KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
John W Spears, C.E.M., LEED AP
Sustainable Design Group
Green Passive Solar Homes and Sustainable Communities
John Spears discussed the importance of solar energy in home designs in order to create sustainable communities
www.sustainabledesign.com
SESSIONS:
Design & Construction
A Formal Suburban Landscape Using Only Montgomery County Native Plants
Dr. Sara Tangren (Chesapeake Natives, Inc.)
7125 Willow Avenue, Takoma Park, Maryland, is the home of Mike Tidwell, founder of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Although it looks like a typical bungalow in the historic district, it runs on 95% renewable energy. In the fall of 2002, I teamed up with Jenny Reed (Natural Resources Design) to landscape the front yard. Our goal was to determine if we could create a landscape appropriate to the formal atmosphere of the neighborhood using only plants native to the county. We want to share the lessons and triumphs of a three-year gardening adventure!
www.ChesapeakeNatives.org Green Advantage Certification Program
Grady O’Rear (Green Advantage)
Green Advantage Certification - Established with EPA and Nature Conservancy funding, this national certification recognizes building-related practitioners who have demonstrated their knowledge in green building. Learn more about Green Advantage and its benefits to your commercial or residential project.
www.greenadvantage.org
WORKSHOP: Holistic Approach to Green Design
Bill Hutchins, AIA (Helicon Works)
Learn to create a nurturing and beautiful home (or add-onto or renovate your house) that provides refuge as it places you in harmony with the land. This was an experiential (playful, reflective) workshop exploring ecological practices through a series of creative exercises and the design of a house for a site.
www.heliconworks.com
Recycling Buildings: The Ultimate Green Strategy
Carl Elefante, AIA (QUINN EVANS | ARCHITECTS)
Historic preservation shares a “stewardship” ethic with environmental protection. Both are committed to sustaining resources, whether cultural or natural. A more active and effective partnership between historic preservation (heritage conservation) and sustainable development (green building) advocates will substantially advance the agendas of both communities.
Download PowerPoint Slideshow
www.quinnevans.com
Green Landscaping Through Audubon at Home
Britt Slattery (Audubon Maryland-DC)
Benefit the environment inside and out! Conservation landscaping measures will complement your green building or help improve any property for birds and other wildlife. Learn to use native plants and other conservation practices to enhance habitat, improve local water quality, and create a Healthy Yard (take the pledge at www.audubon.org/bird/at_home/). Audubon At Home provides tips for residential, commercial and other areas, in urban, suburban, and rural settings, and even in the home through green consumer choices.
www.audubonmddc.org/
Sustainability Starts at Home: One Homeowner’s Perspective on Green Building
Anne Polanski (Home, Green Home)
Anne talked about her journey through the process of building a green home, acting as her own general contractor and designer. Various aspects of construction including green materials selection, insulation, energy considerations when selecting heating and cooling systems, managing subcontractors, trade-offs relating to costs and “shades of green” when making decisions, and so on were discussed. Also, local, state, and federal incentives for clean energy options for homes (renewable energy and efficiency) and how to utilize these in the best way were touched upon.
Green Roofs and Green Projects
Alan Abrams, CPBD (Abrams Design Build, LLC)
System appropriateness, selection, state grant programs and federal tax credit rules, systems’ costs and basic return on investment calculations were addressed.
www.abramsdesignbuild.com/
Energy
Solar Application for Residential: Solar Water Heaters, Solar Photovoltaic
Albert Nunez (SKS-Solar King Supply, Inc.)
This two-hour session covered solar water heating system designs including various types of collectors, tanks and other facets. Solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems were reviewed. Collector types plus other facets including island, battery back-up power (UPS) and grid-tie net-meter systems as well as building integrated photovoltaic systems (BIPV) system designs were illustrated.
Download PDF | Download PowerPoint Slideshow
www.capitalsungroup.com
Green Tags: The Benefits of Purchasing Energy in Bulk and What This Means for the Environment
Gary Skulnik (Clean Currents, LLC)
Gary talked about how residents can buy green energy via Green Tags and how they can save money by grouping together into a clean energy buying group. Wind energy in our region and financial incentives were discussed in details. www.cleancurrents.com
Residential and Commercial Photovoltaic Systems, On and Off Grid Applications
Carlo La Porta (Capital Sun Group, Ltd)
What are these systems, how do they work, how much do they cost, how much energy do they save. What does the user need to know about her/his building to consider employing a solar energy system. What are the main concerns residential consumers have when considering a solar system purchase such as solar air heaters.
www.capitalsungroup.com/company.htm
Energy Systems at Home: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions…
Keith Winston, (Earth Sun Energy Systems)
How can we frame the residential energy aspect of green building most usefully? How do we choose amongst so many choices when we are rehabbing or building new? Should we make energy system choices differently from how we choose paint, or countertops? And what do you mean there’s no such thing as energy efficiency, anyway?
