Fresh AIRE

Virtual People, Real Energy

Wi-fi everywhere.  Broadband Internet.  On-demand video.

These are the technological features of modern life for many of us, and it gets harder and harder to imagine how we'd get along without them.  Behind the scenes, though, an enormous amount of electricity is being used to provide these services to us.  A recent report by Jon Koomey, an independent researcher associated with Lawrence Berkeley National Labs and Stanford University, estimates that it takes about 14 large power plants to power the world's servers.  In the US, servers consume about 1.2% of all electricity generated, and that is expected to rise to 2% by 2010. (Geeks may read the actual report here.)

Amazingly, an online, Second Life avatar (a virtual person used in on-line gaming, for those of you unfamiliar) requires more energy (1700 kWh per year) than the average real-life Brazilian (1000kWh/yr.)!!

What can you do?  For one, always turn off and power down your equipment when not using it.  If you have a wireless router and/or high-speed modem at home, unplug it while you are away (most households leave these on 24/7.  Why?).  Both at work and at home, push the button on your monitor to turn it off, even if you are leaving your computer running for whatever reason (even though it uses only a little energy in standby mode, why not turn it all the way off?  Your monitor isn't doing anything at all when you are not looking at it.)

You can also choose a green Internet Service Provider (ISP).  E Magazine published an article in 2006 about green ISPs, and you can find others by searching the web.
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Steve Offutt, Arlington resident and Director - Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE), Transportation Projects

If You Worked or Lived Here … You’d Take the Metro

As our regional population grows, urban density and mass transit become more and more critical and desirable for those of us ready to avoid traffic, reduce pollution, protect the environment, and have access to all that our metropolitan area offers. Transit-oriented development projects; projects located near bus lines, metro stations, and pedestrian routes, substantially reduce the number of cars on the road.  One of our projects, Central Place, planned to be built over the Rosslyn Metro Station, is a world class office and residential development with a new public park and active street retail in the heart of Rosslyn. With the mix of office, retail and residential, Central Place will promote 24 hour “eyes on the street” and with its placement over the Rosslyn Metro and its silver LEED certification, the project is a strong example of “smart growth.” Central Place will also help transform what is now a block of old and underutilized properties in the center to Rosslyn.

Through careful planning, Arlington has become a desirable location for people in and around the metro area to live, work and leave their cars at home (or not even have a car) but metro-centric mixed-use projects are very difficult to design and successfully get approved as communities that are located near the Metro are beginning to react to further densification. The community needs to support LEED friendly, transit-oriented projects. For example, given Central Place’s transit -riented nature and LEED status, the project is projected to put 1,300 less cars on the road daily and be 35% more energy efficient than a typical suburban office building. Central Place and other projects like it offer an exciting opportunity to revitalize an important urban area while maintaining Arlington as a leader in the implementation of smart growth policies.

JBG Companies is committed to the concepts of smart growth and strives as often as possible to build environmentally friendly buildings. The Regent, located at 950 North Glebe Road, has achieved LEED Core and Shell (CS) Silver rating, 51 Louisiana Avenue/300 New Jersey Avenue, located just steps from the U.S. Capitol, is in the LEED CS Pilot Program, the Peck Office Building in Arlington plans to achieve a LEED NC 2.1, North Bethesda Market (formerly named White Flint Crossing) is achieving LEED New Construction 2.2.  In addition, we try to be out in the forefront with environmentally friendly developments such as the Woodglen, which was the first commercial building in Montgomery County to have a green roof and received the 2007 Peerless Rockville Preservation Award and the Department of Transportation building in DC which will have the largest green roof in the Mid-Atlantic.

JBG has also partnered with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and received partial funding from the Foundation’s Green Roof Incentive Grant Program. Several JBG projects have achieved recognition by the Smart Growth Alliance including Central Place, Silver Spring Gateway, Twinbrook Metro Station, Upper Rock, and North Bethesda Market. In addition, Twinbrook Commons earned the prestigious Charter Award from the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) for embracing new urbanist principles.

