As of JULY 1, 2011, Computer Equipment is BANNED FROM NC LANDFILLS

Resources you might consider:

Earth911

Wake Country Trash Takers

City of Raleigh recycling options (scroll to the bottom of the web page for donation alternatives)

City of Cary recycling

Wake County recycling

Chatham Country recycling

Durham County recycling and swap

Topics to cover in this post:

1. The Triangle MLS is green for nearly 2 years and data collected shows that green certified homes sell for more money and faster than standard construction…yeah!
2. GreenNC Expo will be held December 8th in Durham for the first time and is a packed with education, vendors and a feature speaker. This is the 7th year for the annual Expo hosted jointly by the Triangle Chapter of the USGBC and the NC Solar Center.

TMLS IS GREEN AND GREEN HOMES SELL FASTER

The Triangle MLS added fields to track the green certifications and green features in listed homes March 2010.  This is so significant and unique as most MLSs throughout the country do not track the sales of green homes.  With this data now available to all users it is obvious that locally consumers are buying green certified homes in greater numbers.

• Certified – Listed in MLS as EnergyStar, GreenBuilt, LEED-H, NC Healthy Home
• YTD 32% of the new homes listed in TMLS are green certified. This is up from 2010 – 23%.
• According to Quick Turn Appraisal findings for new construction home sales that closed in 2010.  Comparing certified homes to non-certified properties, both sold at about 98% of their listing price, with similar square footage.  Average figures for the past year:
  

  NEW CONSTRUCTION CLOSED IN 2010	Avg Sq Ft	Avg SP/SF	Avg DOM
  Certified (N=922; 22.5%)	2653	$121.09	97
  Non-Certified (N=3178; 77.5%)	2573	$107.27	139
  DIFFERENCE	80	$ 13.82	-42
  % DIFFERENCE	+3.1%	+12.9%	-30.1%

  Note that we also are seeing the market penetration of high-performance homes steadily increasing.  For listings in early 2011, over 30% of the new construction now has at least one certification listed!  That’s up from less than 20% in 2009.

GreenNC Expo December 8th

This year marks the 7th annual GreenNC Expo held in Durham for the first time at the Marriott Convention Center downtown Durham.  GreenNC features vendors, educational sessions, networking, luncheon speaker and award ceremony.

Of course the best session is the one that I put together, “The State of the Green Home Market in the Triangle”!!!  Come on down and listen to the panel of experts talk about what is being built, who is buying, what’s up with appraising and how to finance a green homes.

• Exhibit space with prominent green designers, builders and suppliers that serve residential and commercial clients throughout North Carolina. Walk through and see what innovative companies are growing the North Carolina green economy. Learn what new green buildings products and initiatives are on the horizon for 2012. Click here to register for a space or to see a list of exhibitors.

• A full day of 24 education sessions covering a variety of current green building topics. Continuing education credits will be available for almost all sessions for GBCI (LEED AP+), AIA, ASLA and others. Participants can earn a total of four CE credit hours by attending one of six concurrent sessions in each of four time slots. Click here for description of each session.

• Opening plenary featuring successful green building initiatives from the local, state and federal levels. The opening plenary is free but registration is requested. One hour of continuing education credits is available.

• Luncheon keynote with Nate Kredich, Vice President of Residential Market Development for USGBC. Nate will address What’s Next? in Residential Sustainability in the U.S., speaking to regional and national green homes trends, the advent of data to drive enhanced performance, and the future of our existing housing stock. One hour of continuing education credits is available. For more information on Nate Kredich…

• An evening Green Award Gala to recognize and celebrate the exceptional leaders in the region’s green building movement.

• 2010 National Green Building Conference May 16-18
• American Solar Energy Society National Solar Conference July
• Electric Power Research Institute’s Plug-In International Conference Jully

Plug-in 2011 included an open to the public evening.  The $10 admission included a  pass to the exhibit hall to see the latest plug-in vehicles and to a screening of Revenge of the Electric Car.  Both were well worth the investment.

I was familiar with the Nissan LEAF when the national tour stopped in Raleigh in March this year.  You can read all about the LEAF and see pictures of me driving the car using this link to the my earlier blog post.

At the time I was enchanted with the LEAF but after investigating it further I think the Chevy Volt is a better fit for me. It is a hybrid and has a more flexibly and cheaper charging system than the LEAF. I had been concerned about the 100 mile range, the  slow re-charge and few charging stations.

Cars on display included:

• Chevrolet Volt
• 2012 Ford Focus Electric
• Mitsubishi i
• Nissan LEAF
• Siemens Smart Chopper

Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle

The evening’s finale, The Revenge of the Electric Car, was well worth seeing!  The insights, photos and clips from Telsa Motor’s CEO Elon Musk made for delightful viewing.

