Home Science: 2012

Friday, November 23, 2012

Reclaimed Items Make My House A Special Place

By Jeff Toye via Greenspiration Home

Door Handle (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

Some time back I caught a Greenspiration Home blog about the reclaimed mantle that Trish Holder used in the original Greenspiration Home. The article struck a cord with me because Trish said this mantle, which her husband worked hours to restore, has since become one of her favorite interior features in her home. I totally identified with that feeling, so when she asked to hear from others who had successfully incorporated reclaimed elements into their home, I proudly raised my hand.

I have been a remodeling contractor in Northern New Jersey for three decades. Not only do I use reclaimed building materials in my own home, I also encourage my clients to use reclaimed items whenever feasible. There’s nothing like the touch of character that a reclaimed piece brings to a new or even an old home.

My own home is far from new. In fact, it was built in the late 1700’s, so the materials that I select for it (from flooring to door knobs) are also historic. I even have a garden shed that is made from 99% reclaimed items.

But let me give you the full tour….

A walk from my driveway to my front door reveals the following: Shutters made from reclaimed cedar decking, front entry porch with reclaimed heart pine flooring (still needs finishing), a porch ceiling made of yellow pine bead board, a suspended swing made from cedar trim scraps, and finally a reclaimed 7’ tall front entry door.

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Once inside you’ll find wide plank pumpkin pine flooring that is mostly original to the home but patched with reclaimed material where needed. An American chestnut handrail, balustrade and newel post salvaged from an 1800’s era farmhouse leads the way to the second floor. A small downstairs hallway is flanked with wainscot paneling, reclaimed from a 1920’s era craftsman style home. And all over the home you will find an eclectic collection of glass doorknobs salvaged from homes built in the late 1800’s... READ MORE
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A Green Rest Area

By Lina Younes via EPA's Greenversations blog.

Urban Garden.

This past weekend I was walking around Allen Pond Park in the City of Bowie enjoying the beautiful autumnal day. During my walk, I was admiring the migratory birds that had stopped along their yearly trek to warmer surroundings. There were many in the pond, flying, bathing, eating and the like. Luckily, around the Bowie area we have plenty of trees, waterways, and settings that are welcoming to birds and nature’s creatures.

While a visit to a park is a great way to connect with nature in an urban area, you can actually create an environment in your own garden that can be equally inviting to birds and pollinators all year round. You can achieve this objective through greenscaping techniques that integrate pest management practices and planting native shrubs and trees that will be inviting for birds and wildlife through the seasons.

Certain evergreen shrubs and trees will produce small fruits during the fall at a time when migratory birds in the Northern Hemisphere are starting their journey south. While other flowering plants and trees will produce needed food for birds, pollinators and other wildlife during the spring and summer months... READ MORE
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Energy Saving Holiday Cooking Trivia

Via Energy.gov.

Cooking is an important part of the holiday season. Food brings people together in ways many material gifts cannot. But with winter temperatures creeping in, electricity savings are something to keep in mind, especially during your energy sucking holiday parties with friends and family. Test your energy savings savvy with our Energy Saver kitchen trivia questions!

Q1. What is the most efficient appliance in your kitchen?

Slow Cooker Applesauce (Photo credit: lynn.gardner)

The answer: It’s your microwave, believe it or not. That two-minute popcorn machine uses just 1/3 of the wattage your oven at 750–1100 watts on average and can be used for more than just frozen meals, reheating leftovers, and defrosting chicken. In fact, there are entire books dedicated to culinary usage of the microwave. Recipe books such as “A Man, a Can, a Microwave,” have now turned some of your favorite party-pleasing meals and hors d'oeuvres into microwavable treats (think Buffalo wings). As a general rule, shorter cooking time equals fewer watts, and you're unlikely to use a microwave for anything more than 20 minutes at a time, even with these new age recipes.

Q2. What kitchen appliance uses less energy than your oven and can be left on all day?

