The City of Brotherly Love will be showing its nature-loving side this coming Sunday during GreenFest Philly at 2nd and South streets. The event, sponsored by Toyota and produced by the Urban Green Partnership, will feature a green film festival, an introduction to the Girl Scouts of America’s new Go Green Initiative and displays by some 200 enviromental groups and businesses.

About 25,000 people are expected to attend this year’s GreenFest Philly. This year’s theme is “food” and booths are expected to help educate the public on how to buy locally, eat vegetarian, grow your own food and support farmer’s markets.

Toyota will present the third generation Prius with its solar-panel roof. The green film festival will show Robert Kenner’s well-reviewed Food, Inc., and Miss Earth Pennsylvania will host an eco-fashion show. Performers will include Carolyn Malachi, PaperTrees, Singing for AJ, Bohemian Sunrise and April King.

And the environmental group, 350.org, will be advocating for support as it prepares both for an International Day of Climate Action in October and for the world climate talks in Copenhagen in December. (See their human-powered photo below.)

Another special activity at Philly GreenFest will allow guests to create their own pottery using local and recycled clay. Attendees will also be able to get a nutritional evaluation, if they bring a list of everything they’ve eaten over the last three to seven days.

The festival will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Other sponsors, beyond Toyota, include: Dhyana Yoga; Zipcar; Juju Salon & Spa; Mugshots Coffee & Cafe; Sustainable Business Network; Kate Svitek Memorial; WMGK; Yoga Living, Grid Philly.

(Photo of Greenfest 2008 by Jen Bendik.)

How do you turn a 100-year-old Philadelphia row-house into a green house? Better question: How do you make that row-house green enough to potentially forego HVAC half of the year?

With lots of love, forethought and green savoir faire, says David Krupp, a Philadelphia based LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) Realtor and developer. Krupp is selling what he and his architectural designer-owner clients hope will be the first LEED Platinum residence in Philly’s Center City neighborhood, a converted row home at 1500 Montrose Street.

“As it stands, there are no LEED-Platinum certified homes in the Center City area,” Krupp says. “Right now, we’re ‘racing’ with another one.”

When husband and wife duo Christopher and Emily Stromberg - founders of Southern Liberties sustainable design studio in Philly - bought the 900-square-foot classic more than three years ago, it was their first personal green-build project. They’d done other such jobs for clients. The couple’s goal was to green it to the max, then sell it. Specifically, the Strombergs wanted to create a luxe living space, doubling its original size, dovetailing modern with quasi-historic (100 years isn’t exactly “historic” in the three-centuries-old City of Brotherly Love) and adding a third level with an efficient, open stairwell. The desired outcome: A townhome in a charming old neighborhood ranked at LEED PLatinum, the highest level of the four-tiered U.S. Green Building Council’s certification labels.

Krupp says his research shows that only four LEED-certified houses have sold in Philly over the past year or so, and none have attained Platinum. But the Strombergs hope to receive their Platinum certification – which only 419 residences in the US have achieved – very soon.

The totally renovated home on Montrose Street drew more than 300 people during a four-hour open house in July. Since then, Krupp says, the couple have pretty much wrapped up the project, which has drawn lots of traffic, as well as attention from design and environmental professionals. Now, it’s on the market for $565,000.

“At first, people hear that and think it’s overpriced,” Krupp says. “Then they go there and look around and think it’s under-priced.”

According to the Energy Coordinating Agency, a third-party nonprofit that does energy audits and projections, the renovations will cut energy use by half or more, including the need for seasonal AC and heating. If true, that would help validate the house’s asking price.

So, how, exactly, is it possible to cut HVAC usage that dramatically? Especially in a city like Philly, which has muggy summers and frigid winters?

