The “Greenest” New York Mosque

 Articles, Current Events, Videos  No Responses »
Jul 082011
 
proposed design

proposed mosque design (left) Current building (right)

A building that previously housed a Burlington Coat Factory in downtown Manhattan, is the subject of recent controversy. Developers intend to build a mosque in its place, a proposal which has drawn significant criticism due to its proximity to Ground Zero. The Mosque that is planned for this site has since been re-categorized by organizers as a “community center with a prayer space”. Park51, the name of the project, has created a wave of debate. Sarah Palin stated it “stabbed hearts” for its location and has “spoils of war” implications for many Americans.

Park51, or Ground Zero Mosque, is located two blocks from where the twin towers once stood. So close, in fact, that the landing gear from one of the hijacked planes fell into an existing building on the site. The project was previously known as the Cordoba House, however the name was later changed to Park51. Abdul-Matin, a Muslim environmentalist, said, “The new name, Park51, invokes images of trees, creeks, and children playing. Parks are for the public. Parks are fun. Parks are green. And parks are not controversial.”

Park51’s cost is estimated to be roughly $100 million. It is planned to be a 13 story building constructed of glass and steel. Imam Feisal Abdul-Rauf stated that he hopes the center will be “one of the most significant buildings in New York City.” The image the Muslim community is attempting to send, one of acceptance and environmentally friendliness, is not the image a lot of Americans are getting.

Developers of Park 51 designed the building to meet the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. Park51 would be the first mosque ever to embrace these standards.

To receive LEED certification, developers must construct a building that achieves significant energy and water efficiency while minimizing CO2 emissions. LEED requirements also extend beyond the construction of the building. Those managing the property need to maintain a constant focus on conservation during the everyday use of the building. LEED officials monitor what materials are used in the building, its indoor environmental quality and its impact on the surrounding environment, to ensure the building continues to meet LEED standards.

Olympic centers built in Vancouver for British Columbia’s winter Olympics in 2009 met LEED requirements.

Park51 is intended to be a public facility with the hope that Muslims and non-Muslims will engage in inter-religious and lay dialogue. But questions linger and many people are wondering; is it too soon? Does Park51’s goal of going green change the way you look at the issue?

Good luck going green.

Sarah Palin Correction:

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Tip/Wag – Peabody Public Schools, Andy Rooney & Ground Zero Mosque Design<a>
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> March to Keep Fear Alive

Source:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-08-12/exclusive-ground-zero-mosque-goes-green/

Images:

http://www.architecture-view.com/2010/09/22/new-green-design-for-ground-zero-mosque/

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2010/07/palin-demands-muslims-refudiate-nyc-mosque-sparking-criticism-mockery/23703/

http://youranalyticanaleptic.blogspot.com/2010/07/few-tweets-for-sarah-palin-to-consider.html

New and Improved GreenCupboards.com

 The Green Life  No Responses »
Apr 212011
 

The GreenCupboards.com logo

Are you “green”? As Kermit will tell you, it’s not easy being green, but it doesn’t have to be like that. GreenCupboards.com (THEcommunities parent site) has just re-launched their new and improved website. GreenCupboards.com provides eco-friendly products that are solutions to those products that are usually made with harmful toxins or excessive packaging. GreenCupboards.com strives to find the companies that offer the greenest products, packaging or manufacturing process.

At GreenCupboards.com we offer a wide range of products with top brand names like Badger sunscreen, Natura mattresses, Biokleen household cleaners, Way Basics furnishings, Switch bikes, Workx Eco lawn and power-tools, and much more. So check out GreenCupboards.com for yourself, you might just be surprised at our “green” selection for your “cupboards”, and other areas of the house.

We have all the products you need; only greener. Conserve your carbon footprint by not only buying “green”, but saving a trip to the store as well. Check exactly how much carbon you are saving using our carbon calculator on each product page.

Our goal is to be your one stop shop for all things “green”, so check us out and let us know how were doing.