Answer? If you didn’t guess it, it’s a Crock-Pot or slow cooker. The device that made “Set it and forget it” style cooking popular in the 70s makes incredible beef stews, brisket, and chicken casserole as easy as turning a dial. It also uses much less energy. At 200-250 watts on the high setting, it beats any toaster oven at 1225 watts. Try slow-cooking a tasty 8-lb cured- ham, drizzled with brown sugar for four hours. Pair your vegetables accordingly... READ MORE
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"Reclaimed Items Make My House A Special Place" republished with permission of Greenspiration Home, an online publication dedicated to educating homeowners about green-building, renovating and decorating in a unique homeowner to homeowner format. Images via Douglas DeMers, CC-SA-BY, unless otherwise noted. Visit our sister blog Designer in Exile for more on sustainable design.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Mapping for Cleaner Water

A Bethlehem, PA company shows how to set a course for less polluted waters through innovative technology.

It takes a lot of work for cities to provide clean water for their residents. But it's one of the most important challenges we face today. Our choices on maintaining a clean water system and protecting the watershed have a deep impact on the health and productivity of our nation. The mitigation of storm-water runoff is key to this, and the EPA's MS4 initiative, short for Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System, charts the way for municipalities to implement solutions.

To help with the effort, a new Pennsylvania company called Map Decisions, which has been accepted into the state's acclaimed Ben Franklin TechVentures Incubator program, has developed an innovative GPS software program for monitoring municipal water systems and assisting with MS4's implementation. Home Science recently spoke with Map Decision's CEO, Christian Birch, a Philadelphia native, for details:

What is Map Decisions, how long have you been together, and what is it that you seek to do or do now?

Map Decisions is a company that I recently formed in the beginning of 2012. I've worked for the last 13 years as an engineering consultant primarily supporting local governments, and I saw a great need in assisting local governments in complying with regulatory requirements - in particular one program from the EPA know as the municipal separate storm sewer program (MS4). It requires municipalities to obtain a permit to operate their storm sewer systems, and there are a lot of regulations that are creating both technical and financial burdens for local governments. We are helping local governments implement the permit. Our mission is to help governments improve their efficiency through innovative solutions. Map Decisions seems to redefine the term "moving at the speed of government." For generations that meant moving at a snail's pace. There's a lot of room for improvement. We need to inject innovation and technology and bring efficiency within our government.

Let's look at this subject a slightly different way, and let's take into consideration the EPA's MS4 mandate. The city of Philadelphia recently implemented a 25 year plan for green infrastructure. And the way we're looking at it is that we don't really have the money, the tax money to pay for the infrastructure renovations that are typically needed in big cities. Revenues have shrunk. So what we're doing through some of these mandates is possibly helping us save money. Do you see the positive aspects of green infrastructure and the EPA's MS4 program? Do you see how enacting some of these measures could really benefit cities and actually save tax money - not just from a burden point of view, but from an environmental and tax saving perspective? Do you see value in that?

Yes. There's long term value there. The goals and objectives of the EPA's program are to protect water quality. All the new regulations and the new methods for protecting water quality at the end of the day will make our communities stronger, they will save tax payers money, but there is an upfront cost.

In the last decade there's been a lot of improvement in terms of best management practices. City, state, county and federal governments are all pushing to have more sustainable design practices and preserving water quality. The engineering communities are required to implement best management practices wherever possible.

And these best management practices are part of the MS4. You have the construction phase of storm-water management, and the post construction phase. Construction phase examples are sediment basins that allow sediment in runoff to settle out so that it doesn't go into streams. Another example would be a silt fence - the 18" high fabric fences around construction sites. These are the best management practices for construction phase. Post-construction examples are rain gardens or vegetative bioswales, or porous pavement.

Those would be the so called "low impact tools" that cities and municipalities are beginning to utilize? Low impact, perhaps, because they don't require the city to dig and build larger sewer systems? It takes some of the burden off the sewer system in general by implementing these types of green tools. Is that right?

English: Illustration of a silt fence installa...

