UPDATE: The tours were fantastic! On my tour we had a great group from Architects to Lumber Sales. We were able to introduce several new people to the LEED for Homes project and the affordable homes we toured sent the right message...
It doesn't have to cost a lot of GOLD to go GREEN!!
It is just smart building practices....
Make plans for next year...this is truly a worthwhile event!
GREEN BUILDINGS OF WEST MICHIGAN:
YOU ARE INVITED! COME TOUR WITH US SEPT 10 & 11!
About 30 miles inland from Lake Michigan, along the banks of the Grand River you will find Grand Rapids, Michigan. G-Rap as my kids call it. Over 2,000 years ago, people associated with the Hopewell culture occupied the Grand River Valley. The Ottawa Indians began several villages along the Grand River around A. D. 1700. (read the GR WIKI for more history.)
To this day, there is a sense of community and love and culture surrounding the busy metropolis of Grand Rapids, Michigan. When you talk with "Grand Rapidians," as they are fondly called, you can hear their pride in the area and in the people that inhabit this river city. You can feel the sense of community and love and culture when you read of the many philanthropist in the area who have tirelessly dedicated themselves to continuous improvement of the area. Place Rated Almanac ranked Grand Rapids as the #3 city in the nation for fun and recreation.
In Grand Rapids, you will also find a culture built around sustainability. What you may not know about the buildings in Grand Rapids and surrounding areas, is the commitment building owners have made to environmentally and socially responsible practices in building.
In the 19th century, Grand Rapids became known as Furniture City. Now the same business leaders who assist in a healthy economy have made the Grand Rapids metropolis a national center of green building.
"The Grand Rapids metropolitan area ranks first nationally in the number of LEED buildings per capita amongst larger cities, and in the top 50 cities in the U.S.," explains USGBC-WM Chapter Chair Renae Hesselink, LEED AP. "We've earned the right to call ourselves a national center of green building, but more importantly we're positioning our region as a trendsetter, a leader in innovation, and home to experts in the design and manufacture of energy-efficient, sustainable buildings and materials."
The West Michigan USGBC thought it a shame not to showcase many of the 120+ LEED certified buildings in the West Michigan area. Thanks to the efforts of the West Michigan USGBC volunteers working tirelessly over the past year, you can experience this green, sustainable community with tours led by some of the leaders in the green building industry. Regardless of your interests or industry, there will be a tour tract for you.
Have you ever wondered how to green a hospital or health care facility? There are two Health Care Tours which consists of 10 LEED certified health care facilities.
Have you wondered if LEED certification works for non-profits? The Non-Profit Tour highlights four non-profit organizations who have committed to sustainable building.
How about my favorite, LEED for Homes? How about SIMPLE, DECENT, AFFORDABLE AND LEED CERTIFIED? Join Chris Hall, Cal Delano and myself for a tour through 6+ Habitat for Humanity Homes to experience first hand that LEED certified does not have to mean extra budget money. This tour will also include a multi-family assisted living center.
LEED for Schools, Renae's forte, will feature higher education as well as K-12 to demonstrate how children learn better in healthier environments.
Want some fun? How about the Bridges and Brews walking tour? Here you will experience a tour through 5 LEED certified buildings, including the Grand Rapids Art Museum, and complete your walk at Founders Brewery, not a LEED building but has first rate brews!
Check out the other tracts: Furniture City Tour, Government Buildings Tour, Hospitality Tour, Downtown Walking Tour and others at the West Michigan USGBC website.
Green Buildings of West Michigan Tour is being coordinated with Green Town: Climate Strategies for Sustainable Communities. What an ALL STAR lineup of events for the weekend!
and you thought you might be bored!
Wow! That's not all! I saved the best for last...if you are a LEED AP in need of CEU's, the chapter has worked hard to get the tour tracts qualified for Continuing Ed. What a great way to learn, first hand, innovation: to be able to get under the hood and take a look inside. To see the heart and the lungs of the building breathing.
If you work in a building or live in a house (or plan to some day!) you owe it to yourself to attend! If you are a realtor, commercial or residential, curious about green buildings and LEED certification, what a great way to be amongst the leaders in the nation to answer your questions.
Please check the WM USGBC website for a full listing of tours and registration. The event is September 10 & 11, 2010; just around the corner. If you have not made plans for your fall getaway...make plans for a working vacation! Come enjoy the beauty of West Michigan while learning how to become a leader in your industry.
And if you can't attend ~ you can buy the book! These folks have thought of everything!!
Come ride the RAPID and experience a green, sustainable community! 
This just in (things keep getting better and better!):
Students listen up!!
If you are a student at Hope College, Grand Rapids Community College, Kendall School of Art and Design, Grand Valley State University, Aquinas College or Ferris State University there are scholarships available for you to attend the tour!
just email Renae at the bottom of the registration page.
I had a wonderful thing happen to me this year.
I was hired as adjunct faculty by the forward thinking Grand Rapids Community College to teach Wind Energy Technology. I am always looking to broaden my horizons...and this experience has broadened my horizons far more than I thought possible.
