GLOBAL GREEN USA SPRING/SUMMER NEWSLETTER

13th Annual Millennium Awards Honor Environmental Leaders

Global Green USA and more than 350 guests celebrated the 2009 Millennium Awards Honorees at a star-studded fundraising gala in Santa Monica, California on May 30, 2009. The event raised over $500,000 to support Global Green USA including its national Green Schools initiative.

The honorees for 2009 were: Wallis Annenberg & the Annenberg Foundation, Jeff Skoll, Marc Nathanson, and Global Green Board member Zem Joaquin. Watch videos from the Awards here.

Celebrity supporters and presenters in attendance included: Rosario Dawson, Adrian Grenier, Arianna Huffington, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Amy Smart, Radha Mitchell, Sharon Lawrence, and David Duchovny. See photos from the Awards here.

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Newest Green Affordable Housing Project Demonstrates Viability of Climate-friendly, Zero Energy Housing

More finished examples of high performance green affordable housing projects have come online this year with integrated design technical assistance from Global Green's Green Urbanism Program. Los Vecinos, a 42-unit net zero project near San Diego, opened its doors on April 12. The housing development will provide nearly 100 percent of its own electricity from solar power and residents will save 75% or more on their electricity bills.
 
“The project is a perfect example of the kinds of design strategies and technologies that will need to be deployed in order to meet California’s long-term policy goal of making all new residential housing net zero by 2020,” said Ted Bardacke, Global Green’s Senior Program Associate. 

And in June, Habitat for Humanity East Bay Affiliates received notification from the USGBC that the first phase of their Edes A affordable housing project received gold certification under the LEED for Homes program.

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Global Green Guides Local Governments on Green Building

Green Urbanism Program Director Walker Wells and staff continue to see succcess in guiding cities through process of developing and implementing green building programs. On Earth Day, the Long Beach City Council unanimously approved a program that sets in place standards related to LEED as well as establishes minimum green building requirements for construction projects.

Later that week, GUP staff assisted the City of Los Angeles in the kickoff of the second component of the Los Angeles green building program, related to residential buildings. And in June, GUP staff presented draft program proposal for the Malibu green building program to the Malibu City Council and Planning Commission.

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Solar Installation at the Holy Cross Project in New Orleans

In May, Global Green was joined by New Orleans’ citizens and green energy leaders at a special event highlighting the progress of the Holy Cross Project as two solar panel systems were installed on the 2nd and 3rd of 5 planned single-family houses under construction at the site. The installations were performed by local renewable energy installer, South Coast Solar, and students of a solar installation training course presented by Louisiana CleanTech Network, a local organization providing green jobs training programs at college campuses throughout the state.

Attendees were invited to view local trainees assisting the South Coast Solar staff with the installation of the solar panels as part of their training to achieve certification as solar installers. Global Green has made development of a green workforce a top priority of its green building programs in New Orleans and around the country. Learn more.

You can view the real-time solar energy consumption and production of the first house in the Holy Cross project through our Building Dashboard(R),a monitoring tool that is both in the house, and online.

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Closing the Loop on Paper Fast Food Packaging

In June, Global Green’s Coalition for Resource Recovery, convened 80 participants for a “value chain caucus” aimed at diverting prepared food packaging from the nation’s landfills.

Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) including Burger King and McDonald’s provider, Havi Global Solutions, and coffee purveyors Starbucks and Canada’s Tim Horton’s joined with paper products suppliers MeadWestvaco, International Paper, Durobag, Interstate Container, Solo Cup, Dopaco, Huhtamaki, GA Pacific, and Pactiv to discuss how to make their cups, cartons, bags, and boxes readily recyclable.

They were joined by recyclable waste collector Action Carting and leading “urban forester” Pratt Industries who’ve collaborated with Western Michigan University to devise a testing method to certify paper products as recyclable on a scale equivalent to corrugated boxes, the most frequently recycled resource in the U.S. Learn More.

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Home Energy Efficiency Bill to Save Money, Reduce Carbon Emissions

At the beginning of July, the California State Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee (EU&C) passed Assembly Bill (AB) 758, legislation that will make existing buildings more energy efficient and less expensive to operate. The bill, sponsored by Global Green USA and authored by Assembly Member Nancy Skinner (D- Berkeley), will require the California Energy Commission (CEC) to develop an energy efficiency program for all existing residential and commercial buildings.

