may 2009 usgbc newsletter 050109 final

U.S. Green Building Council

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA CHAPTER

NEWSLETTER SPRING 2009

History of the U.S. Green Building Council Southwest Virginia Chapter

Upcoming Chapter Events

- By Nell Boyle and Sharlyn Underwood

In early 2003, several members of a Roa-noke, Virginia, architecture and engineering firm worked with USGBC on a LEED-registered project and at the same time pre-pared to take the LEED AP exam. The group discussed the concept of forming a local chapter of USGBC. In the spring of 2003 at a coffee shop in Salem, the discus-sions expanded to include other area design and construction professionals, who held several meetings to determine whether creat-ing a USGBC chapter was the best way to promote environmentally-friendly building design. Several follow-up organizational meetings transpired. The group began hold-ing more formal programs concerning green design while at the same time continuing to

pursue creating a local chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.

In December 2003, the group announced an introductory program and a membership drive for the proposed chapter to be held at Roanoke College. The announcement stated, “The intent is to encompass the ar-eas surrounding Lynchburg, Roanoke, Sa-lem, Floyd, Christiansburg, Blacksburg, and Radford. The meeting locations will be moved throughout the region to spotlight resources of each area.”

Meetings proceeded monthly according to this plan. During the business portions of the meetings, attendees discussed items re-quired by the USGBC for chapter forma-tion, including mission

May 2009, Volume 1 Issue 2

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Letter from the Chair Letter from the Editor

2 2

SERC - Busy Year Green Beer; Green Links

3 3

Chapter Functions America’s New Energy

4 6

LEED Reference Guide Member Accomplishments

6 7

Board Elects Vice Chair Welcome New Members

7 7

Home Performance Analysis Save The Date

8 10

Connecting the Dots Green Building Blocks

11 12

(continued on page 5)

Date Time Location What Contact

May 16

2:00pm—4:00pm Spring Hollow

Treatment Plant

Cool Cities 2009 Affiliates

Conference

Mark McClain

(RSVP required; affiliates

only to www.rvccc.org)

May 19

(confirmed)

5:30 pm Bonsack Marvin Fiberglass

windows plant tour

Colin Arnold

[email protected]

June 16

(confirmed)

5:30 pm Blacksburg Michael Ermann for

LEED ‘economics’

Colin Arnold

[email protected]

July 21

(tentative)

5:30 pm Roanoke Roanoke Greenways—

the present & future

Colin Arnold

[email protected]

August 18

(tentative)

5:30 pm Blacksburg Blue Ridge Forest

Cooperative

Colin Arnold

[email protected]

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR


many methodologies that have been developed to an-swer these questions for different types of organizations. DG is one of them.

Rather than “reinventing the wheel,” DG combines best practices from several existing approaches to decision-making and organizational structure. It attempts, in a systematic way, to dovetail:

The speed and discipline of traditional hierarchy

The creativity unleashed by anarchic or play situations

The individual empowerment of inclusive decision-making

The intentionality and consciousness of rational de-liberation

The tactical and strategic advantages of continuous improvement

That kind of organizational excellence may seem like a tall order, and it is. However, like so many powerful inno-vations that solve complex problems, DG is simple.

movement at a conference

in Seattle, Washington.

Soon after, our first Earth

Day was held in the spring

of 1970, almost four dec-

ades ago. This was a

grassroots effort that mobi-

lized over 20 million people

nationwide. Today Earth

Day is organized by the

Earth Day Network in over

175 countries worldwide.

Over 500 million people

participated in events in

2007.

The impact of the first

Earth Day is still felt today.

In its immediate aftermath

the US Environmental Pro-

tection Agency (EPA) was

formed and the Clean Air

Act signed into law. These

laws (and subsequent

regulations) were hall-

marks in environmental

protection and could be

considered Act I of our

Save Our Earth play.

Today our focus is on cli-

mate change, clean en-

ergy, energy efficiency,

and greenhouse gases.

New legislation in these

areas are on the horizon. I

guess you could say we

are in

pm every March 28th and over 4,000 cities and towns

around the world are turn-

ing off unnecessary lights

for one hour to reduce

greenhouse gas emissions.

More importantly, Earth

Hour creates awareness

about climate change. This

year is the second annual

Earth Hour and you can

learn more about this event

at www.earthhour.org.

