 Product Spotlight |
 Green Building. Built Green standards.
Green Seal.
The focus on environmental coatings has never been greater than it is today. For over a decade now, Rodda has been a pioneer of high performance paint products that are also low in VOC's. Today, Rodda remains a leading environmental paint company where "Pioneering environmentally responsible products is core to the Rodda mission."
Today, Rodda has a number of products that meet or exceed the GS-11 standard that Green Seal developed and which qualifies for Built Green compliance on paint products. In addition, Rodda's Rivergate manufacturing facility exceeds state and city requirements for waste disposal and recycling.
The ability to manufacture paint products that perform exceptionally well while minimizing their impact on the environment is what has separated Rodda from many other paint manufacturers, regional as well as national. After all, it is core to the Rodda mission.
In a day and age of the mega stores and the impersonal, Rodda understands that we are also your neighbor. We were founded as a family business in 1932 and bring that personal touch into our relationships and back into our communities. We are actively involved in many professional associations such as Master Builders and a founding participant in the Built Green Program. We appreciate those who do business with active members and continue to support local businesses; it helps us all help the environment.
For more information visit www.roddapaint.com or call Lis at 206 510-9150.
| Letter from the Director |
Built Green Denounces
Act of Eco-Terrorism
Built Green and the green building community were saddened on Monday morning with news of the arson at the site of the 2007 Street of Dreams. An eco-terrorist group initially claimed responsibility, and as I write this, the investigation is still ongoing.
The 2007 Street of Dreams represented an important home building demonstration by showcasing green building practices, materials and landscaping techniques to over 80,000 people who viewed these homes. That was a major step forward for the emergence of environmental priorities and construction practices to a mainstream audience.
The senseless destruction of property serves only to alienate the environmental community from a mainstream audience and further push the environmental dialogue to the fringe. Built Green along with our members and communities have made great strides over recent years to bring green building from that fringe where it had comfortably but ineffectively resided for decades, into the realm of mainstream public awareness.
In addition to the environmental devastation caused by this reckless act, emissions from the fires, and the need to re-build with new materials, this type of tactic hurts the environmental movement, and the environment directly. For the first time a larger segment of our community is beginning to understand the real environmental results of their decisions and actions, and embrace the change associated with lowering our collective impact. At an extraordinarily important time in which this message is finally being well received, this type of act causes those recent mainstream indoctrinates to renew their skepticism of the environmental community.
Eco-terrorists are not environmentalists; they are terrorists. True environmental advocates make positive change, advocate for a cohesive agenda and forward this agenda through appropriate legal forums. There is no room for destruction and violence in the environmental movement, and I urge all environmental groups and members of the environmental activism community to speak with me in a unified voice denouncing this act and this brand of so-called environmentalism.
- Aaron Adelstein
| Events |
Visit the Built Green Washington website for green home building courses and events across the state of Washington.
March 6, Seattle
Business Partnerships for Puget Sound
Showcasing Best Practices for Salmon-Safe Management
NBIS invites you to a luncheon and workshop showcasing best practices for Salmon-Safe stormwater management and celebrating the first certifications through NBIS' Salmon-Safe Corporate & Institutional Campus Initiative
- University of Washington Bothell/ Cascadia Community College
- Washington Department of Ecology, Lacey
- Port of Seattle Parks
Featuring:
Dan Kent, Executive Director, Salmon-Safe
Mary Rose, Co-Director, NBIS
Sarah Brace, Strategic Science Manager, Puget Sound Partnership
Nat Scholz, Ph.D. Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries
Tye K. Simpson, PE, LEED, Belt Collins
Salmon-Safe Best Practices - Showcase Examples
Resources – City of Seattle, King County, Department of Ecology, Others
Location:
Top of the Market, 93 Pike Street in Pike Place Market
Registration: www.BrownPaperTickets.com
Information: 425-828-0982; www.nbis.org
Friday and Saturday, March 28 and 29, Seattle
Building the Natural, Healthy Way Seminar
Presented by: The International Institute for Bau-Biologie™ and Ecology presents An introduction to:
- The Principles and Protocols of Building Biology (Bau-Biologie™)
- Indoor Environmental Health Hazards in Homes and Offices
- Design and Construction Strategies to Avoid These Hazards
Presenters:
Paula Baker-Laporte, FAIA, BBP - Lecturer and Author of "Prescriptions for a
Healthy House: A Practical Guide for Architects, Builders and Homeowners" and
"EcoNest", and hailed by Natural Home magazine in 2005 as one of the top ten
green architects in the U.S.
