Kitchen Light

Is your kitchen glaring at you?

By Domenica Marchetti
Thursday, February 18, 2010; PG04

Light has been on my mind a lot lately. Perhaps it's all that sunshine glancing off the snowdrifts recently deposited by Mother Nature.

Probably, though, it's because whenever I'm in my kitchen, I am pinned beneath the clinical glare of a monstrous 45-by-16-inch fluorescent light fixture situated over my island. Just a few feet away, a second one (22 by 22 inches) stares down from above the sink. The effect is far from soothing, and in fact rather unsettling, as though my kitchen were a morgue and my island an autopsy table.

The good news, as I contemplate a kitchen overhaul in the (hopefully) near future, is that lighting in kitchens has changed a lot since the previous owner of my home remodeled the space some 15 years ago.

"We're seeing a lot of kitchens being created with layers of light," says Ken Anderson, president of Task Lighting in Kearney, Neb. Those "layers" come from myriad sources: general lighting through small recessed ceiling fixtures; task lighting over the sink or range and under cabinets; and accent lighting. "Every time you turn on a switch you can change the look of your room," Anderson says.

Kitchen designer Mary Galloway of Onesta Design in Alexandria agrees, saying she views the kitchen as a place of many scenes set, in large part, by how it is lit. "You think about someone cooking, someone eating, someone snacking at midnight," Galloway says. " . . . Your lighting needs change depending on the scene."

Recessed lighting, which provides the general lighting in many kitchens these days, has come a long way, says designer Jennifer Gilmer of Jennifer Gilmer Kitchen & Bath in Chevy Chase. Most types now use smaller cans than the once-standard six-inch size, and incandescent bulbs have been replaced by more efficient lights.

Indeed, just as we've seen the proliferation of tiny, bright LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs on trees and roofs during the holidays, so are these energy-efficient lights making their way into the kitchen, not only in recessed lighting but also in task and accent lights.

"They produce a tremendous amount of light, and they're very small," says Anderson, whose company makes numerous LED fixtures, including under-cabinet and interior cabinet systems. While they run at least twice the price of their incandescent counterparts, Anderson says, under-cabinet LED bulbs use about one-fifth the energy and last up to 50,000 hours, compared with a typical 800-hour lifetime of incandescent ones.

More and more kitchens are also adding accent lights -- those that draw attention to a particular appliance or decorative piece, the inside of a cabinet, or the so-called toe-kick space just above the floor -- though the latter seems to have its detractors. "I would say that 50 percent of our customers love the toe-space lighting, while the other 50 percent see no point in it," says Anderson. Its primary function (and appeal) is that it can softly light the kitchen at night, he says.

Pendant lights continue to be popular. They are "a good way to add color and some bling," Anderson says. Gilmer says the sheer variety in styles makes pendant lighting a good option for almost any kitchen. In fact, it was a pendant light that helped solve a puzzle for one of Gilmer's clients. "This particular person has contemporary tastes, but we needed something that would fit in with the traditional look of their Georgetown brownstone." In the end she chose a pair of spare, vessel-shaped frosted glass and chrome pendants to hang above the sink and adjacent cream, black and gray mottled granite countertop.

Gilmer is also fond of track lighting, which she says is "making a comeback. . . . They're sleeker and they run off a thinner track." It is a practical choice for apartments where recessed lighting may not be an option, she says.

The question to consider with all these lighting options is how do you manage them? The answer, increasingly, is with a wireless radio-controlled system. It is a costly feature: Prices for such systems start at about $500, not including the cost of components such as dimmers and switch plates or labor. But Galloway says these systems are especially energy-efficient, and they allow you to program any number of settings -- prepping, dining, entertaining and so on -- to achieve the desired effect with one click. "Because there's more lighting coming into kitchens, you almost need to have a system like that in place," she says, "otherwise you'll end up with a bank of 15 switches on your wall."

Though even that would beat my current, perpetual "autopsy" setting.

Domenica Marchetti is the author of "Big Night In" and "The Glorious Soups and Stews of Italy." Follow her on Twitter (@domenicacooks).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/16/AR2010021604630.html

Upward Mobility - An E-Bike in China

A member of China's People's Liberation Army rides an electric bicycle in Beijing. The "e-bikes" are especially popular in big cities, where urban realities provide at least some disincentive to car ownership.

