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Vol. 10, No. 12  December 9, 2009
GREEN STAR E-News
Recognizing Alaska organizations committed to environmental responsibility.
In This Issue
Shining Stars
Events & Reminders
Membership Corner
Anchorage Schools are Wild About Recycling
Share-A-Ride to the Rescue
U-Med District Success
The Key to Energy Savings in Hotels
Holiday Time at the Office
Community Recycling Changes
Quick Links
Thank You to our Sponsors

Visit Our Sponsor List
This Month's
Hot Link

Alaska Climate Change Strategy

As the world's leaders participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen over the next two weeks, visit this link to see what Alaska is doing to address climate change issues.
Green Star Staff

Kim Kovol
Executive Director

Lilly Capell
Technical Assistance
Coordinator

Megan Pool
Membership
Coordinator


Jeanne Carlson
Outreach
Contractor


Join Our Mailing List
SHINING STARS

Welcome to our latest enrollees.  These organizations are beginning the award certification process.
Frontier Tutoring LLC
Pedro Bay Corporation
Restoration Science & Engineering
Three Parameters Plus, Inc.

Thank you to all of the sponsors who supported Green Star in 2009. Our most recent donors include:
Green Star Board Members
Nunatak LLC
Total Reclaim

Visit www.greenstarinc.org/sponsors.php for a complete list of our current sponsors.

Green Star has been chosen as one of the beneficiaries of the 2010 Mayor's Charity Ball.
EVENTS & REMINDERS

December 31 is the last quarterly deadline in 2009 to submit your Green Star Award application.  Remember that your membership dues for the following year are reduced once you achieve award certification so submit now to realize all of the benefits of Green Star certification.  Your next opportunity to apply will be March 31, 2010.

Don't forget to renew and recertify.  If you are a Green Star member but did not receive renewal information via email within the last month, please let us know at [email protected] or 278-7839. 

Member Benefits.  If you are a member of Green Star and would like to provide a product or service at a discount to other Green Star members as part of our member benefits program, please contact Megan at [email protected] or 278-7839 to learn more.  It's a great way to get highlight your organization!

LEED-EB: A Tool for Achieving Facility Energy Savings,  a FREE webcast
, Thursday, December 17, 2009, 9am (Alaska Time). Building Operating Management magazine presents a free webcast to help you meet your green goals. For more information or to register, visit
www.facilitiesnet.com/webinar/leed_1109.  Space is limited. The 75-minute webcast will address:
  • How to use the LEED-EB (existing building): Operations and Maintenance rating system as an instrument for developing a sustainable facility management plan.
  • How to use ENERGY STAR to benchmark your facility's energy use.
  • How to forecast achievable cost savings.
  • How to measure, benchmark and improve.
Cascadia Region Green Building Council's "Living Future" is coming to Seattle on May 5-7, 2010.  Share in transformative conversations and active learning sessions.  Early registration deadline has been extended by TWO WEEKS until December 14th at 5 pm.  Group rates are available for firms wanting to send multiple employees.  Click Here for more info about conference content and pricing.  Last year the conference sold out.  Buy now to save money and secure your place.

MEMBERSHIP CORNER

buildings Green Smarts: Frontier Tutoring LLC, an Alaskan company

Green Star's newest member business is probably one of the newest - and youngest - businesses in town. 

Frontier Tutoring LLC, located on Arctic Boulevard, was created in 2008 by a group of UAA students who saw a need for a different kind of tutoring company in Anchorage. 

Brian Franklin, founder and executive director of Frontier, says that the business actually started by accident. He was already tutoring and the LLC just happened... well sort of.

After talking to Benjamin Woodland, associate director of program development, on the phone regarding Frontier's initial Green Star inquiry, Green Star staff was surprised to learn that Franklin and Woodland are both sophomores at UAA.  Their professionalism could knock your socks off.

Franklin was 17 years old when he started the company.  When asked if there were any start-up challenges associated with being such a young business owner, Franklin laughs and says "Well...yeah."

At the time of start-up, Franklin was old enough to own his own business but not old enough to form an LLC. With a little help from his father that issue was soon cleared up. Then there was the hassle with the bank, which was confused about why these young men were running credit cards from their dorm room. The bank sent someone out to audit them. In the end it all proved legit.

Now working from a midtown office, Franklin and Woodland carpool together from campus.  After Franklin learned about Green Star in a business class entitled Limits to Growth Revisited, taught by Professor Mary Logan at UAA, his first order of business once settled in the business' new office space was to contact Green Star. 

As the business gets going, the two staff members are embracing environmentally friendly practices like purchasing used office furniture and environmentally friendly office products, and creating a workplace recycling program.

"All the stuff that we do to be green is good for our business, saves money and is the right thing to do," says Franklin.

More often than not, when Green Star enrolls a new member or conducts a site assessment, the organizations are already well established.  Going "green" for them means re-working systems already in place, changing purchasing policies, educating employees and just plain old doing things differently.  Often habits are hard to change.