Krupp explains that within the building’s “envelope” (its containing structure), the Strombergs installed two inches of spray-foam insulation, which serves as an air and moisture barrier (typically, builders use fiberglass, which air and moisture can permeate). Also, the couple placed eight inches of rigid-board insulation between the ceiling and roof. The roof itself is fully vegetated, creating a green barricade that absorbs the sun’s heat and keeps rainwater from draining into the city’s gullies and, ultimately, into its sewage system. The whole-house fan, at the top of the stairwell, sucks heat up and out from the lower levels.

To offset the green roof’s solar absorption in winter, when the house itself needs warming rays, the Strombergs put an oversized window – “almost like a door” – at the top of the stairway, between the green roof and the whole-house fan, so that the heat and light from the sun act as a passive solar unit in winter, traveling down the stairwell, all the way to the basement.

One of the simplest, or least “dynamic” elements in this energy-efficient home, is the solar shade system, which the Strombergs had installed on the roof, facing south.

“They’re these big wood (stationary) awnings that jut out and are built based on computer models that indicate, as the seasons change, how the sun is going to hit the windows during different times of year. That determines how far out the awning should be built,” Krupp says. “So that’s a big element for keeping heat out when you don’t want it and the cold in when you do  - and vice versa. You’re essentially keeping the envelope of the building from changing temperature as much as possible.”

Other energy-efficient designs: “Christopher and Emily have done a lot of things to enhance circulation of the air, without using a central cooling system. They have fans in every room … and they have louvered transoms above every door, so that if the doors are closed, the air can continue to circulate.”

As Krupp and the Strombergs continue showing the property and hosting open houses, they hope to find a buyer who will allow them to actually test their energy-efficiency claims.

“We’re going to track it even after it’s sold,” the Sothebys realtor says. “That’s the goal. We’re hoping the buyer is willing to share that information… ”

If so, the town-home could be a blueprint for the greenification of similar East Coast-style residences. If a classic row-house (typically not the epitome of efficiency) can go uber-green in Philly, then why not others of comparable vintage in the region?

• For more info about the conversion of 1500 Montrose see the owners blow-by-blow blog Building Green on Montrose.

• For more information on this and another green-built, LEED-seeking residences see the Green City Journal.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Paul Dorn knows that getting Americans to ride a bike to work instead of driving a car is quite the uphill battle. Even on a good day, he says, only a tiny percentage of the nation’s commuters use pedal power to get to their jobs.

He remains undeterred.

Given that this is national Bike to Work Week, it’s an apt time to pick Dorn’s brain on the subject. Between co-authoring a book (The Bike to Work Guide: What You Need to Know to Save Gas, Go Green, Get Fit) his bike commuting advice Web site and his commuting tips blog, he is well-versed in the subject.

“I’m fairly typical of most Americans in the sense that the day I got my driver’s license, the bike went into the garage. I didn’t really touch it again until my mid-30s, when I was living in San Francisco, and didn’t have a car,” he said. His frustrating mass transit commute took 90 minutes. So he hopped on a bike, cut the commuting time in half, felt healthier, stopped paying bus fare and just generally started having more fun.

He’s still doing it at age 48, (now living in Sacramento and working at The University of California at Davis) and hasn’t owned a car since 1992.

Of course, starting out in San Francisco helped. It’s a generally bike-friendly city, and Dorn (pictured at left) found  a supportive cycling community to tell him about equipment, routes to avoid traffic and other advice. He started the website in 1997 as a class exercise. “People started finding it and at the time there weren’t a lot of online resources on the subject,” he said. So he offered guidance in bikes and equipment, dealing with bad weather and traffic and now has a loyal following.

“I’m just trying to provide inspiration and information for people who might be traveling by bike.”

Bike to Work Week is the brainchild of the League of American Bicyclists (which traces its roots to 1880). The organization offers support, advocacy, resources, education and information to their 300,000 affiliated cyclists. It’s all about creating a more bicycle-friendly America.

