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Back row (L to R): Mark Wilhelm - Past Chair, AZ Chapter; Nate Riggle - Southern AZ Branch Steering Committee; Carl Ramsey - AZ Chapter Board of Directors, Past Treasurer; Athavan Rajasundaram - AZ Chapter Board of Directors; Sandy Wiggins - Chair, National Board of Directors; Mick Dalrymple - West Region Council Representative, National Board of Directors; Dave Burns - Southern AZ Branch Steering Committee; Middle row (L to R): Rod Groff - Treasurer, AZ Chapter Board of Directors; Doug McCord - AZ Chapter Board of Directors; Mike Quinn - Chair, AZ Chapter Board of Directors; Dimitrios Laloudakis - AZ Chapter Board of Directors; Front row (L to R): Nora Calato - Vice Chair, AZ Chapter Board of Directors; Bonnie Richardson - Secretary, AZ Chapter Board of Directors; Michelle Watanabe - AZ Chapter Board of Directors; Stefanie Gerstlehouse - Southern AZ Branch Steering Committee |
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Many thanks to our advertisers:
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Welcome to our first USGBC Arizona Chapter Newsletter! |
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| Letter from our Editor
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Environmentally Smart Cute as a puppy (and not much bigger), the Smart Car by Mercedes attracted attention at the first Green Summit at ASU's Tempe campus April 19. The Green Summit was a student-led initiative designed to promote sustainability. In the photo to the left, Andrew Torrance, left, a construction management major, and Johathan Danielson, center, an education major, talk to Dan Urioste of Square Care, a textile and carpet maintenance company, who had brought the vehicle to the event. ...more on p.2 |
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Certification Soup … and other ruminations on the “green economy” The dot-com era of “green” is here. Many of us have worked dilligently for years to raise green building and environmental degradation into the public spotlight. Now, that spotlight is shining bright green. It is a time of great opportunity for positive change and for realizing a return on an investment of years (or even a lifetime) and money. With opportunity comes the risks born of the allure of a fast buck. Like the dot-com era and the more recent residential real estate boom, there will be shortcuts taken, superficial due dilligence and scams. Marketing departments are jumping on the “green economy” out of opportunity and necessity. Some are really improving their products and operations. Some are not. ...more on p.2 |
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Project Name: Global Water Center "... Perhaps the most exciting engineering innovations at this facility is its unique distinction of being the first operating dual-plumbing commercial facility in Arizona. Exploiting the opportunity presented by the administrative facility’s adjacency to one of Global Water’s treatment sites, both the reclaimed water service to plumbing fixtures in the building, as well as the wastewater leaving the building, are piped directly to the treatment plant. Even beyond this investment, Global Water has chosen this building to serve as an example of what is possible in water reuse and conservation by investing in similar dual plumbing systems for newly developed subdivisions in the Maricopa area..." ...more on p.2 |
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Green Cleaning, Empowering Janitors, and Green Savings We didn’t start out to create a green building. We began by simply trying to improve operations, to find operating efficiencies and to create savings. Even once we decided to apply on behalf of Adobe for certification as a LEED-EB Green Building, it was simply to validate what we had already accomplished; we didn’t expect to improve operations through the process. But we were wrong! Actually, we found almost as many energy conservation and sustainability projects to undertake after we began the process of certification as we had implemented prior to registering. Interestingly, enough, the return on investment for the projects initiated after we began certification was even greater than those undertaken before. But that’s another story, to tell in a later article. Today, we are going to look at one piece of that story, our experience with green cleaning, the savings we realized transitioning from “traditional” cleaning methods, and the lessons we learned in the process. ...more on p.2 |
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Thank You to Green Magazine for being our first newsmate! For more on how to be a newsmate of the USGBC Arizona Chapter, click HERE.
Subscribe to GreenMag E-News, the bi-weekly newsletter of Green Magazine, is geared to promote and encourage green and sustainable business practices. The business-to-business focus allows for an in-depth, multidisciplinary look at of the green industry. Features include the latest news and trends in sustainable building and alternative energy, profiles of industry leaders, new technology and product information, online resources, and green events. Sponsoring partner for Green Magazine is the Colorado Chapters of the U.S. Green Building Council. We encourage The Arizona USGBG Chapter to become a partner, to join the GreenMag E-News mailing list by logging on to http://greenmagonline.com. Click on “Free Newsletter”. |
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Would you like to submit an article for future editions? Go to our Submission Requirements page for more information. |
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