Whether it is through using sustainable materials, improved storm water management, environmentally cleaning up and improving sites or supporting more efficient mechanical systems, green roofs or good urban planning, we believe that reducing our “footprint” on the environment is important.   We are also making a concerted effort to train all JBG personnel in LEED certification. JBG has learned that “going green” often helps the bottom line rather than hurting it.  We, like others, see this as a positive trend in Arlington and the DC Metropolitan Area. Coming soon… JBG plans to launch a green component of our website by Fall 2007 to showcase our commitment to environmental development.

Brooks Blake

JBG Companies

Things That Peeve the Citizenry (pt. 1)

From the mail I've seen lately, two bad habits that annoy responsible residents are (1) idling by vehicles of all kinds: trucks, buses, and private autos, and (2) doors of air-conditioned stores and restaurants propped open on the hottest, most humid days of the year. I will address vehicle idling in a future entry, but let's think about open doors of commercial establishments for a bit.

In the summer, some retailers think propping their doors open is a way to pull in foot traffic from the sidewalk. But in Canada, a new program called the Doors Closed Campaign has popped up to encourage retailers and restaurants to welcome customers with a poster that says "Please Come In - Our Door is Closed to Save Energy." This campaign has the blessing and assistance of the Retail Council of Canada. How cool is that?

How much common sense might it take for Arlington retailers and restaurants to save energy in a similar manner - especially considering how much longer our summer cooling season is? How much sales revenue is needed to cover the additional energy costs from keeping the door open? How many customers are turned off by the practice?

As we head into summer, I encourage potential customers to make your views on this known to retailers and restauranteurs.

John Morrill
Energy Manager, Arlington County

Gift a Tree

Trees are good. In so many ways. So why not give one to a friend or loved one?

AIRE has introduced Gift a Tree. It's simple. If you are an Arlington resident, you may gift a tree to anyone you like (recipient does not have to be an Arlington resident). As payment for your gift, we ask that you make a small reduction in your global warming emissions. Simply commit to change a trip for which you would usually drive to a walking, biking, bus or other type of trip. In that way, you will reduce about 1 pound of CO2 for each mile you don't drive (see Rule of Thumb #2). If you want a little assistance, visit the Way to Go Arlington site for lots of help on how to get around without your car.

The County will plant a tree on public land in honor of your "giftee" and send them an electronic certificate on your behalf. Sorry -- we don't actually give them the tree (nor do we know exactly which one). Instead, the county will plant up to 1,200 trees as gifts from County residents in the Gift a Tree program.

It's simple, fun and a great gift. (Click here to Gift a Tree.)
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Steve Offutt, Arlington resident and Director - Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE), Transportation Projects

Trees are good. In so many ways. So why not give one to a friend or loved one?

AIRE has introduced Gift a Tree. It's simple. If you are an Arlington resident, you may gift a tree to anyone you like (recipient does not have to be an Arlington resident). As payment for your gift, we ask that you make a small reduction in your global warming emissions. Simply commit to change a trip for which you would usually drive to a walking, biking, bus or other type of trip. In that way, you will reduce about 1 pound of CO2 for each mile you don't drive (see Rule of Thumb #2). If you want a little assistance, visit the Way to Go Arlington site for lots of help on how to get around without your car.

The County will plant a tree on public land in honor of your "giftee" and send them an electronic certificate on your behalf. Sorry -- we don't actually give them the tree (nor do we know exactly which one). Instead, the county will plant up to 1,200 trees as gifts from County residents in the Gift a Tree program.

