The Indiana chapter of the USGBC's Emerging Green Builders group is for students and young professionals who "want to take a
role in the leadership of the green design movement in Indiana." Now is a good time to get involved at the beginning and be instrumental in steering the growth and direction of green building in Indiana. Best of all, you can still join FREE in 2009. Go to the Emerging Green Builders Indiana site and get details on joining.
Image Credit: USGBC Indiana
The instructor for the course, David Gulyas,
is a LEED Accredited Professional who
recently completed construction of his high-performance green-built home on
Bloomington’s West Side. He is on the
Steering Committee of the USGBC’s So. Central Branch (Bloomington) and helped
plan the first Green Building Tour of Bloomington. David has presented in Bloomington on such topics as Guiding Principles of Green Interior Design, and the ReGreen program for Interior Design and Construction. As part of his work with EcoAchievers, LLC, he has developed online courses on topics such as Life Cycle Assessment and Harmonizing Historical Preservation and Green Building (in development).Before moving to Bloomington, David was an Interior Designer (ASID) in Oak Park, IL.
Image Credit: Whole Trees Architecture
I like to post inspirational examples of green architecture. Sometimes what is "inspirational" is not really practical or affordable. That's why this article in the NYT about whole tree building was so satisfying."In this quiet farming community, where people may not have a lot of money to spend, but do have plenty of wood and straw, word of the beauty and practicality of Mr. Gundersen’s structures has spread. Solar greenhouses made of local materials can extend the growing season through winter, even in a place where temperatures can drop to 30 or 40 below. In the last 18 years, Whole Trees Architecture has built 25 of them here."
Building with whole trees has some advantages:
Whole Trees Architecture's houses are also designed using passive solar techniques, so they are huge energy savers. But their most outstanding quality may be their stunning beauty, as you'll see in this slide show from the New York Times article.
Was inspired by a Bloomington Herald-Times article last week. Faced with no budget for a library, the 540 citizens of Chrisney, IN just went ahead anyway. See fuller coverage in the Evansville Courier-Press.
"They had no money to build a library, no viable existing buildings or partnerships for a shared storefront library, and their public library district adamantly refused to support capital or operating costs for a new branch." --Bill Brown, project architect on the Chrisney library building, and now Director of the IU Office of Sustainability
The building got land and maintenance commitment donated from the town, a grant from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, and $66,000 in matching funds from the citizens of the town. (Remember, there are only 540 citizens in the town.) The result:
Congratulations to the town of Chrisney, Indiana for their foresight, initiative and innovation.
Image Credit: Denny Simmons, Evansville Courier-Press
Dow Chemical has unveiled its new Solar Shingles:
Solar shingles are less efficient (as is all thin film) than traditional rack-mounted solar arrays, but Dow claims they can can offset between 40 percent and 80 percent of a home’s electricity consumption, and will be cheaper and easier to incorporate into building projects. Dow plans to test-market the product in 2010, initially targeting new home construction, with the goal of making it a mainstream product. (New York Times)
Though Minnetrista has the honor of building the first green roof in Muncie, Ball Memorial Hospital (BMH) plans to up the ante by building the largest green roof in Indiana. Having lived in the Chicago area during the previous decade, we watched with interest as Mayor Daley began his green roof initiative and spurred the adoption of green roofs all over the city. Studies have shown that green roofs can result in the following benefits:
Not to mention that they offset tons of carbon dioxide.
BMH's roof will be 23,000 square feet, and I'm sure their heating and cooling bills will soon start to make the investment pay off. BMH has estimated that they will save about $50,000 annually by reducing energy usage and by slowing roof repairs. (Green Roofs help roofs last longer.)
Chicago Green Roof Image via Inhabitat
Jetson Green has the story on low-cost Net Zero Energy homes on Lopez Island, whose high land prices make housing out of reach for teachers, government and other workers. Note the natural circulation provided by the clerestory windows. Quoting from the Jetson Green article, the community's other green features include:
The community is called Common Ground and is the latest project of the Lopez Island Community Land Trust, whose mission, among other things, is to create sustainable and permanently affordable housing.
Image Credit: Mithun
Get over to the IBCEE website and join!
"We are Indiana business owners, managers, entrepreneurs, and investors who recognize the economic value of setting a national cap on carbon emissions. We support meeting emission reduction goals through energy efficiency, technology innovation, and a diverse energy supply. We recognize the severe economic risks related to climate change and we support immediate action to mitigate these risks."
