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Topic Page: Green Communities
It takes a village. Or a city. Some PF Member ideas for turning whole communities green. Have an idea in Green Communities? Tell us
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Featured Ideas
Webisodes Related to Green Communities
Beer as a Model for Sustainable Business
THIS WEEK: Holy cow! This week Planet Forward got up close and personal with some Virginia livestock. DC Brau, the first local brewery in D.C. feeds their organic waste to livestock in the Virginia area. Take a look!
Learning How to Adapt from our Ancestors
THIS WEEK: This week Planet Forward is taking a look at the work PISA, a GW-based group, is doing in Nam Dinh, Vietnam. The women in Nam Dinh are adapting to a changing planet and they say they learned their tricks from none other than their ancestors!
An Innovative Approach to Water Conservation
THIS WEEK: Our rapidly increasing consumption of water is creating concerns about what the world would be like without any! One team, however, created an innovative solution to the planet’s quickly disappearing water. Check it out in this week’s webisode!
Living Sustainably on a College Campus
We profile three schools that are working toward more sustainable college campuses.
Empowerhouse: Community-Based Sustainable Living
THIS WEEK: How to turn a Solar Decathlon house into a home. GW students Melissa Turley and Jon Fenech followed Team Empowerhouse through the Solar Decathlon. Their innovation? Making it affordable enough to be a Habitat for Humanity home.
WATCH!
A Solar Conversation with Secretary Chu
THIS WEEK: In this week’s webisode, Planet Forward’s Frank Sesno interviews Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu at the 2011 Solar Decathlon! Chu talks about the coolest innovations, and even wonks out a bit on r-values and building materials.
‘The Big Uneasy,’ The PF Interview with Harry Shearer
In this week’s WEBISODE Planet Forward host Frank Sesno sits down with Harry Shearer, the multi-talented comedian who is the voice of more than 21 Simpsons characters about his documentary on Hurricane Katrina The Big Uneasy
WATCH!
Bangkok Underground
In this week’s WEBISODE we travel to Bangkok to see what they are doing to cope with floods. PF Producer Victoria Riess talks with Porntep Techapaibul, the Deputy Governor of Bangkok.
Wind Beneath Their Strings
Here is a new way to deliver energy to those who need it. The women in one small community in Guatemala have wind, they just need a way to harness it. Enter enthusiastic students from the University of Michigan College of Engineering.
Could Palm Oil Biofuels Work?
This WEBISODE focuses on Dom Bosco Catholic University’s biochemistry laboratory in Campo Grande, Brazil. Dom Bosco is experimenting with a plant called bocaiúva, a native palm which could yield a new source of renewable energy.
Energy Secretary Bill Nye?
Planet Forward met up with Bill Nye at the Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards last week. See the first item on his #EnergyToDo list. Tell us yours on twitter. (@Planet_Forward)
ICLEI’s Martin Chavez On Sustainable Growth & Smart Cities
This week, Planet Forward host Frank Sesno sits down with Martin Chavez, Executive Director of ICLEI. The focus? Smart cities! Learn what your city can do to grow and adapt to a changing planet. More>>
Hertz’s EVs Charge Up Car Sharing
Who knew lessons from preschool could apply to smart communities and our energy solution?! Check out this new initiative in Washington DC that takes the concept of sharing to a whole new level. Would you ditch your ride for one of these shared EVs?
LEEDing after Disaster: AIA Architect on Why You Should
Can your community turn tragedy into opportunity? Bill Worthen, American Institute of Architects’ National Director and Resource Architect for Sustainability, sits down with us to talk about LEED certification and how disaster can provide opportunity to build back better.
Raise the Roof!
In this week’s webisode, we bring you an idea from the National Science Foundation about the benefits of green roofs. Also hear from a Planet Forward member who shows us her small business of painting roofs white for an environmental benefit.
Van Jones on What Individuals Can Do to Increase Efficiency
Part 2 of a 3 part series: See Part 1: Van Jones on Community Solar and Wind Energy See Part 3: Van Jones on Obama’s Fuel Efficiency Standards Former green jobs adviser to the White House and founder of environmental justice group, Green For All, Van Jones joins Planet Forward’s Frank Sesno in a discussion …Read More…
Van Jones on Community Solar and Wind Energy
Part 1 of a 3 part series See Part 2: Van Jones on What Individuals Can Do to Increase Efficiency See Part 3: Van Jones on Obama’s Fuel Efficiency Standards Former green jobs adviser to the White House and founder of environmental justice group, Green For All, Van Jones joins Planet Forward’s Frank Sesno in a …Read More…
Your (Grand)Parent’s Grid or a Smart Grid? From the National Renewable Energy Labs
It’s almost as universal to our lives as air, but how many of us really know where our electricity comes from or how it gets to our homes? Is our energy infrastructure up to the 21st consumer’s demands? Is it really worth the investment to upgrade. Some 30 percent of the grid is 40 to …Read More…
TV Segments Related to Green Communities
Filtering Dirty Water, By Losing the Filter
This week, tackling one of the great challenges of our time – water. The engineers at Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) say they have the answer that could make it cheaper and less energy-intensive to clean water. It has no moving parts and no filter. Instead, it uses a vortex to separate the contaminants from …Read More…
Solar Innovations at the Solar Decathlon
Lean green design teams from around the world produced some winning ideas at this year’s Solar Decathlon. Maryland won DOE’s top prize, but we staged our own vote. From Vermont, Middlebury College got the nod.
