GreenClips.110 12.16.98 SMART GROWTH ON TRACK IN AUSTIN Austin, Texas lobbied hard to host the second annual Partners for Smart Growth conference anticipating that more ideas for its own Smart Growth initiative would grow out of the meeting. The US Environmental Protection Agency and the Urban Land Institute, an organization of development professionals, co- sponsored the conference held there this month. Austin's Smart Growth initiative attempts to limit the potential damage caused by Travis County's rapidly increasing population, climbing a steady 22,000 per year since 1994. "This," says Mayor Kirk Watson of the Smart Growth initiative he introduced in February, "is an effort to control our destiny." Austin's Smart Growth initiative focuses on four areas - first, setting up planning tools to influence where growth occurs, starting with a Desired Development Zone away from environmentally sensitive areas; second, creating incentives, like faster permit approval or reduced building fees, to direct development where it's desired; third, changing the Land Development Code to encourage in-city development; and fourth, speeding up the building permit process, which takes longer to navigate in Austin than in nearby cities. "It comes at a good time," Mayor Watson says of the conference. "We've been at it about a year. This conference will help us evaluate what we've done, and it will help us develop our next steps." Austin still needs to refine its growth-management plans, and City Council-appointed commissions and boards will begin reviewing specific recommendations in January. Watson hopes the council can begin voting on specifics before March. Many business leaders have applauded the city for using development incentives instead of trying to regulate where growth should not occur. But developers aren't ready to endorse Smart Growth fully until the city works out the details, says Amy Barbee of the Real Estate Council of Austin. "We do need to look at how to manage our growth," Barbee says. "But you can't force the market to go where it doesn't want to go." Meanwhile, the city has already had several Smart Growth achievements - two successful bond elections that will let the city buy environmentally sensitive land, build large parks, and improve downtown's Waller Creek. [For more information, visit <http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/smartgrowth>.] - Austin American-Statesman, 13 Dec 98, by Chuck Lindell. PROPOSED HAWAIIAN ECO-CAMP DEBATED Supporters of the Pua'ena eco-camp proposed for Oahu's North Shore say it would be good for the economy and the environment. Opponents call it a thinly disguised resort that's against zoning rules there. Bishop Estate, the owner of Pua'ena Point, invited Stanley Selengut to develop the 144 acres along the Kawailoa shoreline into an eco-camp like his other award-winning camps on the Caribbean island of St. John. Ecological restoration is a core element of the 252-unit eco-camp proposal which includes cafeterias; a store; swimming pools; tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts; open-air pavilions; and a childcare facility. Each eco-tent unit is a 256-square-foot wood-framed structure with fiberglass screening, recycled wood and plastic decks, and a skin of vinyl fabric. Solar panels heat the water, composting toilets eliminate the need for waste-water treatment, and photovoltaic panels convert sunlight into electricity. The structures use recycled and Hawaiian materials throughout. Supporters want the eco-camp's 100 new jobs and economic boost to Haleiwa businesses, and they fear that blowing this opportunity could hamper future ecotourism ventures in Hawaii. Opponents insist the proposal violates the Urban-agriculture II zoning along the Kawailoa shoreline which allows recreational tents, but not a resort. City planners have told Selengut that the high density of tents doesn't fit the definition of an outdoor recreation camp, and among the alternative plans he has submitted at the city's request is one with 25 percent fewer eco-tents. The most vocal opposition comes from the million-dollar homeowners on Papailoa Road who don't want what they perceive as a low-rent camp next door. - Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Dec 98, by Lori Tighe; and Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 11 Dec 98. ARMSTRONG RECYCLES CEILING TILES Armstrong World Industries now recycles acoustic ceiling tiles from commercial building renovations, adding the old tiles to the slurry used for manufacturing new ones. Here's how the new Armstrong Ceilings Reclamation Program works. The existing ceiling tiles needn't be Armstrong tiles, just the right kind [mineral fiber without foil backing]. The replacements, of course, must be Armstrong tiles. An Armstrong representative and the general contractor coordinate the logistics of recycling and compare the cost of landfilling the tiles to the cost of shipping and recycling them at the nearest Armstrong plant [in Macon, Georgia; Marietta and Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania; or St. Helens, Oregon]. Depending