Michigan's 97% bottle recycling highest in the U.S.
by Colin Thomase | MLive.com
Wednesday March 18, 2009, 3:33 PM
Most states don't have bottle deposit laws to encourage people to return their empties. Only eleven states do. The national bottle recycling average is below 40%. Michigan's 97% recycling rate is the highest in the country.
Now, some states are expanding recycling programs to include bottled water and non-carbonated beverages. Every year 30 billion non-carbonated beverages are not recycled. The Environment Report's Sadie Babits tells how requiring a deposit for bottles can reduce the amount that ends up in landfills.
Friday, March 20, 2009
NAHB establishes there own green standards
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The National Association of Home Builders has established a National Green Building Standard covering single- and multifamily dwellings, residential developments and remodeling.
The NAHB developed the standard with the International Code Council.
The standard, which evolved from the NAHB guidelines for eco-friendly, single-family home construction, recently received approval from the American National Standards Institute and became the first assessment system of its kind for green homes to be ratified by the institute.
The standard will be used by the NAHB National Green Building Program, or NAHBGreen, and its certifying body, the NAHB Research Center. NAHBGreen also allows builders to have their projects scored based on the organization's NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines. However, the new ANSI-approved standard includes more mandatory elements and sets higher thresholds for achievement in several categories.
The new third-party rating and assessment system for environmentally friendly residential building provides certification at four levels based on a point system — like some of its rating counterparts for green commercial buildings.
The tiers for the National Green Building Standard are bronze, silver, gold and emerald. Within each rating level are minimum point thresholds for six green building categories: lot design, preparation and development; resource efficiency; energy efficiency; water efficiency; indoor environmental quality; and operation, maintenance and building owner education.
The NAHB developed the standard with the International Code Council.
The standard, which evolved from the NAHB guidelines for eco-friendly, single-family home construction, recently received approval from the American National Standards Institute and became the first assessment system of its kind for green homes to be ratified by the institute.
The standard will be used by the NAHB National Green Building Program, or NAHBGreen, and its certifying body, the NAHB Research Center. NAHBGreen also allows builders to have their projects scored based on the organization's NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines. However, the new ANSI-approved standard includes more mandatory elements and sets higher thresholds for achievement in several categories.
The new third-party rating and assessment system for environmentally friendly residential building provides certification at four levels based on a point system — like some of its rating counterparts for green commercial buildings.
The tiers for the National Green Building Standard are bronze, silver, gold and emerald. Within each rating level are minimum point thresholds for six green building categories: lot design, preparation and development; resource efficiency; energy efficiency; water efficiency; indoor environmental quality; and operation, maintenance and building owner education.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upAwGaX2dU8
U.S. House passes historic green affordable housing bill.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
http://www.michigangreenexpo.com/
Michigan Green Expo is being held at the Lansing Center May 9th & 10th.
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