Green Apple Day Of Service

Mark Kurowski (K&W Engineers) and I taking part in the Green Apple Day Of Service

What is the Green Apple Day Of Service?

USGBC and The Center For Green Schools created this annual event to engage people around the world and give them an opportunity to give back to their community.  The goal is to educate children/students about sustainability in their very own backyard.  They have a fantastic website (www.mygreenapple.org) which has tracked, organized and reported on the thousands of service projects that have been going on around the world on September 29, 2012.

Who was involved?

Our local Green Apple Service event was coordinated by The Emerging Professionals Committee of USGBC Central Pennsylvania.  In just a couple of weeks, Sarah Knehr and Justin Kovaleski were able to secure over $1500 in donations for trees/mulch/tools and round up 30+ volunteers to help.  People of all backgrounds came out to chip in… Professional engineers, occupational therapists, construction workers, parents, children and college students.  It was great to see such a positive response to the event and really inspired me to do more projects like this on an ongoing basis.  Penn State Harrisburg and their newly founded USGBC Student Group was there with numerous volunteers.  Penn State Harrisburg also visited with Middletown Area Middle School students this week to teach them about green buildings and the environment.

Penn State Harrisburg USGBC Student Group

What did we accomplish?

We accomplished many things today…  We connected people… We improved City Island by planting 15 trees… We supported a struggling city in need (Harrisburg)… We educated students about giving back… and most of all We Had FUN!  People really do enjoy rolling their sleeves up once in a while and getting dirty.  It was great to see so many smiling faces and people really looking to help each other with this project.  I even got to see a mom teach her two middle school age children how to plant a tree… quite remarkable!

How can you get involved and support future projects like this one?

Become a volunteer with your local chapter of the US Green Building Council… Our website in Central Pennsylvania is www.usgbc-centralpa.org.  Our chapter covers 37 counties throughout Central Pa and includes large areas such as State College, Lancaster, Berks, York, Harrisburg, Carlisle and Chambersburg.  We have many great committees doing good work and fun interactive events on a monthly basis.  Check here for upcoming events!

Donate now… Non-profits like USGBC Central Pa need financial resources in order to continue to provide community service projects, educational programs and to advocate for sustainability to local and state government.  Please consider donating today to ensure this organization can continue to support sustainability in your community for years to come.

Higher Education: Truly Embracing Sustainability

Higher Education is perhaps the field which has embraced the realm of sustainability to the fullest.  Colleges/Universities have implemented curriculum, green building policies/procedures, research projects, marketing efforts, recycling programs, and campus wide sustainability efforts.  This seems to have occurred both from the students (grassroots) and from the leadership supporting the efforts resulting in massive culture change.  Higher Education is very competitive and they have found that ‘being green’ can make their campus & school more attractive to the next generation (which is all about the environment and smarter decisions).

Two years ago, The Princeton Review + USGBC teamed up to provide the guide to green colleges and universities.  You can download the latest publication here for free: 
http://www.princetonreview.com/green_guide_download.aspx

There is a ton of great information on each of the schools and what they have done on their campuses to become more environmentally responsible.  I personally found it pretty cool to find out that my alma mater, Catholic University (Washington, DC) was on the list.

Also an emerging trend on campuses, USGBC Student Groups are popping up all over the country!

Here is a map of the current sanctioned USGBC Student Groups (78 of them to be exact): 
http://centerforgreenschools.org/main-nav/higher-edu/community/usgbcstudents/findagroup.aspx

This is pretty remarkable for a program that is fairly new (two years old)… The student groups are focusing on campus sustainability initiatives, LEED AP/GA prep courses, local green building tours, research projects, engaging local leaders in green building and more.

Locally here in Central Pennsylvania, we have two official student groups: Penn State & Penn College of Technology

Three other schools have shown interest in the program and are starting the affliation process:  Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC), Messiah College and Dickinson College…

Pennsylvania Higher Ed Student Roundtable:

On March 15, 2012 at GreenCon we will be holding a USGBC Student Group Roundtable discussion to share information and resources… we hope you can join us!

More Information:

If you are interested in starting a group at your college/university, here’s how to get started: 
http://centerforgreenschools.org/usgbcstudentsstart.aspx

If interested, here is a sustainable design competition for those that are either students or young professionals: 
http://dvgbc.org/sustainable-design-competition

Feel free to share your campus initiatives and green efforts here!

