Auggie V's Connecticut Green Blog

 

"Welcome to the greenest blog in Connecticut. Here you'll read about a person, place or thing that has a connection to green building. Every now and then I might stray and discuss something outside our 500 mile sustainable region and it might just be about green business or green lifestyles but it will leave you with something to think about and hopefully make your day a little greener."

-Augustus "Auggie" Victorious

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2005 Green Blog Archives

December 2005,  November 2005,  October 2005

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December 23, 2005

Buildingctgreen.com wishes you a happy holiday

Due to the holiday we are taking a little break here at buildingctgreen.com. To our visitors, the staff here at buildingctgreen.com would like to wish you a happy and green holiday season. Auggie has all ready left for Maine to visit his girlfriend's parents. Auggie is going to be very cold. He did want to say that his next post will be sometime after the first of the year and he looks forward to blogging green with you then. Happy holidays.

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December 20, 2005

AIA Accepting Nominations for 2006 COTE Awards

The AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) has begun accepting online submissions for the 2006 COTE Top Ten Green Projects awards program. All project submissions must be received by Jan. 31, 2006. Architects and firms can submit nominations of projects that have incorporated different green elements and showcase the value that these projects bring to the building industry. The cost is $325 for AIA members and $350 for non-members.

Connecticut has some very cool green projects that are worthy of consideration. I can think of several such as The Mohegan Sun Casino, Centerbrook Architects Office Building, The Pfizer Clinical Research Lab or the UCONN Football Practice facility. All of these projects have unique green qualities that are ideal for consideration. If you're an architect of a firm that has a great story to tell, Connecticut could use the recognition. For more information visit http://www.aiatopten.org/

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December 18, 2005

New Website Helps Consumers and Businesses with Becoming More Energy Efficient

The Tax Incentives Assistance Project (TIAP), a coalition of nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and other leaders in the energy efficiency field, has launched a web site which helps homeowners and businesses understand what types of incentives are available to them if they choose to implement different energy efficiency methods. TIAP's site address is http://www.energytaxincentives.org.

This web site will help you save money on your federal taxes and will help you at home and in the office by helping you a understanding the small print of the 2005 Energy Bill passed by congress and signed by the president. The General Information section features briefs on state and utility incentives as well as current legislation. TIAP updates the Web site regularly as the IRS makes new information available. The site is kind of interesting and is somewhat useful.

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December 16, 2005

Connecticut Project 100 Delivers Renewable Energy to CT Residents

If you didn't know it, Connecticut residents are heating their homes with cleaner energy and it's not only due to the Clean Options Plan but also because of a program created by the state legislature called Project 100. The goal of the project is to develop 100 megawatts of renewable energy generation for Connecticut residents.

According to a report in today's Hartford Business Journal, (http://www.hbjournal.com/) The CT Clean Energy Fund has selected three renewable sources for the state's two largest utilities, CL&P and UI, to buy power from. The sources include a four-mega-megawatt fuel cell plant provided by PPL Energy Holdings in Wallingford, a 15-megawatt biomass power plant by GDI Renewable Power in Watertown and a 15-megawatt wind project in Florida, MA which is by enXco LLC-Hoosac Wind. Not only is it a good thing that our large utilities are buying renewable power but they are also helping by buying from local companies. Then again, where else would the go.

I never realized that CT had a fuel cell plant. More interesting though is that there's aq biomass power plant in Watertown. Might be time for a field trip to Watertown.

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December 13, 2005

Want an Alternative to Conventional Fuels? Try Corn

Corn is crazy. Have you ever realized the value of corn? Its value to the world is huge. Corn basically feeds the third world. In fact In Mystic, at the very sustainable Monsanto Research Lab, they are doing things with corn that you wouldn't believe. Auggie V has been sworn to secrecy.

Well anyhow, in today's Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/public/us) there was an article which discussed heating your home with dried, shelled corn. Distributors and manufacturers of corn stoves and furnaces are getting backlogged with orders. They can't produce them quick enough as evidenced by the growing number of individuals purchasing them. The corn farmers are also finding a new revenue stream. With the high fluctuations in the price of conventional fuels brought on by Katrina, homeowners, especially in the Corn Belt, are becoming more efficient by buying shelled corn from farmers. The corn is then stored in bins and the homeowner must feed the furnace or stove at least one bushel a day. The by-product that gets exhausted out a duct rather than a chimney and is very clean except the neighborhood will smell like popcorn.

So if your determined to lower your heating cost and dedicated enough to try and find a corn farmer close by, then maybe corn, as an alternative energy source, is for you. By the way, the cost is about $60 dollars a month. Not a bad gig.

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December 11, 2005

Affordable Housing Can Be Green

Affordable housing whether in Greenwich (Which most of us can't afford.) or Hartford, should incorporate more green building methods in order to help keep costs down and have a positive long term impact on municipal budgets. A recent report released by Green Built Home, a program of the Wisconsin Environmental Initiative concludes that it is doable if certain areas are addressed. These include:

• Increasing Education about green building and it's affordability;
• Increasing funding opportunities for green affordable home projects; and
• Addressing regulatory impacts for green affordable home projetcs.

The report has interviews with Wisconsin affordable housing stakeholders such as builders, architects, professional associations, developers and elected officials. It also includes national case studies that showcase successful examples of housing that is both affordable and eco-friendly. Call out to Diane R. at the PFSCs in Hartford. Here is a report that might help your cause.