Download PDF | Download PowerPoint Slideshow
www.earthsunenergy.com
Plug in Cars, New Technology in Batteries and Current Vehicles Available
Charlie Garlow (DC/VA/MD Electric Car Association)
Kick our addiction to oil, and coal? Electric Drive transportation is your ticket to the Future! How else can we get renewable energy, like solar and wind in our “tanks”? Ethanol and biofuels have some possibilities, but the use of food for fuel is already being criticized for starving the world. Fuels cells? Very inefficient. Better battery technology is available and getting cheaper.
www.evadc.org/about_us.html
Healthy Homes Go Green, a Solution for Health and Home
Jon Roberts (ECO Solution)
Jon Roberts, owner of ECO Solution – Green Building Supply, exposed the dangers of conventional building. He gave alternative solutions for building and ways to go green. This presentation included product information, statistics, and real life stories as well as great expert knowledge on application and usage of green building materials. www.ecosolution.com
Indoor Air Quality
Keith Ware (Eco-Green Living, LLC)
Learn about the many materials and products on the market today that can improve the air quality of your home and make it a healthier place to be.
www.eco-greenliving.com
Green Finishes for the Interior and Exterior of Your Home
Keith Ware (Eco-Green Living, LLC)
Showed samples of the many ways one can convert or build a home that is green or mostly green. This presentation will include lighting, heating, etc.
www.eco-greenliving.com/
Reducing Impact
Composting and Mulching Techniques
Steve Dubik (Montgomery County Cooperative Extension)
Illustrated the composting process including the benefits and concerns of composting, proper mulching techniques, pro’s and con’s of different mulches, and native and sustainable groundcovers.
http://mastergardener.umd.edu/local/Montgomery/index.cfm
Rainscapes: Harvesting the Heavens
Pamela Rowe (Montgomery County DEP)
Interested in a low-maintenance landscape? Heard about putting native plants in your garden? Want to do your part in helping keep our streams clean and recharging our groundwater? Then it’s about time you considered Rainscapes-landscaping that makes active use of rainfall and runoff to create functional, diverse gardens. Rain gardens are low-maintenance landscaped areas that contain, filter, and soak up stormwater runoff from paved surfaces. You’ll enjoy a significant increase in color and activity provided by the influx of birds, butterflies and dragonflies visiting your yard. Montgomery County’s new Raingarden Planner will give a primer on creating raingardens and using rain barrels! www.rainscapes.org
The Future of Electric Cars, Electric Car Pooling and Other Forms of Transportation
Charlie Garlow (DC/VA/MD Electric Car Association)
Alternative sources of transportation, zero carbon emissions commuting, and other information. Plug-in hybrids and all electric vehicles are the future.
http://www.evadc.org/about_us.html
Trees, Your Home, and the Community
Todd Bolton (City of Takoma Park Arborist)
The City Arborist explained the effect on urban forest canopy can have on urban microclimates, tie that into the intent and purpose of the Takoma Park tree ordinance, and then discuss the expanding impact of an aging urban forest lacking a population of understory replacements.
www.takomaparkmd.gov
Local Initiatives – An Overview of EcoVillage of Loudoun County Virginia and ‘Convenient Truths’ – Some Green Actions You Can Take
Grady O’Rear (Green Advantage)
Local Initiatives - EcoVillage of Loudoun County Virginia represents a nearby example of designing and building with nature. Protected conservation areas, environmentally benign architectural and land-use requirements combine with a community association structure that encourages collaboration while ensuring privacy. In addition to learning about EcoVillage, this presentation included reviews of actions you can take in your community to advance sustainability.