First of all, I never thought I would make front page news...boy was I surprised and my Daddy was proud to see me on the front page of anything, especially The Collegiate!
And then they started calling me Professor! of all things!
Imagine THAT!
All kidding aside, I had a great first year educating 50 or so students about wind energy.
I normally work in small and medium wind, so it was quite exciting for me to get involved in Big Wind! Several times this year I was able to visit Stoney Corners Wind Farm in McBain, Michigan.
McBain, Michigan is a very small farming community you will find on your way "north." Just off US 131, south of Cadillac. In my travels north, I have driven past it many times without ever knowing it...until now. Now I know McBain a little bit. And you, too, if you know when to look, you can see wind generators off in the distance as you travel the 131 corridor...get to know McBain....
Next time you are heading to northern Michigan keep an eye out just south of Cadillac...
I think they are a thing of beauty...maybe you will too? Not everyone agrees but not everyone does due diligence to find out. Many just believe what they read...
I had an experience....
What strikes me most is the feeling of power when I am visiting and walking the grounds. The silence speaks to me. I have always heard wind generators are noisy and I know from the small installations we have done they are pretty quiet. Just wait, I heard, until you hear the big ones....
Funny...I couldn't hear anything until I was within 100 yards or so....and then I heard a graceful sweep, converting a free resource into power...with no strip mining, no risk to the surrounding crops, no harm to the ocean ecosystems ~ only a graceful sound like the ocean surf hitting the shore...so soothing and calming. I always sleep well hearing the ocean waves pounding the shore, or the rain hitting the roof...I would probably sleep well lulled by a wind turbine capturing energy also...a nice B & B on the site and I would be able to find out!
A B & B? What a great opportunity for tourism! "Come to my farm and find out what it is like to live on a wind farm!" Entrepreneurs listen up!
What a great opportunity for landowners in the area who share in the revenue of the wind farm and increase their property values and income.
What a great opportunity for local economics! The local diners, restaurants and hotels have loved the contractors.
What a great opportunity for local retail trade! The grocery stores, movie galleries and gas stations have found new clientelle!
What a great opportunity for the schools and the local municipalities...who have discovered a new source of tax revenue...for books and transportation and roads...
What a great opportunity....
For Michigan, who currently purchases 97% of fuel sources from over state lines, to use a natural resource and retain dollars in the state. An ailing state if I may add....what a great opportunity!
On my way to the Wind Farm I found opportunity in jobs. A great opportunity for Michigan land owners and residents. I still find small, distributed generation the BEST opportunity but on my way to the wind farm I realized...
I found jobs...jobs it retail, construction, data analysis, research, services. The list goes on.
I found an opportunity for independence for the state of Michigan...ranked 14th in the nation for wind resources and third in the nation if one figures in off shore wind.
I found students, young and old alike, who recognize renewable energy as part of the solution.
Michigan is taking advantage of the opportunity its natural resources provide....
stay tuned...what will happen on my way to the wind farm next?
Imagine a house…with all the modern conveniences…
computers, coffee pots, heat, computers, indoor cook stoves…even IOL (instant on lighting! I think that came from a Dudley Moore movie!) Did I say computers?
Just think of all those things we have become so fond of…modern comforts…
Now imagine that same house after a year… compute the utility bills…and they average zero…
Wouldn’t that be the cat’s meow?
I have just described a net zero energy home. Some times it uses energy, sometimes it produces more energy than it uses. However, after a year the energy bills net out to zero…
Yes, you heard me right, ZERO. Zip. Nada. Zilch…
You are probably saying,
"Sounds great but it would cost a small fortune!"
Am I right?
What if I told you it doesn't have to cost a fortune? You would probably ask me to prove it…
Habitat for Humanity of Kent County is out there. They have committed to building all LEED certified homes; they have committed to EPA Water Sense homes, they have committed to zero step homes.
Now...
My friend Chris Hall, Construction Director at Habitat for Humanity of Kent County tells me they are going to prove net zero energy is achieveable...on a budget. Chris and the other folks at KCHFH are going to prove it on a Habitat for Humanity Home!
They are out there!
What could be better? Habitat for Humanity clients are among those who need it the most. Habitat for Humanity clients are hard working folks with lower income. Utility bills take a good chunk of their income...
What do your utility bills cost you per month? $50? $100? $200?
What would happen if you spent those dollars locally as opposed to sending it to your utility provider? Did you know that dollars spent locally add up to 6 times as much income for local economy?
A few weeks ago I was doing some calculations for a presentation. I was astounded...Michigan has about 4.5 million homes. If each of those homes were to reduce their electric consumption by 2000 kWh per year ~ just 167 kWh per month ~ it would make available almost a billion dollars annually at today's electricity prices. If that were spent locally, it could equate to 5 - 6 Billion dollars to the local economies...wow...
just...WOW! That's a chunk of change!
