Sustainable Development Task Force of Snohomish County

Rain Gardens for Everett

2011-09-01T08:35:00.001-07:00

Click here to print Rain Gardens for Everett Brochure on Saturday, September 24th from 10am to 2pm. Location of rain gardens being built should be listed at http://raingarden.wsu.edu/Everett.html

Green Drinks August 10th

2011-08-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

This months Green Drinks will be in Snohomish, visiting the incubator of GROW Washington which is a business development program to test and launch Washington products and service businesses.

GROW Washington offers training that includes:
Pre-startup Planning, Writing a Mission Statement, Setting Goals, Write a Busienss Plan, Learn the importance of Networking, Learn Social Media, Learn to Finance a Business and what's required. print your invite click here

Visit the BLOG: http://greendrinkssnoco.blogspot.com

Read the blog to know what is going on with Green Drinks in Snohomish County. Have "news or photos" that are about "Green" they can be posted on the blog too.

REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR OWN GLASS!

GROW Washington
1204 First Street
Snohomish, WA 98290
5 to 7pm

Call 360-217-7235

LEED User Group meeting on Wednesday April 20

2011-04-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

LEED User Group meeting on Wednesday April 20. Presentation starts at NOON.

Presented by: Snohomish County Public Utility District No. 1
Doug O’Donnell, Account Manager, Snohomish County PUD

Mr. O’Donnell serves the general outreach function for PUD, including marketing energy efficiency and renewables programs to commercial and civic customers in Snohomish County. He is currently assigned to multiple cities and school districts in southern Snohomish County, as well as mid-size manufacturing, multi-family, distribution and automotive sectors county-wide. Mr. O’Donnell holds a PV Solar Designer Certificate from Shoreline Community College (2009).

Topic Highlights:

PUD Energy Efficiency Programs and Incentives

·         New Construction Program outline

·         Solar Express Program outline

Case Studies, PUD Programs/Incentives Supporting LEED Certification

·         Mukilteo City Hall- LEED Gold

·         PCC Natural Markets, Edmonds- LEED Platinum

May 18 meeting, Everett Community College has invited us to tour their two new LEED certified buildings on campus! The architect and contractor will lead the tour so it should be very informative. The exact time will be announced at a later date.

Low Impact Development Tour - Sat. March 12th 2011

2011-02-20T12:59:00.000-08:00

Looking for better ways to reduce runoff on your property? Spend some time visiting and exploring what neighbors have done in their yards! Plan to Take the Tour of LID!

North Sound LEED User Group - Best IAQ for your Buck!

2011-02-09T04:56:00.000-08:00

Wednesday February 16 at NOON at the PUD in Everett, please join me for Mr. Dan Morris, the guru of IAQ, and one of the most knowledgeable -- if not THE most knowledgeable -- guy in our region on the full gamut of issues regarding Indoor Air Quality. Mr. Morris is Senior Air Quality Consultant at EHSI-Healthy Buildings Inc. http://www.healthybuilding.com/index.htm

Mr. Morris will discuss the most affordable strategies for beneficial indoor air quality for building new and remodeling commercial, multi-family housing, schools and other types of facilities. I first met him back in the mid-1990's when sick buildings and multiple chemical sensitivities were relatively new concerns, and he was one of very few people offering solutions.

Reminder: January Meeting is the 21st from 11am to 1pm

2011-01-20T12:16:00.000-08:00

General Meeting - January 21, 2011
11am to 1:00pm

Snohomish PUD in Everett
2320 California St
Everett, WA 98201

We'd like to remind you that the General Meeting day has changed to the 3rd Friday of the month. We meet conveniently between the hours of 11am to 1pm, so participants can eat lunch and not take away from a busy work schedule.

If a sign is not posted, ask at the front desk which meeting room the SDTF Meeting is in. click here to print

Living City Design Competition in Everett - the Group is SUITE-WA

2010-12-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

Living City Design Competition – entry deadline: February 1, 2011

SDTF is sponsoring the local design team: SUITE-WA a newly formed collaborative design team in Everett, WA. The group's organizer, Gary Purves, states their goal is to develop a fully landscaped architectural model and competition entry by the Feb. 1 deadline. The urban redesign encompasses a six block area of Everett’s downtown core and will reflect the vision of the International Living Building Institute and partner organization: The National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The project design will incorporate a suite of design solutions including:

pedestrian aligned mixed-use development
captured precipitation for a net-zero water community
on-site waste-water treatment and renewable energy systems
an integrated urban agricultural element
A regional light rail system and local circulating trolleys will ensure equal access and mobility for all citizens and enable a car-free community.

The competition’s intention is for design teams to imagine a living city as it might appear twenty five years in the future, an urban fabric of living and open space that celebrates nature and our innate attraction to natural elements: our biophilia.

The proposed built environment will reflect this imperative through inclusion of a variety of environmental features, natural patterns and place-based relationships, while beauty and spirit will inspire the team’s human scale design.

SUITE-WA needs to raise sufficient funds to cover the cost of the entry fee, materials and supplies for the project, printing fees, poster development, graphic illustration, and animation expenses. Those interested in assisting with in-kind donations to fulfill some of these needs should contact Gary at gp.suitewa@gmail.com without delay.

Interested in assisting with fundraising, or would like to offer financial support, mail your tax-deductible donation to SDTF @ PO Box 844 Everett, WA. 98206. Please forward this article to others who would be interested in supporting SUITE-WA in the Design Competition. Questions or for more information call 425-422-5656.

Sustainability Fair September 10th in Matlby, WA.

2010-08-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

Plan to take the afternoon off from work to eat ice cream and learn about sustainable projects that are going on in Snohomish County. Tour the factory and visit educational displays.

click here to print your flyer

Free Brown Bag Event in Everett

2010-07-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, July 28, 2010
12 Noon to 2:00pm

Olivia Park Elementary School

200 108th St SW

Everett, WA 98208

click here for directions

Plan to bring your lunch,drink and note pad.

** Come and learn about the various ways compost and soil mixes can be use to: satisfy BMP requirements and create landscape solutions.

** Plan to tour the site featuring: grain garden, HUGE vegetable garden, compost Garden Soxx and more.

click here to view more information

Tour Nine Canyon Wind Farm in Kennewick, WA

2010-07-05T13:38:00.001-07:00

Nine Canyon Wind Farm Tour

On Friday, July 30th, a tour of the Nine Canyon Wind Project located in Kennewick, WA, is being organized. Traveling from Everett to Kennewick will require a little more than four hours of drive time. The tour runs from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM and includes a forty-five minute power point presentation and a walk to one of the turbines to see the inner workings and hear an explanation of the controls.

Energy Northwest requires a minimum of ten people to conduct the tour and we are currently looking for those who would be interested in carpooling to visit and learn about renewable energy in Washington State. There is no charge for the tour. Sixty-three turbines, some 200 feet tall, consisting of three 100 foot blades generate 96 MW of clean energy. Phase Three of the project, the latest addition to the farm, includes towers of 260’ and blades with 148 foot spans.

Please contact Gary Purves at 425.422.5656 gpstudent1@gmail.com for more information. click here for more info

Low Impact Development at Evergreen Fairgrounds May 17th

2010-05-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

FREE BROWN BAG EVENT

Plan to Attend:
Evergreen Fairgrounds
14405 179th Ave
4-H Building
SE Monroe, WA

8:30am to 12:40pm Presentations & Discussion
12:40pm to 1:30pm Q & A Forum
1:30pm to 3:00pm Optional Tours of Local LID Projects

Meet with LID retrofit project manager from local counties and cities as well as staff from Department of Ecology, Puget Sound Partnership, WSU Extension and representatives from busineses that support LID BMP construction and implementation. click for complete schedule of of the day

Questions? Contact Craig Young at 425-388-6464 or c.young@snoco.org.

click here to print full information of this event.

March 10th Brown Bag Lunch Series

2010-03-06T09:03:00.000-08:00

March 10th, 2010
12:00-2:00pm
Spring Brown Bag
FREE noon-time program

Learn about the PUD’s sustainable energy activities:

* Benefits to residents and businesses

* Participate in furthering green efforts in Snohomish County.

PUD will share its recent successes in receiving Recovery Act funding for new programs and what this means for you.

Bring your lunch or purchase in the PUD Deli. Remember to BYOM (bring your own mug)
-------------------------------------------------

Directions to PUD
2320 California St
Everett, WA 98201-3750

New Partners for Smart Growth Conference

2010-01-27T08:47:00.003-08:00

February 4-6, 2010 in Seattle, WA

9th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in Seattle, WA. The conference will take place at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.

This multi-disciplinary event will highlight cutting-edge smart-growth issues and will feature the latest research, implementation tools and strategies, successful case studies, new partners, new projects, and new policies.

Visit the conference Web site for more details on the program, speakers, sponsors and cosponsors, special events, and optional tours: http://www.newpartners.org

For additional information contact:

Shani Alford Local Government Commission

(916) 448-1198 x330 salford@lgc.org

Wind Energy January 13th at the PUD in Everett

2010-01-05T17:18:00.000-08:00

"Winter" Brown Bag Series"

January 13th - 12:00 - 2:00pm

Snohomish PUD 2320 California St, Everett

click here for directions
Plan to bring your lunch, or purchase something from the PUD Deli

The Brown Bag Series is presented by

Sustainable Development Task Force of Snohomish County

FREE- Noon-time program

Keith R. Hughes has been involved in the Construction and Remodeling industry for 35 years, with both residential and small commercial projects, and is now the owner of West Seattle Natural Energy, LLC.

Topics to be discussed:
Wind industry, new technology, what businesses and others in the State have been doing and are planning for 2010.

Plus Answer Your Questions!

About Keith Hughes

He has completed the Solar Energy International courses in:
Solar PV Design and Installation Wind Systems Design Installation courses and workshops with A.R.E. Wind Turbines and Helix Wind.

West Seattle Natural Energy, LLC is an Authorized Dealer & Installer for:
Urban Green Energy, Four Seasons Wind, A.R.E., Helix Wind, Bergey, Vintera, and Aerostar wind turbines, and is a WA Licensed General Contractor.

WSNE maintains active memberships in the following professional organizations in order to stay abreast of industry trends and practices:American Wind Energy Association, American Solar Energy Society, International Solar Energy Society, Solar Washington (local chapter of ASES) Northwest Eco-Building Guild, Master Builders of King & Snohomish Counties, Sustainable West Seattle, and Northwest Solar Guild in Tacoma.

Harvesting Clean Energy

2009-12-31T19:24:00.000-08:00

Save money on the Northwest's premier rural clean-energy conference

Register now to take advantage of discounts for early registration for the Harvesting Clean Energy conference – February 7-9, 2010, in Kennewick, WA at the Three Rivers Convention Center.

Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, registration for the conference is remarkably affordable. Farmers, ranchers and other private individuals can register early for just $90, professionals for $140. These rates go up after January 4, so register now!

At Harvesting Clean Energy you'll learn from dozens of top experts and vendors:

How can farmers, ranchers, food processors and rural communities prosper as new technologies come to market?
Where are your best opportunities in wind power, solar, geothermal, small hydro, biomass or biofuels, and to upgrade to energy-efficient equipment?
What financing, technical expertise, and partners are available to help?

Register on line, or call Dana Colwell at 253-445-4575 for more information.

Hope to see you there!

Pat Gibbon
Harvesting Clean Energy Program Manager

SDTF Sponsors November Green Drinks in Everett at Bucks

2009-11-03T18:06:00.000-08:00

2009-10-16T05:54:00.000-07:00

submitted to the National Trust for Historic Preservation "This Place Matters" photo contest

Historic Everett’s Halloween Fundraiser

Start-up for Everett History Week

Spaghetti Dinner

Costume Party

Silent Auction

Friday 10/30/09

5-8 pm

Historic Anchor Tavern

1001 Hewitt Avenue

$15.00 suggested donation

We are accepting items for the auction. Please contact

Annie Lyman at 425-259-2513 if you have neat old/new

stuff/services you can donate.

Proceeds of the event go to help pay legal fees to

Save the Collins Building.

Learn more at www.HistoricEverettt.org

LEED & Beyond presented by James Jenkins with O'Brien & Company

2009-08-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

The ABC Green Council is hosting
a free presentation
on Thursday, September 3rd
from 11:30 - 2:30 pm in Renton

The topic is LEED & Beyond presented by James Jenkins with O'Brien & Company. James will help us explore the relationship of sustainability in the built environment, green building rating systems and code compliance, specifically addressing LEED v 2009 and the Living Building Challenge.

If you plan on attending, please respond back to this email with your RSVP. Don't miss out on this free presentation. We hope to see everyone there! click here to print your flyer

Kim Trautman

Member Services Coordinator

Associated Builders & Contractors of Western Washington

Direct: 425-646-8000

Fax: 425-455-5701

http://www.abcwestwa.org/

Everett Renewable Living Fair Oct. 3rd

2009-08-15T11:58:00.001-07:00

October 3, 2009 -- Snohomish PUD Auditorium
2320 California Avenue
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Sustainable Living Exhibits -- Renewable Energy -- Solar Tour -- Food & Entertainment

click here from more information

Snohomish County Conservation Awards Luncheon

2009-08-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

9/24 - Snohomish County Conservation Awards Luncheon
from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm
Everett Events Center
2000 Hewitt Avenue, Everett WA 98201

MASTER OF CEREMONIES
Snohomish County Councilman
Dave Somers

HONORING

PHIL AND LAURA ZALESKY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Henry and Betty Graafstra
CASCADE AGENDA LEADERSHIP AWARD
Joyce Olson Eleanor and Community Transit
COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
Louise Lindgren and the Friends of Heybrook Ridge
INNOVATIONS IN CONSERVATION AWARD
The McKinlay Family and Hidden Valley Camp

Historic Preservation and the City of Everett

2009-08-09T20:18:00.000-07:00

The following "http" links to a City of Everett survey regarding historic preservation in the core downtown area. Interest and input is important to the success of this effort. Please encourage your contacts to take a few minutes and complete the survey. http://www.everettwa.org/default.aspx?ID=1643

Appreciated.

The Good Taste of Sustainability

2009-07-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

12:30 Invocation-Pastor Ken Collins

Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon

Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream owner Barry Bettinger

Darigold Vice President of Consumer Products Division Brian Linney

Snohomish County PUD Commissioner District 3 Toni Olson

Puget Sound Partnership Linda Lyshall

Sustainable Development Taskforce of Snohomish County Dena Peel

1:30-2:30 Live Music by "May Palmer Queen of Ivory Soul" click here to see the Queen of Ivory Soul's website

2:00-4:00 Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream Tours ( allow 30-minutes)

1:30-4:00 Networking –Relaxing-Ice Cream Treats

Ongoing Demonstrations: Pervious concrete, worm-bin How-to’s;* mini-dog training show;* solar

Visit exhibit booths

· Sustainable Development Taskforce of Snohomish County- www.sustainablesnohomishcounty.org

· Washington State University Extension Rain Garden Coalition

· Tree Frog Enterprises

· Puget Sound Partnership http://www.psp.wa.gov/

· Edmonds Community College

· Built Green www.usgbc.org

· Department of Ecology www.ecy.wa.gov

· Snohomish County PUD www.snopud.com

· Cedar Grove Compost www.cedar-grove.com

· Bonneville Environmental Foundation www.B-E-F.org.

*See how easy turning your food scraps into the best of all plant foods can be! We’ll bed and feed a worm-bin every half-hour and cover all sorts of fun facts about compost. Kids’ activities too.

