I have 2 favorite parts of the new Miller branch – the upstairs outdoor terrace overlooking the green roof, and the Enchanted Garden.  The green roof “absorbs rainwater, conserves energy and roofing materials, mitigates the heat island effect, and provides an aesthetically pleasing environment.“  Well, yes.  It’s also peaceful and pretty and the plants will look even better when winter is over.  The Enchanted Garden isn’t even finished yet, but you can tell it’s going to be awesome.  The Master Gardeners are hard at work planning it, and I’ve heard one part is going to be a “sensory garden” with plants that are interesting to touch.  The planned “pizza garden” looks great already – a round structure, split into “slices” that will each grow a pizza ingredient like tomato, basil, etc.  The focus of the garden is health, nutrition, and environmental education.  The garden beds will be used to teach children and adults about edible plants and native plants.

Part of the whole vibe of the new library comes from the multitude of “green” features.  Even if you don’t know that it is designed for LEED silver certification, you can see all the natural light pouring in.  Other features of the green building are water conservation, sustainable site design, energy efficient HVAC and lighting, recycled and local building materials, healthy indoor air quality, a rainwater filtering system, and 72 solar panels that generate up to 16 kilowatts of energy per day.

Howard County is a leader in building “green” in public spaces.  Since 2008, publicly funded buildings (30% or more County funding) larger than 10,000 square feet must attain LEED Silver ratings.  New private buildings larger than 50,000 square feet must attain at least a LEED certified rating.  These buildings push the technology forward, create green jobs, and reduce long-term costs, particularly in energy.  Check out the Green Building section of livegreenhoward.com for more info.

But I digress.

Check out the new Miller Library branch!  It’s wonderful.

Oh yeah, there are books there too.

We strive to create sustainable communities. We work with local government and community leaders to stimulate local economies, improve quality of life for community members and protect the Earth’s climate.

We see our goals to be synergistic and achievable through targeted actions and comprehensive environmental and economic policies. We share our clients’ deep commitment to protecting the planet’s climate for future generations through a shift to renewable resources and improving efficiency in all sectors of local economies.

For the record, trash deposited in public spaces does not miraculously disappear. There are no stealthy gnomes who run around after hours and collect all this garbage. Nope, it is a different group of friends, neighbors and county residents who volunteer their time picking up the trash left by others. In addition, local government and private businesses spend millions of dollars each year to pick up trash. Despite the best efforts of these groups, trash continues to clog gutters and stormdrains, and when assisted by rain ends up in our streams, rivers, and harbors. Take a walk down any stream valley and see the trash that has accumulated. Better yet, check out Baltimore’s Inner Harbor or Anacostia in SE Washington after a storm. Six tons of trash are removed from Inner Harbor every two weeks. A portion of that harbor trash makes its way from Howard County. Survey after survey concludes that the local population wants to improve the Bay ecosystem, yet as a society we continue to have trash littering our streams and the Bay. Something is wrong with this picture.

The magnitude of the trash problem has prompted the Maryland Department of the Environment to regulate trash as a Bay pollutant. Howard County may soon be required to establish a trash mitigation program as part of our Municipal Stormwater Permit (MS4). With all the Bay related work that will be necessary to manage uncontrolled runoff, limit nutrients, and restore stream habitat it seems a shame to have to spend time and money addressing litter. This is a simple problem to solve if everyone acts responsibly and disposes of their trash properly. Several neighboring jurisdictions have recently instituted a bag fee in an attempt to limit the amount of trash finding its way to our streets and streams. They report that in 2009, volunteers picked up 41,000 plastic bags during a regional watershed cleanup! These communities are quick to point out that the bag fee was not implemented as a revenue source but instead to establish a behavior change. The fee must be working because the number of bags purchased dropped by 50% in the first few months.

The irresponsible behavior of some folks who toss trash in public areas has a negative impact on our local ecology. Thanks to citizen groups like the Patapsco Valley Heritage Greenways, and Alliance for the Bay; and government sponsored programs like Adopt a Road, and 20 Minute Cleanup; our community tries to stay ahead of the mounting roadside litter problem that quickly becomes a waterway pollutant problem.

Unfortunately, the good deeds of others cannot keep up with the volume of trash in public areas and we may soon be required to institute stronger and more costly programs to reduce the trash in our waterways. We have a considerable amount of work to do in the Bay watershed to improve water quality and it seems a shame to spend time and money on dealing with trash. To quote another aging campaign, “Give a hoot, don’t pollute.” This is an easy one. Let’s make it happen.

