First Leaf electric car in Nashville!

Tuesday, Dec 21st, Nissan turned over the keys to the first Tennessee buyer of its new Leaf at a Nashville dealership to become the world's first automaker to introduce a mass-market, highway-capable electric car. The Heeren family of Nashville were the first to receive a Leaf in Tennessee by virtue of being the first to sign up to buy one on a Nissan website in August.
See more

Keep Williamson Beautiful plans bigger Green Expo

During a Keep Williamson Beautiful committee meeting in November, members decided to switch the August Green Expo from The Factory at Franklin near downtown to the Williamson County Agricultural Exposition Park off Long Lane for more space and cost savings. The Expos has out grown the Factory space and this will save cost since the Expo center is county property.
See more

GM's Chevy Volt wins Green Car of the Year???

I'm not sure how this happened. The Volt can not go but 40 miles on battery then has to use gas engine. It's more like a regular gasoline driven car with a battery back-up. Looks like the Leaf would have been a better choice. Go figure
Read More>

State and Local Agencies Observe America Recycles Day Nov. 15

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation issued the following news release:

America Recycles Day is Monday, Nov. 15, and Tennessee's departments of Environment and Conservation and Transportation are joining local county and city agencies across the state, providing several opportunities for citizens to reduce waste and make a difference.
Read More>

TVA wants to use smaller nuclear reactors by 2020

TVA has announced to nuclear regulators they may begin using new and smaller nuclear reactors by 2020. TVA will have to get approval through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This brings up a whole set of issues that need to be discussed: environmental impact of several more power plants on the landscape; is this the direction we need to go or should we be looking at alternative energy?
See article

Review: 2011 Nissan Leaf electric car is a treat to drive

This is a good article on the good and bad of the new Nissan Leaf. I'm still concerned about the short distance between re-charges.
Read the article

Franklin "green" Parking Program

By Kevin Walters • The Tennessean • October 20, 2010
Franklin is moving forward on ideas put out by their sustainability committees. One idea that we developed on the Transportation Committee was to give a small incentive for 'green' high mpg vehicles parking in the city. 26 parking spaces in the inner city will designated for 'Green Vehicles". The Franklin Sustainability Commission approved the concept and the Franklin aldermen will discuss it in their the BOMA (board of mayor and aldermen) meeting in November.
Read more>
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20101020/WILLIAMSON10/101020035/-1/RSS05

Chattanooga Fire Station 7 Seeking LEED Certification

New fire station 7 opened in Chattanooga is seeking LEED Certification 8-24-2010:
Features of the new station:
• One-story, three-bay fire station.
• 11,500 square feet, includes accommodations for two fire companies, training room and offices.
• A “green” building in design and energy efficiency. Seeking LEED certification. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) was developed by the U.S. Building Council to establish standards for environmentally sustainable construction.
• Heat reflective paving and roofing.
• The building and surrounding site has a storm-water runoff system that features a water retention area with native vegetation.
• 15,000 gallon rainwater collection system for flushing fixtures and irrigation.
• Solar water heating system.
• High-efficiency heating/cooling system.
• Building orientation and windows maximize natural light on the interior.
• Durable, low-maintenance materials used throughout that are low-to-zero VOC (volatile organic compounds) off-gassing.
• High-efficiency plumbing and light fixtures with occupancy and daylight sensors. Low maintenance floors.
• Residential sprinkler system in sleeping areas.
See more
http://www.chattanooga.gov/General_Government/62_5313.htm

Tennessee offers a $2,500 incentive for Electric Vehicle Purchases

The state of Tennessee offers a $2,500 incentive to early buyers of electric vehicles via a program that could later be extended to buyers of other alternative fuel vehicles.
"There's no reason Tennessee can't take the lead … in the development of electric vehicles," the Governor Phil Bredesen said. "We want their components to be made here and sold worldwide with a 'Made in Tennessee' label."
Read More
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100909/BUSINESS01/9090349/2221/BUSINESS

Light Rail's Real Cost

From American Conservative
by Glen Bottoms

Rail transit’s great enemy isn’t public support or political will but its enormous price tag.

The expense of heavy-rail subway systems has limited recent growth to extensions of existing lines. The last heavy-rail construction completed in the U.S. was a 3.2 mile extension of Washington Metro’s blue line to Largo Town Center, completed in 2004 at a cost of $695 million ($217 million/mile). Phase I of the Metro’s 11.6 mile extension to Dulles Airport is estimated at a staggering $2.65 billion ($242.1 million/mile). The bite for New York City subway extensions is in another reality.

Read more

Tennessee's First Electric Car Charger Station

The state's first electric car charging station opened Wednesday August 4th in Giles County. It was unveiled by a company called Richland, LLC of Pulaski.
The station generates enough electricity to power approximately four homes. It’s located at the "Future of Parking Lots" along Mines Road in Pulaski.

