May 25th - Vancouver

May 25^th - Vancouver

Vancouver Convention Center

           

          The Vancouver Convention Center is a fabulous facility that has achieved LEED Platinum.  It’s the largest complex to receive the platinum rating because of its use of natural, local materials, natural lighting, amazing green roof, low flow fixtures, and recycled materials throughout the entire building.   This gorgeous center has one of the most successful green roofs ever built, which covers the entire roof and along a few of the angles leading down to the walls.  They even have a few bee hives on the green roof where they are able to harvest honey for use in the restaurant.  The center has a recycling program that is very user friendly and provides the opportunity to educate visitors on the proper methods of recycling.  They have included a digital event board that reduces the amount paper waste from individual posters as well.  This is what they have to say about their sustainability efforts: 

“As part of our extensive recycling program, the Vancouver Convention Centre recycles an average of 180,000 kilograms of materials annually; nearly half of the total volume of waste generated. This includes batteries, lighting ballasts, wood, organics, metal, glass, plastic and much more. The centre has also hosted Vancouver’s first audited zero-waste event. What’s more, environmentally-friendly, Green Seal™-approved cleaning products are utilized facility-wide.

We use fresh and local ingredients without additives; avoid prepackaged canned goods; utilize cutlery, china, glass and cloth napkins, and serve nearly all condiments in bulk or reusable containers. What’s more, our ‘Happy Earth’ menus offer certified organic and free-range options, and we encourage our purveyors to deliver their goods in reusable containers and work with suppliers with a strong commitment to the environment.”

This Center has a long list of amazing sustainable properties that could take hours to describe.  For further information, please visit their website at:

http://www.vancouverconventioncentre.com/thefacilities/environment/

 

Please take a look at their sustainability video….you may just be inspired!

Fairmont Waterfront Hotel

           

         The Fairmont Waterfront Hotel is gorgeous hotel along the water that houses a successful roof top fruit and vegetable garden as well as several bee hives.  Just as we saw at the convention center, the hotel utilizes the honey it harvests to use in the hotel restaurant.  They actually began their roof top garden a few years ago with this important element.  However, now they have moved on to utilizing more of the roof top area for their vegetable and fruit garden which they are able to use the grown fruits and veggies in their restaurant as well.  They also have a wonderful array of spices and herbs that saves the hotel a great deal of money every year.  The Fairmont Hotel chain has been extremely progressive with their sustainability movement and the Vancouver Waterfront Hotel has been a major showcase for that initiative.  It was amazing to see such a nice hotel putting in the work to not only cut hotel food costs but help the environment as well.

            

         The Fairmont Waterfront is also implementing the same sustainable efforts as their other sister hotels.  The Fairmont Hotels has worked extremely hard over the past two decades to become one of the most sustainable hotel chains in the world.  They launched a program called the Green Partnership Program in 1990, which was a “a comprehensive commitment to minimizing our hotels’ impact on the planet, which was accompanied by a guidebook on sustainable best practices in the lodging industry.”  They have built upon that philosophy and become well known worldwide for their sustainability efforts.  They focus on waste management, energy and water conservation, outreach to local groups, and offer education to the public through tours and providing through example.

May 24th - Vancouver

May 24^th - Vancouver

Eco Equity

            Eco Equity is a company that provides funding for homeowners and business owners to either upgrade their current energy usage systems or designing and building of new construction.  The company began years ago by selling any equipment or hardware that can be used in a building.  Then as time progressed on, they realized the benefits of switching to all green equipment or services.  This company has the financial ability to lend out the necessary funds for all green improvements but being able gain that money back on the projects return on investment.  They have also spent some time donating their time and money to underdeveloped countries, helping bring the green movement to their communities overseas.