We also celebrate Earth

Day on April 22nd. In Sep-

tember of 1969 Senator

Gaylord Nelson announced

a new environmental

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Greetings from the Chapter Chair.

The national USGBC currently offers for its chapters leaders a free eight-hour program in what is called Dynamic Govern-ance (DG) training. The officers

and most of the Board of Directors recently attended such a session and we found it to be an extremely useful tool that will enable us to effectively manage and grow our young Chapter most efficiently. Subsequently, at the following Board meeting, we officially adopted DG as our form of governance and are in process of infusing the technique throughout our organization. OK, so what is DG?

EVERY GROUP YOU HAVE WORKED FOR, WITH, OR AGAINST HAS HAD TO ANSWER TWO ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN ORDER TO FUNCTION:

1. How do we decide what to do?

2. Who does what when we’re doing it (and how)?

Broadly, you could say that the answer to the first question determines the process of decision-making, and the second determines the structure of collective action. There are

Dear Members,

It’s 8:40 pm and I just now

am sitting down to write

this letter to you...in the

darkness. Well, not total

darkness, I do have my

small LED flashlight and a

few candles to assist me. It

is Earth Hour. Earth Hour is held from 8:30 to 9:30




- by Mark Garland

Jeff Lebesch, founder of New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado, began homebrewing in his basement in 1989 with a kit he fabricated from used dairy equipment. After garnering much praise and encouragement from friends and neighbors, Jeff took his basement brewery commercial in 1991 with the help and support of his wife and present day New Belgium CEO, Kim Jordan.

Before selling their first beer, Kim and Jeff agreed to establish a business centered on their core values, including producing world class beer, promoting responsible enjoyment of beer, kindling social, environmental, and cultural change, environmental stewardship, and having fun! Since 1991, New Belgium Brewery has grown from a two-person basement business to over 320 em-ployees in a state-of-the-art facility with distribution of beer in over 20 states. In addition, New Belgium is an employee owned company: On their one-year anniversary of employment employees not only receive part ownership in the company,

GREEN BEER: A Colorado Brewery Gives New A Colorado Brewery Gives New A Colorado Brewery Gives New A Colorado Brewery Gives New Meaning to “Drinking Responsibly”Meaning to “Drinking Responsibly”Meaning to “Drinking Responsibly”Meaning to “Drinking Responsibly”

Southeast Regional Council (SERC) Ready for Another Busy Year

-by Nick Safay

USGBC Southeast Regional Council (SERC) met this past February in Birmingham, AL for its initial 2009 planning meetings. The SERC is comprised of two regional represen-tatives from each chapter in the USGBC designated south-east region, which includes the chapters in NC, SC, GA, AL, MS, AR, TN, KY and the southwest VA chapter. Other Vir-ginia Chapters (Hampton Roads and James River) fall within USGBC northeast corridor region.

At the beginning of each year now, SERC members brain-storm and discuss areas of needed improvement within their chapters. The topics that come up the most and of greater significance to the successful development of the chapters are then set as the goals of the year. This year, SERC has five working committees for creating useful resources that will be disseminated to the chapters. The working committees for this year are (1) Board Management & Structure – create a best management tool for transitional phases into highly ef-fective organization; (2) Volunteer Engagement – to assist chapters in recruiting and training emerging leaders; (3) Fundraising – resources for enhanced fundraising and reve-nue streams for chapters; (4) State Advocacy – template ad-vocacy toolkit for chapter advocacy work in their states; (5) Diversity & Social Equity – create resource for chapters to use to effectively increase diversity and social equity in the green building movement.

The Diversity & Social Equity Committee is a continuation from 2008 goals. Southwest Virginia Chapter regional repre-

sentative, Nick Safay, chairs this committee and hopes the resource they have created will be an effective tool of posi-tive social change and ensure everybody, no matter what socio-economic strata, will have the awareness and oppor-tunity to reap the benefits of green building and sustain-able design. Community outreach and partnering with other community development organizations will be a strong component of the success of this initiative. A pilot program is scheduled to launch sometime this spring with a few participating chapters in the southeast region.

Other goals from 2008 included a task force developing member only benefits package, a program sharing data-base on the Chapter Leader Extranet, which included a survey of all the Southeast Region’s chapters’ past meeting topics, their speakers and contact info. Another task force developed the guidelines for chapters hiring paid staff. These guidelines were then adopted by national for all USGBC chapters to use.

