by jboullion | Nov 21, 2008 | Uncategorized
From the green Web site of the City of Eau Claire:
Sustainability “is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This definition has come to mean not only meeting human needs, but environmental and economic as well. Thus, to do its part, the City of Eau Claire is conducting a process to amend its Comprehensive Plan addressing green issues more adequately.
Eau Claire’s Comprehensive Plan has won ‘Excellence in Planning’ awards by the Wisconsin Chapter of American Planner’s Association for both our 1993 and 2005 plans. Although there are many sustainable development goals, objectives and policies already listed in the 2005 plan, more could be addressed in the areas of energy, recycling, waste, green buildings, food production, and climate change. Thus, this amendment process will seek community input on these and other issues as we increase our efforts towards creating an even more sustainable future.
A series of Community Workshops will be held in the River Rooms on the ground floor of Royal Credit Union Corporate Center, 200 Riverfront Terrace, Eau Claire, WI, 54703. The next workshop is on December 11, 2008 at 7 p.m.
by jboullion | Oct 28, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article by Paul Snyder in The Daily Reporter:
La Crosse County will pay for a greenish jail, but the price tag for LEED honors might be too steep.
“I’m willing to spend money for energy conservation,” said County Supervisor John Medinger.
“But I’m not sure what we get for LEED certification at about $200,000.
“If it’s just a plaque that says, ‘Nice job, now give us $200,000,’ I’m going to lean against it.”
The La Crosse County Board last week approved a $29.5 million expansion for the county jail in La Crosse, but members delayed a vote on seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification or adding green features that were not in the original bid package.
County Administrator Steve O’Malley said the board has until the second week in December to decide on certification, which he said would cost $166,000, or an alternate package of green features, such as a solar hot water system, a retention pond and a heat-reclaiming system.
“From what I can tell, the board is really on the fence about it right now,” O’Malley said. “Some green features are already built into the project, but I think they’ll go for additional energy-saving features if they can see the payback.”
The county estimated the alternate package of green elements would add $500,000 to $600,000 to the project cost. Medinger said some projects related to the jail expansion, including a probation center, could be delayed to free up the money.
County officials owe it to their constituents to find a way to achieve the greenest possible jail, said County Supervisor Maureen Freedland, who chairs the La Crosse County Law Enforcement Center Construction Committee.
“We’re looking for more than just efficiency,” she said. “It’s the societal factor, what it means to the area, and what we’re saying to the community.”
Freedland said LEED certification is an important part of that package.
“There are people on the committee that think it’s just a plaque or a piece of paper,” she said. “But that money gets you site visits to make sure programs and features are set up and running properly.”
by jboullion | Oct 21, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a story by Sarah Rasmussen on WEAU News:
We’ve all heard of building energy efficient homes, but with a new grant, a Black River Falls couple is taking their plans to the extreme.
The Chambers’ are building a Green Max, net zero home that will produce just as much energy as it consumes.
Tom Chambers says the overall cost is $325,000 to build, but a $50,000 grant from Wisconsin Public Power Inc. and an additional $16,000 in energy incentives will help them complete this technological wonder.
After more than a year of planning and several blueprints later, the chambers are finally able to build their Green Max home.
“We always, both of us have been conscious of sustainability and conservation,” Chambers says.
Solar panels will help the home produce energy, but there are many other energy saving aspects in the home to help it break even.
“First thing you have to do is build a home that is isolated from everything exterior,” Chambers says.
“We’ve added additional foam insulation under the basement slab. There’s two inches of foam there. There’s two inches of foam on the exterior of the basement walls. You can see we’ve added an inch of foam all the way around the exterior of the wall,” says General Contractor Todd Paige.
He says they built the home using 2x8s instead of 2x6s to increase the amount of insulation in the walls.
Another interesting aspect of the home is the windows. For example, the windows on the west side of the house will be treated to let more heat from the sun in during the winter, while the windows on north side of the house have been treated to block heat from the sun during the summer.
The Chambers’ home will be heated by a geothermal heating system.
by jboullion | Oct 17, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a story by Mark McPherson on WKBT, La Crosse:
Every day, Gundersen Lutheran works to help patients get better. Now through a new initiative they are working to help the enviroment as well.
Gundersen Lutheran’s Going Green program is something they say makes sense for everyone. “We can improve our enviroment and reduce the cost of our operation at the same time,” said Gundersen Lutheran Senior V.P. of Business Services Jerry Arndt. Arndt feels it’s especially important for a hospital to try and save energy considering how much they consume. “Hospitals use 2 1/2 times more energy than a commercial office building would for example,” said Arndt.
The program will include small changes like turning off lights and computers, but includes bigger initiatives like solar panels on the new parking ramp and using methane emissions from the City Brewery to create electricity.
by jboullion | Oct 16, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article by Dustin Block in The Daily Reporter:
Ken Lumpkin cautions against poor timing as Racine closes in on building an environmentally sound housing development in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
“The whole area needs to be cleared out, new sod put down, and the lot should be utilized as a park until the economy makes a turnaround,” said Lumpkin, a member of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Racine, about the site of a former homeless shelter torn down earlier this year to make room for development.
“It’s a fragile area directly across the street from an elementary school,” he said. . . .
The city hired Pragmatic Construction LLC, Milwaukee, for preliminary work on the site, and the city is reviewing the results, O’Connell said. He said he wants to give a report to the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Racine, which is in charge of the project, by November.
The challenge for developers of the green housing project is to build affordable new homes in a neighborhood with deteriorating housing stock, said Juli Kaufmann, co-owner of Pragmatic. Homes surrounding the property are valued at about $50,000, according to Racine County property tax data.
But the green, high-efficiency homes Pragmatic specializes in could be the perfect fit for a low-income neighborhood, Kaufmann said. With lower heating and gas bills, the homes would be cheap to run, and they’re built from durable materials that eliminate the need to paint or repair exteriors.
“We certainly think about that, and our clients talk about that,” Kaufmann said. “It’s on the table. The objective would be to figure out how to build reasonably affordable homes with homes across the street selling for $50,000. It’s impossible to build any size home at that price today.”
The city likely would support construction of a spec home on the site and then recruit builders to take on a certain number of lots on the property, O’Connell said. The property could support roughly 10 homes, and could possibly include multifamily homes.
O’Connell said building green homes keeps to the city’s commitment to environmentally responsible construction and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
