Maryland Green Building Network

Introductions and Announcements

Wonderful Green Building Smorgasbord: For those of you who could not attend, you missed a great culinary treat. As requested by the Network, members brought a meal and attendees shared in a delicious, multi-course meal. Attendees enjoyed the change of pace and recommended the Network do similar events in the future.

Governor Executive Order on Energy Efficiency and Green Power & Meetings of the Maryland Green Building Council and Subcommittee on Green Buildings: This spring, the Governor signed an Executive Order on Green Buildings and Energy Efficiency, and thereby created the Green Building Council. The Council is moving forward on developing the codes and criteria for future state facilities. The Subcommittee given charge to develop the criteria is basing, yet not entirely, their structure on LEED. Sean will keep the Network updated on any major developments.

Governor’s Writing Hand is Sore: The Governor has been quite busy this spring by signing several Executive Orders on various energy and natural resource conservation. One Executive Order creates a Task Force on Energy Conservation and Efficiency, which will investigate, comment, and recommend “strategies to attain the energy reduction goals” in Maryland. The second Executive Order focuses on water conservation and lays out specific goals each state agency and department must meet. In addition, a large component of their efforts must deal with outreach and education on the benefits of water conservation. For more information on these Executive Orders, please log on to www.gov.state.md.us and click on “Executive Orders” on the upper left box.

Calendar of Events: Sean reviewed the calendar of events included on previous e-mails, including:

Virginia Housing & Environment Network Annual Meeting on June 8, 2001 in Richmond, VA
12^th Annual Energy Efficiency Forum on June 12 & 13 in Washington, DC. Please check www.eeforum.net
This Year’s Top-10 Green Buildings on June 6 at the National Building Museum
Virginia’s Sustainable Future II Conference from June 6-8 in Richmond, VA. Please contact Marty Malloy at 804-360-1500.
Green Public School Buildings in Maryland on June 28. Please call 410-767-0617 or SBIC at 202-628-7400.

NAHB Report on Deconstruction – Jeannie Sikora, NAHB Research Center

Per last month’s discussion, Jeannie agreed to briefly explain a recent NAHB Report on Deconstruction efforts with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The study focused on recovering building materials and identifying opportunities to reuse them in other construction projects. Researchers looked at four cities to see what makes a viable deconstruction market in an urban area. The study identified several market indicators and requirements; such as, time constraints, supply of use, current code & planning barriers, materials that could not be used, labor and expertise availability, hazardous materials, and market perception. Further, economic incentives and/or government policies to kick-start a market may be required. For more information or to download the entire report, please go on-line to www.huduser.org.

Green Building Open Microphone

Members of the Network suggested we allow an open forum for GBN members to explain projects, approaches, paradigms, or other topic relating to green building approaches. Accordingly, attendees had the opportunity to share their products and ideas with the group to share their projects and provide feedback. The following notes are brief summaries. For a full description, please contact the speaker.

Tom Liebel, Collective Design – LEED Rehab and Current Green Building Incentives: Collective Design is in the process of rehabbing a project and they are registering for LEED certification. It has been vacant for over 20 years, with current telecommunications infrastructure existing. They actually withdrew the original permit and resubmitted now in order to apply for the recently passed Maryland Rehabilitation Code. Tom has noticed that between the new codes and the Historic Tax Credits, it is now easier and more cost effective to sell green building approaches to the owner. You can reach Tom at tliebel@designcollective.com.

Bion Howard, B.E.S.T. – Net Positive Energy House Concept: Bion explained his concept of an NPE House is one that on an annual “source energy” basis, some net energy flows back to the grid from the house. Bion was clear he is not discussing living off the grid, but allowing the average homeowner cost effective measures to reduce or return their energy load. Bion distributed a brief Concept Sheet of his idea that included basic features of an NPE House, construction costs targets (that included a no more than 10%-12% net cost increase), and performance targets. For more information, please contact Bion at bdhoward@ix.netcom.com.

Wendy Bratzel, Ecological Design – Green Trust: Green Trust is working in three states and is a development and real estate trust for green building projects for mainstream markets. Wendy’s goal is to demonstrate to traditional developers that mid-sized houses can in fact be built green. She described a project they are currently working on in Florida. As that state is in its 3^rd straight year of drought, their focus on waste conservation is getting great publicity. Her request from the GBN is to promote this kind of work here in Maryland. If feasible lands are available and developers are willing, please contact Wendy at wbratzel@idsonline.com.

John Hanson, Nutricycle System – Nutricycle Systems: The Nutricycle System is a substitute for septic systems and works with current Clivus-Multrum Systems. John designed a graywater irrigation system for flowerbeds where it will be cleaned before recharging the groundwater. There are several nearly completed sites that demonstrate its use. For information, please check www.nutricyclesystems.com.

Louisa Thompson, Earthome – Outreach Video: Earthome is in the final production of a video addressing sustainability issues and will be shown on Maryland Public Television next spring. In conjunction with that, Louisa would like to start an ad campaign in which there would be an educational spot on sustainability. Each week there would be a separate article, and by pooling the Network’s resources, ideas, and funding, we should be able to make a considerable difference. Please contact Louisa if you are interested or have ideas at louisathompson@erols.com.