Jim Caldwell
Stormwater Manager

We offer collection service, drop-offs at our facility, and of course lots of great compost products. Led by Columbia native Justen Garrity, Veteran Compost has several noteworthy distinctions:

- The only food waste composting facility in Maryland
– The only commercial worm composting operation in Maryland
– The only vertically integrated composting service in Maryland

If you would like more information on food waste composting or on how to purchase our compost products — please check out our website or give us a call!

It was a dreary and cold Tuesday afternoon in November – what better day to follow an auditor around a friend’s house as they perform a free home energy audit.  Free?  Wait, there must be a catch!

Actually, the catch is that Howard County received a federal government stimulus grant to perform home energy audits at no cost to residents.  The hope is that by providing energy saving recommendations to residents, they will see an opportunity to reduce their energy bills by reducing their home energy usage.

George, the auditor from ecobeco, arrived promptly at the scheduled time, and sat down with Lisa to go over a survey regarding her home and energy usage, as well as types and ages of appliances.   He was very thorough and covered topics ranging from which rooms are typically “lived in” to how often kitchen appliances are used.

The audit began with a walkthrough of each of the rooms, which included measuring of all of the rooms and a visual survey.   Areas around windows were examined for drafts and doors were checked for weatherization.

A thorough investigation of the attic was next.  George pointed out to Lisa various places in the insulation layer where there appeared to be air leakage; this was indicated by small black areas on the yellow insulation.  There were also some obvious places (specifically on a sloped ceiling that came up) where there was no insulation.  (See images in the Home Energy Audit Report.)

One of the next steps was an examination of the natural gas system – the water heater and furnace.  Through a series of steps, George checked on the draft to determine if there is sufficient airflow for the natural gas system.  This included running all of the upstairs fans under certain conditions; and then checking the draft with no fans running.

Upon the completion of the audit, a Home Energy Audit Report was sent to Lisa that included options for improving energy efficiency in her home, and the estimated payback periods.  Lisa and her husband are currently considering the recommendations, and deciding which to implement.

If you would like your home to be more energy efficient (and save money!), apply for a free home energy audit at http://livegreenhoward.com/energy-climate/home_energy_audit/.

Ask any business leader if they want to reduce their energy costs, and they will almost invariably say “yes.”  Then, ask them if they want to devote any resources to energy management.  That’s where the head-scratching begins.  The idea of investing time and resources in order to reduce energy expenses does not resonate well with many businesses.  At the heart of this is the potential role of an energy manager.  This begs a question:  How much should you pay an energy manager?  That’s what we’ll cover in this post.

Energy managers are not created equal. The energy manager concept is new, relative to long-standing responsibilities in operations, maintenance, and procurement management. Because it’s new, organizations have no yardstick for measuring the value of energy management. Chances are that the person in authority offering the position has no clue what’s involved. He or she understands only what you do now—so they expect to pay you what you currently make. For example:

• A tradesman works with hands-on tools, dutifully seeking to “fix what’s broken.” But he is probably not good at monetizing the cash flow results from energy improvements.
• A project engineer may know how to specify components for a lighting retrofit, but may not be prepared to overcome the resistance when Department A pays for the improvement, yet Department B is the one that collects the benefits.

An energy manager is a communicator, negotiator, coach, analyst, and advocate of change. A good energy manager is just as comfortable in the board room as in the boiler room. He or she can demonstrate the linkage between energy choices and core business goals. An energy manager who merely seeks to “save energy” is missing the point and won’t last long.  What you get paid is related not just to the value you create, but the value you actually demonstrate.  

What do you bring to the position of energy manager? The more of these items you perform, the more money you should expect to make:

Utility bill auditing. You’ll need to understand utility tariffs and analyze bills for accuracy.

Employee engagement to boost awareness. Use media to reach the right people with the right message. Make compelling messages so that staff understand their responsibilities with respect to energy use.

Fuel switching & commodity shopping. Shop for fuel and power, minimizing price risk using financial portfolio management techniques.

Project management. Orchestrate staff, vendors, budgets, and task milestones to achieve project implementation.

Energy and asset inventorying. Prepare a balance summary of energy inputs and end-uses.

Best practice definition, training, and procedural implementation. Train staff and ensure that energy-saving behaviors become part of standard operating procedure.