Vicki Warren, BBEC, BSEE - International Lecturer, Educator and Program
Director of the International Institute for Bau-Biologie™ and Ecology, Inc.
When: Friday, March 28, 2008 and Saturday, March 29, 2008 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Subud Greater Seattle Meeting Center (15th and Spring, Seattle)
Registration: $350 (Early Bird save $55)
For additional information or to register please contact: (727) 461-4371 or www.buildingbiology.net Northwest EcoBbuilding Guild Members receive a 10 percent discount.
| Classes |
Classes listed below are approved workshops for fulfilling the annual Built Green education requirement for certifying projects.
Thursday, April 3, Seattle
Green Living Lecture: Creating a Green Bedroom
Alicia Silva of Synergy Design Studio will present a lecture on how you can create a healthier bedroom environment using earth-friendly building and finish materials.
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Cost: FREE
Location: The Seattle ecohaus Showroom (4121 1st Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98134)
To Register: Contact Susanna Schultz by e-mail at or call (206) 315-1958
For more information visit www.ecohaus.com.
Thursday, April 17, MBA Housing Center, Bellevue
Green Walls 101: Introduction to systems and Design
Course Instructor: Randy Sharp
A Landscape Architect and a LEED® Accredited Professional, Sharp is a principal with Sharp & Diamond Landscape Architecture Inc. in Vancouver, Canada. He specializes in the design and installation of extensive and intensive green roofs as well as green walls, rain gardens and permeable landscapes. He is the author of Ecological Site Development, Regional Strategies for Design, Construction and Maintenance for Metro Vancouver, as well as articles in various design magazines.
Through an integrated design process, living walls are incorporated with the building envelope, rainwater collection, drip irrigation and native or hardy plants. The firm works with a wide range of green façade systems to provide support for climbing plants in a variety of applications and microclimates.
Course Objectives:
This introductory training course on green wall infrastructure design presents an overview of the many tools and techniques needed to satisfy your green wall project objectives.
The course will focus on:
Identifying the costs and benefits of green walls to reach your green wall performance goals; identifying a variety of green wall products and understanding the performance criteria of different green wall elements, and their relevance to your design intent; and introducing the major design principles of a successful green wall project, and discussing causes for error, which might lead to an unsuccessful green wall project.
Tuition:
Tuition for this one-day course is $399 for a non-GRHC Member and $349 for a Professional Member. Tuition includes course materials, continental breakfast, lunch and breaks. To apply for membership click here. If paying by check, please note it must be received in our office no later than three days before the event. Registrations may be canceled by a participant up to THREE DAYS prior to the event, and will incur a $50 cancellation fee. We regret that we cannot cancel a registration after that point.
If you need any additional information please let us know, or check out our website: www.greenroofs.org and then click 'Seattle'.
| Awards |
2008 Sustainable Industries Top 10 Green Building Products
Nominate your favorite green building products for the 2008 Sustainable Industries Top 10 Green Building Products awards! Selected by leading West Coast green building experts, winning companies will be featured in a special, all-digital supplement to Sustainable Industries magazine and 3D models of winning products will be available for download and use in architectural models. All nominations are due by April 1.
