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Etsy is an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade.

Etsy's mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to
 reconnect makers with buyers.

Etsy's  vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice:

Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade.

http://www.etsy.com/

Real education is about HOW we learn as much as it is WHAT we learn.  And we can now add WHERE we learn to that equation.

The Donald BREN  School of Environmental Science & Management at the U. of California, Santa Barbara is making where students learn and explore a very green environment.

Greening Bren Hall                                                                                         

Bren Hall, which earned recognition as the "greenest" laboratory building in the United States shortly after it was completed, is a physical manifestation of the School's mission and provides a world-class arena for scientific and academic initiative, leadership, invention, and research.  By combining cutting-edge technology with environmentally sound principles, products, and services, Bren Hall has set a new standard for sustainable design. 

Opened in April 2002, Bren Hall is the only laboratory building in the United States to have received the U.S. Green Building Council's Platinum LEEDTM accreditation - the highest level possible - since the USGBC established its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program.  Bren Hall sets the highest standard for sustainable buildings of the future, and is being used as a model for other facilities and operations, particularly throughout the campuses and institutions in the state of California. In July 2003, the UC Regents adopted a Green Building Policy for all ten of its campuses, and in November of that year UCSB committed to constructing all new buildings to the level of LEEDTM silver. This represents an extraordinary benchmark and demonstrates a serious commitment to sustainability. UCSB's new Marine Science Institute (also designed by Bren Hall's architects, Zimmer Gunsul Fransca) has obtained a silver LEEDTM rating. 

The total cost of the building was $26 million. Building in a sustainable manner with sustainable materials added only 2% to the overall costs, which will easily be recovered through energy savings over time. Bren Hall is proof that cost is not a significant deterrent to green construction.

For descriptions and images of individual building spaces in Bren Hall, please visit our Rooms & Halls, Teaching Labs, and Research Labs web pages.

Awards & Honors

Flex Your Power Energy Efficiency Award (February 2004)

International Interior Design Association Environmental Award (May 2003)

Parade of Green Buildings featured site (April 2003)

Goleta Valley Beautiful Award (November 2002)

LEEDTM Platinum Award, USGBC(April 2002) Commendation from former California Governor Gray Davis (2002)

Commendation from the County of Santa Barbara (2002)

Case Study for the California Energy Commission

Case Study for the California State and Consumer Services Agency

LEED Rating

The USGBC's LEEDTM program is a credit system. The pilot program in effect when Bren Hall was being built (version 1.0) specified a total of 44 available credits, 6 bonus credits, and 10 prerequisites, arranged in the following five categories describing major areas of sustainable design: sustainable site planning, improving energy efficiency, conserving materials and resources, enhancing indoor air quality, and safeguarding water. Click here to view or print the Acrobat pdf document that itemizes Bren Hall's sustainable features in these areas.

Bren Hall achieved a score of 37 points to receive a Platinum rating, the highest available. It surpasses the new Title 24 requirements for energy efficiency standards by more than 31%.

Click here to view the document that itemizes each LEEDTM category and credit, and how it was achieved.

 

Not only do women suffer the most from global problems, such as the current crisis arising from the surge in food prices, but they can also contribute the most to its solutions, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said.

Ms. Migiro pointed out that the world is faced with an “unprecedented” rise of food prices, plunging many developing countries into a crisis that threatens to thwart efforts to achieve the global anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Highlighting some of the effects of the crisis, Ms. Migiro noted that families that do not have enough to eat are being forced to make terrible choices, such as deciding between food or medicine, or choosing whether to send their children to school or to the fields where they might earn money to help the family.

“And it’s women who are hit the hardest,” she said. “The development emergency engulfing whole communities is taking its heaviest toll on women.”

The crisis offers an opportunity to re-invest in agriculture in Africa.

“Helping African farmers can have a decisive impact on women’s lives,” Ms. Migiro said, noting that for the most part it is women – who make up 80 per cent of Africa’s farmers – that are out there under the hot sun, tending the fields and harvesting crops.

“But the same women hit hardest by the food crisis are ready to hit back,” she added, stressing that with the right support, they can move their communities from subsistence farming to commercial farming and even industry. This is crucial not only for the continent but for the world, which is just not producing as much food as it consumes.

“We need to do much more… to empower women. Women can drive the Green Revolution in Africa. They hold the key to breaking out of the food crisis; to educating the young; to peace, progress and prosperity,” the Deputy Secretary-General stated.