Performance benchmarking: energy flow monitoring, metering and verification. Create performance metrics that demonstrate progress over time.

Business plan development: goals, targets, accountabilities and metrics. Make the business case to secure the resources you’ll need for continuous energy improvement. Think “process,” not “project.”

Relationship management with vendors and utilities. Match your inventory of in-house needs and capabilities with the capabilities and incentives offered by these business allies.

Performance reporting and shareholder communications. Document and promote your results while gaining recognition for your company.

The real question is “What value do you create as an energy manager?” Answer that question, and you’ll have a much better idea of the salary you command.

Thank you for donating over 100 Bikes For The World!

Last year, with the theme of “Don’t Waste Our Future: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”,  you overwhelmed us at GreenFest with your generosity and brought your old bikes to donate to Bikes for the World; cell phones and eye glasses for the needy; binoculars for kids’ nature exploration; clothes, toys, games, furniture and more for Goodwill Industries; work gloves and energy to help us plant trees;  and even your long hair for a Cut-A-Thon for a cause with the Aveda Salon raising money for American Rivers.  In exchange we offered you a day of free fun to learn about vegetable and container gardening, beekeeping, recycling, bike safety, your carbon footprint, reptiles, birds, moving solar panels, fly fishing, and we gave out free rain barrels and compost bins to boot.  Where else can you get all of that in one day?

Together, we planted 35 trees to reduce runoff.

This year our GreenFest theme is “Saving the Environment One Yard at a Time” and we’d like to showcase what you can do in your yard to make a difference.  We selected this theme because we constantly see so much negative news regarding the Bay, species, and air quality that we wanted to empower residents and property owners with new ways to approach their yard and make a difference.  With this theme, our goal for GreenFest 2012 is to help residents understand what they can do right outside their door to help the Bay, improve regional air quality, provide habitat to native species, and enjoy some time outdoors exploring.   

Come explore with us!

Of course, we welcome all other green vendors, as well, from solar power to children’s books to organic farmers because different things hit home with different people and we need to find ways to get everyone in Howard County to Live Green.  We also welcome your ideas of what you’d like to experience at this year’s GreenFest — whether it’s spending more time outside learning great new ways to explore in nature, or finally learning how to properly read that bag of lawn fertilizer, or maybe finding out how much it costs to install a rain garden.  Tell us your ideas for this upcoming GreenFest by emailing greenfest@howardcountymd.gov . 

Don’t be shy, tell us what you’d like at GreenFest 2012.

Help us spread the word and bring in vendors you’d like to see share their knowledge with the community – is there a favorite local food market, artisan recycler, or landscaping company that you would love to have at GreenFest 2012 demonstrating their sustainability work?  Stop in and tell the manager you hope to see them at GreenFest and you’d hate for them to miss this once a year chance for cheap community-wide exposure.  If you own or work with an organization that promotes our philosophy of Live Green Howard County with sustainability principles and methods, grab an application today. 

I’ll see you April 14, 2012!

Vendor applications are now available at: www.hcgreenfest.org

OES Staff and GreenFest Co-Chair

It was a cool but beautiful sunny day.  We met at the entrance to the Savage Mill Trail then cleaned up an area across the street along the river.  The group worked very hard and picked up 245 pounds of trash and 110 pounds of recycling.  Our wonderful Recreation and Parks staff hauled it all away and provided the trash bags.

JHU APL has done this cleanup for many years.  It was originally started by Jeanne Presley, who cared about the Savage Mill park and wanted the company to do something for the community.  Jeanne tragically died of cancer, and her co-workers at APL continue with the project to honor her memory.  They talked about her during the cleanup last week, saying that she would have been proud.

As part of their JHU APL Cares Day, the volunteers meet on a Friday afternoon each Fall and work with the County on a cleanup around the Savage Park area.   Over the years we have varied the cleanup so that it covered the trail itself and other County property nearby.  It all helps keep trash and pollution out of our environment.

During the afternoon we spotted a red fox, woodpeckers, a Northern brown snake and a toad.  The snake picture has now been included in a state-wide survey called the Herp Atlas.

The employees worked together and got to know each other better outside of the office setting.   After they were done, they went out to a restaurant together.  Great team building and a bit of fun.  Hey wait, why wasn’t I invited?   Just kidding.

If any of you know of a company that wants to do a similar thing, maybe next Spring for Earth Day, email me (ereineck@howardcountymd.gov) and we can plan something.

Thanks so much JHU APL!