THE SALISBURY FORUM

Bruce Fowle, FAIA, LEED, Senior Principal

FXFOWLE ARCHITECTS, PC

WWW.FXFOWLE.COM

08 June 2007

Ways to Green Your Home

Get an Energy Audit

Use Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (Save 100 lbs CO2 per bulb)

Program Your Thermostat

Insulate Your Home and Plug Air Leaks

Insulate Your Water Heater (Save 1000 lbs CO2)

Get Heating and Cooling Systems Check-up

Choose Energy Star Appliances

Install Low-flow Shower heads (Save 300 lbs CO2)

Switch to Green Power

Install Geothermal Heating and Cooling

Install Photovoltaics

Buy Local Plant a Native Tree (Save 5,000 lbs CO2)

Use Low-VOC Products Use Nontoxic Gardening Techniques

Use Wood Alternatives Compost

Use FSC-certified Wood Use soaker hoses instead of sprinklers

Use Rapidly Renewable Materials

Ways to Green Your Life

Carpool, Use Public Transportation, Walk or Bike When Possible

Buy a Hybrid Car (Save 16,000 lbs CO2)

Reduce Air Travel

Inflate your tires once a month (Save 250 lbs CO2)

Replace the air filter and tune up your engine regularly

Buy local organic foods

Buy fresh foods instead of frozen

Avoid heavily packaged products (Save 1,000 lbs CO2)

Use non-toxic personal care and household cleaning products

Avoid chlorinated household products

Buy products with a high post-consumer recycled content

Buy local

Recycle

Air dry your clothes instead of using the dryer (Save 700 lbs CO2)

Pay your bills online or automatically

Open the windows and use ceiling fans instead of the AC

Turn off Computers, Stereos and TVs (Save 1,000 lbs CO2)

Work close to home or telecommute

Purchase carbon off-sets

Key Components of a Local Climate Change Action Plan:

Increase density and redevelop underutilized or contaminated land

Encourage building reuse and green building practices

Create walkable streets connecting buildings with a diversity of uses

Create housing for wide rage of economic levels and age groups

Create a bicycle network and encourage public transit

Facilitate easy access to open space

Adopt green building practices for all public projects

Increase efficiency of municipal buildings and public works

Encourage on-site power generation

Source green power

Protect imperiled species and ecological communities

Protect farmland and forests from development

Conserve and restore native wildlife habitat, water bodies and wetlands

Implement a comprehensive stormwater management plan

Resources

Center for Ecological Technology www.cetonline.org

Berkshire Biodiesel www.berkbiodiesel.com

Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund www.ctsavesenergy.org Connecticut Climate Change www.ctclimatechange.com

US Green Building Council www.usgbc.org Cool It! The Climate Change Challenge www.coolitchallenge.com

Energy Star www.energystar.org

Major Initiatives

Kyoto Protocol (1997) 173 nations have ratified this U.N. pact to reduce greenhouse gases emitted by developed countries to at least 5% below 1990 levels by 2012.

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (2003) A cooperative agreement among nine Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states to cap the emissions of over 600 power plants at 2000-2004 averages and cut emissions by 10% by 2020.

U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement (2005) 522 mayors representing over 65 million Americans have pledged to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities – a 7% reduction from 1990 levels by 2012 – and to urge state and national legislation on emissions.

Connecticut Climate Change Action Plan (2005) Continued implementation of the 55 recommended actions will put Connecticut on target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2010 and to 10% below 1990 levels by 2020 and, over the long-term, achieve a 75% reduction.

AIA 2030 Challenge (2006) A challenge to the architectural profession to design buildings that use 50% less fossil fuel than their regional average with the goal of designing carbon neutral buildings by 2030.

PLANYC 2030 (2006)