mainly on the distance to an Armstrong plant, recycling often, though not always, saves money. Recycling 230,000 square feet of ceiling panels from a Portland [Oregon] building, for example, cost $4,550 compared with $7,500 for landfilling them. [For more information, email <techline@armstrong.com>.] - Environmental Building News, Nov 98, p 5. TEMPERED WINDOW GLASS ARTFULLY RECAST Joel Berman Glass Studios [in Vancouver] recycles office windows into site- specific artwork for tempered architectural glass applications like exterior curtain walls, stair treads, conference room partitions, balustrades, and interior bridges. To rework tempered glass, Berman's artisans must first return it to its original untempered state by annealing. After it's cast over reusable hand-carved ceramic molds, the glass is retempered. Architectural glass has been the specialty of Berman's studio for 20 years. Berman's seven large kilns can produce cast glass sheets up to 130 by 84 inches. Samples and brochures are available from the studio. [For more information, visit <http://www.jbermanglass.com>.] - Interiors, Dec 98, p 30, by Katherine Day Sutton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GreenClips is free of charge thanks to these sponsors - EPA'S ENVIRONMENTALLY-PREFERABLE PURCHASING PROGRAM Working to make the environment a consideration in federal purchasing. http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp INTERFACE, INC. More than a carpet company. Much more. http://www.ifsia.com THE SMART GROWTH NETWORK Metropolitan development that serves economy, community, and the environment. http://www.smartgrowth.org ENERGY RESOURCE CENTER http://www.socalgas.com/erc The Energy Resource Center, a unit of the Southern California Gas Company in Downey, California, is a one-stop energy resource and conference center for business and industry. WSU ENERGY PROGRAM http://www.energy.wsu.edu Providing objective research, information and solutions. Washington State University Cooperative Extension Energy Program in Olympia, Washington. To subscribe to GreenClips and/or other mailing lists related to energy and the environment, go to <http://listserv.energy.wsu.edu/guest/RemoteAvailableLists>. US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY http://www.eren.doe.gov/buildings The Department of Energy's Office of Building Technology, State and Community Programs (BTS) is creating more and more business and government partnerships to cut the energy use of new buildings by 50% by the year 2010 and reduce energy use in existing buildings by 20% through retrofits. As you read this, more than 200 Rebuild America community partnerships are retrofitting buildings in cooperation with 47 states, three US territories and several Native America tribes. By the year 2003, Rebuild America partnerships will have leveraged a Federal investment of $72 million into private community investments totaling $3 billion, resulting in $650 million in energy cost savings annually. BTS programs also include the DOE/National Building Museum lecture series, Buildings for the 21st Century. At 12:30 pm on January 27, the topic is Improving Energy Efficiency and Indoor Air Quality in Homes. More information on BTS' efficient building programs is available on DOE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network web site <http://www.eren.doe.gov/buildings> or by calling 800 DOE 3732. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ABOUT THE PUBLISHER Architectural researcher and environmental consultant Chris Hammer of Sustainable Design Resources publishes GreenClips in San Francisco. Ms. Hammer helps planners, developers, building owners, designers, builders, and facility managers practice sustainable planning, development, building design, construction, and operation. GreenClips is written by Chris Hammer and James Richert. To CONTACT THE PUBLISHER Email GreenClips@aol.com or call 415.928.7941. BACK ISSUES Two Internet sites host GreenClips archives for reference and research: http://solstice.crest.org/sustainable/greenclips-info.html (keyword search) http://www.greendesign.net/greenclips (browse contents) REDISTRIBUTION Please do not redistribute or post copies of GreenClips regularly. Encourage readers who receive GreenClips from you to subscribe directly. Continuing sponsorship depends on accurate reader counts. To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE Subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your address at this web site: http://listserv.energy.wsu.edu/guest/RemoteListSummary/GreenClips You can also do this by email following these instructions: Address an email message to <GreenClips-request@listserv.energy.wsu.edu>. In the body of the message (not the subject line) type either: subscribe <your internet email address> unsubscribe <your internet email address> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Copyright 1998 Sustainable Design Resources. All rights reserved. Republishing GreenClips in print or on a web site, in whole or in part, or commercial distribution in any form requires advance permission of the publisher.