In Revenge of the Electric Car, director Chris Paine takes his film crew behind the closed doors of Nissan, GM and the Silicon Valley start-up, Tesla Motors, to chronicle the story of the global resurgence of the electric car.

Electric cars have come a long way since the Detroit Electric car in the early 1900s.  Tesla’s roadster is sleek, fast and cute!

1918 Detroit Electric	Telsa Roadster $120,000	Tesla S model

Two of the displays really captured my interest.  First, on the
practical side, a tow truck equipped to provide a minimum charge
to electric vehicles.  This was an add-on capability to the
standard towing and enough gas to get to a station rescue.
The second answer the question of where does the power come from
to power the electric car. Aren’t we just trading carbon to create
grid based power for gas?  Well, this innovative structure with
solar panels as the roof answered the question and provides cover
for the vehicle. At this time it is only available to dealers as a
display and charging station.

AAA Mobile Electric Charging	Green Zone charging station for dealers

Enjoy the slideshow! Click to view slideshow.

In case you haven’t seen this already it is an excellent opportunity to learn about green building first hand by experts with an outstanding new certified home!

Michael Chandler speaking
Friday, May 13th 2011
4:30 – 6:30 pm
2825 Barmettler Street
Raleigh, NC 27607
Also, it is time for the Spring Green Home Tour sponsored by the Green Home Builders of the Triangle.  The tour runs for both this weekend and next. Some of the homes are only open on a Saturday.

• 2011 Green Homes Tour
• View or download the flyer
• Saturdays & Sundays, May 14 & 15, 21 & 22, 2011
• noon-6pm
  
• Tour books are available at Whole Foods in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill plus other locations
  
• Tour map
• iPhone app

There are 4 outstanding homes in Wake County that are ONLY available during the tour.  Many of the tour homes are listed in MLS. Please contact me if you would like to set up an appointment.

1. 2825 Barmettler Raleigh- Greg Paul Builders: LEED & NAHB Gold
2. 4919 Shallowbrook Drive Raleigh – Olde Heritage Builders: GHBT Gold certification in progress
3. 12831 Lindley Drive Raleigh – BuildSense: NAHB “Gold” Green Certification & EPA’s Energy Star
4. 2408 King Malcom Lane, Zebulon – Habitat for Humanity: NAHB & SystemVision certifications in progress

>> Don’t Miss the Kickoff for the 2011 Green Homes Tour this Friday Friday, May 13th 2011 4:30 – 6:30 pm 2825 Barmettler Street Raleigh, NC 27607 Please join Triangle USGBC, the Green Home Builders of the Triangle (a Council of the Home Builders Associations of the Triangle), and City Councilwoman Mary Ann Baldwin to learn more about building a LEED for Homes and NAHB Green certified home. The Triangle is projected to nearly double in size by the year 2040 and the home building industry will reflect that growth with an increase in new home construction beginning in 2012. Does green building have a financially viable place in our residential market? What does a viable green home look like? Hear the full story straight from the homeowner and designer on the green home building project at 2825 Barmettler Street in Raleigh, the first LEED-for-Homes and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Green certified home inside the Raleigh beltline. What was done? Why was it done that way? How were decisions made? How much did it cost to go green? The discussion will offer tangible, discrete, and replicable techniques and methods to ensure you build the most efficient, cost effective, and relevant home. GBCI, NAHB and AIA credits will be offered. Tickets: $15 Chapter Members and GHBT Members $25 Nonmembers (To join the Triangle USGBC Chapter and receive the Member Discount for this event, click here to join; then register later as a Member.)

• First, it was a national movement supported by Republicans and Democrats
• Massive numbers of supporters came out including college students: 20 million people took time from their daily lives and protested in favor of the environment
• Resulting legislation was Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts which has served the country well.

My wish today is for each of us to renew our commitment to the planet and supporting efforts to maintain protective legislation.  Remember the spirit of the first Earth Day and forget party politics and help our legislators do what is right for the earth. We all live here and need quality water, air and soil to survive.

The local chapter of the Sierra Club blog is a good resource for pending legislation and suggestion supporting action.  Take a few moments, read what policies are on the chopping block and contact your local representative.  Most times the alerts include easy to respond email or link you to the page to find your rep.

Enjoy the day, the spring weather coming this weekend, celebrate the earth and commit to making your actions in your personal life  count!

Look for a special offer for home energy audits!!!!!  My commitment is to help make homes more energy efficient.

“The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land.