* Dogs can be very disruptive to the landscaped yard-learn some tips on how to train Fido to minimize damage.

click here to print a flyer

July 8th GreenDrinks Snohomish County

2009-07-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

Lowell Art Works will be our Host for the new Snohomish County GreenDrinks day of the second Wednesday of the month. Everett Shorlines Coalition would like all to celebrate this evening nearly 10 years of appeal, negotiation, endless conversations, fundraisers, tears/laughter, and a tremendous sense of accomplishment with the adoption of the Marshland Sub-Area Plan.

click here for more

Everett Build it LEED for Contractors

2009-06-12T17:11:00.000-07:00

What	Washington
When	July 23, 2009 07:30 AM July 23, 2009 12:00 PM July 23, 2009 from 07:30 am to 12:00 pm
Where	PUD Electric Building Headquarters,2320 California Street, Everett, WA
Contact Name	Angie Morgan
Contact Email	angie@cascadiagbc.org
Contact Phone	(206) 223-2028

Learn LEED Requirements From The Ground Up

A step-by-step process for managing the construction of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System projects from preconstruction to documentation. Designed for construction managers, general contractors, subcontractors, construction companies, and builders, this training will get you and your company ready to implement LEED on your next project, including preparation of the LEED documentation required from contractors. At this training, you will:

Understand why LEED is such a big deal in the construction marketplace
Learn the 17 points in the LEED system that every contractor should know
Understand the complete management process for constructing a LEED project from preconstruction through documentation
Practice planning and documenting key LEED Credit items
Master "difficult" points that present a challenge on LEED project

Check-in/Breakfast at 8:30am, workshop starts at 9:00am

registration costs:

$150 Cascadia Members

$175 non-members

After July 08, 2009

$200 Cascadia Members

$225 non-members

Click here for flyer!

Thanks to our sponsor!

More information about this event…

Mukilteo's Green City Hall

2009-05-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

The next session of the Spring series is next Wednesday, June 3rd, 12 noon, at Mukilteo City Hall

Topic: Mukilteo’s Green City Hall

It is not enough for cities to encourage sustainable and green development through its regulations they must also lead the way by example. The City of Mukilteo has done that with the construction of its new city hall, expected to receive a LEED’S Gold level certification. Hear a description of the process behind the decision to build a green city hall and take a tour of the city hall that highlights its green features. Also hear about the Snohomish County Sustainable Development Task Force efforts to facilitate adoption of sustainable development strategies and the construction of green building projects throughout Snohomish County.

Please RSVP to Stan May at stan.may@bhcconsultants.com. RSVPs are not required to attend or to buy a lunch. RSVPs are used to estimate the number of lunches to order.

Please RSVP before 9:00 am Monday morning each week.

APA-subsidized lunches are $5 (still cheap!)

Built Green "Free" Brown Bag Green Remodel

2009-05-25T15:43:00.000-07:00

Kobin Calhoun Program Manger for Built Green of King and Snohomish Counties talks about Built Green and the Green Remodel FREE Brown Bag Workshop that will occur on Wed, June 3 at SnoCo PUD from 11:30-1pm sponsored by the Sustainable Development Task Force of Snohomish County.

Trashion Show SDTF Gala New Years 2008

2009-05-21T08:07:00.001-07:00

Green Drinks in Snohomish County May 14th

2009-05-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

No the Drinks are not Green, you can drink anything you like. Plan to meet others who understand how important it is to live sustainably. So come and meet like mines who support one another in taking action in the way that we live.

Grilla Bites Organic Cafe one of the Market Sponsor will be hosting Green Drinks on May 14th from 5:30-7:30pm. So come on by...

Here is your invitation:http://community.icontact.com/p/greendrinks/newsletters/greendrinks/posts/greendrinks-may-12-2009

Green Residential Appraisal WORKSHOP

2009-04-10T16:47:00.000-07:00

If you know an appraiser PASS IT ON

First Green Appraisal Course Offered in Puget Sound
State-Approved 7 Clock Hours
Appraiser Continuing Education Class
Friday, April 24, 2009
Snohomish County PUD
2320 California Street
Everett, WA
8:30AM – 5:00PM

Learn how to appraise green homes using the market, cost, and paired sales approaches.

click here to register

Vote the EARTH - March 28th - Turn the Lights OFF

2009-03-20T06:43:00.000-07:00

NOAA Seeking "Shovel-Ready" Habitat Restoration Proposals

2009-03-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is seeking proposals for coastal habitat restoration projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in an unprecedented effort to jumpstart the economy, create and save several thousand jobs, and restore valuable coastal and marine habitat for fish, birds and other animals.

NOAA is formally seeking proposals for a variety of habitat restoration projects - including wetlands restoration, removal of unsafe, obsolete dams, construction of fish passages, oyster and other shellfish restoration and coral reef restoration. To ensure relevance, readiness and accountability to the American public, the 30-day solicitation requires that projects be "shovel-ready." Proposals are due by April 6, 2009. Typical investments by NOAA are expected to range between $1.5 million to $10 million per project; applications will be accepted for projects ranging from $500,000 up to $20 million.

For more information about this federal funding opportunity, please visit the NOAA habitat recovery website: http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/recovery or contact Jennifer Steger, Northwest and Alaska Regional Supervisor for the Restoration Center 206.526.4363, Jennifer.Steger@noaa.gov.

ECO FootPrint

2009-03-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

Super Brown Bag Lunch attended by 25 folks from around Snohomish County. If you missed this and want to know how to calculate your footprint, let us know.

LEED User Group Mtg March 18

2009-03-05T12:29:00.000-08:00

You won't want to miss this!

Dave Bennink from Re-Use Consulting will talk about the latest technology in deconstructing buildings. This can get you LEED credits for construction recycling, salvage/re-use and possibly innovation.

Dave will share techniques for deconstructing buildings faster, and cheaper! How this can provide jobs in our tough economy, and how deconstructing buildings can help narrow the gap toward sustainability!

When: Wednesday March 18, 11:45 - 1:15 presentation
Where: PUD in downtown Everett

Scott Schreffler, LEED AP
project designer

What"s Your Carbon Foot Print?

2009-03-03T14:11:00.000-08:00

Plan to attend the FREE Brown Bag Lunch at the SnoPUD Headquarters in Everett, WA.

Learn more about Carbon Footprints

click the link below

http://community.icontact.com/p/httpsustainablesnohomishblogspotcom/newsletters/brownbaglunch/posts/sdtf-brown-bag-lunch-march-11-2009

Green Drinks goes to Edmonds in March 2009

2009-03-02T09:35:00.001-08:00

Green Drinks of Snohomish County will be Sponsored by Sustainable Edmonds for the month of March. Plan to carpool with friends and co-workers to A Very Taki Tiki Bar and Grill. March 10th from 5:30 - 7:30pm.

Let's talk GREEN and make a difference!

click here for more information and directions

Snohomish County Adopt New Development Regulations

2009-03-02T07:50:00.000-08:00

Snohomish County Council Adopt New Development Regulations Urban Residential Design Standards The Snohomish County Council on January 21, 2009 approved Ordinance 08-101 relating to new Urban Residential Design Standards.

The ordinance will go into effect on April 21, 2009. This ordinance adds new architectural standards for all forms of residential development located in unincorporated UGAs. Highlights include:

New regulations to improve the exterior appearance of residential dwellings (Single family, duplex, townhouses and multiple family buildings) including garages through a menu of design options

New regulations to preserve significant trees in perimeter landscaping and critical areas and buffers

New regulations to replace significant trees when they are cut down

New regulations to require street trees in residential developments

New regulations to address compatibility of new development with existing residences

Greater flexibility in using alleys and auto courts in all forms of residential development

Changes to the way building height is calculated

Increased building height in single family and multiple family residential zones

New regulations to allow cottage housing

Requirement that all new residential developments provide on-site recreation space

Administrative review of architectural design standards through an administrative site plan

Flexibility built into the review process to allow a continuation of the on-line building permits

Improved pedestrian connections within residential developments

Increase in director discretionary authority

New “Design Manual” to illustrate architectural, landscaping and street standards (user friendly with pictures and illustrations)

A new perimeter landscaping table in SCC 30.25

A new SCC 30.24 which consolidates roads standard previously located in (SCC 30.41A and 41B and other code chapters)

Changes to the use matrix related to townhouses and cottage housing

A new bulk matrix for residential zones including new setbacks for upper stories of residential dwellings

New EDDS standards for urban roads (Ordinance 08-101)

Rural Cluster Subdivisions The Snohomish County Council on February 4, 2009 approved Ordinance 08-087 relating to Rural Cluster Subdivision. The ordinance will go into effect on April 5, 2009. Highlights include:

New landscaping standards for perimeter buffers and buffers between clusters

Reduction in the number of lots in a cluster from 30 to 13

Increasing the width of setback buffers along roads from 50 to 100 feet (200 feet if the site is meadow or pasture)

Requires a minimum 50 foot buffer on site boundaries not abutting a road

Increases the width of buffers between clusters from 50 to 200 feet

Increases the setback for dwellings adjacent to farmland from 50 to 100 feet

Retention of 50 percent of the tree canopy is preferred

Requires use of low impact development techniques

Makes lot yield and density bonus calculations for properties designated Rural Residential (1 du/5 ac Basic) in the comprehensive plan the same as those designated Rural Residential-5. (Ordinance 08-087 )

For more information or to sign up for monthly or quarterly e-mail notices and news about specific issues pertaining to the Update Project, visit the UDC Update web page or call the UDC Planning and Development reception at 425-388-3311 ext. 2203 to be directed to a project team member.

Built Green Conference March 6th

2009-02-24T15:49:00.000-08:00

DON'T MISS THIS!

The 2009 Built Green® Conference will be held on Friday, March 6, at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center and will feature keynote speaker Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Built Green Conference is an annual event for building industry professionals: builders, remodelers, architects, designers, vendors, consultants, engineers, realtors, government agencies and students. The primary focus of the conference is to educate the local and regional building industry on quality green building practices, products, and projects, as well as inspiring groups to continue to build more sustainable communities.

Visit http://gomembers-ecommunicator.com/ct/zdwERiS1BRsJ/ to register today.

Green Residental Appraisal Workshop

2009-02-24T15:37:00.000-08:00

Green Residental Appraisal Workshop
February 27 from 8:30am - 5:00pm
click for the Event page
click here to print flyer

Carbon Footprint Analysis

2009-02-10T12:02:00.000-08:00

Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Management:
How a Carbon Footprint Analysis Can Help Get You Started

by Sharon L. Wright, AICP, HDR ONE COMPANY

Climate change and greenhouse gas management are broad topics receiving a lot of attention. These topics are important because they affect our businesses, communities, and developments. As more legislation is passed and more information is evaluated, it is apparent that all of us need to contribute to greenhouse gas reduction. We can minimize our carbon footprints (the rate or amount of carbon gas emissions we individually contribute to the global phenomenon) through constructing more efficient buildings, creating healthier urban, suburban, and rural communities, and reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT) through transportation planning and personal travel choices for home and business.

Here are a few great resources, many used as references for this article:

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/index.htm

http://www.icleiusa.org/

http://www.seattle.gov/climate/SCPresources.htm (download a carbon calculator)

http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/climateSummit2007.htmhttp://www.climatetrust.org
http://www.carboncounter.org/

http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/ConsumersGuidetoCarbonOffsets.pdf

click here to read the whole article

Evergreen Fairgrounds - LOW IMPACT WORKSHOP

2009-02-07T13:50:00.000-08:00

A FREE LOW IMPACT DEVLEOPMENT WORKSHOP FOR ALL TO ATTEND ON FEBRUARY 11 STARTING AT 8AM.

FOR MORE INFO GO TO WWW.SUSTAINABLESNOHOMISHCOUNTY.ORG OR CALL TERRI 425-783-8275

http://sustainablesnohomishcounty.org/pdfs/LIDworkshopflier109.pdf

GREENDRINKS Snohomish County

2009-02-07T12:37:00.000-08:00

Richard Sullivan has agreed to host GreenDrinks this coming Tuesday the 10th of February - 2009 (5:30-7:30). Thanks Richard for doing this on such short notice.

Richard has been working on the adaptive re-use of the Collins Building down on the Everett Waterfront (just think of all the embodied energy in BIG RED) so the featured non-profit is "The Everett Museum". He is also currently forming two non-profits geared to affordable housing using green building techniques.

We are having GreenDrinks at:

MARIMBA !

Caribbean and South American Cuisine

1405 Hewitt Avenue

Everett, WA 98201

They are geared up and ready to go with appetizers, beer and wine

Eco Village

2009-01-14T04:43:00.000-08:00

Check out this small eco village, hopefully the sizes of the homes will be reduced in her next projects. http://www.king5.com/localnews/consumer/stories/NW_121208CONB_home_front_KS.5738ad61.html

Green Drinks January at Zippys....................

2009-01-10T12:13:00.000-08:00

Yep.. it's time to get out an mingle at Zippy's in Everett, WA this month.

Come to Green Drinks, to start the New Year off right...

click here for more info.............

Celebrate Green at New Year's Eve Gala

2008-12-30T12:31:00.000-08:00

Reported by Sarah Jackson of the Everett Herald

Are you still looking for the perfect way to ring in the new year? I know it’s hard to imagine even leaving the house right now with all that snow out there, but I just heard about the Greening Snohomish County New Year's Gala, set for 7:30 p.m. Dec. 31 at Floral Hall in Everett’s Forest Park.

Festivities will cost you $50 per person and include a silent auction, a recycled-fashion “trashion” show, a three-course buffet and two drink tickets, plus live music and dancing. click here to read more

Intergrating Sustainability into Your Strategic Plan

2008-11-28T18:58:00.000-08:00

Integrating Sustainability into Your Strategic Plan
Thursday, December 04, 08
Time: 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

Location: MBA Housing Center, 335 116th Ave. SE, Bellevue

Learn how to integrate sustainability into your strategic and business planning, resulting in increased profitability and long term vitality. This breakfast workshop is being sponsored by our association, Sustainable Development Task Force of Snohomish County and Sustainable September.

Instructor(s): Brenda Nunes, MBA and executive officer and certified sustainable building advisor, Sustainability FoundationCarolyn J. Hope, president, Sustainable Development Task Force Cheryl Isen, president, Isen and Company

Contact: MBA University
Phone: (425) 451-7920 Ext 208
Email: education@mbaks.com
Cost: $45/person
Notes:
Pre-registration is required. Breakfast will be provided.
Printable Registration Form

Sustainability in Business Planning

2008-11-28T18:25:00.000-08:00

Professional Workshop-Integrating Sustainability into Your Business Planning

December 4th 2008, 7:30-9:30 am-Master Builders of King and SnohomishCounties $45

For more information contact: Gretchen Stewart, Director of EducationMBA U 425-460-8206.

Learn how to integrate sustainability into your strategic and businessplanning resulting in increased provitability and long term vitality.This breakfast workshop is being sponsored by Master BuildersAssociation of King and Snohomish Counties, Sustainable DevelopmentTask Force of Snohomish County, and Sustainable September.

Presentersinclude:
Brenda Nunes, MBA, Certified Sustainable Building Advisor, SustainableSeptember Chair, Sustainability Foundation-Executive Officer

Carolyn Hope, Sustainable Development Task Force of Snohomish County -Past President and professional planner

Cheryl Isen, Isen and Company, a strategic planning and marketingfirm, Principal

Workshop address: 335 116th Ave SE, Bellevue, WA 98004.
Tickets may bepurchased for $45 online at www.mbaks.com or by calling (425)460-8206.

