Boston GreenScene

Event: HEET Weatherization Barnraising 2/28/2010

Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) is a grassroots nonprofit that organizes free weatherization parties to teach volunteers hands-on how to lower their energy bills and carbon emissions.  HEET consults with energy experts to pass on accurate information and aims to build community, create social marketing for energy efficiency and help facilitate exchanges of ideas.  Volunteer work includes weatherizing doors, sealing windows, caulking air leaks, and programing thermostats.  You can pitch in to help a neighbor, learn skills to help you save money at home, fight climate change, and meet other concerned Bay Staters!   No previous work experience required.

Who: Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET)
When: Sunday, February 28, 2010, from 12:30-5:00pm
Where: 94 Spring Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
Contact: heet.cambridge@gmail.com, heetma.com
Cost: Free

Policy Corner: Cash for Caulkers

by Dan Burgess, Boston GreenScene's Policy Corner Commentator

In a slew of clean energy policy news this past week, the most intriguing idea I’ve heard is that of a ‘Cash for Caulkers’ program.  This initiative, as explained by David Leonhardt in the New York Times, would provide federal subsidies to encourage home weatherization in the United States. 

Much like how the Cash for Clunkers program helped buoy the automotive industry by encouraging car owners to purchase more energy efficient vehicles, the Cash for Caulkers measure would provide incentives for homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient.  Household energy efficiency would be gauged through energy audits and money would then be provided by the federal government to homeowners to help offset the overall costs of the weatherization.  There are numerous benefits to this idea and it should be enacted as soon as possible.

This program would undoubtedly reduce energy use immediately.  In the article, Leonhardt mentions that the consulting firm McKinsey estimates there could be a 28% reduction in energy use over the next decade with proper weatherization in the United States.  This reduction not only would make our country less reliant on unclean energy sources, but also would provide immediate financial relief for struggling families in Massachusetts. 

Mayor Menino Raises the Green Roof on Runoff

Harvey the Hoverfly II

by Daniel E. Walsh  Author of Our Sunday "History & Reflections" Series

When I come home feelin' tired and beat
I go up where the air is fresh and sweet (up on the roof)
I get away from the hustling crowd
And all that rat-race noise down in the street (up on the roof)
On the roof, the only place I know
Where you just have to wish to make it so
Let's go up on the roof (up on the roof)

~ Goffin and King

Harvey the Hoverfly* is a little confused. He and his antecedents have hovered around the Hub for eons. Until quite recently things had been tough and growing tougher for the average hoverfly to do what hoverflies do. Pesky humans and their swatting -- unfortunately for the hoverflies, they look like wasps, only smaller, and folks like to whack them.

For the flies in this urban setting there are fewer places to land; there is smoke and bad air to contend with and that music! What’s the point? Why it’s enough to poke your eyes out, all 5 of them! That’s the question raised around the haunts of the hoverfly. But, now I’m into something good, hums Harvey. This is nice - freedom up in the air and plenty of Bailey’s Gold to land on and a surfeit of aphids to eat, say the flies. Hoverfly heaven. From Yarmouth Town to Brockton the buzz abounds. What could be causing all this Diptera fluttering and excitement? Why, it’s the green roofs popping up around Boston!

The Green Architecture: Style and Function

by Daniel E. Walsh  Author of Our Sunday "History & Reflections" Series

The city is built
To music, therefore never built at all,
And therefore built forever.
~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Labor Day, an American holiday birthed in the aftermath of the labor wars of the late 19th century, has become a day to reflect on our labors and the pride we take in them. Some who labor in disciplines that incorporate green and sustainability values may take an extra measure of pride. Increasingly, there has been much to be proud of—and this figures to help shape a better future. Architecture can be seen as a combination of style and function. Within the architectural style is the music of the culture. The spirit of the architect is expressed in the design for the assigned purpose. An overall shape takes place and thus is created the identity of a city or culture.  