Frontier Tutoring says it's easy to be green if you do it from the beginning.  The company plans to submit its Green Star Achievement Report by the end of 2009 to meet the December 31st deadline and hopes to be Green Star certified by early 2010. 

Green Star can't help but wonder, are we perhaps seeing the emergence of a new young crowd of entrepreneurs who are shaping and supporting their business mission with green practices from the beginning?

Check out www.frontiertutoring.com.

Megan Pool, Membership Coordinator
ANCHORAGE SCHOOLS ARE WILD ABOUT RECYCLING

buildings Nearly halfway through its second year of mixed-paper recycling, the Anchorage School District (ASD) has diverted more than 180 tons of material from the Anchorage landfill.

The recycling program began in the 2008-09 school year through a partnership with Solid Waste Services, Alaska Waste and Green Star.

The goal of the program is to implement recycling efforts at each of the district's 99 schools and facilities and do it cost effectively.  Here are a few shining examples of success of the school district's recycling efforts:
  • During the 2009-2010 school year (August - November), the ASD district-wide mixed-paper program diverted more than 250,000 pounds (125 tons) of paper from the Anchorage landfill.  At $63/ton (landfill charge), the district avoided $7,875 in disposal fees.
  • Rabbit Creek Elementary took full advantage of its recycling dumpster and eliminated the need for one of its trash dumpsters.  By eliminating one trash dumpster, Rabbit Creek reduced its trash bill by more than $300 a month.
  • The Student Nutrition Center implemented steel-can recycling, which has reduced the number of times its trash compactor needs to be emptied from twice a month to just once a month. By reducing the number of trash compactor pick-ups to once a month, the Center has reduced its compactor bill by roughly $550 a month.
  • Steller Secondary School has diverted enough material through its recycling efforts to reduce its trash pick-up service from four to three times a week.  This small adjustment has reduced the school's trash bill by about $118 a month.
"It's easy to see why staff and students are Wild about Recycling.  It not only makes fiscal sense, but it demonstrates the school district's commitment of being good stewards to the environment, " says Andre Camara, ASD's recycling Coordinator.

"We're actively compiling the data for this year, but I do expect the district will continue to realize cost savings associated with its recycling efforts as we continue to increase participation and decrease waste," says Camara.

View more Wild about Recycling student artwork.
 
To date, 13 ASD schools have earned Green Star Award certification. Visit Green Star and click on Schools and Universities to see what schools have earned a Green Star Award.
 
For more details about ASD's recycling program, contact Andre Camara, the school district's recycling coordinator at [email protected] or 348-5151. 
SHARE-A-RIDE TO THE RESCUE

Tired of winter driving conditions,
paying the high price of fuel
and arriving at work already stressed?
Anchorage Share-A-Ride can help!

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Although our winter weather conditions will remain with us for a few more months, pooling can help make the commute more manageable. By sharing the ride with just one other person, you'll only need to scrape your windshield and warm your car half the time. And your commute to work will seem less stressful when you have a partner to share it with.
 
Alaskan gasoline prices are among the highest in the nation, taking a toll on Anchorage commuters. Sharing a ride with just one person cuts your commute cost in half and reduces wear and tear on your vehicle.  The more poolers you have, the more money you save.
 
Employers also benefit from employees who pool. Parking spaces can be very costly to maintain, especially during the winter with snow removal. One less parking space is needed for each employee who pools. Think of the savings when several employees choose to pool.
 
Other benefits of pooling for both employees and employers include staff arriving to work more relaxed, on time and refreshed.
 
Additionally, choosing an alternate transportation option helps reduce commute traffic while improving air quality, which makes Anchorage and its commute area a better place to live.
 
Whether you commute within Anchorage, or from Eagle River, Girdwood or the Mat-Su Borough, Share-A-Ride can help find the best alternate transportation option for you. Choices include riding the People Mover bus, carpooling or vanpooling. For more information on transportation options, go to www.peoplemover.org or call Share-A-Ride at 562-7665.
 
Contributed by Sandy Clark, Municipality of Anchorage Share-A-Ride program
U-MED GREEN DISTRICT SUCCESS
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The members of the U-Med Green District are continuing to leverage their combined power to improve the environmental resources for the U-Med area. 

Just recently, a scrap metal recycling bin was placed in the area for use by the U-Med organizations.  The "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" U-Med working group discussed the need for a convenient way for member organizations to recycle metal since several of the organizations have food service operations, which generate substantial quantities of steel cans. 

The working group contacted Alaska Metal Recycling, who agreed to provide a 22-yard roll-off container for no charge, as long as the container was filled each month.  Filling this size container is no small task and will require participation by all U-Med organizations but if successful, will divert thousands of pounds of metal from the landfill, reducing resource use and pollution associated with metal production.

If you are an organization located in the U-Med area and you would like to take advantage of this recycling opportunity, contact Paula Williams, sustainability director at UAA, at [email protected] for details and the location of the bin. 

THE KEY TO ENERGY SAVINGS IN HOTELS

buildingsAs Green Star continues its focus on the hospitality sector, we will highlight new technologies and not-so-new technologies. 