Photo Credit: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg

Putting the brakes on pedal power
Bicycles give way to automobiles, but e-bikes keep two-wheel tradition alive

By Keith B. Richburg and Zhang Jie
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Of all the signs of China's growing prosperity -- the gleaming new office towers, the glitzy shopping malls and designer boutiques -- perhaps the most visible is on Beijing's streets and highways, where noxious traffic jams have replaced the free flow of bicycles.

Domestic sales for cars and sport-utility vehicles passed a million a month in November, making China the world's new automobile capital, at the expense of one of the world's great bike cultures.

Bicycles were ubiquitous in Beijing not long ago -- the preferred mode of transportation for millions of Chinese. Major streets boasted wide bike lanes, sidewalks carried ample parking space for bikes, and bikes usually had the right of way at intersections. But lately, public space for bicycles has been shrinking under the tyranny of the car.

"The drivers are very aggressive. They won't wait for you for a second," said Wang Litang, 65, a retired government worker who still takes his singing thrush on long bike rides, the cage dangling from the handlebars, a common Chinese practice. "The road belongs to them now."

But the battle of the byways is not over yet, as two-wheeling enthusiasts have a popular new competitor in the marketplace that is giving the car a run for its mileage. It's the electric bicycle, or e-bike, which operates on a rechargeable battery. While China is on target to sell more than 12 million cars this year, it is also on track to sell 20 million e-bikes, if trends hold from 2007 and 2008, when 20 million e-bikes were sold each year. E-bikes are proving most popular in Beijing and other big cities, where some commuters are realizing that owning a car may bring a certain prestige as a sign of affluence but also comes with gasoline prices, parking fees, the odd traffic ticket and the notorious traffic jams.

"My family bought our first car in the 1990s, but we sold our car last year," said Bai Liping, 45, a saleswoman in an insurance company and an e-bike rider. "Having a car is not that convenient, compared with an e-bike."

Besides the lower costs for parking, and the convenience of whipping quickly through intersections, she said she spends far less on maintenance than she did on a car. E-bikes need their batteries recharged overnight, and the battery typically lasts about a year before needing to be replaced.

They are also relatively inexpensive, from about $219 for the smallest models to about $366 for the largest, fastest variety.

"The real sweet spot will be if China's e-bike explosion leads to the development of electric cars and the infrastructure for charging these e-vehicles," said Alex Wang of the Natural Resources Defense Council office in Beijing, and an avid e-biker. "China is probably better positioned to make this leap than any other country in the world."

But interviews with several e-bike owners showed that convenience, not the environment, was foremost in riders' minds. "It only takes us 15 minutes from here to our store," said Zhang Shu Mei, 39, who was at Beijing's Eastern Suburban Market loading up her e-bike with goods for her grocery store. "We feel freezing riding on this e-bike in the cold wind. But there's no other choice. What would we ride if we don't use this?"

The growing popularity of e-bikes also seems to be threatening the dominant position of traditional bicycles, at least in the big cities. According to the China Bicycle Association, the peak for traditional bicycle sales in China was in 1988, when 40 million bikes were sold. That number has steadily dropped, and it has stabilized at around 20 million locally, with more Chinese bikes sold for export.

The nature of the bicycles being sold here has changed, said Niu Qing, general manager of the bicycle association. Urban Chinese are increasingly buying mountain bikes and multi-geared bikes, to be used for weekend recreation, instead of the old-fashioned commuter models.

"The bike is transforming gradually from purely a traffic tool to an entertainment and body-building measure," Niu said, adding that predictions of the death of the bicycle in China may be premature. "The industry is not going into a nose dive like people think," he said. "It will never vanish."

There may be one unintended side effect of the explosion of e-bikes and fewer people going to work through pedal power: According to the Health Ministry, 22 percent of Chinese adults are overweight and 7.1 percent are obese. In the cities, those numbers rise to 30 percent overweight and 12 percent obese. The statistics mark a dramatic rise from the 1990s, the ministry said.