Nominate your favorite products at: www.sustainableindustries.com.
| Regional Industry news |
The Habitat for Humanity Home Improvement Outlet is now open
A new building materials store opened Feb. 16 to help support construction of low-income Habitat for Humanity homes in Seattle and South King County. Habitat's Home Improvement Outlet is open to the general public. Compared with other retail building materials stores, the Outlet sells brand new materials at a savings of 50 percent or more.
For more information, store location and directions, please visit the store website at: www.seattlehabitatoutlet.org.
The Washington Organic Recycling Council
The Washington Organic Recycling Council has launched a new website, www.BuildingSoil.org and outreach program to help builders and developers preserve and restore healthy soil on building sites.
These "soil best management practices" (BMPs) will soon be required by local governments around western Washington, as they update local codes to comply with the Department of Ecology's Stormwater Manual (which is required in the next two years by their municipal stormwater permits).
Soil BMPs include preserving site topsoil and vegetation where possible, correcting soil compaction, and amending soils that are disturbed during construction with compost. This helps preserve and restore healthy soil functions like stormwater infiltration and healthy, deep-rooted, vibrant plant growth that requires less water and chemicals.
"Homebuyers around our region are increasingly demanding low-impact landscapes which are beautiful, low-maintenance and healthy for families and our precious Northwest environment," said David McDonald of Seattle Public Utilities. "No one wants a lawn or plants that die in the first year, or take tons of water, fertilizer and weed-killer to keep alive. Healthy soil saves builders money in quicker planting, better plant survival and easier erosion control, and it satisfies customers in the long term."
"The good news is that these soil best practices are easy to implement, easy to sell, and will help developers and builders stay ahead of the curve on both new regulations and homebuyers' growing "green" ethic."
Summary of soil best management practices:
1) Retain and protect native topsoil & vegetation where practical
2) Restore disturbed soils, to restore healthy soil functions, by:
- stockpiling & reusing good quality site soil, or
- tilling two to three inches of compost into poor site soils, or
- bringing in eight inches of compost-amended topsoil
3) Loosen compacted subsoil, if needed, by ripping to 12 inch depth
4) Mulch landscape beds after planting
5) Protect restored soils from erosion, or re-compaction by heavy equipment
Learn more at www.BuildingSoil.org
| MBA News |
The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties will be conducting its annual Benefit Auction on Saturday, May 3, at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. Proceeds will benefit the Master Builders Career Connection and the Master Builders Care Foundation.
We are currently soliciting the goodness and generosity of our members, vendors, service providers, partners, families and friends for donations of auction items. We're hoping your company is able to donate an item for the live auction or silent auction, as we would very much like to show off your company at this event.
For more information on the programs or the Master Builders Association, please visit our website. If you have any questions or would like to discuss possible donations, please call toll free (800) 522-2209.
| Contact
Built Green |
 Master
Builders Association
335 - 116th Avenue SE
Bellevue, WA 98004
P:
(425) 460-8238
F: (425) 646-5985
builtgreen@mbaks.com
www.builtgreen.net
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Builders Association Calendar of Events
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Green | Phone
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Andrew Winston, a national leader in green business development and co-author of the highly acclaimed book, "Green to Gold," will headline March 14. Winston is founder of Winston Eco-Strategies and works with leading companies to use environmental thinking to drive growth. He has consulted with start-ups and Fortune 500 companies such as Bank of America, Reuters, Cisco, and IKEA. His book, "Green to Gold," highlights what works – and what doesn't – when companies go "green." Winston is a nationally recognized expert on green business, and has written for or appeared in Time, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Forbes, The New York Times, The Washington Post, ABC News, National Public Radio and CNBC. 
Van Jones will be the featured keynote speaker on March 13 and will address issues of affordability in Green Building and the development of "green collar jobs." Jones is a civil rights and human rights advocate, and founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, CA. Over the past five years, Jones has emerged as a national environmental leader, focusing on social equity and "green collar jobs." In 2005, Jones produced the "Social Equity Track" for the United Nations' World Environment Day celebration.