Silt fence. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Yes, and encouraging infiltration wherever possible. We need to make sure that we're not exchanging water between watersheds and we need to recharge aquifers. In cities like Philadelphia, it's very costly to expand sewer systems. These low impact solutions do two things: it prevents [cities] from having to do costly upgrades to the storm-sewer network, but it also allows them to improve water quality.

Let's focus a bit more on Map Decisions. What tools do you have to offer related to this?

We're developing one now called MS4 Solutions. It's an information management system. There are two basic components to it. It's a cloud based information system that allows the user to log on and have control of the information management system. The very first thing we do is allow our clients to develop a storm-water management system utilizing our software.

The second side to our system is mobile software. There are two mobile utilities that are tied to our information management system. The first is a mobile inspection utility, and the second is a mobile mapping utility. Both of our mobile utilities use location intelligence to help improve efficiency of data collection and aggregation. Some of the data the EPA is asking for can be difficult to ascertain, such as weather data - when was the last rainfall event and what was the volume of rain in the field where you're inspecting. That's nearly impossible to do when you're sitting out there with [just] a clipboard. The inspectors using our software don't have to worry about that. Once they start an inspection the on-board GPS triggers the intelligence built into our system. Things like the weather data, what watershed they're in, what are the receding waters - all of these things are automatically aggregated for the user utilizing the data models behind our software.

In the near future we will be adding additional modules to our platform that will allow customers to utilize mobile inspection and mapping features for other applications, such as roadways, water and wastewater, and building inspections.

This is primarily for monitoring the existing system or for planning and decision making?

Essentially for monitoring. The EPA wants to make sure we're not contaminating our nation's water. They're trying to encourage monitoring to prevent contamination of our waterways.

Interesting stuff, thank you for your time and good luck with your efforts.

Thank you.

Editorial note: The MS4 mandate covers a wide range of public entities to comply with the EPA's requirements, including local governments, municipal authorities, departments of transportation, hospitals and universities.This information was advised by Mr. Birch in a separate interview.

For more information on Map Decisions, LLC, visit www.mapdecisions.com or email them at info@mapdecisions.com or contact by phone at 877-277-5789.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Turning the Tide on Stormwater Overflow

ECA Program Manager Zach Popkin gives the scoop on Philly's new Rain Check residential stormwater initiative.

Most people don’t often think about sewers, rainwater, and where water goes after a flush of the loo, but the folks at the water department sure do. It’s a big problem for cities because water is a limited resource and when sewers become overburdened, it can make for a troublesome mix with drinking water, which ultimately takes energy and money to clean.

To mitigate stormwater overflow issues, cities have increasingly relied on public green infrastructure tools such as bump-outs, planters, rain gardens, green roofs, bioswales and tree trenches (such as the one pictured here in Philadelphia's Columbus Square, which can hold up to 7100 gallons of rainwater per incident).

Philadelphia, in particular, has now begun taking this approach to people's homes with a new innovative residential program called Rain Check, which involves an initiative from the Philadelphia Water Department, training and implementation from the Energy Coordinating Agency, and engagement with the city's homeowners and residents.

Thus, Home Science caught up with the ECA's Program Manager for Rain Check, Zachary Popkin, to get the word on how it's all going to work:

What's the main purpose of the Rain Check program?

Here in the city of Philadelphia, because the city is so old, we have somewhat of an antiquated sewer system. Two-thirds of the city has what we call a combined sewer system. And what that means is that the sewer pipes in our streets have a combination of stormwater from rain events combined with our waste water from our homes. And what happens is that when it rains and they reach their capacity, we have these overflows. These stormwater overflows are flowing into our waterways, and it creates pollution, it creates erosion and flooding, and basically degrades the quality of our water in terms of the cleanliness of the water as well as habitats for ecosystems, and making our waterfronts liveable and enjoyable. Through this program we hope to address the issues of both stormwater quantity and quality management and we hope to make a happier city and more friendly waterfronts.

