Greening existing buildings is needed to combat global warming

Like a pop star in an L.A. nightclub, green buildings are turning heads with their bamboo flooring and energy efficient designs. What about their seasoned counterparts? Historic and existing buildings comprise the vast majority of buildings. Ignoring this sector of the built population is like only providing healthcare for the youngest member of the family.

Some builders and developers have been focusing on retro-commissioning existing buildings. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines for existing buildings were released four years after the criteria for new buildings (Herrera, 2007).

Buildings are responsible for more greenhouse gases than automobiles. Watch this video for more on this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X0tS7Yb1Y4.

The Rose Smart Growth Investment Fund acquires commercial buildings for upgrading to LEED-EB (existing buildings) certification. The Joseph Vance building in Seattle--built in 1929 by architect Victor V. Voorhees—is one of their charges. Their acquisition manager Nathan Taft said that focusing on the “huge consumers of energy” in existing buildings is very important when considering that 99 percent of buildings are already built while one percent is under construction (Herrera, 2007).

The cost of renovating Joseph Vance to Energy Star and LEED-EB standards was $3.5 million. Existing windows were rehabbed adding weather stripping and Mecco shades (which automatically roll down diffusing light when desired). Natural ventilation was used for cooling while some HVAC units were decommissioned. Existing steam heating was upgraded with valves allowing tenants to control their unit temperatures instead of the previous region control. The original high ceilings were exposed by removing drop ceilings which provided more natural lighting and visual appeal (Herrera, 2007).

Other renovations included using low VOC paint, carpeting was removed exposing the original terrazzo floors, and installing ceiling fans. For minimizing water usage, motion sensors on faucets and low flow toilets were installed. Tenants were educated about the waste disposal, composting and recycling programs (Herrera, 2007).

This is a wonderful step toward increasing the number of green buildings that can be targeted by builders and developers. On a more personal level, we call all work to make our existing homes more environmental friendly. Watch this video to see how one home owner in Maryland upgraded his home with solar panels, corn heating, energy-efficient appliances and good old-fashioned effort to reduce his family’s carbon footprint http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q85lrWqnUsI.

We all have a responsibility to look seriously at our own energy usage and do what we can to minimize it. To do this right, we need to work at it. Some considerations include: driving less, greening our homes, eating locally-grown foods, recycling more and consuming less. Ignoring our individual energy consumption has made us “energy fat.” It is time to slim down and share the environmental smorgasbord with the rest of the Planet Earth.

Bibliography

Herrera, Tilde, “Untapped Green Within Graying Buildings,” GreenerBuildings.com <http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?Page=1&NewsID=35827>

YouTube.com <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q85lrWqnUsI>

YouTube.com <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X0tS7Yb1Y4>

Bird volunteers are underutilized

A volunteer hot line is set up for reporting birds to be picked up by trained experts. The birds are then taken to a rehabilitation center run by the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) which has access of 1,000 formerly trained volunteers. (Arnoldy 2007) Untrained volunteers are not allowed to help with the birds. Volunteers were increasingly more frustrated as they were only asked for contact information.

“Here we have a golden opportunity, a three-day weekend right after the spill, and I can't do anything to help” says one attendee, Barbara Hogan, who has experience working at the local Marine Mammal Center. “They don't even have us put our skills on that form.” (Arnoldy 2007) One veterinarian was unable to find someone who would listen long enough for her to explain her qualifications and offer her expertise. (Arnoldy 2007)

Officials cite public health and the safety of the wildlife as reasons to not utilizing the volunteers. But Ben Arnoldy of the Christian Science Monitor may have captured the essence of the issue: “Partly a culture clash between a bottom-up, crowd-sourcing culture and a top-down, litigation-conscious government, it's also indicative of a national lack of planning for volunteers during crisis, say experts.” The volunteers wonder if enough can be done without their help. (Arnoldy 2007)

It is unfortunate that during an environmental crisis volunteers are not quickly trained to tackle the problem at hand. Birds are dying when they could be rescued and cleaned up faster with caring hands from community members with their hearts anchored to this coastline.

Watch this video to see the actual oil spill. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1fWn65RbC8

Bibliography

Arnoldy, Ben, “Oil-spill helpers galore, but limits on their use,” Christian Science Monitor; 13 Nov. 2007, Vol. 99 Issue 243, p1-11.

