USGBC

The Time Machine – Sustainability and Culture

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Internationally-known Expedition Artist Presents:  “The Time Machine – Sustainability and Culture ”  in Santa Monica on February 15
Presented in conjunction with the LA Chapter of the US Green Building Council

Danielle Eubank, internationally-recognized Expedition Artist, is presenting a lecture on Tuesday, February 15 at the Santa Monica Main Library at 601 Santa Monica Boulevard in Santa Monica.  The lecture, scheduled from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, will focus on Eubank’s experience sailing – and painting – the oceans of the world.

“Sometimes in order to move forward in a more sustainable way, we have to look back and explore how things were done in earlier times,” said Eubank.  “The Time Machine in my lecture title refers to how Phoenicia is a floating time machine – living archeology – that brings the past into the modern era.”

Eubank was Expedition Artist aboard Phoenicia, a recreation of a 2,500-year-old Phoenician boat that recently finished a two-year journey circumnavigating Africa. Eubank’s work as an Expedition Artist has taken her to Indonesia, Seychelles, all around the African coasts and throughout the Mediterranean.

Eubank lectures widely throughout Southern California and Great Britain on the intersection of art, the environment and sustainability.  Eubank’s perspective on “what green means in the world of art” brings a unique voice to the discussion of sustainability, with her most recent opinion piece running in the Los Angeles Daily News on November 15, 2010 in association with America Recycles Day.

This summer, Eubank has an important solo show at Thompson’s Gallery in London’s West End opening July 6, which will feature the very latest work from Eubank’s travels aboard Phoenicia.

The February 15 lecture is open to the public.  For more information on the event, please contact Dominique Smith at (310) 902-2811 or e-mail dsmith@usgbc-la.org by February 12.

SCRAP CASTLES | SUSTAINABLE BEACH ART EVENT

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Emerging Green Builders – Los Angeles
EGB-LA Committee
Upcoming Opportunities for Member Participation

SCRAP CASTLES | SUSTAINABLE BEACH ART EVENT
Saturday, September 26, 2009 | 9am
Lifeguard Tower 4 | In front of 415 Pacific Coast Hwy, Santa Monica, CA
Near Annenberg Community Beach House | Parking south of 415 PCH

Event Description | Designers and builders are encouraged to come out and enjoy the morning on the beach with fellow Emerging Green Builders (EGB). We will design and create large and small scale scrap castles comprised of sand and your scrap materials. This is a great time to meet the group, learn about upcoming events, and of how you can become involved. Please review the Beach Rules included below.

What You Bring | Used scrap materials such as: window frames (no glass), doors, small furniture, lumber, ply, (no nails) and any decorative item that you can haul out to the beach. Sand castle tools such as: buckets, shovels and maybe a ladder. Bring a friend, co-worker, or partner.

Beach Rules | Normal beach restrictions will apply: No smoking, no fires or fireworks, no tents or temporary enclosures, lifeguards’ directions must be obeyed, etc. For more on Beach Rules, see http://www01.smgov.net/osm/beachrules.htm. Be sensible when choosing scrap to bring to the beach. If you are unsure about what you may bring or are looking for more information about this event, you may contact Paul at pjramirez@gmx.com

*Note | Tours of the Annenberg Community Beach House are at 11am, 1pm and 3pm for more information contact Paul at pjramirez@gmx.com

About EGB-LA
EGB-LA, a committee of the USGBC-LA Chapter provides emerging green builders, primarily young professionals and students, a network from which to gain knowledge and become involved in the green building community, established by the USGBC-LA.

Go to EcoLOGIC LA

DramaBiz magazine – The Eco-Friendly Theatre of the Future

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“Greening” operations can reduce your carbon footprint while still delivering stellar productions—and help keep your audience and staff healthy

According to the U.S. Green Building Council, buildings are responsible for 72% of electricity consumption, consume 40% of our raw materials, spew 38% of all CO2 emissions, create 136 million tons of construction waste, and use 15 trillion gallons of water per year in the United States alone.

Green buildings, on the other hand, consume 26% less energy while emitting 33% fewer greenhouse gases. The USGBC also estimates that if “half of new commercial buildings were built to use 50% less energy, it would save over 6 million metric tons of CO2 annually for the life of the buildings—the equivalent of taking more than 1 million cars off the road every year.”

Now take a deep breath – because those are significant numbers that should give us pause. But it does not mean we should all go out and start looking for a green architect and a wealthy donor. Not yet, anyway. Rebuilding from the ground up is not the first step. Efficiency and green building experts agree that the first and most important thing you can do is improve conservation and efficiency within your current operation and facility.