Watch
Amphibious House (Your Loss, Hurricane Irene)
As the east coast picks up after Hurricane Irene, ask yourself this: would you invest in a house that can float only when it needs to? Planet Forward host Frank Sesno, brings you the story for this month’s Nightly Business Report segment.
Solar Decathlon: The Race to Build the Most Efficient Solar Home
Peek into the solar powered house designs from Middlebury College in Vermont and University of Maryland. It’s all for the Solar Decathlon competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Building a Green Community
When Greensburg, Kansas was devastated by a tornado in 2007 the residents took it as an opportunity to rebuild as an environmentally friendly town. Watch our latest piece from PBS’ Nightly Business Report.
Demand Response: Enernoc Applies Social Media Tech to the Power Grid
Social networks have the power to link cultures across continents. See how energy demand response companies, such as Enernoc, wired their networks to fend off this summer’s heat waves, which scorched communities from New York to Texas.
Articles From the Blog Related to Green Communities
Minnesota Goes Green
Happy Birthday, Minnesota! Today in 1858, Minnesota was admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state. To celebrate, we’re going to take a look at what’s going on in the land of 10,000 lakes to make the state turn from blue…to green! We’ve partnered with Minnesota 2020 to get great stories from the north. From …Read More…
What’s in a Vision? Mayors Discuss Sustainability
At last week’s Innovation Summit, DC Mayor Vincent Gray said that he would make the city “fossil-free” by 2030. Yesterday, he released his vision for a “Sustainable DC,” and how we would get there. Although he didn’t reiterate the goal of becoming fossil-free by 2030, he does have a comprehensive plan to reduce energy use …Read More…
Introducing the Green Apple Day of Service
Last week, I was able to visit one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to make an exciting announcement, recognizing the Green School in Bali as the Center for Green School’s “2012 Greenest School on Earth.”
The Center for Green Schools and Princeton Review Release Free Guide to 322 Green Colleges
By Kristin Simmons Ferguson Higher Ed Associate, Center for Green Schools For the third year in a row, we at the Center for Green Schools are pleased to celebrate today’s release of The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green College: 2012 Edition. This year’s guide profiles 322 institutions of higher education in the United States and Canada that demonstrate …Read More…
William Paterson University Wins!
Planet Forward was proud to host the video competition for Second Nature’s Climate Leadership Award Finalists. Schools from across the country submitted videos and competed to win the title. After more than 14,000 votes were cast, we are proud to announce our winner: William Paterson University, of Wayne, New Jersey. All of Second Nature’s Climate …Read More…
What’s Your #InnovationChallenge?
We’ve seen businesses, colleges and communities turn energy innovations into action, but what are you doing? We challenge you to make a difference in your daily life. Is this the year you install a rain barrel and use less water? Are you going to save your company energy and money by linking your building to its neighbors or …Read More…
Aloha Alternative Energy
In the past week I was lucky enough to be asked to travel to Hawaii with a good friend of mine over spring break. It was my first trip to Hawaii and I was unsure of what was to come—I knew there would be beaches, surf and sun but what surprised me most when I …Read More…
Planting Season
Tis’ the Season for Planting! This week’s newsletter focuses on promoting the innovation of produce. With the recent spikes in temperatures across the globe, it seems as though spring is right around the corner, which means planting season is not far behind. Lately natural gas, green technology, solar panels and things of the like have …Read More…
The Urban Umwelt and You: Conservation Across Scales
Although you can fish for salmon in the Great Lakes, us Midwesterners consider them a delicacy. Restaurants fly them in daily from the Eastern Seaboard and Norway. Rarely ever do we eat a Lake Michigan salmon—especially at a fair price. I grew up hearing the legends of my grandfather catching salmon in the northern reaches …Read More…
The Unsettling Attacks on Green Cities and Counties
Glenn Beck and other Tea Party Groups have been shutting down town halls and disrupting local plans for energy efficiency programs around the country. Why? Find out.
