Wednesday, March 25, 2009

House Passes Water Projects Bill

On Thursday, March 12, the House of Representatives passed, by a vote of 317-101, H.R. 1262, the Water Quality Investment Act. The measure would authorize $19.4 billion over five years in wastewater treatment grants and loans and other water quality projects. In particular, the bill authorizes $13.8 billion for an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fund that provides grants to states for infrastructure dealing with sewage, water runoff, watershed restoration, and other water infrastructure projects. Read more...

10 Great Eco-Jobs

These are not your parents’ eco-careers. It wasn’t so long ago that your typical environmentalist was a whale-saving, alfalfa-sprout–eating lefty with bumper stickers slapped on the back of her VW bus. But times have changed: As environmentalism has evolved from a grassroots movement into a lifestyle, ecorelated jobs have become more fashionable, better paying, and more mainstream. From global conglomerates to small-town shops and businesses, today’s green workforce has created more eco-professionals than ever before. To showcase this sea change, Plenty interviewed men and women who are applying their green interests to a diverse array of fields. From helping high-end audio manufacturers abandon cancer-causing lead, to turning a once-gritty Midwestern city into a green jewel, to playing the renewable-energy stock market, these professionals show that caring about the environment isn’t just a way of life—it’s a great way to make a living. Read more...

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Purdue University's First Sustainable Green Roof

Purdue University’s first sustainable green roof will be installed on the Schleman Hall of Student Services, thanks to support from the State Farm Insurance Co. youth advisory board.

Gary Elliott, State Farm administrative services manager, presented a check for more than $68,000 to representatives of Boiler Green Initiative, a student organization that focuses on evaluating and enhancing the sustainability of Purdue and surrounding communities. Initiative President Ryan P. Cambridge, a senior from Indianapolis majoring in landscape architecture, and Vice President Am้lie Davis, a graduate student in forestry and natural resources, accepted the check on Feb. 23rd in Schleman Hall, Room B38.

Green roofs range from mossy vegetation to full-scale gardens, meadows or trees that grow on specialized structures atop buildings. Cambridge, who founded the initiative in 2006, wrote the grant and designed Schleman Hall’s green roof layout. He and other members hope to install the roof system by May. “By installing and monitoring Purdue’s first green roof, we will set a precedent for increased environmental responsibility on campus and provide a way for others to get hands-on experience with practices that lead toward a more sustainable future,” Cambridge said. “We believe one of the biggest barriers to environmental change is lack of understanding by the general public. By creating a system that can be experienced firsthand, we can help eliminate that barrier.”
Kim Wilson, landscape architecture professor and initiative adviser, said both Purdue and the environment would benefit from the new roof. “Besides being aesthetically pleasing, there are many advantages to installing green roofs,” said Wilson. “They reduce storm water runoff and heat island effects. They also improve energy efficiency and substantially extend the life of the roof by protecting it from weather-related effects.”

Elliott said Purdue’s green roof projects are a good match for his company. “State Farm recognizes that being a good neighbor means being a green neighbor,” Elliott said. “These forward-thinking community projects are just what we’re looking for because the benefits of this investment can last a lifetime.”

Cambridge said the Boiler Green Initiative’s long-term goal is to install green roofs atop all new campus buildings and retrofit buildings with flat, newly resurfaced roofs. “Because the installation of a green roof system can more than double the cost of a regular rooftop, we’re continually seeking grant support from environmentally friendly corporations such as State Farm, who want to help Purdue reduce its carbon footprint,” Cambridge said.

Future plans call for green roofs on the Discovery Park research facility Mann Hall, the Purdue Armory and a portion of the horticulture building.