To that end, they have a project guide for cyclists interested in organizing events and support for Bike to Work Week as well as Bike Month (which is now). Part of the guide includes suggestions for overcoming excuses not to ride your bike to work (if you say you’re too out of shape, they say ride at an easy pace, and try it on a weekend; if you say it will take too long, they respond that car commuters travel an average 10 mph, and you’ll eventually go faster on the bike; it’s too far, you say – then combine riding and mass transit to shorten your commute).

What I do:

I’ve been building houses for 20 years and began Thinking Green Systems a little over a year ago. The company is a dealer and installer of “BioBased 501″, a spray-in soybean oil-based polyurethane foam insulation, which does not contain formaldehyde and does not emit CFCs or HFCs.

How it helps:

This insulation is made without petroleum products which are fossil fuels. BioBased 501 is made from soybeans, an annually renewable resource.

How I got here:

I was not happy with the insulation choices for the homes I was building. Because fiberglass and cellulose-based insulation accumulates outside pollen and dirt, over time it reduces the R-value after 7 to 10 years. Our product, which provides 30-50% more efficiency never loses its energy efficiency.

How I’m doing:

We are seeing a 50% increase in our sales even in this year, with the bad economy. It kept the rest of my business afloat.

Advice

The market for green building products keeps growing so I think it’s a good way to go. However, I would caution that people still need to be more educated on the benefits – particularly the cost-saving benefits – which takes time.

See more profiles at MY GREEN JOB

See Recent Green Jobs Listings

What I do:

I am President and Founder of an Infrared Testing Company, located in Southampton, Pa. I oversee the daily operations of the company.

Thermal Moisture Imaging^TM conducts non-invasive, non-destructive Infrared Testing looking for moisture in building components and roofing materials. Infrared also locates missing, partial, inadequate or wet insulation in building structures, in addition to locating problems in underground steam lines, bridge decking and electrical and mechanical equipment.

How it helps:

Infrared testing identifies areas that are ineffective, deficient, or problematic. By locating and analyzing the anomalies we are able to identify inadequate insulation in building structures without using destructive testing methods. Once these anomalies are identified a client is able to remediate/repair the deficiencies, which helps reduce their carbon-footprint and energy costs.

Infrared testing is also used to locate problems in stucco buildings. Testing has been proven to locate areas of moisture penetration within the building exterior. Moisture in building components reduces the effectiveness of the insulation value and in some cases creates rot and decay of the building materials. By performing a Thermal Moisture Imaging^TM scan prior to purchase or warranty expiration, a client can reduce future repair costs and prevent damage to the building structure.

How I got here:

I have over 30 years experience in new construction and executive management and I am a certified Building Science Thermographer.

The personal journey began as an investigative study into what techniques/tools could be used to assist building owners in identifying problems non-destructively before purchase of a building/facility and how we could assist them with identifying ways to reduce energy costs.

Where I’m going:

Due to the interests in energy efficiencies, our market is expanding. We anticipate job growth to increase by year-end 2009 at which time we will be looking to increase our current staff.

How I’m doing:

Since we are relatively new company, we are monitoring our projections closely and are on target. I expect turning a profit this year with an increase in our advertising and marketing campaigns.

Advice:

Investigate and know your target markets, study the industry and invest in training and education to stay current on technology and industry standards. Also, an internship with an established company is a good way to see if this is something you are truly interested in.

See more profiles at MY GREEN JOB

See Recent Green Jobs Listings

Although every teacher and student at Green Woods Charter School will be devoting themselves to a full day of environmental service this Earth Day, in reality, it’s pretty much like any other day at the school.

The only public charter school in the country that is located inside a nature center-Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education and its surrounding 350 acres in Philadelphia-Green Woods uses environmental and ecological concepts to drive the development of its curriculum and instruction.

Environmental education became serious in 2001, when the state legislature passed the Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Environment and Ecology, the only such standards in the country. It also left schools scrambling for new curricula to meet the standards. Jean Wallace, who had a degree in environmental education from Arcadia University and was working as a curriculum developer at Earth Force, a nonprofit organization, was suddenly deluged with requests for materials.

