RECENT NEWS

Acceptance of LEED buildings and their benefits has been on the rise in the tri-counties.  The subject of a recent article in the Pacific Coast Business Times, LEED buildings of the Central Coast are not only big buildings but big impressions of a brighter future. Leaders in the region include UC Santa Barbara with ten LEED buildings, Kohl's five LEED Silver stores, Volkswagen Group's testing center in Oxnard, and Cal Poly's Poly Canyon Student Housing a 1.4 million square-foot project. Chapter President Michelle Zimney contributes to the conversation, speaking of the LEED certification costs and benefits. The question is... to LEED or not to LEAD.

Read the full Pacific Coast Business Times article by Marlize van Romburgh here.

A recent article published by the Center for the New Energy Economy puts the confusing world of state legislation and the current state of Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) in perspective. Most states now have mandatory or voluntary RPS and nearly every state proposed RPS legislation in 2013. By grouping the proposed RPS legislation into three groups, Rollback, Modification, and Increase we can see that bills to modify RPS far outweigh both increases and rollbacks, while RPS increases just nose out proposed RPS rollbacks. During the 2013 session, only 8 of the 121 unique pieces of RPS legislation have been enacted all either increase or modify a state RPS.

Monday nights 5:30 - 8:20 (9 weeks) August 19th - October 14th 

Explore the environmental impacts of the built environment, principals of green building design and construction, available rating/certification systems for green building, with an in-depth review of the LEED Rating Systems and their applications, specifically the LEED Building Design and Construction (BD&C). CSU Transferable. Participants qualify to participate in the Cuesta College Community Green Program that includes Study Materials (Green Associate Study Guide and Core Concepts), and LEED Green Associate exam at no cost (a $400 value)!   

Monday nights, 5:30-8:20 (9 weeks), October 21^st – December 16^th

The LEED for Homes program is more relevant now than ever before to San Luis Obispo County residents.  Third party verified green building programs are now being used in the county to minimize the impact of residential buildings on the environment. LEED for Homes is one of the most widely recognized residential green building programs in the nation, focusing on energy and water efficiency, healthy indoor environments, and sustainable site development. Learn the LEED for Homes rating system through active classroom lectures and discussions, small group projects, and project participation.  Students qualify to participate in the Cuesta College Community Green Building Program that includes reference and study materials (LEED for Homes Reference Guide) and LEED AP for Homes exam at no cost (over a $600 value). Successful completion of ARCH 245 – Green Associate or equivalent professional experience required.  Sign up today at Cuesta College: http://cuesta.edu/student/getstarted/

After three years of development, six public comment periods, and plenty of controversy, USGBC members voted to approve LEED v4undefinedin a landslide.

LEED version 4 has been approved by a vote of U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) members, with 86% of the voting body voting in the affirmative during a June 2013 ballot period. Approval of LEED v4 as the next version of the LEED Rating System clears the way for its launch during the Greenbuild conference in November.

Read the full article by Tristan Roberts LEED AP BD+C here.

USGBC has released a new infographic to illustrate how the LEED green building rating system has contributed to the growth of an entire global industry devoted to creating a sustainable built environment.

The infographic, “LEED in Motion: Driving the Green Building Industry,” is a visual depiction of the many facets of LEED, the voluntary, market-based program developed by USGBC that has changed the way our society thinks about buildings and their role in global environmental stewardship.

It highlights the incredible breadth of LEED’s supporters undefined namely, the 77 USGBC chapters working on the local level to advance green building in states and cities, USGBC’s network of more than 12,000 member companies, the 185,000 LEED Accredited Professionals and Green Associates with advanced technical knowledge of green building design and implementation, as well as the 94 Green Building Councils around the world.

The graphic also reflects LEED’s role as a true driver of momentum in the global green building industry, from its rigorous technical development process, to the many marketing benefits it provides to certified projects, to its proven performance in helping certified structures reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate their energy and water use, among many other features.

Wednesday, June 19th
5:30pm-7pm
Pali Winery, 116 E. Yanonali Street, Santa Barbara, CA

JOIN US for our first annual networking eventundefineda fun mixer at one of Santa Barbara's best wineries. Learn about what your USGBC-C4 chapter does, upcoming events, and meet and meet new and other potential members! All are welcome.

Food and a glass of wine provided. Open bar available.

Please RSVP by 6/12 to:
Michelle Zimney (michelle@inbalancegreen.com)
or
Perrin Pellegrin (perrin@iworkshopconsulting.com)

Hope to see you there!

For a map and location information, see Pali Winery's website.

Awards of Excellence

The 2013 Green Roof and Wall Awards of Excellence are now open to submissions! Submissions are due by June 20, 2013.

http://www.greenroofs.org/index.php/events/awards-of-excellence

Electric Vehicle Charging Partnership Signals a Continued Commitment by lynda.com Toward Sustainability

May 6, 2013 – CARPINTERIA, Calif – lynda.com, an online learning company, announced today that it has become a Partner in the Department of Energy’s Workplace Charging Challenge, which aims to increase the number of American employers offering workplace charging for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) by tenfold in the next five years. The goal of the project is to encourage sustainability efforts among businesses, and to fill a gap in America’s PEV charging infrastructure, increasing consumer exposure and access to PEV charging opportunities.

“lynda.com is committed to improving its sustainability and setting an example in the community,” said Jacqueline Burge, senior director of facilities at lynda.com. “As a producer of online training videos, our greatest opportunity to reduce our environmental impact is in the daily activities of our employees. We are pleased to provide electric vehicle charging as an additional benefit to them.”

lynda.com has joined several major companies in the Workplace Charging Challenge. Current Partners include 3M, Bloomberg LP, Chrysler Group, the City of Sacramento, The Coca-Cola Company, Dell, Eli Lilly and Company, Facebook, Ford, GE, GM, Google, The Hertz Corporation, Nissan, NRG Energy, OSRAM SYLVANIA, Raytheon Company, San Diego Gas & Electric, Siemens, Southern California Edison, Tesla and Verizon.

The Workplace Charging Challenge asks its Partners to commit to assessing employee demand for PEV charging at the workplace, and developing and executing a plan to provide PEV charging access for employees. lynda.com has already completed its installation of a Juice Bar electric vehicle charging station. It has also produced a promotional video in which employees talk about the benefits of commuting to work in a PEV and knowing the car will be charged before their commute home.

The installation of its charging station is the latest initiative in the lynda.com transportation program, which provides incentives for employees to carpool, use public transportation and ride bicycles to work. The company has also taken steps to reduce energy and water usage, and reduce solid waste by composting food scraps and donating electronics. It earned Green Business certification from the Green Business Program (GBP) of Santa Barbara County in July 2012, and received the U.S. Green Building Council’s Green Office Award for the Central Coast Chapter (Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties) in December 2012.

 

Registration is now open to volunteer at the Canon Perdido Affordable Homes construction site. If you are interested in helping build a Habitat home please log into your Volunteer Up account and sign up for a shift.

Habitat for Humanity is building 12 new affordable townhouses at 822 & 824 East Canon Perdido Street. The build is scheduled to take 12 months so there are plenty of opportunities to join in. All information regarding the build and volunteer requirements can be found on your Volunteer Up account. If you have a problem logging in please contact volunteer@sbhabitat.org.

Please remember that we cannot allow anyone under the age of 16 to volunteer at the construction site. All volunteers must sign up online at least 24 hours before arriving for their shift so that we can plan the workday accordingly.  

Can you help? Sign up online or email volunteer@sbhabitat.org if you have questions. 

Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County volunteer@sbhabitat.org / 805-692-2226

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