Download PDF | Download PowerPoint Slideshow
www.ecovillages.com
The Basics of Deconstruction
Paul Hughes (Deconstruction Services)
Learn the basics of residential deconstruction. What can be deconstructed, how it is done, and what are the benefits financially and as well as environmentally.
www.deconstructionservices.com
Sustainable Community Initiatives – Material Reuse
Jim Schulman, AIA (Community Forklift)
Building material reuse means developing second lives for used and unwanted building materials that might otherwise be disposed of – saving production energy, reducing demand for the extraction of virgin materials, and reducing waste and expense. Deconstruction – the disassembly of existing structures in order to reuse or recycle building materials and equipment – is a primary source for building material reuse. Jim discussed the advantages, limitations, and bright future of reuse and deconstruction.
Download PDF | Download PowerPoint Slideshow
www.communityforklift.com
Rainbarrel Construction
Catherine Tunis (Committee on the Environment)
Learn about a low-tech method to save water from your roof and use it to water your gardens and landscaping – improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and reduce your water use! Catherine talked about the need to hold water on-site for watershed function, how to calculate how much water you can harvest with rain barrels, how they are constructed, how to connect them to your house, and planning for using the water.
Download PowerPoint Presentation
| Download PDF
www.takomaparkmd.gov
The Big Picture: The Crisis of Global Warming
Mike Tidwell (Chesapeake Climate Action Network)
The owner of one of Maryland’s “greenest” homes declares that greening our houses and buildings is only one step in the fight against catastrophic global warming. We have perhaps ten years to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and then bring them down rapidly. That means we need a clean energy revolution in agriculture, cars, politics, everything. The good news is we can make all of this happen in a hurry. Really.
www.chesapeakeclimate.org
Water Conservation in the Home
Albert Nunez (SKS-Solar King Supply, Inc.)
Water conservation systems were covered including rain water harvesting, waterless and low volume flush and composting toilets; as well as gray water systems and their allowable integration uses in the Washington Suburban Sanitary District (WSSC) municipal water and sanitary sewer systems. Green roofs, rain gardens and other storm water management strategies were also discussed. Handouts were provided with web links for further study, as well as a list of local companies which can do the work.
www.capitalsungroup.com
EXHIBITORS: Advanced Building Design
Takoma Park, MD
Contact: jeremy@advancedbuildingdesign, (301) 565-0339
Advanced Building Design, Inc. is a locally owned and operated firm providing complete architectural design and project management services for both residential and commercial projects. Our designs employ environmentally sound principles and products to help you achieve your goals of creating space that is comfortable, affordable, and efficient.
Capital Sun Group, Ltd
Cabin John, MD
Contact: capital.sun@verizon.net, (301) 229-0671
Capital Sun is a solar systems design and installation company that offers a full range of solar technologies including simple solar water heaters or photovoltaic systems for residential solar energy projects.
www.capitalsungroup.com
Chesapeake Natives, Inc.
Takoma Park, MD
Contact: SATangren@ChesapeakeNatives.org, (301) 580-6237
Chesapeake Natives exists to benefit people and the environment by making it easy for people to obtain and use native plants to meet their landscaping needs. All our genetic material is indigenous to the Chesapeake Watershed.
www.ChesapeakeNatives.org
City of Takoma Park Maryland
Takoma Park, MD
Contact: Trees - toddb@takomagov.org, Stormwater - Alik@takomagov.org, Permits/General - ilonab@takomagov.org, (301) 891-7612
Stop by the Department of Public Works to pick up information on City programs and policies, including tree fact sheets and copies of City Tree ordinance.
www.takomaparkmd.gov
Committee on the Environment
Takoma Park, MD
Contact: tunis.catherine@erols.com, (301) 891-7633
The Committee on the Environment is a statutory committee advisory to the City Council on environmental issues who also work to educate Takoma Park residents, businesses, and County government on environmental issues and encourage Takoma Park residents, businesses, and County government to choose environmentally beneficial or non-harmful alternatives when available to protect the environment, reduce energy use and limit greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.takomaparkmd.gov/committees/env/index.html
Community Forklift
Edmonston, MD
Contact: ruthie@communityforklift.com, (301) 895-5180
Community Forklift facilitates the recovery and reuse of salvaged or surplus building materials, by accepting materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill and reselling them at 40-80% of market value to improve local and global sustainability. We are located just one mile out of DC near Route 1.
www.communityforklift.com
ECO Solution
Copper Hill, VA
Contact: jon@ecosolution.com, 540-929-4499
The ECO Solution Store is designed to offer healthy home products and design services for everyone, from weekend do-it-yourselfers to architects and interior designers to professional builders and developers. The mission of ECO Solution Painting is to create beautiful spaces and promote a healthy environment for our clients through the use of non-toxic products and craftsmanship in their application.
