July 2015
Green Building & Smart Growth

Hi Greetings!,

Check this out! Sustainable Connections is working to streamline our communications. Now you not only get a monthly newsletter from the Green Building and Smart Growth Program, you can also link to our other program area newsletters. These monthly newsletters are full of valuable information to help you and your business reach triple bottom line goals. It's good stuff!

I know this is a very busy time for the construction industry. The pendulum has clearly swung far from where we were just a few years ago. But I want to remind you all that this is the exact time we need to be pushing for innovation and sustainability in our projects. These projects are legacies of your work and in 10, 20, 50 years from now our children will appreciate the quality of design and construction you made happen in 2015.  

The Green Building and Smart Growth program has some great opportunities coming up, so even though you are busy and the sun is shining, don't miss out on the education and fun. These events are designed to build your knowledge base, give you access to new resources and connect with other industry professionals so your projects reach triple bottom line goals with style.

-Rose Lathrop

Green Building & Smart Growth Manager
 Whats_In_SeasonWHAT'S HAPPENING

Green Building Nerds *Special Edition

The Real Green Roof Deal

 

real projects.
real problems.
real solutions.
real fun!

 

Join the Green Building Nerds for a special edition summer session. This month we will be bringing in special guests to discuss the ins and outs of green roofs. How well do they really work? What about maintenance and costs? Are there permitting challenges or incentives?

 

Through this hands-on session attendees will have the opportunity to meet the technical experts and obtain a deeper understanding of the benefits and potential pitfalls of green roofs. Cool beer and snack will be provided, as always.

 

Green Building Nerds meets the third Thursday of the Month. Join your peers, bring your plans, and NERD OUT on the third Monday of every month while we:

  • discuss strategies to meet new stormwater regulations

  • troubleshoot technical envelope details

  • identify "low hanging fruit" to improve sustainability

  • share your experience and innovative ideas

  • take your projects to a deeper level of green

  • vet plans across multiple disciplines

  • have fun with your peers nerding out over plans with beer!

 

Where: Birch Case Study Home, 2930 Birchwood Ave

When: July 27 5:30-7:30 *NOTE THIS IS A DATE CHANGE FOR NERDS

Costs: FREE
CEU: 2 HWS AIA
  

 

Codes Got You in Hot Water
Innovation, Information and the Intent of the Code
 
High-performance building projects and programs like EnergyStar, Passivhaus and Next Step Homes are driving down carbon emissions from buildings through the use of innovative designs and technology integrated into healthy, high-performing homes and buildings. This session will introduce the Code Innovations Database, a new web-based resource to accelerate the sharing of information about successful innovations so more high-performance projects can be built. 

We will look at current examples in cutting edge water heating equipment that have proved difficult to permit, but through technical precedents documented in the Database have won some notable approvals.  Dan will share stories of previous approvals and potential new case studies surrounding this equipment, and discuss the importance of hot water distribution to making future gains in hot water efficiency, which may also require code innovations.
 

When: August 12 1pm-4pm
Where: Sustainable Connections, 1701 Ellis St, Bellingham, WA
Cost: $15 Members (SC, AIA) $35 Non-members
CEU: 3.0 HSW AIA


 

Tour Two Ferndale Residential Factories

Timber Frame and Modular Construction


Join the NWAIA and Sustainable Connections on a tour of two nationally recognized factories in Ferndale WA that custom manufacture residential structures. Both Cascade Joinery and Method Homes specialize in custom construction, green building and innovation.

For over 25 years the Cascade Joinery has crafted timber work for a wide range of buildings-homes, retail buildings, churches, community centers, restaurants, office buildings and public pavilions. In addition to the fabrication and installation of crafted timberwork, they provide specialized and creative structural timber engineering, connection detail design, and guidance for timber specifications, design consultation and value engineering.

Method Homes is a custom manufacturer of precision-engineered, prefabricated, modern structures. Master craftsmen create their modular homes, commercial structures, accessory dwelling units, and garages in a process that is 100 percent quality controlled every step of the way.

When: August 6th 3pm -6pm*
Where: STOP 1 Cascade Joinery 1349 Pacific Place, Ferndale, Washington 98248
STOP 2 Method Homes 6819 Northgate Way, Ferndale, WA 98248
Cost: $5 Member $15 Non-member
CEU: 3 HWS AIA
*refreshments provided


 
Member_SpotlightGREEN BUILDING SMART GROWTH NEWS
ILFI Living Product Challenge
The Living Product Challenge re-imagines the design and construction of products to function as elegantly and efficiently as anything found in the natural world. Living Products are informed by biomimicry and biophilia; manufactured by processes powered only by renewable energy and within the water balance of the places they are made. Living Products improve our quality of life and bring joy through their beauty and functionality. Imagine a Living Product whose very existence builds soil; creates habitat; nourishes the human spirit; and provides inspiration for personal, political and economic change. Sign up to get updates on the Living Product Challenge.