See links:
http://www.wsmv.com/news/24511659/detail.html
http://green.autoblog.com/2010/08/23/solar-parking-lot-with-electric-car-charging-stations-opens-in-t/
http://inhabitat.com/2010/08/24/rural-tennessee-town-gets-solar-parking-lot-with-ev-chargers/

TN and GA Apply for Grant for high-speed rail

Tennessee and Georgia's departments of transportation have jointly applied for $34 million in federal stimulus funding to develop high-speed rail service from Atlanta to Chattanooga, Nashville and eventually Louisville, Ky.
Read More

Portland mix-use High-rise with wind turbines

Portland, Oregon
Wind Steals the Spotlight: Rooftop turbines draw attention to this new mixed-use high-rise in Portland, but it’s the less visible systems and design choices that make it a beacon of green.
Read More

Largest Solar Plant In Tennessee

(from Knoxville Chamber Blog)
On August 12 the largest solar plant in Tennessee was put online. The system is comprised of 4,608 Sharp® ND-224UC1 solar modules made in the company’s Memphis plant and was developed, designed and constructed by Natural Energy Group in conjunction with Efficient Energy of Tennessee, LLC (EETN), its integrator arm based in Powell, TN. EETN will also maintain the facility.

“The City of Knoxville seeks to substantially increase the deployment of solar power in the area. Knoxville’s ‘Solar America Cities’ effort underscores our progress in working toward a sustainable solar infrastructure,” said Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam. “This initiative furthers our goal of bringing solar power into the mainstream.”
Read the rest at:
http://www.knoxvillechamber.com/blogs/chamber/2010/08/18/eetn-completes-install-of-tvas-largest-solar-plant/

Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Awards

Governor Phil Bredesen and Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke announced the winners of the 2010 Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Awards May 26. The 14 winners will be recognized for their achievements and positive impact on the state’s natural resources in an awards ceremony to be held in Nashville on June 24.
See the list
http://news.tennesseeanytime.org/node/5252

Stormwater: Mosquito control

Most people outside the mosquito control arena do not realize that belowground sources of standing water often represent the largest sources of mosquitoes in urban environments and are among the most difficult to control.
http://www.stormh2o.com/blogs/marco-metzger/mosquito-myth-busting-101-belowground-stormwater-bmps-and-m.aspx

.

Report: Energy reform could save Tennessee billions, add jobs

Nashville Business Journal - by Dan Hieb Staff Writer

Tennessee could save billions of dollars and generate thousands of new jobs by enacting aggressive energy efficiency policies, a team of researchers from Georgia Tech and Duke say.
Their study, Energy Efficiency in the South, argues that by reducing the growth of electricity consumption, Tennesseans could save $1.6 billion a year by 2020, and $3.1 billion a year by 2030. Those savings, pumped into other industries such as green manufacturing, would in turn generate 15,100 jobs by 2020 and 20,700 jobs by 2030, the researchers said.
>More

Stormwater Project Dedication And Ribbon Cutting Is Friday

From Chattanoogan.com
posted April 8, 2010
A dedication ceremony and ribbon-cutting to introduce Renaissance Park’s newest environmental feature will be on Friday at 11 a.m. at the new parking area and Rain Garden in Renaissance Park.

Mayor Ron Littlefield, Parks and Recreation Administrator Larry Zehnder, Anda Ray, senior vice president of TVA Environment and Technology from Knoxville, as well as representatives from the local TVA, the Chattanooga Green Committee, City Council, City Office of Sustainability, Public Works, and special guests, will be on hand.

This is the completed first phase of the River Street Extension, with a new environmentally-designed parking area and rain garden.

Portland's Sewers Right as Rain

By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY
The most surprising tourist attraction in Portland, Ore., is its storm sewer system.

Eco-friendly tourists flock to the city to understand how Portland's innovative system of curbs, gutters, roofs and rain gardens sharply cuts water pollution.
>Read More
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2010-03-28-portland-sewers_N.htm

Brentwood Noon Rotary 4th Annual Little Harpeth River Cleanup

The Brentwood Noon Rotary Club 4th Annual Little Harpeth River Cleanup, held Saturday, March 6th, was a tremendous success because of the many volunteers and organizations that participated in the event. The Williamson County Parks and Recreation Department allowed us to use the Indoor Sports Complex to organize the event. Keep Williamson Beautiful provided the vests, gloves, and trash bags. The City of Brentwood helped coordinate the on street parking at various locations along the river. The Brentwood Police and Fire departments were on hand in the event that emergency services were needed.

There were 91 volunteers divided into 9 teams that cleaned 20 miles of river bank (10 miles each side). We collected 73 bags of trash and some miscellaneous items totaling approximately 2,400 pounds.

