Sept 20, 2008

Our first SF volunteer event at Fort Funston Nursery was a success!  Thank you to all Sherwooders and friends for dedicating their Saturday morning in helping with transplanting of coyote bush, and planting strawberries.  Coyote bush is a native plant in California.  It is used mainly for landscaping, as they are naturally very useful for hedges, fence lines, and ground cover.  Our nursery manager, Sharon, commented on how very careful and detailed we were.  We had 18 volunteers in all and we transplanted about 2000 coyote plants.  Check us out working hard in our cool SDE volunteer t-shirts!

October 18, 2008

NY’s second volunteer event was with the ASCE Metropolitan Section’s Young Members Forum for New York Cares Day on October 18th.  SDE NY joined thousands of other people in revitalizing more than 100 New York City public schools by painting classrooms, adding new line games to playgrounds, reorganizing libraries, and planting flowers.  Take a look at the great pieces of art that NY painted.  We are so talented!  There are more photos on the ASCE Met Section website as well.

November 17, 2008

SDE SF’s most recent volunteer event was at the Presidio Nursery for the first part of the Bioswale Construction.  Volunteers removed asphalt and began excavating out the swale trench.   We definitely had quite a physical work out, as we had use picks to remove asphalt and base rock, and wheel barrow them up or down the slope depending on where they needed to go.  This was not easy folks… we got blisters and sore bodies to prove it.

Shout outs to John D. working on the final design and Drew for helping with the construction details.  THANK YOU to everyone that participated in this volunteer event.  If you want to join in the excite, our PART II will be happening this weekend on Saturday November, 22nd from 9:00-12:00 pm.  Please come early for bagels and coffee.

One of the 2,000 islands in The Maldives, from Nomadic Matt's Travel Site

• Chain stores are starting to invest in green buildings across the country. It may lead to an increase in consumers at the location due to the the green message, but ultimately, the green features lower energy costs which is valuable to the bottom line.
• The nation of the Maldives has announced they will start an investment fund to use to buy land on higher ground, probably somewhere in India or Sri Lanka, to move its population in the event of sea level rising. The island chain sits ~ 3 ft above the current sea level.
• The new Ikea in Brooklyn is currently applying for a LEED Silver rating. Green features include solar panels on half of the roof, which if they perform well, may be rolled out across Ikea stores worldwide.
• US Sugar’s sale of land (181,000 acres) in the Everglades to the state of Florida has been trimmed down to a lower price, as well as a real estate only deal, so that the sugar operations will continue for the mean time.
• A paper shredder finds a new industry in shredding electronic waste, and makes profits from it as well.

We’re very pleased to announce that Sherwood Design Engineers is bringing sustainable engineering to Boston. We are expanding our East Coast presence with the opening of our newest office in Cambridge, just two blocks from Harvard Square.

To celebrate our new office, we invite you to join us at our 2nd annual Greenbuild Afterparty in conjunction with Building Green, Harley Ellis Devereaux, and others.

The gathering will be Tuesday evening, the night of Member Day and the night before the conference officially starts. It will start at 8pm, to allow folks to attend other events first and/or to get into town.

The venue is the Artists for Humanity Epicenter building, a LEED Platinum space that houses the AFH program for teen arts education. The space is a great party space, near the convention center and the subway.

So join us at our Greenbuild afterparty:

Tuesday November 18th. 8:00 - 11:00 pm
Artist for Humanity’s Epicenter Building
100 West Second St. Boston, MA 02127

Please also come visit us at our booth at the Greenbuild Conference - #2439 - learn about our latest projects and tell us about yours. Our booth will open November 18th at 5:30 and close November 20th at 6pm.

And stop by our new Cambridge office:

Sherwood Design Engineers, Cambridge
1280 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
main [617] 354.9800

For more information visit us online:
www.sherwoodengineers.com

Sherwood Design Engineers – Now in Boston and Ready for Your Business!

Congratulations to Sherwood Design Engineers! We’ve been selected as a 2008 Waste Reduction Awards Program winner by the California Integrated Waste Management Board. To win this distinction, we have diverted over 1 million tons of materials from landfills and reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by more than half a million tons of CO2 through recycling!  Our office greening has REALLY paid off.