Green Roof Function, Design & Installation

2008-11-28T17:49:00.000-08:00

Associated Builders & Contractors’
GREEN COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE
Thursday, December 4, 2008
11:30 am - 1:00 pm

Free presentation and networking opportunity
Triad Associates *NEW LOCATION!*
12112 115th Avenue NE, Kirkland

How to Grow a Roof:
Green Roof Function, Design & Installation
Vegetated roofs are one of the hottest concepts in green building these days. Join us as Patrick Carey of Hadj Design explains why green roofs are gaining in popularity and what design and installation methods are best suited to our region.

Speaker: Patrick Carey, Hadj Design
Patrick Carey, principal of Hadj Design, has been researching and experimenting with green roofs, living walls, and other forms of biophilic design since 2000. As director of the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild’s Green Roof Project, he designed and installed 20 experimental green roofs in the Puget Sound area. His firm has designed an additional 55 commercial and residential green roofs, featuring a wide range of assembly types and climate zones. His work has won the King County Environmental Hero Award, an A.I.A. Environmental Award, and a Seattle Livability Award.

Moderator: David Hilgers, Triad Associates David Hilgers is a Pacifi c Northwest native and a graduate of Washington State University with a Bachelors of Science in Landscape
Architecture. He is a registered Landscape Architect in Washington and Oregon and currently works for Triad Associates, a multidiscipline consulting fi rm in Kirkland. As a LEED®-Accredited Professional, Mr. Hilgers has been involved in many sustainable design projects including the green roofs for the Going Green at the Beach project and the Zero Energy Idea House in Bellevue.

About the ABC Green Council:
The ABC Green Council was launched in February 2008 to provide a forum for education and networking related to the emerging field of green building. Chaired by Pam Worner of Green Dog Enterprises, the council’s roundtables on the fi rst Thursday of each month from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm are free and open to ABC members and prospective members alike. In addition to the monthly gatherings, each of which will feature an educational topic, the council’s activities will include site visits to green projects, a series of seminars, and whatever else council members want to do!

Come join us as together we increase our knowledge of this important field that is transforming the way we build. For more information, to RSVP your attendance or to be put on
the email list for notifi cations on ABC Green Council roundtables, seminars and other events, please contact Member Services Coordinator Kim Trautman at kim@abcwestwa.org, 425.646.8000 or 800.640.7789.

ABC of Western Washington  399 114th Avenue NE  Bellevue, WA 98004  800.640.7789  www.abcwestwa.org

Directions to Triad Associates
If you're heading to Triad for a meeting they’re easy to find in Kirkland just a few blocks from I-405.
12112 115th Avenue NE
Kirkland, WA 98034
I-405 Heading North
Take the NE 116th Street exit, #20A
Turn LEFT at bottom of off-ramp onto NE 116th Street
Turn RIGHT at first stoplight onto 120th Avenue NE
Turn LEFT at first stoplight onto NE 118th Street
Turn RIGHT onto 115th Avenue NE
Triad Associates is located a block up on the RIGHT
I-405 Heading South
Take the NE 124th Street exit, #20
Turn RIGHT at the end of the off-ramp onto NE 124th Street
Turn LEFT at second stoplight onto 113th Avenue NE
Turn LEFT onto NE 122nd Way
122nd Way becomes 115th Ave NE
Triad Associates is located on the LEFT

Book of the Month

2008-11-07T06:47:00.000-08:00

The Green City: Sustainable Homes, Sustainable Suburbsby Nicholas Low

Publisher Comments:

What does the global agenda of sustainable development mean for the urban spaces where most people live, work and move? Can we keep what we love about city and suburban life and still save the environment? What new methods of planning and building will be needed in the 21st century?

A genuinely innovative book, "The Green City, considers and answers these three basic questions, and challenges the way we think about our cities, the environment and planning for the future. It presents a new and controversial challenge to ideas about sustainability and rejects both economic and environmental orthodoxy. In a nutshell, its message is that the sustainable city can be built by a thousand well-directed small changes. To illustrate this, "The Green City draws on diverse practical case material from Australia, Europe the USA and Asia, and features a photographic essay of 34 colour photographs.

At this post Nov 7th....Powells Bookstore in Portland has this book on special.

You can order it Online....check it out click here

Plan to Rescue Puget Sound

2008-11-07T05:44:00.000-08:00

How did this happen? Pollution running off hard surfaces? Scooping doggie poop?

Draft plan to help rescue Puget Sound unveiled
By ROBERT McCLUREP-I REPORTER

Rescuing ecologically battered Puget Sound requires a wide-ranging campaign expected to cost -- for starters -- at least an extra $100 million a year, state officials said Thursday as they unveiled their draft plan.

Topping the list of actions needed are buying ecologically critical lands and beefing up efforts to rein in pollution flowing off hard surfaces such as streets and parking lots after heavy rains. The list of steps proposed by the Puget Sound Partnership looks far beyond the shores of the Sound itself and spans the spectrum -- from actions as simple as scooping dogs' poop to undertakings as complicated as overhauling state water law.

click here to read more from the PI

Brown Bag Lunch Series: Rain Gardens and.....

2008-11-06T13:26:00.000-08:00

photo is rain garden
at the Evergreen Fair grounds

Rain Gardens and Rain Catchments:

Yes, Snohomish County it is time to pay attention to where the water goes.

When Rain falls from the sky, who owns it?.... These questions and more.....

Plan to attend this FREE Brown Bag Lunch at the Snohomish PUD
on Wednesday, Nov. 12th from 11:30-1:00pm

sponsored by the Sustainable Development Task Force of Snhomish County

click here for more info: http://sustainablesnohomishcounty.org/pdfs/stdf%20e-blast%20for%20raincatchment%20nov2008.pdf

Green Drinks Nov. 11th in Arlington, WA

2008-11-05T14:05:00.000-08:00

GREENDRINKS

SNOHOMISH COUNTY

Tues, November 11th from 5:30-7:30pm
Co-sponsored by

the "Village Store" and "Ronin Northwest" in Arlington
click here for more info...

Carpooling is a Great Idea

Edmonds Community College Blogs About Sustainability

2008-11-05T14:01:00.000-08:00

EDMONDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS BLOGGING ABOUT SERVICE-LEARNING AND SUSTAINABILITY

Students engaged in Edmonds Community College’s award-winning service-learning program contribute 30,000 hours of volunteer service to 57 community organizations each year. Now they are sharing their experiences and staying connected to the community on the college’s blog, AfterWords, www.edcc.edu/afterwords.

Student Yin Yu, who organizes events for the college’s Center for Service-Learning, is the featured blogger on AfterWords. She’s writing about service-learning projects and sustainability issues as she completes her Associate of Science degree. A Foundation scholarship recipient, Yu plans to go on to study environmental science at UW Bothell. Lisa Quirk, a student working on her Associate of Arts degree on her way to the University of Washington to study anthropology, will also be a regular contributor to the blog.

Both bloggers are active members of the college club S.A.V.E. (Students Association for a Viable Environment) and alumnae of the Learn-and-serve Environmental Anthropology Field (LEAF) school — a series of three human ecology classes with a service-learning emphasis. Service-learning gives students the opportunity to earn AmeriCorps scholarships, while they make deeper connections between their studies, their community, and the world at large.

Yu and Quirk met this summer while working on ecological projects on Whidbey, Orcas, and Jetty islands in the Puget Sound. Their work included restoration of historic Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) trails in Moran State Park on Orcas. Both students describe their summer in the LEAF school as a great, life-changing experience.

“I completed 300-hours of AmeriCorps service this summer, and everyday in class, I was introduced to a new environment, studied watersheds around the sound, and met new community partners,” said Yu. “I gained an understanding of the natural habitat in my neighborhood. I tell everyone I meet that they are missing out if they don’t enroll in the LEAF school.”

Blogging is a natural fit for the service-learning students as it provides a way that they can reflect on the impact of their service, a requirement for the AmeriCorps scholarships, as well as remain engaged with the community. Community organizations and members are encouraged help keep the students connected by reading and commenting on AfterWords.

LEAF school students also make use of college’s social network on Ning for group work and reflection. The most recent class posted photo blogs of their service for a final project. See photos of their summer of work as well as pictures from more recent projects at http://edmondscc.ning.com.

AfterWords will also be a place where students and the community can discuss sustainability issues and share ideas. Since 2004, the college has initiated several sustainability projects on campus, including the development of classes and degrees that teach environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable practices.

In the past, AfterWords has helped shine a spotlight on arts and culture events at the college, including its lecture series. However, the previous AfterWords blogger, Jenna Nand, often wrote about her volunteer work with EcoEncore, a Seattle non-profit that recycles books and media. While at the college, Nand helped students collect more than $20,000 in re-sellable media for the non-profit. She is now working at EcoEncore while applying for law school.

Fully Contained Communities Update and Your help is needed!

2008-10-24T07:08:00.000-07:00

Please Express your views, via a phone call, email or testify...

After two hours of public testimony yesterday at the FCC public hearing, Snohomish County Council Members Dave Somers and Mike Cooper said they would vote for a moratorium on rural mini cities (Fully Contained Communities, or FCC's), and Council Members Dave Gossett and John Koster said they would not.

The fourth member, Brian Sullivan, wanted a week to get some more questions answered. Call or email Council Member Brian Sullivan and John Koster and tell them how you feel about this moratorium. You can email them at brian.sullivan@co.snohomish.wa.us and john.koster@co.snohomish.wa.us, or call them at 425-388-3494.

You can view the entire public hearing and the council members comments at www.snoco.org, and click on Council Webcasts at the bottom of the home page, and then go to the hearing and click on the webcast. It was a great hearing and worth listening to in order to provide you the best perspective on what is going on.

The County Council will continue their deliberations and most likely their vote at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, October 29th. If there are not 4 Council votes, the possibility that County Executive Aaron Reardon could VETO the moratorium.

Please email Executive Reardon at aaron.reardon@co.snohomish.wa.us and express your interest.

Three articles of interest:
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081023/NEWS01/710239906&news01ad=1#County.puts.off.mini-city.decision

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081022/NEWS01/710229729#Lake.Goodwin.housing.plan.gets.a.boost

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/otherlocalelectionstories/2008290952_barnett21m.html

There were numerous amendments offered by developers, citizens and council members, so the written comment period and public hearing is also extended to Wednesday, October 29 at 1:30 p.m. in the Council’s Chambers.

Most likely there will be opportunity for public comment as well. You can view the documents and amendments for Ordinance 08-101 on the county’s website at http://www1.co.snohomish.wa.us/Departments/Council/About/Meeting_Calendar/long_term_calendar.htm.

Thank you Futurewise for supplying the above information.....

LID Practices for Storm Water in Wester Washington

2008-10-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

Thank you to PSA and PPS for moving ahead with LID practices....

Activists want cities' storm water control to go green
By Phuong LeAssociated PressSEATTLE --

Environmental groups are fighting to require more than 85 Western Washington cities and counties to curb storm water runoff using "green" methods such as retention ponds, native vegetation and cisterns.The state Pollution Control Hearings Board was considering challenges to the state's storm water rules Thursday, including an appeal from Puget Soundkeeper Alliance arguing that low-impact designs should be mandated to stem the flow of pollutants into the region's waters.

The rules could affect development in at least 80 municipalities and five counties in Western Washington, including Bellingham, Port Angeles, Everett and Vancouver."What we're asking for here is not for them to do something new, but to shift away from traditional techniques that we know don't work very well to low-impact techniques," said Jan Hasselman, an attorney for Earthjustice representing PSA and People for Puget Sound.

click here to read more in the Herald

Purchashing for Climate Protection

2008-10-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 27 – 9am to 12pm
FREE morning workshop....

Snohomish County Campus
Robert J. Drewel Building
3000 Rockefeller, Everett, WA 98201

Executive Aaron Reardon is hosting a “Purchasing for Climate Protection” workshop. There is no
charge for the workshop and it is open to public and private sector purchasers and others who
are interested in environmentally responsible purchasing. This session will highlight specific actions government agencies and businesses can take to reduce their carbon footprint by changing their purchasing policies and practices.

These actions include, but are not limited to:
• Establishing energy-effi ciency standards for all lighting equipment, appliances and
computers used in their facilities;
• Improving the fuel-effi ciency ratings of their fl eets;
• Installing renewable energy technologies;
• Buying recycled-content and remanufactured products;
• Reducing paper and water consumption;
• Sourcing food and other goods from local producers; and
• Switching to concentrated “green” cleaners for offi ce buildings, schools and other buildings.

The presenter of this workshop is Alicia Culver, Executive Director of the Green Purchasing Institute, a nonprofi t organization that works directly with government agencies, businesses and institutions to develop sustainable purchasing policies as well as contracts for environmentally preferable goods and services. She has taken a leading role in
drafting model specifi cations for high-effi ciency/low-mercury lighting equipment for several states and localities, and helped several local governments develop purchasing chapters for their climate action plans. She has also convened a team of researchers to document the best purchasing practices for achieving and documenting greenhouse gas emissions associated with the procurement of goods and services. She has contributed to several related publications
including:

Buying Smart: Experiences of Green Purchasing Pioneers, Cleaning for Health; Products and Practices for a Safer Indoor Environment; and Responsible Purchasing Guide to Fluorescent Lighting. In addition, she has served as a technical advisor to the Washington State Department of Ecology, the City of Seattle and many other jurisdictions across the United States. Alicia is currently advising Snohomish County.

Please pre-register by sending your contact information and affiliation to
Ginger Metz at ginger.metz@snoco.org or calling 425.388.6483.

Greening Snohomish County Oct 3-4, 2008

2008-09-24T02:40:00.000-07:00

Click Here to REGISTER TODAY

Space is limited, get your tickets today

$25/Individual

$50/Business Person (with extra networking benefits)

(Continental Breakfast and Buffet Lunch included)

Contact

Cate O’dahl – 206-999-0124 or caoesp@aol.com

Choose from twelve How-to sessions on: click here

Remodeling Green, Greening the Yard, and Sustainable Communities

Historic Preservation is Green	Bees, Frogs, & Birds, Oh My!	Green Backs for Green
Going Green at the Beach Case Study	Clean Up Your Act	Projects 101
Behind the Walls	Water, Water Everywhere	Green Jobs and New Markets
The Olivers’ House Case Study	Going Native	Shop, Sell, & Live Local

Who Should Attend?

*Gardeners *Property Owners *People with Remodeling Projects

*Neighborhood Representatives *Small Businesses,

*Community Development Staff *Elected Officials *Advocates for the Environment

*Affordable Housing and Transportation Alternatives representatives

*YOU

COME TO THE FAIR ON SATURDAY

The Fair features a keynote address by Charlie Stephens on Peak Oil

What Communities Can Do to Reinvent the Future, and much more…

Short presentations by local community leaders
Green and local vendor displays
Show Us Your Green Cities Panel
Zero waste event

SOLAR & GREEN BUILDING TOUR

Come the Fair to get your map for the National Solar & Green Home Tour

featuring 15 sites to learn from owners about the benefits of going green.

FAIR ADMISSION

One of the following:

· Canned food donation

· Old cell phone donation

· Old computer and accessories donation (monitors for a fee)

· Or a suggested $5 donation

Details

Link to conference information via our website, www.sustainablesnohomishcounty.org

Life Cycle Thinking and Assessment

2008-09-14T10:07:00.001-07:00

Industrial Ecology:

Creating By-Product Synergies Informed by

Life Cycle Thinking and Assessment

September 30th 1:30-5pm

In conjunction with the
American Center for Life Cycle Assessment
Annual Conference at Seattle Center

Registration Info

There is no charge for this special workshop for conference registrants & members of By-Product Synergy NW; all others are $150.