"People are lazier than before," said Jin Shan, director of the sports culture research center at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences. "Before, no matter how far it was, the bike was your only choice. Changing from bikes to cars and e-vehicles is one reason Chinese people are getting fatter."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/14/AR2009121403411.html

More Electric Vehicles for the USPS

The USPS fleet consumed 121 million gallons of fuel in 2008, costing the agency about $1.3 billion. (Nikki Kahn/the Washington Post)

Correction to This Article
This article incorrectly said that the Postal Service spent roughly $1.3 billion in 2008 on fuel. The amount was for fuel and maintenance costs.


Time for Postal Service fleet to go green, lawmaker says

By Ed O'Keefe
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 17, 2009; A31

From horse-drawn wagons to stage coaches, trains and 18-wheelers, the U.S. Postal Service has used virtually every mode of transportation to deliver the mail. But a New York lawmaker says it's time for the mail service to start using at least 20,000 electric vehicles to stamp out the agency's environmental waste.

The Postal Service said it operates the largest civilian fleet of vehicles in the world, with about 220,000 vehicles traveling more than 1.2 billion miles each year. The agency's entire fleet consumed 121 million gallons of fuel in 2008, costing it roughly $1.3 billion, officials said. Agency vehicles average 10.4 miles a gallon since most drive slowly and make frequent stops between mailboxes.

Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) wants to put the postal fleet to use during off-hours to help alleviate the nation's overworked power grids. He introduced a bill Wednesday that would give eventually give $2 billion to the Energy Department and Postal Service to convert current mail trucks or manufacture new ones that use vehicle-to-grid technology or V2G, as it's known.

The technology allows electricity to flow from plug-in electric or battery-powered vehicles to power lines, feeding excess electricity to the vehicles when they're not in use. In this case, postal vehicles would become temporary storage units for electricity. When necessary, power grids could retrieve electricity from the vehicles.

Delaware began rewarding consumers who use V2G this year. It compensates them for electricity sent back to the grid at the same rate they pay for electricity they consume.

An August report by the Postal Service inspector general said Serrano's proposal would be feasible if the government provided funding. The start-up cost for the project would be $65 million, Serrano aides said.

"We have to act quickly to move the USPS to sustainability, both in their operations and for the sake of the environment," said Serrano, chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that handles USPS matters. The Postal Service will lead the world in electric vehicle use if the bill passes, he said. Aides noted that the bill's introduction was timed to coincide with President Obama's trip to Copenhagen for the global climate change conference.

The Postal Service knows firsthand about the effect of the "green" movement. Revenue and mail volume have dropped significantly in recent years as Americans opt for eco-friendly, paperless online options.

"There is no better time for this move, and I look forward to making it happen," Serrano said.

The Postal Service first experimented with electric vehicles in 1899 as it started to phase out the horse and buggy, spokeswoman Sue Brennan said. Serrano's proposal is one of several that would make the postal fleet more eco-friendly, and the Postal Service is testing several electric or hybrid vehicles, Brennan said.

Thirty electric vans transport the mail to processing facilities near Serrano's district in New York City. More than 43,000 mail vehicles can run on alternative fuels, and 584 ethanol-powered trucks are in use in Minnesota, Brennan said. Some mail carriers in Arizona and Florida use bicycles to make deliveries, while other carriers in those states, California and the District have tested three-wheel electric vehicles. The T3 battery-powered vehicles can reach speeds of 12 miles an hour and carry a maximum 450 pounds of mail. Mail carriers have also tested hybrid vans produced by Ford and General Motors.

"This legislation uses the unique characteristics of the Postal Service's existing transportation network to rapidly increase the market for electric vehicles in the United States," said Ruth Y. Goldway, chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission. "It provides well-deserved support for the Postal Service and a reasoned plan for the simultaneous development of the electric grid and non-polluting automobiles."

The idea has also gotten a nod from organized labor.

"We'd be totally supportive," said James Sauber, chief of staff at the National Association of Letter Carriers.

"Considering the severity of the recession, it would be a win-win," Sauber added.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/16/AR2009121604163.html

Net Metering In Massachusetts

Mass. homeowners can now sell back electricity

By STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press Writer Steve Leblanc, Associated Press Writer – Mon Nov 30, 5:49 pm ET

BOSTON – Homeowners tired of paying high electricity bills can now turn the tables by selling excess electricity back to power companies at more lucrative rates.