Vaquita Mother and Child from vaquita.org

• A judge blocked New York City’s law to require all new cabs to have a fuel efficiency of 30 mph or greater, a fundamental part of the city’s PlaNYC 2030.
• Boeing is looking at using biofuels as jet fuel within 3 years, but they don’t address the issue of supply - a whole lot of land would be needed to supply that much biofuel.
• Google may make their money in internet ads, but they are investing heavily in renewable energy.
• The vaquita, a type of dolphin in the Gulf of California off the coast of Mexico, is severely endangered with probably no more than 150 left. The Mexican government has been paying fisherman to stop using gill nets or stop fishing all together in an attempt to save the species before its too late. The World Wildlife Fund has been developing alternative nets that are safe for vaquitas.
• Thoreau’s Walden offers a good glimpse as to what the habitat was like outside of Boston 150 years ago and how its changed since then.
• The weed killer atrazine may be responsible for the decline in frog populations across the US, but not for harming the reproduction system, as initially suspected but never proven definitively.  A new study shows it may be due to an increased number of flatworm parasites that infect the frogs, which are rising due to a complex reaction of atrazine killing off algae on the top of ponds, leading to an increase in algae on the bottom of ponds due to more sunlight.  This leads to higher more food for snails, so higher snail populations, which carry the flatworms.
• Solar panels may need more subsidies and government assistance regulations to be successful.

Auto-Free NY’s Plan for Improving the City through Better Transit

Come hear how it works this week.
Tuesday, Oct 28. 6-8pm
Auto-Free NY presents an open forum on key transportation issues. Moderated by Jeffrey Gold, Vice-President, Institute for Rational Urban Mobility.

More info on Sustainable Streets in New York City in SF this week from SPUR:
Wednesday, Oct 29. 12:30 - 1:30pm. SPUR Office, 312 Sutter St. (at Grant), 5th Floor. Close to the Powell St. BART station and several Muni lines. Feel free to bring a lunch. SPUR Forums are open to the public, free for members and $5 for non-members.

New York’s Department of Transportation has transformed in recent years into one of the country’s leading advocates for sustainable streets. Jon Orcutt, the agency’s Director of Policy, will discuss the agency’s strategic plan, released in April 2008, and the variety of projects and initiatives designed to align the department with the goals and challenges of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030 sustainability initiative

What’s “Humanure”??
Thursday, Oct 30. 7:30 – 9:00pm. 6th Street Community Center
638 East 6th St (btw Aves B and C), in Manhattan

Permaculture Solutions Lecture Series presents: “Humanure” Humanure – the odorous excretions of human beings – can be recycled using natural processes without creating environmental pollution. And it can be done in your own backyard. Joseph Jenkins will cover this topic at least a couple inches deep. Joseph Jenkins, a businessman, organic gardener and author of three books, is perhaps best known for the award-winning Humanure Handbook – A Guide to Composting Human Manure, which is making its way to various United Nations and international development networks, and has been translated into Korean, Hebrew, Spanish, Norwegian and Mongolian.  From the Green NYC Events calendar.

Have a Great Week!

Sheep being led back to the ranch.

• Downtown Houston converts an above ground parking lot into a below grade parking lot with a park on top, creating open space downtown.
• Bike sharing programs are becoming more popular on college campuses, and getting more technologically advanced at the same time.
• The economic crisis and the decrease in gasoline and fuel costs may cause the renewable energy trend to stall.
• California’s energy efficient policies have created close 1.5 million jobs over the last 30 years, while losing less than 25,000. Since consumers were spending less on energy, they spent more on other areas, creating jobs.
• Google has created a Halloween themed energy savings calculator for greening your home.
• Charging your phone or ipod while you walk may become a reality.
• Corn ethanol uses a lot of water - 36 gal of water per mile driven by a typical car on the fuel.
• Some people are taking living green a bit too far, leading people to make a new term for them - energy anorexics or carborexics.
• A device called the Blade can attach on to the tail pipe of almost any car out there and filter particulate matter from the tail pipes. The device costs $199 and the filters that come with it are good for two years.
• Hybrid buses, produced by a local company, are under-performing in Toronto, despite successes in San Francisco and New York. It may be because they are used primarily on suburban routes, where stop and go traffic, where hybrids perform best, aren’t as regular occurrences.
• A car that runs off of compressed air is currently in development.  It can reach top speeds of 40 mph, with a range of greater than 130 miles and can seat three.  Prototypes are expected to be available in Europe next year, hitting the US in 2010.
• Both of the candidates have plans involving plug-in and alternative energy vehicles.  Obama’s plan involves converting the White House fleet to plug-ins while McCain’s plan focuses on a $300 million prize to develop more a economical battery.
• Working towards its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2010, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will start a program to allow commuters to purchase carbon offsets.
• For the first time in over 30 years, a nuclear power plant might be constructed in the US.  34 nuclear power reactors are planning on seeking permission to build from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the next year, the majority of which will be built in the south.  This boom is bringing a lot of construction to the south as well, some of which is for export.
• Using sheep to graze away the weeds on large swaths of land is a growth industry.  Its a low fossil fuel endeavor, has aesthetic appeal, and produces wool and meat as byproducts.