More specifically, since this effects all Philadelphians, what sort of role can homeowners and tenants play to help? How does Rain Check allow them to participate?

The goal of Rain Check is to treat the first inch of rain from storm events on the resident's site. So we have five green tools from Rain Check. We have a downspout planter box, we have a rain garden, we have the depaving of impervious surface - so if you have asphalt or concrete we can remove that to encourage the water to naturally infiltrate back into the ground - and we have porous paving options, which is basically still hard surfaces but allows the water to penetrate into the ground. And lastly we have just your average yard tree, which helps capture stormwater but also the root systems help to filter the water.

Homeowners who are participating in the program can receive one of the tools I mentioned, plus a yard tree. So say they can get a planter and a yard tree, or they can get a rain garden and a yard tree. The way the funding works is that the homeowner will be responsible for just a small copay, and the water department will provide funding for the remaining 80-90 percent. So it's a drastically reduced cost that the homeowner will pay to get their green tool.

Since this blog is also concerned with green jobs and building a sustainable workforce, in every sense, describe the type of jobs you'll be creating and the backgrounds of people being trained for this new career field of green infrastructure.

Green tool training at the ECA

Sure. We're managing our stormwater management process similar to the same way we do our energy audit process, where we have the energy audit up front, then we have the weatherization work. At the ECA in the EnergyWorks program we do a quality assurance inspection at the end of that process. You have a three process program with the inspection, the remodeling work, and the quality assurance assessment.

With the Rain Check program we've modeled that process similarly. We've trained assessors to go out and do stormwater assessments. We're requiring that stormwater assessors have their Building Performance Institute Analyst (BPI) accreditation - that basically helps them better determine stormwater issues or opportunities as it applies to the properties and homes.

For our installers, we've trained a greater variety of installers because there's a little bit more in the variety of green tools. So the types of installers are going to be general contractors and landscapers. And we have masonry contractors for the depaving portions of the program.

Do you see this kind of work as a growth field in the future, and if so, what are the indications of that?

Absolutely. Philadelphia has become a leader in the method that it has come to address its stormwater problems. Some other cities are choosing to address the issue in the back end by increasing the capacity of pipes and at the water treatment plants. What Philadelphia is choosing to do is a little bit more innovative, by treating the problem at the source, by treating it on site. So not only are we treating the stormwater through these practices, but we're helping to beautify our city, because the planter boxes and rain gardens and trees add an aesthetic value - not only are we resolving stormwater problems but we are able to green and beautify our city through these programs.

And since Philadelphia has acted as a leader in this method for managing stormwater, we're hoping that Rain Check, and Philadelphia's stormwater program overall, which is called Green City, Clean Waters, can serve as a model for cities throughout the nation as they address their stormwater issues.

And in a cost effective way.

Exactly, particularly in Philadelphia because of the scope of our sewer system. It's prohibitive cost-wise to rehabilitate all of our sewer systems and by completely trying to address the issue of stormwater by increasing the capacity of our plants. What Philadelphia needs to do to address its type of water problems is a more comprehensive approach. While we can do some of the other things such as increasing capacity of sewer systems and treatment plants, doing things like stream restoration and public outreach, we're also going to be doing things like green infrastructure and low impact development, such as the green tools we talked about.

Sounds like a win win solution. Thanks for your time.

Thank you.

Blogger's note: The Rain Check program is in pilot phase, and currently not registering additional residents. Further opportunities to join will be forthcoming. For more on this and other programs from the Philadelphia Water Department visit www.phillywatersheds.org
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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

From Brownfield to Greenfield

Liberty Lands Park.

It’s hard to tell that the two acre parcel that is now Liberty Lands Park in Philadelphia was once an industrial brownfield. And it's hard to believe that the surrounding Northern Liberties community used to be one of the only neighborhoods in Philadelphia without a public green space. Liberty Lands is now a vibrant, essential part of that community, and a symbol of what resourceful neighbors can do with a few shovels, some environmental know-how, and a commitment to making their community a better place.