Come save big (green) bucks weekly with “This Weeks Fresh Deal” This week you can get a Mini Countertop Spin Dryer on sale for $99.99 and shipping is free as it is for all orders over $75.

In celebration of Earth Week check out our Facebook page and join our “Like-a-Palooza” campaign.

And as always, check back in with THEcommunity daily to see what’s new in the world of “green”.

Grab a Drink, And Get to Green Homebrewing

 Current Events, The Green Life  No Responses »
Apr 192011
 

Whats your flavor? What's your color? You will never know until you try homebrewing for yourself! You can see fermentation caps on the tops of these carboys.

It’s Earth Week this week, and what are you going to do to celebrate? I have already written about what the NBA has done for their Green Week. Everyone needs to celebrate Earth Week and give thanks to their local environment for supporting you and all the people you know.

What you do is up to you as long at it is “Green”.

One Spokane local is celebrating Earth week by sitting back and sipping on a cold brew. How is this green? You might ask; I will let Tom Zysk tell you for himself.

“All craft projects share a common principle – make something yourself using local materials when you can. Homebrewing beer is just another craft project with the added benefit of making a product with a pleasurable effect.”

Tom not only does his own brewing, but also grows his own hops as well.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the homebrewing process Tom has provided a step-by-step guide as to how he does it.

Pictured is a carboy with a blow tube filling with krausen.

The Malt Extract Brewing Process:

1. Steep grains like a big tea bag in a large pot of hot water. Video

2. Add malt extract to make “wort” (wort, is the sweet liquid that is unfermented beer). Tom told me that at the homebrew supply shop he goes to, they refill his plastic containers that the malt extract comes in (green!).

3. Boil wort for an hour adding hops at various times.

4. Cool off wort and transfer to 5-gallon glass carboy (a carboy is a large container generally used for transporting liquid). Tom has five-gallon glass carboys (pictured) that he uses to ferment his beer.

5. Add or “pitch” yeast (pitch, is a brewers term for adding the yeast to the fermenter, the wort).

6. Put the carboy in a dark spot (like your basement or a room that does not get much light) with temperature between 68 and 72 degrees.

7. Watch beer come alive as it ferments and blows Kräusen out of a tube (Kräusen is the foam that comes to the surface of beet in the initial stages of fermenting beer).
8. Replace blow off tube with fermentation lock (the fermentation tube will gather the Kräusen while allowing C02 to escape, and the fermentation lock allows carbon dioxide to be released after the blow tube is full).

9. Transfer beer to a second carboy to get rid of the yeast bed.

Just Brew It!

10. Continue to ferment the beer in the carboy until it is done. You will know the beer is done when you measuring the specific gravity of it with a hydrometer (For more information on the hydrometer and gravity measuring click: HERE).

11. Transfer beer to a bottling carboy.

12. Add dextrose (also known as D-glucose, and grape sugar) to provide carbonation.

13. Bottle beer your beer. Tom recycles his old beer bottles. He places them in warm water and waits for the glue holding the label to wear away then he bottles his homebrew back into them. The bottles could be left bare, or you could add your own personalized label.

14. Patiently wait to sample.

15. Relax, don’t worry, have a homebrew. Share with friends.

“From growing your own hops to reusing empty beer bottles, homebrewing has “Green” written all over it. It’s hard to get any closer to home when you make homebrew the beer of choice when you want to ‘drink local’”.

So what are you doing to celebrate Earth Week? If you would like to have your ideas, and celebrations posted to this site please e-mail me, Connor Simpson, at Connor@Greencupboards.com.

Special thanks to Tom Zysk for providing information on homebrewing.

Your sweet reward of brewing, and being green!

