Friday, May 29, 2009
“Living Buildings” Take Another Leap Forward
The idea of a Living Building, a high-performance building that produces its own power and cleans and reuses all of its water, is gaining momentum around the world. In an effort to oversee the global development of Living Buildings, the International Living Building Institute (ILBI) has been established.
The Living Building Challenge began as a program of the Cascadia Region Green Building Council just three years ago. The idea has sparked the creative juices of design professionals around the globe, with more than 60 proposed Living Buildings now in some stage of design or construction in the US and Canada. A Living Building is a radical step forward in green building and comes at a time when there is growing consensus that the time for baby steps in green building is past.
The basic concept is that a building can work like a natural system; designed and constructed to function as elegantly and efficiently as a flower. A Living Building must meet sixteen performance measures within six categories (or petals) including site, energy, materials, water, indoor quality and beauty and inspiration.
Jason F. McLennan, author of the Living Building Challenge and CEO of Cascadia, says “We have been delighted to serve as the incubator for these projects. But Cascadia is a regional organization and the Living Building Challenge has now become an international phenomenon. So, the natural and logical progression is to create an international oversight body.”
For the time being, Cascadia will continue to oversee the Living Building Challenge. However the Institute is in the process of becoming a formal 501(c) (3) non-profit and will soon have its own Board of Directors.
The Living Building Challenge began as a program of the Cascadia Region Green Building Council just three years ago. The idea has sparked the creative juices of design professionals around the globe, with more than 60 proposed Living Buildings now in some stage of design or construction in the US and Canada. A Living Building is a radical step forward in green building and comes at a time when there is growing consensus that the time for baby steps in green building is past.
The basic concept is that a building can work like a natural system; designed and constructed to function as elegantly and efficiently as a flower. A Living Building must meet sixteen performance measures within six categories (or petals) including site, energy, materials, water, indoor quality and beauty and inspiration.
Jason F. McLennan, author of the Living Building Challenge and CEO of Cascadia, says “We have been delighted to serve as the incubator for these projects. But Cascadia is a regional organization and the Living Building Challenge has now become an international phenomenon. So, the natural and logical progression is to create an international oversight body.”
For the time being, Cascadia will continue to oversee the Living Building Challenge. However the Institute is in the process of becoming a formal 501(c) (3) non-profit and will soon have its own Board of Directors.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Regional Board News
Greetings!
We would like to welcome our two new members elected to the Regional Board of the Guild, Meror Krayenhoff and Matthew McCune. They bring solid business and green building knowledge to the group. They were ratified by the board at the quarterly board meeting on Saturday, May 9th, where new Officers were also elected. Fiona Douglas-Hamilton is the new President, Howard Thurston the new Vice President, Jonathan Campbell the new Secretary, and Tom Balderston the new Treasurer.
Congratulations to all!
The 2009 Green Pages are here! Be on the lookout for our beautiful new publication, this year printed on FSC certified paper. ESP has done an excellent job once again, and will soon be sending individual copies to all members and boxes to all chapters.
Thanks for All you Do!
We would like to welcome our two new members elected to the Regional Board of the Guild, Meror Krayenhoff and Matthew McCune. They bring solid business and green building knowledge to the group. They were ratified by the board at the quarterly board meeting on Saturday, May 9th, where new Officers were also elected. Fiona Douglas-Hamilton is the new President, Howard Thurston the new Vice President, Jonathan Campbell the new Secretary, and Tom Balderston the new Treasurer.
Congratulations to all!
The 2009 Green Pages are here! Be on the lookout for our beautiful new publication, this year printed on FSC certified paper. ESP has done an excellent job once again, and will soon be sending individual copies to all members and boxes to all chapters.
Thanks for All you Do!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Passive House Consultant Training
The Passive House Institute is proud to announce that the Certified Passive House Consultant Training Series is coming to Seattle and Portland.
The program is designed as a series of three, three-day sessions. These sessions are meant for those architects and building system designers who want to learn how to successfully implement Passive House design principles in residential, commercial, and retrofit scenarios.
Completion of all three 3-day programs and passage of a Final Exam can qualify participants as Certified Passive House Consultants. Consultants and their qualifying projects will be featured on an upcoming database of projects on this website.
Portland Area Spring/Summer '09
McMenamins Edgefield
Troutdale, OR
Phase I - May 21-23
Phase II - June 22-24
Phase III - August 20-22
Seattle Spring/Summer '09
Integrated Design Lab
University of Washington
Phase I - May 26-28
Phase II - June 25-27
Phase III - August 17-19
Registration for West Coast programs: $650 per Phase
If you are interested in finding out more about upcoming trainings or would like to apply, please contact us at info@passivehouse.us,(Subject: "Consultants' Training")or visit Passive House Consultant Training.
The program is designed as a series of three, three-day sessions. These sessions are meant for those architects and building system designers who want to learn how to successfully implement Passive House design principles in residential, commercial, and retrofit scenarios.
Completion of all three 3-day programs and passage of a Final Exam can qualify participants as Certified Passive House Consultants. Consultants and their qualifying projects will be featured on an upcoming database of projects on this website.
