The Observation Deck

Hi,
Last night in the Democratic response to the State of the Union address, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius called for local action:

Mayors have committed their cities to going green; governors have joined together, leading efforts for energy security and independence; and the majority in Congress is ready to tackle the challenge of reducing global warming and creating a new energy future for America.

See full transcript at http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2 ... nion/2870/

Do you think our newly elected Mayor should embrace a commitment of our City to green design and implementation? I do.

I think so too.

Other than doing our part to better the environment, the money that could be saved by using our recycling program at full potential and turning it into energy could be significant as well.

It's puzzling that while living in Germany 15-10 YEARS ago everyone was sorting their garbage, plastics, glass, paper, compost, metals, etc. as a daily routine. It was mandatory for every home to do so.

Here in the States, it's 2008 and the government, local, regional, state, national, is just starting to ponder the idea of recycling and what we can do to conserve energy and use alternative fuels.

I think it's time to get things going. San Francisco's Mayor banned all plastic water bottles which is a start. I think we can do a lot locally which will influence other communities and get more cities around us going green.

We should take advantage of the situation where this is on the radar of the average American. Issues change monthly and we can't afford to lose any ground that has been gained.

Hi,
Those Germans do still have a way of forcing a point, don't they.

A big push globally is switching from incandescent bulbs to fluorescent bulbs. In a recent discussion I had with a friend, he was talking about switching to LED bulbs. I have never seen these bulbs and I couldn't find them at Home Depot. But, I trust my friend, and if these are better than fluorescent bulbs, how about the City(or a group) getting a bunch of these for us to start using.

I also posted in the past about other cities offering loans through the real estate taxes to implement cost effective alternative energy solutions. Why doesn't Lakewood do this too?

I failed to get our Library interested in implementing waterless urinals. Perhaps, our City administration would be more visionary. We could put them in place throughout our City buildings and parks and prove to the doubters that it's a good idea.

I have not heard about waterless urinals. How does that work?

We should make a commitment to sustainability.

I think a committment to going green would be a great idea.

Look here for LED bulbs. I don't have any, but this site has several sizes and shapes. http://www.ccrane.com/lights/led-light-bulbs/index.aspx

Concerning recycling, I've posted on the forum before about the recycling program in Aurora, IL. Residents have to buy stickers to put on all bags that AREN'T recycling. http://www.aurora-il.org/neighborhoodst ... arbage.php

On the other hand, residents don't have to sort their recyclables - everything in one bin. If you want people to recycle, you have to make it as easy as you can for them. http://www.aurora-il.org/neighborhoodst ... ycling.php

Brad Hutchison wrote:I think a commitment to going green would be a great idea.

Concerning recycling, I've posted on the forum before about the recycling program in Aurora, IL. Residents have to buy stickers to put on all bags that AREN'T recycling. http://www.aurora-il.org/neighborhoodst ... arbage.php

On the other hand, residents don't have to sort their recyclables - everything in one bin. If you want people to recycle, you have to make it as easy as you can for them. http://www.aurora-il.org/neighborhoodst ... ycling.php

When we lived in Arizona all our recyclables went in one bin, including paper. Our family doesn't need an incentive to recycle but I know many people do. The type of system they had out there made recycling simple and the result that I could see was that everyone in our neighborhood recycled. As it stands right now in Lakewood very few of my neighbors recycle.

Oh and as for going green, anyone know when the snowflakes are coming down?

Lakewood needs mandatory recycling. Separate yard waste, garbage, paper, plastic, cans, metal etc.. It seems simple. As explained over the last five years in city publications, required recycling would net the city at least one million dollars over ten years. Dumping fees are reduced and more general fund money is received for the recycled items. There are no added costs, loss of jobs, or additional taxes. One can only speculate as to why there has been no legislative activity.

Pledge to go Green? Sounds alike like the other suggestions of legislating new laws when the old ones aren't being enforced. Last round of discussion on this topic uncovered this http://www.ecocitycleveland.org/ecologi ... _code.html. Great idea from back in 2003 to adopt green building techniques and take cutting edge technology into consideration understanding that the up front costs should be weighed against the long term savings. It's a nice policy. I can't wait until we get to see how it gets put into action. There should be one or two public buildings left to try this on. Strange how the timing worked out. Put it on the books in 2003, renovate or rebuild a large percentage of the buildings and fail to implement the "progressive" technologies that were just recommended.

But hey this isn't the only thing that Lakewood claims to be without much verification.

Not "if" ,when--and who will be the catalyst(s) among us?

check out this site-

http://www.smartgrowth.org/Default.asp?res=1024

-it is a plethura of wonderful info and what a resource(more comprehensive then we are discussing here--but a fantstic model for city planners.)

We need to position ourselves as innovators-- which is a tall order given the climate but not impossible--nothing is...

R

Shawn

Strange how the timing worked out. Put it on the books in 2003, renovate or rebuild a large percentage of the buildings and fail to implement the "progressive" technologies that were just recommended

I think you may be confusing the lack of LEED certification implies the lack of implementing "progressive" technologies.

The process of obtaining that certification is very costly. And while it might be nice to be able to say that you have a certified LEED building, the certification, in and of itself, does nothing. The same innovative, green building and energy usage technologies can be incorporated into our new buildings without adding the huge pricetag. And, speaking from the library standpoint, there is a substantial amount of green engineering that is incorporated into the design. I believe the same to be true of the schools.

But, is it worth a million more per building to have a seal of approval, or is it better to not incur that additioal expense while still using many of the techniques?

Jeff

How much of the "green building" concept been woven into the Lakewood schools' facilities/new buildings effort? I'm sure the buildings are more energy efficient but are not likely creating heat and hot water via geothermal techniques. Anyone know?


Some have predicted that in 5-7 years the fluorescent bulbs won't even be available for purchase.

China, Ireland, New York, San Francisco and New Jersey are among the areas that have outlawed or placed fees on the use of plastic grocery bags. These require petroleum to make and, while they can be melted and reused, do not decompose - ever.

Great article on the little blue bags: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... ags_2.html

As a nation, as much as 40% of our petroleum use goes to making plastics and other stuff - the other 60% goes to transportation.

David Anderson wrote: Some have predicted that in 5-7 years the fluorescent bulbs won't even be available for purchase.

I'm assuming you meant to say "incandescent"? If so you're right.

The recently passed energy bill outlaws them completely I believe by 2014 with a mandatory phase out starting in 2011.

David,
If some of my conversations should be any indication if there are green plans woven into the building plans they were added in on the fly. I think that we'd have better luck getting the student to learn how to recycle than expect that the building is forward thinking in energy efficiency or construction methods. Then again, it's tough for the student to recycle if the lunch lady is handing them a syrofoam tray.

Is Lakewood on a whole really ready to be progressive or is it good enough to just say that we are?

Yes..