SERC meets on a quarterly basis and the 2009 schedule is: Little Rock, AR in May; Greensboro, NC in August; and Phoenix, AZ in November (the Monday before Green-build). The SWVA Chapter is very excited to welcome

2008 Chair Nell Boyle as its newly elected regional rep-

resentative! Nell is the Director of Sustainable Practices

for Breakell Inc. in Roanoke. Nick Safay, also a SWVA Chapter regional representative, is the Marketing Manager for Appalachian Sustainable Development Sustainable Woods program in Abingdon.

Grist

Earth Day

GREEN GREEN GREEN GREEN

LINKSLINKSLINKSLINKS


Earth Hour

Earth Day Network

(Green Beer continued from page 3)


there is no cost to attend. Generally, though, a number

of attendees will go to a nearby restaurant after the

meeting to continue our discussions and have dinner.

It is not necessary to be a Chapter member to attend

our meetings. We encourage membership, though,

because the dues helps the Chapter fund its programs

and educational efforts. There are two types of mem-

bership:

National Membership

Companies and institutions can become national mem-

bers. All employees of member institutions then re-

ceive benefits of membership such

they also receive a custom cruiser bicycle.

New Belgium Brewery continues to lead the industry through innovation and environmental stewardship and has been named as one of the top companies to work for by both the Wall Street Journal and Outside Maga-zine. Provided below is a list of a number of the innovations and initiatives created by New Belgium. For more information, v i s i t t h e i r w e b s i t e a t www.newbelgium.com.

New Belgium creates an annual sustain-ability report and has completed a life-cycle analysis of a 6-pack of the signature “Fat Tire” ale. Benchmarking has permit-ted them to monitor their progress and drastically improve their efficiency. Since beginning benchmarking New Belgium has:

• Reduced its carbon footprint by 25%.

• Reduced water usage by 10%.

• Increased non-brewery waste landfill diversion to 95%.

• The brew kettle, second of its kind in the US, stores heat from steam to preheat the next batch to create a significant energy savings.

• By treating their wastewater onsite, New Belgium not only reduced the load on the local wastewater treatment fa-

- by Dick Pennock

The Southwest Virginia Chapter typically meets on the third

Tuesday of each month. Our meetings involve a program

having to do with sustainable design practices or products.

We try to locate the meeting in a place associated with the

program topic, and we try to move them around the Chap-

ter area from month to month. Many of our meetings are

in the Roanoke or New River valleys, but we have had other

meetings at Lynchburg, Smith Mountain Lake, and Floyd

County.

Our meetings begin with some social time at 5:30 followed

by the program at 6. These are not dinner meetings, so

cility, but they also create and collect methane to heat the brewery and supply up to 15% of their electrical demand.

• In 1999, New Belgium became the largest private con-sumer of wind powered energy and the first wind powered brewery. Since then, 100% of New Belgium’s purchased

electricity has been created by wind tur-bines.

• Nearly all interior wood in their pack-aging hall is of pine that was killed by mountain pine beetles, giving a second life to fallen trees.

• 1% of all revenue is donated to envi-ronmental non-profits.

New Belgium is the creator and main sponsor of “Tour de Fat”, an annual trav-elling festival to celebrate bicycles. All proceeds go to environmental and bicycle charities. New Belgium also sponsors “Urban Assault Ride,” an annual bicycle scavenger hunt, “Team Wonderbike,” an

open club vowed to ride bicycles, and “Bike-In Cinema,” a summer-time drive-in movie for bicycles.

Currently, New Belgium Brewery beer is not distributed to Virginia. Reduce your carbon footprint and support the local economy by buying beverages from nearby breweries. For a nearly complete list of breweries in Virginia, see http://www.virginia.org/site/content.asp?mgrp=1&mcat=9&rgn=10000

CHAPTER FUNCTIONS AND MEMBERSHIP



(History continued from page 1)

and vision statements and bylaws. In August 2004, the group formed an organizing committee that would address issues concerning Chapter formation separately from the pro-gram meetings. Most people involved in the organization of the Chapter were affiliated with a national USGBC member

The organizing committee named the chapter the U.S. Green Building Council Southwest Virginia Chapter and worked to develop mission and vision statements, goals, budget, and a strategic plan for the Chapter. After these items were submit-ted to and reviewed by USGBC Chapter Coordinator, the Southwest Virginia Chapter became an Organizing Group in October 2004. The group was represented at Greenbuild ’04 in Portland on Chapter Day. The Southwest Virginia Orga-nizing Group petitioned to become a full and nationally rec-ognized chapter in the spring of 2005.

