TTC Green Blog

Last Post

2011-10-31T11:11:00.000-04:00

This is my last post on the TTC Green Blog. I have accepted a teaching position in the Master's in Project Management Program at Walden University. http://www.waldenu.edu/Degree-Programs/Masters/17823.htm

Writing the TTC Blog has been fun, lots of interesting people and events in the emerging sustainability field.

I was encouraged by an article in the Sunday paper about a city in Colorado passing a bond to generate there own Green power and disconnect from the power company. The power company promised Greener power but the people in the City decided to drive the initiative rather than depend on the existing power company to make the change.

I also read a story about development in both India and China. As these economies emerge, even with a Green commitment greater than the USA, the effects on the global environment will more than offset everything the USA can do to lower our negative impact.

So I am both an optimist and a pessimist. I look to my daughter and her generation to bring new ideas and a new commitment as she graduates from college and enters the market place.

Thanks to everyone who followed the blog and I hope your investment in TTC Green will pay dividends to you and the community

Russ

Video on Food Sustainability

2011-10-06T07:47:00.000-04:00

The video from student views on Sustainability from St.Lawrence University states the problem and offers solutions. It is a little long, almost 30 minutes. Worth your time if you are interested food sustainability.

Russ

http://www.fabianpattberg.com/2009/09/video-serious-sustainability-food-and-sustainability/

Pathways to a Green South Partnership Meeting

2011-09-30T07:26:00.000-04:00

The team from MDC and my colleagues from Piedmont Community College, Orangeburg Tech and Empire Community College met at TTC yesterday and will meet today. This is a sharing and learning meeting to capture our best practices and our lessons learned. Always a good exercise. I will write more next week.

Below are photos from our dinner last night.

Russ

Looks like way too much fun

Good food, good conversation and good memories

Charleston Green Fair and College of Charleston hope

2011-09-28T11:21:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, Teri Beth and I and members of the Trident Technical College Green Committee worked the college’s booth at the Charleston Green Fair. The traffic did not seem as great as last year. We shared a tent with the College of Charleston and the Sustainability Institute. See some pictures below.

During the event Brian Fisher, Director of Sustainability at the College of Charleston, had a great conversation on the how we communicate the research and issues surrounding sustainability. The political discourse seems to detract from any meaningful conversation about social, economic and environmental sustainability.

During this discussion Brain shared how students who first study sustainability become depressed by what they learn. I remember these feeling and sometimes revert to a despondent sense that there is nothing I can do. Fareed Zakaria wrote in the New York Times about “Fueling the Furtue” a book by Daniel Yergin. Yergin reminds readers that energy is central to industrial development and that fossil fuels have and will continue to be the dominate source of energy.

Yergin examined alternatives to fossil fuels and the obstacles for each technology to make a significant contribution to the energy market. He also examined the environmental impact of the continued release of carbons into the earth’s atmosphere. At this point Zakaria reflected that Bill Gates said if he had just one wish he would choose an “energy miracle”. I understand Gates selection with it is pointed out the if China and India do not get off coal, nothing in the West matters. Now I am making myself despondent again…

On the bright side, when you talk to the students studying sustainability at the College of Charleston I see a commitment to tackle these big issues and the human energy and ingenuity to do some big thing. With mentors like Brian Fisher and others, maybe there is hope.

Russ

Brian FIsher and students from College of Charleston

Laura Fladd, Bill Landry and Teri Beth Gehman

Charleston Green Business Challenge

2011-09-23T08:38:00.000-04:00

The Charleston Green Business Challenge and the kick off for the Charleston Green Fair was a celebration held at the Charlestown Landing. Carolee Williams was the perfect host both funny and gracious. Mayor Riley provided his support and lots of Green Restaurants provided excellent food.

Trident Technical College was recognized with many other participants in the business challenge. Congratulations to my colleagues from MUSC and The Citadel for their awards and especially Christine Cooley at MUSC for her special award, always a high achiever.

Below are the Higher Education participants in the Green Challenge.

Russ

Paul Cantrell, Citadel, Christine Cooley, MUSC and Russ

Sustainability Director's Lunch

2011-09-15T08:24:00.000-04:00

Brain Fisher join the Sustainability Director's lunch today. Brian is the new Director of Sustainability at the College of Charleston, http://sustainability.cofc.edu/From%20the%20Director/index.php

Brain came to our monthly director's lunch with obvious energy and enthusiasm. I have no doubt that the College of Charleston will be leading a large number of sustainability projects in the Charleston Area and the larger region. Brain talked about the drive provided by the students. Similar to our experience at Trident Technical College, students are leading much of the motivation for sustainability action at the college. I believe our college leaders listen when our students feel this strongly about the importance of a topic to their future. Welcome Brian.

Carolee Williams represent the Charleston Sustainability Office as the City of Charleston decides how to replace Brain Sheehan who accepted a sustainability position at Sams (a part of Wallmart) and is now in Arkansas.

Our lunch group:

Russ

Carolee, (City of Charleston) Brian (College of Charleston) , Russ (Trident Technical College) Paul Cantrell (The Citadel) Christine (Medical University of South Carolina) Brian Cordell (Sustainability Institute) on vacation

Charleston Green Committee Meeting, Urban Farms

2011-09-13T15:45:00.000-04:00

Today's meeting of the Charleston Green Committee focused on farming and there are some passionate farmers in the Charleston Area. Elizabeth Beak and Bill Eubanks discussed MUSC's Urban Farm. This will be a great addition to downtown Charleston. Jim Martin, Charleston Parks Conservancy, talked about the land use/ farming of Green spaces such as parks. Jim, talked about some land in Summersville that the Conservancy is purchasing and will provide lots on new opportunities for demonstrating farming and land usage.

Babs Ambrose of the Ambrose Farm CSA talked about CSAs

There were some new people attending the committee meeting this month. It was great to see people with different perspectives joining in the Green Discussion. The new discussions focused on the role of government or the regulation on green and how they effect private home owner. Generally good discussion.

Safe and healthy food availability will become an increasing issue for communities and populations increase and industrial farms are stressed by increased demands, water shortages, pest control issues etc. The discussion today highlighted local solutions and encourages people to explore growing food for their own consumption because it is fun, taste good and is good for you. Sounds kinda like a commerical, it is. Growing some of your food has lots of advantages.

Good meeting and discussion today at the Charleston Green Committee.

Russ

TTC Green Committee Meeting Exploring technology to reduce miles

2011-09-09T07:57:00.000-04:00

The TTC Green Committee met this week in the regular monthly meeting. The committee spend most of the meeting to MG Mitchum, the college IT Director. MG led the committee through a discussion on how to reduce commuter miles through the use of IT Technology. We looked at several methods of meeting on line using various voice and video tools.

MG will be looking at existing equipment and developing a plan to increase the use of existing equipment and assisting the Committee in developing a college wide approach to reducing commuter miles through use of technology.

Great meeting.

Russ

Rocky Mountain Institute's new blog

2011-09-07T12:35:00.000-04:00

The Rocky Mountain Institute is a research, communiticatin and consulting organization that focuses on new ways to address climate and energy problems. The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) is launching a new tool that builds on their blog. According to RMI the new blog will include:

A user-friendly commenting system and more interaction with RMI’s staff
Weekly polls and results
Easy-to-find, relevant content from RMI’s 30 years of work such as papers from our library and videos
Guest contributors from other leading voices in the energy space
A live stream highlighting related energy conversations taking place online

Some interesting stuff. Take a look.

Trident Technical College will be offering a building operators certificate which is an intense training for people responsbile for managing the energy consumption in commerical and industrial buildings. The attached link shows one of the reasons why the training is important.

Russ
http://blog.rmi.org/TenFactsAboutourEnergylandscape

United States Green Building Council Lowcountry meeting at Trident

2011-08-31T13:29:00.000-04:00

The United States Green Building Council Lowcountry chapter held their monthly meeting at Trident Technical College’s Energy Efficiency Center on August 30^th. The chapter was given a presentation on the many green programs at Trident Technical College which currently includes the efforts they are making to reduce their energy consumption and green house gas emissions, LEED construction on campus, and the many green and sustainable course offerings that are now available to students. The group also toured the weatherization training lab and saw how students are being trained to reduce the energy consumed by homes in the Lowcountry. Thanks to Katherine Fishburne and the GBC Lowcountry Chapter.

