Snappy Green

Connecticut Green Building Council’s Spring 2012 Newsletter.

DavidPopoff — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:42:32 +0000

The Connecticut Green Building Council, CTGBC spring newsletter 2012 is out and it is FREE. The newsletter is full of sustainable green information relating to the state of Connecticut as well as the whole nation.

This issue covers upcoming events, LEED workshops, recommended movies and books, member and sponsor spotlight, pass events such as the Metro Green tour in Stamford and much more.

Few of the highlighted items are:

Nominations for the CTGBC 2012 Green Building Awards, anyone can submit an entry.
GPRO ~ Green Building Skills Training for the Trades is coming to Connecticut.
Energy Star Leader ~ Steven Winters with offices in Norwalk, Ct.

Many more articles and links to useful information in this free newsletter, click here to go to newsletter to read more.

http://www.ctgbc.org/Resources/Documents/CTGBCSpring2012Newsletter.pdf

To find out more about CTGBC events, membership, committees and more please visit their website www.ctgbc.org .

David Popoff is a licensed real estate agent in lower Fairfield County with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty.

Fun at Fairfield Earth Day

ctgreenrealtor — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:27:17 +0000

by Wendy Brandt Martinenas

If the thought of having a very pleasant day and mingling with genuinely nice people peaks your interest, would you be even more interested if at the same time, you could pick up tips on how to save money and live a healthier life? You can do all this at Fairfield Earth Day coming to Fairfield Warde next Saturday April 28^th. Now in its 14^th year, this is a celebration of our town and earth that draws well over 1000 people each year

Eating delicious organic food, seeing the infamous Trashy Fashion Show, listening to live music and seeing an electric car are a few of the fun things you can do. Mingle with one of the 60 or so Exhibitors and pick up valuable green tips. Don’t know what to get for Mom for her upcoming day? Here you can find reasonably priced and health inspired gifts for purchase. Want to get educated on how local townsfolk are contributing our community’s green movement and the latest green trends? Listen to presentations and participate in round table discussions. There is something here for everyone!

Years ago I left Earth Day with a recycled blue jean pencil with two kids with big smiles on their faces. Today I am on the committee and an Exhibitor with a green orientation to an otherwise traditional business. Fairfield Earth Day has been a good learning ground for me and even as someone who works the event I still look forward to it as one of the most relaxing and enjoyable days of my year. I hope you will join us at Fairfield Earth Day and don’t forget to stop by and introduce yourself to Snappy Green! David and I are both going to be there and we are looking forward to meeting you.

wendy@ctgreenrealestate.com William Raveis Real Estate

WSJ ~ American’s Need to Pay Attention to Their Trash.

DavidPopoff — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:42:58 +0000

Wall Street Journal, Grappling With a Garbage Glut, April 14^th, 2012.

New York City carts out 12,000 tons of trash a day.

Los Angeles has constructed a garbage mountain 500 feet high.

The average American tosses out 4.4 pounds of trash per day. USA population 313,000,000+ and counting.

American communities on average spend more money on waste management than on fire protection, parks and recreation, libraries or schoolbooks, according to U.S. Census data on municipal budgets.

In Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium and Denmark all send less than 4% of their trash to landfills. Recycling rates are two to three times higher than America’s along with community base utilities that burn trash to provide electricity.

To be more aware of your trash outlay take a count next week on your trash output. Last week I counted my trash, 7 bags total with:-

1 bag going to compost
2 bags bottles and can recycle
1 bag paper recycle
3 bags garbage.

We have 3 small garbage cans in the kitchen, one for garbage, a bin for bottles and cans, one for paper recycling along with a counter container for composting.

By David Popoff, Lower Fairfield County Realtor ~ Green, Darien, Ct.