On May 8, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service awarded the Southwest Virginia Chapter its 501(c)(3) non-profit status. On May 23, 2007, the USGBC accepted the signed Chapter Charter granting the Southwest Virginia Chapter full chapter status. At that time the founding members of the board were seated. The founding members of the board were Sharlyn Underwood, Colin Arnold, Jennifer Rainey, Dick Pennock, John Shirley, Billy Weitzenfeld, and Reggie Walker. Sharlyn Underwood is recognized as the founding Chapter Chair,

who served as Chapter Chair until mid 2007 when she left to accept a position of USGBC’s Southeast Region Chapter Growth Consultant, where she continued to serve as a liai-son between the Chapter and the national USGBC. In No-vember 2007, the Chapter held its first official on-line an-nual election for the Board of Directors and that Board was seated in January 2008.

The monthly program meetings continue to provide indus-try-related educational material, tours of local LEED build-ings, speakers, and other relevant learning opportunities. By January 2009 the Chapter had grown its local membership to approximately 70 members and 9 board members. The Chapter has also participated annually in the Energy Expo, Sustainable Blacksburg, and other environmental events throughout the region. Members from the Chapter have regularly attended Greenbuild, the USGBC annual confer-ence, since its beginnings in 2002.

The Southwest Virginia Chapter continues to grow and

thrive, enthusiastically demonstrating to the community the

benefits of green building. As our Chapter grows, new com-

mittees are formed to expand our outreach programs, pro-

vide more workshops, and develop support for LEED pro-

ject teams and LEED Accredited Professionals.

Map of USGBC chapters in Virginia.


New Pricing:

Member Non-member

Hard Copy $150 $185

E-book $140 $175

LEED for Homes $100 $125

Reference Guide Hard

Copy

Guide Restructuring:

Green Building & Construction includes New Construction, Core

& Shell, and Schools

Green Building Operations & Maintenance includes Existing

Buildings

Green Interior Design & Construction includes Commercial

Interiors

-by Monica Rokicki-Guajardo

On the first day of Spring I took a trip to

Washington, DC, to attend a conference

on Climate Change sponsored by the Pew

Environmental Group and Mount Vernon.

The Honorable John Warner, The Honor-

able Jim Moran and Steve Walz from Gov-

ernor Kaine’s office supported this event

with their presence, encouragement, and

leadership.

The speaker list was impressive, with sci-

entists from NASA Goddard, the Earth

Science Division and Langley, the Virginia

Institute of Marine Science, the American

Public Health Association, and Dr. Tho-

mas Lovejoy of the Heinz Center (and

PBS’s “Nature”). The emerging message

from the scientists was that climate

change is occurring more rapidly than the

upper range scenarios given by the Inter-

governmental Panel on Climate Change’s

(IPCC) most recent report due to positive

feedback from ice melt, glacier retreat,

and other causes largely unaccounted for

The new LEED reference guides are restructured as follows and are

now available. New e-book purchasing option is available for these

reference guides along with the current hard copy purchasing option.

All customers (both e-book and hard copy) will receive a 30-day access

period to download and save a personalized PDF copy of the guide.

Hard copy purchases will receive a NON-printable personalized PDF

version and a hard copy while E-book purchases will receive only a

printable personalized PDF version.

USGBC will not authorize additional downloads outside the initial

30-day window, so save your copy in a secure location.

USGBC LEED Workshop attendees will continue to receive a dis-

count on one printed guide that corresponds to their course.

300 level workshop participants also receive a free 30-day access pe-

riod to download and save a NON–printable personalized PDF copy

of the guide.

in the IPCC modeling. We can expect at

least 1.2 meters of sea level rise within the

next century and 2 degrees Celsius rise

due to emissions already “in the pipe”;

ocean acidification is beginning to seri-

ously affect sea life; and land habitats are

also experiencing a range of adverse ef-

fects, with new and more virulent diseases

in the human population on the rise.