What if you were able to invest those dollars? I'm aware the market's have been down so let's assume a 5% investment rate. That $100 per month invested over 30 years would be over $83,000...not a bad retirement supplement for most people. Just from avoided cost of electricity...at today's dollars and rates.
So what does it take to build a net zero energy home? Fantastic donors.
Donors like Grand Rapids resident Craig Van Ess who competed in his 12th Ironman competition on Sunday, June 27th to raise funds on behalf of Habitat for Humanity of Kent County.
Volunteers who offer insight at design charrettes, answer phones, schedule, pound nails and simply enjoy helping others by offering their time and talents.
Suppliers like Kohler who donate water saving faucets and showerheads to HFHKC.
If you are interested in learning more about Kent County Habitat for Humanity's Net Zero Energy Home, read about the Wealthy Heights Project now under way in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
If you are interested in donating time, talent or products to the first Habitat for Humanity Home in the US that will be net zero energy, check in with Kent County Habitat for Humanity and let them know!
I will bring more news about this exciting project as it develops...the Wealthy Heights Project is setting a great example. The proof is in the pudding....
As Chris says, "Simple. Decent. Affordable. And Historic. And LEED Certified. Did we miss anything?"
Stay Tuned!
Copyright 2009 Mary McGraw Bigelow. All rights reserved.
Note to self: stolen emails negate climate change? Since when did stealing solve anything, especially global warming??
Our engineer, Devon O'Shea, is currently in Europe attending the Climate Change Conference. When I emailed Devon for an update on the conference he sent back an email asking me to post the following open letter to Congress from the scientific community regarding stolen emails. I had no idea what it was about so I did some digging.
It didn't take long to pull up information about the stolen emails.
October 21, 2009 several U.S. scientists wrote to Congress offering their assistance in developing solutions for global climate change. These scientists are in agreement their research supports human activity is responsible for the greatest portion of climate change.
In November, 2009 over 1000 emails and other documents were stolen from the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University in the U.K. As reported in the Wall Street Journal and around the world, these were later uploaded to a russian file sharing site.
The university says, ""The selective publication of some stolen emails and other papers taken out of context is mischievous and cannot be considered a genuine attempt to engage with this issue in a responsible way," the university said."
The accusation has been made by those stealing and posting private emails and documents that the scientists falsified data, which is what they were trying to prove by selecting certain emails and documents and posting them. There is a police investigation in process to discover the thiefs.
The university is starting a formal investigation into the accusation of fraud, which will be headed up by Sir Muir Russell.
There is speculation in the world communities that this hack was designed to shed more doubt on the human contribution to climate change and affect the outcome of the climate change conference in Copenhagen. However, the growing consensus to the human contribution to climate change is so large this hack is unlikely to have an effect.
I excitedly watch folks put the brakes on global warming in a positive way, by implementing clean energy such as this hybrid renewable energy system designed by Devon at Contractors Building Supply.
Devon also referred me to this website article, "Skeptical Science explains how we know global warming is happening: it's the oceans, stupid!" This is an interesting post which debunks the skeptics "global cooling" myth with evidence. This article points to studies which show the oceans are still in a warming trend.
It's some pretty deep reading, but that's the point. The "global cooling party" has been basing their theories on measurements from surface waters which are too shallow to get a good picture of what is going on in the ocean.
It makes me wonder what effect this warming has had overall on our climate events such as hurricanes over the past few years. Communities in the south ~ Florida, Lousiana, Texas ~ have all been devasted by hurricanes. How many of these so-called "natural disasters" are man made to some extent?
Copenhagen Climate Change Conference - for the latest news on the climate change conference I visit Denmark's host country website.
The open letter's to congress can be downloaded here: Open letters from U.S. Scientific Community regarding climate change.
Devon has promised more news. I am anxious to hear from him!
As a parting note, a reminder: keep your private emails private. It is so easy in today's day and age for people to misuse emails and forward to unintended parties. My Mom always warned me not to put in writing that which I didn't want others to read!!!
Mary Bigelow Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Self nominations are accepted....
This annual program hosted by Corp! magazine and sponsored by MITechNews.com honors companies and organizations leading the way for Michigan's green sector.
Mike Brennan, with MITechNews.com asked me if I would get the word out to my green, innovative friends!
Do you know a company, person, or organization in Michigan who demonstrates a commitment to green, sustainable and environmentally friendly practices?
Corp! and MITechNews are looking for
the list goes on...you can find more and the application for nomination at the following link:
http://www.mitechnews.com/articles.asp?id=11015&sec=102
You can follow Mike on twitter to keep up with all the latest tech news and green tech news in Michigan.
Come on fellow Michigan Treehuggers...let's see who the top innovators and green folks in Michigan are!!!
Copyright 2009 Mary McGraw Bigelow. All rights reserved. For more information visit: Windows Wind and Solar
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B.S. Biomedical Science GVSU; LEED Green Associate; BPI Building Analyst I'm looking for the next PB & J....conservation + renewable energy = NET Zero Energy It's possible...come find out.
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