Green Buckeye

Columbus Green Building Forum and Worthington Kilbourne High School's Home BASE are partnering to build an "energy efficient, high perfoming, sustainable, green, and affordable" home. The plan is that the home will be LEED-Gold certified, but the potential is there to reach Platinum certification.

The USGBC web site says:

A green home uses less energy, water, and natural resources; creates less waste; and is healthier and more comfortable for the occupants. Benefits of a LEED home include lower energy and water bills; reduced greenhouse gas emissions; and less exposure to mold, mildew and other indoor toxins.

You can follow the project's progress on the Home BASE project blog. Pamela Willis of Suburban News covered the story here at SNPOnline.

Labels: news

Thanks to George Nemeth at Brewed Fresh Daily, Green Buckeye is moving!

From today forward, you'll find us at:

www.greenbuckeye.com

Please point your browser to this new site to stay in touch!

- Tina

Labels: about greenbuckeye

Thomas Friedman, author of The World Is Flat, says that his motto is:

"Green is the new red, white, and blue."

You can read the full story on Timesunion.

Labels: resources

The December 15 "Get Green" business conference revealed that Central Ohio has dozens of green projects in-flight or planned!

For example, before this event, I hadn't heard of the Northstar Cafe. Northstar is a local restaurant that is striving to create a tasteful and sustainable dining experience. The owners are using organic ingredients. It was fun to learn that, in order to have a supply of organic produce this summer, they're working with regional farmers who are ordering seeds this month!

Were you aware that the downtown Lazarus building is being sustainably redeveloped? In fact, it's one of the largest historical rehab projects in the US right now. I hope they'll offer tours to the public when things are further along.
One exciting commercial project featured at the conference is the planned eco-industrial park. An eco-industrial park is built on the eco-effectiveness principle that "waste equals food." In this concept, waste from one industrial process is "food" (raw material or input) for another industrial process. In an eco-industrial park, independent companies are co-located to support the "waste equals food" cycle.

It was great to see the turnout at the event. As judged by a show of hands, the majority of attendees were from government agencies and NGO's. But there were also folks from the worlds of business, industry, and academe. Spotted among the throng: Aparna Dial of OSU, Tad Dritz of Shepherd Advisors, Dan Weisenbach of Weisenbach Specialty Printing, and of course, Mayor Mike Coleman.

Labels: events

In some ways, Thursday night's Columbus Green Drinks event was the pre-conference reception for Friday's "Get Green Columbus" business conference! Many of the same folks were in attendance at both events, and it gave some people a chance to get to know each other in more than one setting.

Speaker Heather Dean of FLOW opened with a request for personal stories about "the river," and there was an opportunity to hear from a number of attendees about what role the Olentangy plays in their lives. For many, it was simply a matter of appreciating the beauty of the river as they walk or bike ride past it daily.

Among the more than 50 folks who dropped in Thursday were, of course, Tad Dritz and Emily Plews, co-organizers of Columbus Green Drinks. Dan Weisenbach of Weisenbach Specialty Printing was in attendance, as were several local folks associated with sustainability efforts at the Columbus Foundation, The Ohio State University, and the Anheuser Busch Brewery.

Labels: events

There's an embarrassment of green events this week!

Columbus Green Drinks meets at Surly Girl Saloon tonight at 6:00 p.m. to hear from FLOW. It looks like Surly Girl carries at least one organic ale . . . although the Belgian Brasserie de Rocs Grand Cru is looking pretty good right now . . . but not very "sustainable," is it. I wonder if there are any local brews? Ah, here we are: Elevator's Studio 35 Ale.

And don't forget about the "Get Green" business conference tomorrow at the Center for Resilience at Ohio State.

Labels: events

Architect and designer Bill McDonough inspires both through his actions and his words. If you are looking for a little inspirational boost, listen to this McDonough presentation at the Social Innovation Conversations web site.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll come away refreshed and ready to face the world again.

Or, if spoken word isn't your thing, you could read McDonough's book, Cradle to Cradle.

Labels: resources

Yes - this is just what it sounds like!

Columbus Green Drinks is a local group that meets monthly to converse and encourage environmental awareness.

This month's speaker is Heather Dean from Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed (FLOW).

Meet in the back room of the Surly Girl Saloon at 6:00 p.m.

Labels: events