In addition to the Rotary Club membership participation, we had volunteers from the following organizations:

Overton High School Interact Club
Brentwood High School Interact Club
Boy Scout Troop 86
Boy Scout Troop 93
Girl Scout Troop 1660
Cub Scout Pack 297
Numerous individual volunteers

Skip Heibert, organizer of the event says:
"It was great to see all the volunteers come together for such a worthy cause, but really is a shame that we have to coordinate this event at all. The amount of trash we find each year should be an embarrassment to all the citizens of Brentwood. Too many people are using our river as a dumping ground with no regard for our neighbors downstream. I hope this event helps people realize that just one soft drink can or plastic bag they toss really adds up on just our short 10 mile stretch of river. We removed 2,400 pounds of trash this year which is about the same amount we removed last year. Our goal is to educate our citizens to be better stewards of this wonderful resource. Then, hopefully, in the not too distant future, this event will not be necessary."

Chattanooga: Future of Green Infrastructure

The city had made a concerted effort to pursue a course of creating “green infrastructure” as an alternative of ‘gray infrastructure’: below ground and impervious surfaces above ground. Green infrastructure is the method of collecting stormwater above ground with natural vegetation and systems that are attractive, less expensive and accomplish multiple objectives; this effort will become the central theme for neighborhood and commercial revitalization. The Public Works Department has been tasked by the Mayor to provide the resources and support for this and the Water Quality Program has targeted our water quality credit system to give heavy incentives for development of green infrastructure to address stormwater issues. Water Quality Program is also in the process of developing a Retrofit Plan for private and public properties focusing on implementing Low Impact Development and green infrastructure practices and monitoring the change in the water quality from the landscape.

Keep Williamson Beautiful: Environmental Leader Class

Keep Williamson Beautiful is sponsoring a six week class, on how you can be an Environmental Leader. Classes start March 30 and are held every Tuesday evening from 6:30 - 8:30 for six weeks.


The goal of the class is "To increase awareness of the beauty of Williamson County and Tennessee and to promote keeping that beauty intact by stopping litter and encouraging recycling and to get more people involved."

There are two speakers during each session with area specialist in their fields. Classes include education and awareness about individual responsibility regarding proper waste handling practices and the minimization of waste, recycling, reuse, litter prevention, beautification and community improvement, and saving natural resources.

The cost of the class is thirty five dollars. The class will be held on Century Court in Franklin. A tour to the Williamson County Landfill will also be planned. Call 790-5848 for information and to sign up for the class. Or visit www.KeepWilliamsonBeautiful.org for speaker schedule.


http://www.keepwilliamsonbeautiful.org/

Alex Noble: Transportation woes need regional fix

For Brentwood Home Page
I have been reading with some considerable interest and, yes, a good deal of excitement, coverage of Nashville Mayor Karl Dean’s latest initiative regarding regional transportation. I can only say, “Wow!
>>Read the rest
http://www.brentwoodhomepage.com/news.php?viewStory=1705

Creative Discovery Museum Getting Chattanooga's Largest Green Roof

A new green roof is being installed this week over the existing roof of the at the Creative Discovery Museum.
Randy Whorton with Engineered Verdant Solutions (EVS), a division of Stein Construction, is installing the sedum green roof system and says “this will be the largest green roof in Chattanooga to date with over 3,000 square feet of sedum plants, planting boxes and even small trees. It will provide a multitude of benefits for the museum and the environment.”
>>More

LEEDuser.com: Overview page for LEED v3 Rating system

The USGBC launched the new LEED 2009 rating systems in April 2009 as part of its LEED version 3 initiative. LEEDuser provides an overview page on on each credit in each of the LEED 2009 rating systems, with background information and key tips for success, such as which strategies are most likely to work well under which conditions. Many credit pages are supplemented with primary design strategy pages.
>>See more

Home Depot Shoots for 20% Reduction in Supply Chain Emissions Over 5 Years

In a review of its progress so far, the retailer said it has saved 2.6 billion kilowatt hours at its U.S. operations since starting an energy efficiency program in 2004. In Canada, the chain has saved 220 million kWh since 2005, according to a press
>See More

New LEED Credential Maintenance Program

If you are a LEED AP or want to be a LEED AP, here is an archived Webinar recorded Feb. 23, 2010 called "LEED AP Credential Maintenance—Cracking the Code."
It is a well done presentation that will help you understand the new LEED credential requirements.
http://www.leeduser.com/strategy/video-leed-ap-credential-maintenance

All New Office Depots to be Built to Energy Efficient, LEED Standards

All New Office Depots to be Built to Energy Efficient, LEED Standards

All New Office Depots to be Built to Energy Efficient, LEED
Standards
Office Depot is adopting an energy efficient and green building model
for the interiors of all new stores.
Office Depot recently unveiled
a prototype energy efficient store in Austin, Texas, that was LEED
certified.
That store achieved a 23 percent redu...ction in carbon emissions per
square foot through energy efficiency efforts and solar power.
This year 14 scheduled new Office Depot locations will be built to
LEED for Commercial Interiors standards, according to a press release.

