BELOW, workers from Hope for Us Housing start the deconstruction of the house at 319 Marcellus Street in Syracuse's Near Westside neighborhood. Deconstruction, as opposed to demolition, is a way of taking down a house, piece by piece, so materials can be saved. Professionals from SyracuseCoE Charter Member Northeast Natural Homes and Fred Smith Roofing monitored and mentored trainees on the job. Housing materials in good condition--including doors, windows, flooring, lighting fixtures, and others--can be reused instead of being sent to a landfill. Materials salvaged from this deconstruction project were donated to Habitat for Humanity's ReStore--located in the neighborhood--where they will be available for purchase. Wood that is not in good shape will be ground for use as mulch. Scrap metal will be recycled and the money received for the metal will offset the cost of deconstruction. Construction of a new home on this site will begin soon. The design for this new low-cost, energy-efficient home is one of the winning entries from the "From the Ground Up" competition sponsored by Home HeadQuarters, SyracuseCoE, and SyracuseCoE Platinum Partner Syracuse University's School of Architecture. For a link to the Syracuse Post-Standard article, click here. 

Nineteen local high-school teachers are on the campus of SyracuseCoE Platinum Partner Clarkson University (CU) this summer working on the Sense-It project. In October 2008, CU and Beacon Institute received a $1.4 million National Science Foundation award to expand their Student Enabled Network of Sensors for the Environment using Innovative Technology (SENSE IT) curriculum, a program that is teaching 9,000 New York high school students over three years to design, build, test, deploy, and interpret environmental sensors used to monitor water quality in the Hudson and St. Lawrence Rivers. The teachers will be joined by 40 local high-school students to help build sensors and participate in a hands-on curriculum. To read a SENSE-IT project summary, click here. 

SyracuseCoE Platinum Partner Syracuse University (SU) and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) recently announced a new agreement that will enable SU faculty and students to utilize BNL's state-of-the-art research facilities and explore opportunities for collaborative research with Brookhaven scientists in the fields of energy technology development, environmental sciences, biomaterials, forensic science, engineering and computer science, the biological sciences, and policy. The agreement also calls for SU and BNL officials to explore the possibility of opening a BNL satellite location for research in alternative biofuels at SyracuseCoE's new headquarters building in downtown Syracuse. For more information, click here.

Home builders KB Home recently announced that every new home they build will include programmable thermostats by SyracuseCoE Platinum Partner Carrier Corp. as a standard feature. These thermostats provide cutting-edge control capabilities for maximum performance and increased energy efficiency. Energy costs associated with heating and cooling a home can account for up to half of an average household's utility bills, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In addition to including Carrier programmable thermostats as a standard feature, KB Home has also committed to use environmentally sound Puron(r) refrigerant HVAC systems by Carrier in all its new homes nationwide. To learn more, click here.

F.O.C.U.S. Greater Syracuse will host a Sustainable Showcase titled "Connect National Policies to Local Concerns," featuring a presentation by Congressman Dan Maffei (NY-25) on Aug. 14 from 7:30 to 8:45 a.m. Maffei will focus his talk around the pressing issues of Health Care Reform, the Federal Budget, Stimulus Funds for CNY, the future of I-81, and New York State's potential for high speed rail. All are welcome to attend this free event at the City Hall Commons First Floor Atrium, 201 E. Washington St., Syracuse. For more information, click here.