Green Works Building Supply

          

           Green Works Building Materials is a company that offers green building materials to both builders and local home and business owners.  They describe themselves, “GreenWorks Building Supply Inc. was founded by Pete McGee and Alastair Moore. Born and raised in Vancouver, the two have witnessed their hometown grow into a world renowned city and one that prides itself on being green-at-heart. So it was a bit of a shock when Pete returned from business in the US and Alastair from teaching sustainable development in Europe to find that the city still didn’t have a source for green building materials. That was the summer of 2006 and soon after GreenWorks Building Supply Inc. opened to offer homeowners a one-stop shop for environmentally friendly building materials. Modeled after the green building centers that have sprouted up in the US over the last decade, GreenWorks’ goal is to provide its customers in Vancouver and across Canada the best options for creating healthy, beautiful spaces – both inside and outside the home.” They offer a wide array of recycled materials such as glass tiles, recycled carpet tiles, dual-flush toilets, and unique cinder blocks that are made of concrete and reclaimed lumber.  They do their best to purchase natural building materials from local distributors which helps boost the local community.  The manager stated that builders will frequently come in and purchase enough supplies to complete a project, and others are just simply home owners that will slowly buy one piece at a time, but are committed to improving their home’s living environment.  Their natural building products have been known to improve the living quality within the business or homes, which is a firsthand example how utilizing natural and sustainable building materials can easily help a company in the long run.

Body Politic - Sustainable Boutique

            As we looked at the sustainable alternatives for building materials, we are also able to see in a local boutique named Body Politic.  The owner runs this quaint little boutique which only offers green products and organic cotton clothing.  She does her best to choose clothing from fashion designers which helps boost the local economy.  She takes pride in offering organically grown cotton clothing while offering a fashionable wardrobe.  Each item of clothing includes a small tag to demonstrate that particular items story and where it comes from.  While some may seem it frustrating and unnecessary to purchase clothing that sis higher than the larger retail powerhouses, the level of quality for each article of clothing simply can’t be matched.  This is why she doesn’t try to compete price-wise, but appeals to a unique customer who has the desire to purchase sustainable clothing and stay as fashionable as possible.

Organic Distributor

            The Organic Food Distributor is a local distributor that collects organic produce from local farmers and distributes it throughout the Vancouver metro area.  They are extremely passionate about level of organic produce and take the time to locate farms that meet a certain level of standard.  They explained that they work one on one with local farm owners to discuss prices as well as pride the most direct cost possible, cutting out the middle man.  However, they did have a concern about current organic standards being very lacking.  After a passionate discussion, we all had a greater understanding of what organic farming truly meant. They explained that organic gardening and farming was all about the soil.  It’s important to keep pesticides and other chemicals away from the crops.  Even non-organic seeds contaminating the organic crops can not only cause massive damage, but can even cause organic farmers to lose their farms.  Some would debate that it’s just too expensive to buy organic foods, but as more people begin buying these all natural foods, the less expensive organic products are becoming.  But remember, buying organic foods isn’t only the more sustainable way of living; it’s much healthier for you as well.  That reason alone is why it’s important to give organic foods a try.

Car to Go

            Car to go is a ride sharing system that is similar to the Zip Car system, but provides the added convenience of one way trips instead of requiring cars be delivered back to their prior locations.  However the idea of the Car to Go is still the same main idea.  Customers pay a monthly fee to be a member, and small fee per hour to utilize their vehicles.  Car to Go locations are spaced out throughout the city, and offer customers to use the system for just a few mins to a few days at a time.  Special locations throughout the city allow for designated parking so that customers are able to take advantage of convenient parking throughout the city.  Each customer had a card, and is able to access a reserved Car to Go with that special membership card.  This allows them to use the car as they need, even extending time if needed.  The only difference with Car to Go with that of Zip Car is that Car to go only owns one type of vehicle, a small smart car that allows for 2 people to ride but also parks very easily.  The cars are also equipped with special smart data systems that allow the company to not only track where the car has been, but how much energy was used during its use.  Each car has a prepaid gas card that allows members to fill their car at no expense to them.  The gas card is included in the membership dues paid each month.  This system has proven to better suit the needs of user and frees up their time, instead of being required to deliver the car to its previous location.

May 23rd - Vancouver

May 23^rd - Vancouver

BioTech

            BioTech is a water treatment company in Vancouver that works with local mining companies to extract metals from their water waste that is created during the mining process.  Earlier forms of treating mining water called Lime Sludge can only recover roughly 70% of the usable water that can be redistributed as needed in the mining process.  However, it creates a sludge that is often dumped into the local soil, creating a hazardous environment and a continuous pollution cycle.  However, with BioTech’s unique on-site water treatment system, they are able to recover roughly around 99% of that usable water, creating virtually no waste.  The metals that are recovered are then sold to local mills that are able reuse those metals in various projects.  This is how BioTech is able to create new on-site water treatment facilities, thus improving the health of the environment.  This company has developed a way to improve water quality in the mining process and draw precious metals that are often discarded or unable to be recovered.