“Working with hundreds of schools, I could see that principals and teachers just weren’t getting behind the new standards from a leadership perspective,” she recalls. “I kept hearing, ‘I just don’t see the point of devoting instructional time to environmental study, or ‘I’m sure these standards aren’t here to stay.’”

Wallace could see that most schools were not using the standards for the rich opportunity they presented. So when she learned that Green Woods had an opening for a curriculum coordinator, she jumped at the chance.

But there was a small glitch: Green Woods had no curriculum, she discovered. So Wallace and her team set about creating one.

“Yes, it was a Herculean task but also an incredible opportunity,” says Wallace, now the CEO and Academic Director for Green Woods. “We had a clean slate and that gave our teachers tremendous creativity. We could really focus on how we knew students learned best.”

Kindergarten through fourth grade focuses on the basics, including studying four different ecosystems, using four of the center’s ponds. The program encompasses in-depth study of seed dispersal, insects and wildlife of the field, weather patterns, the forest ecosystems, migrating birds, and much more.

The fourth grade is the “bridge” year, where students transition from a focus on local environment to a global perspective, including an in-depth look at the Kyoto Protocol.

Sixth, seventh, and eighth grades branch out further, studying science, literature, and history within an ecological context.

What I do:

I bake organic, gluten free, dairy free cookies and brownies at my bakery, Molasses Bakery.

How it helps:

It enables people who are on gluten-free and dairy-free diets to enjoy the same type of desserts and baked goods as those not on restrictive diets. I believe that organic foods are the most environmentally ethical choice and the healthiest for your body.

Where I’m going:

More and more people are taking wheat and dairy out of their diets due to intolerances and life style choices. They are also turning to organics as a means of keeping themselves and the planet healthy. As these choices become more common, Molasses Bakery will be able to provide treats that people feel good about buying. The combination of organic and gluten-free is sometimes difficult to find and Molasses fills that niche.

How I’m doing:

Before the recession hit, I was steadily building clientele. Now it is more difficult to persuade new stores to carry my products, but I continue to receive steady orders from my current clients and many compliments from happy customers.

Advice:

Passion drives creativity. If you let your passion direct you, you will reach your goal. Also, it never hurts to have good financial planning and a carefully plotted business plan.

See more profiles at MY GREEN JOB

See Recent Green Jobs Listings

Everything old is new again. Even roofs.

Anyone who is well traveled knows that white roofs have topped homes and buildings in the Middle East and countries around the Mediterranean for centuries. Virtually every city in tropical climates have white, or light-colored roofs. Even the pharaohs, 5,000 years ago, made the tops of their temples white.

Residents of global hot spots know that white reflects heat and makes a building cooler. It’s so simple and obvious, but it’s been almost overlooked by new energy-saving technologies.

Now, however, research asserts that there is another reason to have a white roof: it dramatically reduces global warming.

Hashen Akbari and other scientists presented their research last fall at the annual climate change conference in California. The scientists from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found a number of significant impacts of light, or white, roofs (as well as pavement).

• Cool roofs, pavements and shade trees would save energy to the tune of more than $50 billion a year.
• White roofs and light pavement directly cool the globe by reflecting the sun’s rays rather than absorbing them.
• White, reflective roofs in the world’s urban areas (which generate more heat than less concentrated areas) could offset approximately one and a half years of carbon emissions.
• Lighter colored roofs could allow urban areas to reflect 10 percent of the sun’s heat.
• If roofs and pavement in urban areas were white, the effect could slow climate change by more than 10 years.
• White roofs can lower the roof temperature by as much as 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Roofs make up about 25 percent of the surface of cities, and pavement covers another 35 percent, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.  Arthur Rosenfeld, California’s energy commissioner and well-known advocate for energy-saving measures, said that a national push for white roofs could reduce cooling costs by about $1 billion.  Houses with white roofs, he asserted, can stay 30 percent cooler in the summer. Others say the savings would be closer to 20 percent.

