YPAL – Green Team

The University of Louisville is holding a Sustainability Week this upcoming week with ideas for not only the campus but the communities surrounding it.  Here’s three events they are hosting.

A Campus Clean Up event occurs on the main campus Monday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Crews will meet at 11,12, and 1 at Elkstrom Library to gather litter on the campus.  Prizes will be offered to those collecting the most litter. 

Want to find an alternative way to get around town or to campus?  Tuesday from 11-1 at the Humanities Quad will have transportation alternatives fair.  Booths featuring bike tune-ups, bike maps, and carpooling ideas are among those expected at the event. 

And for speakers, Ben Evans will be featured in the Green Careers Speaker Series Kickoff.  His speech is in the Basement Auditorium of the Elkstrom Library on Thursday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

There are some who say the best green home is the one you buy … not build. Every home on the market right now is a green home because it’s being recycled. Think about it, no more trees need to be cut down for framing. There are no truck loads of construction debris going to the landfill when you buy a new home. You could even say a realtor is one of the oldest green jobs in the U.S.

I am feeling very “green” myself these days. Not only do I recycle but I just bought a previously existing home. For the most part, buying a home instead of building is a really good way to be a green ambassador. There are a few exceptions though. YPAL’s Green Team build with Habitat for Humanity is one of those exceptions. Recyclable materials, energy efficient HVAC, windows, insulation and washer/dryer units are just a few things that make this home a top notch green home. This house will have one more feather in its cap when YPAL submits the home for certification as a LEED house.

The house that YPAL is building with Habitat for Humanity exemplifies creative ways current and future Louisville home owners can be green. If every home owner picked just one of the sustainable elements of this house, it would make a big difference. Take a 3D tour of it on YPAL’s website or come by and see it for yourself on September 19th during the AIA tour.

By Liz Griffin, sales and marketing specialist, Parallel Products

Liz Griffin is the Communications Coordinator for YPAL’s Green Team.

Cash Moter, an architect for Joseph & Joseph Architects, is a YPAL veteran having served five years on the board of directors. He’s been with the organization through many of its milestones including an organizational rebranding project, playing host to 2007’s YP Summit, the initiation of Brightside’s Green Tie Bash and the organization’s 10th anniversary celebration.

“YPAL has grown tremendously as an organization during these past five years,” said Cash. “We’ve accomplished a lot not only for this organization and its members but for the Louisville community.”

Perhaps it is fitting then that Cash spearheaded YPAL’s Green Initiative – the organization’s largest project to date. Armed with member support for organizational advocacy of green issues, Cash purposed YPAL partner with the Louisville chapter of Habitat for Humanity on their 50th anniversary year to build the city’s first LEED certified Habitat for Humanity house.

“It was going to be a big undertaking for the organization, but I was confident our members would be behind it.”

And the support has been overwhelming. Through corporate sponsorships to member manpower, the LEED certified Habitat for Humanity house is well on its way with the house dedication scheduled for Saturday, October 9.

Take a look at Cash in action and learn more about the Habitat project by visiting YPAL’s YouTube Channel. And be sure to check out the 3D video rendering of the house located on Clay Street while on the site.

By Tracy Keller, project manager, ProMoter Inc. Marketing Communications.

Tracy Keller currently serves as the VP of Administration on the 2010-2011 YPAL Board of Directors.

So YPAL’s LEED Certified Habitat for Humanity house is quickly nearing completion with just over a month left on construction. After many months of tireless efforts on the part of YPAL’s Green Team members, volunteers and sponsors, the keys to the house will soon be handed over to the welcoming hands of Wendy, the homeowner. However, as this house nears completion and YPAL’s Green Initiative seeks a close, our green efforts and eco-friendly focus should not wane. Hopefully YPAL’s Green Initiative sparked an interest not only among organization members but within the community who witnessed this feat take shape. While we all may not be able to afford to “green” our houses, there are simple things we can do every day that will make a noteworthy impact. Each week, YPAL provides green tips in our Weekly Update thanks to Net Impact Solutions. Additionally, we try to provide a listing of green events and volunteer opportunities in this section. Make time each week to scroll to the bottom of the Weekly Update to see the latest tip and ways you can get involved with the green movement at the local level. No amount of effort is too small in this ongoing green movement.

By Tracy Keller, project manager, ProMoter Inc. Marketing Communications.
Tracy Keller currently serves as the VP of Administration on the 2010-2011 YPAL Board of Directors.