The hitch? Homeowners need a way to generate power on their own, either by installing solar panels on their roofs or planting wind turbines on their property.

It's called "net metering," and beginning Tuesday, property owners can submit the applications needed to begin earning credits on their electricity bills if they generate more energy than they need on any given day or week.

To sweeten the deal, the state's 2008 Green Communities Act requires utility companies to pay their customers for the excess electricity at a retail rate rather than a lower wholesale rate.

Property owners still would need to be connected to the utilities-owned grid for cloudy days or during the dark, cold winter months when they likely will use more energy from a power company than they would produce on their own.

"Your utility is tracking how much energy you are buying and how much energy you are delivering back," said Ann Berwick, the state's undersecretary for energy. "You'll have meters tracking it in both directions."

The law also lets customers allocate their credits to other customers, allowing those without the ability to generate solar or wind power to take advantage of the change.

The benefits aren't limited just to homeowners. The law lets businesses and even cities and towns sell excess electricity back to utilities. Several municipalities are moving ahead on solar and wind turbine projects.

Before the change, net metering was limited to solar arrays or wind turbines capable of generating just 60 kilowatts or less, and customers were able to sell their power back to the grid only at the wholesale rate.

Under the new law, customers who own wind turbines or solar power installations up to 2 megawatts — even larger for municipal and state installations — can sell excess power back to the grid at the higher retail rate.

The state is working on another plan to bring down the cost of electricity — this time by saving power rather than increasing energy production.

The state Department of Public Utilities is weighing proposals requiring electric and gas utilities to ramp up their energy efficiency efforts.

That includes providing incentives for energy consumers to buy high efficiency lights, appliances, heating and air conditioning, and insulation and air sealing.

The changes also call on the utilities to boost their outreach efforts, especially to minority communities and small businesses.

Like net metering, the focus on energy efficiency is part of the Green Communities Act. The proposed changes are designed to help reverse the state's electricity demand.

Currently that demand increases at a rate of about 1 percent annually. Under the changes — set for final approval by the end of January — that demand would decrease by about 1.4 percent a year.

That's enough of a savings for the state to meet 30 percent of its electricity needs through improved energy efficiency, rather than additional power generation, by 2020, officials said.

A similar set of natural gas efficiency programs are expected to save $1.2 billion in energy costs over the next three years.

Gov. Deval Patrick said the changes will save electric and natural gas customers up to $6.5 billion over the next three years while creating new jobs.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091130/ap_on_bi_ge/us_renewable_energy_massachusetts

July 02, 2008 - For immediate release:

Governor Patrick Signs Energy Bill Promoting Cost Savings, Renewable and Clean Energy Technology

Legislation will hold down electric bills, promote the development of renewable energy, and stimulate the clean energy industry

BOSTON – Wednesday, July 2, 2008 – Governor Deval Patrick today signed the Green Communities Act, a comprehensive energy reform bill resulting from close collaboration with House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, who filed the bill in 2007, and Senate President Therese Murray, who led the Senate to pass its version in January.

“Today, Massachusetts has taken a giant step forward toward a clean energy future,” said Governor Deval Patrick, who signed the bill at a ceremony at the Museum of Science. “This legislation will reduce electric bills, promote the development of renewable energy, and stimulate the clean energy industry that is taking root here in the Commonwealth.”

“This new law puts Massachusetts in the lead nationally in crafting bold, comprehensive energy reform," said House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi. "This law will spark a significant increase in the use of renewable energy that will significantly curtail our use of fossil fuels, improve our environment and save us all money in the long run. Working together, we in the House, Senate and Patrick administration have much to be proud of."

“With the cost of energy skyrocketing, this legislation comes at a critical time and puts Massachusetts at the forefront of clean energy policies and the development of alternative fuel sources,” Senate President Therese Murray said. “With this landmark legislation, the Commonwealth will tip the scales away from fossil fuels in favor of more efficient and affordable energy alternatives. Emerging technologies and conservation are major parts of this effort, and Massachusetts will lead the way.”

Lower Energy Costs
Under the new law, the state will make energy efficiency programs compete in the market with traditional energy supply. Utility companies (NSTAR, National Grid, Western Mass. Electric, etc.) will be required to purchase all available energy efficiency improvements that cost less than it does to generate power, ultimately saving money on consumers’ electricity bills.