Join us for GREENCon – March 15, 2012 – Messiah College

Click Here To Register For GreenCon Today!

Early Bird Rate is $40 Until 2/22

Join us for a great conference & expo!

USGBC Central Pennsylvania will be hosting GreenCon – A Green Building Conference & Expo on March 15, 2012 at Messiah College.

The day will feature national and local experts on green building technologies, systems and philosophies.  There will be plenty of opportunities to learn, network and witness sustainability up close and personal as Messiah College gives tours of their numerous green initiatives.  There will be several guest speakers discussing exciting, relevant and innovative topics.  You can earn credential maintenance hours and promote your business through exhibiting or sponsorship.

If you are interested in learning more about this conference, please comment below and I will be happy to send you information regarding registration/exhibiting/sponsoring.

Happy New Year!

ABC stays ahead of the curve with the new Green Contractor Certification

The Associated Builders and Contractors continues to be at the forefront of the green
construction movement with their new ABC Green Contractor Certification program.
With so much green-washing spread throughout the market these days, ABC National
decided to come up with their very own measuring stick for what makes a “Green
Contractor”. They also want to separate the companies that just build green buildings
from the ones that truly implement sustainable practices into their culture everyday.

13 Pre-Requisites & 36 Possible Credits
They have provided a flexible and comprehensive checklist of sustainable business
practices ranging from procurement practices to LEED project experience. This
certification is focused on how you operate your business and run your jobsite offices.
This checklist can be downloaded at www.greenconstructionatwork.com.

Areas of Evaluation:
1. Pre-Requisites (Policies & Procurement)
2. Main and Branch Offices (Operations)
3. Jobsite Offices (Field Operations)
4. Education & Training (Employee Development)

Why your company should consider it?

Fosters Teamwork & Collaboration
When we (Wohlsen Construction Company) decided to pursue this certification, we
arranged a meeting with all of the leaders from each major department. This included
our President, Human Resources Director, Information Technology Director, Purchasing
Director, Training Coordinator, Sustainability Coordinator and Operations Executives.
One by one we reviewed each potential credit within the ABC Green Contractor
Certification Checklist and asked the following questions: Are we doing this now? If
not, do we want to? If we would like to do this, what are the resource implications and
timeframe?

Improve The Triple Bottom Line (Profit, Planet, People)
This was an enlightening discussion for everyone on our team. Each topic/credit opened
up a new conversation and allowed us all to think about how our area of the business
impacts each of the other areas and ultimately, the end result on the environment. From
this conversation we were able to create our gameplan for approaching the certification.
Each leader was assigned credits from the checklist to gather supporting documentation
and report back to the group. We followed up with two more meetings to ensure that we
would provide enough backup information to provide proof of our practices.

The ABC Green Contractor program includes third party verification:
Within two weeks of submitting the application and supporting documentation, we were
contacted by a local “green professional” (an architect in our case) who met with us to
review our application and take a tour (and photograph) our offices.

Costs
The costs for the certification itself is $450. If your company has already begun to
implement green practices at work than this could be the extent of the process for you and
it will simply be a matter of documenting what you have done and sending this to ABC
National for their review and approval. Each credit, if it hasn’t been implemented, could
be fairly time and cost intensive.

Just Do It!
I highly encourage any company interested in being green or sustainable to print the
checklist for themselves and see how they measure up. This is a great way to invest
in your company, your image and the environment. ABC has also provided a guide to
green practices which serves as a roadmap to the entire process.

Let me know if you have any questions throughout the process, our company was the 17th company in the country to navigate the process and achieve the certification.

Campus Square Building Wins National Award

It was truly a pleasure to be involved in the design and construction process of one of the most sustainable buildings in the region. Campus Square is located in Midtown Harrisburg which has undergone a complete revitalization in the last 5 years.  The revitalization has been the vision of GreenWorks Development and their commitment to responsible development has definitely paid off. Campus Square has gone on to win a USGBC Central Pennsylvania Project Of The Year Award, ABC Keystone Chapter Project of The Year Award and most recently an ABC National Pyramid Award. These are all landmark achievements for this project.

Campus Square is a great example of blending high performance technologies, urban revitalization, flexibility and sustainable building products.