Tim

Lowcounrty Green Building Council to visit TTC Green Business and Sustianability Labs.

2011-08-29T09:31:00.001-04:00

Generating Power at a closed landfill

2011-08-22T12:46:00.000-04:00

Dave Dumas, recycling manager at Trident Technical College, among his other duties, sent me the attached video.

http://waste360.com/landfill-solar-projects/preview-solar-installation-hickory-ridge-landfill?cid=nl_wire&YM_MID=`mmid`&YM_RID=`email`

Near Atlanta, a landfill that was opened in 1993 was full and the waste company closed the landfill and covered the landfill with a plastic solar technology. Taking land that would be “useless” and generating electric. The landfill generates 1 megawatt (enough for 224 homes) and sells the electricity through Georgia Pacific Power.

Innovative use for a closed landfill.

Russ

Vonie Gilreath, Mobility Manager for Charleston Region

2011-08-19T17:15:00.001-04:00

Bob Walker, TTC Green Chair provided an update on the College Green activities for the past year to over 600 faculty and staff of the college. Bob also discussed the Trident Ride Share program which facilitates commuters in finding potential ride share partners. Vonie Gilreath, Mobility Manger, demonstrated the website and helped people sign up. Explore the ride share website for more information. http://tridentrideshare.com/en-US/

Below is Bob making his presentation and Vonie signing people up.

Russ

Bicycles in Texas

2011-08-17T14:24:00.001-04:00

Janet Li, an intern at the City of Charleston is putting togther a bicycle and car sharing proposal for the city to consider. Many cities have developed programs especially for bicycles to redcue the dependence of cars. While in San Antonio for the Academy of Management meeting, I saw people riding rented bikes from the San Antinio bike renting porgram. Looked like a win/ win for every body.

Below is a photo of the empty bike rack (all the bikes were rented) near the convention center in SSan Antonio.

Russ

Academy of Management Meeting Continued

2011-08-15T15:46:00.002-04:00

Academy of Management Meeting Continued

Yesterday I heard presentations from people focused on Sustainability from other cultures. New Zealand, African and Japanese presenters discussed the cultural aspect of sustainability and how the cultural view of community, of time and of nature are reflected in commerce. It appears that the integration of sustainability in US business practices does reflect some new cultural concepts of understanding the impact of our actions on the larger community, a longer term view of our business (beyond the quarterly statement) and nature as a limited resource.

In a second presentation, the presenter discussed the difference between companies that bolt-on sustainability and companies that embed sustainability into their business practice. He discussed market shifts in the view of declining natural resources, increasing expectations and radical transparency as huge shifts that need to be included in any business model.

The third presentation I heard discussed the emerging economies, especially the BRIC nations, (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and the increased demand on natural resources. One presenter discussed the Car introduced in India for under $3,000 US. In India 8 out of 1000 people have cars, that number is expected to increase significantly, increasing the need for resources to build the car and increasing effect on the atmosphere from millions of more cars. In one example, new car production consumes a significant amount of copper. Copper mining is an open pit process and copper smelting is an energy intense process. The copper alone needed for these extra cars will consume a large amount of resources. The question posed by the speaker; Is this economic model sustainable?

One presenter discussed zero energy consuming buildings in Europe. One building was making a net addition to the electrical grid. In places where either regulation or lack of resources exists, innovation thrived. The research focused on the question: At what point in the resource availability curve is innovation most likely to influence the development of new approaches.

I am looking forward to more workshops today.
Russ

Sustainability at Academy of Management Meeting

2011-08-14T12:41:00.002-04:00

I am attending the Academy of Management Annual Meeting focusing on Organizations and the Natural Environment section of the conference. Most of the panel discussions and presentations explore various business models and sustainability. For example tonight I will be attending Corporate Sustainability in the Emerging Economies. Most of the presenters so far have been college professors and doctoral students.

Most presentations reflected a movement toward corporate social responsibility (CSR) models that enhanced profitability and also reflected a long term assessment of the need for managing natural resources to promote sustainability. Several colleges and universities have established Centers for Sustainability that both support the development of sustainable business models to train students and for supporting the internal sustainability practices of the college.

I was surprised to hear one professor from Calgary discuss graduate business student attitudes that reflected positions the stock traders found in the movie “Wall Street”.

Off to attend some more workshops.

Russ

WISE Program saving energy in your home

2011-08-09T15:54:00.000-04:00

Bryan Cordell of the Sustainability Institute sent me the link to an artilce about the Charleston WISE program.

The note from Bryan,

"I am proud to share an article published in today's Post and Courier newspaper on our CharlestonWISE Program and CharlestonWISE Impact Project. The article appears on the front cover of the Post and Courier's Business Review, and includes a two-page spread on the inside of the Review. This is a major milestone for us because it is the first big article of our first big publicity push since the formal launch of CharlestonWISE.

I hope that you enjoy the story. It features one of our CharlestonWISE Impact project families and their experience getting an energy assessment of their home. David Slade, the P&C reporter, also does a great job in providing a simple and broad-stroke overview of our program, explaining how the program works, and highlighting program successes."

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/aug/08/plug-into-energy-savings/

Sustainability on SCTV

2011-08-05T08:23:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note for those who are interested. SC Educational TV will highlight Furman's Sustainability Efforts on August 14th.

Documentary will air on SCETV

Sunday, August 14 at 3 PM

Telecommuting

2011-08-04T15:54:00.000-04:00

Telecommuting is becoming a productivity issue for lots of organizations. I have been in lots of conversations around the college the last few months where people are looking at ways to improve productivity and telecommuting keeps coming up. During the TTC Green retreat the college is exploring a goal of a percent of college employees telecommuting a certain percent of their time. How many employees and what percent of the time would vary from position to position.

We do know that some companies have experienced significant growth in productivity as this link to the Boeing experience shows.
http://www.lern.org/johna/eMagTelework.pdf

Russ

Test your water sense

2011-08-03T16:49:00.000-04:00

Eric Hamilton reported to the TTC Green Committee on the college facilities department's efforts to conserve water on campus. The departments has upgraded and improved water usage in several buildings and will continue to improve water usage as builds are renovated. The design of the New Nursing Building includes capturing the rain water and reusing this water in irrigation and the use of draught resistant plants.

Water is becoming a larger issue for regions of the US. South Carolina has an advantage in attracting companies to the state that need lots of clean water. Other states are struggling to meet the basic water need of their population. Here is one report that discusses some of the planning for the future water needs of the US. http://www.usbr.gov/climate/userneeds/

Bill Landry, Dean of Science & Mathematics, at Trident Tech sent me a link to a water test. Have some fun.

Russ http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/test_your_watersense.html

Trident Technical College's Pathways Project receives praise in Job Corp Publication

2011-07-29T09:27:00.000-04:00

The partnership between the Sustainability Institute and Trident Technical College was highlighted in a national Job Corp publication. See page 34 and 38 in the attached link.
http://thecorpsnetwork.org/images/wu_images/July%202011/Green%20Career%20Pathways%20Paper/A%20Green%20Career%20Pathways%20Framework.pdf

The partnership between SI and Trident Tech is a demonstration on how organizations can work together to leverage the strengths or each organization to the benefit of our students/ participants. The Sustainability Institute is a great partner and brings green expertise and a passion for developing the Green Economy which is enhanced with Trident Technical College's expertise and passion for developing and delivering training.

Hope you enjoy the read

Russ

Sustainablity Skills and the job market

2011-07-27T09:23:00.005-04:00

In an article describing the Arizona State University Research from the W. P. Carey School of Business shows a huge percentage of employers are already giving positive weight to job candidates with sustainability skills. However, the same research indicates these job applicants also need professional training in existing fields, to push them over the top in the hiring process.

The researcher surveyed 200 executives and managers to better understand how sustainability is developing as a profession. 65% indicated that sustainable skills were important in job decisions and 98% of Executive said they value the concentration

I suspect that sustainable knowledge and skills will continue develop as corporate leadership focuses more a green strategy. As Green becomes a larger issue for marketing and for investors on corporate boards, executives will explore sustainable operational issues and employees with knowledge and skills will become more value.

More jobs with the word sustainability in the job title are appearing in Monster.com and other jobs recruiting sites. I recently found a list of over 30 sustainable leadership training programs at Universities and none of the programs were over 5 years old. This probably reflects a trend that will results in jobs for people with the knowledge and skills to implement sustainability programs within complex organizations.