Energy use in buildings is the largest single global warming pollution source in the United States accounting for 48% of all greenhouse gas emissions nationally. AB 758 would require the California Energy Commission to establish a regulatory proceeding, by March 1, 2010, to develop and implement a comprehensive program to achieve energy savings in the existing residential and commercial building stock that falls significantly below current Title 24 building standards. The bill would also require the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC), by January 1, 2011, to authorize each electrical corporation to provide a targeted number of low- or no-cost energy efficiency audits each calendar year. Learn More.

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Global Green Hosts OPCW Director Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter

For the third consecutive year, Global Green USA was pleased to host Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the implementing agency for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in The Hague, in Washington DC for a series of high-level meetings and presentations. 

During his visit, Ambassador Pfirter met with Senator Richard Lugar (R-Indiana), ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and co-founder of the “Nunn-Lugar” Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program for eliminating weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere. Successful, high-level meetings also took place at the White House, the Department of State, and the Department of Defense with discussions focused on U.S. support for the CWC and the OPCW, nonproliferation policies, and chemical weapons destruction progress in the U.S., Russia, and elsewhere. Find out more about his visit.

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Shchuch'ye Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility Opens

On May 29, the Russian Federation formally opened its new chemical weapons destruction (CWD) facility in the Kurgan Oblast, just north of Kazakhstan and just east of the Ural Mountain Range. Located near the Trans-Ural village of Shchuch’ye (pronounced “shoo-che”), the chemical weapons stockpile which will be neutralized and destroyed over the next several years is one of seven CW stockpiles declared by Russia under auspices of the international Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

The Shchuch’ye stockpile holds almost two million artillery shells and some 1,000 missile warheads, all loaded with nerve agents. Just one of these shells, appropriately detonated in a populated area, could kill thousands of people in a matter of minutes.

Green Cross Russia, an international partner of Global Green USA, participated in the formal opening. For over 12 years Green Cross Russia, together with Global Green USA and Green Cross Switzerland, has been managing public outreach activities and facilitating the safe and timely elimination of weapons in all areas where Russian CWD facilities are located, including the Shchuch’ye facility.

Read the New York Times Article about the opening of the facility.

UPCOMING EVENT:

Global Green USA's 10th Annual Sustainable Design Awards
in New York City

The Sustainable Design Awards honor those who are 'tearing down the walls' that stand in the way of a sustainable and secure world through their innovative design.

This year - the 10th anniversary - our Sustainable Design Awards will be held Monday, November 9th, at Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers.

Find out more about the event.

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TOP TEN WAYS YOU CAN HELP GREEN YOUR LOCAL SCHOOL

Green Schools protect one of our most precious resources - our children. Here are some ways you can help green your school:

UPDATE THE LIGHTS
Swap out old, inefficient incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) last up to 10 times longer than standard incandescent light bulbs. Many local utility companies have free or reduced-cost exchange programs.

PLANT AN ORGANIC EDIBLE GARDEN
Organize school garden projects that engage students, teach about nutrition, and produce some food for their consumption. Create a school-wide composting program of cafeteria and food scraps. Through basic and worm composting programs, students can learn about ecology, biology and waste reduction.

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
Create a school recycling program. Recycle everything that cannot be reused, and encourage the purchase of items that can be recycled. By recycling just one glass bottle, you save enough electricity to power a 100-watt bulb for four hours.

Find out the others ways here.

Sign our green schools letter to President Obama.

Watch our video about the importance of green schools.

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SUPPORT GREEN SCHOOLS TODAY!

With every green school, we are affecting the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of students and scores of teachers and administrators.

With your support, our efforts to create more healthy green schools that save money, improve students’ academic performance and health, and reduce CO2 emissions that cause global warming become a reality.

Green schools create green jobs today, while educating and inspiring kids about the green jobs of tomorrow.

Help with a donation.

Or become a Global Green member TODAY.

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TAKE ACTION TODAY!

The House of Representatives has passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), a bill designed to address our planet's greatest threat - global warming. We believe a stronger bill is essential to protect our planet against the onset of climate change, sea-level rise and related-weather events. The bill now heads to the Senate where there will be opportunities to strengthen it - so call your Senator and make your voice heard. 

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SOLAR POWER CONFERENCE 2009

Solar Power International is the largest U.S. business-to-business solar conference and expo. It features sessions on markets, policy, finance, and technology advances as well as 650+ exhibitors, and more than 25,000 attendees from 90 countries.

With top-notch keynote addresses, 200+ speakers, more than 65 breakout sessions and workshops, this is the premier place for expanding your business opportunities and networking with solar industry leaders.

SolarPowerInternational.com

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