“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

Green 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 green”. 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.

Going Green

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.

NCARB Monograph Series

Well we all know that summer brings a lot of hot weather and very little rain, especially here in the South.  Eartheasy has put together some tips that will help your lawn survive the drought this summer.  

Click on the link below for some very helpful tips.

Drought

Don’t you just hate all those styrofoam peanuts that you get in packages!  Or those styrofoam blocks around electronics and the like. 

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.

Styrofoam

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.  

donnie-nix-part-3.mp3

After the tornado.

 

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. 

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”. -  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”

Town Rebounding

 

 

“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.

Earth Day 2008

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”. 

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. 

Most of the software that is used at these “check-in” stations is very expensive but we have a solution to that. 

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.

Kid Konnection

 

“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.

Vandiver on the fast track

“David Rowe’s aim through his Holy Smoke business is to help churches attract more families and children.

Holy Smoke Studios is a new company that builds and creates biblically themed worship environments for children’s church spaces and day cares.

Its offerings include custom-designed 3-D murals, panoramas, life-sized cut outs, puppet theaters and rooms.

“Anything the mind can conceive, we can build,” Rowe said. “From a Bible village to a Western town — you name it.”

Clearview Baptist Church on State Park Road, Holy Smoke’s first South Carolina project, chose to have Bibleland created in nearly 2,000 square feet of the church’s old main sanctuary.

The Rev. Dr. Christian Hall, pastor at Clearview, said, “We’ve always had a goal of making the children’s hour the most exciting hour. That’s why we went with something so different, that’s more of a biblical scene with a town in there, bright colors.”

The scenery includes a tree house that will allow puppets to come out of windows in multi-levels. And instead of pews in the main auditorium, children can sit on risers.

Hall said the church wanted a facility that would also draw kids, keep their attention and show parents “how important they are to us.”

Rowe’s concept for Holy Smoke began in his heart more than three years ago.

After being in the ministry for 25 years, Rowe said he noticed declining attendance in a lot of churches.

“Their congregations are getting older, and a lot of them are not reaching out to kids and young couples,” he said. Rowe saw the impact that companies similar to his own, but larger, were having on churches in other areas of the country.

He cited, for example, North Point Community Church in Georgia which has “Upstreet,” a hallway converted into a city street “to create the feel of a neighborhood where children learn how to study the Bible, worship through singing, and build quality friendships with other kids and adult leaders” according to its Web site.

“I saw how these churches stepped out by faith and did something for their kids, how it affected their church for growth,” he said. “So, I think we’re on the beginning end of a wave of the future of what churches are going to need to do to reach the next generation of people.” – Excerpt from The Greenville News, Sunday March 2, 2008 by Angelia Davis. 

For more information on Holy Smoke Studios, go to their website at http://www.holysmokestudios.com/.

 

 

“Tradition is important to Sam Cely, owner of Cely Construction Co., but his 60-year-old company uses some of the newest procedures and products on the market for its clients.

Cely Construction began life in February 1948 as Cely Brothers Lumber Co.

Although the company has changed names over the years, it has never changed its location at 800 S. Washington Ave., not far from the Greenville Hospital System’s Memorial Medical campus.

With about 30 core employees, Cely Construction hires subcontractors and their crews as needed for the job it has.

“Almost from day one, Cely was a church contractor,” said Henry Bellew, Cely’s director of business development.

Cely said that while projects go from $10,000 to $4 million, most of his jobs including building church sanctuaries are in the $1 million to $2 million range. His smallest jobs tend to come from clients he does a good deal of work with, who just add on a small project.

Project size, however, is where Cely wants to grow. He’s looking for larger projects in the $5 million range. And as he grows, his work force will expand.

But he wants to continue to be known as a “blue-chip” construction company: “My goal is not to be the biggest out there. I want to be the best.” And he wants to remain diversified, doing different types of work and different size projects.

The company started with several family members working in it and that’s still the case.” -Excerpt from The Greenville News, Sunday March 2, 2008 by Jenny Munro

Click on the link below to read the entire article.

Cely Construction

For more information on Cely Construction, visit their website at http://www.celyconstruction.com/.