Utility companies will offer rebates and other incentives for customers to upgrade lighting, air conditioning, and industrial equipment to more efficient models, whenever those incentives cost less than generating the electricity it would take to power their older, less-efficient equipment.

Existing efficiency programs have already shown savings at 3 cents per kilowatt-hour versus 9 cents for power generation. Customers who take advantage of these incentives will save money as they reduce how much energy they use. The incentives will encourage more efficient energy use, lowering the overall demand on the system and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Promoting Renewable Energy
The Green Communities Act promotes renewable energy in a number of ways. The law requires utility companies to enter into 10- to 15-year contracts with renewable energy developers to help developers of clean energy technology obtain financing to build their projects. The agreements will target Massachusetts-based projects.

The law also makes it possible for people who own wind turbines and solar-generated power to sell their excess electricity into the grid (“net-metering”) at favorable rates, for installations of up to 2 megawatts (up from 60 kilowatts currently).

The measure also authorizes utility companies to own solar electric installations they put on their customers’ roofs – a practice that was previously prohibited – up to 50 MW apiece after two years. If utilities take full advantage of this new opportunity, it will poise Massachusetts to meet Governor Patrick’s goal to harness 250 megawatts of installed solar power by 2017.

Making State and Municipal Power Greener
A new Green Communities program comes into effect under the new law, offering benefits to municipalities that make a commitment to efficiency and renewable energy. The state Division of Energy Resources, which is expanded and elevated into the Department of Energy Resources, will now include a Green Communities Division to provide technical and financial assistance to municipalities for energy efficiency and renewable energy efforts. The program will receive $10 million in funding from a variety of sources, including emissions allowance trading programs, utility efficiency charges, alternative compliance payments generated by the Renewable Portfolio Standard, and the Renewable Energy Trust Fund.

In addition to these provisions, the new energy law doubles the rate of increase in the Renewable Portfolio Standard from 0.5 percent per year to 1 percent per year, with no cap. As a result, utilities and other electricity suppliers will be required to obtain renewable power equal to 4 percent of sales in 2009 – rising to 15 percent in 2020 and 25 percent in 2030, and more thereafter. In addition, the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust Fund, which is administered by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, comes under the direction of a new governing board chaired by the Commissioner of the Department of Energy Resources.

The law also requires the State Board of Building Regulations and Standards to adopt, as its minimum standard, the latest edition of the International Energy Conservation Code as part of the State Building Code. This will keep Massachusetts building standards at the highest international levels of energy efficiency.

The Green Communities Act gives final legislative approval to the Commonwealth’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Substantially all of the emissions allowances issued under the program will be auctioned – in accordance with the policy announced by Governor Patrick in January 2007 – allowing the proceeds to go toward reimbursing municipalities that lose property tax receipts as a result of RGGI mandates, funding Green Communities, providing no-interest loans for municipal energy efficiency projects, and promoting energy conservation.

“With this legislation, Massachusetts takes its rightful place as a national leader in energy reform and environmental protection,” said Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles. “This legislation will help businesses and residential consumers fight rising energy costs, reap the benefits of renewable energy, and grow our clean energy industry.”

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3pressrelease&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Agov3&b=pressrelease&f=080702_bill_energy_clean&csid=Agov3

Rain Gardens

A little piece of a greener world
Rain gardens are planted at Habitat building site in D.C. to cut runoff pollution

By Miranda S. Spivack
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Sarah Fulton once worked as a social worker, trying to help clients change their ways, but now that she's retired, she is trying to create tiny ecosystems that could help change the world.

Fulton is one of three volunteers who last month helped plant a rain garden at a Habitat for Humanity townhouse development in Deanwood in Northeast Washington.

At the development, volunteer construction crews have been using environmentally sensitive building methods and materials as much as possible. The goal is to create an affordable green community of 53 houses on what had been 4.3 vacant acres off Central Avenue near the Prince George's County line.

Installing rain gardens, instead of using more traditional methods of managing storm water, is one way to meet Habitat's goals of building green and promoting low-impact lifestyles.