Images:

http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/2010/12/13/home-brewing-the-genesis-of-our-favorite-hobby-and-a-gift-idea/

http://beerutopia.com/2008/08/25/home-brew-brewing-a-belgian-dubbel/

http://beertobrew.com/default.aspx

http://soe6.eventbrite.com/

The Greenest Building in Spokane

 Current Events, Environmental 411, Environmental 411 (hidden), Technology, The Green Life  1 Response »
Apr 122011
 
The Saranac Building

The Saranac Building

Alas! An article about the home front, I have mentioned before in passing that I hail from Spokane, Washington our town motto being: “Near Nature, Near Perfect.” I would rank my city as being fairly eco-conscious- we have embraced the green agenda. And I think that most people who intentionally come to Spokane do like the balance of an upcoming urban city, as well as being a neighbor to wilderness. From Spokane I could drive straight through the tip of Idaho and into Montana in a matter of hours, and I could even visit the Mounties (Royal Canadian Mountain Police) within a day and be back home by dinner. Being conservation of my carbon footprint I do not make that trek often. Spokane has the convieniences of all major cities with one or more of the following: airport, mall, university, community college, hospital, public school, jail, public transit and tourist attractions and events like Riverpark Square, Bloomsday (annual running race), and Hoopfest (annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament).  But I’m not here to boast about my town any more than I already have, I am going to tell you about Spokane’s “Greenest” building: The Saranac.

The Saranac is a building in Spokane’s South-East Downtown District off of Division and Browne, where our Greencupboards.com headquarters is as well- just a few blocks up. The Saranac was built in 1908 as a single room occupancy (SRO) hotel. The Saranac has since been refurbished to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum requirements. The New York Mosque is also being designed to these standards.

You can look at a 3D model of the Saranac by clicking: HERE.

Post-restoration Saranac is now the home of the Spokane Community Center, and in the basement there is a restraunt, Isabella’s.

But what makes this building so green? If you clicked on the 3D model  you would have seen the arching solar panel covering the roof. 98 solar panels on the Saranac roof makes this building the largest privately owned solar field in Washington.

The Saranac Rooftop Garden

Also if you have looked at the 3D model you would see green plots on the roof next to the solar panels. This is the Saranac’s rooftop garden, the garden serves as a tri purpose, the plants and soil on the roof work as insulation for the building, and the plants themselves reduce C02 by taking it in and putting out oxygen, the plants also deflect sunlight so that the building will not get to hot in the summer- the garden keeps the heat in the building yet keeps sunlight from making it unbearable.

Inside of the walls, you cannot see, but their walls are insulated with post-idustrial cotton- the remnants of a blue jean production factory.

The Saranac is geothermally heated, meaning it pulls its energy from the earths naturally hot core. Heat is also manipulated in the building as to increase efficiency. For example: with all the grills and ovens going in the restraunt kitchen it can get pretty hot down there, instead of basic air conditioning, the heat is vented from the restraunt up into the offices on the forth floor where it is cooler.

Ambiant light sensors calculate the amount of natural light entering into the bulding  ajusting the artifical lighting inside accordingly as to minimize energy consumption and increase the efficiency of sunlight.

Two rooftop silos collect rainwater to be used in the “grey water” toilets while the urinals are no-flush. The water collected is also used for irrigation of the rooftop gardens.

All of the wood used in the Saranac refurbishment was purchased locally, and is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as being sustainably harvested. And as for the materials that were pulled out of the building during the reconstruction was either re-used within the building, or was recycled.

All of the finishers (paint, varnish, ect.) used are either low or non- Volatile Organic Compound (VOC).

All of the materials used in the Saranac were found within a 500 mile radius, as to reduce the carbon effect of transporting them.