Image of Chartwell School courtesy of Michael David Rose Photography.

Douglas Atkins, Executive Director of Chartwell School is winning a Green Building Super Hero award this week! Come to the party this Thursday.

Sherwood provided engineering and design services for this LEED Platinum project, including an educational interpretive stormwater feature that links the rainwater cistern to the science garden. Check out this video on Chartwell’s Green Features. Or read this article, “Chartwell School Receives A+ from USGBC.”

Want to find out what Obama is doing for Clean Energy?
Monday, Oct 20.
Attend this gala event in SF with Tracy Chapman for $250. Or join a Clean Tech for Obama house party for free!

Emerging Green Builders Happy Hour!
Monday, October 20. 6:00pm - Murphys Pub, 217 Kearny, SF,CA
Join us again at Murphy’s Pub for our monthly EGB meet n greet!

Sherwooders: Sara Mae says, “Sorry no featured speakers this month, but if you want to present next month or have a quiet space we can meet in, please let me know at saramaemartens@dbarchitect.com.”

Anybody have any hot ideas they want to share?

Shout Outs:
Sherwood offers Congratulations to Earth Island Institute’s  9th Annual Brower Youth Environmental Award Winners. These are the top environmental prize for young people in North America. Congratulations to all the winners!

Attend the VIP Reception and Awards Show to honor these young leaders. Featuring Bill McKibben, Q’orianka Kilcher, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Paul Hawken, and other honorary guests.
Tuesday, Oct 21
Herbst Theater, SF. 5:30 - 9 pm

New York: Composting in the City
Tuesday, Oct 21 6 – 8pm. Brooklyn Botanical Garden
Leaves, kitchen scraps, garden trimmings, and weeds can all become garden gold through composting. Making dark, rich, crumbly compost doesn’t take much time, work, or space. This class covers the basics: what the composting process is, how to compost, how to use the finished compost, how to avoid and solve some issues, and which equipment and tools are helpful. Participants will receive a copy of the BBG handbook Easy Compost: The Secret to Great Soil and Spectacular Plants.

Green Building Super Heroes Gala
Thursday, October 23rd, 5:30 - 9 pm
Mezzanine. 444 Jessie Street. SF, CA 94103
The Building Super Heroes Gala is THE green building event in Northern California. Last year’s event inspired hundreds and attracted broadcast media attention. The gala will feature a program celebrating the unique green building culture of Northern California, complimentary hors d’oeuvres and live jazz. Come as you are or dressed as your favorite super hero!

One of this year’s Super Heroes is Douglas Atkins, Executive Director, Chartwell School.

Congratulations to Douglas Atkins, and all the students at Chartwell!

1st Annual Alternative Construction & Energy Expo
Saturday & Sunday, Oct 25-26. Santa Cruz Fair Grounds
Attend construction, landscaping & water workshops for professionals and homeowners, the “Green Zone Family Area,” and a “Green” Market Place featuring over 50 vendors. Admission is free. More information here.

Have a great week!

Wired has an interesting article up, “Note to Next President: Modern-Day WPA Will Save the Economy”

“The state of America’s infrastructure — roads, bridges, drinking water, even schools and transit systems — couldn’t be much worse. A report card issued three years ago by the American Society of Civil Engineers gives it all a D. The society says we’ve got to spend about $1.6 trillion just to bring things up to a B-”

Is the economic meltdown an ideal opportunity to invest in long-term infrastructure projects, create jobs, and modernize our rails and roads? Or is it a government boondoggle that will undercut private industry and prolong our economic recession? Is the labor-intensive model of the WPA an accurate comparison for today’s hi-tech projects that require highly-skilled workers?

The writer says:

“The candidates can talk all they want about shoveling money into alternative fuels, electric cars and high-speed rail, but none of that will mean much if our roads, bridges and rails can’t support them. The next president must commit to fixing our infrastructure. Such an investment will create jobs, strengthen our economy and make America more competitive.”

Should wind-power, large-scale solar, and a new smart energy grid be part of the next president’s agenda? What about high-speed rail in California?

What do you think?

We’d love to hear!