Birds in grave danger from oil spill

Migrating birds stopping in the oil-drenched San Francisco Bay are at great risk of dying. As of yesterday, 590 dead birds have been collected. Out of 804 collected alive, 244 were washed and 105 had died or were euthanized. (Kay 2007). Thousands more will probably die in the wild after coming in contact with the thick bunker fuel accidentally dumped last week. (Kay 2007)

The San Francisco hosts 1.6 million shorebirds annually. The majority of these visitors stay for the winter. This environmental disaster couldn’t have happened at a worst time. The migrating birds include 700,000 waterfowl and 300,000 seabirds. (Kay 2007)

Only experienced people should handle these oily birds and there is a shortage of competent folks for the job. An untrained person might scare the bird away and lose any hope of saving it. (Kay 2007)

When the oil spill initially happened, about 50 workers could have cleaned up the oil quickly. Unfortunately, there were only 18 workers available locally from the clean-up company’s three area locations. One worker with almost 35 years experience in oil clean up arrived in town at midnight on Wednesday but wasn’t put to work until 5 a.m. on Thursday. (Fimrite 2007)

“By the time I got there and went to work, (the oil) had spread out all over everywhere,” he said to Chronicle writer Peter Fimrite. The company is charge of the clean-up is Marine Spill Response. This non-profit company is primarily funded by oil companies. (Fimrite 2007)

Admiral Thad Allen, who replaced the fumbling Mike Brown after the Katrina disaster, told C.W. Nevius of the San Francisco Chronicle that there was no reason for this accident to occur. Unfortunately, human error or not, spills will happen. And when they do, an environmental disaster will follow. (Nevius 2007)

Within an hour of the spill, city workers showed up in a fireboat and were told that they weren’t needed. After the news was out with photos of oil-drenched birds, local volunteers showed up to help and they were also told to leave. Allen said that everyone should have been utilized. (Nevius 2007)

“Nothing hurts you more in a response than to have people with passion, energy and commitment, and to have them turned away,” Allen said to Nevius. He also said that this fumbled response won’t happen again. (Nevius 2007)

Mayor Gavin Newsom told Nevius, “The admiral has been spectacular. As soon as he arrived, we had a new sense of control.”

Hopefully Allen is right. Accidents will happen and we must be prepared to immediately confront the problem rather than waiting. Officials waited 13 hours to get the news out that the spill was 58,000 gallons instead of 140 (Nevius 2007), they waited before sending out trained personnel and they collected contact information rather than training volunteers on the spot (Arnoldy 2007). During this stalling, hundreds perhaps thousands of birds died drenched in oil trying in vain to fly away from the chaos.

See these videos for more on the environmental impacts from this oil spill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cy2mRq8Ey0

Bibliography

Arnoldy, Ben, “Oil-spill helpers galore, but limits on their use,” Christian Science Monitor; 13 Nov. 2007, Vol. 99 Issue 243, p1-11.

Fimrite, Peter, “RESPONSE: Workers say more help is needed,” San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Nov. 2007.

Kay, Jane, “A splash of oil means likely death on winter journey,” San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Nov. 2007.

Nevius, C.W., “LESSONS: Mistakes aplenty to learn from,” San Francisco Chronicle, 13 November 2007, A11

Is this scientist's soul for sale?

John R. Christy, a vocal non-believer of human-linked global warming, published “My Nobel Moment” in the Wall Street Journal on November 1. He was one of “thousands of members” on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. (Christy 2007, A19)

There is logic to his argument that the globe has warmed before and that parts of the world are actually getting colder.

“The recent CNN report "Planet in Peril," for instance, spent considerable time discussing shrinking Arctic sea ice cover. CNN did not note that winter sea ice around Antarctica last month set a record maximum (yes, maximum) for coverage since aerial measurements started.” (Christy 2007, A19)

It is plausible that human provoked global warming is an easy answer for a more complex problem. We know about the Ice Age and sea levels rising during ancient history. Humans have a history of jumping to quick conclusions. McCarthyism was an example of this. (Oddly, the people I know who don’t believe that humans are responsible for global warming believe that Joseph McCarthy was right!)

Christy does admit that carbon dioxide is a byproduct of our current energy consumption.

“Without a doubt, atmospheric carbon dioxide is increasing due primarily to carbon-based energy production (with its undisputed benefits to humanity) and many people ardently believe we must "do something" about its alleged consequence, global warming.” (Christy 2007, A19)

But he believes that it is pointless to even try to reduce emissions.