Russ

Sustainability Institute Free Workshops

2011-07-11T14:03:00.000-04:00

The Sustainability Institute will be hosting energy saving workshops. See the information below.

Reducing our home energy use is still the most effective method to positively affecting our pocketbooks, our environment and international peace. Can you think of anything else as far reaching.

Russ

http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/156163/2b1e00e663/195010517/2ae6aed548/

FREE

HOME ENERGY CONSERVATION WORKSHOPS!

Hands on 1 hour workshop will teach you

Simple low and no cost ways proven to reduce energy use
Save money on your monthly energy bill
Learn about how energy is used in the home

More on Green Jobs

2011-07-05T12:47:00.000-04:00

Hope you had a great 4th of July. It was hot, but the 4th of July is suppose to be hot. We had a very relaxing and enjoyable weekend.

I read more this weekend about Green Jobs, especially new jobs in sustainability. Sustainability, according to a NY Times article, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/fashion/new-wave-of-graduates-prefers-environmentally-friendly-jobs.html?_r=2&ref=education, has become a preferred career choice and an emerging job market. From my personal perusing of the job announcements, there seems to be a significant increase in both governmental and corporate sustainability positions. New sustainable credit and degree program announcements seemed to be hitting my email box every month. Both the growth of sustainability jobs and the higher educational institution’s response with more programs and degrees seem to respond to corporations including sustainability in their corporate strategy.

On another positive note, it appears that the US Economy is growing. The executives of the top 200 US Corporations had an average salary increase of 23% last year, to about $10.8 million. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/business/03pay.html?src=me&ref=business I assume that an increase this large must reflect a huge increase in the performance of these companies. Historically, increase performance translates into investments in both technology and people.

If corporations are performing at these high levels and incorporating sustainability in the corporate strategy, this seems like a good time to consider a green career.

Russ

Green Jobs

2011-06-28T08:33:00.000-04:00

In a New York Times Article reporter Austin Considine interviewed a number of people who have chosen a green career. Green jobs appeal because of both the "value driven" aspect of the job where people can receive internal rewards for making a difference in the world AND because green jobs is a growing economic sector.

Considine explains: "The rapid expansion of green jobs isn’t confined to the nonprofit sector. There is money to be made here as well. Ivan Kerbel, director of career development for the Yale School of Management, a graduate-level business program, noted that environmental issues like reducing waste and carbon footprints were increasingly important to corporations of all kinds, something business students are recognizing. Even ultra-ambitious M.B.A. candidates with C-suite aspirations are integrating issues like sustainability into their education, he said.

“The leading companies have taken it on in a way that means you don’t have to feel like you’re self-ghettoized into this functional niche,” he said.

Ms. Byers attributed the growth in part to a generational shift toward “values driven” professions. Unsurprisingly, such jobs are often quite hip."

College and Universities are building new programs and degrees to provide their graduates with the knowledge and skills to compete for these emerging jobs. Trident Technical College offers weatherization technician training for people looking at residential construction jobs. This training provides the latest information and skills for workers weatherizing both new and remodeling homes. We begin offering solar installer training this summer. Knowledge and skills that are both "values driven" and important to new careers.

Russ

Link to the Times article
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/fashion/new-wave-of-graduates-prefers-environmentally-friendly-jobs.html?ref=environment

Sustainable Region

2011-06-22T09:48:00.000-04:00

I spent the weekend in the Black Mountains of North Carolina and was impressed that every restaurant advertised their sustainable food practices and their purchase of Local Foods. There was a whole community, High Cove, that required all home construction to meet green standards. All lots in the community were oreiunted for solar, the community had lots of hiking trails and community gardening.

I found an Appalachian State Univerity Alumni Magizine and the entire Chancellor's Meaasge focused on the college's sustainability. Other artilces discussed sustainable gardening, the reduction of energy use in resident halls by 5.4% and a student project that created a zero-energy home design.

The entire weekend was hiking and enjoying a community focused on preserving their beautiful environment.

Russ

TTC Green Committee Climate Action Planning

2011-06-16T08:56:00.001-04:00

The TTC Green Committee dedicated a full day to developing the college climate action plan. The planning process built on the work of the committee for the past year, the surveys and input from faculty and staff. The planning process will continue to solicit ideas and involvement from both students, staff and faculty.

The day's session was an exciting exchange of ideas from various sectors of the college and addressed our need to reduce the number of commuter miles driven by people to both deliver and receive quality education. The team also focused on creating a more energy efficient campus, our approach to purchasing and using all kind of assets and materials and how to enhance the process of learning and teaching sustainability.

Both are a couple of photos from our session.

Russ

Skip Godow, Tim Fullford, Chris Lange, Gary Crafts (back)

The Energy Reduction Team

TTC Green Committee Plan Retreat

2011-06-04T07:37:00.000-04:00

The TTC Green Committee began planning a full day session to focus on the College's Climate Action Plan. The TTC Green Committee is the institutional structure responsible developing and implementing Trident Technical College's Climate Action Plan. Trident Technical College's President, Dr. Mary Thornley, signed the American University and College President's Commitment and the committee she appointed, TTC Green Committee, has been developing measures of our Green house Gas emissions and taking short term actions to reduce our energy consumption. Now it is time to tackle the big challenges; developing a college plan to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions down to zero.

The members of the committee represent leaders from all parts of the college community. This is a talented and committed team focused on one of the most challenging issues for the college and, in a larger sense, the world. The work of this committee will be a model for our students, our college community and our communities we serve.

I look forward to the discussions.

Russ

Weatherization Technician Graduation

2011-05-27T10:25:00.000-04:00

The Weatherization Tech I class graduate yesterday followed by a great job fair. We had a small disruption whens security came in and told us we would have to evacuate the building because of a gas leak on the block. We moved to another building and continued. Nine of the 12 people who started the class graduated. All are great potential employees for someone looking for expertise in weatherization of residential property.

The photo of Skip Godow our Vice President offering his congratulations to the graduates and their families. Also a photo of Tim, Chuck and Marvin, with one of the graduates. Tim, is the program director and Chuck and Marvin are the best instructors in South Carolina. Chuck and Marvin not only provide the knowledge and skills our students need and also the support of caring mentors.

Russ

Dr. Skip Godow

Tim Fulford, Marvin Jackson, Chuck Tolle with a Proud Student

Charleston Green Business Challenge

2011-05-24T11:47:00.001-04:00

A message from Renee Patey of the Sustainability Institute:

Last Friday May 16^th, The Charleston Green Business Challenge was honored with a Charleston County Community Pride Award. Trident Technical College is a participant of the Green Business Challenge, taking part in this program to advance sustainable and green business practices.

Renee Patey

The Challenge offers Charleston’s businesses, institutions and organizations resources to integrate green and sustainable practices into their operations and management, and an opportunity to be recognized for their efforts. Trident Technical College has taken on the Challenge and excelled in energy saving initiatives. An engineering firm was brought in to conduct energy audits on all campus buildings providing valuable information on how to increase efficiency and reduce energy waste; the campus green team has provided a direct feedback loop for faculty and staff to report any comfort issues or heating and air-conditioning concerns; and implementing noon time shut down on Friday’s for many of the campus buildings greatly reducing energy use campus wide. Through their own success, participants like TTC help to make the Green Business Challenge a success. Thank you TTC!

Thank you Renee

Russ

One of our Agriculture Instructors highlighted in the Post and Courier

2011-05-24T07:30:00.000-04:00

Dale Synder was our Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture class last year. Excellent story in the P&C on Dale and his "garden of giving".

Russ

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/may/16/garden-of-giving/

Sustainable Agriculture in the Low Country

2011-05-20T05:15:00.000-04:00

Guest blog by Nikki Seibert

As the Director for Sustainable Agriculture at Lowcountry Local First, I am so excited to not only be a partner in the TTC Sustainable Agriculture but a teacher of one of the classes as well!

The Sustainable Agriculture Initiative at Lowcountry Local First has helped to educate and assist farmers/fishermen, restaurants, and the local community on a variety of the important issues in our area. Projects under this program include Farm Fresh Food Guide, Fresh on the Menu, Community Supported Agriculture promotion, Growing New Farmers Incubator Project, Growers Groups, Chef’s Potluck, Ripe Charts, community outreach, and of course the TTC Green Sustainable Agriculture courses. All of the existing projects have connected us with over 120 restaurants, 44 farms, 2,500 CSA members, 43,000 elementary students, 40 farmers and food system leaders, and a total of 600,000 people.

