| Connect the Dots |
|
Connect the Dots at the Taubman Museum on August 1 is a town-hall event aimed at educating Southwest Virginia in creating higher value, higher performance and lower bills for homeowners. The US Green Building Council Southwest Virginia Chapter is hosting this first in a series seminars is to promote sustainable, high performance building through education and leadership. The event is the first in a series of proposed seminars that will focus on Offices, Schools and Neighborhoods.
www.greendotsbuild.org, A ‘grand central station for building performance strategy’, will be launched in mid-August to extend the seminar to the entire Southwest Virginia Region. Saving energy not only preserves the environment by reducing consumption and pollution, it also helps homeowners cut costs. “95% of homes in the US are more than 10 years old,” says Chapter Vice Chair Monica Rokicki, “which means that increasing the energy efficiency for these homes will save a lot of money and reduce the need for expensive and polluting energy sources.” Connect the Dots will discuss how homeowners, builders and realtors can work with certified auditors to detect and remedy energy waste. The speakers and roundtable discussion will also tell homeowners how to take advantage of tax credits and other incentives, many from the stimulus package, for energy-related improvements. Local chapters of Habitat For Humanity and Total Action Against Poverty are participating in the seminar, including bringing some of their homeowners to the event. Their participation demonstrates how universal and affordable saving energy can be. Primary sponsors include regional sustainable building leaders: Spectrum Design, Breakell Construction Company and Evergreen Insulation. Alliances with area non-profits include the National Resources Defense Council, Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition, American Institute of Architects Blue Ridge, City of Roanoke, EarthCraft Virginia, Habitat for Humanity in the Roanoke Valley Featured speakers include Ken Cronin, Director of General Services/Sustainability for the City of Roanoke; Deb Cheslow, Regional Technical Manager of EarthCraft Virginia; Brian Clark, Project Manager, Habitat for Humanity in the Roanoke Valley and a high-level White House energy/environmental policy director. |
Copyright ©2008