Some of the green building aspects of Campus Square include:

• Geothermal (Ground Source) Heating & Cooling – 46 Geothermal Wells Under The Building – Designed & Installed by McClure Company
• 42kw PV Solar Array with battery backup for emergency power - Designed by groSolar and installed by GR Sponaugle
• White TPO Roofing by Carlisle Syntec Roofing installed by Houck Group
• Energy Star Windows provided by Pella installed by Wohlsen Construction
• Over 30% of all the materials used in the building is recycled content
• Over 40% of materials were made within 500 miles
• Over 98% of the construction debris was recycled

The Green Center of Central Pennsylvania is located in Campus Square as well. The Green Center is open to the public and teaches people about the various aspects of sustainability.

Here is a great video which tells the story about the building and the transformation of Midtown Harrisburg:

If you have questions or comments, feel free to post them.

Harrisburg Green Living Fair – April 21, 2011

On April 21, 2011, the Green Center of Central PA will be hosting a Green Living Fair for the public. The fair will include exhibitors from many different companies throughout the region that offer green/sustainable services. General Services Administration (GSA) is helping to put this event together in conjunction with GreenWorks Development, PPL and HACC to promote the new courthouse which is planned for construction in 2012.

GSA has been a true leader in the area of sustainability and has even mandated that all of their new construction projects must be LEED Gold or higher. For more information on their sustainable programs (including a revolutionary sustainable facilities tool) visit: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/104462

The federal courthouse to be located at 6th & Riely Streets in Harrisburg will have many sustainable features and will be a great addition to the several green projects which have recently been completed in the area.   It should also give a much needed boost to the economic development in the city of Harrisburg.

The architect for the project is Ennead Architects LLP (formerly Polshek Partnership).

They have a long list of impressive projects including the Frank Sinatra School of The Arts in Queens, NY:

More details for the federal courthouse project can be found here:
http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/102089

If you are interested in exhibiting at this venue, please contact Julia Knight, Executive Director for The Green Center of Central Pa, at jpknight@hacc.edu.

10 Reasons Why You Should Join the Green Movement…

1. Further your career - If this is something you are passionate about, then become an expert or attain a credential.  In the area of sustainability, there is a void with regard to experts.  You have an opportunity to fill that void.  If you are in Real Estate, Engineering, Architecture, Construction or Law – I suggest you start here – LEED Green Associate.
2. Gain a competitive advantage in your industry - Every business is looking for an edge. Green could quite possibly be that competitive advantage your business is looking for.  Whether it is marketability or profitability, green can help your bottom line.  Interface Flor has made it part of their culture and it helps them to stand out amongst competition.
3. Help the environment – The environment needs us now more than ever.  We have been heading down a treachorous path for centuries and we have become a wasteful society.  We need to change our habits and begin living as if nothing were disposable.
4. Help future generations – We have limited resources which are rapidly running out:  Fossil Fuels, Land, Water, Trees.  Sustainability is all about the responsible use of what resources we have left.  My goal is for our great-grandchildren to have plenty of each when they grow up.

5. Gain a sense of purpose - Let’s face it, when people join forces to propel an issue larger than themselves, it can be immensely powerful.  The earth is an amazing place… let’s keep it that way.
6. Be cool & cutting edge – Green products and technologies are emerging every day.  Connecting with others who are interested in sustainability will ensure that you remain ahead of the curve when it comes to these technologies and their implementation.  Not to mention you may be able to invent your very own green product or technology.
7. Expand your mind – If you take the time to read and study about environmental related issues, you will be astounded by what you learn and the people which you come across.  Their passion and yearning for knowledge is contageous and it helps you to expand your mind and your outlook on life.
8. Be a leader – As far as history is concerned.  We are currently at a crossroads… For centuries we have taken from the environment through the use and consumption of materials.  It is time for us to reverse that cycle and begin a more regenerative cycle of living.  One where we give back more than we consume.  You can be a pioneer with this way of thinking/living.
9. Give back – In order for the green movement to continue, one must teach others what they have learned.  There are several schools and communities out there who would love to hear about ways that they can have a positive impact.  Take what you learn and give back.
10. Live Healthier – By understanding the products we consume and digging a little deeper,  we can make smarter and healthier decisions.  Check out this great website to help us evaluate various products:
    http://www.goodguide.com/