The UN Committee on Climate Change’s thirteenth convention is being held in Bali and starts on Monday. The big issue this year seem to be getting a draft framework, or “roadmap” for the global approach to climate change so that it can in place by the end of the Kyoto Protocol evaluation period in 2012. Friends of the Earth is going to be posting pictures and blogging from the conference for live updates.

Friends of the Earth have made some strong statements to discourage the UNCCC to continue promoting biofuels (or “agrofuels”) as a major solution to climate change because of the ironic releasing of massive amounts of CO2 when forests are cleared in order to grow the leading biofuel crops:

“The demand for agrofuels mainly to fuel cars -mainly in over-consuming industrialized countries – is skyrocketing. Yet recent studies from around the world highlight that the agrofuels boom is having severe social and environmental impacts. [2] Forests are being cut down and Indigenous Peoples and forest dwelling communities are being displaced, often violently, from their territories to make way for agrofuels plantations run by multinational corporations that expropriate land and water resources.”

While you are checking out Friends of the Earth, take a look at their “The Big Ask” web-march. I really appreciate their creative, personal campaign strategy. One of my favorite videos was Martyn Williams who talks about what he and his wife have done to curb their emissions in comparison to what the UK government is proposing. Okay, and I really like that he calls it “Get your finger out“! Can you blame me?

Vanessa

Watch this thing tick away for a while….

Amount American’s Have Spent on Oil in
2007

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Go here for more.

Vanessa

Ecuador is the home of UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the Yasuní National Park. The park is 9,820 square kilometers primarily covered in Amazonian rainforest. Underneath this rainforest lies the Ishpingo Tambococha Tiputini oilfields, which if tapped by Ecuador, could produce around $700m a year.

Here’s where President Rafael Correa poses the question to the international community at large— just how much is a rainforest worth to you? Correa, who touts “development in communion with, not against, nature”, with the help of his minister for energy and mines, Alberto Acosta, came up with a plan to preserve the rainforest but still get rich—The Ecuadorian government would agree to leave the National Park alone in exchange for an annual payment of $350m, a mere half of the expected revenue from the oil, in order to preserve the jungles, sequester approximately half a billion tons of CO2, as well as pull their people out of poverty.

Of course critics point out that Ecuador has been producing oil for years, approximately 4 billion barrels at a value of about $82 billion, and poverty is still a problem. Not to mention that the money going to “save a rainforest” is actually being exchanged for social programs in Ecuador rather than environmental preservation.

But all of that aside (and I know this is simplifying), I can’t help but see this is as part of the greater question that is being put to the global community— oil or trees? Will we continue to exploit our precious natural resources to pursue oil to support our extravagant lifestyles or have we reached a place that we value our rainforests more than our cars?

Vanessa

Scurrying across campus today in the rain, I came across a 32 foot RV.
For those of you that don’t know it, I’m in New England. I moved out here for 9 months to get a master’s degree in Sustainable Development at the School for International Training, a tiny school up on a hill in southern Vermont.

I think an RV would have stuck out on our little farmhouse campus no matter what, but this one, well, it looks like this…

Sara and Matt, a graphic designer and handyman respectively, along with their young daughter Bella, have hit the road in a veggie oil conversion RV to spread the green living message. They are calling it the Live Lightly Tour and plan to loop through New England and cruise the East Coast before heading out to California – where LJUrban will be their host for a tour pit stop, probably late spring early summer- we’ll let you know.

Matt put his skills to work when they purchased this old RV and gave it a green makeover. Not only did they do the Veggie Oil conversion with an on-board gathering and filtration system, but they strapped solar panels on the roof and gave the inside a facelift with new bamboo floors, Dakota Burl (crushed sunflower seed hulls) counter tops, and a cheerful splash of low VOC paint!

Check out their website if you have a minute and you’re interested in veggie oil, they’ve got quite a response to “FAQ’s” on this topic…

Happy Tourin’ Jassens!

Vanessa

So, guess what!? Here’s another topic we would really love to hear your opinions on. (Imagine that!)

We are at the point (and actually a little beyond the point) with some of our projects where we need to make decision whether to try for a LEED certification or to pass. Our strong commitment to creating eco-urban may make this seem like a no-brainer, but the more we talk about it the trickier it gets.

