events

Brian Phillips from Interface Studio Architects will be speaking this weekend at Habitat for Humanities 2nd Annual Green Building Conference on our 100K House project. Habitat’s focus this year is on a “Green Affordable Philadelphia.” Habitat puts on a great event with a lot of high quality speakers and workshops for both beginners and experts looking to learn more about green building. I learned a lot here last year as I was starting Postgreen and this is also where I first met Brian and ISA as they were presenting on the affordable Sheridan Street Project that has won critical acclaim.

Check out more details about the event here. There are events scheduled from Thursday through Sunday including an informal discussion on green & affordable building, a meet and greet for emerging green builders and a green building tour wrapping up the weekend on Sunday.

http://www.habitatphiladelphia.org/news/workshops.php

I attended the 6th Annual Social Venture Institute yesterday at the Wharton School of PA. The event was organized by the Philadelphia chapter of the Sustainable Business Network and was dedicated to the Triple Bottom Line principles of doing business. It is a two day event but my schedule only permitted me to attend for one day.

The event was better than expected and was perfect for someone like myself who has in their mission that they are a TBL company. It reminded me that, like everything else in my business, I need to continually improve my actions towards people and planet as well as profits. There were a lot of inspirational examples of businesses that have succeeded by paying their workers living wages, using organic materials/foods and greening their businesses.

I think the one issue that was brought up that could most apply to postgreen was the importance of utilizing other local businesses as much as possible. The economist, Michael Shuman, spoke about some interesting statistics regarding local businesses and their impact on the local economy. Here were a couple stats that really hit home:

• For every dollar that is spent at a national chain store, roughly 18 cents remains in the local economy while 45 cents remains in the local economy if the same dollar is spent at a locally owned store. Example - Borders or B&N vs. local book store.
• If 10% of the retail $$ spent in a community shifted towards locally owned businesses then over 1,000 new jobs would be created in the area. If the same 10% shift was made towards chain stores then over 1,000 jobs would be lost in the area.

Most have heard figures like these before but it is always helpful to have a refresher. This got me thinking about the LEED requirement in the homes program to source materials from businesses within 500 miles, in part to reduce transportation effects on the environment. These stats made me realize how important this aspect of the LEED criteria is and that I need to strive to source as many materials and services from companies well within the 500 mile perimeter to really impact postgreen’s immediate communities. Currently I buy business cards, software and hardware online. I have my websites hosted from who knows where. When we start our first project I can look into using local craftsman like welders and glass shops to make materials that I might otherwise buy from businesses outside of Philadelphia’s borders.

I could go on an on about possible ways to improve postgreen’s TBL impact. This was a common theme at the event but it was refreshing to here that others are succeeding with these approaches. It was also important to hear the most successful companies (in terms of TBL) said that achieving a good TBL is a process that takes time. It can be overwhelming at first because there are so many things that could be improved upon but you just have to keep chugging away at it and make a few good changes to your business each year. There are also times when businesses really wanted to implement more but couldn’t for financial reasons. Rather than sacrificing their economic bottom line they realize that there are just some things that might not be able to be implemented, at least not right away.

I also wanted to note that Terry Gillen from Michael Nutter’s administration spoke briefly on some of the changes we can expect in the near future that may positively effect TBL businesses in the area. Some of the highlights of their intended plans are below:

• A process to expedite permitting for development projects that conform to a set of environmental guidelines similar to what Chicago has put in place.
• Focus on making Philly a better place to do business financially by focusing on how businesses are taxed.
• Encourage infill development on Philly’s many vacant lots.
• Green vacant lots and plant a whole bunch of trees.
• Green the city’s municipal buildings and require LEED ratings on any new buildings.
• Improve recycling immediately.
• Create a sustainability cabinet that will be working with all departments of the city.

Check out some of Nutter’s policies in more detail at his website - www.nutter2007.com. He has a detailed plan for the environment on the site which is worth a peruse.

The GreenFest Philly event this past weekend was a success. We were blessed with great weather and huge crowds! There was food, music, fashion and even a wedding ceremony in addition to the over 100 exhibitors lining 4 city blocks along Philly’s South Street.

I shared a booth with Brian Phillips, the principal for interface studio architects LLC (ISA) and we were both overwhelmed by the turnout and interest in our small table of modern and green home design. We were so busy that we couldn’t leave the table from 11AM until 5:30PM, an hour and a half past the originally scheduled closing time. Luckily we were placed on the shady side of the street or we never would have made it without a few trips to The Foodery just two blocks away to keep our spirits going. There was a lot of interest in our new collaboration on postgreen stock homes and possibly our first few clients were found who are looking to be involved in the design of their own modern and green homes in Philadelphia.

The only regret we had was that we weren’t able to walk the streets to see what other exhibitors were there and might have to offer. From what I could see there were a lot of clothing, jewelry, plants and green building and home products.

Thanks to all who came out and to everyone who stopped by to say hi. I’ll post updates on stats from the event when they become available. Special thanks to JJ and the crew at Urban Green Partnership as well as all the volunteers for all of their hard work to make the day a success. We’re looking forward to next year’s GreenFest already.

Welcome to postgreen’s new blog. For my first post I thought I’d talk about Philly’s biggest green event of the year - GreenFest Philly. It’s happening this weekend and postgreen will have a booth there along with interface studio architects. We will be debuting our stock green and modern home plans for Philadelphia (more on that later) and just hanging out with other greenies in the Delaware Valley area. We hope to see you there too! More info from the GreenFest website below:

Party like there IS a Tomorrow!

Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007, 11am-6pm
South Street, between 7th & 11th

Save the Planet. Save Money. Save the Date.

Come explore the many ways that Philadelphia is Going Green—or could! Our rocking street festival features music, food, art and more than 120 exhibitors. They demo new, exciting solutions for living in an environmentally sensitive and just way. Last year, 6000 people came to our one-block “South Street GreenFest”. This year, we’ve quadrupled our scale and scope. We’ve gone regional, with a four-block wingspan. And we’re still free!