Several states have already started to push white or light-colored roofs. Four years ago, California made it law that all new flat roofs be white. In July, the state will demand that any new roofs that slope (including homes) be light or white.  Georgia and Florida, among others, offer incentives for white roofs.

Roofing manufacturers and providers have responded to the call for lighter-colored roofs, although the general public has been less enthusiastic . Darker colored shingles and tiles are still more popular, and more the norm across the country, so going white isn’t always an easy sell.

A council made up of 18 roofing companies is working to make more people – in and out of the roofing industry — aware of the benefits of solar reflective coatings. The group operates under the auspices of a national roof coatings association.  They focus exclusively on acrylic or “elastomeric” roof coatings, as opposed to shingles or tile. The coatings are applied to an existing roof, protecting the roof and reducing electricity bills. The acrylic product is the consistency of a heavy paint, the council says. They have rated numerous roofing products for potential shoppers.

1. San Francisco, CA
2. New York City, NY
3. Portland, OR
4. Seattle, WA
5. Los Angeles, CA
6. Denver, CO
7. Minneapolis, MN
8. Washington, D.C.
9. Boston, MA
10. Philadelphia, PA
11. Chicago, IL
12. Baltimore, MD
13. Detroit, MI
14. Pittsburgh, PA
15. Orlando, FL
16. Cleveland, OH
17. Sacramento, CA
18. Miami, FL
19. Tampa, FL
20. Phoenix, AZ
21. St. Louis, MO
22. Houston, TX
23. Indianapolis, IN
24. Dallas, TX
25. Atlanta, GA

A Celebration for the Earth
Hosted by the Temple University Center for Sustainable Communities
Friday, April 24, 2009, 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. (rain or shine)
Temple University Ambler Campus
580 Meetinghouse Road
Ambler, PA

Comcast and the Fairmount Park Conservancy Join Hands to Revitalize Hunting Park in North Philadelphia
April 25, 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Hunting Park
1101 West Hunting Park Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19140
More than 300 local Comcast employees and their families and friends will volunteer to revitalize Hunting Park as part of Comcast’s 8th annual Comcast Cares Day. Volunteers will assemble on this companywide day of service to assist members of the community with trash and leaf removal, landscaping, and painting of the Recreation Center.
8:30 a.m. – Tree and park bench dedication to Ralph Roberts
10:00 a.m. – Photos with Phillies championship trophy in Recreation Center
For more information on Comcast Cares Day and Comcast’s community initiatives visit http://www.comcast.com/inthecommunity.

Penn State Solar Energy Conference
Penn State
May 6-7
Recent state and federal economic incentives are improving the viability of solar power and brightening the prospect of solar business in Pennsylvania. Organizers of the Solar Energy Conference said they believe bringing the right people together will help unleash solar power as a major component of Pennsylvania’s goals for a clean energy portfolio. “We have a lot of work do to if we are going to fully take advantage these opportunities. The right combination of policies, research, workforce development efforts and business strategies could help make solar energy competitive very quickly,” Dr. David R. Riley, executive director of the Center for Sustainability at Penn State, said. “This conference will help advance our understanding of the next steps we need to take.”

The Solar Energy Conference is an outreach program of the College of Engineering. Information about the conference is available online.

Springfestinthepark
Anson B Nixon Park, Kennett Square, PA
April 25, 2009 , 10:00am to 3:00pm
2nd annual springfestinthepark celebrating gardening, green and out of doors. Flower vendors, garden clubs,plant sociaties,lectures, tips under tent beneath trees by the ponds.
100 Waterworks drive, off N Walnut Street,Kennett Square, PA. Call 610-444-4750 for more info.

While the vast majority of Americans are car bound, rising numbers are getting on board with public transit, commuter and light rail, trolleys and buses.