2015 Ecobuilding, Annual Conference Call for Session Proposals
We are currently accepting education session proposals for EcoBuilding 2015. Presentations can include solo lectures, group panels, interactive sessions and hands-on training relevant to single family and multi-family residential buildings and sites. For more details, download 'Call for Session Proposals' or email George Ostrow.

Stay-tuned for more details about EcoBuilding 2015. If you are interested in volunteering or have questions, please email [email protected].


Free Historic Tours of Downtown
 Curious to know more about the early days of Bellingham and how Downtown came to look the way it does today? Come find out by taking one of the free Holly Street History Tours offered Saturday afternoons at 1:00 pm this summer beginning July 11th through September 26th. Tours will be offered by the Bureau of Historical Investigation (also known as the Good Time Girls), and are offered free of charge courtesy of a grant obtained by the City from the State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.

Suitable for all ages, the tours will meet on the sidewalk in front of the Chuckanut sandstone building at 311 E. Holly Street (northwest corner of N. State and E. Holly Streets) and last about an hour.

 

The Holly Street History Tour uses one of Bellingham's very first arterial streets as a guide to tell the story of the city's past. Tour guides will stop along the way to tell stories of challenges and accomplishments, and will touch on what hasn't really changed since Bellingham's earliest days. The tour covers topics of growth, social reform, the arts, women's history, racial tensions, cooperation and environmental recovery, and is delivered with a sense of wonder and humor. "It's history, it's information, it's education," says Sara Holodnick, one of the founders of the Bureau of Historical Investigation, "but it's also entertainment and comedy and a little bit of performance."


 
Featured_SponsorFEATURED SPONSOR
2020 Engineering
2020 is an engineering consulting company in Bellingham dedicated to providing simple and innovative solutions for long term economic and environmental sustainability of local, national, and international communities.

Since 1995, 2020 has specialized in the development and implementation of civil engineering designs that utilize the best of today's conventional engineering practices, along with new, emerging and alternative technologies.

They are currently working on a Living Community project recently featured in New York Times: Blackadore Caye, a Restorative Island and one of the world's most exclusive island retreats, located in beautiful Belize behind the world's second largest barrier reef.

 

As the project's Civil Engineer, 2020 is involved with the design and construction of the resort's water supply (rainwater harvesting), wastewater treatment and water reuse (reclaimed water system-village core and clubhouse, and composting toilets-homes), and the island's food production (aquaculture, aquaponics, spirulina algae, and permaculture).  2020's civil tasks also include restoring the islands mangrove trees and shorelines. A mangrove nursery will be located on the island to grow starts that will be transplanted along the shoreline of the 2 mile long island.

 
Get_InvolvedSTORMWATER STEWARD
Klick's Running and Walking
Charlie at Klick's Running and Walking is committed to helping Bellingham stay healthy with great products, services and community events. He also wants to help keep our environment healthy and our downtown green. Klick's is a Downtown Improvement Garden Steward, helping to maintain one of 36 rain gardens downtown. These rain gardens filter polluted stormwater before it flows to Whatcom Creek. Thanks Klick's for all you do!
 Program_GoalsGREEN BUILDING & SMART GROWTH PROGRAM GOALS
 at Sustainable Connections promotes healthy, durable, efficient, and environmentally responsible homes, neighborhoods and workplaces through education, technical assistance and advocacy.
 Program_SponsorsGREEN BUILDING & SMART GROWTH PROGRAM SPONSORS
 
Gold Sponsors










 
Silver Sponsors








 
Silver Sponsors
 Industry_EventsINDUSTRY EVENTS

July 13
Introduction to the Energy Petal - Online Workshop
International Living Future Institute

July 16
Handprinting and the Living Product Challenge - Online Workshop
International Living Future Institute

July 21
Advocating for HEalthy Materials - Webinar Series
International Living Future Institute

Various Dates
Training Opportunities for becoming a weatherization professional
Building Performance Center

July 28

August 12
 SC_EventsSUSTAINABLE CONNECTIONS FEATURED EVENT
Field to Flame Fundraiser Brunch  
August 30
Boxx Weddings
6299 Northwest Rd
Ferndale, WA 98248

Join Sustainable Connections and 7 talented chefs as we showcase the season in a 7 course, family style hold-no-stops fundraising brunch. Local farmers and fishers will be providing the freshest and the best of their summer bounty so that the chefs with the NW Washington Chef's Collaborative can prepare a 100% local feast.  This fundraiser will help to grow the Chefs Collaborative's work in growing opportunities for Farmer/Chef Mentorships, Chefs in Schools, and continue dedicated education, support and training to new farmers through Sustainable Connections Food to Bank On program.


JOIN US!

Our Members are independent, locally owned businesses, farms, organizations, and community leaders who are committed to this region and its quality of life.

 

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