Portland Center Stage, Theatre For A New Audience, and Theatrical Outfit in Atlanta have all taken the big step. Each of these companies work in what are known as LEED certified facilities. LEED – or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – is a certification program managed by the U.S. Green Building Council. The program works on a point system, with points awarded for things as diverse as proximity to public transit to how efficiently the building uses (and reuses) water and electricity. Depending on the number of points earned a building can receive one of three levels of certification from Silver to Platinum, with Gold in the middle. Theatrical Outfit, for example, produces in a renovated historical building with a LEED Silver rating and was the first performing arts facility to be LEED certified in the nation. Portland Center Stage also renovated a historical building in the heart of Portland, earning a Platinum rating from the USGBC. Their facility includes such eco-friendly features as a rainwater collection and reuse system, natural ventilation, extensive use of natural lighting throughout the lobby and administrative offices, and radiant heating in the lobby. The building also reportedly uses about 30% less energy than code requires.

Visit DramaBiz magazine  for the entire article.

Staging Concepts Goes Green

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Reprinted from Lighting & Sound America, October 3, 2008:

Staging Concepts, the maker of stage risers and modular staging pieces, reports that it has begun offering products that can be built using eco-friendly materials. The benefits of the materials range from wood certified by the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) to steel with a recycled content value as high as 100%. These products can contribute towards satisfying several LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) credits.

In addition, Staging Concepts, Inc. has become a member of the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council). The USGBC is a 501(c)(3) non profit composed of leaders from every sector of the building industry working to promote buildings and communities that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy place to live and work.

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Staging Concepts Goes Green

news, , , , , , ,

Reprinted from Lighting & Sound America, October 3, 2008:

Staging Concepts, the maker of stage risers and modular staging pieces, reports that it has begun offering products that can be built using eco-friendly materials. The benefits of the materials range from wood certified by the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) to steel with a recycled content value as high as 100%. These products can contribute towards satisfying several LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) credits.

In addition, Staging Concepts, Inc. has become a member of the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council). The USGBC is a 501(c)(3) non profit composed of leaders from every sector of the building industry working to promote buildings and communities that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy place to live and work.

Links:

 

ShareThis

Go to the Green Theater Initiative

USGBC Greenbuild News and LEED Update

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If you’re in Boston right now, you might be at, or should check out Greenbuild, the United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) annual conference. The USGBC was grown out of the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) and are best known for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Standard.   :

From the Greenbuild Webpage:

Boston – the historic cradle of the American Revolution, home to innovations that have far-reaching impact and the perfect place to celebrate Greenbuild 2008’s theme of “Revolutionary Green: Innovations for Global Sustainability.” Join us at the U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Boston November 19-21, 2008.

Buildings play a critical role in protecting and improving our environment and the health of the people who occupy them. USGBC’s Greenbuild conference and expo is an unparalleled opportunity to connect with other green building peers, industry experts, and influential leaders as they share insights on the green building movement and its diverse specialties.

As we’ve learned from EcoGeek, one of the things on the table at Greenbuild is that the USGBC has announced an update for the LEED standard, LEED 2009:

“LEED 2009 will also incorporate highly anticipated regional credits, extra points that have been identified as priorities within a project’s given environmental zone. LEED has also undergone a scientifically grounded re-weighting of credits, changing allocation of points among LEED credits to reflect climate change and energy efficiency as urgent priorities. This will be one of the most significant changes to the rating system, and will increase the importance of green building as a means of contributing immediate and measurable solutions toward energy independence, climate change mitigation, and other global priorities.”

But if you don’t have the chance to get to Boston for Greenbuild you don’t have to miss the master’s speaker series. These sessions will be simulcast from the expo on greenbuild365.org. Here is the line up:

  • Van Jones, Wednesday, 2-3:30 p.m. President and Founder, Green For All
  • Leith Sharp, Wednesday, 2-3:30 p.m. Director, Harvard Green Campus Initiative (HGCI)
  • Stefan Behnisch, Wednesday, 4-5:30 p.m. Principal, Behnisch Architekten
  • Majora Carter, Wednesday, 4-5:30 p.m. President, Majora Carter Group, LLC
  • Richard Moe, Thursday, 8-9:30 a.m. President, National Trust for Historic Preservation
  • Paul Anastas, Thursday , 4-5:30 p.m. Director for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering, Yale University
  • Nancy C. Floyd, Thursday, 4-5:30 p.m. Founder and Managing Director, Nth Power, LLC
  • Bill McKibben, Friday, 9-10 a.m. Environmentalist and author
  • Howard Frumkin, Friday, 9-10 a.m. Director, The National Center for Environmental Health, CDC
  • Greener Good: USGBC Chapters present local green jobs and social equality initiatives, Thursday, 10-11:30 a.m.
  • Closing keynote address, Friday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Featuring E.O. Wilson, University Research Professor emeritus and honorary Curator of entomology at the Museum of comparative Zoology at Harvard University; and Janine Benyus, the author of “Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature”; moderated by NPR’s Kevin Klose.
Of course, if you’re like us at the CSPA — a non-profit, arts service organization for sustainability — all these conferences may make your head spin. Between the cost and the impact of that travel I tend to agree with David over at The Good Human:
“Let’s all get together and pick ONE city each year to host any and all green festivals. Want to be truly green and support the message of these festivals?”