Lowcountry Local First serves as an advocate, educator, marketer, and supporter of local businesses and farmers. The organization strengthens the local economy by acting as a conduit for information, a resource for both producers and consumers, and a facilitator of engaging outreach events. My goal is to increase the awareness of the issues facing the local food economy while providing the tools to improve it. One example is the Urban Agriculture class I will be teaching this fall with TTC Green. Based on my own experiences with the Bogarden, case studies from other areas, and a hands-on bike tour of local projects, I will help empower interested individuals to create productive urban gardens in their own neighborhoods.

I hope to see some of you there!
Nikki

Stanford Students Answer any Sustianability Question

2011-05-19T07:08:00.000-04:00

Stanford University has a answer for any sustainability question. The SAGE project (Sound Advice for a Green Earth) is a project involving students from engineering, journalism, environmental science and other disciplines to research and answer questions submitted by anyone. Checkout a portion of a response to the environment cost of battery run cars. http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/sage

Russ

But as appealing as alternative fuel cars may be to the conscientious consumer, you raise a valid question: we need to see the whole picture and consider the environmental impacts of changing the way we power cars. Is the impact of producing batteries worth the gas pumping-impacts that electric cars avoid? In short, the answer is yes, but it's worth examining in more detail.

The environmental impacts of batteries are determined using life cycle analysis (LCA), a broad assessment considering all factors influencing creation, use, and disposal of a product, also discussed in depth in a recent SAGE column. For the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, an LCA quantifying the environmental impacts includes mining the metals used, manufacturing the various battery parts and, finally, assembly. While the final impacts of producing an electric vehicle prove to be higher than those associated with producing conventional car, when evaluated over the car's expected lifetime—90,000 miles—the electric vehicle's impacts drop significantly below those of its conventional counterpart. Check out the Nitty Gritty answer for calculation details.

Force of Nature, new book on the economics of green

2011-05-16T15:21:00.000-04:00

Just a short note on a new book.

I am convinced that focusing on sustainability has enabled many of our best companies to be both good corporate citizens and increasingly profitable companies. In his new book, Force of Nature, Edward Humes discusses the power of sustainability in lowering costs and increasing profitability. The New York Times had a write up on the book.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/business/15shelf.html?scp=1&sq=bryan%20burrough&st=cse

Russ

Weatherization at TTC Green

2011-05-13T16:59:00.000-04:00

One of Mark Bradley's Radio and Television Broadcasting classes produced a video of our weatherization program. Although Mark insisted there was more work to do on the project. I thought the team did a great job and took the project where it is today. Lean more about the R/TV Program at http://www.tridenttech.edu/8233_5489.htm

Hope you enjoy learning about one of our TTC Green Programs at Trident Technical College on the You Tube Video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJDHdZCDO-M

Russ

Sustainability Director's Lunch

2011-05-12T12:34:00.000-04:00

I joined many of the local sustainability directors in an information lunch today at OKu Restaurant, downtown Charleston at 463 King Street. Great lunch and great conversation. Tony Soto of Boeing joined us for his first time with the group. Naturally, the conversation gravitated toward some of the exciting things Boeing is doing at the new plant.

Tony shared some of the corporate philosophy toward lowering energy and water consumption and lower waste output across all Boeing enterprises. Boeing is making significant investments in developing a sustainable approach to their buying, producing and selling processes. Boeing South Carolina is demonstrating this corporate commitment through the use of photovoltaic cells, zero waste to landfill and renewable energy.

Brian Sheehan gave an optimistic update on Clean Cities program and Brian Cordell discuss the new staff members at the Sustainability Institute. Some good things happening in Charleston. Christine shared some of the efforts to work collectively with all the institutions of higher education in the Charleston Area to leverage our resources to reduce waste and reduce energy use.

Russ

2011-05-11T14:18:00.000-04:00

I attended the Seabrook Island Sustainable Cities presentation today. Suzi Van Etten of Audubon International (no relationship to the National Audubon Society) made a presentation on how communities could apply for the Sustainable Communities Program. In some ways the conversation was similar to discussion I hear on Sustainability.

Some focused on creating a truly sustainable community creating harmony between society, the economy and the environment of the community. Others focused on the economic benefit of the sustainable community label. Ms. Etten provided examples of communities that focused on the increased property values and community marketing benefits. Ms. Etten talked about her impressions of Seabrook as a well kept secret with pristine beach where a person could take a quiet walk on the beach. I wonder if Seabrook can attract significant economic development and maintain the pristine beaches with quiet walks on the beach.

Achieving certification as a certified sustainable community through Audubon International did not seem difficult. The only standard a community must meet is to develop a vision and goals and meet at least 50% of the goals in the first year. The vision and goals were entirely up to the community. $500 bought a community the label “Sustainable Community”. To be certified cost more.

Whether a community used this process to focus on improving the community or focused on economic development is up to the community. I hope Seabrook focused on the sustainability of the community but it was difficult to discern based on the question asked at the meeting.

Russ

Presentation at Seabrook

Suzi Van Etten, Manager Audubon International

Bottled Water

2011-05-10T06:28:00.000-04:00

There is actually a successful business model that includes a US based company bottling water on a South Pacific Island, where clean water is scarce, transport it to cities that have clean water and sell it at a premium price. Although I studied economics in college, this still baffles me and it is a horrible example of creating and meeting short term desires with long term costs. How much energy is consumed in creating the bottles, transporting the bottled water across the pacific ocean and the cost of either recycling or land-filling the plastic?

The Washington Post recently published an article about some colleges are addressing bottled water.

Russ

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/college-students-push-to-restrict-bottled-water/2011/04/20/AFeXBUEF_story.html

Fresh from Rosebank Farms

2011-05-08T12:20:00.001-04:00

Fresh from Rosebank Farms

We picked up our Swiss chard, beets, squash, lettuce, English peas, sugar snaps and strawberries this weekend at the CSA, Community Supported Agriculture, pickup place this weekend. We traded the beets for some more lettuce, I am not a big beet eater. We also bought some brown eggs and some flower for Teri Beth for Mother’s Day.

We a bought a three season package; spring, summer and fall. Each week we pick up the veggies that were ready for picking this week. We also get a newsletter type sheet with recipes and historic notes about the food. We purchased the package earlier in the year and with the increases in the price of food, the decision looks much wiser. Our motivation was not financial but is always nice to look smart.

Buying food locally supports local farmers, assures fresh produce on our dinner table and saves the energy that is consumed transporting strawberries from Mexico. Joining a CSA both is both sustainable and healthy. I also like twofers.

Rosebank http://www.rosebankfarms.com is just one of several CSAs in the area. Think about it.

Russ

Trident Technical College Demonstrating a Commitment to the Future

2011-04-28T13:39:00.000-04:00

Trident Technical College Demonstrating a Commitment to the Future

The design team for the Nursing and Science Building presented the Schematic Estimate today to the college leadership team. I was invited to attend and participate in the evaluation of options the design team presented. Most of the high dollar options did not involve energy or environmental issues. We did discuss different Heating and Air Conditioning Systems and the design team focused on very energy efficient systems. We also explored Solar PV, Solar Thermal options and although the cost-benefit calculations are not as attractive as some of the other options, they are still possibilities.

Dr. Thornley presented a presidential vision of an energy efficient and environmentally friendly building that would be a model for Trident Tech and for education institutions throughout the region. The design team is working hard to balance the financial pressures and still create the vision espoused by Dr. Thornley.

Russ

Sustainability Institute Event at Trident Tech Energy Center

2011-04-21T16:29:00.000-04:00

The Sustainability Institute hosted a presentation of the weatherization technician and other GREEN programs at Trident Technical College’s Energy Efficiency Center. North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey welcomed everyone credited the work of the Bryan Cordell and the Sustainability Institute in creating the foundation for North Charleston recognition as a Green City and the ability to win the Home Depot Clean Cities Grant.