“California and some Northeastern states have decided to force their residents to buy cars that average 43 miles-per-gallon within the next decade. Even if you applied this law to the entire world, the net effect would reduce projected warming by about 0.05 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, an amount so minuscule as to be undetectable. Global temperatures vary more than that from day to day.” (Christy 2007, A19)

This is where his logic ceases to make any sense whatsoever unless he has something to gain by promoting the oil industry. Even if his case were valid, why not limit emissions? Do we also benefit from air pollution and particulate matter in our lungs? Perhaps, then, we should all drive Hummers grinning from lack of responsibility.

And, Christy has actually spoken favorably about carbon dioxide.

"It is our great fortune - because we produce so much of it - that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. In simple terms, carbon dioxide is plant food. The green world we see around us would disappear if not for atmospheric carbon dioxide.”
(Transcript, John Christy's testimony before Senate Commerce Committee 5/17/00, http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=903)

In January, Exxon Mobil Corp. “stopped funding groups skeptical of global warming claims.” (MSNBC, “Exxon cuts ties to global warming skeptics,” Jan. 12, 2007 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16593606/)

Oil companies have been funding this brand of phony science much like the tobacco industry funded “research” disclaiming smoking-related illnesses. Exxon Secrets.org, a Greenpeace project, lists Christy as one of Exxon’s cronies. Other oil companies continue to fund these skeptical “scientists.” (http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=903)

Ironically, Christy promotes healthy scientific skepticism in his commentary.

“Mother Nature simply operates at a level of complexity that is, at this point, beyond the mastery of mere mortals (such as scientists) and the tools available to us. As my high-school physics teacher admonished us in those we-shall-conquer-the-world-with-a-slide-rule days, ‘Begin all of your scientific pronouncements with 'At our present level of ignorance, we think we know . . .’”

Even if human activity minimally contributed to global warming, there is no reason to continue to pollute this planet for the health all life forms. But instead of facing facts and finding remedies, John R. Christy perhaps has chosen to sell his soul to an oil company for a price that is justified if he closes his eyes and holds his breath.

Watch this news video for more on this story and a clip of another carbon dioxide lover.

video link: http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&brand=msnbc&tab=s55&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16593606/&fg=&from=00&vid=eafe1491-67f7-430d-885d-e0467c3d43c4&playlist=videoByTag:mk:us:vs:0:tag:Source_CNBC:ns:MSNVideo_Top_Cat:ps:10:sd:-1:ind:1:ff:8A

ADUs: a win win for the City of Santa Cruz

The City of Santa Cruz has successfully implemented an alternative dwelling unit (ADU) program. Carol Berg, housing and community development manager for the City of Santa Cruz spoke at the California Chapter of the American Planning Association on September 30. She explained the steps that Santa Cruz took to implement the program.

First, the community was made aware of this program through “great press,” public hearings and a website. Measures were taken to maintain the neighborhood scale keeping entry stairs oriented away from the neighbors' properties and paying particular attention to alley orientation.

In order to make ADUs work, parking regulations were reduced. Covered parking was no longer required while spaces in driveways fulfilled requirements. To further simplify regulations, water meters could be shared and sprinklers were not required for the main house. These regulatory changes were initiated by City Council acting “advanced politically,” said Berg. A fee waiver program also provided reduced fees for water hook-ups. As a last but not least benefit, ADUs did not have to be approved through the public hearing process.

The City provided these incentives for ADUs because the additional rental housing provided will not cost the city anything. If 40 units are added over five years, explained Berg, 200 rental units will fill a niche that the city needs. Homeowners benefit by being able to afford or stay in their homes. This program helps them adjust to changing needs and encourages mixed income neighborhoods.

Typically, existing garages are converted into ADUs as apartments for renters or additional living space for family members. The property owner must live in either the main house or the smaller unit. This minimizes the possibility of property neglect.

Property owners benefit from these units for several reasons. First, converting a garage can be done for an average of $50,000. If the owners rent this unit for $1,000, they can recoup their investment within five years. Also, the property value will increase well above the investment in most cases. (If the home is sold, the same owner-occupancy rules apply to a new owner.) One Santa Cruz woman rented out her ADU to pay for her son’s college expenses, explained Berg. Another option is to rent out the main house and live in the unit. This could help a cash-strapped homeowner or simply allow them to save money if they no longer require a larger home to live in.

The City of Santa Cruz ADU Development Program has won national awards. These are: the EPA Smart Growth Achievement Award, the American Planning Association Implementation Award and the American Institute of Architects Honors Award for Regional and Urban Planning. They also won the Helen Putnam Award of Excellence from the California League of Cities. (Berg handout at presentation)

Seattle is currently working on a similar program and plans to use the Santa Cruz manual to create theirs, said Berg.

