Greenfornia|Pick up, Recycle, don’t go backwards.

Building green is a great idea and the State of California has just implemented the first “Green Insurance” policy.  The insurance will pay for you house to be replaced with a green structure in the event of catastrophic loss.

OS ANGELES — California’s insurance commissioner says the state is getting its first homeowners insurance policy that focuses on rebuilding with the environment in mind.

Commissioner Steve Poizner said Friday that Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. will offer a plan that pays for damaged or destroyed homes to be rebuilt using environmentally friendly methods and materials.

He says the plan will be available starting Aug. 1 and will pay up to $25,000 for “green”-certified architects to oversee the rebuilding of damaged homes. - Dallas News

Wall Tilting Ceremony of a “Green” One-Million-Square-Foot Class A Industrial Building to Take Place at Southern California Logistics Centre in Victorville

WHAT: Stirling Capital Investments will host a ceremony commemorating the last wall to be tilted on Distribution Centre 1, a one-million-square-foot Class A industrial facility at Southern California Logistics Centre (SCLC) in Victorville, Calif. This massive “green” facility is registered for LEED Certification and is part of SCLC’s Phase I development plans which total 6.5 million square feet of industrial space on over 350 acres of land.

The completion of the facility is anticipated in December 2008 and when fully occupied, the building is expected to generate up to 200 new jobs.

WHEN:Friday, July 18, 2008 10 a.m.

WHERE: Distribution Centre 1 (at Southern California Logistics Centre). Directions from I-15N: Once you reach Victorville, exit at Mohave Dr. and head west over the 15 Freeway. Turn right on Village Dr. Turn left at Air Expressway signal. Follow Air Expressway for 3 miles and turn right at Phantom West signal. The building will be on your left-hand side. Follow event signs.

CONTACT:Jennifer Little, Amies Communications, Office: (949) 863-1910, ext. 27

ABOUT GLOBAL ACCESS: Global Access Victorville, the former George Air Force Base in Victorville, Calif., is an 8,500-acre multimodal freight transportation hub supported by air, ground and rail connections. Global Access  is comprised of Southern California Logistics Airport (SCLA), a 2,500-acre world-class air cargo and aviation facility; Southern California Logistics Centre (SCLC), a 2,500-acre commercial and industrial complex entitled for 60 million square feet of development; and Southern California Rail Complex (SCRC), a planned 3,500-acre intermodal and multimodal complex entailing rail-served facilities. Stirling and the City of Victorville have a public/private partnership agreement to redevelop the former George Air Force Base into Global Access, the largest fully-integrated commercial development in the region, which is anticipated to create more than 24,000 jobs and support another 18,500 jobs in the surrounding area. For more information, visit www.globalaccessvictorville.com

The new roof cost $460,000 on Minneapolis’ City Hall, and it is a new “green roof”.

“Healthy, natural grass instead of the old, poisonous, stinky tar. It has several tangible benefits, but the biggest seems to be public education about sustainable development and green technology.” - Startribune

Many electric companies offer some nice rebate programs for upgrading your old appliances to newer, more energy efficient appliances.  Taking an old refrigerator, washer, water heaters, and swamp coolers out of your house and replacing them can save you a ton of money and help the environment.  Here is some of this summer’s offerings from Southern California Edison.

With the new housing boom and the growing demand for green building, many new home owners have found the hidden benefits of clean ecological design.  Geena in Beaumont California recently bought a new home built by Standard Pacific found that the larger new house was more efficient than the old home they moved from.  “We lived in a small 1000 square foot home that was built in the 50’s, and our new 3000 square foot home cost is cheaper to run in both gas and electric.  I don’t know the exact numbers but we just don’t spend nearly as much as before.”

Many newly built home now come with a standard trash and recycling bin under the counter.  With the recent housing boom, many people that have bought new houses now have the ability to easily collect bottles, cans, and paper in their house, and then take it out to the city recycling bin.

If you do not have a new home, it does not mean that you can’t still do you duty to recycle.  Start by going to your local Wal-Mart and pick up an extra trash bin, and then tell the family it is time to start recycling.

Businesses that have efficient “green buildings” are more likely to attract and keep employees.  A recent survey shows that,

“Forty-five per cent of the survey respondents indicated that tenant demand is driving the need for their organizations to implement green buildings and practices,” Ms Madew told the Metropolitan Planning and Design Summit in Sydney today.” - theage.com

Another alternative to traditional roofing materials is a rooftop garden, or “green roof.” On hot summer days, the surface temperature of a vegetated rooftop can be cooler than the air temperature, whereas the surface of a traditional rooftop can be up to 90°F (50°C) warmer.

• Read the EPA’s page on Green Roofing.

Greenroofs - May be the last frontier for the Californian lawn mower.

The typical green roof is a low-maintenance, light weight, roofing system that uses cost-efficient vegetation to create eco-sensitive alternative roofs for your home. The practice of greenroofs began in Europe a half century ago and can work with a variety of buildings, commercial, industrial, multi-family, garages, or any flat architectural structure.

They benefit the environment in a number of ways:

• they manage storm water runoff by retaining rainwater
• they remove CO2 from the air and release oxygen
• they reduce the amount of heat released by buildings back into the environment that is absorbed from the sun
• they insulate buildings by keeping the heat in during the winter and the heat out during the summer
• they enable a building to merge into the landscape around it

Articles in California

• San Francisco - The California Academy of Sciences’ beautiful new living-roof may well spark a revolution - and CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES GREEN ROOF
• San Diego - Planting The Seeds For Green Roofs - In a gritty industrial section of Kearny Mesa, ‘plantscaper’ Jim Mumford is putting down roots. On his roof.

Great resources on Greenroofs (or Greenroofing)

• Greenroof.org - Green Roofs for Healthy Cities’ mission is to increase the awareness of the economic, social, and environmental benefits of green roof infrastructure across North America and rapidly advance the development of the market for green roof products and services.
• Greenroofs.com a green roof directory.
• Global Green Roofs
• http://www.dcgreenworks.org/LID/greenroofs.html

California’s Appliance Efficiency Regulations were established in 1976 in response to a legislative mandate to reduce California’s energy consumption. The regulations are updated periodically to allow consideration and possible incorporation of new energy efficiency technologies and methods.

These regulations were adopted by the Energy Commission on October 10, 2007, and approved by the California Office of Administrative Law on December 3, 2007.

2007 Appliance Efficiency Regulations (Revised)
Effective 12/29/2007.
(PDF, 195 pgs, 1.7 MB)