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December 9, 2005

High Performance Schools Initiative Draft Report Released

At yesterday evening's Winter meeting of the Connecticut Green Building Council (CGBC), a presentation on the progress of the council's High Performance Schools Initiative was made by Bill Leahy of the Institute of Sustainable Energy at Eastern CT State University. The draft report basically said that middle and high schools in CT are in real bad shape. In fact, we fall well short of national averages. The report indicates that if schools are not retrofit with better lighting, energy eficincies and air quality, student and teacher productivity levels will remain somewhat low. The report calls for higher standards such as LEED Silver or the equivalent for all new construction. It also calls for an educational outreach effort to convey the benefits of building green schools in our communities. I know my community, Bloomfield, shot down a town referendum to invest $150 million dollars to improve the schools in our town. I have no kids and one would think I could care less. But the truth of the matter is that I really wanted it, so that maybe we had some hope of improving our image as a place where education is not a priority of the town. Maybe with improved school buildings, students and teachers would have been more productive, hence higher mastery test scores, hence more attractive to home buyers, hence higher property values. It would make sense, I think, that CT cities and towns should be required to build new schools using the LEED system as a guideline but shouldn't be required to register for LEED certification. I hope we have another chance through referendum and that Bloomfield embraces integrated design processees and construct and rehab better learning spaces. For a copy of the draft click here

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December 7, 2005

NAHB Green Building Nominations Due At The End of December

Know a business, project or advocate worthy of being nominated?

The deadline is fast approaching for submissions to The National Association of Home Builders 2006 Green Building Awards. The NAHB is asking builders, remodelers, developers, nonprofits, government officials, academics, industry experts and others involved in green building to submit nominees. Award categories include Green Advocate of the Year and Green Project of the Year. The deadline is December 23, 2005. For more information and to download applications click here. It would be very cool to have some of Connecticut's best and brightest bring home some hardware.

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December 5, 2005

Ever Wonder What To Do with Used Batteries

I often find that I feel very reluctant to throw batteries away. I never know if I'm supposed to take them to the recycling center or throw them out. Batteries are everywhere these days. Clocks, lamps, camcorders, cordless phones, lab tops, cell phones all have batteries and they seem to be that we shouldn't be throwing them away. But at some point in their lifetime they will need to be disposed of. But where.

In the U.S., about three billion batteries or about ten per person are sold per year and millions are thrown away. Over the years, advances in technology and the industry being more socially responsible, have resulted in better battery designs which have created 'cleaner' batteries. More and better recycling programs have been introduced and funded by the industry as well. While batteries contain harmful materials to the environment, battery manufacturers have reduced the use of mercury by over 98%. Many of the large retailers also have very easy to use take-back programs for non-rechargeable and rechargeable batteries. To find out where you can go to take-back rechargeable batteries go to www.RBRC.com. Businesses and consumers can also mail non-rechargeable batteries and some rechargeables to The International Metals Reclamation Company. For more information on how to do it, click here.

Here's an easy chart for disposing batteries.

*Source: Connecticut DEP E-Newsletter P2VIEW, Winter Issue, 2005-2006

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December 5, 2005

ReCONNstruction Center Well Worth The Visit

If you are doing a home or work project that may require a trip to one of those huge box stores to get some building materials, you may want to check out the ReCONNstruction Center (http//reconnstructioncenter.org) in New Britain. This non-profit had it's grand opening in October and customers have been flocking to the store ever since. The center, manned by volunteers and funded in part by donations, carries everything from used doors and windows to hardwood and molding. The store which functions similarly to the salvation army is open Tuesday and Wednesday 7 a.m. - noon and Friday 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.

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December 3, 2005

LEED Classes Available On-line

The USGBC is offering an Online Training Course, An Introduction to LEED. I'm actually thinking about doing it. The seven-lesson course will teach professionals in the building industry the rating system, project coordination, the certification process, and more. The course is designed to help participants understand the requirements for achieving accreditation and the certification process. The fee for this course, which can be accessed through the USGBC Web site, is $150 for members and $200 for non-members. After purchase, the course is accessible for 60 days. Will there be beverages after class?

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December 1, 2005

Connecticut Architecture Firm Talks It and Walks It
Source: Spire Corporation

Spire Corporation of Bedford, MA and Shell Solar Install Photovoltaic System, a division of Royal Dutch Shell plc have designed and installed one of the largest corporate PV systems in the State of Connecticut, at the offices of Centerbrook Architects and Planners, LLC in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

The PV system, utilizing Shell Solar Type SQ 165-PC modules, was designed by Spire's systems group and installed under contract by A.J. Shea Construction of Essex, CT. It is designed to reduce energy costs of the facility, a nineteenth-century factory building, and to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology to Centerbrook's clients. The system has the capacity to generate 20,600 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy per year and, in combination with an existing hydropower system, has the potential to provide over 25 percent of the building's electricity requirements. Completion of the system is expected by year-end and commissioning is planned for early 2006.

William H. Grover, Partner and founder of Centerbrook Architects said, "Clients always ask us 'Will it work?' I prefer to test our ideas here first. Energy efficiency has always been our focus, and we expect the popularity of solar energy to continue to grow." Ted Tolis, Senior Architect for the firm and project manager for the PV system, stated, "PV is part of our industry and we hope our solar energy project will serve as an example to businesses across Connecticut that solar energy is a viable energy source. Spire executed our project on time and within budget. They were a pleasure to work with."

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2005 Green Blog Archives

December 2005,  November 2005,  October 2005