Quick! Think of an “environmentally-friendly home.” What image came to your mind – a single-famiy house with lots of trees, right? Well, sure, but as I learned last night, we condo dwellers are already environmentally-friendly, just by living in denser quarters, with shared resources and almost always near transit. And since 61% of Arlingtonhomes are multi-family (vs. 28% single-family detached), it makes sense for Arlington and AIRE to reach out to condo residents.
As a fairly recent condo convert (2 years ago), my husband and I feel pretty good about how our move has reduced our environmental impact: we’ve eliminated two cars; adopted bike riding for pleasure and errands; begun walking to work; begun walking to the grocery store, post office, pharmacy, and coffee shop.
And inside our condo unit, we’ve swapped out almost all the light bulbs for CFLs; wrapped an insulating “blanket” on our hot water heater; recycled everything we’re able to, including the ubiquitous plastic bag; stopped buying bottled water; and adjusted our thermostat.
But last night, at AIRE’s “Greening Your Condo Association” seminar, I learned that each of us has a responsibility – and a voice – to ensure that our buildings are as green as they can be. Environmentally-friendly actions benefit the bottom line and can help keep condo fees lower. For example: installing CFLs in hallways and common areas; encouraging the planting of drought-resistant and native plants; educating and encouraging residents on recycling of appropriate items.
In fact, some condo and apartment residents have the opportunity to positively influence the “greener” landscaping on a much larger piece of land – some up to 20+ acres! – than an individual house. The photo shows a “bird-friendly” garden planted at The Arlington condos near Shirlington.
To make an even bigger impact, residents can encourage the condo association to get an energy audit or make some investments into energy efficiencies, e.g., replacing a common boiler or furnace with an energy-efficient model. One participant last night spoke about making his condo building’s needed new roof more energy efficient or perhaps even a “green roof.”
It was great to see so many condo residents at the session last night – I’d say there were at least 50-60 in attendance – and folks are very enthusiastic and eager to do what they can to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints. For the AIRE team, this was just the beginning of an environmental dialogue with the condo community.
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Diana Sun
Director of Communications, Arlington County
Diana: this is a great post. Very inspiring. Congrats on your efforts, and keep up the good work!
Posted by: Steve | June 26, 2007 at 04:58 PM