UBC (Housing and the CIRS)

           

           UBC is known as one of the most beautiful campus in the North America.  They have developed a unique student housing complex that allows students to live a downtown experience, with walkable streets and high density development.  While the prices may seem higher than average, this gorgeous new complex allows for sustainable living in a beautifully designed student housing complex.  The development includes several green spaces as well as campus building with solar panels for electricity usage, as well as several retention ponds to collect rain water, and designated spaces for anyone utilizing the “Car 2 Go” car sharing system.

             

          The CIRS is the home of the “most sustainable building in North America”.  This facility is made of local materials with plenty of natural lighting, bio-swells, and even a diner with all compostable materials and foods.  One of the noteworthy green initiatives is their own water filtration system that utilizes a soil and plant system that provides the facility water for consumption. The lobby houses a large energy consumption display educating students and visitors on the building energy usage and consumption as well as production.  Features like this give a firsthand demonstration of sustainability in action.

The HiVE

         

                The Hive is an office sharing facility that allows small businesses or individuals to rent out convenient downtown office space to operate out of.  They describe themselves as, “Home to artists, designers, small social enterprises, mid-size NGOs, green businesses, IT experts, self employed, start ups, independent contractors... the HiVE is a shared workspace with a dynamic cafe-like studio culture.” When they first began the HiVE, they only offered office sites to only sustainability driven business; however, while it’s not required or preferred anymore, the tenants are by default sustainably oriented.  

              The building itself is filled with sustainable elements that allow them to educate by example.  Their building itself is an old warehouse that has been retrofitted into this unique office space.  They use all local materials and try to obtain as much recycled or reclaimed furniture and building materials as possible.  Their reception desk is made of reclaimed beams that were a portion of the original building.  They carpet squares they are planning on laying down was recovered from FireFox’s old facility.  They also have a set of wooden mailboxes that was originally used in the Chinese American Embassy.  They have made a bike rack along one long wall that allows tenants to house their bikes as they work, and have even made a “privacy wall” out of old phone books, which is not only functional, but looks amazing!  

             The manager explained that the level of trust and respect each tenant shows one another is very unique.  One particular tenant was concerned about other tenants being in such close quarters, and stealing his ideas.  However, she explained that due to that trust and respect, it simply isn’t an issue.  Many have applied to rent office space within the HiVE and to date, no one has been turned down.  They spend a great deal of time growing relationships within the different “offices” and do many mingling exercise.  The Hive offers wonderful opportunities to their tenants such as pot-lucks, group activities and more.  One of the appeals to The Hive is the different company’s ability to learn from other business owners and co-workers.  This gives the small businesses the opportunity to not only expand their business ideas, but their customer base as well.  The Hive is one of a handful of office sharing facilities in Vancouver, but all have the same goal, and demonstrated the easy and convenient solutions to working down town, without the frustration of being in charge of their own facility.

May 21st – Seattle

May 21^st – Seattle

Earth Share

            Earth Share is a local Seattle non-profit that offers services to other local sustainably driven businesses.  They provide a link from one company to another, helping distribute local “green job professionals” to businesses that require a specific discipline to lend their knowledge to a green project.  Earth Share also helps to fund projects focused on sustainability as well as to companies demonstrating unique and successful ways to improve the environment.  They also fund-raise for those companies that are in desperate need of funds to continue their work for the sustainability movement.  They state, “EarthShare's member charities are the most respected and responsible environmental and conservation organizations in America. Our groups work locally, nationally and internationally to protect your health and all aspects of our environment -- air, land, water and wildlife. In turn, EarthShare protects its donors by ensuring that each of our charities adheres to strict eligibility criteria, and operates with the highest possible ethical and professional standards.”  They require each company they donate money to, meets a certain level of standard to ensure their funds are continuing to aid the green movement.  This helps charities progress with their cause, which is still controversial and often neglected by certain members of the community.  It’s difficult for companies fund their projects and campaigns because of that lack of support in some areas.  Many non-profits, just like Sustainable DFW, have no regular income, therefore it’s detrimental that company’s such as EarthShare held that helping hand when needed and help support the green movement.

