U.S. Green Building Council - Heart of Florida Chapter News

Upcoming Community Workshops to Discuss an Eastside Community Redevelopment Area (CRA)

April Green — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 21:03:26 GMT

The public is invited to attend and participate in upcoming workshops hosted by the Alachua County Growth Management Department to discuss an Eastside Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) focused on the unincorporated portion of Alachua County, east of the Gainesville City limits to Newnan's Lake.

A CRA is a defined sub-area of a city or county where revitalization and economic development is promoted by a Community Redevelopment Agency through investments in community improvements to foster job and income growth. This is the initial stage in the CRA planning process and community input is critical.

The workshops will be held as follows:

· Thursday, February 3, 2011 at 5:30 pm at the Eastside High School Media Center, 1201 SE 43^rd Street; and,

· Thursday, February 17, 2011 at 5:30 pm at Compassionate Outreach Ministries' Fellowship Hall, 320 SE 43^rd Street.

Feel free to download the flyer linked below and forward to other persons who may be interested in attending these workshops. Please contact Michael Castine, Planner in the Alachua County Department of Growth Management at 352-374-5249 ormcastine@alachuacounty.us if you have questions or need additional information. More information can be found by visiting the following website - http://growth-management.alachuacounty.us/comprehensive_planning/CRA .

New Public Works Administration Building Open House Scheduled

April Green — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 16:50:35 GMT

CITY OF GAINESVILLE

City of Gainesville Public Works

RELEASE DATE: November 8, 2010

            CONTACT: Bob Woods, Communications and Marketing Manager
            Email: GainesvillePIO@cityofgainesville.org
            Telephone: 352-334-5017

New Public Works Administration Building Open House Scheduled

Gainesville, Florida – The City of Gainesville will be holding an informational Open House at the new Public Works Administration Building located at 405 NW 39th Avenue on Thursday, November 18 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The Open House will allow the public to view the new building addition to the Public Works Center, tour the Traffic Management System and view the public art created by renowned artist Teresa Thompson. The City has applied to become a Silver LEED certified building. The building also has a green roof, the first such installation at a city owned building.

“Our new building was constructed to allow the Public Works and General Services staff to be centralized in one location”, said Teresa Scott, Public Works Director, “while also housing our state of the art Traffic Management Center.” The $1.5 million Traffic Management Center was jointly funded by the City of Gainesville, Alachua County, the Florida Department of Transportation and the University of Florida.

Motorists throughout the city and county will benefit from the state of the art Traffic Management System that operates out of the Traffic Management Center. The Center allows members of the Traffic Operations team to view real time traffic conditions and adjust traffic signal timings along major corridors to move traffic more efficiently. The system also allows them to coordinate with other emergency responders to re-route traffic in case of an accident or major incident.

Visit the City of Gainesville website, www.cityofgainesville.org, for more information. Direct media inquiries to Chip Skinner, Public Works Spokesperson, at 352-393-7842.

State Energy Efficiency Scorecard Rankings Released

April Green — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 19:40:24 GMT

The 2010 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard was released Oct. 13 by the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). First, second and third place were awarded to California, Massachusetts and Oregon, respectively. See how FL measures up on the list here.

An exciting autumn for your USGBC chapter!

April Green — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 23:15:09 GMT

The next few months look to be very promising for the USGBC Heart of FL chapter. We will be electing a new Board of Directors in the next several weeks (more on that soon!), continuing our work in Haiti, and continuing the important work of our chapter committees. We've been blessed recently with an influx of great new volunteers, but our committee chairs are always eager to put folks to work, so please take a look at our committees and see if any of them interest you.

More specifically, we're building towards two exciting events this autumn, Green Halloween and our USGBC Annual Social, and would love to have you involved in both of them. For both events, we need volunteers to help with organizing and outreach, and exhibitors/sponsors to help make them a financial success. Please help spread the word about Green Halloween to your colleagues, friends, and family by sharing the attached event flyer and press release. If you or any companies or organizations that you are involved with would like to be an exhibitor at the event, please complete the enclosed Exhibitor Agreement and return it to us by Oct. 20th.