Our conversation has been circling around three things:

First, Which program?
There are over 70 regional green building certification programs in the U.S. according to the USGBC website. With LEED, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) was the first to establish a comprehensive set of guidelines for rating the sustainability of a building. Since LEED’s formation, there have been quite a few new systems added to the mix. California Green Builder, and Build it Green are two other regional rating systems that are most recognized in California. Add the Energy Star certification and the local utility programs such as SMUD’s and PG&E’s energy efficiency and solar programs and there is an overwhelming amount of certification to be done. That is, of course, if it really makes sense to spend money on all the documentation!

Second, what is the trade off between the extra marketability, and the extra cost?
Let’s take B Street West for example. We have applied for the LEED ND pilot program that certifies the project as a whole – it is supposed to verify that the neighborhood we’re creating is an eco-urban place. It broadly rates the location and linkage, neighborhood pattern and design, and the green construction and technology equally with a 106 point scale. With everything included (application fees, consultant analysis, site verification and certification fee…) we are looking at about $1,800 extra a unit. That doesn’t sound too ridiculous, but when we think of all the cool possibilities of what we could do with that same $1,800 a unit, we are just not sure if it is a good trade.

LEED ND Certification or Paperstone countertops?
LEED ND Certification or higher efficiency insulation?
LEED ND Certification or a cork living room floor?

LEED ND and LEED for Homes
The analysis of the actual houses is not as intensive with the LEED ND program as with other building-specific rating systems. We could then go through the LEED for Homes process to certify that each home is built to LEED standard, which comes with its own set of fees and an even greater requirement to manage the certification process. This could be somewhat redundant due to the green construction and technology analysis that would have already been completed in the LEED ND certification noted above. The process is a 108 point scale that certifies a building Certified LEED with 30 points, Silver with 50 points, Gold with 70 points, and Platinum with 90 and above. A building is certified with 27% of the allowable points. Generally speaking LEED is a slow, cumbersome process- one that Micah estimates can take one person on the construction management team about a quarter of their time to manage the process (This is from experience in the commercial realm with LEED NC). So that could be $88,000 dollars in additional costs beyond the LEED ND certification fees. That makes the total closer to $4,300 per unit.

Build It Green’s “Green Point”: An Alternative
An alternative to the LEED for Homes program is the “Build it Green – GreenPoint” rating system. They use a 260 point scale which is comparable to the LEED Homes scale for rating the buildings. They have a lower threshold for “Green” and allow any home scoring 50 points or more into the club. So if you attain 19% of the points you are “green”. We have received a quote from Scott Blunk at Greenbuilt to manage and certify the process as a “Green Rater” through their program. This would cost substantially less, at about $650 per unit. So we could combine the LEED ND with a Build it Green certification for a total of $2,450 per unit.

For marketability purposes the LEED certification clearly stands out as the undeniable leader. This is not necessarily due to a better quantitative system but mainly name recognition. LEED does pay more attention to site and neighborhood planning issues than Build it Green does.

Finally, and most importantly, do we really believe a certification guarantees a greener home/neighborhood for our buyers?
There’s been a lot of debate about what LEED does and doesn’t guarantee. LEED has not only unquestionably filled a large need for a universally accepted standard for green building, but has also fueled a new level of demand and media attention to the issues of green building. But that’s not to say it has it’s own set of shortcomings.

One major limitation is that LEED is a prescriptive based program and not a performance based program. If our goal is a truly efficient, healthy home in a eco-urban neighborhood a prescriptive method does not necessarily guarantee this. One example of this is the way in which points are allotted. As others point out, there’s a problem when a point system weights a renewable-energy system about equal with a bike-storage room.

On the other hand, there’s also some potential validity to the increase in value for the homebuyer with green-certified house. Will houses with green certification appreciate at higher rates than houses without? If so, certification would certainly help the overall market acceptance and demand for green-built housing which would lead to more and more eco-friendly housing.

Since this post is already getting long, we’ll just refer you to a really well articulated article from 2005 that covers all this and more at grist.org.

So, the jury is still out. Give us your feedback/experience, please!

Micah and Vanessa

Vanessa’s at TED:Global in Tanzania this week.

Here’s a roundup of blogging about the debate between Bono and Andrew Mwenda about the merits of giving aid to Africa…

Here’s the TED Blog which showcases current blogging coverage of TED:Global.

Below is a short list of info bites and quotes Vanessa sent us yesterday.

