Rag Trade Grand Opening: Sat, Jan 20 12-sundown FREE

• Bring some clothes to trade or just stop in to shop! Plus, there will be a bounce house!
• More information.

Plug-In Hybrid Lecture: Wed, Jan 24 12:30pm RSVP / FREE

• Sign me up!
  Sherry Boschert, author of PLUG-IN HYBRIDS: THE CARS THAT WILL RECHARGE AMERICA, will be speaking.
• More information.

Density by Design: Wed, Jan 24 5:30pm RSVP FREE

• A talk all about Smart Growth. Sounds like something we need to talk about.
• Register.

Under the Sun, Sustainable Innovations + Traditions: Jan 25-27 RSVP / $375 / $425 after 1/19

• UM School of Architecture conference to discuss and promote green building. Serves as AIA continuing education credit.
• More information.

Volunteer Workday @ Deering Estate (earn community service hours!): Sat, Jan 27 8:45a-12noon RSVP / FREE

• Need Community Service hours? Want to help clean up Deering Estate? This event is for you!
• More information.

e2 Vision Broward: Feb 8-9 RSVP / $50

• Environment & Economy: Keeping them both alive in South Florida. Discuss the year’s accomplishments and what is coming up.
• More information.

Architecture

If at first sight architecture does not seem to be related with what was exposed, in reality it is, and in a serious way.

In the industrialized countries from North America, Scandinavia and in many Pacific countries, wood is the most common material for the constructions of homes.  And wood is always used in diverse and varied ways in all the stages of the construction process in the world.

According to the World Watch Institute based in Washington, 25% of the wood extracted from the forests is used for construction purposes.  Because it is clear that architecture plays an important role in the demand for wood, it has its share of responsibility in the deforestation process. 

Architecture, therefore, can contribute in a significant way to the diminution and prevention of this process.

How can architecture help fight the problem of deforestation and its consequences? It can in many ways in all the stages of the architectural process; from design to construction and until the end of the building’s life.  Certain measures can be taken in this regard, some of them are:

• Specifying certified wood. 
• During the construction process a plan can be elaborated to separate all the resulting debris, among them wood, so they can be then taken to recycling plants. 
• It is possible to construct new buildings taking advantage of certain elements from old buildings.  Structural elements, floors, windows and others wood elements that are still in good condition in abandoned buildings can be re-adapted in new projects, and can generally be acquired at a very low cost.
• In remodeling projects trying to save and use the largest amount possible of existing wood elements from the building.
• When a demolition is carried out, it is important to save the elements, which can be reused in other projects.  This measure, together with the other three mentioned, decrease the demand of new wood. 
• When new buildings or urbanizations are designed, adapt the design to the existing trees and include them in the new project, instead of cutting them and totally clean the terrain.
• Wood can be substituted for other alternative materials that are found in the region.  For example, in many countries where there is a lot of bamboo, this material is an important construction material, and if we take in account that pine trees take 40 years to produce one cubic meter of wood and bamboo after 5 years can be a usable material, it is obvious that the use of this last material is a much more sustainable option. 

Applying these measures, architecture contributes to the diminution of deforestation.

Saving the world from deforestation and its terrible consequences is not achieved by applying a few isolated measures, but with the combination of those small isolated measures that each inhabitant of the planet can carry out on a daily basis and in his/her professional activity.  Architecture professionals have the ability and the responsibility to contribute in the attainment of this objective.

*Primary forests are those that have existed untouched by humans and/or other sorts of disturbances during periods of time larger than the normal life period of their mature trees. 

To read the remainder of this article, which actually precedes this section, please click the link below.

Deforestation and Architecture
Luis Bentancor

Deforestation

Forests are one of the world’s most important and valuable ecosystems.  The importance and value that they have covers ecological, climactic, social and cultural aspects.  It’s impossible to think about planet earth and life in it, without them. 
All the forests in general, and in particular the tropical forests, have an important role in the world.

They keep 60% of the planet’s biodiversity; and in some of them, there are plants and animal species that still have not been discovered by science.