We're also looking for volunteers to help us spread the word about green building to the wider community by partnering with one of our chapter leaders and hosting an informational table at one of these upcoming events:

Oct. 23-24 Butterfly Fest at the FL Museum of Natural History

Nov. 7 Downtown Gainesville Arts Festival

Nov. 13 Bat Festival

These will all be great events offering a genuine opportunity to get beyond "the choir" and talk with folks in our community about the importance of building green. Even if you can only help out for a few hours on one of these days, please try to join us. To volunteer, send us an email or give us a call (352-328-3121) and let us know your availability.

Finally, given all of the high profile events that we'll be involved with this autumn, there's never been a better time to become a USGBC member or sustainer. If you'd like to serve your community while also taking full advantage of the great networking and outreach opportunities that supporting our chapter entails, take a quick look through our Member & Sponsorship flyer and let us know how you'd like to get involved in supporting your USGBC chapter.

That's all for now, but be on the lookout for more exciting news and opportunities soon. As always, thanks for your support of green building.

Sincerely,

USGBC, Heart of FL Chapter

Unified Land Development Code Updated Online

April Green — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:46:36 GMT

Alachua County Growth Management

Press Release

Unified Land Development Code Updated Online

The Alachua County Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) has been updated on the Department of Growth Management's website. The updated document includes all ordinances adopted to date this year, which includes the following:

Ord. 10-09 04/13/2010 - Automotive Rental use category
Ord. 10-13 06/08/2010 - Indoor Sports Training Facility use category (privately initiated)
Ord. 10-14 06/22/2010 - Ag processing use setbacks (privately initiated)
Ord. 10-16 08/10/2010 - Traditional Neighborhood and Transit Oriented Developments
Ord. 10-17 08/10/2010 - SB 1752 Permit Extensions

For those of you who keep your own hard copy of the County's ULDC there is also a file containing only the replacement pages with an instruction sheet for which pages to replace on our Land Development Code webpage. If you do not have a hard copy but would like one, you can purchase a full codebook from Target Copy Center at 3422 SW Archer Road (contact Target Copy at 372-1171 for pricing information). If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to call or send me an email.

Thank you, and have a good day!

Holly

Holly Banner, AICP
Planner, Comprehensive Planning
Alachua County Growth Management
10 SW 2nd Avenue, 3rd Floor, Gainesville, FL 32601
Phone: (352)374-5249 Fax: (352)381-0124
hbanner@alachuacounty.us

Important updates & opportunities from your USGBC chapter!

April Green — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:13:10 GMT

We hope that you had a wonderful and relaxing Labor Day weekend!

In order to avoid crowding your inbox, we have packed lots of information into this message. There are plenty of great opportunities and stimulating tidbits contained therein, so please take just a few minutes to give us a look.

Thanks so much for supporting your USGBC Heart of Florida chapter!

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Contents:

I. Volunteers needed at our upcoming LEED class (LEED BD+C 251)--learn class contents for free!

II. USGBC hosts Gainesville's 1^st Annual “Green Halloween”--your participation needed!

III. Join us for our “Brown Bag with the Board” lunch series every Friday at noon

IV. The Community Weatherization Coalition (CWC) seeks volunteer energy auditors to help low-income homeowners save money on their utility bills

V. Scholarships available for USGBC's Greenbuild 2010

VI. CleanMed 2011: Call for Presentations

VII. “Opening the Door to Green Building” market study

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I. LEED BD+C 251 volunteers

On Thursday, Sept. 16^th, we will be offering a full-day LEED course at the downtown GRU building. We are looking for volunteers to sit in on the class and help out with registration and other minor logistics. Though you will not be able to claim CEUs, you can soak in the class content and will receive a free workbook in exchange for your help. Volunteers are needed from 7:30am - 5:30pm. If you can only make it for part of the day, that's fine too. Please contact us (info@usgbcheartfl.org or 352-328-3121) to volunteer.

II. Green Halloween

This event, conceived and organized by our dynamic new Programs Committee chair, Carol Goodwin, will offer the Gainesville community a wonderful family-friendly and healthy alternative to traditional Halloween celebrations, and will emphasize sustainable living resources in our region. Please see the attached press release for more details. We are in need of event sponsors and exhibitors, as well as volunteers to help organize this event. Please share this event with your contacts and get in touch with Carol if you'd like to be involved.

III. Brown bag with the Board

Please join USGBC's President, Mary Alford, and other chapter leaders, for informal meet-and-greet lunch sessions each Friday at noon. These events will be informal in nature, offering an opportunity to discuss green building, community sustainability initiatives, and potential collaboration with the chapter. Anyone is welcome to join us, but please RSVP so that we'll know to expect you. Our next brown bag event.