What is now a park, community garden, playground and state-of-the-art model for water management was once the Burk Brothers Tannery. This former brownfield or contaminated land was made safe and usable after the hazardous materials were removed by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1987.

After the pollution from the tannery was cleaned up and the contaminated materials were subtracted, biosolids, or nutrient-rich organic materials that are a bi-product from treatment of sewage at water treatment facilities, were used to improve the quality of the land. Biosolids act as a natural fertilizer, enabling the soil to retain more water and nutrients and made it possible for the growth of a community garden, an herb garden, and the more than 180 trees that the park now features.

In 1995, a development company planned to convert the land into loft apartments. When the deal fell through, the land was donated to Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association (NLNA). Since the community didn’t have a green space, neighbors envisioned and created designs for a park. In 1996, the NLNA and the project received funding from the Philadelphia Urban Resources Project.


Trail at Liberty Lands Park


Flowers in full bloom.

By the spring of 1997, with the help of other generous donations and volunteer labor, Liberty Lands was born. The park now has partnerships with Philadelphia Urban Resources Project, the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society (PHS), Philadelphia Water Department, Pennsylvania Department of Environment Protection (PA-DEP), TreeVitalize, and the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.

More recently, the park was selected for a storm water management project. The PHS designed the project and was funded by Philadelphia Water Department/PA-DEP with the aim of easing loads on local waste water systems. Additional community support has funded the instillation of a cistern that will allow for water efficiency and conservation as water will be diverted towards irrigation.

The storm water management system establishes methods that could be utilized across the city and once again demonstrates how Liberty Lands is a model of a sustainable green space and an excellent example of grassroots community building. (See more on Philadelphia's innovative new storm-water management and green infrastructure programs at our previous posts at Home Science and Designer In Exile).

Children's garden.

Green Infrastructure landscaping.

A Few Words with Liberty Lands Park Coordinator Liz Reed.

Many people have pitched in to turn the Northern Liberties lots into a green space. Among them is park coordinator Liz Long Reed. She and her husband William Reed, co-owner of the popular restaurant, pub, and entertainment venues The Standard Tap and Johnny Brenda's, have a great history putting together fun events at the park. Recently we chatted with Liz about her related experiences:

What do you think is the single most significant function of Liberty Lands?

I think the thing that makes Liberty Lands special is that it is versatile. It's lots of things to lots of people. Even with the addition of the stage and rain garden, we purposely thought about how it would be used when there wasn't a major music or rain event going on. We want people to explore and hang out in that area.

What, if anything, has been the biggest hindrance in making Liberty Lands what it is today?

I suppose that would be lack of funds. Regardless, I think we make the most of our time and our volunteers to keep the park safe and looking its best.

What is your favorite part of the park?

That would have to be where I get to sit back and just enjoy it with my neighbors. A close second is that we own it. If we find the ways and the means to make stuff happen, we can do what we want. Like today, my husband/dedicated park volunteer went out with three extension cords and a giant drill to fix a planter that some enthusiastic bunch tipped over and broke last year. Our neighbor will meet him later in the week with his bobcat to pick the heavy top up and place it so it can be re-cemented in place. It's our park, so we can be as creative with our time and energies as we see fit. It's like a big common back yard.

Does the Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association have any new plans in store for the park or any other other green spaces in the area?

Yes to both. We hope to build a "potty shed." A neighbor designed it to house a port-a-potty on one side and a tool shed on the other. The idea is that people then can pay an annual fee to get the combo to use the toilet, and the fees cover the maintenance contract. If, for whatever reason, it doesn't work out, then we end up with one big shed.

In addition, the NLNA got a grant to green the area from 2nd Street to Delaware Avenue along Spring Garden Street. This includes planting 50 trees on April 17th. And the Philadelphia Water Department and Philadelphia Horticulture Society have started revamping the Dough-boy pocket park at 2nd and Spring Garden as we speak. It will include new storm-water amenities.

