With the 2007 Grenbuild Conference underway, people interested in attending might not know where to start.
One of the new and exciting events will be the First Annual Greenbuild Film Festival on Thursday, Nov. 8. Feature films that promote green building practices and address social, environmental and health topics will make the cut.
Some of the feature films will include:
-E2 Energy, an original series produced by kontentreal for national PBS broadcast and international distribution
-High Performance Building: Perspectives and Practice, a succinct 20-minute film featuring over 12 LEED projects as well as interviews with CEOs, school administrators, government officials, building managers, and many others who are realizing the real benefits of going green.
View the complete schedule of films before scheduling a visit.
November 08 2007 | General | No Comments »
If designing, working and living in green buildings is of interest to you, then the Greenbuild Conference in Chicago Nov. 7 to 9 is right up your alley.
“Chicago is welcoming us with open arms” said Peter Templeton, Vice President of Education & Research, USGBC. “Chicago is not only one of the greenest cities in the country, Mayor Richard Daley has set a high bar for sustainable leadership and green building is a significant part of his commitment.”
The conference will be held at the McCormick Place West Building and include educational sessions, speakers, special events and tours. Basically, more than 18,000 who agree that green building is a good idea will meet to discuss the future of going green in an urban setting.
The Greenbuild International Conference and Expo used to be held in Los Angeles, but Templeton thinks the move to Chicago was a good idea.
“We’d like to thank the USGBC Los Angeles Chapter and Los Angeles Host Committee for their incredibly hard work to make Greenbuild 2007 a success, and we’re looking forward to bringing Greenbuild to Los Angeles in the near term. However, in January we had agreed to a date change from October to November, in order to support a business development opportunity for the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau (LA, Inc.) and better accommodate our growth. But last week LA, Inc. notified us that in order to fulfill our needs, we would now need to move to a December date. We felt another date change would be detrimental to Greenbuild, and our ability to serve our members and our sponsors. A venue change for 2007 became our only option.”
Chicago was a great change of venue because it was one of the first cities to adopt the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System. Also, Chicago has more building projects registered to earn this prestigious certification than any other city in the world. The new West Building at McCormick Place is a LEED registered project and Greenbuild will be one of the first major shows to be held there.
LEED Certified Buildings in Chicago include:
- The Chicago Center for Green Technology
- Chicago Public Library, Oriole Park Branch
- 22nd District Police Station
- Haworth Chicago Showroom
- 111 South Wacker Drive
- West Englewood Public Library
- Center for Neighborhood Technology
- North Exelon Pavilions, Millennium Park
- One South Dearborn
- Kimball Office/National Office Showroom
- The Angel Harvey Infant Welfare Society of Chicago Community Health Center
- Logan Square Branch Library
- Target McKinley Park
- 71 South Wacker Drive
- 1761 Chicago Marine Safety Station
- Bucktown-Wicker Park Branch Library
- Cook County Domestic Violence Courthouse
- West Pullman Branch Library
November 08 2007 | Green Events | No Comments »
Among political issues of interest to religious groups in this country, the environment is beginning to emerge as key. How do various faiths address the many issues involved?
A panel of scholars and experts on world religions will examine the various doctrinal stances and discuss what religion and faith have to say about humankind’s place in nature. The panel will meet Nov. 4, 2:00-3:30 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple.
To live green, people make a conscious effort every day to sustain the environment and make decisions accordingly. The same usually goes for someone’s faith. Do the two go hand-in-hand?
Religions to be discussed will include: Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam…no religion under the sun is off limits.
November 02 2007 | Green Lifestyle and Green Events | No Comments »
With new suggestions about how to be eco-friendly popping up every day, the average person may start spinning in circles.
One expert may be encouraging people to switch to CFL light bulbs. Another environmentalist may urge everyone to buy hybrid vehicles. The next guy is suggesting solar panels.
Going green is great, but where does someone start with little time and energy?
A handful of Chicago women are providing an easy answer - stationary, wedding invitations and holiday cards all made from recycled paper. Women who are current and former participants and tenants of Deborah’s Place, Chicago’s largest provider of supportive housing exclusively for women, are employed.
Here’s the environmental impact calculated by WomanCraft:
Conserve a tree has a lot of great information and links to help you learn more. From this site we’ve borrowed a useful generalized calculation: 1 carton (10 reams) of virgin office paper = approximately .6 of the average felled tree. Based on these numbers we’ve worked out the following for WomanCraft:
1 WomanCraft Hollander beater (the machine that turns our shredded paper to pulp—ours is bigger than most) holds approximately 5 reams of shredded office paper (determined by weight of bagged shreds vs. weight of standard reams), so:
1 WomanCraft beaters-worth = approximately 1/3 of a tree
We estimate that we make about 2 beaters-worth of pulp each week, 48-50 weeks a year. Using the conservative number, we run our beater 96 times a year, so we create recycled paper equivalent to about 32 trees a year, and keep about 1000 pounds of paper from going to an incinerator or landfill!
WomanCraft, Inc. is a wholly-owned social enterprise of Deborah’s Place. Purchases help not only the environment, but also women working to create new beginnings.