Skip Godow, Trident Tech VP both entertained and informed the audience with information about Trident Technical College. Most people did not know the TTC has more undergraduates than the College of Charleston, The Citadel and MUSC combined. Skip explained his motivation for establishing a Green Business and Sustainability Department at the college and I had a chance to briefly introduce the Green Business and Sustainability Staff and the green training we developed.

Larry Bratton, Trident Technical College’s Green Coach, provided insights into the effect the training and support services provided by the Pathways to a Green South Project had on student lives. Four graduates of the program describe their person stories and how the training was truly life changing. These graduates demonstrated the importance of developing new skills and power of a program that is motivated to provide a nurturing environment and opportunity.

Several of the graduates thanked our instructors Chuck Tolle and Marvin Jackson as well as Larry Bratton and the entire project team.

Russ

Bryan Cordell, Director, Sustainability Institute

Larry Bratton and Graduates

Boeing to Install Solar Cells on Plant Roof

2011-04-19T13:59:00.001-04:00

A story in Charleston’s Post and Courier by John McDermott reported that Boeing will cover the roof of the 787 Assembly Plan in North Charleston with low-glare dark blue photovoltaic panels producing electricity for the plant. The project is part of a plan to power its local site entirely with renewable energy sources. Boeing is a leader in many fields and the investment in alternative energy is the kind of investment that can transform our region. If other companies follow Boeing example, it is possible to develop an alternative energy industry in the Charleston Area.

Trident Technical College is offering Solar Cell (PV) installation the summer. Contact Tim Fulford at 843- 574- 6177

Russ

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/apr/19/boeing-goes-green-solar-panels

Rep Gilliard presents copy of resolution

2011-04-16T06:16:00.001-04:00

Rep. Wendell G. Gilliard, District 111 presented a framed copy of a resolution he sponsored in the S.C. House of Representatives. The resolution recognized Trident Technical College’s weatherization technician program and the students in this class who worked hard to make it through the program. Each of the 24 students who made it through the program were individually listed in the resolution.

Rep. Gilliard visited the program during the first week of classes and challenged the class to develop the skills needed for the emerging Green Economy. He promised if the students accepted his challenged and graduated from the program, he would submit a resolution acknowledging their success. 26 students started the program and 24 graduated at a ceremony where Rep. Gilliard fulfilled his promised and presented a copy of the resolution.

The resolution also recognized the dedication of the college staff; VP Skip Godow, Energy Training Manager, Tim Fulford, the Weatherization Program’s Green Coach, Larry Bratton, Heather Isley, Project Administrative Assistant, and the partners from the Sustainability Institute; Bryon Cordell and Ben Leigh.

Also recognized were the lead instructors, Chuck Tolle and Marvin Jackson. They created an atmosphere of fun as well as learning. These were great students and it was a great day.

Russ

Rep Wendell Gilliard at Graduation (that's me on the left)

The Weatherization Technician training program at Trident Technical College’s Continuing Education and Economic Development division is designed as an entry-level program for those wanting to enter the residential weatherization field. Students learn basic construction techniques per the National Center for Construction Education and Research, the fundamentals of building science, and the correct methods and materials to weatherize homes. Upon completion, students have the ability to reduce a South Carolinian’s home energy consumption by an average of 30 percent.

The Weatherization Technician program is a U.S. Department of Labor Pathways to a Green South project supported through funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and administered through MDC Inc., Chapel Hill, N.C. The program represents a partnership between TTC and Charleston’s Sustainability Institute.

TTC Green Committee Meeting April 2011

2011-04-13T17:49:00.000-04:00

Heather Davis, senior account manager with Staples presented information on Staples Green Programs that stimulated a lively exchange on how Trident Technical College can reduce, reuse and recycle many of our office products. In addition to Heather’s presentation the TTC Green Committee digested the Commuter Survey results (more on those later this month), discussions with LINK and Rideshare that explored active support for car pooling and use a mass transit.

TTC Committee Members Bill Landry, Gary Crafts and Eric Hamilton

The TTC Green committee continues to work on the President’s Climate Action Committee and supporting Roots and Shoots and other student organizations in recycling and other green initiatives. It was a productive as well as educational meeting

Russ

Guest Blog from Jamee Haley, Lowcountry Local First

2011-04-11T08:05:00.000-04:00

Guest Blog from Jamee Haley, Lowcountry Local First:

This past week Lowcountry Local First launched the second year of our Growing New Farmers Program. Training future farmers and food system leaders in the Lowcountry is key to growing a strong local food system. We have 6 apprentices taking the course, one traveling from Beaufort and another from McClellanville. Several of our apprentices from last year have returned to become Teacher's Assistants on the training farms. A key component to the program is the Sustainable Agriculture course that is offered in conjunction with Trident Technical College. Trident's class provides the scientific and technical skills that our future farmers need to be successful. The lessons taught in the class each week are then applied in action on the farms each week.

Last year was the first year a course of this kind has been taught in the Charleston area and we are excited to play a role in educating the community at large and those future farmers who will join and follow the current generation. Other partners that have made contributions to this program are our farm mentors Maria Baldwin, Joseph Fields, Sidi Limehouse and Sean Thackery. Clemson has also helped complete this holistic approach to training with the well received Food and Farming Entrepreneurship course and the New and Beginning Farmer Training Program.

It's great to see collaboration, cooperation and community come together to build our local foodshed!

Jamee Haley

Executive Director

Lowcountry Local First

jamee@lowcountrylocalfirst.org

843-276-6731

843-740-5444

www.lowcountrylocalfirst.org

Please join us for Chef's Potluck on April 17th!

Signature Charity of the BB&T Charleston Wine + Food Festival

Sustainability in Horticulture Certificate

2011-04-09T09:15:00.000-04:00

Trident Technical College offers Sustainability in Horticulture Certificate.

Sustainable Horticulture protects, restores and enhances the ability of landscapes to provide ecosystem services that benefit humans and other organism. The green movement is nothing new to horticulture. However, there are new and exciting technologies that impact the sustainable development of the landscape, practices that not only reduce our ecological footprint but enhance our participation with nature. The TTC certificate program includes topics such as green roofs, vertical gardening, permeable paving, floating wetlands, light pollution, alternative energy, native and invasive plants, organic gardening, composting, and conservation practices that impact birds, bees, butterflies and bats. Upon completion, students can take advantage of new techniques to further green our future.

Contact Tony Bertauski at 843 574 6278 or email Tony.Bertauski@tridenttech.edu

TTC Green Meets with Mobility Manager, Vonie Gilreath

2011-04-08T15:29:00.000-04:00

TTC Green Meets with Mobility Manager, Vonie Gilreath

Energy usage and commuter miles are Trident Technical College’s two biggest contributions to greenhouse gas. In his presentation to the leadership cabinet Bob Walker, TTC Green Chair, provided the results of a quick look at employees and area codes to estimate that employees and students drive 174,000 miles per day. (The miles around the earth is 24901.55 at the equator) This does not include Con Ed student miles or adjunct. That is a lot of miles.

Vonie Gilreath and Bob Walker looking at TTC Commuter Survey Results

Bob Walker and I met with Vonie Gilreath, the Mobility Manager with the Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester Council of Governments. Vonie discussed Rideshare.com services, LINK and CARTA transportation possibilities and other creative ideas for reducing our commuter miles and save money for staff and students. You will be hearing more about these efforts soon. This looks like some great potential for the college as we address issues facing our college, students and employees.

Russ

Representative Wendell Gilliard visits Weatheriztion Training Program

2011-04-05T07:22:00.002-04:00

Representative Wendell Gilliard from Charleston’s 111^th district drove back from Columbia to talk with our Pathway to a Green Economy Weatherization Technician Class. Representative Gilliard talked about the importance weatherization to the people of Charleston, how their work would lower the power bills and increase the livability for many of our elderly and poor. He discussed the importance of these kinds of programs to the recovering economy and the ability of the United States to reduce our dependence on oil.

Representative Gilliard connected with our students as he talked about his past and what it took to be successful. He recognized the work of Larry Bratton, our Green Coach. He also promised the student that he would introduce a resolution in the House and team up with a member of the Senate for a Joint Resolution that would recognize the accomplishments of the program and every student that graduates.

Representative Gilliard’s words were inspiring and his message positive as he encouraged students to take advantage of the opportunities this training provided. It was obvious the students appreciated the support of Representative Gilliard and identified with his message. Overall, a great day for the program.