Solar: Does Size Matter?
A key issue for scaling up solar is where to put it: on every home or in huge arrays on the desert? Some businesses, like Sungevity, are trying to get solar panels on every home by breaking down the up-front cost barrier. They partner with financial institutions to spread the cost of going solar into …Read More…
Low-carbon Cement Paves a Development Path
By Miranda C. Spencer, The Daily Climate Cross-posted from Climate Central. PHILADELPHIA — The source of 5 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions is hiding in plain sight, in the sidewalk beneath our feet. It is cement, a key ingredient of concrete, the most widely used building material on the planet. And manufacturing conventional “Portland” …Read More…
Top 10 States for LEED Green Buildings
Ashley Katz Media Manager U.S. Green Building Council Today, USGBC released its top 10 list of states with the most LEED-certified building square footage per capita. The District of Columbia leads the nation, with more than 31 square feet of LEED-certified space per person in 2011, and Colorado is the leading state, with 2.74 square …Read More…
Help this New England Church Become More Efficient
Recently, a Planet Forward member emailed me to ask how her church should become more energy efficient, especially considering their tight budget. I’m opening up the question to you, our community of experts.
After COP17: Time for Local Climate Action
Two things are clear in the wake of the COP17 international climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa. First, time is not on our side in the fight against climate change. And second, the world needs to look beyond national governments for meaningful ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today. The leadership of local governments—on display in Durban—takes on a new level of importance.
Read This
An International Look at 5 Sustainable Communities
Take a green tour of 5 sustainable communities around the world. From South Africa to Japan, local communities are going green. Has your community made any steps towards a cleaner future? Let us know, here!
Communities Skip Washington for Green Action Locally
With all the political gridlock in Washington, D.C. it’s easy to imagine the entire country is suffering from a similar lockdown. However, municipalities across the country are moving ahead in America’s clean energy discussion. Here’s how.
Green Building in Schools could save $20 billion in 10 years
Here’s a puzzler. Right at the time of day when some kids are most likely to get into trouble, most schools close the door and turn off the lights. Seems silly, doesn’t it? That disconnect, along with a slew of other good reasons, has helped give birth to the community schools movement. It aims to …Read More…
Center for Green Schools and UTC Announce New Findings on Green Schools
At the annual Greenbuild Conference Expo in Toronto, the Center for Green Schools and United Technologies Corp. held a press conference to announce findings from a new independent study conducted on green schools, as well as initiatives the Center will be taking in 2012. The results of the survey brought light to the fact that Americans are concerned about …Read More…
Taking Recycling To the Extreme
Taking your own recyclable cloth bag to the mall isn’t going to help you go green the whole way. Sure, it will save the cost, use and disposal of one plastic bag. Once you’ve gone past the easy ways to recycle, what other plans can you make to dispose of those hard to get rid …Read More…
“Green Jobs” versus “Jobs”? – It’s Not a Competition; They’re One in the Same
by Maggie Comstock, Associate, Policy, U.S. Green Building Council On Oct. 26, USGBC participated in a salon on green jobs and economic growth, sponsored by Planet Forward. The high-level discussion included U.S. government representatives from several agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, Department of Labor, and more. Private sector …Read More…
Ask an Expert: Campus Sustainability Day
What is your campus doing to be sustainable? What should colleges be doing to promote sustainability? In partnership with Second Nature, we’re hosting a very special edition of Ask an Expert for Campus Sustainability Day.
Talk to Meghan!
The Dragonfly: An Urban Farm for NYC
The Dragonfly is an urban farm that hopes to help New York City adapt to the nearly one million more residents that are estimated to occupy they city by 2030. The designers say the greenhouse could supply food to Manhattan and Queens. What would you think about this new skyline?
Check out our photo album and Weigh in!
What’s Next in Green Building?
Do you have an idea for the next big innovation in green building? If you submit a video that tells your story in one minute or less, you could find it on display at the world’s largest green building expo. In 1891, Clarence Kemp, a Baltimore-based entrepreneur that sold home heating equipment, came up with …Read More…
Bangkok Underground: How to Prepare for a Flood
Once called the “Venice of the East” because of its extensive canal system, Bangkok is a city that has been dealing with flooding for hundreds of years. It’s built on water. In fact, the primary housing option in the city in the 18th century was floating rafts. As the city has modernized, and its people …Read More…
Rural Women in Vietnam Face Scarcity of Jobs and Climate Disruption
It’s 5:00 am and I wake up to the sounds of rural Vietnam – the neighborhood roosters are having a crow-off, dogs and birds in the area are eagerly trying to participate, and my roommate the gecko calls out letting me know he was successful in protecting me from mosquitoes overnight. There is a gentle …Read More…
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