IV. Volunteer with the CWC

The CWC is a community coalition focused on improving weatherization and energy efficiency for those in need through education and volunteer work projects and is on the look-out for energetic and dedicated volunteers who would like to be trained to perform comprehensive energy surveys for Alachua County households in need. CWC auditors help shield some of our community’s most vulnerable residents from high utility costs. In the process, they strengthen our local economy and make our community more environmentally sustainable. For more details on the CWC's upcoming training, please see the attached flyer.

V. Greenbuild scholarships

The USGBC Greenbuild Scholarship Program provides all-inclusive trips to the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo to individuals entering into the green building industry. In order to increase access to Greenbuild, the scholarship program is reserved for low-income individuals without the means to attend. Greenbuild is the ideal setting for those new to the green building industry to learn from green building experts, discover innovative technologies and companies that are transforming the industry, and form worthwhile relationships within the green building movement. For more information, please visit the Greenbuild website.

VI. CleanMed 2011

Planning has begun for CleanMed 2011. The Presentation Proposal Deadline is September 24, 2010!
If you have expertise in a sustainable health care topic, we invite you to submit your session proposal for consideration. For more details or to submit a proposal for consideration, please use the Online Proposal Submission Form. Please call Laura Wenger at 847-592-7808 with any questions.

VII. “Opening the Door to Green Building”

The Northeast Ohio USGBC Chapter, in partnership with Sustainable Rhythm, completed a marketing and communications study called "Opening the Door to Green Building." This study reviews how the market has transformed and what opportunities for development exist for the chapter with various stakeholders. More than 200 participants completed surveys from a diverse market set representing the commercial, institutional, government, education, healthcare, housing and manufacturing building areas. Review the report here.

Generation Green!

April Green — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:10:08 GMT

Please see the exciting note below from USGBC National. Also, while we have your attention, your USGBC chapter is in need of some bookshelves, filing cabinets, and a nice wood sign for our new office space. If you or someone you know might be interested in making such a donation, please contact us. Remember that we are a 501(c)(3), so donations are tax-deductible!

Thanks!
USGBC, Heart of Florida chapter

Generation Green: What Are You Doing to Redefine Our Future?
GreenbuildExpo.org is looking for your videos

Let's face it. So far 2010 hasn't been exactly kind. Every day has seemed to bring a new natural (or unnatural) disaster, partisan discord across the country, and economic news that has kept the world in a state of nervousness and doubt. We started the year with a devastating earthquake in Haiti and wretched weather that plagued much of the country with school closings, travel interruptions and power outages. Most recently, our eyes have been glued to the terrifying images of an oil spill that threatens the Gulf, its wildlife and the livelihood of tens of thousands of people.

But there are bright spots, as well – many, many of them – and the green building community is at the heart of that optimism. Which is why, in the midst of this year that demands solutions, we want to know:

Generation Green, what are you doing?

Less than six months from Greenbuild 2010, which promises to be the biggest Greenbuild yet, we hope you're taking this year's theme to heart. "Generation Green: Redefining Our Future." Every day, in ways big and small, our community is taking important steps to redefine our future.

Send us your videos! Please visit www.greenbuildexpo.org/GenGreen today and let us know: What are you doing to redefine our future? Generation Green is not an age group. It's not about politics or personality, demographics or geography. It's all of us. You are Generation Green, and your ideas will inspire the world to act today. And they may be featured at Greenbuild 2010 in Chicago!

What are you doing to take advantage of this watershed moment, when we can push the reset button on the hope that ushered in last year and use it to reignite our energy for the changes we need to move us forward?

What are you doing to help the people in Haiti and along the Gulf Coast?

What are you doing to support clean energy development? To promote green jobs and a clean, green economy? To push forward retrofits for existing buildings and infrastructure? To get your child in a green school or make sure that there is one in your community?

No action is too small, no goal too idealistic, and no person too young or too old or too powerless to make a difference. We want to hear from everyone – you, your kids, your grandparents. Your colleagues and your classrooms; your mayors, governors and Congress members; your PTA board and your USGBC Students group.