Russ

Library Resourse for green

2011-04-05T06:53:00.000-04:00

David Hansen published the information below in Trident Technical College's Monday Edition. Some great information.

Russ

Online guide helps users tap into green resources

TTC’s Learning Resources Center has a vibrant library collection of materials and resources related to green practices and the sustainability movement. To make it easier to navigate and access, Jessica Hogan, a reference and bibliographic instruction librarian, has created an online guide in conjunction with TTC Green.

The guide highlights timely book titles such as “Green Collar Jobs,” “The Solar House” and the “Encyclopedia of Global Warming.” It also provides a GreenFILE search engine that allows users to locate information in newspapers, periodicals and other publications. Plus, a vocational and career database contains full text articles from more than 340 trade and industry-related periodicals

Additional linked databases are arranged by general topics: alternative fuels, energy efficiency, environmental sustainability, green building, green business, renewably energy, solar installation and solar panels. To access any of the databases from off-campus, TTC students will be prompted to enter their student ID. Likewise, TTC staff and faculty will also be prompted to enter their 7-digit Datatel number for verification.

Click here to explore and learn more.

Green Parking Lot

2011-04-04T17:39:00.000-04:00

Trident Technical College Facilities Department invested in a “green” parking lot this spring. The college needed the additional parking near the 950 building to accommodate the college growth as well as the training at Boeing. Eric Hamilton, Director of Facilities at Trident Technical College provided some of the detailed specification, but basically the new technology in the parking lot allows water to soak through the surface. This is critical to retaining water in our ground water system rather than water runoff. The system is much healthier for the environment.

The System Eric installed Limited Impact Development (LID) measures at Trident. These put more strength in areas of high traffic and more porous material in low density areas of the parking low. The design also included swells to channel and hold water rather than allow run off.

The photo graph was taken during the installation.

Russ

World Food Prices Rising

2011-04-03T07:16:00.001-04:00

Food prices were a contributor to the unrest in the Middle East and prices are continue to rise as food stock piles shrink. http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/03/31/135020745/food-prices-keep-rising

Food prices in the United States have not seen significant increases (2.2%). The NY Times reported that some food companies are quietly shrinking the amount of food in each package and others are raising prices.

When I was born the earth fed, sometimes poorly, 4.5 billion people. Today the world feeds 7 billion. New technologies and the transformation of forest and other lands into farm land have kept pace with the increasing demand until recently.

With increasing demand for food, the earths ability to feed the growing population is becoming stretched. Key ingredients (land, water and fertilizer) are finite resources and Newsweek reported that the world supply of phosphates are shrinking. All agricultural crops need phosphates, which are key ingredient in the industrial fertilizers that have helped raise global yields in recent decades.

"At a U.N. food-security conference in Rome two weeks ago, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on rich nations to up R&D spending in agriculture to encourage the development of new kinds of high-yield crops, artificial phosphates, and other farm innovations."
http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/wealth-of-nations/2009/12/02/dwindling-phosphate-supply-affects-food-crisis.html

Trident Technical College is offering classes in growing food locally. Think about it.

Catherine McGuinn and Russ Darnall

Catherine McGuinn
Program Coordinator for Sustainable Agriculture
Trident Technical College
cmcguinn@bellsouth.net

GE CEO Speaks at College of Charleston

2011-03-28T08:01:00.000-04:00

Matt Tomsic described the talk by GE CEO Jeff Immelt at the College of Charleston last week in his SCbiznews article. Immelt discussed General Electric’s focus on clean energy that generated $100 billion in revenues in 2010. GE is an extremely successful company generating over $6 billion dollars in profits last year. (on a side note, they also paid no federal income tax last year)

According to Tomsic, Immelt said he hopes to transition the debate about clean energy from talking about green energy to energy efficiency. “Green energy” turns people off, he said, and has been cast as elitist. And it's wrong,” Immelt said. “But sometimes, perception is reality.”

Immelt also said there should be a carbon tax, that a market price for carbon will drive the right behavior. In a quote from Tomsic’s article. Immelt said, “I’m in the minority,” he said. “This isn’t going to happen anytime soon in this country. I can live with that.” In the meantime, he said, businesses should invest in clean energy and not wait on public policy.

Good article: http://www.charlestonbusiness.com/news/38887-ge-chairman-ceo-speaks-on-economy
Russ

Sustainability and Food

2011-03-27T14:46:00.000-04:00

Food may be becoming a larger influencer of sustainability than energy. Most discussions of sustainability focus on the ability of our resources to meet the growing need for energy to support the emerging economies of the world. Slowly, I am beginning to see food scarcity beginning to trump energy as the focus of concern. Although the United Nations has listed hunger and malnutrition as the world’s number one health issue for years, the huge increase in food prices in Tunisia sparked a reaction that spread throughout the Middle East.

“Something very dramatic is happening,” he warned. “We’ve entered a new global scenario with respect to food, hunger and conflict … an era where things are likely to get tougher, not easier, in terms of production,” he said. “We’re hitting boundaries that are very important to understand and very important to counteract.” Jeffrey Sachs, the renowned Columbia University economist and special adviser to United Nations’ Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/renowned-economists-outlook-darkens-on-global-food-prospects/article1957725/

Is the earth capable of feeding 7 billion people? Not unless we think about food production in a very different way.

Trident Technical College Continuing Education has practical programs focused on local needs and solutions. Tim Fulford created energy conservation and alternative energy programs that are worth exploring. Catherine McGuinn developed local/ green agriculture programs that are new this year.

Trident Technical College Green Business and Sustainability is a department within Continuing Education. Explore out courses online at http://www.tridenttech.edu/ce.htm

Russ

Presentation at TTC Leadership Cabinet

2011-03-22T07:34:00.001-04:00

Bob Walker, Chairperson of TTC Green, and I made a presentation to the Trident Technical College Leadership Council yesterday. I provided a very short overview of the reason for the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) intiative and the Dr. Thornley's signing the committemnt http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/about/mission-history

Bob provided a timeline of TTC Green actives and discussed the challenges in front of the college. Student, faculty and staff commuting miles was the number one contributor to green house gas emissions. Energy use in our building was the second largest contributor.

Commuter miles just to the main campus in over 175,000 miles per day without including Continuing Education students or special college events. That equals eight trips around the earth, in other words, A LOT OF MILES.

Bob showed several charts and discussed a survey that will be out this week to discover more about our driving patterns and explore ways to reduce miles driven. We know any effort to reduce miles driven will mean a change for people, so we will also explore how we reinforce ride sharing and mass transit alternatives. Maybe the increase gas prices will provide that incentive.

Bob did a great job.

Russ

Sustainability Director's Lunch

2011-03-16T06:58:00.001-04:00

Each month the Directors of Sustainability for MUSC, The Citadel, City of Charleston, Trident Technical College and the Sustainability Institute get together for an informal discussion. This month we met for lunch and discussion local area mass transit and options are available for our employees and students and how we might support greater ridership. Higher gas prices may motivate people to look at mass transit who have not do so recently.

Christine Cooley,MUSC, Brian Sheehan, Cof C Paul Cantrel, Citadel

We also continued our discussion of recycling and explored some of the barriers companies and institution encounter when motivated to recycle a larger portion of their waste. Recycling is still not as easy as just throwing things away. We discussed and shared ways to make recycling easier for people.

Russ

Sustainable Agriculture at Trident Technical College

2011-03-09T10:35:00.001-05:00

Below is a list of the new classes that are going to be going on line in the next few weeks (http://www.tridenttech.edu/21337.htm) by Trident Technical College's Continuing Education's Green Courses' Sustainable Agriculture Program, created in partnership with Lowcountry Local First. We are working together to reach more folks! Graduates form these class will have the skills to run sustainable rural/urban farms, teach in school gardens, created community gardens, victory gardens, new local food biz, and work in food justice here in the Lowcountry.

Our classes are designed for anyone interested in; growing gardens, large or small, marketing their produce or just sharing it with friends, growing for their family, their child’s school, or their community. If you are looking for a new career in the growing agricultural industry, or just looking for a productive new hobby, our classes are for you!

The course will be held just 25 miles down the road, at Trident Tech's St Paul's Parish Site in Hollywood, SC on Hwy 162.