This article was posted previously on our sister site Designer In Exile.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Earthmaker

A local entrepreneur shows how to make a buck while making a difference with his innovative composting business.

Tim Bennett

Tim Bennett is a shrewd businessman. His schooling and work with Temple's Fox School of Business added to his natural propensity for success. But to him, developing a good business meant going a step beyond just monetary gain. He also wanted a company with redeeming social value. With a recent honorary business award under his belt, and presentations at local enterprise forums, he's sharing his knowledge of what it takes to build a sustainable business in Philadelphia. Home Science caught up for a quick word from him as well:

Tell us about Bennett Compost. How long have you been in operation and how did you get your start? And what services do you offer?

I started Bennett Compost in summer of 2009. We started with a focus on residential composting. It was a needed solution because if you live in a city with limited space, it's difficult to find an easy way to compost. And we wanted to help people do that.

I was doing the business part time, while working full time. After about 10 months, I was able to leave my full time job and do Bennett Compost full time. At that point we started to add commercial business as well, not just helping residents compost but helping businesses, restaurants, supermarkets, grocery stores, coffee shops - anyone who was producing food - to compost their food waist as well.

What is the general process involved in composting. Where does it go? And what does the customer get back in return?

Composting is a very natural process where you're combining nitrogen rich organic food waste with carbon rich organic waste such as leaves or wood wastes, saw dust - anything like that.

We do our composting in a couple of different ways. What we collect from our customers in the residential stuff, we compost ourselves and through a network of community gardens that are established in the city, mostly in South Philadelphia, but one or two in North Philadelphia as well.

For most of the commercial stuff we work with a farm in Montgomery County, and also a commercial composting facility in Wilmington Delaware to handle that material. So we take the material there and they compost it for us.

Industrial compost facility, Wilmington, Delaware

Our commercial customers don't get compost back, but our residential can get back a certain amount each year, depending on how much we produce. This year we'll be giving interested customers about ten gallons of compost back.

Is it stinky working with compost? Is it a job for everyone?

I don't think anything's a job for everyone. Anytime you're talking about food waste you're talking about, you know, garbage, and there's certainly gonna be smells involved with that. But the finished product isn't really stinky. It has sort of a natural earthy smell, like a a good forest soil smell if you were walking through a forest. But in order for it to get to that point it has to go through a phase.

When you're actually doing the composting, if you're doing it right, you shouldn't have a lot of smells. As long as you're getting enough oxygen in there, the breakdown should be aerobic as opposed to anaerobic. So it shouldn't be producing methane as a by product, and methane is what you're smelling when you're smelling rotting garbage.

And other things... Moving along, you recently won an award from the Fox School of Business and you gave a presentation at Ignite Philly. Tell us about those situations, and what role do such enterprise support groups have in helping your business?

Well, the award from Temple was part of their annual business competition, and it's open to anyone with an affiliation with Temple. Since I'm an alumni, I was open to that. I won first prize in their social entrepreneurship category. That was great because we got exposure to different kinds of people who may not have been aware of what we were doing. And also it came with some cash and other prizes that were helpful for building the business.

In terms of Ignite Philly, that was a little bit different, a different type of crowd - a less corporate and kind of a young, hipper crowd. The event really highlighted some of the interesting things going on in Philadelphia neighborhoods. So that was another good venue to get out there and promote what we're doing. I think either of those types of events where you can highlight some of the interesting stuff, the cool stuff, is helpful for all businesses. But it's also helpful for the city to show some of the positive things that are coming out.

Speaking of positive things, compost companies are seen as sustainable businesses. How do you see the outlook for sustainable businesses and green jobs in Philadelphia?

I think there's a lot of optimism around sustainable businesses and green jobs in Philadelphia. There's a lot of interesting things going on. But any business needs to be run like a business, so you need to make sure that you have a market, and that you're reaching that market, and that you're keeping your costs under control. If you don't treat it like a business, I don't think it'll be good. There is a receptive clientele and you need to demonstrate the value in it for them, whether that value is monetary savings or other kind of value. If you can show that value, people will respond to that.