It's simple, fun and a great gift. (Click here to Gift a Tree.)
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Steve Offutt, Arlington resident and Director - Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE), Transportation Projects

Saving the Environment at the Hospital -- and More

Two things I want to share in this posting -- a little story about my recent hospital visit and some cool events coming up:

Saving the Enviroment at the Hospital
Yesterday, I was at Virginia Hospital Center for a routine check-up. Before the exam, I had to remove my clothes and put them in a large plastic bag the hospital provided. As I was waiting along with several other people, I noticed the trashcan was full of these (used) plastic bags. It occurred to me -- what a waste! It didn't seem the bags were made from recycled materials ... the bags themselves weren't being recycled ... and the hospital was clearly using many, many bags each day.

As I sat there thinking through all this plastic bag stuff, an extremely pleasant manager came by and asked me if I'd like some coffee. (Sidenote: I've had great customer service experiences at the hospital and think it's a fantastic facility.) I declined the coffee but decided I'd take the opportunity to pitch my cause about the bags. I asked if the hospital could explore other options ... Could the hospital recycle the plastic bags they currently use? Could they switch to plastic bags made from recycled materials? Or could they switch to bags made from recycled paper? Are there more environmentally friendly options or processes? The manager I'd cornered was interested (and said she'd heard other concerns in the past) -- she also promised to pass along my feedback to the higher ups. The morale of the story: Take every opportunity to look around you and think about how the situation could be different -- how things could be improved or changed to result in a positive impact on our environment.

P.S. If you have kids, you might want to check out "The Magic School Bus" Holiday Special DVD that's all about how recycling helps save the Earth. We checked it out from the Arlington Public Library I watched it last night with my 4-year-old, Carter, and though she didn't "get" it all, she understood enough and loved it!

Good Events Coming Up
May 19: Solar Open House
May 17: A Sense of Wonder — A One-Woman Play about Rachel Carson (supposed to be awesome!)
May 23: Green Kitchens and Bathrooms (good one of you're thinking about remodeling)

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Jennifer K. Smith, 17-year resident of Arlington,
Arlington County communications mgr. (& AIRE blog manager)

6th Grade Environmentalists Take Action

My sixth grade students had a wonderful experience with environmental civic action this year. As part of the national Earth Force program, 10 students sponsored an Electronics Recycling Event for their home community of HB Woodlawn on March 24. Their motto was "We'll bring it to you," meaning they went to over 70 HB Woodlawn households with their parents, student and teacher volunteers, to pick up old, unwanted electronics. It was a huge success!

Staples vice president Pat Girard, who sponsors Earth Force in our area, was so impressed, he not only gave the students the award at the Earth Force Youth Conference, but also is going to initiate an electronics recycling day at the local Staples stores in the Metro area and has asked these students to help him run it some time this Spring.

The impetus for this project was protecting our local HB Watershed because in the fall, while on a trip to a local stream, students found a variety of electronic equipment, such as hard drives and cell phones, directly in the stream water. Discovering that Arlington did not have curb side pick up for electronics recycling, they sponsored their own event.

The breakdown -- 433 items collected

• 263 computer components (monitors were the most recycled item)
• 113 TV, video, and audio items
• 15 cell phones
• 32 communication devices (telephones, fax machines, and an answering machine)
• 35 miscellaneous household appliances (Easy Bake oven, a vacuum cleaner, and a curling iron, rechargeable batteries)

The students also sent out a survey to a randomly chosen number of HB Woodlawn households to find out how interested they would be in curb-side recycling of electronic equipment. It turns out that 85% of the respondents favored having quarterly curb side electronic pick ups at their homes.

The sixth graders also presented their project, before and after, to the County Board (see photo) - and received great support. Paul Ferguson championed out effort and we thank him tremendously. The entire County Board praised the students' effort and County government staff also helped ensure the project's success, offering tips and support in collecting the items.

Sixth Grade Electronics Recycling Group
Ibby Han, Grace Evans, Elliot Grace, Zack Shoultz, Julia Voight, Myranda Miller, Millie Smith, Catie Mitchell, Anna Toth, Jonathon Wabeke

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Kathy Molina, Katherine_Molina@apsva.us
6th Grade Science Teacher
HB Woodlawn School (Arlington)