Here are some interesting facts I found out about the Saranac at Solaripedia.com:

* 85% of the original building was re-used, eliminating the need for all new materials.
* 90% of construction waste was diverted from landfills through recycling and re-use.
* Construction incorporated 20% recycled materials, including steel, acoustical ceiling panels, carpeting and denim insulation.
* 27% of materials were obtained from local sources including lumber, concrete and ceramic tile.
* Water use was reduced by 47% over conventional construction through re-use, low-flow fixtures and waterless urinals.
* A rooftop garden uses a catchment system for recycling rain water and cooling the building with vegetation.
* Energy use was reduced by 86% through solar collection, a ground source heat pump, direct digital controls and daylighting.
* Solar panels generate 14% of the building’s power.
* The remaining power is from 100% renewable sources.
* Building users are able to reduce carbon emissions through use of public transportation with connections to existing transportation systems.

So if you ever find yourself in Spokane, you will have to check out Spokane’s Greenest Building: The Saranac

Sources:

http://www.solaripedia.com/13/145/saranac_building_in_sun_(spokane,_washington,_usa).html

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=3155c54f6016ccf24738cf1042720572

http://community-building.org/saranac/

http://www.examiner.com/green-technologies-in-spokane/the-saranac-building-the-greenest-building-spokane

Images:

http://www.solaripedia.com/13/145/1363/saranac_building_vegetated_roof.html

http://www.glennprobert.com/art.php?work=66&c=7&s=5

Generate Power on a Walk around the Block

 Technology  1 Response »
Mar 022011
 

Power Generating Fabric Bristles

What happens when your walking to class and your ipod and cellphone dies?  How will you get enough battery life to call your mom back? What if you could plug your ipod or cellphone directly into your jacket or jeans. With microscopic bristles rubbing against one another with every heartbeat, every step, and every handshake you could become a walking power generator.

Georgia Tech developed the technology. The bristles are coated with zinc oxide nanowires that convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. A square meter of this fabric could give your ipod the battery it needs to finish that playlist or give your cell the boost to finish the call, roughly 80 kilowatts of power.

“The two fibers scrub together just like two bottle brushes with their bristles touching, and the piezoelectric-semiconductor process converts the mechanical motion into electrical energy,” Said Professor Zhong Lin Wang who is overseeing the development of this technology at Georgia Tech.

The material could also be used in tents, curtains, awnings, umbrellas or anything else that is subject to mechanical movement by way of body, wind, or other.

We may very soon be on the verge of developing energy wherever we go. I have covered numerous innovations such as sweet and simple as this one. Combined, all of these technologies could be used to create a truly sustainable utopia. Have hope for the future.

Sources:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/20278/

http://medgadget.com/archives/2008/02/electricity_generating_fabric.html

Green Ballistics. Seed Bombing Pt. 2

 Environmental 411, Technology, The Green Life  2 Responses »
Feb 212011
 

Last Friday I wrote an article entitled “Seed Bombing” The subject of this article was little balls of compost rolled up with seeds. These seed bombs are being used to guerilla garden places were vegetation is scarce in cities. The balls can be bought from vending machines in the street and can be used to grow a garden almost anywhere. The idea was based off of the original seed bomb comprised of  a “condom filled with fertilizer, water and wildflower seeds.” (Delana)

Today I am still writing about seed bombing, but this time the bomb has changed from a little ball of dirt to a full-sized ballistic missile. Jin Wook- Hwang came up with the idea to fill a missile with hundreds of tiny casual-like-pills containing seeds.

The pills contain a seed and a small amount of compost. Just like a medicinal pill the capsule itself will soon dissolve after the seed is germinated inside. The capsule up to the degration point acts as a greenhouse for the seed inside.

The missile, filled with capsules is then dropped like a bomb over areas needing vegetation. The pills are spread, and within months new greenery will grace the landscape.

So who ever said you couldn’t drop bombs for peace hasn’t heard of the green ballistic bomb.

Sources: http://www.virtualherbarium.org/gardenviews/GoingBallistic.html

http://webecoist.com/2010/01/30/urban-seed-bombs-next-generation-green-ballistic-missiles/

Greenstream, not Goldstream

 Current Events  No Responses »
Jan 052011
 

Pranksters are being blamed for the water tint stint.