SOURCE: UN.org

TechDirect, hosted by the U.S. EPA's Technology Innovation Program, is an information service that highlights new publications and events of interest to site remediation and site assessment professionals. At the beginning of every month, the service, via e-mail, will distribute a message describing the availability of publications and events. For publications, the message will explain how to obtain a hard copy or how to download an electronic version.

Technology News and Trends is a newsletter for environmental professionals that features a combination of articles on innovative, in-situ technologies for the characterization and treatment of soil, sediment, and ground water. Technology News and Trends replaces Tech Trends and Ground Water Currents, which were published from 1992 through 2002. Technology News and Trends is published quarterly.

Technology Innovation News Survey contains market/commercialization information; reports on demonstrations, feasibility studies and research; and other news relevant to the hazardous waste community interested in technology development. This report is updated each month.

Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) is published weekly. This update contains summaries of procurement and contract award notices issued the previous week that pertain to hazardous waste, solid waste, underground storage tank remediation, and other environmental topics. However, it does not necessarily contain EVERY notice on these topics.

Subscribe to these helpful publications at www.clu-in.org

MISSISSIPPI BARGE TRAFFIC DOWN YET AGAIN IN 2007 — 18-Year Downward Trend Undercuts Congressional Plan to Build Bigger Locks

Barge traffic on the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway continued an 18-year downward trend through 2007, according to the latest U.S. Army Corps of Engineers figures compiled and released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

Despite this long, steep decline in demand for barge transportation, Congress brushed aside a veto to make expansion of the lock system on these rivers one of the centerpieces of its new Water Resources Development Act.

The question now is whether Congress funds the $2 billion lock expansion plan that it authorized. The Water Resources Development Act authorized some 940 projects that would cost a total of approximately $23 billion to complete. The Upper Mississippi Lock project is the second largest project in that bill, behind the multi-year Everglades “restoration” effort.

Large, cumulative and sustained decreases in barge traffic have occurred at every Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway lock, with the most heavily utilized locks experiencing an average 36 percent traffic reduction since the Corps and its boosters began advocating for lock expansion back in the early 1990s. This downward trend is likely to continue as the leading barge line forecasts even lower grain traffic in coming years; barge demand in the region consists primarily of grain and other agricultural products.

“Traffic is so sparse that the Corps does not even bother to schedule the barges to minimize congestion,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. “The Upper Mississippi lock expansion is the poster child for pork barrel myopia in Congress.”

This project has been steeped in controversy since 2000, when the Corps’ own lead economist on the project, Dr. Donald Sweeney, filed an explosive whistleblower disclosure documenting how top Corps commanders had grossly manipulated the cost-benefit study used to justify the project. This scandal triggered a battle about how to “reform the Corps” which was a major factor in holding up subsequent Water Resource Development Acts until late 2007.

Nonetheless, the Corps ultimately endorsed the lock expansion but, in response to scathing critiques from the National Academies of Science and other authorities, promised to correct its economic models to eliminate systematic biases favoring construction. Its revised study on the Upper Mississippi project is still not completed.

“When it comes to public works, Congress and the Corps are two addicts who feed off each other,” added Ruch, whose organization represented Dr. Sweeney. “As we did with military base closures where it was recognized that corrosive parochial politics could not be controlled, we need an independent national commission to rank our infrastructure priorities.”

SOURCE:

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Date: January 15, 2008
Contact: Carol Goldberg (202) 265-7337

The second of nineteen plug-in hybrid school buses being supplied by Advanced Energy is going to the Nazareth Area School District in Pennsylvania. Nazareth is the first district in Pennsylvania to get one of these new buses which are built IC Corporation and Enova Systems.

The buses use an International diesel V-8 combined with a hybrid powertrain provided by Enova. The hybrid system uses a 22.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack along with the transmission and electric motor in a parallel configuration. Because of the duty cycle of a school bus (a lot of starting and stopping to pickup and drop off kids) they estimate that the fuel economy will be improved by 70-100 percent.

Advanced Energy's PHEV (plug-in hybrid vehicle) project started in 2002 with the realization that school buses could benefit from plug-in hybrid technology. Advanced Energy (www.hybridschoolbus.org/) formed an advisory group to determine the best path forward. With funding from several key sponsors, they completed analyses that evaluated  technical and economic feasibility. Since the launch of the Plug-in Hybrid Electric School Bus Project, multiple organizations have been instrumental to the project�s success. From governments to universities to utilities, these organizations have contributed their time, money and expertise to commercialize plug-in hybrid technology.