As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency 2and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. “It was a gamble,” Gaylord recalled, “but it worked.”   (from the History of Earth Day)

PLAN AHEAD — See Ed Begley in May at the National Solar Energy Conference

Public Day – May 21, 2011

Keynote Speaker: Ed Begley, Jr. 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Public Day presentations will cover three themes:

• Green Careers
• Greening Your Home or Business
• Understanding Renewable Energy Technology, Policies and Incentives

Presentations are free to everyone who has purchased a conference pass (just $5 on Saturday).

The blooming shrubs, flowering trees, and spring flowers have been spectacular this spring.  I have enjoyed photographing trees the spectacle from leaves unfolding to night time studies of flowers in bloom.

Green News Bites

• SECU offers green loans – mortgages for  new ENERGY STAR rated homes and cars that get 28mpg of less, 2nd mortgages for energy efficiency improvements.
• Green Vehicle, Green Second Mortgage, and Green Mortgage loan.
• No ENERGY STAR rebates this year…sigh!  No money from the Feds or NC to
  

  "Buy appliances that make a difference" - US EPA

  fund the program. If you are in the market for a new appliance, read the labels and get the best performance possible.  Look for the ENERGY STAR label.  Check out the ENERGY STAR site page that lists products from refrigerators to windows.

• Earth Day Celebrations are coming up FAST. This year the downtown Raleigh celebration will be the weekend before the official date of April 22nd. Saturday, April 16, 2011 11:00 AM
• Where:Museum of Natural Science
  11 West Jones Street
  Raleigh, NC 27609
  Free Drive-through E-cycling – Bring your old electronics and we’ll find a new or safe home for all of their parts, ensuring that hazardous materials stay out of our landfills!

According to the HBA, “The 2011 Spring New Home Tour is a showcase of Wake County’s best new homes! On the weekend of March 26 & 27, take a free tour of new homes that feature the latest trends and newest neighborhoods. There will be 97 homes on tour throughout Wake County. Homes are open between 12 to 5 p.m. and the tours are self-guided”.

HBA Spring Home Tour March 26-27. 2011

How to find the homes?  Lots of ways!!!

• N&O insert if you are print person
• Smartphone app – search
• HBA website
• N&O link to website

Where are the green homes on the tour you ask?

Well…they are included but not spelled out. Look for Green Jeanne’s quick cheat sheet on which homes are green!

The search options are by community, price or city but not GREEN!

For example, 12 Oaks in Holly Springs reorganized and re-launched last month introducing a slew of builders new to the community.  Several of the builders are featuring certified green homes. David Weekley homes stand out as the best example of green building but that’s another blog post!

THE KIRBY

This is Weekley’s model home with a MUST SEE room that shows the energy efficiency features in all their homes in 12 Oaks.

David Weekley Homes
633 Ancient Oaks Drive
Holly Springs, NC
$299,960
More Details

Put these dates on your calendar:

• Sixth Annual Green Home Tour – May14-15 and 21-22
• Parade of Homes Oct. 1-2, 7-9 & 14-16.

I downloaded the app and it is GREAT!!!!  If you don’t have a smartphone, eat your heart out. It eliminates the need for carrying a book around from home to home. Check out the screen shots supplied by the developer, Pathos Ethos and Camelot Design Group.

List of homes on Spring Tour

Spring Home Tour Map

BBB Offers Free Document Shredding on April 16
Triangle – RALEIGH, N.C. (March 8, 2011)—Better Business Bureau serving Eastern North Carolina (bbb.org) announces today its semi-annual “Secure Your ID” Day, will take place on Saturday, April 16, 2011. Free document shredding will be offered from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the parking lot of Coastal Federal Credit Union, located off Wake Forest Road at 1000 St. Albans Drive, Raleigh, NC 27609. This event is jointly organized by the Council of Better Business Bureaus and the National Foundation for Credit Counseling to raise public awareness and educate Americans on the issues surrounding identity theft.

Read the entire article.

I have participated in other shredding days. It is liberating to get pounds of paper safely out of my house and know my data is destroyed.  Try it!

Need help organizing and figuring out what to ditch, call an organizer.   I know several great ones who have patience and are non judgmental. One of my favorites is an eco-organizer, Julie has a very green twist to her techniques.

Check out the IRS limits on how long you MUST keep your files.  The short answer is 6 years but read their rules.

Here’s your laugh for the day.  If you file a fraudulent return; keep records indefinitely!

ELECTRONICS RECYCLING & PAPER SHREDDING DRIVE
Wednesday, April 20th

NC State will host the 5th spring electronic recycling event along with a paper shredding drive on Wednesday, April 20th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Centennial Campus. The event is sponsored by Waste Reduction and Recycling (WRR), Synergy Recycling, Shimar Recycling, and the Centennial Campus Partnership.

Open to the public!

