Homebuilder's Corner

EPA Releases Final Specification for WaterSense New Homes
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final WaterSense single-family new homes specification today, creating the first national, voluntary, water-efficiency specification for an entire new home. “Home builders can now partner with EPA and earn the WaterSense label for their newly built homes, helping to create livable communities and quality homes that are easy to maintain,” said Peter S. Silva, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water. “These homes will save homeowners as much as $200 a year on utility bills compared to their current homes.” More at www.epa.gov/watersense/spaces/new_homes.html

Tulsa Homebuilders to Launch Green Council

TULSA – The Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa will launch its Green Building Council on Jan. 1, enabling both residential developers and homeowners to use more environmentally friendly products. “I think it’s the coming thing,” said Phil Rhees of BMI Properties, who helped create the Tulsa council. He expects it to help advance construction of environmentally friendly homes in Oklahoma’s second-largest metro area. “I think we’re five years behind the national trends.” Larry Cagle of Cagle Construction will preside over the 25-member Green Building Council, which will partner with the interest group Sustainable Tulsa to help educate people on recycled and environmentally friendly product and construction options, connecting them to contractors, suppliers and service companies. Sustainable Tulsa unveiled its 2010 Tulsa Area Green Directory Tuesday to help fulfill that goal. “There’s some things we can do that will be short term, and a lot of things we can do long term,” said Rhees. “We have to start somewhere.” More here ::: http://www.journalrecord.com/article.cfm?recid=104729

OG&E Selects Norman for Jan. 2010 Smart Meter Energy Efficiency Project

Norman, Oklahoma has been selected to be the first city to participate in OG&E’s Positive Energy Community program. As a result it will become one of the country’s first cities to be blanketed with smart meters and hundreds of “energy portals” located in homes. Within the next couple of years OG&E will install 42,000 smart meters in the city. About 2,000 homes will have a programmable thermostat installed and other devices that are designed to help consumers monitor and control their energy usage.

With the new meters OG&E can remotely connect and disconnect electrical service and is notified immediately if there are problems occurring in the power grid. The programmable thermostats and graphical display units allow customers to easily understand how and when they are using energy and can help them make decisions that save them money. On average, customers who used the displays were able to save between 10 and 15 percent off their electric bills during the test in 2008. They did so by using power during off-peak times when the cost of energy is cheaper.

Click here for the complete article.

Sustainable Shawnee's Survey Results

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and hopes for the future with us. Click Here to review the survey results. All responses are completely anonymous.

ODOT's Long Range Transportation Planning for Oklahoma

Leave Your Comment Online Today!

How do you want your transportation system to look? Now? In the future? The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) wants to know. ODOT’s Planning & Research Division is hosting a series of meetings across the State to provide residents with information, access to ODOT staff, and avenues for commenting on two important transportation planning documents.

Visit http://www.oklongrangeplan.com/ for more information on the state's plan. Can't make the meeting? Leave on online comment to make your voice heard.

Staples First Retailer to Accept E-waste

Staples, Inc., the world's largest office products company, today announced that it now makes it easy to recycle used computers and other office technology at any Staples store nationwide, becoming the first national retailer to offer computer recycling in stores every day.

Staples makes it easy for customers to recycle e-waste by simply bringing their used computers, monitors, laptops, printers, faxes and all-in-ones to any U.S. Staples store, where the equipment will be recycled in accordance with environmental laws. All brands will be accepted, regardless of whether or not the equipment was purchased at Staples, for a fee of $10 per large item. Staples is working with Amandi Services, one of the country's most experienced and innovative electronics recyclers, to handle recycling of the equipment, following standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

For the complete details, visit http://earth911.com/blog/2007/05/21/staples-nationwide-electronics-recycling/

City of Tulsa Teams Up with Companies to promote Sustainability and Provide Curriculum to Oklahoma Schools

A model for the rest of Oklahoma?

Mayor Kathy Taylor and her staff have sent a strong educational message to Oklahoma school administrators, teachers and students. With the alliance of Global NES, Inc. Headquarters, Global NES-Oklahoma and Kaizen Renewable Energy (A Global NES Affiliate), the city of Tulsa recently embarked on a School Wind Program that is 100% funded by outside sources. Kaizen Renewable Energy CEO/owner, Lisa Randolph, who was raised in Tulsa, introduced the program to the city of Tulsa to raise awareness and educate students on how utilizing renewable energy resources will positively impact their future world.

Click here for the complete article and video.

SBA Grant Opportunities to "Green" your Business!

Have you been considering "greening up" your business? The federal government has made grants available to your local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to assist companies with these benficial changes. Contact the local SBDC and make sure funds will be available for companies in Pottawatomie county.

East Central Oklahoma Small Business Development Center
Ann Ritter, Director
E 12th St & S Francis St.

Administration Bldg Rm 251

Ada, OK 74820(580) 436-3190

aritter@ecok.edu

Grant Opportunities:

Small Business Administration: Small Business Energy Efficiency Clean Technology Assistance Program formerly Small Business Sustainability Initiative (SBSI)http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=50160

Small Business Administration: Small Business Energy Audit and Energy Efficiency Program formerly Small Business Sustainability Initiative (SBSI)http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=50

For more information on how to green your business more effectively, consider participating a new webinar series, the Lean and Green Summit, at www.leanandgreensummit.com/webinar.

Sustainable Shawnee's Officers for 2010!

President - Cody Deem

Vice President - Justine Thompson

Secretary - Melissa Odneal

Treasurer - Chris Geer

Past-President - Shawna Turner

Congratulations and welcome to our new leadership

Thank you for your service!

Slow Money...Raising Money for Sustainable Agriculture One Farm at a Time

We just participated in the first national conference of Slow Money and we think it's going to be a game changer. 450 folks (including Sustainable Shawnee's own, Shawna Turner) from 34 states and six countries were there. Here's what they are saying:

"People are going to look back at this as the turning point in sustainable agriculture.""This is beyond timely.""I've been waiting for Slow Money my whole life.""Slow Money gets right to the heart of what's ailing our food system and our economy."

They're right. Slow Money is historic. Linking Americans together to fund local food systems, improve health, reduce environmental impact, support tens of thousands of small food enterprises across the country and take control of our money in radical new ways.

125 Founding Members, plus another 1,500 signers of the Slow Money Principles, have put the first building blocks in place. Their ultimate goal: one million signers, hundreds of thousands of members, a new kind of grassroots seed capital for sustainable agriculture and healthy food.

WE NEED 5,000 OF YOU TO CONTRIBUTE $5 or more AND BECOME MEMBERS OF THE SLOW MONEY ALLIANCE IN ONE WEEK. 12:00 a.m. October 6th to 12:00 a.m. October 13th.

Visit http://friendsofslowmoney.com/ and support this revolutionary idea TODAY!

1st Annual Oklahoma Sustainability Network Membership Convention

Saturday, October 31st

Wilderness Center, Stroud Lake
9:30 - 3:30 pm

The OSN Membership Convention is an opportunity for everyone involved with individual chapters to get to know what what other chapters and OSN are doing statewide. Bring your own lunch, meet great people and help us map out OSN's future direction.

A group from Shawnee will be carpooling to Stroud. Please contact Shawna Turner for more information.