Sustainable Seattle

            Sustainable Seattle began as a branch of the city offices focusing on sustainability.  After a few years, in 1991, the company branched off and began embracing their own green movement.  They’re vision is as stated, “We see an interconnected group of healthy, compact, livable urban centers across the Central Puget Sound region, where people work and play together to restore and improve the vitality of communities, the economy, and the ecosystem.”  Just as our local Sustainable DFW, they got their start in building demonstration gardens in lower income areas, not only introducing sustainability education to the local community, but getting them involved as well.  They define their goals into three different categories, social justice, collaboration, and stewardship.  They define their social justice category as “equal access to resources and opportunity, believing sustainability in our environment is not possible until people can meet their own needs.”  They define their collaboration category as, “defining collaboration as shared decision making, expanding each other’s capacity and building on past positive action, believing sustainability inherently requires collaboration”.  And lastly, they define their stewardship category as, “defining stewardship as conserving and restoring our natural environments in a way that cares for all in our systems.”  They have spent a great deal of time educating the local businesses on sustainable practices and things they can do to save money and help the environment.  And what is even more amazing is that this non-profit is run solely by volunteers.  Sustainable Seattle is run by people who donate their time, money, and efforts to promote sustainability, reaching out to others, for the good of community and the environment. 

May 18th - Portland

May 18^th - Portland

Green Hammer (Passive House)

            Green Hammer’s Passive House is the built example of their green building practices.  As mentioned earlier, the passive house embraces a principal of focusing on keeping the building’s envelope as sealed as possible.  This passive home does just that.  The property site originally housed an older home that was a foreclosure, and far from eco-friendly.  The owner, Paul and his wife bought the property and began my slowly de-constructing the existing home.  They tried to keep as much of the original home’s lumber intact for reclamation.  They then hired Green Hammer to come in and begin preparing the site for construction.  They leveled the site and then framed out the footprint of the new home.  They laid layers of concrete, membranes and insulation to prevent the natural ground temperature to penetrated the home.  Then they framed out the house itself, including a special sealant tape along each seam of the framing boards to prevent any air from entering those seems.  Then they included thick styrofoam insulation to absorb the outside temperatures and help the interior of the home maintain its operating temperatures.  Once the insulation was in, they wrapped several layers of thick membranes to help prevent any air and moisture penetration from the outside elements.  Special 3 pane windows went in to provide an extra layer of insulation but allowing natural sunlight to filter through the home, instead of relying on electricity used lighting.  Other special sustainable properties used in the home included: 

-          A mini-split heating and cooling system, one upstairs and one down to provide the homes livable temperatures. 

-          An air-filtration system that allows air to exit the building but prevents outside air from entering the home itself.

-          Special energy efficient appliances allows for smaller impact on the heating of the home’s interior as well as the energy usage throughout the home.

-          Solar panels on the roof will provide for the home’s electricity usage instead of it requiring much outside electricity.

-          A special water heating system also helps cut down on the homes electricity usage.

This passive home is a great example of sustainable architecture, and allows for a new way of building, and preventing much of the energy consumption in homes today. 

Climate Solutions: The Northwest Biocarbon Initiative

           

             Climate Solutions is a company that focuses on energy awareness and education for the local community.  Their Northwest Biocarbon Initiative, “The Northwest Biocarbon Initiative (NBI) is designed to position on the Northwest as the nation’s leading laboratory and incubator for biocarbon solutions. NBI’s purpose is to advance cutting-edge model policies and practices to store carbon in forests, farms and communities.” 

            They often campaign against coal mines, and other earth harming energy harvesting that has dominated out culture for the past century.  Many people don’t understand the impact that CO2 can have on our environment as a whole.  Most people know the CO2 emissions from vehicles enter the air can cause breathing problems and other health problems.  However, CO2 has the opportunity to enter our waters and soil as well.  Climate Solutions takes the time to educate the public about how that contamination occurs, and what each of us can do to prevent it in the future.  The representative spoke about speaking with natural gas and coal distributors, trying to being a common middle ground on their practices, and actually bringing them to the point of encouraging each other to follow more environmentally friendly practices.  Climate Solutions has taken on a big task, but is doing a wonderful job teaching specific causes and encouraging better alternatives to achieve a cleaner environment.