For more information of the Santa Cruz program, visit their website at www.ci.santa-cruz.us/pl/hcd/ADU/adu.html.

Bibliography

Google Images

Berg, Carol, housing and community development manager for the City of Santa Cruz, presentation at the California Chapter of the American Planning Association, 30 September 2007.

Eating like a pig is good for the environment

Pigs may not be accepted at Brown and Yale universities but they get to eat the food. For 10 years Brown University has collected nearly all of its food waste into a pile. A local farmer picks it up for palate appreciation at his piggery. Brown University saves dumping fees of approximately $50,000 a year while 700 tons of food is kept from landfills. The piggery produces tons of pork every year as the end product of their recycling effort. (Perrin 2001)
Yale’s pig farmer demands a collection fee and has been less than chummy with food service employees. They’ve looked for a friendlier farmer to take over but they don’t want to put all of their slop in one trough. If the prospects of pig farmer number two peters out, they may be stuck with the grouchy piggery proprietor for this important recycling task. (Perrin 2001)

The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Division of Pollution Prevention and Natural Resources and Environmental Assistance provides an online instruction guide to food waste recycling. http://www.p2pays.org/ref/04/03991.pdf

Food waste takes up 15 percent of landfills. The FDA in North Carolina keeps a list of hog farmers that are licensed garbage feeders. Before food can be fed to animals, it needs to be heated at 212 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Campbell Soup Company of Maxton, N.C. donates six million pounds of food waste to a local hog farmer per year. (http://www.p2pays.org/ref/04/03991.pdf)

Besides using landfill space, food waste generates additional environmental impacts. If it is discharged to wastewater, it increases levels of biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). It also adds to the total suspended solids (TSS) and fats, oils and grease (FOG). Food materials add odor and methane at disposal facilities and add BOD and COD to landfill leachate.

Recycling efforts are now common in most cities. However, food waste generally isn't considered a recycling component. In actuality, it is and needs to be managed. The environmental arm of planning departments would serve the public well by incorporating food waste recycling into a system on par with storm water management.

Works Cited

Perrin, Noel, “The Greenest Campuses: an Idiosyncratic Guide.” Chronicle of Higher Education; 4/6/2001, Vol. 47 Issue 30, pB7, 4p

Google Images

Environmental attorneys speak from the heart

Father and son environmental attorneys Lindell and Christian Marsh spoke to our environmental planning class on October 29. Lindell Marsh worked to save endangered species from the inception of the environmental protection movement. He views his work as an environmental attorney from three levels. The first step is to decide what to do, next is to decide how to relate to the problem and the last step is to evaluate what the substance of the law is.

Lindell explained that post World War II, development proceeded without any restrictions. It wasn’t until 1969 when the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) http://ceres.ca.gov/ceqa/ were established that limitations were set. Lindell explained that NEPA http://www.nepa.gov/nepa/regs/nepa/nepaeqia.htm is a much broader document than what it has been distilled down to. Currently, its whole focus is the EIR component which is a limited narrow interpretation.

Even with NEPA and CEQA and the newly established EPA, environmental mitigation agreements were sometimes ignored. This was the case with vernal pools protection. A program was established but was never implemented. Mitigation funds were never used. Lindell felt that this was a mistake and that Governor Pete Wilson never intended to follow through with this commitment.

Fortunately, there is currently a “difference sense in the air” where environmental concerns are taken very seriously. Lindell has witnessed a shift in environmental protection from advocacy to dialogue. He defined “dialogue” as active listening, civility, compassion, finding a common vision with concepts and specifics and defining themes and variations. The final component was finding alternatives that might work. Solutions often present themselves within this process, he explained.

Lindell also touched upon efforts to save endangered species including the tiger salamander, the Alameda whipsnake, the red-legged frog and the California giant water snake. For information on the California red-legged frog, go to http://www.fws.gov/endangered/i/D0N.html.
Among other things, he explained adaptive management which allows for adaptations found necessary while continually monitoring the environment. The California Department of Fish and Game has a flow chart explaining habitat conservation, http://www.dfg.ca.gov/habcon.
Christian Marsh added points during the presentation and touched upon his political involvement during the Clinton Administration.

It was a pleasure to listen to these professionals who care deeply about the environment cover the landscape of environmental planning. This short presentation could only touch on the accomplishments of these attorneys. While it often seems that attorneys are indifferent interpreters of the law, it is heartening to listen to those who care deeply about our environment and serve with all of their might as its protectors.