We're not looking for expensive, well-produced videos. Your ideas can be simple or profound, general or specific. Just tell us, in 30 seconds or less, how you are building a future of economic, environmental and social prosperity.

Visit www.greenbuildexpo.org/GenGreen to learn how to submit your video and to see what the rest of Generation Green is doing.

Also, be sure to visit www.greenbuildexpo.org/outreach to get Greenbuild and Generation Green buttons, banners, graphics and Twitter widgets for your blog or website.

Together, we will redefine the future.

Updates from the USGBC Heart of FL Chapter

April Green — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:06:42 GMT

Thanks again to all of the new and renewing members who came out for our Summer Membership Social this week, as well as our newest chapter sustainer, Florida Business Interiors. Below are a few interesting news items that we wanted to share with the wider USGBC community.

Yours,

USGBC, Heart of Florida chapter

*Carpool to the next USGBC event!

Beginning with our very next event, your USGBC Heart of FL chapter will be offering a rideshare option for all events. We'll be using the Zimride system, and each event will have its own link for anyone who's interested in carpooling to that event. Please let us know if you have any feedback on this new endeavor.

*City of Gainesville Town Hall Meetings

Gainesville's City Commission wants to hear from you! The Commission is holding two town hall meetings to encourage feedback on the city’s budget and to discuss the future of Gainesville. This is your chance to directly communicate with your elected city officials and share your ideas for Gainesville’s future! For dates and locations, please see the attached document.

*Congratulations UF!

Green building consultant, author and keynote speaker, Jerry Yudelson recently published a new white paper revealing that sustainable management, design and operations are rapidly growing practices at American universities, leading to 3000 LEED-registered projects. According to the paper, based on end-of-2009 data from the U.S. Green Building Council, the four leading campuses for LEED project registrations are, in order, the University of Florida, Harvard University, the University of California at Santa Barbara and the University of Washington. Go UF!!! To view the entire paper, click here.

*Green ICT & Energy Trade Mission to Mexico City

September 27-29, 2010

The mission of the U.S. Embassy’s Commercial Section in Mexico is to facilitate U.S. exports and to help create and expand commercial ties between the U.S. and Mexico. We are excited to announce that our flagship event this year in Mexico City is the first ever Green ICT & Energy Efficiency Trade Mission and Seminar to Mexico City from September 27-29, 2010. This executive-led Trade Mission is an incredible opportunity for U.S. companies looking to break into the ICT & Energy Efficiency market here in Mexico.

The mission will focus on assisting U.S. providers of “Green Information Technology” enter or increase their presence in various sectors of the Mexican market. These include among others: Data Centers, Smart Grids, and Green Buildings. Furthermore, this mission will take place during the same days as The Green Expo, the leading environmental and renewable energy tradeshow /event in Mexico. For more details, please click here.

*2010 American Clay Makeover Contest

Have you ever redone or transformed a room using American Clay, or have plans to do so in the future? If you loved the results and would like to share them with others, you could WIN American Clay's 2010 Makeover Contest. More details available here.

Local actions to support Haiti disaster relief

April Green — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:18:48 GMT

Thank you for your support of our chapter's Haiti relief efforts. Our Barrels of Hope campaign has raised thousands of dollars to provide rain barrels filled with supplies to begin rebuilding permanent structures for earthquake victims in Haiti. If you would like to donate to this campaign, please visit: http://www.barrelsofhope.org/.

We could also use some volunteer assistance to help us complete the first phase of this campaign. If you have a few hours/week to help out, please email info@usgbcheartfl.org or call us at 352-328-3121.

You might also be interested in an event being organized by one of our partner organizations this weekend--details are below.

Thanks again,

USGBC, Heart of Florida Chapter

Women Who Plant Fundraiser...

Presented by Earth Givers, Society Promotions, and INDIGO Green

Join us on Saturday afternoon in welcoming Jane Wynne, of Wynne Farms in Haiti. She'll discuss her work with women who are replanting their landscapes and restoring their communities. We'll explore possible collaborations and connections...and how we can help rebuild.