November 01 2007 | Green Trends and Green Lifestyle and Green Fashion | No Comments »
People with celiac disease or those who just like to try new foods, can enjoy an evening of gluten-free food with a well-known blogger, Gluten-Free Girl.
Celiac disease, an inherited autoimmune disorder, may have been the best thing to happen to Shauna James Ahern.
Once she was diagnosed and forced to change her lifestyle and how she ate, she found love for seasonal foods, scratch cooking, living life with no regrets – and a man.
Ahern shares her journey in her debut book, “Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found the Food That Loves Me Back…And How You Can Too” (Wiley, 288 pages, $24.95), which hit shelves Oct. 12 , timed appropriately to coincide with Celiac Awareness Month and a cross-country book tour.
She will be in Evanston for a book signing at BooCoo Cafe & Cultural Center on Nov. 1 from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.
The Balanced Kitchen, the gluten-free, vegan restaurant mentioned in the post on October 29, will cater the event. All of the snacks will be organic, gluten-free and vegan.
October 31 2007 | Green Food and Green Events | No Comments »
Eating out is often not an option for people with certain food allergies. Between gluten, dairy, trans-fats and excess calories-typical menus are like minefields to those with limited diets.
The Balanced Kitchen serves food without limits for those looking to eat out and enjoy a gluten-free, vegan and organic lifestyle under one roof.
About one in 133 Americans suffer from celiac disease, which is an auto-immune disease that prevents people from processing a protein in wheat, barley and rye. Switching to a gluten-free diet is the only treatment for celiac sufferers.
“There’s a huge push for awareness and education about food allergens if you’re a chef to make these things that are usually off limits available and accessible,” said Zachary Bello, executive chef for The Balanced Kitchen. “As a chef, you’re already in the business to please the public. To please the public now, you need to know these needs.”
Bello assures customers that the restaurant is 100 percent gluten-free and 100 vegan. So nothing on this menu is off limits.
In addition, the resaurant, which plans to open in November at 6263 N. McCormick Road, has been LEED-certified and aims to incorporate as many eco-frindly practices as possible.
October 30 2007 | Green Places and Green Food | No Comments »
If people are working toward making housing affordable in Chicago, why don’t they go ahead and kill two birds with one stone and make it green as well?
Buildings account for 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and therefore, developers and architects need to be mindful of placing more eco-friendly structures within the city. On top of high levels of greenhouse gas emissions, costs of energy and housing in general seem to always be on the rise. Buyers and renters need help finding accessible green options for their current and future homes.
One company is showing Chicagoans how to put that notion into practice.
At the Greenbuild Conference coming up in Chicago on November 5, Global Green USA will discuss some viable solutions to meeting the rapidly growing need for green affordable housing in the area.
An expert on building green, Walker Wells, will join developers from Chicago and throughout the Midwest to explain how to avoid using toxic chemicals and reduce energy bills for residents.
Events like this are important to the Chicago community because environmental experts coach average citizens, who are interested in doing more to sustain a healthy living environment, how to go beyond changing a lightbulb.
October 30 2007 | Green Places and Green Events | No Comments »
The Making A Great Lake Superior conference will be held at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center Oct. 29 -31. The conference will bring together researchers, government officials, educators and the public to present and exchange information on the critical issues facing the Lake Superior ecosystem with an emphasis on climate change.
Speakers will include Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson, EPA Regional Administrator Mary Gade, Arctic explorer Will Steger, former EPA Assistant Administrator Tracy Mehan and John Austin of the Brookings Institution, as well as other experts on Lake Superior and the Great Lakes. In addition, Lake Superior mayors and tribal leaders will participate in a panel discussion about critical issues facing the lake.
The conference agenda is available online, and the meeting will also be available as a Web cast and by telephone.
October 25 2007 | Green Events | No Comments »
Going green isn’t just for farmers and environmentalists. Chicago businessmen are looking to learn where and how to begin a green business. Chicago Sustainable Business Alliance and the Chicago Center for Green Technology are holding a workshop Oct. 25, 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. at the Stuart School of Business, 565 W. Adams, to answer the following:
1. Where does a business start that wants to “go green?”
2. What is the difference between being green and pursuing sustainability?
3. What are the potential benefits and challenges of embracing a more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable strategy?
Pre-register before learning the basics behind starting a green business.
October 25 2007 | Green Events | No Comments »
Many Americans are unaware of how the food they eat is created and transported, who is behind the whole effect, and at what environmental cost. But a growing national movement is building greater awareness, along with cusumer demand for healthier, local, organic and sustainable options — strengthening economies while bringing the worlds of the farm and the metropolis closer together.
The Land Connection is a non-profit organization saving Illinois farmland and training new farmers in Evanston. Terra Brockman, food and farm writer and executive director of The Land Connection will discuss the latest trends in the local food production movement with Corby Kummer, senior food editor for “The Atlantic Monthy,” and several organic farmers on Nov. 3, 12:00-1:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church at The Chicago Temple.
“There’s a whole movement here toward health and local food production,” said David Miller, the director of farmland projects for The Land Connection. “We think and hope people will continue to support the local food production movement.”
October 25 2007 | Green Trends and Green Farming and Green Events | 1 Comment »
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