Instructor’s Name: Buster Herrington
Course Info (Title):  Tractors
Class fee: $79.00
Location: St Paul's Parish Site, classroom 104
Date: Saturday, March 26th, 9am -1pm
Class description:  Parts, operation, safety and maintenance

Instructor’s Name: Jenny Bloom
Course Info (Title):  Market Gardens
Class fee: $169.00
Location: St Paul's Parish Site, Classroom 104
Date: Monday, April 4,11,18, 25 from 6:30-8:30pm
Class description:  Growing and Marketing from a Small Scale Farming Perspective

Instructor’s Name: Kari Whitley
Course Info (Title):  Intro to Sustainable Agriculture
Class fee: $259.00
Location: St Paul's Parish Site, Classroom 104
Date: Thursdays, April 7- June 2, 6:00-8:30
Class description:  The Basics for Growing Food Locally

Instructor’s Name: Roger Francis
Course Info (Title):  Local Soils and Soil Amendments
Class fee: $169.00
Location: St Paul's Parish Site, Classroom 104
Date: Thursdays, June 2, 9, 16, 23 form 6:30-8:30
Class description:  Learn about our local soils and how best to amend them to maximize your gardens yield

Instructor’s Name: Jenny Bloom
Course Info (Title): Composting
Class fee: $79.00
Location: St Paul's Parish Site, Classroom 104
Date: Monday, June 6 and June 13th from 6:30-8:30pm
Class description: Composting in piles, worm boxes and the best ways to incorporate compost into your garden.

Instructor’s Name: Danielle Spies

Course Info (Title): Propagation

Location: Savory Herbs Farm, Johns Island

Date: Saturdays, September 10^th and 17^th, 9:00am- 1:00pm
Class description: Seeding, soils, and cuttings; the basics of propagation for any size grower

Sustainable Agriculture Program Coordinator: Catherine McGuinn

Contact information: cmcguinn@bellsouth.net

An expert taken from, Who are the new farmers? By John Ikerd: http://web.missouri.edu/~ikerdj/papers/SFT-New%20Farmers%20-%20USDA%20Census.htm

A link to all of John Ikerd’s papers: http://web.missouri.edu/~ikerdj/papers/

Energy Saving Course offered at Trident Technical College

2011-03-09T10:32:00.000-05:00

Below is a list of the new classes that are going to be going on line in the next few weeks (http://www.tridenttech.edu/21337.htm) by Trident Technical College's Continuing Education's Energy Saving Courses. These courses focus on reducing energy consumption and alternative energy options. Let me know if you have questions.

Tim Fulford: 843 574-6177

Building Science

This course introduces the student to the fundamentals of Building Science. The course covers the methods for controlling the movement of air, heat and moisture within residential structures, top energy wasters in homes, power and energy calculations, heat loss calculations, and ventilation requirements. Calculator required. Book not included.

XGSB 647 – 501 5/3 T 8:30 – 4 pm $149 M

Reducing Energy Use and Cost

Explore the options available to Lowcountry homeowners to significantly reduce energy sue and its cost in our hot, humid climate. The course introduces home weatherization techniques like the following: air sealing, insulation methods, lighting, appliances and water heating. The instructor is a building performance building analyst, envelope professional and a South Carolina accredited commercial energy manager.

XGSB 660-501 6/22 W 6 – 8 pm M

Hot Climate Mobile Home

This course introduces the student to the weatherization of mobile homes. The following topics are covered: dust diagnostics and repair, belly repair, sidewall and roof insulation retrofit, blower door operation and combustion appliance safety.

XGSB 666-501 4/11 -14 MTWTh 8:30 – 4:30 pm $450 M

Hot Climate Site Built Home

This course introduces the student to the weatherization of as built residential structures. This course is designed for contractors and sub-contractors. The following topics are covered: building assessment, weatherization methods and materials, blower door set-up and operation and combustion appliance safety.

XGSB 666-501 5/9 -12 MTWTh 8:30 – 4:40 pm $450 M

Alternative Energy

Solar Water Heating

This course provides the fundamentals of installing code compliant solar how water systems. Students will learn the concepts of solar water heating, safety, and the installation of solar water heating systems.

XGSB 662 – 502 6/7 – 7/7 TTH 1 – 5 pm $1499

Solar PV

This course introduces the installation of solar photovoltaic systems. Topics include the history of solar, system types, electricity basics, and cost benefit analysis.

XGSB 661-502 5/6-7 FS 8 – 4 pm $399

Tim

Pathways to a Green South Partnership Meeting

2011-03-09T09:05:00.001-05:00

The Pathways for a Green South Project Partnering meeting met yesterday at the college. The Pathways Project recruits, trains and assist in job placement for eligible people within the Charleston PUMA. (A PUMA is geographic area defined by census data).

This project focuses on training in residential weatherization skills, such as insulating homes. Over 100 people have been trained in the program. The Executives from each of the partnering organizations meet quarterly to review the progress on the project. Yesterday, Skip Godow, VP with Trident Tech, Paul Connerty, Administrator of the Trident Workforce Board and Bryan Cordell, Director of the Sustainability Institute reviewed presentations from the project staff. Dr. John Cooper, from MDC in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, also attended. MDC is the grant administer.

The project review was very positive as the project team shared success stories and reviewed budget and schedule progress. This is a great executive team to support this type of project and the project team has done an outstanding job with the support of the partners and MDC.

The Pathways project is funded by the Department of Labor as authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act).

Russ

Paul Connerty and Dr. Cooper

TTC Green: A Guide To Materials in the TTC Learning Resources Center/Library

2011-03-07T11:39:00.000-05:00

TTC Green: A Guide To Materials in the TTC Learning Resources Center/Library

This guide was developed by Jessica L. Hogan, Reference/Bibliographic Instruction Librarian and the TTC Learning Resources Center/Library. The guide will help you find information and resources related to green practices and sustainability in the TTC Learning Resources Centers. The guide highlights useful books, databases containing newspaper and journal articles, and a link to the TTC Green Website, which has more information and resources. Be sure to check out the GreenFILE database, a database dedicated to the green movement with the latest information from several professional journals. Contact a librarian for assistance with any resources.

Russ

Link for the subject guide: http://libguides.tridenttech.edu/ttcgreenresources

South Carolina Leads in LEED Certification

2011-03-03T16:03:00.000-05:00

Sometimes we look around to see all the opportunity and wonder why we are not doing more. In one area South Carolina is leading in the journey to creating a sustainable future. South Carolina was listed as a leader in Green Building. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) today released its 2010 list of top 10 states for LEED-certified commercial and institutional green buildings per capita, based on the U.S. 2010 Census information and South Carolina was ranked number six. I think this says a lot about the engineers and architects that graduate from our schools and plan our buildings. http://www.usgbc.org/Docs/News/List%20of%20Top%20Ten%20States%20for%20LEED%202011.pdf

What are the latest developments in Alternative Energy?

2011-03-03T11:50:00.000-05:00

Trident Technical College will not be able to achieve our sustainability goals without the use of alternative energy. What type of alternative energy and when is the technology appropriate for implementation are questions I explored at the 5^th annual Alternative Energy Conference in Orlando, Florida.

The most cost effective alternative energy solutions to reach these goals are Solar PV and Thermal, Wind energy and Ocean wave energy.

A solar PV presentation showed the ability of solar energy to be used on a commercial scale at an Air Force base in Florida. The use of PV panels at the Florida Air Base cost $5 per watt, and at this price Solar PV is approaching a payback that will be justifiable to many building energy managers in the very near future especially with the escalating cost of electricity.

Distributed wind energy systems presented on the effectiveness of reducing purchased electricity by installing 17 wind turbines at a Sam’s club in California with a payback period of less than 10 years. The 2.4 kW turbines (12 feet rotor diameter) have produced 76,000 kWh annually which is enough energy to power six average homes for a year. The wind energy systems showed the ability of their new efficient wind turbines that in the correct location small scale turbines can be just as effective as large scale off shore turbines. www.windenergy.com

Spindrift Energy a producer of ocean wave energy turbines showed the ability of these devices to produce large fractions of the required US demand of 3.9 trillion kWh per year. The spindrift device uses the Bernoulli Effect to force water through the turbine at a high rate of speed to produce electricity at less than $0.02 per kWh. The 500 kW ocean turbines cost around $170 k per installation and will produce 75 million kWh of energy over a 20 year lifespan. The ocean turbine is well suited for coastal cities in order to reduce line losses and thus make the ocean turbine an energy efficient alternative energy source.

