”. – Excerpt from SC BIZ Magazine
Click on the link below for more information on the SC. Green Building Directory.
“We’ve all heard often enough that it’s time to start thinking and acting green. We’re depleting the Earth’s resources in record amounts, and it’s becoming more and more clear that we need to start thinking in terms of protecting and preserving the Earth and her resources when we build. Despite all the public knowledge about the importance of sustainable and renewable building practices, there’s still a lot of resistance to the idea of “going greenâ€. One of the biggest reasons – the notion that it’s more expensive to use sustainable materials and consider environmental issues.
Obviously, it’s not financially feasible for most of us to completely gut our homes and replace them with totally green and environmentally responsible buildings, but that’s not the only way to accomplish the goal of living a greener life. There are a lot of things that you can do on a shoestring budget that don’t require any major investment of either time or energy. You can take bigger steps toward living a greener life when you’re ready to make major renovations to your home. While there’s a general belief that choosing greener products and alternatives will cost you more money, that’s not always true. In many cases, the greener alternative costs no more than or even less than the traditional option. In nearly all cases, you’ll make up any additional cost over the course of a few years.
No matter what renovations you’re doing, you’ll find that there are green alternatives that aren’t much more expensive than the traditional alternatives, and many that cost even less. When you factor in the ongoing savings and the added value to your home, green is the best way to go”. – Excerpt from greenbuildingarticles.com.
Click on the link below to read some valuable suggestions.
“Washington, DC—The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) has just published a monograph on the field’s hottest topic: building green. Sustainable Design II examines important new developments, tools, and techniques in sustainable design that have occurred since the publication of NCARB’s Sustainable Design in 2001.
Increasing concern about global climate change has raised public awareness about sustainable design and now requires architects to address these critical issues. “Sustainable design has entered the mainstream as a significant environmental and economic force in building design, construction, and development,†according to authors Muscoe Martin, AIA, LEED and Gregory Franta, FAIA. Sustainable Design II takes an in-depth look at the emergence of green building rating systems, most notably the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certification. It also examines the costs and benefits of green buildings and integrated design strategies.
Successful completion of the Sustainable Design II quiz earns 12 professional development units (PDUs) and/or AIA learning units in health, safety, and welfare. The monograph’s price includes the monograph, the web-based quiz, the score reporting process, and one free retest if needed. Online, fax, or mail orders are accepted for all NCARB monographs.
Order online or visit the publication section of NCARB’s web site at
http://www.ncarb.org/publications/index.html to see other available titles.
Sustainable Design II
By Muscoe Martin, AIA, LEED, and Gregory Franta, FAIA
138 Pages
Regular Price: $275
NCARB Record holders: $175
NCARB’s monograph series provides a convenient, low-cost way for architects and other design professionals to learn about new developments in the industry and meet continuing education requirements. Current NCARB Record holders may earn multiple PDUs in health, safety, and welfare for less than $16 per unit— one of the lowest continuing education unit costs available today. All passing scores are reported to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) at no extra cost.” – Copied from www.NCARB.org.
Click on the link below to find out more about this series.
 
Don’t you just hate all those styrofoam peanuts that you get in packages! Or those styrofoam blocks around electronics and the like.Â
Well, I received an email about recycling styrofoam and some tips on how to do just that. Some of the tips I had not heard of before but were good ones.
I had heard that you can take the peanuts to places that ship packages and they will take them. Just bag them up and take the bag to them. I think the smaller shipping places would appreciate them more than the “big named” ones.
Click on the link below to read the article.
 
On Friday, April 18th, Rock Port, Mo., became “the first city in the country capable of meeting 100 percent of its electricity demand from wind power, according to Wind Capital Group, the developer of the wind power facility in Rock Port.
St. Louis-based Wind Capital Group’s Loess Hills wind power facility, located in Rock Port, produces up to 16 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, which exceeds the 13 million kilowatt hours Rock Port uses each year.
“By generating enough clean, renewable electricity to meet all of Rock Port’s energy needs while also generating additional revenue for their tax base, the Loess Hills facility is a shining example of the benefits of wind energy development,” Tom Carnahan, president of Wind Capital Group, said in a statement.
Electricity generated from Loess Hills not used by homes and businesses in Rock Port will be purchased by the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission (MJMEUC) for use in other communities across Missouri. As part of this arrangement, MJMEUC will supply Rock Port’s power needs when the wind turbines are not generating at capacity.
Rock Port and 31 other city-owned utilities across Missouri receive their electric supply as part of the Missouri Public Energy Pool (MoPEP). MJMEUC coordinates the joint action of Missouri’s publicly-owned utilities, including aggregated power purchases for MoPEP cities.
To celebrate being America’s first wind-powered community, Rock Port, which is located in the far northwest corner of Missouri, will host a “Green Switch” celebration on Friday.
Wind Capital Group, a wind energy developer, was founded by Carnahan in 2005. Carnahan’s brother is U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan and his sister is Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan”. – Excerpt from Baltimore’s bizjournals.com. Â
Click on the link below to listen to the 3rd part of the interview with Donnie Nix.
 
