Green Building

Introducing: The GeoVerde Solar Metal Roofing Solution!

Details: Category: Green Building; Published: Sunday, 03 December 2017 00:25; Written by Rod Kirk

A Presentation By Richard Tsuei

The move to renewable energy is moving forward at a nice pace. As each year goes by, more viable and creative options for homeowners and business's are being created. In today's meetup, we will take a look at one of the newer solar power systems being offered by developers. Richard Tsuei, founder of GeoVerde, will give us an in depth look at his "2-in-1 BIPV Metal Solar Roof System". Advantages of his product includes energy efficient, reduced roof weight, superior fire protection, superior recycle-ability, lower maintenance, and long roof life. Richard has joined forces with Custom Solar Power of California to provide complete systems that deliver solar power, roofing, and energy storage solutions for "on-grid" and "off-grid" applications.

Join us for this exciting presentation and learn about new energy opportunities that you can take advantage of!

Santa Clara Agrihood Project Needs Your Support!

Details: Category: Green Building; Published: Saturday, 26 November 2016 22:44; Written by Rod Kirk

An exciting and innovative project called the Agrihood, that is to be located in Santa Clara, by Valley Fair needs your support.

The Agrihood Project is a creative solution that will include affordable housing for seniors, veterans, as well as market rate units, and the best part: an urban farm! The plan for this farm is to be both a working farm as well as a model farm for the rest of the world.

While it was the understanding of EGG members whom visited the California Native Garden Foundation (CNGF) recently that this project is a “done deal”, until work starts on the farm, the CNGF wants to leave nothing to chance.

Therefore will you please come out and add your support for this vital project on Tuesday Nov.29, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm? There will be a special session at the Santa Clara City Council chambers located at 1500 Warburton Dr., Santa Clara, CA, where community members may voice their support for this project.

While the project does have a green light, there are a few people who may try to derail this project. Due to this concern Alrie Middlebrook, President of CNGF wants to ensure that there is enough support for this project. At the Nov 29, meeting there may be people who will be voicing concerns about traffic, etc. Middlebrook says, “We need to speak with solidarity.” Will you come and speak for 2 minutes about why you think this development is good for our community? Please speak from your personal perspective. If you can speak, please let CNGF know by calling (408) 292-9993 or emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

At former council presentations people wore yellow t-shirts in support of this most important project. If you have one of these t-shirts please wear it. Otherwise, Alrie Middlebrook and her staff will bring t-shirts for anyone who has not participated before while welcoming all of the supporters starting at 4:30 pm in front of the meeting location.

Core will be making the first submission for the project on Dec. 5, to Santa Clara staff. CNGF is writing grants every week to bring more funds to this project so we can create a model that will work for the whole urban farming community and it is our hope that this project will set a high standard for sustainable land use in Santa Clara county.

Your support, engagement and ideas are needed to demonstrate to the politicians that our community values a model that addresses economic and social disparities as well as sustainable land use priorities. That productive urban farming models are part of a solution for a food system that is currently unsustainable.

Date: Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Time: 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Where: Santa Clara City Hall located at 1500 Warburton Dr., Santa Clara, CA
(Directions: http://santaclaraca.gov/about/connect-with-us/directions-to-city-hall)

Smart City Security Guidelines

Details: Category: Green Building; Published: Wednesday, 06 April 2016 11:59; Written by Alex Mednick

securing smart cities logo In our quest to conserve energy and decrease our energy footprint in our cities of the future, we are focusing kaspersky lab logo on providing a secure infrastructure to protect against those who will inevitably try to hack and distrupt our efforts. Securing Smart Cities is a global not-for-profit organization that is working towards these goals. This organization has released guidelines that is the foundation for putting in place a secure infrastructure.

Some key contributors to this agenda are Kaspersky Labs and Blue Karma Security. blue karma security logo

For more information please contact Alex Mednick, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sustainability & the New San Jose Firehouse

Details: Category: Green Building; Published: Saturday, 23 January 2016 15:56; Written by Rod Kirk

sj firehouse 4 San Jose has recently completed construction and putting into service a new firehouse. It is located on White Road near Lake Cunningham. Engine 21 resides here. On January 23, 2016 they had an open house to show off this new building and community safety resource. I had the opportunity of visiting this new station during their open house. Mayor Licardo and Vice Mayor Rose Herera were present as well as other City officials. I chatted with several firefighters who make this their home away from home. They are really quite pleased with station. It has an open artchitecture, it is modern, it has many comfort ammenities, and it provides the space necessary to store three firefighting vehicles as well as tons of support equipment. There is plenty of parking and a nice size service yard.

I had a chance to talk to the architect of the building; Dominique. He told me that they did sj firehouse 3 not outsource the design of the building but rather relied on internal city employees to facilitate the design of which he was the key artchitect involved. I asked if he could highlight any design points which supported sustainability. He said that much of the building materials were chose to utilize recycled materials, all wood was green certified, and as much of the furnishing utilized recylced materials as they could arrange. The lighting uses LED lighted throughout. The building uses windows with an eye towards minimizing the need for internal lighting.

I talked with several firefighters about the overall sustainablity practices of the San Jose Fire department. I was told that they have really cut down on the program of testing fire hydrants throughtout the city to save on water (I don't know if this is good or bad!). When at fires they have a new mandate to prevent the flow of tainted water into the curb gutters. Lastly, they have installed water storage/collection tanks at their training facilities to be able re-use water that is used for their training exercises.

It was a very interesting open house and of course, the kids absolutely loved it (They received free firehats!).

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Water Leak Detection Made Simple

Details: Category: Green Building; Published: Friday, 22 January 2016 20:34; Written by Nancy Hartsoch

A Presentation by Nancy Hartsoch

DSC 5813 medium Aging plumbing, outdated distribution systems and equipment malfunctions cost property owners billions of dollars in water damage and loss annually. Despite the severity of the problem, available solutions, which focus primarily on spot detection, have been limited in their ability to address the problem. In addition millions of gallons of water are lost due to a variety of causes, and these losses often go undetected for months until a very large bill arrives two months later causing a shock wave and urgent investigation of the situation.

Opportunities for Sustainability in Commercial Buildings

Details: Category: Green Building; Published: Monday, 12 October 2015 17:38; Written by Tony Green

tony green pic 2 Commercial buildings include buildings greater than 1,000 square feet which devote more than half of their floor space to activities which are neither residential, manufacturing, industrial, nor agricultural.

This includes stores, office buildings, schools, churches, gymnasiums, libraries, museums, hospitals, clinics, warehouses, and malls. The design, construction, operation of commercial buildings impact natural resources, environmental quality, worker productivity, and community well-being.

Approximately 9 percent of the total water use is consumed by commercial and institutional facilities in the United States and up to 17% of publicly-supplied water use. Three applications: sanitary (e.g., toilets, sinks), landscaping, and heating/cooling account for 88% of commercial building water use.

Hear about the opportunities for commercial buildings to do their part in conserving our water in this time of unpreceded drought.

I will cover questions such as:

• What are commercial buildings and does how water usage differ by type?

• What are the typical water and energy usage in commercial buildings?

• Where can water savings be obtained in commercial buildings?

• Where is the nexus between water and energy in commercial buildings?