In Canada it looks like the Incredible Hulk pissed in the Goldstream River. When I heard a river in Victoria had mysteriously turned green I was imagining a dark shade of green, or maybe a very pale green, not neon green which is what the color turned out to be. It is a startling image (right) of the very obviously un-natural discoloration of the river. The color started to appear about 500 meters in on the Victorian side and continued to spread down the river.

Scientist are saying that the off-color water is due to the chemical fluorescein. The good news, fluorescein is not toxic. Which is extremely relieving as the Goldstream River is known for its salmon population and as a host to wildlife.

“Fluorescein is a synthetic organic compound soluble in water and alcohol. It is widely used as a fluorescent tracer for many applications. The product itself and its products of degradation are not toxic.”

Said Dan Gilmore, a spokesperson for the environmental ministry. The question of how the chemical got into the water is still unknown. Many officials are saying local pranksters are responsible for this green tint stint.

Fire Chief Bob Beckett warns: “If it is a prank I hope the ministry takes appropriate action against anyone who would do something so foolish,”

The environmental ministry is calling this event vandalism and is hoping for the culprits to be found and punished. However, it does not appear that the prank has caused any more damage than a little shock. The vandals are probably pleased with the press they have gotten over the incident.

I’ve got to hand it to em’, at least the juveniles were original.

Sources:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/12/30/victoria-river-mysteriously-turns-bright-green/

http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Green+Goldstream+water+toxic+study+confirms/4046637/story.html

http://www.canada.com/Goldstream+green+river+blamed+prank/4045124/story.html

http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Prank+cited+likely+cause+Goldstream+River+turning+bright+green/4038934/story.html

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/Goldstream+River+runs+green/4045221/story.html

Images:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/12/30/victoria-river-mysteriously-turns-bright-green/

http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Green+Goldstream+water+toxic+study+confirms/4046637/story.html

Bullets to Kill a Man, Not the Planet.

 Technology  7 Responses »
Jan 032011
 

jokes

“[A bullet] that can kill you or that you can shoot a target with, [but] which is not an environmental hazard” is priority for the pentagon, as stated by a spokeswoman to the First Post.

Lead is poisonous. Lead poisoning is serious; it can lead to learning disabilities in children and make an adult weak of mind and body. In the environment, through the soil and natural decomposition, lead will stay for a long time (1000 years +). Lead, if not removed will stay where it is. That is why the military is trying to reduce its use in their weapons. For if the bullet should not find itself in a body as intended, and should hit a tree and fall to the earth, that bullet should not cause any further damage.

What is Marine Corps the Major General Richard Zilmer asking for? “A renewable and self-sustainable energy solution” (Strickland 14). The argument is simple; by reducing energy consumption the Marines can dramatically decrease the number of fuel baring convoys it needs.

Answering the call in Hawaii’s Kaneohe Bay, the Marine Corps is researching Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). OTEC uses the warmth of the ocean’s surface to produce steam to turn a turbine. Cold ocean water then re-condenses the steam into liquid so that the process may be repeated. If implemented, this would be a zero-emissions practice.

“The Air Force: It accounts for more than half of the defense departments fuel purchases, gulping down about 2.5 billion gallons of jet fuel each year” (Strickland 15). All departments of military need fuel and energy. This means that the military could dramatically cut their cost by reducing dependence on oil, a greener way of warfare.

Explosives are being designed that will turn into compost after detonation. An Ironic remark made by the First Post “Well, the people whose village has just been destroyed by a BAE-made explosive will no doubt be very grateful for the compost left behind. They can grow carrots.” Comedy aside, environmental sustainability is important and any effort made to ensure that should be respected.
Warfare is getting friendly, or at least eco-friendly. As nations combat, now, they will leave no waste left behind; other than carnage and destruction.

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/56728,news-comment,news-politics,how-to-kill-and-maim-but-keep-it-eco-friendly

Strickland, Eliza “Cleaner, Meaner War Machines” Discover. November 2010. Print.

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