Please register your attendance at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/42175

Conference registration and details: www.lcacenter.org/LCA8

WORKSHOP DETAILS: (see conference announcement below)

Solar Power Your Home

2008-09-04T05:18:00.000-07:00

Solar is Coming to EDMONDS

Sposored by – Sustainable Edmonds and the Sustainability Committee of Edmonds Unitarian Universalist Church

Date: Saturday, September 27, 2008
Place: Edmonds Unitarian Universalist Church, 8109 224th Street S.W., Edmonds, WA 98026

Time: Setup crew arrives – 12:00 PM
Doors open to the public - 1:00 PM
Meeting – 1:30 – 5:00 PM
Socialize as desired, and clean-up 4:30 – 5:00

Agenda and schedule:

1:30 – 1:45 – Welcome and introduction

1:45 – 2:45 – Eric Teegarden, Sunergy Systems (40 minutes + 20 minutes for questions)
- The energy crisis and why solar energy is needed
- How feasible is solar energy in the Seattle area?
- Incentives for installing solar energy
- Examples of existing installations
- Solar thermal applications
- Solar photovoltaic applications

2:45-3:00 – Intermission

3:00 – 3:20 – Invited speaker on solar energy national perspective
Sen. Maria Cantwell invited; awaiting reply

3:20 – 4:20 –Chris Herman, Winter Sun Design Co. (40 minutes + 20 minutes for question)
- Solar energy application from the point of view of whole house design
- Solar resources for the Northwest
- Three types of solar energy applications: passive (heating, cooling, daylighting),
photovoltaic, and solar hot water (active solar)
- Green building and energy efficiency
- Architectural features of houses incorporating solar energy

4:20 – 4:50 – Discussion and questions – Eric Teegarden and Chris Herman

4:50 – 5:00 - Wrap-up and thanks

Registration - Ask for pre-registration, but onsite registration OK. At registration table at entrance, ask for name, address, e-mail. No charge for admission, but have a basket with a sign saying a donation of $10 per family or whatever you can afford would be appreciated to support the work of Sustainable Edmonds. Have a stack of SE brochures available.

Promotion – publicity team needed

Press release – distribute by e-mail to local newspapers and environmental and solar energy groups. First press release August 15. Second press release September 1. Third press release September 15.
Meeting notices to the Herald, Beacon, and Enterprise newspapers (“Around the Town” column, etc.).
Copies to Channel 21, South County Senior Center, ACE, Snohomish County Sustainability Task Force, Sustainable Communities, SCALLOPS list, Eco-Building Guild, Solar Washington, Solar Activistis (Chris’s list), Third Place Books, many environmental groups active in the area, Edmonds Community College (Tim Hohn, Holly Hughes)

Flier – distribute by Sustainable Edmonds members posting around Edmonds in store windows, coffee houses, public buildings, etc.
For paper copies at lowest rates, try UPS copy centers at James Village and Safeway shopping center.
Poster at the Sustainable Edmonds booth at the “Green Edmonds” festival on September 13

Website – Sustainable Edmonds – full information on events page; Everything Edmonds – information on calendar page

Logistics – logistics and setup/takedown team needed

Equipment: Church has audio system and screen available. Bob Rinehart will supply cords and duct tape.
Speakers will supply own laptop computers with digital projector/
Tables at entrance: Registration (as above)
Information table – Sustainable Edmonds brochures and brochures for speakers’ companies.

Refreshments
Church will provide coffee, hot water, and tables in lobby
Tea, cups, sugar, milk and cream, napkins, paper towels
Solicit donation of cookies from QFC and PCC and sell at meeting
Food may be consumed in the etnry way and in the main hall.

Going Green....

2008-09-02T15:55:00.000-07:00

Going green: good citizenship, good for business

By Pat Sisneros and Lynne Munoz,Herald Columnists

We talked with three business owners who are embracing environmental sustainability as part of their business models -- and drawing customers who believe in their goals.These business owners see going green as the right thing to do for themselves, their companies, their employees and the environment. It also offers the opportunity to drive innovation and creativity at their companies, differentiate themselves in the marketplace and gain a new set of very loyal customers.

Zippy's Java LoungeWe couldn't write about green businesses in Snohomish County without talking about Zippy's Java Lounge in Everett and owner Marilyn Rosenberg. Rosenberg opened the friendly downtown coffee shop three years ago, financed with a $70,000 line of credit on her house. For the first six months, she focused on getting the business established.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080901/BIZ/709019982read more from the Herald Newspaper

Code Barriers to Green Building Discussion

2008-08-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

Code Barriers to Green Building Discussion

Fourth Wednesday of August (8/27)

Central Puget Sound ChapterTime: 7-9pm

The Central Puget Sound Chapter of the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild will host a seminar discussion on code barriers to green building.

Come and join builders, architects and city permitting staff to discuss challenges or perhaps successes you have had permitting green building projects.

Coincidentally, Seattle permitting staff have just started an internal review of their own operations to see if they are inhibiting the growth of green building in any way. Come prepared to give your two cents and learn from the permitting experiences of other Guild members.

Where:Phinney Neighborhood Association
Lower Brick Building - Basement(Follow the signs)6532 Phinney Ave N

Cost:Free for NW Ecobuilding Guild members $5 Donation for Non-Members

Contact:David Vollaneducation@cps.ecobuilding.org

Greening Up the Evergreen State Fair

2008-08-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

Rain gardens and a pathway of porous concrete will help keep storm water cleaner at the fairgrounds in Monroe.

By Katya Yefimova, Herald Writer

Rachel McCrea, a storm water specialist for the state Department of Ecology, shows her daughter Olivia, 6, how water seeps through porous concrete at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds on Friday.

MONROE -- Rain gardens, planter boxes and a new walkway are all part of a $323,400 project finished just in time for the Evergreen State Fair's 100th birthday.The project is intended to filter pollution from storm water before it hits the area's waterways.The project was paid for by a state Department of Ecology grant the county received last year.Storm water running off roofs, lawns, roads and other surfaces is often polluted with oil, toxic metals and bacteria. As a result, it can pose serious problems for water quality in streams and aquifers.

read more from the Herald Newspaper

City Solar Tour PUD in Everett

2008-08-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

The City Tour for Solar is coming to Snohomish PUD on August 18, 2008.

This industry-wide educational campaign will promote photovoltaic solar energy with a free mobile exhibit for the public and tools for city, business and utility leaders.

SunEdison and its City Tour partners Evergreen Solar, SMA America, Uni-Solar, and Xantrex have developed an exciting Tour, scheduled to visit more than 50 cities in 100 days. We warmly welcome you to visit the exhibit at the PUD's Headquarters Building at 2320 California St. in Everett on August 18 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.

In a time of growing economic, environmental, and energy concerns, the City Tour for Solar offers solutions to PUD customers - a clean, secure, predictably priced energy resource that contributes permanent green collar jobs to our local economy.

Please stop by their website at www.CityTourforSolar.com <http://www.citytourforsolar.com/> if you have any questions, or better yet come by and see the exhibit!

Greening Snohomish County/Green Everett Renewable Living Fair

2008-08-06T17:05:00.000-07:00

"Greening Snohomish County" Conference - Taking Actions in your Home, Business, and Community on Fri, Oct. 3rd "Green” has become a national obsession – it’s everywhere in the news, in advertising, and on people’s minds. But how to decide what to do and where to go for clean green information? One easy answer is to attend the SDTF’s Greening Snohomish County: Taking Actions in your Home, Business, and Community Conference. This is your chance to learn how you personally can protect our natural resources on a local level – reaching your desired carbon footprint and walking the talk in your community. PUD, 2320 California Street in Everett.

Green Everett Renewable Living Fair and Solar & Green Home Tour

Sat., Oct 4th Join us for the 3^rd annual Green Everett Renewable Living Fair and the Solar & Green Home Tour. Following on the huge success of the Fair last year, Green Everett is working on getting more vendors and more participants to this hands-on event. Learn about solar in the Northwest and salmon in the city. PUD, 2320 California Street in Everett

More details to come in the special Conference/Fair & Tour Elements edition!

Urban Waterfront Revitalization

2008-08-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

Join Mayor Cary Bozeman and the City of Bremerton on September 10 - 12
as they host fellow communities and pioneers leading the revitalization of these important assets in this highly interactive event.

Our registrant list reads like a who's who of community and port decision makers--CEOs, Executive Directors, Mayors, Councilmembers, Directors of Planning, Directors of Economic Development, Directors of Operations, Project Managers, Designers, and other high-level decision makers who care about our waterfronts.

click here to open PDF

GREEN COURSE Happening

2008-08-05T07:18:00.000-07:00

Building, Marketing and

Financing Green Construction

Join Anna Porter, writer and co-visionary of the national award winning Going Green at the Beach deep green demonstration home. The home has 5 certifications and has been featured on KOMO TV and Planet Greens’ Renovation Nation series. The class will include an in-depth tour of the home while discussing key green features and building methodologies. Also discussed in this session will be the latest in green financing incentives and programs, insurance considerations, and ways to market your green homes to improve traffic to your sit. Tips on living green will be provided.

Date: Aug 13th -- 9:00 – 12:30
(course starts promptly at 9 am)

Location: 19126 Soundview Drive NW, Stanwood WA 98292
Some street parking available – car pooling encouraged

Details: Call Anna @ 425 753-0385 if you have any questions. Space is limited.

Fee: $45 per person (in advance), includes all course materials

Restoration Horticulture at Edmonds College

2008-07-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

Edmonds Community College offers a unique, new two-year degree in Restoration Horticulture that will train students to help restore damaged land, habitat, and ecosystems in a range of rural, suburban, and urban environments.

The Restoration Horticulture program trains students to replant natural areas by designing, establishing, and stewarding native plant communities. It also teaches them to how to create green spaces in urban settings using green roofs and walls, and bioswales (drainage troughs that filter runoff water).

“Helping to restore ecosystems in damaged natural areas is an emerging and critically important field. Restoration work is often dependent upon the successful use of plants. We’re training students to provide that expertise,” said instructor Timothy Hohn, chair of the college’s Horticulture Department.

The degree includes foundation courses within the college’s well-established horticulture program such as plant identification, soils, pest management, and pruning as well as new restoration horticulture classes including Introduction to Restoration Ecology, HORT 250, and Pacific Northwest Land and Water Issues, HORT 249.

click here for more

Previous Concrete and Permeable Pavers!

2008-07-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

GREEN COUNCIL
Thursday, August 7, 2008
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Bring Your Own Lunch!

Construction Industry Training Council
1930 116th Ave NE, Bellevue, Room 205
PH 425.454.2482

Pervious Concrete and Permeable Pavers: Are They the Right Choice for Your Project?
By Andy Marks, Managing Director of the Concrete Council and
Dave Parisi, Commercial Hardscape Specialist, Mutual Materials Co.

With stormwater regs getting tougher all the time, more and more projects are using hardscape materials that reduce runoff. At our August roundtable we’ll examine two of the most talked-about options, pervious concrete and permeable pavers.

Have your questions answered about using these materials on your projects, such as:
- What pervious materials are available, and how do they compare?
- How are they viewed by local jurisdictions?
- Are there conditions when they shouldn’t be used?
- How do they perform over time and in different applications?
- What does it take to install and maintain them properly?
- What can go wrong?

click here for more info

LEED GROCERY STORES

2008-07-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

SNOHOMISH COUNTY LEED GROUP

September Topic: LEED Grocery Stores – tentatively a tour of the new Edmonds PCC

Contact Scott Schreffler at Dykeman ScottS@Dykeman.net or 425/259.3161 to attend!

PUD, 2320 California Street in Everett.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

This informal group meets the 3rd Wednesday of each month at noon at the PUD in Everett to talk about LEED, the green building rating system operated by US Green Building Council.

LEED for New Construction in Sept...

2008-07-26T11:13:00.001-07:00

Snohomish County now is your time to go LEED

Everett LEED for New Construction Technical Review

September 10, 2008 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Snohomish PUD, 2320 California Street, Everett, WA

Contact Email
workshop@usgbc.org
Contact Phone
1-800-795-1747

Are you ready to enter the rapidly growing green building market?
Attend the LEED® for New Construction and Major Renovations Technical Review Workshop presented by the U.S. Green Building Council. Gain the knowledge needed to maximize commercial building performance, achieve LEED certification and take the LEED Professional Accreditation Exam.

CLICK HERE FOR FLYER AND REGISTRATION LINK!
Thanks to our workshop sponsor!

Check-in and breakfast at 8:00am, workshop starts at 8:30am
More information about this event…

Rooftop Garden on the Dog's House

2008-07-12T06:09:00.000-07:00

Gretel, emerges from her doghouse with features a green roof

Skip the ordinary doghouse; give your pooch a homemade, garden-topped refuge that is cooler, in every sense of the word, than anything else around.
By Bettijane Levine Los Angeles Times

MICHAEL ROBINSON CHAVEZ / TPN
Green roofs are good. They clean the air, cool the house below, provide rest stops for birds and butterflies. If you work well with wood and want to try a green roof, why not start by building one for your dog?

Landscape architect Stephanie Rubin and her partner, sculptor Chris Isner, sell doghouses with rooftop gardens for $1,000 to $4,000. Your homemade version will cost a lot less — and the dog in residence will appreciate a plant-topped refuge that is cooler, in every sense of the word, than anything else around.

read more

Runoff Polutions: State and Local Governments side with Builders

2008-07-09T08:26:00.000-07:00

Environmentalists seek 'low impact' mandates Governments side with builders

By ROBERT McCLURE
P-I REPORTER

Gov. Chris Gregoire made restoring Puget Sound a key part of her environmental policy.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is known as one of the greenest mayors in the country.

And King County Executive Ron Sims has long labored to make sure people know he loves the Earth.

Yet who's standing in the way of requiring building techniques that a growing chorus of scientists says could rein in the largest source of most of Puget Sound's worst pollutants?

Gregoire's Ecology Department. And the city of Seattle. And King County. And Tacoma, and Pierce and Snohomish counties, and other local governments.

click here to read more

GREEN DRINKS SNOHOMISH COUNTY

2008-07-02T15:33:00.000-07:00

GREEN DRINKS SNOHOMISH COUNTY

July 8th from 5:30-7:30pm

Let’s raise a toast to the planet while we figure

out ways to not toast the planet!

Jessica Pavish, a Snohomish County native, has had the good fortune to
visit many places all over the world and really wants to make sure that
our kids (hers and yours and all the people we'll never meet, because
they haven't been born yet) will inherit a planet that is as beautiful and
diverse as the one we've enjoyed. She's an avid recycler and is often
found at our local Goodwill store.

Jessica has been serving client's investment needs since 1984 - ask how
she can "green-up your green". You're sure to enjoy her extensive
collection of work by local artists and refreshments provided by
"The Savory Table". She is excited to share her Edward Jones
office located in Everett's first mixed-use/affordable housing development .

Edward Jones

22511 Colby

Everett 98201

click for directions

click to read announcement

Rebates in Everett Helps Consumers Go GREEN

2008-06-20T07:04:00.000-07:00

Rebate program helps consumers go green

Chances are, if your home is more than 16 years old, your toilets are due for a facelift. At up to seven gallons a flush, older toilets are water hogs, wasting natural resources and hurting consumers' wallets.To promote change, the city of Everett Water Conservation Program will give $100 rebates to 1,500 consumers who upgrade their toilet or clothes washer to newer, more efficient models. Both the city and consumers save money and help conserve water as a result. The program is open to all water customers of the city of Everett, which includes most of the county. Snohomish County PUD also has similar programs for energy-efficient dishwashers and clothes washers.

Read more....

"Rapid" in 520 Tansit

2008-06-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

Putting the "rapid" in 520 transit
Sound Transit is asking for input on a potential ballot measure for November of this year to fund major transit improvements all over the three-county region, including light-rail extensions further south, north, and east.