• Zip Zap Circus from South Africa. “Change will come from young people led by their imaginations”
• Idris Mohammad- We need a lot more private capital invested in Africa that demands high returns on investment. — The G8 should create a fund of funds to be invested in Africa- not donated.
• Jacqueline Novogratz- Listening isn’t only about patience, it’s about learning to ask better questions. Dignity is more important to the human spirit than wealth
• George Ayittey- 40% of money made in Africa is invested outside of Africa. (not sure of that fact)
• Kwabena Boahen- the brain processes data with a hundred thousand times less energy than our computers process the same amount of data.
• John Kihia- 2 out of every 3 jobs in Africa are provided by small businesses.
• Alieu Conteh- Against all odds, he got DR Congo connected to cell network in the middle of the rebel work (including getting all four rebel leaders to let him connect the areas they controlled) and the company is now worth 1.6 billion dollars.
• Spencer Wells- We can all have our DNA tested as a part of his new National Geographic human geneology project via a kit sent to you (for the low, low price of $100) in the mail.
• Simon Mwacharo- 85% of Kenyans do not have grid tied power. (that means they could skip the lame energy production systems we’ve used and go straight to sustainable sources of power)
• Jane Goodall-We have a choice about how we are going to live today. The poor do not have a choice. We have to make the right decisions so that the poor will one day have a choice. — The Chimp population was at 1 million at the turn of the century and it is currently at approximately 150,000. — We have hope because 1) we have choices 2) nature is resilient and 3) the human spirit is resilient

Jason

Today’s blustery weather makes me just a tiny bit concerned because over the weekend I spent an afternoon tilling the ground in my limited back yard for a lovely veggie garden and I’m hoping my delicate seedlings are holding up!

There’s a unique delight spending an afternoon outdoors, hands in the soil, creating neat little rows of potential culinary wonders! I had the special honor this year of putting in several of seedlings that my brother started in his windowsill. Green-thumbery runs in our family, but he definitely got a larger portion of that blessing than I did- I just hope I can keep his little babies alive!

And now as I pass by my kitchen sink, I can see my little plot out the window and every time I do, I get a little thrill at the beauty and order and life that is cultivating out there. I’ve been missing those quiet, early morning moments in the sanctuary of my garden while watering or weeding or picking a tomato warmed by the sun and I’m glad spring is here.

All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar. -Helen Hayes

The veggies and herbs that made the garden list this year include four varieties of tomatoes, carrots, thai peppers, beets, eggplant, bush beans, crook neck squash, zucchini, strawberries, radishes, cilantro, basil, mint and sage. And in very ecourban fashion, my neighbor has offered me some large pots in his back yard (which connects to mine through an opening in our fence) to continue a mini-community garden. Fun!

What are you growin’ this year?

Vanessa

I found some more CSA info for you all. Most of this was from a good Sacramento Magazine article that outlines the local produce options from grocery stores, CSA’s, and farmer’s markets….

Here are some farms in the Sacramento region that offer CSA programs:

• Soil Born Farm, Sacramento; (916) 486-9686Soil Born delivers boxes of produce to its subscribers the very same day the produce is harvested—an advantage of its urban location. Subscribers’ fees also assist in the farm’s ambitious goals of establishing a community-run farmers market in Del Paso Heights and the implementation of an “edible schoolyard” program at Jonas Salk Middle School.
• Del Rio Botanical/Peabody Ranch, West Sacramento; (916) 919-1843 / delrioseed@direcway.comOwner Suzanne Ashworth calls her CSA boxes “gourmet” because subscribers find a number of lesser-known “specialty” items mixed in with more predictable fruits and vegetables. For instance, in a recent box, Ashworth tucked colorful calendula flower petals, pineapple sage, lemon grass and fava bean leaves in with the more recognizable fennel bulbs, spring salad mix and kumquats.
• Full Belly Farm, Guinda, Yolo County; (530) 796-2214 /”We grow over 100 things at Full Belly,” says farm partner Dru Rivers, “so subscribers will probably get 100 different items in their box over the growing season.” Rivers emphasizes that 95 percent of the box’s contents come from her farm. “If we do supplement, we don’t buy anything outside of the Capay Valley,” she says. “This is a really regional CSA box.” Full Belly is situated on Cache Creek and serve Sacramento, Davis and Woodland. Subscriptions can be renewed on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis.
• Good Humus Produce, Capay, Yolo County; (530) 787-3187In addition to Good Humus’ regular weekly seasonal CSA box, the farm offers a separate “fruit only” box from May through February. The fruit box is composed of produce from not only Good Humus but a handful of neighboring farms. The farm also invites subscribers to a yearly working day and a peach celebration day. Owners Annie and Jeff Main currently are working to put their land in a land preservation trust—”to keep it as a farm, always,” she explains.
• Terra Firma Farm, Winters, Yolo County; (530) 756-2800Terra Firma’s popular CSA program offers subscribers the opportunity to purchase extra fruit when its fruit crops are in season. “Our customers play a crucial role in helping our business succeed and in inspiring us,” says the farm’s website. “Many of our subscribers have been with us since the beginning of the CSA . . . their kids have grown up with the memories of running through our fields and playing in our orchards, and they’ve grown up healthy while eating our vegetables.”
• Foothill Organic Growers, Newcastle, Placer County; (916) 663-2146Owner Jack Hertel gives subscribers a choice: Accept what he chooses for them, or decide for themselves what they want to receive. Hertel supplies a telephone “veggie line” so subscribers can call to find out what’s available and to select what they want in their box. Interesting factoid: He delivers $400 to $500 worth of fresh, organic produce to the Folsom City Zoo each week. “Those animals,” he chortles, “eat better than 98 percent of [consumers]!”
• Riverdog Farm, Guinda, Yolo County; (530) 796-3802Riverdog Farm has operated by Trini Campbell and Tim Mueller for the last fourteen years and has drop locations in Davis, Sacramento, and other cities in Napa County with subscriptions that can be paid monthly, quarterly, or annually. Riverdog provides produces directly to several restaurants in Davis and Woodland.
• EEatwell Farm, Dixon, Yolo County; (800) 648-9894Eatwell Farm is a family farm run by Frances and Nigel and their twin sons, Eric and Andrew. Eatwell’s 70 acres are located at Pedrick and 1-80. The farm grows numerous crops for farmers’ markets and their own CSA produce program. CSA members can choose a 4, 13 or 26 box subscription with an option for an organic free-range egg share as well. May have a waiting list. Serving Davis and the Bay Area.

