Contratulations to Green Star's newest Award-certified organization!!  

• Alaska Manufacturing Extension Project (AMEP)

Green Star welcomes the latest Green Star Award applicants.  We look forward to working with these organizations
 to achieve Green Star Award certification. 

• Alaska Lung Association
• Alaska YellowPages
• Clean Green of Alaska
• Habitat for Humanity ReStore
• Tap Root 

Cold Climate Housing Research Center Achieves LEED Platinum.  The center is now the farthest-north building in the world to achieve this designation. Alaska also boasts the farthest-north LEED schools, in the Mat-Su Borough.

 

Congratulations to one of our Green Star member organization Green Team leaders!  Gabrielle Markel, Green Team leader for Alyeska Ski Club in Girdwood, recently won the Alyeska Cup series and now goes to nationals. Good job!

 

BIKE TO WORK DAY ASSISTANCE NEEDED

Green Star is seeking several services for the upcoming BIKE TO WORK DAY events on May 20th. See descriptions below.

Bike to Work Day Part-time Event Planning Assistant

Bike to Work Day Graphics Services

SOLAR PANELS TO DRESS UP DOWNTOWN BUILDING

This is 441 W. Fifth Ave., at the corner of Fifth and E Street, just to the east of the Egan Center.

Soon the south side will be covered with 64 solar panels and it will be done with the help of one of Green Star's newest applicants.  Renewable Energy Systems is the Anchorage business that ordered the panels and will install them.

The 1957 building already needed a face lift, said Anchorage businessman Steve Zelener, who purchased it last August. Unsightly metal panels cover the building's south side -- the part most visible to pedestrians.

 

Many of the building's tenants  are conservation groups interested in reducing fossil-fuel dependence.  Zelener and his colleagues reasoned that the solar panels might help make the four vacant units in the building attractive to other green groups and to cutting-edge firms.

 

Zelener's project is the largest solar panel installation so far on a commercial building in Anchorage, said architect Klaus Mayer, who designed the retrofit.

 

The installation cost is estimated at $100,000, but the project is qualified for a 30 percent federal renewable energy tax credit for commercial buildings. The panels should supply 11,651 kilowatts per year -- 5 to 10 percent of the five-story building's electricity needs, said Marvin Kuentzel, of Renewable Energy Systems.

 

For a typical solar retrofit on a single commercial building, the cost of Zelener's project is a lot to swallow. Strictly speaking, he won't recoup the investment for 20 to 25 years. Most businesses aren't interested in renewable projects with a payback period that long, Mayer said.

 

Zelener is undaunted. He plans to install a ticker device so visitors can watch how much energy the solar panels are generating.

TAP ROOT STARTS A NEW GIVING TRADITION

Tap Root, a recent Green Star member, is excited to launch the 1st Annual Spenard Beer and Mead Social on Saturday, April 16. The new Tap Root on Spenard (3300 Spenard Road) boasts a newly remodeled room with a warm, inviting, Alaskan atmosphere. There are 24 tap lines, all for local and regional breweries, plus live music seven nights a week. 

 

Tap Root has been voted Second Best Live Music Venue in Anchorage (2nd only to Koots), Best Open Mic in Anchorage, and Best Organic Dining in Anchorage by the Anchorage Daily News.

The Spenard Beer and Mead Social will be a mini Beer & Barley Wine Festival, but with a more personable touch, and an intimate, networking event. The goal is to make the event THE classy event that Alaskans MUSTattend, highlighting the amazing breweries, meaderies, and distributors in the State of Alaska. 

Also, in the spirit of philanthropy and supporting local charities, a percentage of the proceeds from the event will be donated to Green Star, a non-profit organization, based in Anchorage (right here in Spenard!) that encourages businesses to practice waste reduction, energy conservation and pollution prevention through education, technical assistance, and an award-winning voluntary "green business" certification program. Some Green Star members include: Midnight Sun Brewing Co., and Odom Corporation/Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Alaska, K & L Distributors, and Tap Root! For more information about Green Star, visit www.greenstarinc.org.

 

The Spenard Beer and Mead Social will be held on Saturday, April 16, in two sessions, 12 - 3pm and 3:30 - 6:30pm.

For the price of admission (to be determined), you get:

 

• One 6.5 ounce glass with the Tap Root logo to keep.
• Approximately 10 tickets per person to be exchanged for a pour at a booth.
• Great live music for the duration of both sessions.
• Awesome edibles catered by Tap Root.

 

Donations for a silent auction can be provided to Green Star.  Please contact Kim at 278-7809 or kim@greenstarinc.org regarding auction logistics and donation forms.  

 

JOIN THE RIDE FOR CLEAN AIR

 

We all want clean air, right?  Well, let's prove it on May 14 and 15!  KTVA and Green Star have joined forces to create TEAM KTVA CBS 11 / GREEN STAR for the American Lung Association's Clean Air Challenge on May 14 and 15.  We are looking for bicyclists to join the team for this fundraising ride from Houston to Talkeetna and back.  

Green Star and the American Lung Association are fighting for clean air in Alaskan communities and for future generations.  The Clean Air Challenge helps raise money to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease. With your generous support, the American Lung Association is "Fighting for Air" through research, education and advocacy.  

 

Learn more about the Clean Air Challenge. 

 

Sign up to ride or to sponsor a rider.