By Rob Wilkinson and Jonathan Dubman
Special to The Times

Sound Transit is asking for input on a potential ballot measure for November of this year to fund major transit improvements all over the three-county region, including light-rail extensions further south, north, and east. They envision light rail along Interstate 90, and bus rapid transit — or BRT — service on Highway 520, which will soon be rebuilt.

Both corridors are critical, but Sound Transit has focused on improving I-90 to the exclusion of Highway 520. The state is poised to make a major and necessary investment in the Highway 520 corridor, and Sound Transit should join that effort.

read more

House Hears Testimony on Green Communities

2008-06-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

BILL TARGETS FEDERAL PROGRAMS, FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Last week, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on broad legislation aimed at improving energy efficiency in buildings and federal housing programs and encouraging the development of green communities. The Green Resources for Energy Efficient Neighborhoods Act (H.R. 6078) was introduced by Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.). The legislation is co-sponsored by Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and House Appropriations Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation Chairman John Olver (D-Mass.).

"This legislation proves that it is easy to be green," said Perlmutter. "This bill helps revitalize our economy by making energy efficiency practices more affordable, accessible, and achievable by consumers, businesses, and government entities.

"The bill aims to help local governments with green building initiatives by creating a new residential energy efficient block grant program based on the same distribution formula as Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). The legislation would also require HUD to overhaul energy efficiency requirements for all federal housing programs from Section 8 to HOPE VI. Residential buildings constructed with federal support would have to meet more stringent energy standards. The bill also offers incentives for housing developers to work with landscapers to plant and care for trees and outlines the requirement of a landscaping plan for assisted housing.

A major focus of the legislation is encouraging Government Sponsored Enterprises (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) to expand and promote the use of location-efficient mortgages and energy-efficient mortgages. The legislation also amends the Community Reinvestment Act to allow financial institutions to consider energy efficiency improvements made by low-income and first-time buyers when assessing home values and loans. The aim, according to supporters, is to provide lower interest loans and other benefits to consumers who build, buy, or remodel homes or other buildings to improve energy efficiency.

With the backing of House leaders, the bill is expected to move forward later this summer.

Wildlife Habitats at Camano Gardens Tour

2008-06-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

Photo credit: Elizabeth Armstrong / The Herald

(Zsofia Pasztor is a member of the Sustainable Development Task Force of Snohomish County)

New Camano garden tour celebrates homeowners' wildlife habitats
By Debra Smith Herald Writer

What may matter most at Kitty and Stu Smith's place is what you won't see. No blackberry brambles, no nettles, no lawn.That's remarkable, considering that not too long ago, this chunk of wooded property on Camano Island had an abundance of all of the above.Today it feels naturally beautiful, as if it has always been this way. That's the point."Our goal was to preserve as much as we could and add in a way that looks as if it was never added to," said Zsofia Pasztor, a landscape designer who worked on the project.

read more

Acidified SeaWater Showing up Along Coast

2008-05-23T08:52:00.000-07:00

Acidified seawater showing up along coast ahead of schedule
By Sandi Doughton

Senate hearingon ocean acidificationSen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., will hold a field hearing in Seattle on Tuesday on "Climate Change and Ocean Acidification: Impacts on Puget Sound." The hearing will be from 10 a.m. to noon in the Seattle Aquarium's Puget Sound Great Room. For more information, call Cantwell's office at 206-220-6400.

Climate models predicted it wouldn't happen until the end of the century.
So a team led by Seattle researchers was stunned to discover that vast swaths of acidified seawater already are showing up along the Pacific Coast as greenhouse-gas emissions upset the oceans' chemical balance.

In surveys from Vancouver Island to the tip of Baja California, reported Thursday in the online journal Science Express, the scientists found the first evidence that large amounts of corrosive water are reaching the continental shelf — the shallow sea margin where most marine creatures live.

Off Northern California, the acidified water was only four miles from shore.
"What we found ... was truly astonishing," said oceanographer Richard Feely, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. "This means ocean acidification may be seriously impacting marine life on the continental shelf right now."

All along the coast, the scientists found regions where the water was acidic enough to dissolve the shells and skeletons of clams, corals and many of the tiny creatures at the base of the marine food chain. Acidified water also can kill fish eggs and a wide range of marine larvae.
"Entire marine ecosystems are likely to be affected," said co-author Debby Ianson, an oceanographer at Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Though it hasn't received as much attention as global warming, ocean acidification is a flip side of the same phenomenon. The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide from power plants, factories and cars that is raising temperatures worldwide also is to blame for the increasing acidity of the world's oceans.

Normally, seawater is slightly alkaline. When carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves into the water, it forms carbonic acid — the weak acid that helps give soda pop its tang. The process also robs the water of carbonate, a key ingredient in the formation of calcium carbonate shells.
Since the Industrial Revolution, when humans began pumping massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, Feely estimates the oceans have absorbed 525 billion tons of the man-made greenhouse gas — about one-third of the total released during that period.
By keeping some of the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, the oceans have blunted the temperature rise due to global warming. But they've suffered for that service, with a more than 30-percent increase in acidity.

The acidified water does not pose a direct threat to people. "We're not talking battery acid here," said co-author Burke Hales, an oceanographer at Oregon State University.

On the pH scale, which measures acidity, strongly alkaline materials such as oven cleaner measure about 13. Hydrochloric acid has a pH of 1. Seawater usually measures around 8.1. The most acidic water the scientists found off the Pacific Coast measured 7.6 on the pH scale. The numerical difference may seem slight, but it represents a threefold increase in acidity, Hales said.

Until now, researchers believed the most acidified water was confined to the deep oceans. Cold water, which holds more carbon dioxide, sinks. Deep waters also are naturally high in carbon dioxide, which is a byproduct of the decay of plankton.

Feely and his NOAA colleague Christopher Sabine previously have shown that zones of acidified water are growing and moving closer to the surface as the oceans absorb more man-made carbon dioxide.

During surveys on the Pacific Coast last year, a team including Feely and Sabine discovered the natural upwelling that occurs along the West Coast each spring and early summer is pulling the acidified water onto the continental shelf.

"I think this is a red flag for us, because it's right at our doorstep on the West Coast," said Victoria Fabry, a biological oceanographer at California State University, San Marcos, who was not involved with the study. "It's telling us that we really need more monitoring to figure out what's going on."

Climate scientist Ken Caldeira, of the Carnegie Institution at Stanford University, said the finding underscores the limitations of computer models.

"This is another example where what's happening in the natural world seems to be happening much faster than what our climate models predict," he said. And there's worse to come, the scientists warn.

A network of currents shuffles ocean water around the globe. The acidified water upwelling along the coast today was last exposed to the atmosphere about 50 years ago, when carbon-dioxide levels were much lower than they are now. That means the water that will rise from the depths over the coming decades will have absorbed more carbon dioxide and will be even more acidic.
"We've got 50 years worth of water that's already left the station and is on its way to us," Hales said. "Each one of those years is going to be a little bit more corrosive than the one before."

Sandi Doughton: 206-464-2491 or sdoughton@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

LEED User Group of Snohomish County

2008-05-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

LEED® User Group in Snohomish County

The North Sound LEED User Group meets the 3rd Wednesday of each month
at noon at the PUD in Everett to talkabout LEED, the green building rating system operated by US Green Building Council.

May 21st - Thor Peterson from Cascadia Green Building Council will talk about their Living Building Challenge initiative.

June 18 - Alistair Jackson of O'Brien and Company will give a guided tour of "Going Green at the Beach" project, which has achieved LEED Gold.

July's Topic: Energy Modeling for LEED
August’s Topic: LEED Materials
September Topic: LEED Grocery Stores

Contact Scott Schreffler at Dykeman ScottS@Dykeman.net or 425-259-3161

Most Endangerd Properties List

2008-05-17T15:12:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION

NOMINATION TO 2007 MOST ENDANGERED PROPERTIES LIST

THE HEWITT AVENUE RAILROAD BRIDGE AND UNDERLYING STREET

EVERETT, WASHINGTON

Describe the current use and condition of the site.

Our nomination involves two aspects of an interconnected site: a bridge and the street below.

The railroad bridge is on a main Amtrak Line and BNSF freight line where Hewitt Avenue meets the waterfront as it crosses under the bridge. It most likely replaced a wooden bridge built in 1902 that marked the western terminus of the Great Northern Railroad. The bridge is virtually unchanged since its construction in 1910. It is structurally sound, but in need graffiti removal, cleaning and a coat of paint.

The street portion is a City owned approximately one-half acre of right-of-way that has been crudely fenced off since 2001 as part of past policies and concerted efforts by the Port and BNSF to close the docks to the public while eliminating traffic conflicts with the trains. Currently, the area is an unsightly mess complete with chain link fencing, broken pavement, tall weeds and windblown garbage.

The setting provides a panoramic view of the commercial activity that has been and continues to be one of the hallmarks of Everett.

What is the historical significance of the property? Has it been placed on a national, state or local register? If not, has it been determined eligible for the National Register?

The bridge is an increasingly rare steel girder bridge and in fact may be the last surviving one in Everett, a town known as the place where rail meets sail.

For hundreds of years native people spent summers at this site since fresh water flowed down nearby Forgotten Creek and in an unnamed stream that flowed down Everett Avenue. About 1861, the first non-native settler in Everett, Dennis Brigham, built a cabin very near and possibly on the site.

Originally paved in locally manufactured red brick, Hewitt Avenue has been “Main Street” for Everett since its incorporation in 1893. Historically, Hewitt Avenue marked the entrance to the Port and crossing under the bridge provided the link for people between downtown and The City Dock where many goods, services and passengers arrived and departed to and from Everett. The west end of Hewitt Avenue and a half block to the south on Bond Street was the heart of commerce and activity when Everett was young. The surrounding property included many no longer surviving significant structures: The Bayview Hotel on Bond Street which also acted as the rail depot until a proper one was constructed across the street to the west. Directly adjacent to the bridge is Mulligan Saloon built in 1906. Renamed the Anchor Tavern when prohibition was repealed, it has survived as one of a handful of continuously operating saloons in a city known as a hard drinking, hard working logging and mill town. Although some people in Everett are trying to obliterate history by ignoring the Everett Massacre of 1916, the labor conflict which took place only a few hundred feet from the site, inspires inquiries to this day about the struggles that workers and business owners encountered in the early 20^th century. In the Historical Survey Report of November, 1973 prepared by David Dilgard and Margaret Riddle of the Northwest Room of the Everett Public Library, the suggestion was made that this site ought to be placed on the National and State Historic Register. The recommendation was never acted on.

Give a brief history of the property and tell us why it continues to be important to your community.

For all of the reasons mentioned above, this site reminds people of the City’s connection to the waterfront, and their own relationships to the people who lived before. Of what it must have been like to be a new person in the last of the American Frontier. Considering its blue collar origins - what an exciting place Everett must have been.

Why do you consider the property to be endangered? Please be specific about impending threats to the property.

No reason has ever been given for the need for replacement, but on October 2, 2006 BNSF made application to the City of Everett to demolish the bridge and replace it with a 45 foot wide earth berm. The City has issued a Final Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance allowing

construction of the berm and demolition of the bridge. Mitigation was minimal and allowed only for landscaping of the berm, a vaguely described pedestrian walkway in the berm and a viewing stand to be placed alongside the tracks. In their environmental review, BNSF attached no historic value to the site or the structure.

What is currently being done currently to save the property? Who is involved and what resources, financial or otherwise have been directed toward this effort.

We have filed an appeal with the City challenging the Final MDNS. A group has formed consisting of prominent citizens, business people, The Pt. Gardner and Bayside Neighborhood Associations, property owners in the immediate vicinity and Historic Everett. The neighborhoods have agreed to adopt the site and will apply for Office of Neighborhoods matching grants funds to help with restoration and maintenance. We have participated in meetings with City Planning Staff. We are working with Parks and Recreation Staff. And they have assured us they will help with the design, construction and maintenance of the site as a park. Both local newspapers, The Daily Herald and The Everett Tribune, have written supportive articles about preserving the site and the attendant history as recently as December 2006.

What is your long term goal for this property?

Immediate preservation of the steel plate bridge along with continued maintenance. Preservation of the turn of the 20^th Century brick street. To create a more visually pleasing setting on the publicly owned property. Honor the place with historical markers that educate the public about the early railroad, the Everett Massacre and the original industrial waterfront and its connection to Downtown. Create open space for the people who live and work in the increasingly dense downtown core. Ensure visual and physical public access to the waterfront and related shorelines of statewide significance.

Green Drinks to be at Anchor Tavern

2008-05-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

ERIKA SCHULTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

The historic Anchor Tavern in Everett is located on the western end of Hewitt Avenue in a "flatiron" building that dates back to 1906.

June 10th 5:30pm The SDTF is hosting the second Green Drinks in Snohomish County at the Anchor Tavern, 1001 Hewitt Avenue, Everett, WA 98201 ....

Come socialize with Everett professionals and community members about environmental issues. Excerpt from the Seattle Times on the Anchor Tavern from July 4, 2007...

From decades past

The west end of Hewitt still reflects the city's working-class, mill-town roots.

Four one-time tavern buildings remain between the bridge and Marine View Drive. The Anchor occupies a classic "flatiron" brick building, which opened as an office in 1906, then converted one year later to Mulligan's Saloon. It has been the Anchor since 1934; the actual anchor on its sidewalk dates to its founding.

Seamen based at nearby Naval Station Everett "borrowed" the anchor several months ago, then returned it with a new blue-and-yellow paint job.

Two storefronts up, a Hawaiian restaurant that relocated from the downtown core has taken over an historic two-story wooden building that once housed another saloon.

And Anchor regular David Williams, a 26-year-old artist, remembers a childhood spent skateboarding past the old Blue Diamond, in a small building that now houses a Thai restaurant.

He would make faces through the window, he recalls, prompting pub patrons to come outside and watch him skate down the block and beneath the trestle.

"This is Everett," he said, nodding at the industrial-looking bridge. "It's been here forever; why take it down?"

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/snohomishcountynews/2003773074_hewitt04n1.html?syndication=rss

Builders Learn About Going GREEN

2008-05-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

Companies and contractors learn how to build their business by embracing environmentally friendly practices.

By Michelle DunlopHerald Writer

EVERETT -- If you're planning to do construction work for the state or federal government, you might want to brush up on your green skills."It's getting easier to build green," said Scott Schreffler, a project designer with Dykeman, an architecture and design firm in Everett.Building green is in demand, participants at the Green Conference, held Tuesday in Everett, found out.

Private companies and individual home buyers are looking for environmentally friendly elements in their buildings. Governments -- including the city of Mukilteo and the state of Washington -- increasingly are incorporating green standards into their new projects.

read more
Reporter Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com.

Puget Sound Ecosystem

2008-04-29T16:02:00.000-07:00

You are invited to participate in a series of topic forums to help inform the development of the Action Agenda. The forums will help synthesize the region’s knowledge on key aspects of the Puget Sound ecosystem. All information gathered during these forums and from comments and input from interested parties will be synthesized and discussed at a broad, ecosystem-wide forum May 28.

During these all-day work sessions, science and policy experts will:

§ Review Sound-wide status and threats analyses;

§ Discuss the technical understanding of the problem; and

§ Identify policy strategies needed to help achieve a healthy Puget Sound.

Each of the following topic forums will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.:

Species/Biodiversity – May 1

TOC Conference Center, 5799 – 23^rd Drive W., Everett

Water Quantity – May 5

Edmonds Conference Center, 201 Fourth Ave. N., Edmonds

Synthesis Forum – May 28^th

Location TBD

Detailed materials developed for each topic forum will be posted on the Partnership’s Web site on or before April 14.