Those riding the rails and buses took 10.7 billion trips on public transportation in 2008, a 4 percent increase over the number of trips taken in 2007, according to a ridership report by the American Public Transportation Association.

During the same period, the number of vehicle miles traveled on roadways declined by 3.6 percent, the group reported, citing the U.S. Department of Transportation.

While the road miles driven could simply reflect fewer people commuting to work combined with lower driving levels resulting from last summer’s soaring gas prices, the APTA sees the increase in ridership as a continuation of a longer term trend.

“Public transportation use is up 38% percent since 1995, a figure that is almost triple the growth rate of the population (14 percent) and up substantially over the growth rate for the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) on our nation’s highways (21%) for that same period,” the association explained in a news statement released Monday.

In sheer numbers, the 2008 ridership was the greatest since 1956; though today’s higher population means the percentage of riders is still much less than it was at that time.

APTA president William W. Millar noted that those switching to public transit can save themselves more than $8,000 a year in gasoline and car maintenance costs, as well as helping lessen their carbon footprint.

“Now, more than ever, the value of public transportation is evident and the public has clearly demonstrated that they want and need more public transit services,” Millar said. “Public transportation is good for the economy, good for the environment and good for energy independence and now is the time for the federal government to increase its investment in public transportation.”

Light rail — which includes trolleys and modern street cars — saw the biggest percentage increases in ridership.

The city of Charlotte, with a light rail system that opened in late 2007, saw an 862 percent increase.

Charlotte was followed by New Orleans’ light rail system, still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, with an annual increase of 218 percent.

They said it couldn’t be done: A LEED platinum house for $100 per square foot in hard construction costs.

Builders, architects, real estate developers, among others, have expressed skepticism that green building could be done inexpensively. One persistent notion is that sustainable home building is expensive because of higher upfront costs for cutting edge technology and design. Its become conventional wisdom, in some corners, that green building carries a 10 percent upcharge, at least.

And some believe that aiming for the highest certifications, like the U.S. Green Building Council’s platinum LEED rating, requires even higher costs.

Chad and Courtney Ludeman, and Nic Darling, the owners of Postgreen, set out to prove these assumptions wrong.

The 100K House Project began in 2007, has produced two adjoining row houses. The first one is nearing completion and is on track to become the first LEED platinum-rated residential home in Pennsylvania. The Ludemans will be living there. The second house (nicknamed the 120K house for its slightly higher costs) is under contract. Since breaking ground, the team has received an award from the American Institute of Architects Philadelphia Chapter and is among the finalists for the Pennsylvania Environmental Council’s 2009 Philadelphia Sustainability Award

Chad Ludeman has a background in manufacturing engineering and worked as an efficiency expert for several years; his wife Courtney Ludeman is a real estate broker. Darling, a friend and business associate of the couple, is a writer and marketer. The three of them had rehabbed a few houses several years earlier and wanted to focus on new construction specifically for younger buyers in their neighborhood of New Kensington.

But there was a problem.

“Any new house here is the standard 2000-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath type that costs about a half a million,” Darling explains. “We wondered why we were building houses that no one we know can afford to buy.”

The 100K house (and the 120K house) lists for $265,000. It is on an infill lot, which satisfies a key LEED (Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design) requirement to reuse available land. Ludeman’s house is actually the prototype for a series of proposed LEED-certified houses, all of which are projected to cost between $200,000 to $300,000, with varying floor plans and options.

Did the team meet their $100 per square foot target for construction costs on the prototype? Darling says that their goal of making the 100K mark is well within reach. At a few weeks out from completion, they’re actually under that benchmark for the “hard construction costs” of the 1,100-square-foot space, which includes all the building materials and labor. “Soft costs” for architects and consultants, as well as the cost of the lot, are not included, and were not intended to be part of the building cost benchmark, he said.

So how did they do it?