What’s better than working up a sweat next to a hot, young professional? Doing it for a good cause! YPAL is excited to sponsor Singles Day at the Habitat for Humanity build site on Saturday, August 21st. This is your chance to get on site and make your mark on YPAL’s Habitat house. Only 12 spots are available for the day so be sure to contact Sujata Chugh, YPAL Green Team Volunteer Coordinator, at sbaraichugh@gmail.com to sign up. 102.3 the MAX will be on site to bang it out with us. Hope to see you there!

Whether you’ve seen them in houses under construction or in the basement of your own home, we all have a mental picture of “the furnace.”  When I bought my highlands home in the late 90′s it still ran on the original coal fired “octopus” furnace (remember when Macaulay Culkin falls into the cellar in “Home Alone”?)  Sometime after dinosaurs left the earth, this beast of a heating system had been converted to use natural gas but it still had no fan and only one return air duct.  The heat was actually not bad and it was almost silent but there were definitely hot spots and it certainly wasn’t an efficient way to heat my home.

Fast forward to the system in our LEED house.  “The furnace” is known today as a Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system and is critical to the building performance of the home.  This particular system was designed and installed by the engineers at Bryant Heating and Cooling.  Not only are there return air ducts for most every room but all pipe joints are sealed with mastic to ensure superlative performance.  Bryant worked closely with Chris Zitelli,  our LEED AP, to insure that this HVAC system will provide safe and comfortable indoor air for Wendy and her family.  Many thanks to both Bryant and Chris for making sure this “silver octopus” works well.  If you’d like more detailed specs, just post a comment and I’ll gather info on SEER and such.

This July, Louisville will host the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) comprised of state legislators and staff from all 50 states. NCSL provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues. During the four day conference, growing trends in green initiatives across the nation will be discussed.

One of the most popular green trends includes evaluating transportation systems to encourage a sustainable living system. Complete street policies allow communities to accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and public transport users of all ages and abilities to safely and comfortably move along and across the street. In 2009, 45 jurisdictions nationwide adopted complete street policies and 19 have in 2010. Across the US, there are 141 jurisdictions that have adopted complete streets or have made written commitments to do so. Louisville is included in these one 141 jurisdictions adopting the policy in 2008. Over the next several years, Louisville will add pedestrian pathways and bikeways to all new construction and reconstruction, creating a safe environment for everyone to walk and bike.

By Emma Brown, Regional Director, KY YMCA Youth Association.

Emma currently serves as the Director of Public Issues for 2010-2011.

The house is really coming along.  As you can see in the picture, we’re about half-way up the south side with the cement board siding.  The first time I installed cement board (also known as Hardie Board) was in 1999 during a Jimmy Carter Work Camp just outside Manilla in the Philippines.  I was amazed that I could cut the stuff with a razor knife.  If you’ve never worked with it, Hardie Board looks like wood or pressed board but it’s made of recycled wood fiber and cement so it’s very weather and insect resistant.  Perfect for a really rainy buggy place like Maragondon, PI.  It’s been used extensively by Habitat affiliates along the gulf coast rebuilding after Katrina.  Louisville Habitat Rehab Supervisor Richard McBride used the stuff during his Habitat service in NOLA; he was instrumental in getting us to use the product in Louisville.

If your wondering about the unusual color of the siding, it’s not really that color.  I must have hit the wrong button on my “snapture” app when I took the picture.  It’s also why my face is blue like one of the Pandora people in Avatar.

Anyway, if you’d like to see the REAL color of the siding and check out cement board in person just come by the house.

One of the things that’s so cool about building a LEED certified house is that everybody has heard of LEED but few people have set foot inside a certified building . . . much less seen one going up. When a company, faith community, or individual expresses interest in sponsoring a Habitat house I usually invite them on a tour. Last week, I had a meeting with some folks from a large nursing home management company and I took them on a tour of the YPAL LEED house. One of the people on the tour is the facilities manager for the company and he’s very interested in the construction details of the house.  So interested that he wants to visit the project again once the insulation is complete.  Ripples in still water.

I’m always amazed to see a build site the week of “Raise-the-Roof”- Habitat’s name for the “Amish Barn Raising” blitz that takes place at the beginning of every build.  I drove by the site early this morning and all of the walls are built and ready to go.  We’ll put them together like a huge jigsaw puzzle later this week and after 4 solid days of hard work, we’ll have a framed house with felt on the roof and doors in the walls.

The wall sections are vessels for the energy of many volunteers captured and waiting to be transformed into a home for a local family.  Habitat volunteers and partner families exist at the crossroads between potential and action- they turn what could be into what is.  At the risk of exposing my English Major roots, here are some words from poet Shel Silverstein that capture part of this idea:

• “Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”