Attendees should be able to share their scientific and policy expertise on each of the topic areas. The meetings are open to the public. If you cannot attend a forum but would like to participate, you can submit comments electronically by May 6.

For more information about the topic forums process, visit http://www.psp.wa.gov/aa_topic_forums.php.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Linda Lyshall

Regional Liaison | Puget Sound Partnership

State of Washington

Office: 425-640-3557

Cell: 425-457-1157

www.psp.wa.gov

Public Forum: Unified Development Code Update Project

2008-04-29T15:28:00.001-07:00

Public Forum: Unified Development Code Update Project

Please join us for a discussion of two topics that will lead to amendments to the Snohomish County Unified Development Code (UDC):

1. Urban Centers: Creating welcoming places for pedestrians

2. Forest Practices: County permits for cutting trees

When: Thursday, May 1, 2008*

Morning Session: 9:00 a.m. – Noon

Evening Session: 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

*The same agenda is repeated at both sessions.

Where: Snohomish County Campus, 3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett

Administration Building East, Meeting Room 1

We welcome and invite public feedback and questions. Come share your concerns and make suggestions in the early stages of these important regulatory updates.

1. Urban Centers: Creating welcoming places for pedestrians.

This will be a continuation of discussions begun in UDC Update Public Forums last May and December. Regulations governing the development of Urban Centers most directly affect residents within or near areas designated as Urban Center, Urban Village and Transit/Pedestrian Village in the comprehensive plan. These regulations are of importance to anyone planning to design or build a mixed use/multiple family residential project in an unincorporated urban growth area; cities considering annexing the unincorporated area and public service providers. Currently the County has designated the areas around the following intersections for such development: 164th & I-5; 128th & I-5; State Route 527 and 196th St; State Route 99 and State Route 525; State Route 99 and 152nd St; I-5 and 44th Ave W; and scattered smaller sites throughout the unincorporated Southwest UGA.

Snohomish County planners will lead a group discussion of policy issues and are looking for feedback to help answer key questions captured under several broad themes. Themes to date include public realm, neighborhood compatibility, development character, circulation (roads and sidewalks), and the review process. Additional themes to be explored include density, master plans and allowable uses.

2. Forest Practices: County permits for cutting trees.

The forest practices regulations in RCW 76.09 were changed last year to require a transfer of authority from State of Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to local jurisdictions for the review and permitting of certain types for forest practice activities.

These regulations affect individuals planning to remove trees within the urban growth area or for the purpose of converting the land use from a natural forested condition. The County will be taking over the review and permit issuance responsibilities for all forest practice activities within the unincorporated urban growth areas and for all forest practices related to land conversion countywide.

Snohomish County planners will present an overview of the scope of the forest practice responsibilities shifting from DNR to the County. The presentation will focus on the statutory basis for the shift in jurisdictional responsibility, what types of forest practice activities the County will be responsible for and how the forest practices regulations will be meshed with other regulatory requirements.

UDC Update Project Public Forums are held the first Thursday of each month (unless otherwise noted). Forums are offered in the morning and evening to ensure as much public participation as possible.

For more information or to sign up for monthly or quarterly email notices and news about specific issues pertaining to the UDC Update Project, visit the UDC Update Project web page at www.snoco.org, or call UDC Planning and Development reception at 425-388-3311 ext. 2203 to be directed to a project team member.

For more information or to sign up for monthly or quarterly e-mail notices and news about specific issues pertaining to the Update Project, visit the UDC Update web page or call the UDC Planning and Development reception at 425-388-3311 ext. 2203 to be directed to a project team member.

Rescue Plan for Sound Falls Short

2008-04-26T05:51:00.000-07:00

Scientists: Rescue plan for Sound falls short

New blueprint neglects stormwater, critics say

By ROBERT McCLURE
P-I REPORTER

For a quarter-century, government agencies have been birthing plans to rescue ecologically ailing Puget Sound. They didn't work.

And neither will the latest blueprint, a brand-new stab at the task unveiled by a brand-new agency that fails to deal with the biggest source of pollutants entering the Sound, leading scientists charged on Friday.

That pollution source is stormwater, the fetid mixture flowing off streets and parking lots and other hard surfaces, carrying oil, pesticides, antifreeze, pet waste and so much more into the Sound and its tributaries.

The Puget Sound Partnership's 43-page "internal discussion draft" on how to start cleaning up the waters of Puget Sound devotes just one tentative paragraph to what scientists advising the agency identified as the best solution: "low-impact development."

That involves steps such as "green roofs" that soak up rainwater, "rain gardens" that intercept water before it flows onto hard surfaces, cisterns and porous pavement that allows rainwater to soak into the ground.

None is mentioned in the draft paper, surprising even the group of scientists whose expertise the Partnership supposedly tapped to produce the report. They leveled their critique Friday at a meeting of about 180 scientists, regulators and activists at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center

"It's as disappointing to some of you as it is to us not to see those (concepts) pop up as action items," said Derek Booth, a stormwater expert with Stillwater Sciences. "The time is past to be scratching our heads about every step."

Another panel member, Bill Derry of CH2MHill, a consulting firm, said the techniques need to be put into effect not just in newly developing areas but also in already-built cities such as Seattle.

"Retrofit has to be a major focus," Derry said. "Focusing on new development ... just slows the decline."

State Department of Ecology regulator Bill Moore stunned some participants with his straight-ahead admission that his agency has failed to fix the problem, calling the regulatory system for stormwater "fractured and incomplete and frankly not very effective as a consequence."

Moore, head of Ecology's stormwater unit, said solving the problem "probably means behavioral changes" by citizens, "which the regulatory system is not very well suited to."

A prime culprit in polluting stormwater is cars, which shed pollutants even when they are functioning perfectly -- not to mention leaking oil, antifreeze, steering fluid and numerous other pollutants as they age.

Development patterns also will have to change, said scientists on the panel. And, said panel member Anne Fairbrother, a toxicologist, businesses must minimize wastes.

"Many businesses have found that not only is that better for the environment, but it's also better for business," she said.

David Dicks, director of the partnership, said he was not dismayed to hear complaints -- the whole point of the meeting was critiquing the document.

"This is what we want to happen," Dicks said.

In fact, the document discussed on Friday isn't in itself a plan, Dicks said, but rather an attempt to get people talking about the issue.

The Partnership, which was created by the Legislature last year and got rolling in late 2007, has only until later this year to produce an "action agenda" to save the Sound, complete with surefire methods to check on progress and hold accountable people, businesses and agencies getting in the way.

"We're still figuring this out at the same time we are engaging the public," Dicks said.

The draft document pilloried Friday is one of six coming out to tell people how the agency is thinking about a series of topics. Meetings to discuss these early drafts continue Monday in Bremerton, with an all-day session on land use and habitat preservation at the Kitsap Conference Center, 251 First St.

P-I reporter Robert McClure can be reached at 206-448-8092 or robertmcclure@seattlepi.com.

Green Drinks in Snohomish County

2008-04-21T06:31:00.000-07:00

SAVE THE DATE –

MAY 13, 2008 from 5:30 to 7:30

THE VERY FIRST EVER GREENDRINKS IN SNOHOMISH COUNTY!!!

Let’s raise a toast to the planet while we figure out ways not to toast the planet. Never heard of Greendrinks? It began in Europe and now sustainability people in over 342 cities all over the globe meet monthly for libations.

It is a lively mixture of people from non-profits, academia, government and business and is a great way of catching up with folks you know and for making new contacts. Greendrinks is simple, unstructured and rather organic. People have found jobs, developed new ideas, done deals and had epiphanies at Greendrinks.

Check out all the ways to have Greendrinks at http://www.greendrinks.org/. Greening Properties http://www.greeningproperties.com/, is hosting the debut for Snohomish County at their downtown Everett office - 2817 Rucker Avenue.

Greening Properties is a small, locally owned independent real estate company that is committed to building communities that honor the past, protect the future and support healthy living for the present. Historic Everett http://www.historiceverett.org/ is our featured non-profit. Historic Preservation and sustainability are natural partners – it has been said that the greenest building is one that already exists.

To make the first Greendrinks a very special event, the extremely talented local artist, Mary Coss will be showing some of her latest work.

Visit http://www.marycoss.com/ to see how art builds community. If you’ve got questions, call Valerie or Mary at 425-252-7601. This is going to be over the top, so bring a friend.

Environmental Superhero: Snohomish County

2008-04-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Armstrong /The Herald/ Deanna Carveth, a hazardous waste chemist for the county, talks a little "trash" with Deanna Clark Willingham (left) and Tom Stowe at a meeting of the International Right of Way Association.

Employee spreads Green Know-How

By Jeff Switzer
Herald Writer

Before long, Deanna Carveth will have to be fitted with a cape. It would be one woven using renewable materials, of course.

"I've packaged a lot of household hazardous waste, rendering people's garages safer from the toxic goo that lived within," Carveth said in her best superhero voice. "I get a cape."

Carveth is a hazardous waste chemist working for Snohomish County's public works department -- in other words, a chemical geek.

After years of tackling pesticides and paints elsewhere, she's been helping Snohomish County's environmental effort.

Her work earned her a big award. She was recently anointed a "Built Green Pioneer" by the Master Builders of King and Snohomish Counties, which represents the region's home building industry.

read more

Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.

Building industry info at builtgreen.net.

Green Conference

2008-04-11T05:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.snoedc.org/

Low Impact Development Workshop Series

2008-04-09T16:01:00.000-07:00

Puget Sound Low Impact Development Technical Workshop Series

This series is developed by Curtis Hinman with WSU (the author of the LID Technical Guidance Manual) and sponsored by the Puget Sound Partnership. The cost to you is only $50 for each 2-day workshop. These two-day workshops, with instruction by regional and national experts, will provide the current state of knowledge on the following topics:

May 6-7 Permeable paving specifications for permeable asphalt, concrete, interlocking concrete pavers, and other paving systems, as well as subgrade preparation, base material specifications, modeling, and maintenance.

May 28-29 Bioretention siting, sizing and modeling techniques, designing surface and subsurface drainage components, and soil mixes.

June 4-5 Vegetated roof modeling (aka green roofs), cistern design, rainwater collection, and low impact PIN foundations design.

June 25-26 Site planning, clearing and grading, LID construction sequencing, and inspection.

This series will be held in Sequim at the Jamestown Tribal Center. The same series of workshops will be also be provided in Bellingham (September and October 2008) and Seattle (February and March 2009)

For more information and registration see: http://capps.wsu.edu/conferences/lidworkshops/

Rural Housing Issue to the Forefront

2008-03-16T05:24:00.000-07:00

Ecoterror attack brings rural housing issue to the forefront
By Jeff Switzer, Herald Writer

When ecoterrorists torched a pocket of multimillion-dollar luxury houses near rural Echo Lake, it highlighted an ongoing debate in Snohomish County over how to keep suburbia from shifting into the rural areas.The county is considering stricter limits on the number of houses built in rural areas, and might require builders to preserve and replant trees when constructing new neighborhoods on the county's scenic back roads.The rules target rural cluster subdivisions, where houses are built close together and large swaths of open space around them are preserved.The Street of Dreams, struck by arson, was part of a future 48-house rural cluster near Maltby called Quinn's Crossing.A banner left at the Street of Dreams arsons said "McMansions in RCDs r not green," believed to be a criticism of rural cluster developments.

In these projects, large homes often are built on suburban-style lanes and cul de sacs instead of being more spread out on traditional rural homesteads.The arsons raise the profile of the debate, but don't push the county toward any course of action, County Council chairman Dave Somers said."We can't respond to terrorist attacks," Somers said. "We need to do what's right for the county."The fires "make it much harder to take a reasoned look at land-use," Somers said. "It detracts from the debate about what is appropriate in terms of rural and urban development."

Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.

Tiny House Cramps Style?

2008-03-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

Danny Westneat

Seattle Times staff columnist

MARK HARRISON / THE SEATTLE TIMES

This 230-square-foot rental on Lake Union used to house your columnist, who didn't feel especially confined.

Renting for $800 a month, it may not be the cheapest house in Seattle. But I bet it's the tiniest.

At 230 square feet, it's no bigger than some tool sheds. In fact, that's what it was before someone converted the wedge-shaped shack into a stand-alone home, complete with amenities of houses 10 times the size. It has a bathroom with a shower, a dishwasher, a four-burner stove, a pantry, built-in dressers. Even a closet.Seattle's Smallest House — I don't actually know if it's the very smallest, but the city planning department doesn't keep a list by size so I've decided to call it that until you readers prove otherwise — is so micro and oddly-shaped it's a bit of a tourist attraction.

At one end, in the kitchen, it's less than 5 feet wide. It sits on a dock on Lake Union. Duck Boat tour operators sometimes point it out as they gurgle by.

Whoever lives there becomes a Seattle curio. Strangers float by and lob questions. What's it like in that skinny place? Isn't it claustrophobic? What did you do with all your stuff — throw it in the lake?

I know all this because I used to live in Seattle's Smallest House. It was in the 1990s, when apparently I owned nothing bigger than a toaster. A friend called the other day to say it was for rent.

That espresso hut you used to live in is available, he said.

I went by and peered inside. Empty, it looks smaller than I remember. When I lived there I don't recall lacking for space. The walls never closed in. At 230 square feet it was plenty big to have guests over for dinner. Once I even hosted a Fourth of July party for two dozen (could they possibly have all come inside?).

Looking back it makes me wonder: Why are the rest of our houses — including the one I have now — so gargantuan?

Richard Waits, a 52-year-old furniture maker, has been mulling the same thing. He lives in a 10-by-12 cabin on Vashon Island. That's right — only 120 square feet (though it doesn't have a bathroom, so it isn't a complete house).

It was described in a rental ad as "tiny and magical." Waits says living small is cathartic. You free yourself of your junk. You spend little time cleaning. You don't use much energy.

He never feels cramped, except "when my four grown kids visit me all at once." To him it's the mega-mansion trend that seems freakish. And maybe temporary.

"Everything being huge is a part of our culture, but I think it's a part that's shifting," Waits said. "I would encourage everyone to try a little downsizing. Not just because you should, but because it feels good.

The house I live in now is 2,500 square feet — the U.S. average, but 11 times larger than Seattle's Smallest. Yes, I'm now married with two kids. But it's also true we have rooms nearly 230 square feet that we scarcely use.

When I was peeking in at Seattle's Smallest and its 3-foot-wide bathroom, I wondered: What if I moved back here, family in tow? Would we go crazy? Or could we fit?

I guess I'd go crazy. But there's a guy in California, Jay Shafer of Tumbleweed Tiny House Co., who sells and lives in 100-square-foot houses. He says that while micro is not exactly the new mega, the space you need truly is a state of mind.

"You can only take up 12 square feet at a time," he told American Profile magazine. "Everything beyond that is just elbow room."

Danny Westneat's column appears Wednesday and Sunday. Reach him at 206-464-2086 or dwestneat@seattletimes.com.

Hospitals GO Greener to Improve Bottom Line

2008-03-12T07:22:00.001-07:00

Composting, recycling can cut their costs

By CHERIE BLACK
P-I REPORTER

Jim Overton admits he isn't very popular at home when his two daughters want to go somewhere.

From his Bothell home, he rides his bike the few miles to work as a registered nurse at Evergreen Medical Center in Kirkland -- and pretty much everywhere else he needs to go. So, he expects his girls, ages 13 and 10, to do the same or walk.

"I've tried to scale back on that and drive them places more," Overton said.