Zip Car System

            Zip Car Rental system is a new way to provide local transportation to local residence without having to own their own car.  The Zip Car system is a company that houses many various types of vehicles and allows customers to reserve a special car, whether it is a truck, SUV or even just an extra car for individual needs.  Customers pay a monthly fee to be a member, and small fee per hour to utilize their vehicles.  Several Zip Car locations are spaced out throughout the city, and offer customers to use a Zip Car for just a few mins to a few days at a time.  Special locations throughout the city allow for designated parking so that customers are able to take advantage of convenient parking throughout the city.  Each customer had a card, and is able to access a reserved Zip Car with that special membership card.  This allows them to use the car as they need, even extending time if needed.  Once they are finished using their Zip Car, they return the car to the same local where they acquired it and are able to conveniently return to their residence.  The Zip Cars are equipped with special smart data systems that allow the company to not only track where the car has been, but how much energy was used during its use.  Each car has a prepaid gas card that allows members to fill their car at no expense to them.  The gas card is included in the membership dues paid each month.   This convenient car sharing system cuts down on the number of cars on the road and allows member the convenience of saving money on a monthly basis instead of owning and operating their own car, and also cuts down on CO2 admissions being introduced into the environment.

Hopworks Urban Brewery

            Hopworks is an Urban Brewery that specializes in organic beer brewing and other organic restaurant choices, even specializing in a gluten free menu as well.  Their “Hopworks Gear” is also made from organic fibers as well.  “Here are some of the things Hopworks Urban Brewery is doing to stay Green:

• Organic Made from scratch Roma Tomato Sauce
• Use of Shepphards Grain “Food Alliance Certified” flour for our pizza dough & other bread items (pretzels, foccacia bread)
• Dressings made from scratch, less packaging
• 100 % post consumer waste
• 100% recycled dinner napkins
• Waste recycling programs that strive for zero waste
• Recycling food waste for animal feed & composting.
• Organic coffee from Stumptown “Holler Mtn”
• All togo material 100% post consumer 100% recycled material.
• Compostable plastic togo cups (corn based)”

-          The Hopworks Urban Brewery Website

Some of the other sustainable properties of The Hopworks Brewery include retention ponds to harvest rainwater, native landscaping, electric car primary parking, low flow toilets, skylights for natural day lighting, the use of reclaimed lumber and other reusable architecture elements, and much much more.

For more information on The Hopworks Urban Brewery’s sustainable efforts, please visit their website at:

http://hopworksbeer.com/green-culture/going-green

Green Building Services

            Green Building Services is an office comprised of both architects and LEED accredited professionals that offer a service of a green building analysis.  They are educated in green building and offer business owners and other architects the opportunity to design and build sustainable projects, without having to house their own sustainability team.  Green Building Services have worked on projects city wide and have had a hand in some of the most sustainable projects in the Portland area.

            Not only does the company offer their sustainability services to other builders and architects, but their facility itself has earned a LEED Platinum rating.  They have been able to utilize an existing building and retro-fit it into a property that fits their needs.  They use low impact lighting, reclaimed lumber throughout the facility, a composting system, recycled carpet tiles, and more.  This company has the opportunity to lead by example and provide a sustainable service that is often needed and wanted but its allowed for in the budget as an in house operation.

Passive House (Commercial Property)

            The Green Hammer Passive House – Commercial Property possesses a great deal of the same properties as the passive home, following the same building envelope principals as the passive home.  This unique project has its own complications though.  This project allows for only one level of passive house rating, that being the upper level.  The lower level is unable to meet those standards because of its existing foundation, which was left intact and unable to be modified or updated.  Therefore, the lower level of this mixed use development is designed to be a restaurant while the upper level is being designed as a rentable office space.  However, after Green Hammer began the project, they decided to use the upper level office space for themselves.  The upper passive level utilizes the same passive house construction as mentioned above:

“Then they framed out the house itself, including a special sealant tape along each seam of the framing boards to prevent any air from entering those seems.  Then they included thick styrofoam insulation to absorb the outside temperatures and help the interior of the home maintain its operating temperatures.  Once the insulation was in, they wrapped several layers of thick membranes to help prevent any air and moisture penetration from the outside elements.  Special 3 pane windows went in to provide an extra layer of insulation but allowing natural sunlight to filter through the home, instead of relying on electricity used lighting.”

This project is a great example of how the passive house design properties can be implemented in a unique way and mixed with a conventional structure project.