Surprisingly, using hotel key cards as energy management systems falls into the not-so-new category!  Although it may be well-known in Europe and Asia, this concept has yet to become main-stream here in the United States. 

The way it works is that the hotel key card is designed to act as a master switch to the guest room.  The key switches the electricity off when the room is unoccupied, often reducing lighting energy consumption by about 30% and HVAC energy consumption by another 20%, or more than $100 per room per year. 

After opening the hotel room door with the key card, guests place the card in a discreet box to turn on the lights, heating, cooling and other room systems.  When a guest leaves the room, taking the key card, the electricity is turned off, and the thermostat resets to a pre-selected non-occupied setting.

Using this technique, only occupied rooms consume energy because most electrical appliances are switched off when the keycard is removed (when the guest leaves the room). Along with lighting, heating, and air conditioning, the radio and television are often connected to the master switch. The exception normally includes one outlet that guests can use to charge laptops, cell phones and other battery-powered devices.

These systems are more amenable to new construction due to the need to wire the units to the central office computer. Incremental installation costs are estimated at roughly $100 per room for the energy management software and the additional wiring circuitry required.

DBS Lodging Technologies is a leading vendor of key-card energy management systems in the U.S. and an ENERGY STAR Partner. Its Entergize system has been installed in more than 12,000 rooms across the country, from expensive brands like Westin and Wyndham to mom-and-pop hotels.

Depending on a hotel's power profile, DBS Lodging's Entergize system can save 25 to 45% of the energy used by each room (not including energy to the hotel kitchen, laundry and public spaces, of course). With such savings, the payback period for installing the system can be 16 to 22 months.

Hotel managers who have switched to key-card systems report easy use. The systems operate without constant monitoring, as some energy management systems require, and do not mistakenly turn off the power, like a motion sensitive system. 

Despite this ease of use, adoption of the technology has been slow in the U.S. because often hotels are unwilling to place what is perceived as an energy management "burden" on guests.

However, hotels that have installed it have found that all it requires is a bit of up-front guest education.  For those of us who want to continue to do the right thing, even when not at home, sliding a key card into a slot seems a whole lot easier than hanging up our towel so it isn't washed every day!  

HOLIDAY TIME AT THE OFFICE
(recycled from last year's newsletter)

goat
Americans throw away 25 percent more trash during the holiday season.   And trash generation isn't just happening at home.  Gift exchanges, potlucks and other holiday activities are generating additional waste in our workplaces too.  Here are a few holiday ideas for your workplace that will help keep your waste stream under control.

Office Gift Exchanges

Give the Gift of an Experience - Skip the junk, the gag gifts, the Christmas candle or ornament.  Give gift cards for the climbing gym, a restaurant, a day of skiing, a spa visit and other experiences that can be enjoyed without clutter and gift wrap.

Get your Co-worker a Goat or a Tree - Did you pull a name for an office gift exchange and have no idea what to get?  Consider buying a farm animal in their name from Heifer International.  Animal gifts, including llama, water buffalo, ducks, cows, sheep, chickens and more, help families in developing countries become self-reliant, raising their own food and earning their own money. You also can plant a tree in their name through the Arbor Day Foundation

Bake, Don't Buy - Homemade goodies are always appreciated and enjoyed.  Who doesn't wait all year for Christmas cookies?

Collect for a Local Charity
- Choose a charity, such as the Food Bank or AWAIC, or ask about a needy family, and collect items for them.  Non-perishable food items and household goods are especially needed during the holidays.  In the article below you'll find a list of charitable organizations that may benefit from your holiday giving.

Holiday Parties and Potlucks


Cut the Portions
  -- When planning a holiday party for the workplace, be sure to consider how many people will really be participating, and what types of foods and beverages will be popular but also can be "recycled" if not eaten.

Donate Leftovers - If there are leftovers that are still usable, and coworkers have already taken their share for later, contact Bean's Café about dropping off the items for use.

Serve Sustainably -- Even if your office typically uses reusable dishes and mugs for daily office lunch and coffee breaks, office parties tend to be that exception when the foam plates and plastic cups come out.  Keep up your green leanings by using bioware for these events if you just don't have enough reusable dishware to go around.  Several companies in Anchorage sell biodegradeable plates, bowls, cups and even cutlery made from renewable products like potato starch and sugar cane wastes.  Even if these items aren't composted in the end, you'll be supporting the use of renewable resources and reducing your carbon footprint.
-- Corporate Express' Ecoffice Source catalog
-- Green Alaska Solutions
-- Loopy Lupine Distribution

COMMUNITY RECYCLING CHANGES

The downtown cardboard recycling bin has been moved.  Its new winter location is at 3rd Ave. and C St.  The bin will move back to its original location at 3rd Ave. and A St. for summer.  This bin was established primarily of the convenience of downtown businesses so please use this free service to recycle your clean, flattened cardboard!

The recycling area at the landfill in Eagle River will move closer to the trash drop-off area by the end of the year and new materials will be added.  Look for these changes in the next month.

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