Â
After the tornado.
Â
Artist rendering of the new Greensburg.
Last May, the small Kansas town of Greensburg was almost demolished by an EF-5 tornado. Twelve of their residents died and 95% of the community’s structures were lost.Â
This May we see that the small town is “rebuilding as a model green community, focusing on energy self-sufficiency and other principles of sustainability, with the aim to become the greenest community in America”. -Â Excerpt from www.GreensburgGreenTown.org.
Click on the links below to read more about the rebuilding of this community.
“There’s No Place Like a Green Demo Home”
Â
Â
 
“Earth Day falls every year on April 22, in celebration of the importance of the environment and to encourage action. It was initiated in 1970 by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, who started a “teach-in” to protest the government’s environmental ignorance. This eventually led to legislation including the Environmental Policy Act (1969), the Clean Air Act (1970), the Clean Water Act (1977) and fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.
Recycling is one of the easiest ways for people to take action on behalf of the environment, a way to make Every Day Earth Day. Recycling reduces the amount of waste in landfills, and prevents hazardous materials from leaking into our soil and water systems.
Earth day is a day to stop and think about your affect on the environment and what you can do to help protect it. One of the best ways to do that is by properly disposing of the products in your life”.
Click on the link below to read more about how you can take part on this day and every day.
For some people, going to church isn’t the same as it use to be. No stained glass windows, no pews, no choir, in fact, no church building. Many new churches, called church plants, meet where ever they can find available space. Some people won’t come to a traditional church for various reasons so these churches go to the people. Many of them meet in schools or store fronts. They still preach and teach God’s word but just in a different setting.
The set-up at these churches is quite different. When I say “set-up”, I really mean to set up. Every week, volunteers come in and set up for the preschool department, the children’s department, the band, and any other area that is needed to “have church”.Â
One area that is kind of new is the children’s “check-in” station.  When you come in, someone will be there to greet you and to “check” your children in for their classes. You give the volunteers a unique security code for your child that only you know.  In order to get your child after service, you must give them this code. This is one way that the church provides you with peace of mind while you are in the worship service.Â
Most of the software that is used at these “check-in” stations is very expensive but we have a solution to that.Â
Kid Konnection is “check-in” software that is easy to use and is very affordable for those churches that want “big church” resourses but have “little church” funds.
Brendan O’Gorman, owner of BrenWaves LLC, created this software when he saw how unorganized their church “check-in” had become. All it takes is a laptop computer and a label printer.
Click on the link below for more information.
“On the job at Northpointe Church, pastor Tommy Vandiver is a picture of tranquility — even when 12-week-old son Joshua is around.
On the motocross racetrack, Vandiver fits in nicely with the chaos.
“I enjoy it immensely,” he says of his unusual hobby. “It’s addictive — when you get into it, it gets in your blood.”
The highly-competitive Vandiver began participating in motocross races as a teenager. He “retired” from the sport during his days as a seminary student, but returned to the mud-soaked motorcycle battles after moving to Greenville in 1996.
“The day after a race, I’m usually pretty sore. Most of the competitors are a lot younger,” says Vandiver. “But it’s a lot of fun.”
For Vandiver, 41, the roar of motocross racing helps satisfy a sense of adventure and keeps his competitive juices flowing. He competed in football, track and wrestling at Commerce (Ga.) High in the mid-1980s, and in more recent years enjoyed competing in half-marathons until knee problems stalled that hobby.
The same sense of adventure has shaped Vandiver’s career. The man who came to Greenville as minister of music at White Oak Baptist Church in 1996 had two large leaps of faith in 2002, when he started a new church — and took on the role of pastor.
“I never saw myself as a pastor. I didn’t really want that responsibility,” says Vandiver. “But I just felt like God was leading us to start a church in this area.”
The “us” reference includes wife Iuliana (pronounced U-lee-anna), another part of Vandiver’s life that meshes divine intervention with his adventurous nature. Vandiver was part of a mission team to Romania in 1998 and was asked by the South Carolina Baptist Convention to lead a team to Bucharest, Romania, the following year. At the last minute, the trip was changed to the southeastern Romanian city of Buzau. Iuliana was assigned to meet the mission team as a translator.” – Excerpt from The Greenville News’ City People, February 13, 2008 by Abe Hardesty.
Click on the link below to read the entire article.
Subscribe to this site's RSS feed.
 
 