The gardens comprise an array of water-loving plants that filter runoff headed for the region's water supply and the Chesapeake Bay. Each garden is expected to handle about 600 gallons of runoff for every inch of rainfall. Without the gardens, the runoff would go directly into the District's storm sewer system.

"If we only build housing, shopping centers and highways, we don't have plants to soak up water," Fulton said as she explained her growing interest in rain gardens and their effect on the environment. The garden is the second on the site, and Habitat plans to plant more.

Unfiltered storm water runoff, which carries dirt, gravel, chemicals, motor oil, farm runoff and other gunk into waterways, is a leading source of water pollution in the Washington area.

In the District, runoff poses special problems because, as in many older jurisdictions, sewage and storm water mostly run through the same sewers. In a heavy rainstorm, storm water can overwhelm the system and send untreated sewage into local waterways.

Dick Brinker, a developer in Prince George's, was among the first in the nation to use rain gardens, when in 1990 he decided to forgo the usual retention pond and install rain gardens in the Somerset development near Bowie. Subsequent studies have shown rain gardens can reduce runoff substantially. At the Somerset development, an analysis found that the gardens helped the development cut down its storm water runoff by about 70 percent.

"They can be very effective," said Delores Milmoe, a lobbyist for the Audubon Naturalist Society who helped organize the planting at the Habitat site.

A fortuitous phone call from Milmoe to Habitat in early fall connected the two groups at a time when Habitat construction chief Dave Gano was thinking about installing rain gardens. Milmoe, coming out of a long and unsuccessful battle to derail the Intercounty Connector highway in Montgomery and Prince George's counties, was looking for a new project for the society, a leading regional environmental organization.

Habitat spokeswoman Heather Phibbs said her organization, which sells its houses at cost and provides no-interest loans to buyers of moderate means, was pleased to have the assistance.

"Building a green home isn't just about the house itself but the land around it," Phibbs said.

The plants, topsoil and sand for rain gardens at the Habitat site were funded by the District Department of the Environment. Mulch was donated by Montgomery County, as were some plants. A major effort was made to include many plants native to the Washington area because they can do double duty, soaking up rainwater and helping local fauna.

One of the plants selected is turtlehead, which has dense, spiky leaves and white or lavender flowers. It not only loves water but also happens to be the only plant on which the threatened Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly will lay its eggs.

The plants most suitable for area rain gardens such as Habitat's cost $200 to $400 per garden, Milmoe said, depending on where they are purchased. Audubon has helped install many rain gardens of about 35 square feet each at several other sites in the region; the Habitat gardens are a bit larger.

The rain gardens were designed by Habitat volunteer Yungling Mei, a local architect, to run down slopes between two houses. Runoff from roofs and the street will be sent through pipes to the garden, which will absorb as much as possible and send the excess flowing through pipes into a creek that empties into the Anacostia River.

To install the garden, Milmoe enlisted Fulton, Gayle Countryman-Mills, a retired middle school teacher, and Marney Bruce, a volunteer with the Maryland Native Plant Society. They spent about four hours on a misty mid-November day planting and mulching, following a map Fulton drew to show what would go where.

The gardeners offered a primer as they warmed up indoors after their work.

First, determine where water runs downhill; be prepared to dig to about 18 inches; fill with soil mix suitable to the plants selected. Plants should be grouped together. Plants should like lots of water but be able to endure dry spells. If possible, plants should be native to the area.

Once the garden is established, "you don't have to do much except weed," Milmoe said.

If planting a rain garden seems too daunting, there are other ways to slow down and filter runoff, Bruce said, such as directing a house's downspouts away from the street or using a rain barrel to capture runoff, which can be used to water plants.

"It is instant gratification," said Countryman-Mills of her volunteer gardening. And it can be done with minimal intrusiveness. "Nobody has to know you were there."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/01/AR2009120102363.html

Green Development In The 'Burbs

Remaking St. Charles in a shade of green
Developer to test suburban Md. market for energy efficiency

By Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 30, 2009

First came the "green" jobs, green buildings and green energy.

Now Southern Maryland will get a green city, where residents will live in energy-saving homes, shop in energy-saving stores and walk under energy-saving streetlights as a new plant next door generates carbon-friendly solar power.

