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To learn more about green building and material options, consider attending one or more of our monthly homeowner workshops beginning in June 2008!
Download the Sustainable Living Series Brochure
The Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center is excited about our new Education Building! In an effort to obtain LEED certification on this building, we are including several "green components" in development. Please check back frequently to keep updated on these components as they are installed during construction.
Collecting the rain.....
Kentucky Rain Barrel
Octagon Rain Barrel
One of the many ways CBEC demonstrates how to lessen the impact of land development is through our stormwater management techniques associated with the construction of our Education Center. Capturing runoff from impervious surfaces, such as rooftops, and diverting it onto landscaped and vegetated areas can dramatically decrease the amount of unfiltered stormwater that runs into the bay. Runoff is one of the most serious problems facing local waterways and the bay. Reducing runoff by collecting rainwater from rooftops in rain barrels is one simple strategy every homeowner can participate in. Rain barrels come in many shapes, sizes, colors, and styles, ranging from simple plastic barrels to elaborate oak-stave barrels. You can even make your own rain barrel from a food-grade plastic barrel, often for as little as 25 dollars. CBEC has chosen to showcase three different types of rain barrels for runoff collection. Below are the resource links of these three rain barrels.
Kentucky Barrels
http://www.kentuckybarrels.com/wholebarrels.html#rain
Aqua Barrels
http://www.aquabarrel.com/
Octagon Barrels
http://www.cleanairgardening.com/rainwater.html
Preparing for the Landscape plantings....
April 4, 2008: Neenah Hoppe, Maryland Cooperative Extension's Master Gardner, sets the stakes in preparation for the planting of the landscape and rain gardens.
Installation of Solar Panels
In January 2008, Chesapeake Solar's crew installed 21 solar panels, an inverter and a special meter to record solar power use.
When the solar array system is up and running, CBEC will be able to track amount of solar power collected, amount of power used in operating the building and any excess power that has been unused and returned to the grid. A software program called, Fat Spaniel, will aid in converting system information to an easily understood format for the general public.
Bamboo Flooring
There were a number of choices for flooring that “floated” for a long time between various groups (staff, board, builders, flooring suppliers, etc.) Some options for flooring included hardwood, linoleum, natural cork, bamboo, and a few other traditional materials. The final decision rested on bamboo.
Bamboo flooring has a quality beyond that of simply being a beautiful wood. It is also extremely hardwearing and is environmentally sustainable, also.
“Because bamboo is a fast growing grass (not a tree), it can be harvested without destroying the actual plant itself, enabling a far greater supply with little environmental impact,” according to Bamtex Flooring experts. The bamboo is sustainable because regrowth occurs between five and 10 years.
After harvesting the bamboo it is cut into strips. The bamboo strips are sterilized and placed into a drying oven for curing. Selecting the best strips is the next step. The selected strips are stacked in layers and glued with an environmentally safe adhesive prior to being put through a 1250 ton press to form panels from which flooring planks are milled. The bamboo flooring is then finished with 6 coats of aluminum oxide finish for superior wear resistance. Sweeping and damp mopping with Natural CORK cleaner is all that is required to maintain the floors.
The advantages of bamboo flooring are:
- Eco-friendly material.
- Healthy alternative material.
- Durability
- Natural Beauty
The Landscaping Plans Begin...
(L-R) Pat Bowell, Debbie Pusey and Annie Ittu work with Maryland Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener Coordinator and Home Horticulture Educator Neenah Hoppe on the landscaping plans for the new Education Center.
As the new Education Center is in the finishing phase of construction, CBEC has begun the planning phase of the exterior landscape design. Continuing on the theme of low impact development, the landscape design will incorporate best management practices in storm-water management and native species plantings. With the gracious help of local partners including Neenah Hoppe of Maryland Cooperative Extension and Arline Mayer of the Queen Anne’s County Garden Club, the site plan and plant list are promising to: contain 100% of the storm-water, to create a habitat for various native wildlife species, and to create a vision of beauty throughout the seasons. Among the native landscaping, rain gardens and an organic debris pit, rain barrels will also be used to contain run-off. As education is one of our primary tools in improving the health of the bay, Arline Mayer and the members of the Queen Anne’s Garden Club will help to create an educational brochure outlining means and methods of this plan to be used for visiting guests and designed educational programs.
What’s In The Insulation….
GreenFiber Cocoon is an insulation made from 85% recycled material—newsprint and cardboard boxes that would eventually end up in a landfill. These materials are ground/mixed and serve as the insulating material.
The insulation comes in different forms and different R factors. The forms are “loose” and blown (sprayed) into an area or in batts (sheets) In our new building we are using R-22 blown in material. The R factor means the “resistance to heat flow” and the higher the R factor the greater insulating power. R factors range from R-14 through R-60. The R factor for a residence or small commercial building is also based on the space available to install the insulation without crushing or squeezing the insulation. The space is the area between the framing structure.
In our new building we had the insulation blown in the framing on the exterior walls.
The benefits of the GreenFiber Cocoon are:
- noise reduction
- moisture resistant
- increases fire resistance (22%-57%)
- preserves natural resources
- guaranteed the life of the house
- produced virtually waste free
This use of this building material is one way CBEC is involved in conservation and ‘going green.’
Recycling Scraps!
As part of our pledge in meeting LEED certification, when possible, all building scraps will be recycled into “workable materials” for repair and maintenance of various facilities on site, including boardwalks and trail walkways.
The construction crew is very attentive to minimum waste in building materials, but whatever remains at the end of the day is removed from the construction site for use elsewhere on CBEC’s property. Pallets are reused for stacking oyster shell bags, piling “ends” are reused on the trails for bolstering old boardwalk, 12” X 12” post ends are turned vertical and used for seats in the field. We’re making an effort to reuse the “leftovers” in a functional manner.
Green Building Partners
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