The conclusions were serious: We have

10 years to mitigate the worst effects

through a combination of efficiency, clean

energy production, and strong environ-

mental policies. This conclusion was bol-

stered by Sherri Goodman of the Center

for Naval Analyses, who described the

mandates of the Military Advisory Board

where she serves as Executive Director:

Climate disruption presents a very serious

challenge to the US Military. Displace-

ments of large populations around the

world will destabilize many countries; sea

level rise will affect ports (such as Norfolk)

dramatically; efficiency and access to

clean energy is an imperative for the ef-

New LEED 2009 Reference Guides

America’s New Energy:

The Mount Vernon Forum on Climate Change and Leadership

fective performance of our armed forces

both at home and abroad. This was fol-

lowed by a fantastic panel discussion about

the international climate network with Em-

bassy Representatives from Brazil, China,

India, and Indonesia.

Lest we become discouraged by all of the

bad news, here is something from Tom

Friedman’s Hot, Flat and Crowded: we are

encountering “great opportunities disguised

as insoluble problems.” The innovative at-

mosphere and brainpower of the confer-

ence was a privilege to behold and exem-

plified what the Pew Foundation stated on

their agenda: “a new beginning…of a new

history.” The market transformation goals of

the USGBC are an important part of this

critical and exciting time. I am personally

thrilled to serve our Southwest Virginia

Chapter as we unmask great opportunities

for our own region.

For more information from the National

Academy of Sciences, see

http://dels.nas.edu/besr/reports.php


The Boxley Roanoke concrete plant was recently awarded the Na-

tional Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) Green-Star Certi-

fication status. This is the first ready mix plant in Virginia to achieve

this status and the 11th in the USA. This is quite an accomplish-

ment. There are over 5,000 concrete plants in the U.S.

The NRMCA’s Green-Star program is a plant-specific certification

that utilizes an Environmental Management System (EMS) based on

a model of continual improvement. Boxley is in the process of working towards obtaining

these certifications at all of their locations by the end of 2009. For more information go to

www.boxley.com.

CONGRATULATIONS to one of our Chapter Members!!

Unofficial Earth Day flag, by John McConnell: the Blue Marble on a blue field

Senator Gaylord Nelson

Earth Day Symbol

Ecology Flag with theta

USGBC Member Accomplishments

On March 3, 2009, the SWVA Chapter of USGBC unanimously elected Monica Rokicki,

as their new Vice Chair. Monica is the SWVA Chapter’s Residential Green Building Advo-

cate and a Member of the Outreach Committee. She has served as Project Manager, De-

signer and LEED AP at Balzer & Associates, Inc. since 2001. Ms. Rokicki holds a Bache-

lor of Architecture and a BA in Philosophy from the University of Houston and has won

prizes in three international design competitions. From 1996-2001 she was Executive Di-

rector of the International Center for the Solution of Environmental Problems (ICSEP) in

Houston, a non-profit scientific and educational organization with 43 statured scientist af-

filiates worldwide. While at ICSEP, she helped found the Citizen’s League for Environ-

mental Action Now (CLEAN) and organized a “Bucket Brigade,” which provided equip-

ment, methodology, and management for neighborhood air-monitoring coordinated with

several other non-profit organizations and the EPA. Monica currently is a Director for the

Blue Ridge Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction and is Co-

Founder of the Vesper Club. Her appreciation for clear argument, a scientific basis for

practical knowledge and respect for the environment inform her passion for “architecture

that listens.”

Board Elects Vice Chair

The following people have joined the chapter since January 1, 2009: Mike Halliday, Charlottesville * Joshua

Galloway, Christiansburg * Joy Whitt, Roanoke * Marc Raskin, Pamplin * Charles Wallace, Blacksburg *

Joseph Annarino, Roanoke * Adam Cohen, Roanoke *Mark Howard, Fincastle * Margurit Michelle

Cleverdon, Hardy * William Hart, Roanoke * Mark Hughes, Salem * Steven Adkins, Ringgold * Nick Safay,

Abingdon * Jennifer Watson, Bettendorf, Iowa * Gary Drewry, Deerfield

Welcome New Members to SWVA USGBC!! Welcome New Members to SWVA USGBC!! Welcome New Members to SWVA USGBC!! Welcome New Members to SWVA USGBC!!

- by Monica Rokicki-Guajardo

Josh Holloway of Community Housing Partners conducted a “Home Performance Audit” demonstra-tion at 1211 4th Street, Roanoke, for the SWVA USGBC Chapter April meeting. This 105 year old mercantile building served as Roanoke’s first Department of Motor Vehicles 100 years ago. Today, it is my home. Renovating an existing building instead of building new is one of the easiest and most sustainable building actions. Bringing it up to date for energy efficiency requires first establishing a baseline and then selecting the most effective measures to sensitively and economically improve

performance.