The pride of a civilization is seen in its cities and in the building of these great centers.  The style of a city identifies the best qualities that the builders see inside themselves and in what they are charged to do. The élan of Paris, the steadfastness of London, the hustle and bustle of the great Eastern cities in the U.S., with Boston among them, and the spiritual ascension of the capitals of the Mayan people all can be seen in the city’s architecture.

Today an impressive skyline attests to the financial might of a culture. Cities are the population centers and they reflect the spirit of the citizens. Sustainability, conservation, and green are the buzzwords that shape much new architecture.  Many disciplines are incorporated and no part of the construction is too insignificant to be considered.  Like the care we are now giving to the appearance, as well as the cost and effectiveness of lighting in these structures, our cities will shine through to the people of the future. We are now starting to see a green style throughout this land.

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From the Editor's Desk

Looking for things green in Boston? Look no further! Boston GreenScene is working hard to fulfill its commitment to be THE online portal to all things green in Boston and beyond. Whether you are looking for a green builder or architect, a scholarship for environmentally-geared education, green clothing and accessories, a green group to join, green parenting resources, recycling resources, funding for your green project or initiative, or anything else green in the Greater Boston Area or within Massachusetts, Boston GreenScene provides an excellent source of information! Visit our Local Green Directory for all things eco in and around Boston!

If you are a green organization, sell green products, or are otherwise connected to the green movement and are not currently listed with us, contact us today! Listings are currently free, but in order to maintain our service to our readership, we will eventually have to charge! We anticipate instituting a fee in the coming few months. Get grandfathered in today!

Let the Sunshine in!

by Katina Fontes

Katina Fontes is Realtor® with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.   She is EcoBroker Certified® and works with buyers and sellers in the Greater Boston Area.

Last night I took a course on Solar Heating taught by my friend Amy Beaudet at the Alternative Energy Store in Hudson. The class was an introductory course on the basics of solar air and water heating. When thinking about solar energy, most of us think of photovoltaic modules -- the blue or black solar panels that store and convert sunlight into electricity. Solar heating, on the other hand, uses sunlight to heat water or air without a conversion to electricity. This technology is not as well known, but is more efficient, less expensive and the payback to the consumer is much faster.

The course was very enlightening and I took several things away from the three hour class.

• Solar heating is not an all or nothing solution. It is a way of offsetting existing systems for heating air and water. They don't completely replace the furnace or water heater in one's home. In fact, a back-up is generally required to keep the water and air warm in regions with colder climates.

Patch of Woods

by Daniel E. Walsh  Author of Our Sunday "History & Reflections" Series

“Ah, great it is to believe the dream
As we stand in youth by the starry stream;
But a greater thing is to fight life’s battles through,
And say at the end, 'The dream is true!'”

Charles Edwin Markham (1852-1940)

My memory sees a gateway to a place where such dreams occurred. At the opening to a patch of woods, next to a ramshackle basketball backboard, grew a persimmon tree; its spindly, scrawny branches stretched over the path into the woods like a sentinel.

Beware the 'Green' Label

by Katina Fontes

Katina Fontes is Realtor® with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.   She is EcoBroker Certified® and works with buyers and sellers in the Greater Boston area.

It seems that the entire country is trying to be more eco-conscious and join the green revolution.  Builders, much like other businesses, have jumped on this bandwagon and are now building “green” houses.  However, what exactly does the term “green” mean and how does a potential buyer go about determining the extent to which a property is eco-friendly and energy efficient?

The term “green”, unlike the term “organic”, does not have any government definition or oversight.  In reality, someone can refer to anything as “green”.  In real estate, the term “green” can refer to a property with photovoltaic solar panels and a geothermal heat pump, but it can also refer to a property with above average insulation and thermal windows.  On the other hand, the terms Energy Star or LEED refer to properties that meet the guidelines of the US Department of Energy or the US Green Building Council.