Green Dorm Rooms

ctgreenrealtor — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 14:11:36 +0000

by Wendy Martinenas

Snappy Green is all about green living in the home so at first I thought that writing about green living in the dorm might be off topic. Then I realized that the dorm is someone’s home too. What inspired me was green student U. This one particular article describes how the University of Virgina is displaying green dorm rooms. It’s interesting to note, that it doesn’t mention that these dorm rooms are in LEED certified buildings or anything close to being an energy saving structure. What it does do is give examples of eco friendly items that kids can bring into their rooms such as energy saving small appliances (the micro & fridge), green cleaning products, etc.

[[Show as slideshow]]

Bravo to UVA for doing this but also for pointing out that going green does not have to mean taking drastic measures like ripping out perfectly functional windows to replace them with the latest E coated kind. Being green, in Snappy Green’s view, is making a contribution on any scale that makes sense in the situation and that is comfortable for you. In addition every eco conscious choice you make, over the alternative, contributes to the collective green effort and greater good of our planet. Wow, when you put it like that, it sure makes you feel magnanimous, and rightfully so.

So this all made me think, when my daughter went to the University of Connecticut this year what she chose to take. We had no control over the fridge because her roommate supplied that. We did look for a microwave with an energy efficient label but could not find one. In her room, is recycled paper for her printer, plant based laundry detergent and hand dish detergent to wash actual silverware and plates. She also has a Brita pitcher to filter water and quite frankly too many cups. In our defense she did need a cup for every situation: a regular water bottle, a water bottle with a built-in filter (for when she didn’t have access to the Brita), a coffee cup, a coffee thermos for on-the-go drinking and regular cups for use in the dorm. I am sure there are things I am forgetting. All of this was so easy. It just takes a mindset motivated by the knowledge that this behavior really is necessary if we are going to preserve our planet. Kudos to Steph, for making her own contribution.

According to Wiki Answers there are 14.4 million students in the US alone. There’s a Starbucks on every college campus I went to visit and I can’t fathom how much garbage from paper coffee cups is generated as a result. Think of the impact if all of them did what Steph does and what UVA is suggesting we do.

Wendy@ctgreenrealestate.com William Raveis Real Estate

New Build Homes Should REALLY Consider “How to Reduce Utility Usage First”.

DavidPopoff — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:59:38 +0000

By David Popoff.

When considering building a new home one should look at how to reduce the need for heat and cooling loads first. One of the easiest ways is to consider a better thermal envelope or if you like blanket around the whole of the house.

In general the insulation cost of a new build is under or around 1% of the total cost of construction. It would not take much more to improve your insulation barrier and thus reduce your heating and cooling loads a considerable amount. Once you reduce your heating and cooling loads this would also require smaller mechanical, HVAC system, and thus lower you construction costs a little as well.

The second major culprit in heat and cooling loss is due to air leakage or also known as air infiltration. Sealing all holes is very important. Some of the biggest culprits of this are the rim joist, sill plates and top plates in new construction along with doors, windows and holes cut for various pipes, wires and mechanicals.

The PassivHaus, Passive House, requirements are an advanced; some say extreme build design but they achieve great results. Depending on what Passive House website you go to you will find different insulation values but in general they suggest:

Walls R-60
Roof R-80
Floor Slab R 60

I was recently at a Passive House seminar and they used the Rideau Residence in Ottawa, Ontario as an example. This is the first certified Passive House in Canada (and as well is a LEED Platinum Home) which cost about 10% more to build per square foot than a similar home but uses 90 per cent less energy than the typical Canadian home.

The total construction cost for this 3300 square foot duplex ran approximately $250 per square foot compared to the average custom home in Ottawa will cost about $225 a square foot.

At the seminar they said that total utility cost for the year are about $400 and compared to a typical similar Canadian home would save $30,000 over 10 years. The super thick insulation added to this home cost an estimated $20,000. Insulation is just one of the many components that go into building a sustainable green home but is a great example of how today’s building science is evolving.

Remember to first look at how you can reduce your usage of natural resources, this is the key to sustainable living, and then adds to that reuse, recycle and renewable sources to make a complete circle of responsibility to achieve a green healthy lifestyle.

William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty in Darien