While plug-in buses have a short range, the short fleet routes of many buses could easily handle twice-daily plug-in recharges.  Lower operating costs and less maintenance could quickly pay back the initial purchase price.

Additional bus innovations include dual-mode hybrid buses that recover lost energy like a traditional hybrid, and there are compressed natural gas buses which are cleaner than diesel.

Advanced Energy

Located in Raleigh, N.C., Advanced Energy is a North Carolina and national resource that focuses on industrial process technologies, motors and drives testing, and applied building science.

Advanced Energy — formerly called Alternative Energy Corporation, or AEC — was founded in 1980 by the N.C. Utilities Commission to investigate and implement new technologies for distributed generation, load management, conservation and energy efficiency.

The company was set up and still operates to work with member utilities on energy efficiency and conservation projects. Our North Carolina member utilities are Progress Energy [formerly Carolina Power & Light (CP&L)], Duke Energy, Nantahala Power & Light Company, North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation and Dominion NC Power.

Advanced Energy is an independent non-profit corporation that is governed by a Board of Directors appointed by the governor of North Carolina and the member utilities.

Advanced Energy
909 Capability Drive, Suite 2100
Raleigh, NC 27606-3870
919 857-9000
800 869-8001 [toll free] 
http://www.advancedenergy.org

The American Water Works Association has published The Business of Water: A Concise Overview of Challenges and Opportunities in the Water Market – a comprehensive introduction to the challenges and opportunities facing the commercial water industry. The book, edited by water business and strategy consultant Steve Maxwell, is a collection of market, commerce and business-related articles published over the last four years in the Journal AWWA.

In his foreword, former AWWA Executive Director Jack Hoffbuhr says, “There really hasn’t been a
thoughtful look at the actual business of water. The commercial side of water is going to play an
increasingly important role in how we ultimately manage water. This book provides the first
comprehensive look at the current status of the water industry, what some future scenarios might be,
and what we need to do to be more effective stewards of our critical water resources.”

With more than 35 full-length articles by a number of leading water industry experts, The Business of
Water addresses investment trends in the water industry, conservation practices, the impacts of climate
change, regulatory trends, strategic planning in the water industry, financing topics, water pricing and
value issues, and many other relevant issues.

This compilation will be an invaluable reference source on the commercial and market aspects of the water industry – for industry managers, companies, investors, or for those simply wanting to better understand the nature and scope of the world water market. The Business of Water is available in AWWA’s online bookstore at www.awwa.org/bookstore, $45 for members, $68 for nonmembers.

About Steve Maxwell

Steve Maxwell is the Managing Director of TechKNOWLEDGEy Strategic Group, a management
consultancy and investment banking firm in Boulder, Colorado which serves the water and broader
environmental service industries. He writes and speaks frequently on the water industry topics, and
has advised dozens of water companies on strategy and transactional issues. He is also the regular
“Market Outlook” columnist for the Journal AWWA.

AWWA is the authoritative resource for knowledge, information, and advocacy to improve the quality
and supply of water in North America and beyond. AWWA is the largest organization of water
professionals in the world. AWWA advances public health, safety and welfare by uniting the efforts of
the full spectrum of the entire water community.

http://www.awwa.org

Children will enjoy new water activity book

Water Adventures Around the World: An Activity Book is the colorfully illustrated story of two Pacific Northwest kids who travel the world on a magic postcard to learn about water science and cycles from their nearby Olympic Rain Forest to the North Africa’s Nile River basin. This new children’s book for students in grades 3 to 5 includes 11 activities that aid the educational process.

by: Sandy Koerner, Colin Murcray, Gay Porter DeNileon

Illustrated by Lisa Tarr

This colorfully illustrated activity booklet takes young readers along with Ryan and Kendra, two kids who live in rainy Washington State, as they use a magic postcard to travel around the world to learn about water.

Readers visit Olympic Rain Forest in Washington, Alaska’s Glacier Bay, Antarctica, Gobi Desert in Mongolia, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Israel’s Dead Sea, River Seine in France, Nile River in North Africa, and Iguazu Falls in Argentina.

In each locale kids learn something new about water: the three forms of water; the water cycle; water pollution and its effect on all life; fog and rainbow formation; fresh and salt water, water conservation; and much more.

Eleven activities are included: Word Match, Crossword Puzzle, Word Unscramble, Hidden Pictures, Maze, Color the Earth, Write a Postcard, Draw a Picture, and others.

Grades 3 – 5.

Published by American Water Works Association
Edition: 2008 - Softbound - 30 pp.