This is the vision to revitalize St. Charles, a planned community of 12,000 homes and 5 million square feet of offices, stores and industrial parks in Waldorf now showing its age.

American Community Properties Trust, a developer, will announce plans Monday to double the community's size while reducing its carbon footprint through green design and, officials hope, technology that could create thousands of green jobs.

"What we're trying to do is reinvent the balance of the community," said Steve Griessel, the company's chief executive. "When the green thing first started, people said, 'We're going to put green icing on the cake.' We want to build the thing from the ground up as a green cake."

The first homes in St. Charles rose 40 years ago. It was to be the next Columbia, a planned community offering neighborhood schools, playgrounds, walking paths, lakes and a shopping center. Griessel said he hopes the new niche will revive a development that, despite Charles County's rapid growth, has become stagnant.

American Community Properties, Southern Maryland's biggest developer, has struggled with flat housing prices and losses that led to a corporate restructuring last year, and Griessel said he expects home prices in St. Charles -- now from $235,000 to $400,000 -- to remain depressed. By going green on such a large scale, "we want to put ourselves on the map," he said.

The question is whether a smaller carbon footprint will sell in a middle-class bedroom suburb 22 miles from Washington.

"This is not a handful of people in Takoma Park," said Malcolm D. Woolf, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's top energy adviser, referring to the Montgomery County neighborhood known for its progressive views. "It's a market test of the economic power of sustainability in a conservative part of Maryland, a mainstream community."

The state is offering no financial support to the developer, although O'Malley (D), who has made conservation a centerpiece of his energy policy, is scheduled to speak at the announcement Monday.

The green city would dovetail with another developer's plans to build a 10-megawatt solar facility in St. Charles. The $35 million plant on 75 acres would be built by Competitive Power Ventures, a Silver Spring company that also has proposed a natural gas plant on a neighboring site in St. Charles's industrial area. The company is trying to secure financing for both projects.

If all three projects come to fruition, the future for those living in St. Charles would look like this: low-flush, low-flow toilets and showers; better-than-normal insulation; recycled carpets; and government-certified, Energy Star-rated appliances. Energy-saving windows would also be in every home, alongside "smart" thermostats that allow the utility company to lower the air conditioning by a few degrees when energy demand is peaking and prices are highest, Griessel said.

And the homes, starting with a neighborhood scheduled to break ground in January, will bear the country's most recognized seal of approval for green buildings, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, stamp. Barrels will collect rainwater to irrigate yards and flush toilets. Over 10 years, the technology will result in lower heat and electricity bills in the 9,100-acre community, which has approval for 11,000 more homes, townhouses and apartments and 5 million square feet on 4,000 remaining acres, Griessel said.

Griessel said home prices will not rise to compensate for the cost of new technology; the developer is cutting costs on the front end. American Community Properties will harvest the soil and trees it removes from building lots before they are graded, selling them to recycling companies that will use them for erosion control and roadbeds in St. Charles and elsewhere.

New office and retail space will get the same treatment. And public spaces will enjoy their own sustainable features, with farmers markets, community gardens and streets lit by light-emitting diodes, a technology that's becoming the standard for green lighting.

The developer, working with the Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, also plans to market energy-saving thermostats to owners of existing homes. It's a chance for the utility to target St. Charles for a series of conservation measures the state is requiring of all utilities, including audits and rebates on energy-saving appliances.

"We'll do a recruitment campaign in St. Charles, and the developer is helping to facilitate it," SMECO President Austin J. Slater Jr. said. If the Public Service Commission approves, the utility will test smart meters, which tell customers exactly when their rates are highest, in 1,000 new homes in St. Charles.

American Community Properties officials said they hope to create 20,000 green jobs for those building the new city. Workers could be trained through a program for the energy industry launched this year by the College of Southern Maryland.

"There's a lot of potential there," said the college's president, Bradley M. Gottfried.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/29/AR2009112902439.html

Green House Event - Somewhat Hype

This is a good example of what can be done if you have money but to me this is basically a gimmick when they say carbon neutral. Gimmicks got us into this mess trhough and it will probably take a few gimmicks to get us through it. Green wash hype none the less - this house has nothing on what was going on at the Mall in the Solar Decathlon.