With over 95% of our building stock over ten years old, this work is imperative to address car-bon footprints, enhance market value and save money for homeowners and neighborhoods. This is the type of market transformation that the USGBC is all about. As our Chapter’s Residential Green Building Advocate, I am thrilled to see per-formance audits available to homeowners. This type of action exemplifies ways to connect our in-tellect with our convictions to make our buildings greener. Each time an audit is completed, it strengthens individual understanding of how our homes perform – and why.

Some key insights in this first step in the audit at my home include the following:

Buildings are dynamic systems. For this reason, no attribute or test re-sult can be thought of in isolation. The blower door test verified that this building is a lot like Swiss cheese. Even though there is 18” of cel-lulose insulation above the ceiling, without an air barrier it acts more like a filter. The old method of siding over studs without exterior sheathing makes for some very leaky walls. This was also shown on the infrared camera scan. Newer buildings require sheathing and an air barrier on all six sides of the insulation. The duct blaster test indicated that there are leaks in the ductwork. These should be some very easy repairs. Most energy lost occurs at the top of the building because of positive pres-sure at that location. This pulls air from below, especially from the vented crawlspace.

Josh also completed a preliminary model on a computer program called “Rem/Rate”. The next step is to complete the assessment with

Home Performance Analysis

1

2



more information about the appliances and HVAC equipment and calibrate the results. Then we can create a plan for improving the envelope and systems performance. Because each building is differ-

ent, the solutions for 1211 4th Street will be unique.

Knowing where the home stands in terms of quantifi-able test data, how it performs, and how strategies for improving it impact the Rem/Rate model gives us all very powerful tools to improve the building perform-ance in the short term, while preserving market value for present and future owners. We can share the ex-perience with clients and colleagues. We can also measure future performance once the strategies are implemented. I will definitely be calling on Josh to do a follow-up audit in the future and perhaps also arrange a post-improvement demonstration for the Chapter. I’m looking forward to an impressive “before and after”!

3

5

4

1. 1211 4th Street Roanoke, photo by Monica Rokicki.

2. Blower door test, photo by Monica Rokicki.

3. Josh Holloway shows use of thermal camera, photo

by Monica Rokicki.

4. Josh Holloway performs Rem/Rate modeling, photo

by Monica Rokicki.

5. Josh Holloway explains instrumentation for blower

door test, photo by Kim Hardy.

(Chapter Functions continued from page 4)


ship,” look for Southwest Virginia Chapter, and follow

the instructions from there.

In addition to our meetings, our Chapter sponsors sev-

eral educational workshops each year, most frequently

involving preparing for the LEED AP exam. The Chapter

also participates in the annual Green Building and Energy

Expo, which is held in Roanoke each November.

We are in the process of creating a Chapter web site that

will keep you up to date on the whole range of national

and Chapter activities. An announcement will be sent

when it becomes operational. If you have any questions

about chapter membership, please contact Membership

Chair Dick Pennock at [email protected].

as reduced costs for workshops and educational materials

and reduced cost to attend Greenbuild, the US Green Build-

ing Council’s annual convention. To enroll your company,

go to the US Green Building Council web site

(www.usgbc.org), click on the “Join” button at the top right

of the home page, select “USGBC National Membership,”

and follow the instructions from there.

Individual Membership

Individuals may join local chapters. Chapter dues are $50

per year for employees of national member companies, $25

for students, and $65 for others. If you would like to be-

come a member, go to the US Green Building Council web

site (www.usgbc.org), click on the “Join” button at the top

right of the home page, select “Individual Chapter Member-

Save The Date! Save The Date! Save The Date! Save The Date! More Green Activities in Your Area!

Lexington City: Boxerwood Gardens will hold The EarthArt Challenge, Saturday, May 2nd, from 1 to 5 p.m. Artists will cre-ate works on site using natural materials; there will be live woodland music. $5 per vehicle.

Lynchburg City: May 30th and August 22nd Free workshops on Permaculture and Organic Gardening will be held (near the

Maier Museum of Art) by Randolph College summer interns. Learn about a variety of organic gardening

practices, including composting, crop rotation and combination, chemical-free pest control and fertilizer,

chicken husbandry, and much more. Participation is free but requires pre-registration. E-mail

[email protected] for more information or to register for a workshop.