Portland Area Spring/Summer '09
McMenamins Edgefield
Troutdale, OR
Phase I - May 21-23
Phase II - June 22-24
Phase III - August 20-22
Seattle Spring/Summer '09
Integrated Design Lab
University of Washington
Phase I - May 26-28
Phase II - June 25-27
Phase III - August 17-19
Registration for West Coast programs: $650 per Phase
If you are interested in finding out more about upcoming trainings or would like to apply, please contact us at info@passivehouse.us,(Subject: "Consultants' Training")or visit Passive House Consultant Training.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Green Building: Jobs of the Future
The WA State Department of Ecology views green building as a key player in addressing a number of our states priority environmental issues: mitigating climate change, reducing toxics in our environment, reducing waste (both solid and hazardous), managing storm-water run-off and more.
In an effort to describe the opportunities that exist in this fast growing market the Construction Center of Excellence and WIRED partnered with Department of Ecology and the Department of General Administration on a film project: Green Building: Jobs of the Future.
The film brings together local and national leaders in green building, climate change, manufacturing, and work-force development to make the case for green buildings capacity to create jobs and boost the economy while not further imposing on our environment. In these challenging times, opportunities abound!
In an effort to describe the opportunities that exist in this fast growing market the Construction Center of Excellence and WIRED partnered with Department of Ecology and the Department of General Administration on a film project: Green Building: Jobs of the Future.
The film brings together local and national leaders in green building, climate change, manufacturing, and work-force development to make the case for green buildings capacity to create jobs and boost the economy while not further imposing on our environment. In these challenging times, opportunities abound!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Spokane Chapter Now On Facebook
The Spokane chapter of the Northwest Ecobuilding Guild is the first chapter to take themselves online using the free social networking website Facebook.
Once a college student phenomenon, Facebook now has more than 200 million active users, with its fastest growing demographic those 35 years and older, and more than 100 million users logging on to Facebook at least once each day.
Facebook's applications include photo and video upload, event posting and content sharing (web links, blog posts, notes, news stories etc...)
To showcase its most recent addition of rich features, Facebook partnered with several world-renowned individuals and organizations:
• President Obama is rallying support for new U.S. policies and initiatives
• “The Oprah Winfrey Show” is giving viewers a new way to interact
• U2 is connecting with fans of their new album
• CNN is providing breaking developments to news junkies
• Stanford University is sharing its discoveries and knowledge
• The NBA’s star athletes are posting photos and video highlights from their games
• LIVESTRONG is empowering cancer survivors and advocates in the global fight against cancer and raising awareness about the LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Campaign
And, added to that list is, of course, the Spokane Chapter of the NWEBG, inviting all to join them in the Guild's mission to build local living economies, safeguard the ecological diversity of their bioregion and champion human health and community.
Visit the Spokane Chapter's Facebook group now, and stay tuned for updates on their success in using this platform.
Facebook has created step-by-step instructions for any public figure or organization wanting to create a presence on their site. In addition, Facebook offers best-practice suggestions for public figures, non-profits or other organizations, entertainers and bands. This can be found at Best Practices.
Once a college student phenomenon, Facebook now has more than 200 million active users, with its fastest growing demographic those 35 years and older, and more than 100 million users logging on to Facebook at least once each day.
Facebook's applications include photo and video upload, event posting and content sharing (web links, blog posts, notes, news stories etc...)
To showcase its most recent addition of rich features, Facebook partnered with several world-renowned individuals and organizations:
• President Obama is rallying support for new U.S. policies and initiatives
• “The Oprah Winfrey Show” is giving viewers a new way to interact
• U2 is connecting with fans of their new album
• CNN is providing breaking developments to news junkies
• Stanford University is sharing its discoveries and knowledge
• The NBA’s star athletes are posting photos and video highlights from their games
• LIVESTRONG is empowering cancer survivors and advocates in the global fight against cancer and raising awareness about the LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Campaign
And, added to that list is, of course, the Spokane Chapter of the NWEBG, inviting all to join them in the Guild's mission to build local living economies, safeguard the ecological diversity of their bioregion and champion human health and community.
Visit the Spokane Chapter's Facebook group now, and stay tuned for updates on their success in using this platform.
Facebook has created step-by-step instructions for any public figure or organization wanting to create a presence on their site. In addition, Facebook offers best-practice suggestions for public figures, non-profits or other organizations, entertainers and bands. This can be found at Best Practices.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Call for Earth Day Events
Greetings!
The WA Department of Ecology is planning to post on its website a listing of 2009 Earth Day/Week/Month activities around the state. If your organization is planning a special activity this year, please let me know so that we can add it to our list.
We want publicize as many ED events as possible, and hope to be live by April 1.
Thanks for your support!
Michael Bergman
Earth Day Coordinator
mber461@ECY.WA.GOV
360.407.6243
The WA Department of Ecology is planning to post on its website a listing of 2009 Earth Day/Week/Month activities around the state. If your organization is planning a special activity this year, please let me know so that we can add it to our list.
We want publicize as many ED events as possible, and hope to be live by April 1.
Thanks for your support!
Michael Bergman
Earth Day Coordinator
mber461@ECY.WA.GOV
360.407.6243
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