• The existence of the forests guarantees the presence of water, vital element in life; they protect the streams and the regular distribution of this element throughout the land. 
• Together with the oceans, they fulfill a fundamental role in the regulation of the hydrological cycle.
• They accumulate carbon through photosynthesis and they result vital to balance the carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere and to stop the greenhouse effect.  One hectare of tropical forest can neutralize ten tons of carbon dioxide per year.  It is calculated that all the built-up carbon in all the forests is ten times larger than all the fossil fuel that has been burnt in the last one hundred years.
• They constitute an important source of renewable raw material, wood, food, medicine, etc.
• Many indigenous civilizations and peoples depend on the forests, since these provide them with shelter, food, medicine, and other products; moreover, the people have carved their cultural and spiritual values around the forests.  Forests are the only possible home for these peoples, which would not be able to survive without forests.  Reason why the devastation of these means also the devastation of their culture, languages and knowledge.
• The forests have also a cultural meaning for the majority of the world’s civilizations. 

Unfortunately forests are disappearing as a result of human actions.  It is estimated that 80% of the world’s primary forests have been destroyed*; and of the original world’s forests, less that one fifth still remains in its natural status. 

During the last 20 years 200 million hectares have been lost and actually approximately 15 million hectares are destroyed annually. 

• Africa looses close to 4 million hectares of forest per year, and western Africa forests have been totally eliminated. 
• Europe lost a large part of its forests during the XIX century.
• In North America the lumber industry has ravaged millions of hectares.
• In places like Central America the deforestation rate is 48 hectares per hour, at this rate, it is calculated that in 44 years there will be no forests in this region. 
• In the Amazon, the largest primary forest on earth, the deforestation of its territory advances rapidly. 

The consequences of the deforestation are negative from any point of view.

The deforestation means the banishment of animal and vegetal species, due to the loss of its habitat.  It reflects negatively in the conservation of water, originating floods and droughts.  It causes the soil’s erosion, as well as the increase in temperature.  As a result the ecological balance is broken.  This harms the nearby populations and activities such as agriculture, cattle and fishing.

It also causes a lack of regulation in the hydrological cycle and the world’s climate.  The greenhouse effect increases with the deforestation, on one hand because the amount of trees decrease to trap the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and on the other hand, when the forests are burnt or cut, they release carbon accumulated in the form of carbon dioxide, thus, the concentration in the atmosphere of this component increases, and it is carbon dioxide the component that contributes the most to the greenhouse effect.  It is estimated that deforestation constitutes a third of all the carbon dioxide liberated in the atmosphere by human activity.  Deforestation and climate changes are intimately related.

From the social and cultural point of view, for the populations and indigenous communities that live and depend on the forests, deforestation means the loss of means of survival and brings with it malnutrition, the increase of illnesses, emigration and even the disappearance of the community. 

The causes of deforestation can be divided in two, the direct causes and the indirect causes. Among the main direct causes we have:

• The exploitation of wood from the forests.  When lumber is harvested for industrial purposes, it is taken out in large scale, becoming one of the main causes of worldwide deforestation.
• The substitution of the forests for agriculture and cattle.  The forests’ soil is a poor soil for these practices; therefore, after just a few years it becomes a depleted land.
• Urbanization.
• Mining and petroleum activity.
• The construction of infrastructures, hydroelectric dams where forests land and roads flood.
• Forest fires.
• Acid rain.

The indirect causes are the ones that make the direct causes exist are among others:.

• The production and consumption models, which create a big demand for wood, mainly in the developed countries.
• Bad economic and social politics.  Some of these promote the substitution of the forests with agriculture and cattle in a large scale in order to supply the international market, and others instead, force many poor farmers to destroy forests to cultivate the land to survive. 
• Uncontrolled industrialization, which provokes contamination and causes acid rain. 

Certified wood

Aware of the deforestation problem and its consequences, in 1993 representatives of environmental organizations, indigenous organizations, wood industrials, merchants of the forests products and other groups and institutions from 25 countries met in Toronto Canada and created the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) forest certification system, with the purpose of improving the management of the forests to try and save the planet from deforestation.

Forest certification is a monitoring system, which certifies that the products which originate from a forest have been extracted from forests that have been well managed from the environmental, economical and social point of view, based on certain established standards.  It guarantees that the certified products do not contribute to the increase of deforestation problems.  The certified products are marked with a seal.

The certification is an independent and non-profit technical system.

Even though the certified wood is more expensive that the non-certified, the certification guarantees environmental, economical and social benefits for the producers and consumers of the forest products, as well as for all humanity.  Today there are diverse systems of certification, regional and national, The Pan European Forest certificate-PEFC or The Canadian Standard Association-CSA e.g., but the FSC is the most important and recognized, and the only one applicable internationally.