Roanoke County/City: Residents of Roanoke and Roanoke County can sign up for the next collection day on May 3rd to take leftover bleach, oil-based paint, kerosene, burned out fluorescent lights and other hazardous wastes to the Roanoke Valley Re-source Authority Transfer Station at 1020 Hollins Road. Call 540-387-6225 to get a 30-minute window between noon and 3 p.m. for the May 3rd collec-tion. Special hazardous materials collection days will soon be held on the third Saturday of each month starting in July.

Hollins University’s Wyndam Robertson Library is presenting an exhibition

of jewelry and accessories created by Catherine Smith thru May 22nd. Smith has produced a line of hand bags, scarves and jewelry from trash. She calls

her work “Trash Fashion” or “Trashion”. For more information call 540-363-

7465 or visit www.hollins.edu/library

Connecting the Dots: A Stimulating Seminar

The Outreach Committee is making steady progress toward our upcoming program, “Connecting the Dots: A Stimulating Seminar”. The seminar seeks to communicate the opportunities for local market transformation with the need for energy efficiency and other sustainable goals for existing and new homes. We recognize that successful, cost effective enhanced home performance projects can be facilitated by making connections with the people and resources needed to achieve them. A series of short presentations will give each attendee a roadmap to articulate their own unique objectives, gather the appropriate expertise, strategize the process and reach the most favorable outcome.

In a town-hall-styled meeting for about 125 attendees at a prominent Roanoke cultural venue this summer, the event will be targeted directly to homeowners. They’ll hear from a HERS rater and, of course, the SWVA USGBC. But the present-ers won’t be just the usual ‘green’ suspects. We also have enthusiastic commitment from the City of Roanoke, account-ants and bankers. Additionally, the seminar will reach beyond its four-hour timeframe to the greater Southwest Virginia

Region through an evolving, dynamic web page that will include video clips of event highlights, important links and an online forum to answer questions. This strategy minimizes the event’s carbon-footprint while offering exciting, useful and timely information to anyone with web access.

Topics include:

• Financial strategies, how to access Federal, State and Local incentives.

• Importance of integrated design–construction–maintenance process and early articulation of performance goals

• Third-party verification and its relationship to performance and market value

• Regional guidelines and rating system resources (LEED-Homes, ReGreen, Energy Star, EarthCraft)

• Market perspective, illustrating the transformation already in progress across the country.

Final information about our headliner availability is pending. As soon as we have a date we will issue a press release.

Look for more exciting details at the end of May.


Learn More

about saving

the

Environment

at:

Earthday Tips


Discovering the “Green” Building Blocks of Success

- by Trina Mastran

About a year ago, Lexington developer, Bruce Schweizer, and USGBC Member, architect and LEED AP, Heidi Schweizer decided to begin the process of planning a green community on a par-cel called Thompsons Knoll. This parcel, located within walking distance of downtown Lexington, a local school and Virginia Military Institute, offered the Schweizers a springboard to invite the local community to have an open dialog regarding affordable green development as opposed to tradi-tional development. The parcel already had a plat which would allow the development of 10 lots and the extension of an existing dead-end road.

The Schweizers wanted to understand connections such as pedestrian paths, habitat and history which currently exist at this site with the goal of incorporating these connections into the project plan along with greening concepts. In addition, the City of Lexington has little affordable housing. According to Bill Blatter, Lexington’s Planning Director, the median 2007 sales price of a house in Lexington was $244,000. The median household income in Lexington was $38,000 for the same year. Mr. Blatter went on to explain that individuals with this level of income could only afford a house which costs up to $170,000. People working in the City who are police officers, clerical staff and laborers can not afford to live there. Thus affordable housing was an important goal of this de-velopment.

Heidi Schweizer researched available funding opportunities which support green affordable housing efforts. She found the Enterprise Green Communities Fund. Green Commu-nities, launched in 2004 by Enterprise, is the first national green building program focused entirely on affordable housing and is a provider of capital used to pioneer development through public-private partner- ships. Green Communities purposefully has developed criteria to align with USGBC’s LEED’s rating sys-tem for homes.

Green Affordable

To be eligible for Green Communities grants, loans and tax credit equity through Enterprise certain criteria must be met including minimum housing density requirements and maximum income levels for a percentage of occupants.