For more information visit: http://www.ncsu.edu/recycling

www.ncsu.edu/recycling
http://centennial.ncsu.edu/
http://synergyrecycling.com/
www.shimar.com

Simple, nuclear power contributes to roughly 1/3 of the power generated by Progress Energy.   Progress Energy’s two New Brunswick plants are the same Mark I design.  Read the TBJ story about the Brunswick plant.

LINK TO VOTE IN THE NUCLEAR POWER TBJ SURVEY

If the poll is inactive, see the final results here.

CNN map – how close do you live to a nuclear plant?  -  plug in your zip code and see circles showing 15 and 50 miles distance.

Energy efficient homes use less power than standard construction. ENERGY STAR homes by definition and certification are 15% more efficient than non program homes.  If we build more efficient homes and make the existing homes more efficient we can reduce power consumption.
Today’s poll on the Triangle Business Journal asks:

Given the Japanese nuclear reactor problems following the earthquake and tsunami, should the U.S. continue to pursue its robust nuclear plans?

The results at 6:45 pm when I responded indicated an overwhelming support for nuclear power.

If you can still cast your vote, weigh in hopefully on the side of caution.  Given the situation in Japan it might be time to confirm the safety and disaster plans for the 104 active nuclear reactors operating in the US.   NC Warn has plenty of information about the nuclear reactors in our area, www. NCWarn.org.

About half of the nation’s energy consumption is used by buildings.  Most of the power consumed by residences is for heat and cooling and water heating. If  we can make our homes more efficient consumers, we can use less power.  Less power translates into NOT building more nuclear reactors and retiring inefficient coal plants.

Graph from "Demand Side Management Programs" by Progress Energy

BTW, I checked my power consumption and exactly half of my bill is heating, cooling and hot water!  Amazingly accurate description of the average homeowner.

Clearly buyers want energy efficient homes per the 2010 Green Home Builder Magazine study.  Buyers were segmented into the following groups and polled on various topics related to green building.  Across the board 60% of all respondents wanted an energy efficient home.

MUST HAVE    REALLY WANT
First Time                57.7                     28.8
Move Up                  51.6                     33.5
Second Home           63.9                    0
Displaced                  52.6                   54.5
Empty Nest              62.5                   28.1
Custom                      72.4                    24.2

Is is realistic to assume that changed consumer patterns can affect our utility provider’s building plans. You bet!  Every bit helps..puts money back into your pocket, less greenhouse gas and reduces the demand for power generation.

Click on map to enter your zip code.  Mapping provided by CNN Money, data from Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

All-electric Nissan Leaf makes Raleigh debut - check out the N&O article about the weekend test drive event at the Farmers Market.

The next few years could prove decisive in determining whether the plug-in electric car, with a driving range of about 100 miles between charges, is a boon or a boondoggle.

As the price at the pump rises, my interest as gas pushes the $4/gallon mark. I’ve ridden in a  Prius and a feeling of lust overcomes me. Or is that the 10th commandment not to lust after anything my neighbor owns.  Squelch that feeling and look at alternatives!

Next I decided I wanted a bio-diesel vehicle as my next car.  Then I looked at the map of the bio-diesel fuel locations and realized that I had no place to store fuel.  So, that option started to look shaky also.

All electric was my next option.  Range is the issue now even more so than bio-diesel.   Pumping petroleum based diesel is an option if no recycled oil is available, a bit expensive but a way to keep the wheels turning.

Enter the LEAF!  I was not expecting the car to be so cute and have such a great range of 100 miles with fully charged battery.  Well, I already knew that Raleigh is one of three pioneering cities for Project Get Ready by Rocky Mountain Institute.   Mayor Meeker unveiled the first of two stations on Hargett Street.  (Read the entire article on the City website.)

So, I’m thinking that I can tailor my daily life to drive only as far as the charge lasts and wondering how I’m going to figure this out.  What do you know, the GPS screen converts to a map plotting my proposed route with notations on how far I can go before I am critically low AND where the nearest recharging station is located.  WOW!  Now, I can dig this.

I can go on for some time about the neat features, the iPhone app, the LED lights, the hatch back and racks that can be added for toys.  However, this is where I stop and ask you, my readers for your help.

So, I’m hooked on the concept.  All I need is the car. Nissan is awarding a FREE car, one per city on the tour.  You will be asked to enter your email address (one vote per email) and then to verify.  Here’s where you come in…VOTE FOR ME!!!

• Vote for me! <–repetition is good!!
• Nissan LEAF Leading, Environmentally friendly, Affordable, Family car
• Rules of the contest

See…I really drove the car and sat in the back seat…very roomy.

Very comfy front seat, easy to drive, no noise!

Now that you’ve voted, send the link to everyone you know and ask them to vote for me! Thanks folks!

Even the back seat was roomy.