There will be activities for the whole family:

* Card making: our personalized messages of hope will be hand-delivered to the Women Who Plant

* A Water Walk, which simulates the typical distance a Haitian woman travels to gather water for her family

* A demo model of a shelter made by Barrels of Hope for Haiti, a collaborative effort to provide rain barrels filled with emergency shelter supplies to earthquake victims

* A "Taste of Haiti" featuring light fare from local restaurants

* Music and Games

* A slideshow of photos from Gainesville residents who have recently traveled to Haiti

The event will end with the screening of the film "Bound by Haiti," a gripping 45-minute documentary by Jon Bougher and Roman Safiullin, who lived and filmed through the recent earthquake that devastated Haiti. Jon Bougher will be on hand for Q&A.

Join us!

Saturday, June 12, 2010 from 3-6 pm at INDIGO Green Store

322 SW 4th Avenue ~ Gainesville, FL

$5 suggested donation

For more information, please contact: Jacob Cravey (904)705-9925 or jacob@neutralgator.org

Updates from the USGBC Heart of FL Chapter

April Green — Thu, 06 May 2010 15:09:04 GMT

Please take a few minutes to review the below communications from USGBC National and some of our partners.

Thank you,

USGBC Heart of Florida Chapter (http://www.usgbcheartfl.org/)

Federal Summit 2010, May 18-19 in Washington, D.C.
GreenHomeGuide.com
Repower America
Green Magazine

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Federal Summit 2010: Leadership in Sustainability from Coast to Coast
May 18-19, 2010
Washington, D.C.

We in the green building industry must step up and make sustainable design, construction and retrofits central to our nation’s economic recovery. The government sector is a significant part of the job growth and economic promise of green building. You can be part of that growth!

Much of the $787 billion in federal stimulus money supports green retrofits of publicly owned buildings at the local, state and federal levels.
The federal government alone owns and operates some 500,000 buildings.
The federal government has a 28 percent greenhouse gas reduction target for federal operations by 2020.
30 percent of all LEED projects are government-owned.

Register today for Federal Summit 2010 »

Join the U.S. Green Building Council, government officials, industry leaders and experts from the non-profit community for two days of:

High-quality education qualifying for continuing education hours toward satisfying GBCI’s LEED Professional Credential maintenance requirements as well as AIA continuing education.
Policy-oriented discussions and presentations to help you understand what public green building policy means for you.
Networking with the decision-makers you need to know to be part of the public sector's green building boom.
For government employees only, the additional half-day Government Forum will offer government-focused programming.

Learn more and register by May 4 for early-bird discounts »

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Share with the Repower America community your vision, your passion and your hope for the role green building can play in a greener, cleaner energy future. It’s easy and free to add your video or photo along with your green building message to this virtual discussion. Visit today, listen to what other people are saying, make a difference with your voice or company logo, and be heard across America.

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Brock Media to Launch Virtual Green Magazine

Boulder, CO—Green Magazine is going virtual. A new virtual magazine will be added to the publication’s current e-newsletter and website just in time for Earth Day 2010.

Green Magazine has been published since spring 2007 by Brock Media in Boulder, Colorado. It serves green building industry professionals with articles focusing on alternative energy, green building, natural products, sustainable agriculture and innovators in the green industry. The monthly virtual magazine will allow space for expanded articles and interactive experiences.

The Colorado Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) was Green Magazine’s initial primary sustaining partner. The magazine appeals to a large population base as a multistate, regional publication, and it provides a wide range of marketing opportunities for established and start-up green businesses that want to reach their industry peers.

For further information regarding subscriptions or advertising opportunities, call Tom Brock or Susan Tucker at Brock Media, 303-443-0600, email greenmag@brockpub.com, or visit online at www.greenmagonline.com.

U.S. Green Building Council - Heart of Florida Chapter News

Upcoming Community Workshops to Discuss an Eastside Community Redevelopment Area (CRA)

New Public Works Administration Building Open House Scheduled

State Energy Efficiency Scorecard Rankings Released

The 2010 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard was released Oct. 13 by the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). First, second and third place were awarded to California, Massachusetts and Oregon, respectively. See how FL measures up on the list here.

An exciting autumn for your USGBC chapter!

Unified Land Development Code Updated Online

Important updates & opportunities from your USGBC chapter!

Generation Green!

Generation Green: What Are You Doing to Redefine Our Future? GreenbuildExpo.org is looking for your videos

Updates from the USGBC Heart of FL Chapter

Local actions to support Haiti disaster relief

Updates from the USGBC Heart of FL Chapter

Generation Green: What Are You Doing to Redefine Our Future?
GreenbuildExpo.org is looking for your videos