The Schweizers wrote a grant for $5,000 to pay for a charette to explore green and affordable hous-ing for the Thompson Knoll project. As a criteria to receive the grant the Schweizers formed a pub-lic-private partnership with Threshold, Lexington’s housing commission. Mr. Blatter planned the charette, which took place over three days at the Lylburn Downing Middle School. The grant al-lowed an honorarium for local architects to participate and paid for a green communities facilitator.

The expected outcomes of the charette were 1) provide a forum for discussion and input from local community, and 2) develop a viable plan to move forward with a green and affordable housing pro-ject.

The local community, both from the Thompson Knoll neighborhood and surrounding area, met for three nights. The first night the facilitator, Richard Price, provided an overview of green and sustain-able development. This provided an important public education component. Charette attendees then divided into groups with a designated facilitator who was a local architect responsible for lead-ing the workgroups. The first task was to review the existing site and topo and develop an under-standing of the actual site location, topography, pedestrian trails and habitat. The attendees from the neighborhood had great discussion regarding access to the development from the street. This appeared to be of great concern. The second night the charette teams presented their design alter-natives after breaking into their respective groups with facilitator. The last night was provided to pre-sent the plans developed through the charette process.

After the charette was completed the Schweizers had what they considered two viable plans for Thompsons Knoll. The site plans allowed for some passive solar houses, no curb and gutter, nar-rower streets, rain gardens, pedestrian walkways, smaller lots, green space, and a variety of hous-ing types. There would be 22 units due to the topography of the site. This plan would not fulfill Green Communities density criteria unless an exemption was granted to subtract out topography and sink holes. Heidi Schweizer was satisfied with the housing density as she believes it felt appro-priate because it blended in with the existing urban fabric and the neighborhood inhabitants were also satisfied.

Lessons learned from the charette process included the revelation that the stakeholders did not un-derstand “affordable” housing as “workforce” housing. The attendees believed that “affordable” meant low-income and this provided a negative backdrop for the entire charette process. Both the Schweizers and Bill Blatter agreed that more public education needed to be done as part of the charette to educate the community regarding the “workforce housing” component of the project. A secondary lesson was that there also needed to be more education focused on what green and sustainable development is prior to discussing specifics of a site plan.

The Schweizers and Bill Blatter plan to take a step back from their charette experience and use it as a building block for success. They plan on taking what they learned from the Green Communities charette and refocus on the process to achieve their goals for a green community which provides workforce housing.


1. How do we decide what we do? DG provides a proven, innovative process by which groups make, measure, and improve decisions by which they elect optimal leaders.

2. Who does what when we’re doing it (and how)? DG offers participants a robust structure by which to communicate decisions and rapidly put them into action.

Recognizing the potential of this comprehensive methodology, the national office of USGBC began a pilot program in which it introduced DG to chapters and regional groups in 2007. This program is chapter-friendly in that it encourages all chapters to consider DG, but does not oblige a chapter to adopt the methodology until you decide it’s right for your chap-ter.

Since its introduction, USGBC chapters that have adopted DG report:

Fewer, faster meetings, increased productivity, increased engagement of chapter members, an increased sense of indi-vidual and group empowerment and a culture that nurtures creativity and leadership over the long-term.

By employing DG, our Chapter will function efficiently and effectively and should sustain its objectives well into the fu-ture.

Best Regards,

Steve Sunderman

(Letter from Chair continued from page 2)

the midst of writing Act II. When I think about how far we have come I know that we can continue to do more to protect

our environment. In Act II we are in a grassroots tidal wave to stop global warming- - -whether through reduce, reuse and

recycling; green building; or developing alternative energy sources. We have reached that tipping point where true action

is occurring through efforts by the masses. I am hopeful that when we reach the end of Act II our efforts will yield a better

tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Trina Mastran

(Letter from Editor continued from page 2)

Issue Submittal Deadline Publish Date

Fall 2009 August 1st September 1st

Winter 2009 November 1st December 1st

Spring 2010 February 1st March 1st

Summer 2010 May 1st June 1st

Newsletter Schedule

Thinking about writing for our newsletter? We hope so. If you would like to submit an article and/or photo to our newsletter

please contact Trina Mastran at [email protected]. Below is our schedule for future newsletters.

may 2009 usgbc newsletter 050109 final

Business