South Carolina Publisher First to Use 100% Environmentally Certified Paper

South Carolina Publisher First to Use 100% Environmentally Certified Paper

San Francisco Launches Nation's Largest PACE Program | GreenerBuildings.com

By GreenerBuildings Staff
Published February 10, 2010
San Francisco, CA — San Francisco has established the nation’s largest green financing program to allow businesses and homeowners to pay for efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy improvements through future property taxes.

The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program will make $150 million in bonding capacity available to the city’s property owners beginning March 1.

The low-cost loans, which are paid back through property taxes over their lifetime, typically within 20 years, are attached to the property, not the property owner. Eligible property owners will have paid their property taxes on time for the previous three years.
San Francisco Launches Nation's Largest PACE Program | GreenerBuildings.com

Confluence Solar announces $200M plant in Tenn

Tennessee Governor Phill Bredesen announced Jan 21st that Confluence Solar Inc. plans to build a $200 million solar manufacturing plant in Clinton, Tennessee.
Tennessee is positioning itself to be a US leader in solar energy with the Hemlock Semiconductor polysilicon plant under construction in Charksville, TN and Wacker Chemie AG. in Cleveland, TN producing the material used by Confluence Solar to make silicon ingots for solar cells.
Sharp Electronics in Memphis is the second largest manufacturer of photovoltaic solar cells in the world. This is Sharp's first panel manufacturing facility outside of Japan. Albeit, 75% of the panels it produces are sold outside the US.

LEED Green Associate Prep Class

The LEED Green Associate, GA, prep courses will be 5, two hour classes and a practice exam that will assist you in preparing to pass the LEED GA Exam. This course will be taught by a group of knowledgeable instructors who will review LEED credits, provide sample exam questions, present synergy overviews and equip you with strategies for taking the test. Certificates of completion will be given to those who attend all five sessions and take the practice test.

Space is limited to the first 40 people that sign up. Sign up in person ONLY
@
green|spaces
63 e. main street
chattanooga, tn 37408
Chattanooga USGBC

Chattanooga Has Been Doing More Than Its Share In Water Quality

Read the article in Chattanooga Times by Vance Travis posted January 14, 2010

The new Blue Ribbon Committee has made headway looking into the new and updated Water Quality Fee in Chattanooga. >>Read More

Updated their Tree Carbon Calculator

Recently, the Forest Service has updated their Tree Carbon Calculator so that it works nationally instead of just for California. You can find the updated version in their Climate Change Resource Center. The calculator runs off an excel platform.
>>see Center for Urban Forestry Research
http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/cufr/

January: National Radon Action Month

During January’s National Radon Action Month, the U.S. Surgeon General and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urge all Americans to protect their health by testing their homes for radon.

Radon is a natural radioactive gas that you can’t see, smell or taste but could be present at a dangerous level in your home. As the second leading cause of lung cancer deaths in the U.S. and the first leading cause among non-smokers, radon claims more than 20,000 lives annually. If a high radon level is detected in your home, you can take steps to fix it to protect yourself and your family.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is offering a limited amount of free radon test kits to Tennessee citizens. Please mail your request to: Radon Program, 711 R.S. Gass Blvd., Nashville, TN 37216 or email your request to TDEC.Radon@tn.gov. Be sure to include your name, address, city, state and ZIP code.

Wetlands: are they important?

There is a good article in Nashville City Paper today concerning wetlands. I guess very few people get up in the morning and think "What can I do today to protect a wetland?" Few do. What do 'wetlands' do and why should we protect them and what do they have to do with the price of eggs (well, they don't have much to do with the price of eggs but they sometimes are associated with the price of development and/or the roads we build). A wetland is not just a swampy area that has sketters and we should avoid. It can be a complex ecosystem that supplies habitat for plants and animals you don't find anyplace else. We usually describe wetlands as what function they supply to the watershed: such as flood control(if the wetlands had not been destroyed outside of New Orleans, Katrina would not have been half as bad); ground water recharge; as I said before, they supply habitat for sensitive animals and their functions go on. But they are located and function best where mother nature has put them. If a road or development comes in and needs that space to develop on, then what do we do? If the state considers them to be large enough (and The Army Corps of Engineer also has input here) then a 'developer' would be required to mitigate for the destruction of them. To replace near by "on-site mitigation" is the best choice because wetlands function best in the watershed where they are located. There are wetland bank credits that can be purchased for mitigation, but they are pretty expensive. Read the article in the paper....
>>>Read More