There's no magic bullet - green jobs aren't going to replace all the manufacturing jobs that were lost. There's no single simple solution like that. It's all a part of it. I think there's a growing awareness of the importance of sustainability and the growing benefits both monetary and non-monetary that it can bring.

Great. Very informative. Thanks for your time.

You're welcome.

More info about Bennett Compost and the services offered can be found at www.bennettcompost.com.

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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Hands On With Green City, Clean Waters


PWD staffer discusses stream restoration.

Water is energy, it is a source of life. In the past few weeks I've had the opportunity to examine that life source a bit more closely through an innovative outreach effort called the Green City, Clean Waters Ambassador Program from the Philadelphia Water Department and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.

The program aims to create a new partnership to promote green infrastructure education and stewardship in Philadelphia neighborhoods. With a boost of hands-on training by specialists from the water department and various other related organizations, a group of community leaders from designated civic associations will emerge to become Green City, Clean Waters Ambassadors.

More specifically, the program focuses on storm-water management, including development, care and advocacy for sustainable landscape projects or green tools, such as tree trenches, bump-outs, bioswales, rain gardens, infiltration trenches, green roofs, and others, as part of the city's innovative initiative to reduce contamination from sewer runoff. It also integrates issues such as stream restoration, soil conservation, and other regenerative processes that are essential for maintaining healthy urban ecosystems.

A real bioswale (Photo credit: Steven Vance)
Green infrastructure improvements.

Unlike many big ticket urban approaches to water reclamation that often involve major ovehalls of grey infrastructure, this program utilizes an interactive union of mother nature, the water department, and people power to make it all work. The end result is to give our local communities a sustainable development initiative that is light on the taxpayer's wallet, promotes community engagement and access, and creates a cleaner, more beautiful city. It's a very Philadelphia-like, neighborhood-minded solution to an issue that's troubling much of the nation these days.

An ambassador, huh? Perhaps. That certainly sounds prestigious. In any case, I think I'd fit the bill just fine sporting a white suite and fedora... More on this development in the coming weeks. --D.A. DeMers

For additional info on green infrastructure improvements and the Green City, Clean Waters Ambassador Program visit www.phillywatersheds.org.

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20 Years of Energy Star Savings

Hard to believes that it's been that long. Seriously, like 20 years long. But let's not dwell to much on that. Instead let's think of the many good ways the Energy Star program has helped people save on energy costs while in their homes and offices. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson had some special words commemorating the anniversary in a recent blog post in the Huffington Post. Happy anniversary, indeed. Read More.

To see a great YouTube video on the history of the Energy Star program, click here.

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Energy Efficiency Made Easy

Eric Barendsen, a communication specialist at the US Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Communications and Outreach Office, cuts to the chase with an Energy Saver's blog post on how he saved big with heating bills this winter. He also explains how that rolls into spring and summer. Best of all, he's got some quick and easy tips. Read More.

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Putting solar to work for your home

(Image: Wikipedia)

Photovoltaic cell.

Michigan home remodeler and instructor Steve Bredernitz sheds some light on the investment to saving ratio of his made in the USA home solar project, and how to get a solar system up and running quickly. This and more are reasons why he's gives thumbs up for solar. Post via Greenspiration Home:

"Just over a year ago, I was meeting with some fellow remodelers and we were talking about quirky clients, our teenage kids, and renewable energy. A few of these gentlemen had solar arrays and wind turbines at their homes and spoke highly of the benefits. Others at the table were adamant that renewable energy was not cost effective. One remodeler in particular commented how solar was a horrible idea in the 1970s and is a horrible idea today. That was the moment I decided to act!" Read More.

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Up next week on Home Science, we'll check in with a few Philadelphia sustainable businesses that are making good for the community while making smart business sense. Plus, more on solar products for your home. Stay tuned.

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