Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton has signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection
Agreement, in which cities commit to scaling back their greenhouse-gas
emissions in accordance with the international Kyoto Protocol’s
target for the U.S.: to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Peyton’s prior and
conspicuous lack of participation in the initiative has been covered
continuously by Folio Weekly.
Peyton spokesperson Susie Wiles tells Folio Weekly that until recently,
all conversation about committing to greenhouse-gas reductions had been related
to The Sierra Club’s Cool Cities
program, which the Mayor’s Office and The Sierra Club discussed about a year
ago. Peyton promised to consider joining the program, but after JEA urged him
not to, he “somewhat reluctantly” decided to back away, says Wiles, rather than
commit to something unattainable.
“We were persuaded we could not meet [the
goals of Cool Cities],” says Wiles. Nonetheless, Peyton remained interested in
making efforts to fight global warming, she says.
More recently, and after learning more about the USMCPA from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Peyton was
formally asked to join the agreement by Miami Mayor Manny Diaz. Perhaps
anticipating federally mandated greenhouse-gas cuts (post-2008, obviously), the
city of Jacksonville’s lobbyists in Washington also advised Peyton to do so. JCCI’s
recently released report on local air quality was also a factor, says
Wiles.
In fact, Peyton signed the agreement six or seven weeks ago, Wiles
estimates. Because the city is still mapping out the plan it will implement to
meet USMCPA goals, Wiles declined to talk about specific measures. What with all
this budget business, the Mayor’s Office isn’t planning to announce the decision
until late this summer, she says.
Sorry to spoil it, guys.
Philip Ramsey of the Jacksonville
Carbon Neutral Initiative, a group that was founded chiefly to lobby the
mayor to join the USMCPA but has since expanded its mission, reacted to the news
with a bit of skepticism. The schedule for reducing greenhouse gases laid out in Gov.
Crist’s recently issued executive orders — to 2000 levels by 2017, to
1990 levels by 2025, and to 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050 — is superior to
and more realistic than that of the USMCPA, he says.
Even if only symbolic, Peyton’s decision to commit to specific
climate-protection goals is exciting news for local environmentalists. Now comes
the hard part — Wiles says Peyton will soon have to begin persuading his city
“partners” to get onboard the effort to fight global warming.
For most of us, our homes (not our cars) are where we use the most energy and therefore create the biggest carbon footprint. If we want to avert climate crisis, our society must mainstream eco-friendly building materials, solar and other alternative energies, and highly efficient prefab construction.
But most of us are renting and buying homes that were built by developers who probably didn't have global warming in mind when they broke ground. And even for those planning a remodel or shopping for a new house today, embracing cutting-edge green building isn't always affordable. Of course, you can choose bamboo over wood, Energy Star appliances and an on-demand water heater, but unless you have a contractor who knows the green building world, you may find yourself working against decades of "we have always done it this way" objections.
If you can afford an environmental contractor, by all means do it. Or, if you have the time, do your own research.
But many contractors still don't know much about green building products and methods, and if you choose to go this route and something goes awry, you will pay the piper. (After salvaging doors and windows and appliances off Craigslist and pushing for green everything on a recent remodel, I finally broke down and bought cheap kitchen cabinets and countertops shipped from China because the costs were pushing double the contractor's estimate.) Basically, anything contractors aren't familiar with is a risk, and most homeowners can afford only so many risks before they run out of money.
Carpet-traditionally it is made nylon fiber(petroleum based). Some mills offer
nylon made with 1 to 100% recycled content. The higher the recycled content the
higher the cost. Recycling fiber is still in it’s infancy but gaining ground
quickly. Shaw has a great carpet tile that is 100% recyclable. On the back of
every carpet tile is an 800 phone number. Call that number and Shaw will take
the carpet back and pay for the freight. In my opinion that is the best program
in the industry. As an alternative to nylon there are mills that offer recycled
polyester fiber. Carpet backings are starting to incorporate soy oil, hemp and a
plethora of recycled petroleum based products. Grass cloth, wool and cotton are
natural alternatives for carpet fiber but are more pricey and less durable.
Commercial wood flooring is easily replaced with natural wood
laminates (only the top laminate is hardwood with the core and bottom of each
board made up of wood pulp or other materials), cork (renewable) or bamboo
(renewable).
Vinyl Tile and Vinyl Sheet Flooring- some tile
manufacturers are using post construction waste (drywall waste) for fillers. The
vct is 85% limestone with the binders being mostly vinyl products. An
alternative to vct or sheet vinyl is linoleum which is limestone, wood pulp and
resin (pine tar).
Vinyl base- Johnsonite makes a snap-on version
of base that allows you to remove it for carpet replacement. If you use toeless
base and install it before the carpet goes in you do not have to replacement it
when the carpet is changed out.
Ceramic is a fairly green product
(basically it is colored dirt) and can be very affordable. Crossville has a
product with post industrial (ceramic tile manufacturing waste) and post
construction waste (drywall waste) as the base material.
1. Require 50% CO2 reduction for all new commercial LEED
projects.
2. Increase energy reduction prerequisites in LEED
3. Initiate CO2 offset program based on LEED performance data.
4. Provide free LEED for Existing Buildings registration for all
projects certified under LEED for New Construction and LEED for Core and
Shell.
5. Eliminate certification fees for all LEED Platinum projects.
6. Make USGBC 100% carbon neutral by end of 2007
7. Offer "portfolio performance" program for large landlords.
8. Provide professional education curriculum on reducing CO2
emissions.
WASHINGTON, June 26, 2007 -- As part of the U.S. Green Building Council's
Climate Change Agenda, the group's membership have overwhelmingly voted to
approve a 14 percent increase the requirements for energy performance within
the
LEED standards. The change will require all LEED certified projects to
achieve
at least two "Optimize Energy Performance" points, which will
improve the energy
performance of all LEED certified green buildings by 14
percent for new
construction and 7 percent for existing buildings.
This was recently published on GreenerBuildings.com and is, of course, on the USGBC website as well. The most remarkable thing about the "green" building movement is that the construction and design industry is self-regulating. We are doing it because it's the right thing to do.
Recently, I attended a Town Hall Meeting organized by Shell Oil to discuss the "domestic oil crisis". John Hoffmeister, CEO of Shell, made the statement that government should take the lead to require use of alternative fuels, and decrease need for oil. I asked "why"? Why doesn't the oil industry do it because it's the right thing to do? Why don't they take proactive measures to create need for alternative fuels? Why don't they do what the building industry is doing? Self-regulating?
Let's just say he's very good at his job and the spin on his response could have separated chemicals in a centrifuge.
If you'd like a peek at the event, check out the video at the ABC News Website.
I'm proud of the building industry. I'm proud that we overwhelmingly voted to increase the energy standards on our buildings and set a higher benchmark. I'm proud of the good work we're doing to promote energy efficiency.