Vanessa

So we are all very excited around here about one of our upcoming projects. In fact, I feel a little guilty being the first to get to post about it! For now we’re calling it our Discovery Center but a few other names are bouncing around that might be more fitting. The Discovery Center is going to be built in West Sacramento to serve a variety of functions. We plan to use it as a sales center (aka, “Gallery”), but more than that, as an opportunity to educate the community on the history of this neighborhood, the future plans for the area, and the green features and building concepts that we intend to use as well as bathroom and kitchen options and all that fun. To make it a more approachable space and something that is going to have multiple functions for the community, we are trying to work out the logistics of putting a café in there too. Fun. Our heads are buzzing with ideas we’d love to see incorporated into this space.

One of the things we are most excited about with this building is the chance to go all out with our green aspirations. Our progress with green building will be incrementally better with each project; there are so many innovative green technologies and products that we will not be able, for one reason or another, to incorporate into some of our housing projects, so this is a really exciting exercise in seeing just how far we can go.

Renner Johnston at MNA is working on this building for us and sent me the concept sketch above for our mechanical engineer’s investigation. The features shown here are as follows:

• Chilled Beams w/Ground Water
• Radiant Floor w/Solar Hot Water
• Photo Voltaic System
• Cooling Pond
• Night Ventilation
• Solar Chimney

This solar chimney idea is a very simple, but very effective way to exhaust hot air out of the building by using the sun to heat the top of this “chimney” causing it to pull the hot air through.
Chilled beams are a cooling system that are used widely in the UK but are still lagging here in the US. Chilled beams typically operate using finned elements through which water is passed to cool the surrounding air- the air is supplied to the room using diffusers.

So, this is what we’ve got so far, but we’ve only been thinking mechanical and passive solar so far, next will be building type (wood, steel, green sandwich board…), then we’ll get into the materials and systems and finishes! How fun is this!? We’re chuffed!

Vanessa

Just something I read and liked recently…

The only meaningful counterbalance to corporate globalization is communities. The momentum of globalized trade cannot be stopped, bit it can be redirected. Communities are small enough to be able to understand their own self-interest, yet large enough to be able to access resources and generate efficiencies of scale. When communities are weak, they are inevitably exploited. To take advantage of corporate growth and not be its victims, communities around the world must rapidly increase their strength and ability to organize.

Even more undermining to society is environmental degradation… Lifestyle, international economics, and world politics may have to find new balances. To respond to these challenges, we need more-effective strategies. The most practical and accessible way to shape a collective response is to grow appropriate solutions at the community level that take into account the large and complex forces impinging on them.

From: Just and Lasting Change: When Communities Own Their Own Future, by Daniel Taylor-Ide & Carl E. Taylor. John Hopkins University Press, 2002.

Vanessa