A Green Scheme
House Built and Designed With the Planet In Mind Shows 'Eco' Can Be Beautiful

By Jura Koncius
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 8, 2009

Yes, the exterior siding is made from recycled materials, the roof of recycled metal and the floors of reclaimed wood. And there are dual-flush toilets (that will each save 6,000 gallons of water annually) in the five bathrooms of the CharityWorks GreenHouse opening Saturday in McLean.

But beyond the usual building blocks of green living, 18 local design firms have made the area's first carbon-neutral show house a stylish delight, using Earth-friendly furnishings such as sleek kitchen countertops made of crunched-up landfill materials, burnt-bamboo architectural molding, milk paint and a pair of shed antlers used as curtain tiebacks.

A team of builders, architects and designers created an upscale yet cozy Craftsman-style family home that will be open to the public for three weeks. It's a green trophy house, expected to use 80 percent less energy than a comparable new one, that's overflowing with ideas for an increasingly eco-aware population.

The brainchild of developer West Group and Green Spur, a Falls Church builder of energy-efficient projects, it was conceived as a model home of sustainable living. Builders took apart a worn-out 1960s brick ranch house (recycling virtually all the building materials elsewhere) and used the corner lot to erect a two-level, 4,000-square-foot house with four bedrooms, a spa and a lap pool. It also has a geothermal heating and cooling system, two green roofs and a "smart home" system that informs the homeowner via iPhone of how much energy is being consumed.

"A lot of people think that a green house has to be some sort of exotic spaceship," says Ralph Cunningham, a principal at Cunningham/Quill Architects, the D.C. firm that designed the home. "This house is an embassy for the green movement because it's in a fairly typical suburban setting and is full of basic solutions."

To bring the green-is-the-new-black message of the house to a broad audience, the organizers decided to turn the project into a show house. They asked local designers to participate and chose CharityWorks, which raises money for community organizations, as the beneficiary.

Designers received 10 pages of guidelines for shaping spaces that would enhance the "health, safety and welfare" of the home's future occupants. They were asked to use sustainable products and reuse, reduce and recycle. And they were cautioned to choose ecologically sound woods and paints with low levels of volatile organic compounds. The project called for energy-efficient appliances and fabrics colored with no harmful dyes or chlorine bleach. Extra points were given for using antiques or repurposed pieces with no shipping involved.

The result is a functional house that is full of surprises. Designers had to dig to find the greenest solutions. They reused curtains, scouted mattresses with vegan batting and uncovered hemp rugs. There's even a virtual golf room with a High Definition Golf simulator of iconic golf courses around the world such as Pinehurst No. 2, Troon North and Casa de Campo: Golfers never have to leave the house to play (thus saving energy), though this version will set you back $58,000.

"The main message of this show house is you don't have to sacrifice comfort or luxury to live a carbon-neutral existence," says Barry Dixon, who chaired the house's design committee. Dixon also decorated the large, open kitchen and family room space, creating a pantry full of honey and jam put up at his Warrenton farm (a nod to eating locally).

Participants took up the cause with newfound relish. "It was challenging and was a learning process for me," says D.C. designer Gary Lovejoy, who did the library. "It convinced me that this is the direction that everything should be going: recycled and natural."

"Green is a learning curve on the residential side," says Washington's Victoria Neale, who did the dining room in lime and olive. "You have to ask a lot of questions, because the first thing [manufacturers] say is, 'No, I don't have anything green.' "

According to Bethesda designer Skip Sroka, who created the home office, doing a green project costs about 10 to 15 percent more, but he hopes costs will lower as eco-consciousness is raised. Sroka said the experience was different from any show house he has participated in. "Remember when we just used to say about a room, 'Isn't it beautiful?' Now we can say, 'Isn't it biodegradable, recyclable, sustainable -- and beautiful?' "

If You Go

The CharityWorks GreenHouse is at 1310 Calder Rd., McLean, and will be open Saturday through Oct. 30. Hours are Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Tickets are $25 online and $30 at the door.

The house is within walking distance of downtown McLean. Visitors traveling by car should use the official parking lot at 1320 Old Chain Bridge Rd. and take the free shuttle. There is no on-site parking. For more information, call 703-286-0758 or visit http://www.charityworksgreenhouse.com.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/07/AR2009100700850.html