www.ecosolution.com
Eco-Green Living, LLC
Washington, DC
Contact: keith@eco-greenliving.com, (202) 234-7110
Eco green sustainable products: tankless hot water heater, solar tube, eco paint, samples of flooring and counter tops, small samples of mattresses and some clothing.
http://www.eco-greenliving.com/
Electric Vehicle Association of Greater DC
Silver Spring, MD
Contact: garlow.charlie@epamail.epa.gov
EVA/DC promotes the use of electric vehicles (EV’s) as an environmental and energy alternative. Exhibit includes Aztec, a 2-seater solar car, built by MIT engineering students with solar panels on rear roof.
http://www.evadc.org/about_us.html
EnviroArchitects
Arlington, VA
Contact: mlayseca@enviroarchitecture.com, (703) 812 9370
Work with green architects for your renovation, addition or new building project.
Green DC Realty
Washington, DC
Contact: contact@greendcrealty.com, (240) 481-5041
Green DC Realty is a real estate company specializing in green buildings, and works to market homes to the educated green consumer base audience.
www.greendcrealty.com
Green Home, LLC
Mt. Rainier, MD
Contact: greenhome2@verizon.net, (301) 277-9660
This Maryland home improvement company specializes in greenbuilt decks, renovations, and additions. Our work includes a Solar Sheet Thermal Space Heater.
http://greenhomellc.biz/
Helicon Works
Takoma Park, MD
Contact: billhutchins@earthlink.net, (301) 404-5578
Helicon Works offers expertise in combining environmentally sensitive architecture and building practices with spiritual and psychological wisdom through architecture, landscape and interior design; including Feng Shui or intuitive energy balancing. Services include obtaining and coordinating engineering and consulting services, and educational workshops.
www.heliconworks.com
Nature Neutral
Charlottesville, VA and Edmonston, MD
Contact: bupdike@natureneutral.com, (434) 284-1946
Since 2003, Nature Neutral has served contractors and homeowners interested in using environmentally preferable products to build and renovate. Whether your concern is chemical sensitivities, allergies, or a better environment, our products are designed to help meet your needs and create a healthier environment both inside and outside your home or workplace. We provide a large array of green building products - sustainably harvested lumber, flooring and plywood products, non-toxic exterior grade lumber, non-PVC piping systems, no- and low-VOC paints, adhesives, caulks, stains and sealants, recycled and natural wool carpeting, non-toxic cleaning and lawn and garden supplies, and recycled and non-toxic insulation – throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
www.natureneutral.com
Save our Sky Home-Heating Cooperative
Takoma Park, MD
Contact: satjiwan@saveoursky.com, (301) 891-889
Corn Burning Stoves help save money, protect environment, support local farmers & reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Burning corn is climate neutral because it releases as much CO2 as it absorbed when grown.
www.saveoursky.com
Sustainable Design Group
Gaithersburg, MD
Contact: jspears@sustainabledesign.com, (301) 428-1040
Sustainable Design Group helps guide you through the process of building or renovating your home or light commercial building and to make it as healthy, energy efficient and harmonious with the environment as possible.
www.sustainabledesign.com
Takoma Park Silver Spring Food Co-Op
Takoma Park, MD
Contact: outreach@tpss.coop, (301) 891-2667
The Takoma Park Silver Spring Food Co-op is a full service vegetarian-friendly grocery store owned by your friends and neighbors, offering a full range of high quality products.
http://tpss.coop/
Urban Solar Solutions
Takoma Park, MD
Contact: ellen@urbansolarsolutions.com, (202) 320-2570
Urban Solar Solutions provides unique tools and products to help you reach your carbon reducing potential! Come visit the store and see our corn stoves.
www.urbansolarsolutions.com
Washington Gardener Magazine
Silver Spring, MD
Contact: Editor@WashingtonGardener.com, (301) 588-6894
Washington Gardener Magazine, the local gardening magazine for the greater DC region. All about what grows here! Purchase subscriptions for yourself or as a gift. Current and back issues are for sale, including our special issues on Native Plants, Trees, and Shade Gardens. We are a green company and are members of the Co-Op America Business Network. Washington Gardener Magazine is a woman-owned, local, independent business.
http://www.washingtongardener.com/
FOLLOW UP LINKS:
Chesapeake Bay Trust
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
Environmental Protection Agency
Green Building Institute
Going Green at Home
Arlington Department of Environmental Services
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