However, for many non-governmental organizations the certification is not going in the right direction, since it is based mainly in the manner the wood is cut, and it works only if the consumers want to buy certified wood.  They say what should be done is to reduce the excessive consumption of wood in the world. 

Nevertheless, it can be said that the certification is at least an initiative, a beginning, to try to solve the existing problems.

Post contributed by local commercial realtor and green building enthusiast Bryan Wasmer Dempsey, ESQ.

The City of Miami addressed the pressing issues of climate change, resource depletion and energy security last Friday, December 8th with the “Mayor’s Green Building Forum” at the downtown campus of Miami-Dade Community College. The event heralded Mayor Manny Diaz’s first public foray into the green building movement as he voiced the City’s intent to become one of the greenest cities in the country.  Mayor Diaz really seemed to grasp the urgency of developing "green".  He, and a couple of the other speakers, dropped small hints that green building elements will soon begin to be incorporated in the City of Miami planning and design programs. 

The Mayor was followed by the keynote speaker, Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council.  Mr. Fedrizzi gave an impressive presentation, chalk-full of statistics on the health, environmental and economic benefits of green building. William Holly, whose Green Miami building just broke ground the other day was a guest speaker as well. Also in attendance, local non-profit Dream in Green.

The standing room only crowd of interested parties included; engineers, architects, developers, non-profits, commercial real estate professionals, and local media. The desire for further illumination into Miami’s possible future green building practices and prerequisites was evident by the number of questions addressed to the Mayor and panel ranging from incentives to standards to administration.

My personal opinion of the forum was that, although it was long overdue for Miami, it was a good start with what felt like a lot of enthusiasm on behalf of the Mayor and the attendees.  The Mayor made several bold statements, including his desire to make Miami one of the leaders in green building.  The green momentum was palpable.  Let’s hope that it continues and that the City of Miami carries through.

Learn more about contributing articles to greenerMIAMI.

Rick gave me a tip of the "Daring to be Green?" article in today’s Herald. (When there are green articles, please let me know…I do not follow the paper as I should.) The gist of the article is summed up by this single line, "Now, the trend of environment-friendly building may, just may, finally be
reaching South Florida — where not a single building has been certified green
to date."

Yes, it has taken a long time for the green movement to travel to the end of I-95 to reach our great city, but it has arrived. I attended the Simple Solar Solutions workshop last week. It was a full house of around 200 people, with at least another 100 watching the live webcast from the MDC Kendall campus. I learned probably more than I ever wanted to know about solar panels, including the fact that they don’t like to be hot. What? I know. I also learned that there has been a solar panel company located near downtown Miami for 20 years, Sun Electronics. Additionally, I learned about all of the rebates currently being offered for solar systems in residential and commercial use…and they are pretty good. I will post my complete notes in a couple of days.

In the meantime, it’s time to promote another event that is happening this afternoon/evening. This is going to be a good one: Re-Energize America Town Hall Meeting.

Miami Town Hall to Address Oil Dependence and Global Warming

Speakers Will Highlight Solutions to Energy Crisis

With volatile energy prices and concern about rapidly accelerating global warming, Floridians are asking hard questions about our energy future.

On Monday, October 16, Mayor Manny Diaz, Senator Bob Graham and representatives from the faith, policy and environmental communities will come together for a town hall meeting to highlight solutions for America’s oil addiction and global warming.

The participants come from diverse backgrounds and demonstrate the growing support for Re-Energize America, a nonpartisan campaign with a goal to create a new energy future for America.

It’s at UM’s Storer Auditorium. I’ll be there. If you would like to meet, send me an email and I’ll give you my cell number.

FIU, Biscayne Bay Campus, is holding a Green Building Conference on Friday, November 3. Called, Green Buildings & Sustainable Construction: A Road Map for the Future, you will need to pre-register for the conference. It costs $50 per person, with a discount for USGBC members.

The conference is being hosted by FIU’s Institute for Technology Innovation & Canadian General Consulate of Miami.

The event is described as follows:

This event will bring together corporate leaders from our community in industries such as real estate, land development, construction, and architecture, as well as experts in climate, green technology, and the environment, focusing on three areas:

• New technologies and construction practices that decrease the energy footprint of buildings.  This will cover construction materials, energy and water use, and management practices.
• The future of government environmental regulations at the local, national, international levels as well as emerging industry standards and certifications.
• The future of global climate change and the effects this has on construction and building management strategies

View more event details and RSVP. The view the flier above, simply click on the image.

Sarasota fast-tracks green building permits. Great.

Incentives, that’s the key.