When he went to Evergreen 12 years ago, Overton was impressed that some of the hospital floors had recycling systems. But other floors didn't, and he discovered it was individuals making the effort.

So Overton began sending e-mails. First to co-workers, then to department heads and other hospital administrators, suggesting ways to do more. Last spring he formed the "Green Team," three registered nurses who met quarterly to develop environmental programs for the hospital. Now, 10 of his co-workers are members of the voluntary team.

Hospitals have long been seen as one of the top waste-producing industries. In 1998, the American Hospital Association and the Environmental Protection Agency agreed on goals to reduce the effect of health care facilities on the environment. The goals included nearly eliminating mercury-containing waste by 2005 and reducing hospital waste 50 percent by 2010.

Evergreen and other hospitals in the Seattle area are taking steps to not only protect the environment, but cut costs, as well.

Overton's "Green Team" expanded the hospital's battery recycling program and collected 1,200 pounds of batteries during the past year. The hospital also collects used and unused-but-opened medical supplies, such as oxygen and blood tubes considered "contaminated" under U.S. regulations. The supplies are sent to Third World countries where they are sterilized and reused for patients there.

The team put up more recycling signs and bins and got the hospital's recycling container emptied three times a week instead of two. Containers for used needles are sterilized and reused, instead of being thrown away with the needles.

Overton started an internal Web site so staff could learn to become more environmentally friendly.

The team gives a monthly "Green Stewardship Award" to a staff-nominated co-worker who gives extra effort to the hospital's environmental progress. Local restaurants donated gift certificates as prizes.

Other Seattle-area hospitals are improving their bottom line by going greener.

Virginia Mason Medical Center's cafeteria has no garbage cans, since 100 percent of the cafeteria's waste is recycled, said Steve Grose, administrative director for process improvement. The hospital composts 750 pounds of food a day instead of grinding it in garbage disposals, which had needed 4,000 gallons of water a day. The water savings pays for the bags and composting, he said. In January, Virginia Mason began recycling 70 percent of the plastic used in about 70 surgeries a day.

The hospital hopes to eventually eliminate garbage cans throughout the hospital and recycle everything.

The University of Washington Medical Center recently started a paper-shredding program with Weyerhaeuser that the hospital estimates will save $70,000 a year. Surgical instruments are now disinfected with a less hazardous chemical. In 2006, the medical center began buying 100 percent renewable energy from Seattle City Light, which cost the hospital an extra $40,000 a year, but was worth the added expense, said hospital officials.

In two years, a water reuse system at UW Consolidated Laundry has saved 12 million gallons of water for a cost saving of $140,000 in water and $79,000 in natural gas.

Swedish Medical Center estimates saving more than $ 1 million since 2001 by recycling, said Michael Smith, the hospital's waste compliance manager. Swedish eliminated blood pressure monitors containing about 180 pounds of mercury -- and recycles all paper, cardboard, metals, batteries, lamps and printer toner cartridges, he said.

Food composting will begin at the end of March. It is working on a better way to dispose of expired medications and chemotherapy waste.

Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center recycled more than 40 tons of computer monitors in 2006 and composts food, saving about $8,000 on water a year. Using new technology for cleaning and sterilizing surgical instruments, which uses more high heat and steam, Children's saves 4,100 gallons of water per day and more than $18,000 per year.

At Evergreen, Overton said even though progress has been slow, and the hospital hasn't kept records to compare its improvement, administration has been responsive to his efforts.

Next week, he will propose a part-time position dedicated to making the hospital greener. He has been voluntarily implementing the current programs in his spare time.

"I call it baby steps -- you come up with an idea and you don't hear back right away," Overton said. "They're business people and that's their first focus when it comes to the hospital. I'm passionate about health care, but I'm also passionate about the environment."

P-I reporter Cherie Black can be reached at 206-448-8180 or cherieblack@seattlepi.com. Read her To Your Health blog at blog.seattlepi.com/toyourhealth.

Selling Green Homes Isn't Golden Yet!

2008-03-12T07:12:00.000-07:00

(Photo from the Washington Post)

Builders who are adding increased efficiency and eco-friendly features into homes attract lookers but not many buyers.

By Jim Carlton
The Wall Street Journal

More builders are adding "green" features to their new homes. It is a strategy born out of necessity.

In October, the Trilogy division of Shea Homes rolled out a program dubbed Shea Superiology for its 1,500 to 2,000 new homes this year. The homes will have environmentally friendly features such as increased insulation and energy-efficient electronic appliances. KB Home this year also began including appliances awarded the federal Energy Star rating for high energy efficiency as standard in homes, even though they cost more than those without the designation. And Pulte Homes Inc. is adding more insulation and energy-saving appliances at some of its subdivisions in the southwestern U.S.

Interest in green homes was high at the International Builders Show in Orlando, Fla., where the National Association of Home Builders declared Feb. 14 "Green Day" and announced a national green building program that enables builders to achieve certifications they can advertise to the public. The numerous environmental sessions included: "Ride the Green Wave or Be Swept Away."

The push for environmentally friendly construction comes as the housing industry remains mired in a deep and protracted slump, with single-family housing starts off more than a third from 2005 and widely expected to keep sliding this year. To stand out from the crowd, big home builders are going green for the first time or are expanding their existing programs -- a departure from previous practice, when environmentally friendly building was mainly limited to a niche of smaller builders. But results so far are mixed: some developments report increased traffic but no pickup in sales. Other builders say sales are on the upswing but it is too early to tell whether it is at a faster pace than their comparable, nongreen developments. And the higher cost of green construction is proving a hurdle for some companies.

Overall, as much as 10 percent of all housing starts, at a market value of $38 billion, are expected to include environmentally friendly construction by 2010 -- up from 2 percent of starts, or $7.4 billion, last year, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The trend is also getting a boost from the federal government: The Department of Housing and Urban Development has in the last year sponsored "concept homes" in Omaha, Neb., and Charleston, S.C., that include various green features.

"We definitely think (green building is) a selling point, and we think it's here to stay," says Jeffrey Mezger, president and chief executive officer of Los Angeles-based KB Home, which built about 23,000 homes last year.

There is some evidence that the green push is working. In KB's Orlando division, for instance, officials say 35 percent more buyers have opted for upgrades such as better-insulated rooftops and higher-efficiency washing machines since the program started.

Consumers have also responded favorably to Shea Homes' new green program. Although sales prices of the homes with environmentally friendly features run 3 percent to 4 percent higher than those of comparable properties, buyers told the Scottsdale, Ariz., builder in surveys that they would be willing to pay more for a green home in return for energy savings. In one Phoenix-area subdivision, Encanterra, Trilogy officials say they have sold 83 homes since opening it in November, or twice as fast as the local market.

And in California, OCR Solar and Roofing Inc., a contractor that installs solar panels, says that at least two of its builder customers switched to making solar power a standard feature rather than an upgrade when they were each midway into building tracts in Northern California late last year.

But home builders face substantial financial hurdles. KB Home, for instance, posted a 32 percent drop in revenue to $6.4 billion in 2007, and analysts expect revenue to decline 41 percent this year. A spokeswoman for Shea's Trilogy, a unit of J.F. Shea Co., Walnut Creek, Calif., says it is too early to compare sales against nongreen Shea homes.

Among other obstacles, green building can be costly. Industry experts figure that features such as energy-efficient appliances and better insulation can add 3 percent to 5 percent to the cost of a home. Ed Nardi, president of Cresset Group, is constructing three condominium projects in the Boston area with features including thicker windows and less power-consuming heating and air-conditioning systems. But he says the Boston market is so soft that his company is unable to pass on its added 2 percent to 3 percent costs for going green.

Such costs have taken a toll. Pardee Homes, a Seattle-based builder that is owned by forest-products giant Weyerhaeuser Co., is backing off a green program it started last year to include Energy Star appliances as a standard feature in its homes. It costs about $50 more for an Energy Star dishwasher than a conventional model. Dan Fulton, Weyerhaeuser's president, cites falling home prices for the move, although he stressed the company remains committed to an overall green strategy.

Environmentally friendly building doesn't always result in immediate new sales. At its 78-home Timber Creek development in Las Vegas, which opened in April, Pulte Homes had retrofitted in January the models to be certified as green under local green building standards. Features include ultraefficient air conditioners, dual-pane windows with a metallic coating that blocks out the sun's heat and low-flow toilets.

The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., builder says visitor traffic to the development has since increased, with customers drawn in part by estimated monthly savings of $60 to $80 on their power bills because of increased insulation in the Nevada heat. Still, Pulte officials say it is too early to tell what impact the move will have on sales; to date, 50 of the homes in the Las Vegas development have sold.

Overall, Pulte remains on a downward track, with analysts expecting another 27 percent drop in revenue this year after a 35 percent decline in 2007 to $9.3 billion.

Meanwhile, some environmentalists accuse builders of hypocrisy in labeling homes as environmentally friendly. Authorities suspect ecoterrorism in fires Monday that gutted three homes and damaged two others under construction in a Seattle suburb where the builder was promoting the green practices used in constructing them. The development in Woodinville, Wash., had been opposed by some residents and environmentalists for being too close to sensitive areas like a pristine stream.

Nonetheless, a whole cottage industry has sprung up to help builders design green. Hilltribe Homes, an Ontario, Canada, green designer, said that after starting business in December, it has signed a contract of approximately $500 million to provide services for a development of 6,500 green homes in Victoria, B.C.

Meanwhile, Cherokee Investment Partners, a private-equity fund in Raleigh, N.C., in December opened a show home that has been certified by the builders' association as the first green home built in an existing development. Officials of the equity fund, which specializes in socially-responsible investments, say they built the five-bedroom, $500,000 home with traditional-looking designs to show other builders it could be done.

Among its features: a wheat kitchen cabinet coated with a cherry veneer, and solar shingles that match the look of shingles of older homes in the neighborhood. Jonathan Philips, senior director for the firm, has moved into the home and says builders from all over the country have come to tour it.

"This green revolution is coming, whether the builder likes it or not," says Ed Sullivan, chief economist for the Portland Cement Association, an industry trade group based in Skokie, Ill. "The consumer wants it."

Clean Water and a Thriving Economy

2008-02-25T08:53:00.000-08:00

GUEST COMMENTARY

By Diana Gale

Dozens of organizations and hundreds of volunteers are working to restore and protect the Snohomish River estuary and the Stillaguamish River Watershed. It's a race against the clock as Snohomish County's population is projected to grow by more than 50 percent during the next 20 years.

The Snohomish River basin is an abundant ecological system. More than 1,700 rivers and streams drain 2,000 square miles of terrain. The Stillaguamish River Basin is the fifth-largest tributary draining into Puget Sound. Both provide habitat for birds, fish and animals -- and jobs, natural resources and recreational opportunities for people.

But after a century of human intervention, these rivers are suffering. They pick up pollution -- chemicals and toxins -- from roads and roofs, and carry them to Puget Sound. Habitat has been lost to dikes, levees and canals that create farmland and protect homes.

What is ailing these river systems is what is ailing all of Puget Sound -- too much pollution over too much time by too many people.

That's why Gov. Chris Gregoire and the Legislature created the Puget Sound Partnership: to figure out what's wrong, and create an Action Agenda that leads to a clean and healthy Puget Sound.

Many initiatives have aimed at Puget Sound environmental issues, and progress has been made. But work has been uncoordinated and results uncertain. So we are doing something never before attempted: Our Action Agenda is a long-range, broad-based strategy for all of Puget Sound -- from the snow caps to the white caps.

Government cannot do this alone. Everyone must be part of the solution. The Snohomish Basin Salmon Recovery Forum, the Stillaguamish Implementation Review Committee and the Marine Resources Committee serve as examples of the cooperation we need to apply throughout Puget Sound.

The scale and complexity of Puget Sound demand that to be successful, our entire region must work together. There are 2,500 miles of shoreline. Fourteen major rivers, and thousands of streams, feed into its waters. It is home to literally thousands of species of wildlife and marine life.

Despite its size, this vast estuary is ecologically delicate; and hidden from our picture postcard views are signs of serious trouble.

Maybe you remember walking or boating around Whidbey and Camano islands when you were a child -- and seeing herons, sandpipers and other shorebirds. Today there are far fewer marine birds -- nearly a 50 percent decline in the past two decades.

Commercial shellfish beds are closed because the clams, mussels and oysters aren't safe to eat. Some beaches aren't safe for swimming. Our local icons -- salmon and orcas -- are barely surviving.

For more than 100 years we relied on streams, rivers and Puget Sound to dispose of our waste -- everything from industrial byproducts to raw sewage.

Nearly 4 million people live around the Sound now, and 1.5 million more are expected in the next 15 years. With all these people, our need for food, houses, roads and jobs is putting stress on Puget Sound.

But it is also we, the people who live here and care about Puget Sound, who can restore it. Our population is a resource -- full of smart, creative people who know a clean and healthy Puget Sound improves our quality of life and supports our economy.

The Puget Sound Partnership is a community effort of elected and public officials, tribal and business leaders, scientists, environmentalists, parents, friends and neighbors -- all of whom are committed to an effective Action Agenda for a cleaner Puget Sound.

The Partnership is a comprehensive effort that includes local input from every part of Puget Sound. It is a strategic effort that uses science to inform decisions and focus limited resources. And it is a responsible effort with built-in accountability to ensure our cleanup and restoration efforts achieve the intended results.

With a coordinated and strategic effort, we will define what is needed to make Puget Sound healthy again, and create a roadmap for how to get it done.

Your input is important. On Wednesday, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., we will hold a public meeting in Everett about the status of Puget Sound's health and the greatest threats to it. More information can be found online at www.psp.wa.gov/actionagenda3.html.

Everything around Puget Sound is connected: How we build our homes and businesses, protect our streams and forests, and react to climate change will affect how we leave Puget Sound for future generations.

Working together, we can have both a thriving economy and healthy Puget Sound waterways.

Diana Gale is a member of the Leadership Council, the Puget Sound Partnership's governing body.

We Can't Put the Fire Out with Gasoline

2008-02-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

By Dave Somers and Valerie Steel

The choices made now in local land-use and zoning plans, about where our growing population will live and work and how we will get around, will lock us into development patterns that will determine our contribution to rapid, extreme climate change.

According to numerous studies, vehicle emissions comprise half of the state's greenhouse gases that fuel global warming. As Washington continues to grow, it is essential that we devise ways that allow us to live prosperously while driving less. Car-dependent sprawl is the leading cause of decreased farm and forest land, and depletion of carbon-cleaning, oxygen-producing vegetation is another factor in global warming. In the U.S., residential and commercial buildings account for approximately 65 percent of electricity consumption, 36 percent of energy use and 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Integrating sustainable building design along with smart land use planning can reduce this consumption by up to 50 percent.

Transportation, farm and forest conversion, car-dependent land use planning and outdated construction techniques are serious issues in Snohomish County. Last year in Snohomish County, 18 percent of all new homes were built out in our rural areas, eating up valuable rural lands, creating conflicts with working forests and farms, and creating longer commutes and clogged roads. Unfortunately, the trend in rural development is increasing, not decreasing.

In order to achieve the state's goal to significantly reduce global warming pollution, fact-based, responsible decisions need to be made now so we may thrive in a way that reduces driving and meets the increasing demand for sustainable neighborhoods that are walkable and bikeable, well served by mass transit, employ low-impact development techniques and are a joy to be in.

Land use is at heart a local issue and local leadership is essential if we are going to reduce greenhouse gas emission related to how we live on the land. There will be no national solution to this part of the problem. We must come up with solutions here in Washington -- in our own communities, cities and counties.

Fortunately, local jurisdictions representing nearly 70 percent of the state's population have committed to major reductions in their carbon footprints, including Everett and Edmonds. Additionally, Snohomish and six other counties have joined ICLEI -- Local Governments for Sustainability -- which seek to implement local solutions to global problems like unnatural climate change.

Because Washington has already adopted smart growth strategies through the adoption and implementation of the Growth Management Act, we are poised to be national leaders in figuring out sustainable land-use policies that will help reduce global warming emissions. The GMA recognizes the state's diversity from urban to rural and east to west and puts forward statewide goals that require cities in more populated areas to plan for future population growth, establish urban growth areas, ensure adequate infrastructure, protect environmentally critical areas and preserve agricultural and forest lands for local renewable resource production. The GMA is an excellent framework for tackling atmospheric calamity at both the state and local levels.

The challenge of successfully confronting global warming -- reducing our future emissions, adapting to anticipated impacts and possibly reversing damage -- will require coordinated effort and support statewide. That is why we are working to pass a bill during this year's legislative session, Local Solutions to Global Warming (SHB 2797 and SSB 6580), which will provide local governments with the tools and support needed to address and reduce land-use contributions to global warming pollution.

Specifically, the bill adds a goal to the GMA of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to expected impacts of global warming. It directs the state to provide cities and counties with a tool to inventory, measure and estimate land-use-related greenhouse gas emissions. Through a competitive grants program, funds will be available for municipalities that are already taking action or are interested in beginning to address climate change through land use and planning.

To learn more about Local Solutions to Global Warming and to read the bill in its entirety, please visit: www.futurewise.org/LocalSolutions.

We urge the Legislature to pass this bill and support local governments so we can stop adding fuel to the fire and before we all get burned.

Dave Somers is a Snohomish County Council member, representing District 5. Valerie Steel owns Greening Properties, a real estate firm in Everett.

Native Plant Society Course 2008

2008-02-25T08:13:00.000-08:00

WA Native Plant Society stewardship course this Spring in Everett. I wanted to let
you know about it in case you or a co-worker, friend or neighbor might be interested in learning about native plants, local westside ecosystems and restoring them. I've enclosed the news release and a flyer.

The course runs Fridays, April 4 - June 6 from 8:30am-4:30pm.
Applications are due by March 12 at 5pm, It's 100 hours of free, expert
training in exchange for 100 hours of volunteer service restoring or
monitoring urban forests, wetlands, or streamsides plus participating in
some community educational events.

Please feel free to pass on the information. Thanks for helping spread
the word!

Donna Gleisner, coordinator
Native Plant Stewardship Program
Snohomish County
425-252-4185

Step to Make State Greener

2008-02-20T20:22:00.000-08:00

Bill orders firm steps to make state 'greener'
It targets miles driven, gases emitted, boosts earth-friendly jobs
By LISA STIFFLER AND CHRIS McGANN
P-I REPORTERS

After last-minute, closed-door deal-making that included arm-twisting by Gov. Chris Gregoire, the state House took a step Tuesday toward ushering in what some are calling the "sustainable revolution."

Brushing up against a deadline for bill passage, lawmakers approved legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions and provide more "green economy" jobs. It would prepare the state for a regional climate initiative in which pollution rights potentially worth billions of dollars could be traded.

The legislation would provide a framework and goals, including one to cut the number of miles driven by state residents. Details would be worked out later.

Drawing parallels to the Industrial Revolution at the turn of the 19th century, those for and against the legislation predicted big changes in the economy as cities, states and nations try to slash their greenhouse gas emissions. The pollutants are blamed for warming the planet, resulting in higher sea levels, shrinking glaciers and more wildfires.

"We are moving into a sustainable age, and all those industrial folks are worried, but at this point, they're basically just worried about the unknown," said Rep. Hans Dunshee, a Snohomish Democrat and prime sponsor of the legislation.

"There is tremendous opportunity for Washington businesses and Washington workers," said Becky Kelley of the nonprofit Washington Environmental Council. "There are good jobs to be had. There's economic development to be accomplished. That's a very hopeful message."

Others saw the situation differently.

"I'm a little bit more cynical than that," said House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis. He pointed to unfilled promises of a booming biodiesel industry fueled with Washington-grown canola.

"The sound bite is great," DeBolt said. "The implementation is different."

"We've got big changes coming our way, and they're going to be really, really expensive," warned Grant Nelson of the Association of Washington Business. "Consumers should be ready for the prices of their goods and services and electricity -- which has been historically lower than most any other state in the nation -- brace yourself for some significant cost increases."

The legislation, which Gregoire supports, now goes to the Senate, where approval is expected.

Gregoire got involved at the last minute when it appeared that the legislation was bogged down over how much power was to be granted to the state Ecology Department to take action to meet climate-change goals. The final version would reduce the department's authority.

A prime goal of the bill is to prepare the state for working with the Western Climate Initiative, a coalition of seven states and two Canadian provinces trying to cut greenhouse gas emissions regionally.

This summer, initiative members will negotiate a regional, market-based approach for cutting carbon dioxide. It likely will be a cap-and-trade system that sets emissions limits and allows polluters to barter for the right to pollute above those limits. State lawmakers must approve the system before Washington participates.

With Tuesday's legislation, "we are giving the negotiators the strongest hand possible so they can design a cap and trade that works for the Washington economy while reducing the negative impacts of global warming," said Cliff Traisman, lobbyist for Washington Conservation Voters and the Washington Environmental Council.

House Bill 2815 would give the Ecology Department the authority to require the state's largest polluters to report their emissions beginning in 2010, a key component of cap and trade.

The reporting rules would apply to at least 80 businesses and utilities, including refineries, pulp and paper mills, cement kilns, lumber mills, large manufacturers and food processors.

The reporting rules also apply to motor vehicle fleets producing at least 2,500 tons of carbon dioxide, which equals about 250,000 gallons of fuel burned annually. That includes truck and delivery fleets, rental car companies, phone and cable companies and government-agency fleets.

How much these different entities would be allowed to pollute will be hammered out by the Western Climate Initiative.

One of the biggest battles over the legislation was waged by the timber and agriculture industries. Because plants and trees capture carbon dioxide, lobbyist for those industries asked for their sectors to be given credit explicitly for those benefits.

"We are not emitters. We are net positive for carbon. We help make up for others." John Stuhlmiller, director of state affairs for the Washington Farm Bureau.

But Rep. Dunshee said he didn't want to establish specific rules before the whole thing is worked on by the Western Climate Initiative.

Another controversial matter was a set of goals for reducing the number of vehicle miles driven by state residents, which could take some of the pressure off industry for reducing emissions. Critics questioned the logic of a total-miles-traveled approach for cutting carbon dioxide.

"Vehicle miles traveled does not distinguish between a hybrid and a Hummer," said Todd Myers, environmental director for the Washington Policy Center, a conservative think tank.

The legislation also sets a goal of increasing the number of "green economy" jobs to 25,000 by 2020 by investing in worker training. There are currently as many as 6,000 workers in that sector in the Puget Sound region, said Steve Gerritson, a green technology expert with Enterprise Seattle, a nonprofit promoting job growth.

"This is just exploding, this particular sector," Gerritson said.

He gave much of the credit to sustained high oil prices. Environmentalists say the creation of a cap-and-trade market will spur it on further.

"The whole idea here is getting the market to work and to create incentives" by limiting emissions, said Kelley of the Washington Environmental Council. "We're talking about remaking the economy of the nation, the whole globe."

AT A GLANCE

House Bill 2815 lays an important foundation for addressing climate change statewide. The House approved it 64-31 Tuesday and moved it to the Senate. Gov. Chris Gregoire supports the legislation. Here's what it would do:

Require the state to meet greenhouse-gas reduction goals set last year.

Give the state Ecology Department the authority to require the largest producers of greenhouse gases to report their emissions beginning in 2010.

Instruct Ecology to come back to lawmakers later this year with the state's part of the Western Climate Initiative's plan for reducing carbon dioxide release (likely some form of "cap and trade").

Create an initiative for increasing the number of clean-energy jobs through job training.

Set statewide goals for cutting the amount of miles driven per person.

P-I reporter Lisa Stiffler can be reached at 206-448-8042 or lisastiffler@seattlepi.com. Read her blog on the environment at datelineearth.com.

Storm Water Poisoning Puget Sound?

2008-02-18T19:56:00.001-08:00

Storm water poisoning Puget Sound

Associated Press

OLYMPIA -- Pollution pours into Puget Sound every time it rains.

There's oil and grease from parking lots, driveways and roads, fertilizers and pesticides from lawns, heavy metals from the wear and tear on brakes and tires, and animal waste.

Storm water runoff is considered the No. 1 pollution problem for the urban Puget Sound region.

"In the face of population growth and development, storm water may be the biggest challenge we face in the effort to clean up and protect Puget Sound," state Department of Ecology director Jay Manning told The Olympian newspaper.

The state Department of Ecology has estimated that storm water runoff sends more contamination into Puget Sound than any other pollution pathway. It delivers 22,580 metric tons of oil and petroleum each year, more than 20 times the volume of direct oil spills entering the sound.

Toxic storm water is a problem for about one-third of the state's water bodies that don't meet federal Clean Water Act standards. Marine sediments near storm water discharge pipes in urban bays are among the most polluted in Puget Sound.

Severe storms, like the one that walloped Western Washington in early December, create storm water runoff that overwhelms regional sewage treatment plants, sending untreated human waste into Puget Sound.

Storm water erodes stream banks, especially after heavy rains. It dumps sediment in the water and scours gravel from streams, hampering efforts to recover salmon and the 40 other imperiled species in Puget Sound.

As heavy metals and other pollutants build up in salmon, they have trouble reproducing or fending off predators. The accumulating toxins place humans at risk when they eat contaminated fish and shellfish.

"We need to address storm water pollution, if we are to have any hope of restoring the Puget Sound ecosystem," said Bruce Wishart, policy director for the conservation group People for Puget Sound.

Forested property and other undeveloped land soaks up most rainfall. Cut down trees, scrape away and pave over the vegetation, add rooftops, parking lots and driveways, and the storm water problems mount.

"Once you've cleared the site, you've lost the battle," said Tom Holz, an Olympia-area storm water engineer. "It's very unlikely we will meet Gov. Chris Gregoire's goal of a clean, healthy Puget Sound without some radical changes in land use."

Most new development in the region must capture storm water, then either treat and infiltrate it back into the ground, or release it slowly. That practice has been in vogue only since the mid-1980s.

While new storm water management techniques are debated and litigated, older developments send the storm water they generate to the nearest ditch or stream. "Older developments and neighborhoods are sitting out there like a bleeding sore," Holz said.

There's no official estimate of what it would cost to retrofit older developments to control storm water.

Simply replacing a storm water pipe serving one development, Tanglewilde near Lacey, with grass-lined ditches to soak up the water would cost an estimated $750,000.

The storm water from Tanglewilde contributes bacteria and nitrogen to lower Henderson Inlet, a public and environmental health problem that makes shellfish unfit to eat. It also contributes to oxygen-robbing algal blooms in the marine waters of South Sound.

There are hundreds of developments with similar storm water problems stretching from Olympia to Bellingham. The state highway system is another major source of storm water runoff.

The damage and economic costs of storm water runoff in the Puget Sound region will total at least $1 billion in the next decade, according to a 2006 study by the University of Washington's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Those costs include degraded water quality, landslides, flooding, shellfish harvest closures and habitat losses and repairs.

"We can't keep stripping land bare and then paving it over," Wishart said. "We need to do land-use planning in a different way that takes into account water quality."

LID Storm Management Workshop

2008-02-07T10:54:00.000-08:00

Greetings! We would like to invite you to our first LID stormwater management workshop. Please forward this email to your colleagues or associates who would be interested in attending.

City of Puyallup and Washington State University-Puyallup

Low Impact Development

Stormwater Research and Demonstration Workshop

March 6, 2008

WSU Puyallup Allmendinger Center 8 AM – 1PM

Join us to determine research needs and help develop research plans to assess the performance of low impact development stormwater management practices at WSU Puyallup. ATTENDANCE IS LIMITED and pre-registration is required. So please register for “Puyallup Event” at http://www.ogrd.wsu.edu/workshops.asp

8:00-8:25: Registration

8:25- 8:30: Welcome, Jon Newkirk, Director, WSU - Puyallup Research

and Extension Center

8:30-8:45: Overview of WSU Puyallup Storm Water retrofit project,

Curtis Hinman, WSU Extension Faculty

8:45-9:30: Overview of Low Impact Development Research in the

Puget Sound, Curtis Hinman, WSU Extension Faculty

9:30-10:30: Overview of Rain Garden Research in Wisconsin, Nick Balster,

Assistant Professor, Department of Soil Science, University of

Wisconsin

10:30-10:45: Break and site walk around

11:00-Noon: Small group research brain-storming

Noon-12:45: Lunch provided

12:45-1:00: Wrap-up

1pm: Departure

City of Puyallup/WSU Stormwater Management Implementation Grant Project Summary:

The City of Puyallup, in partnership with the WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center has received a Department of Ecology grant to significantly reduce stormwater volumes and improve water quality treatment at the Center using low impact development (LID) management practices.

The retrofit project includes a significant research / monitoring component to measure the impacts of various LID practices. We are inviting interested parties to take place in a collaborative planning process to gather input and outline specific areas where research is needed.

The Center has been in operation for over 100 years. No stormwater flow control or treatment exists on the site and stormwater is discharged directly from these surfaces to Woodland Creek which confluences with Clark’s Creek and eventually the Puyallup River. Clark’s Creek is a salmon bearing stream and is a 303(d) water body. LID integrated management practices including bioretention and permeable paving will be installed to reduce impacts to receiving waters, as well as provide performance monitoring and public education for the Puget Sound region. The location of the WSU Puyallup Center affords the Puget Sound region with a sustainable opportunity to continually research and demonstrate LID stormwater management methods by viewing a system at work.

Tanyalee Erwin

Project Manager

Washington State University Puyallup Research and Extension Center

Solutions for the region; programs for its people

7612 Pioneer Way E.

Puyallup, WA 98371-4998

253-445-4504

253.445.4571 fax

terwin@wsu.edu

http://puyallup.wsu.edu

Advanced Buildings Core Performance

2008-02-06T09:12:00.000-08:00

February 28, 8:00AM - 12:30PM
Snohomish PUD

Everett, Washington

Participants in this half-day workshop will learn how to use Advanced Buildings Core Performance. Core Performance is the enhanced prescriptive path for commercial buildings that results better energy performance without the time and expense of modeling.

The Core Performance Guide includes a set of strategies, related to building envelope, lighting, HVAC, power systems and controls, that when taken together provide a prescriptive path for design teams to create buildings up to 30% more energy efficient than ASHRAE 90.1 2004.

Core Performance has also been adopted by USGBC as a prescriptive option for up to five LEED points. Presented will be the energy-saving benefits of using Core Performance as well as non-energy benefits such as corporate productivity, occupant satisfaction, risk management and environmental stewardship.

Case study examples will focus on the Core Performance path to high performance buildings. The Advance Building Core Performance Guide, a $95 value is included in the $99 workshop fee.

Register for this event!

http://www.advancedbuildings.net/training.php

Wastershed Steward Snohomish County

2008-02-05T12:18:00.000-08:00

Craig Young, South County Watershed Steward,
Snohomish County Surface Water Management

Craig Young has been a watershed steward for Snohomish County for 17 years. He is a subcommittee member for the American Public Works Association working toward developing new standards and regulations, and propose projects and activities to achieve water quality and sustainable watershed health.

He co-founded, is on the executive board, and has been Project Technical Advisory Group leader on the Sustainable Development Task Force for 5 years, promoting Low Impact Development (LID).