Tim Fulford

Energy Training Manager

Meeting with Trident Technical College Student Cabinet

2011-03-02T17:05:00.000-05:00

I met with TTC's Student Cabinet at lunch today. The Student Cabinet is composed of the president and vice president of all the student associations at the college and this was a very sharp group of students. I discussed the TTC Green Action Planning process we are developing and connected it to our efforst to create a more sustainable campus.

We discussed was to reduce the number of miles students need to drive and what would motivte students to use public transportation. The students had a great grasp of the issues and contributed good ideas. I also noticed that the adminstrative staff at the meeting took good notes. Very productive meeting. Thanks to the students for the contributions.

Russ

Sustainable Agriculture at Trident Technical College - Who are the Future Farmers?

2011-03-02T07:23:00.000-05:00

Who are our new farmers? They are you!

If you are wondering if the classes we have created here as part of Trident Technical Colleges Green Courses in partnership with Lowcountry Local First are for you, they are. Our classes are designed for anyone interested in; growing gardens, large or small, marketing their produce or just sharing it with friends, growing for their family, their child’s school, or their community. If you are looking for a new career in the growing agricultural industry, or just looking for a productive new hobby, our classes are for you!

An expert taken from Who are the new farmers? By John Ikerd: http://web.missouri.edu/~ikerdj/papers/SFT-New%20Farmers%20-%20USDA%20Census.htm

The new American farmers are different – as are their customers. Not only do they look different, they think differently, and they have a different vision for the future of American agriculture.

These new sustainable farmers are quite literally coming from everywhere. The new American farmers are young people who have no experience or previous connection to farming. Most are well educated, but still willing to work hard for little pay in on-farm internship programs to learn the art, science, and practice of real farming. What they lack in experience they more than offset in energy, enthusiasm, and commitment.

Others are retired couples, many still in their 50s; who may or may not have grown up on a farm. They have saved up enough money during successful careers for at least a down payment on a small farm. They have decided to spend their “retirement” doing something they have always wanted to do. They may find their off-farm experience very useful in the business aspects of farming but have to learn the rest of farming from scratch.

A few new farmers even have conventional farming backgrounds. Some eventually come to the conclusion that the industrial paradigm of agriculture wasn’t working, so they change paradigms in mid-stream. Others grew up on conventional farms but have decided that farming must change and they are going to help change it.

What makes me most hopeful for the future of American agriculture is the large number of very bright young people on college campuses all across the country that want to find careers in sustainable agriculture – including farming, marketing, finance, and policy. They may or may not have a background in agriculture but they understand the importance of agriculture to the future and they want to be a part of it. In this, there is hope for the future.

A link to all of John Ikerd’s papers: http://web.missouri.edu/~ikerdj/papers/

Catherine

Sustainable Agriculture at Trident Technical College

2011-03-01T08:08:00.000-05:00

Sustainable Agriculture at Trident Technical College

Trident Technical College is excited to announce its creation of a Sustainable Agriculture Program in partnership with Lowcountry Local First.

This will be one of only two Technical College Agriculture Program of this kind in South Carolina. We have found some of the best teachers on the subject, and we will work together to offer a foundation in the most rewarding and growing fields in the state. This series of classes will ultimately offer hands-on training and in-depth classroom instruction to understand and master the daily requirements of a career in agriculture. Our classes will take place on St. Paul’s Parish Campus in Hollywood SC, only about 28 miles from Downtown Charleston, and located in and around the agriculture-rich Johns Island and Wadmalaw Islands area. Upon completion of these initial classes, students will have the basics of the skills that farmers need to enter the workforce, or to operate their own farm. As we grow our program we will be working directly with some of the major agribusinesses in the region to develop the curriculum further.

Career outlook for Farming is good! According to the S.C. Department of Agriculture annual report, “Agribusiness is one of South Carolina's largest economic clusters and an important part of the knowledge based economy.” Agriculture-based businesses play a critical and expanding role in the growth of South Carolina's economy. It is also a known fact that half of all current farmers in the United States are likely to retire in the next decade. Enlisting and supporting new farmers is essential to the future of family farms, the farm economy, and healthy rural communities.

I am Catherine McGuinn, and I will be coordinating the Sustainable Agriculture Program for Trident Technical College. I have been teaching and creating horticultural and agricultural programs for over 10 years. I received a master degree from Virginia Tech University in Horticulture. My research was based on creating vocational horticulture curriculums and I have published 2 articles on this topic. While I may not be a farmer, farming is part of my family history, and I have worked as a horticulturalist for nearly a dozen years, owned an organic gardening business, worked on Thornhill Farms, created vocational horticulture programs all around the Lowcountry , worked as a vocational horticulture teacher, and as an onsite soil scientist where I ran a drill crew, and sampled groundwater in agricultural fields for pesticide infiltration. I am excited to use my skills to teach our future market gardeners, and farms large and small!

Our First Class in this Spring Series will be Tractors on March 26^th! Stayed tuned for more information!

Catherine

Food Prices and Sustainable Agriculture at Trident Technical College

2011-03-01T08:03:00.000-05:00

Globally, food prices are increasing. The one that strikes home is coffee prices increased 100% in the past year. Wheat 60% and corn 80% will have a greater impact on the global economy and may have a local impact. Fereed Zakaria of CNN did a story this past Sunday on the link between increased food prices and the unrest in the Middle East. Increase food prices in India and China may also have an effect on political stability. Link to CNN Zakaria’s story.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/02/27/exp.fareed.witw.fin.crisis.cnn

How is this story linked to sustainability? Sustainable food is a large component of sustainability. Two aspects of sustainable food includes: buying local, seasonally available is a standard for minimizing energy used in food production, transport and storage and buying food from farming systems that minimize harm to the environment. These are two of the seven aspects of sustainable food discussed by the Alliance for Better Food and Farming. http://www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefood

Lowcountry Local First and Trident Technical College are partnering to support local farming and to provide training in a number of agricultural areas this spring. I suspect a number of people will be considering growing their own food this summer, both to reduce food costs and because home grow food tastes better.

Catherina McGuinn will be leading this effort for the partnership and will be posting more information in the TTC Green Blog later this week.

Russ

Passive Houses Aggressively Save Energy

2011-02-28T15:57:00.000-05:00

USA Today ran an article “Passive Houses Aggressively Save Energy”. Houses that are super-insulated and sealed so that no furnace is needed. One owner claimed that heat from light bulbs or a hair dryer was sufficient. Although much more common in Europe, where utility bills are a great deal higher, the article describes homes in Salt Lake City. New building codes, an increase in the quality of building materials and the growing number of designers and builders with the skills to build super efficient houses are increasing the supply and the demand.

The City of Charleston, http://www.charlestongreencommittee.com/, the Sustainability Institute, http://www.sustainabilityinstitutesc.org/ and others in the Charleston Area are creating an infrastructure for current home owners to reduce the energy costs through weatherizing existing homes. Charleston SAVES and the new program created through a grant from Home Depot foundation are just a couple of examples of Charleston initiatives.

Trident Technical College trains people in the skills to create a more energy efficient home including the skills to evaluate your homes energy efficiency, skills to develop a scope of work and plan for making a home more efficient and the weatherization technician skills. Tim Fulford, Trident Technical College’s Energy Training Manager will be posting more about these programs later this month.

Russ

TTC Green Committee Meeting

2011-02-23T09:57:00.000-05:00

The TTC Green Committee met yesterday afternoon. Laurie Fladd made a presentation on the new sustainability courses that will be offered at TTC this fall. She discussed that employers want knowledge and skills in sustainability, although there may be very few pure sustainability jobs. Knowledge and sustainable skills will add value to employees and more jobs are emerging as the green economy develops.

Gary Craft presented the TTC Program Matrix of courses that include sustainability. Gary's team will now populate the matrix, rating courses on a scale and developing a method for identifying classes with significant green content and labeling these in the catalog with a green leaf or similar symbol.

The TTC Green Committee also discussed the development of the Climate Action Plan. This is the plan to reach the commitment made by Dr. Thronley to a carbon free college campus. The college has two major carbon contributors; the energy used to operate our facilities and the miles commuting by students and employees. Developing plans to reduce energy consumption and miles driven requires major shifts in our culture and ways of doing business. The committee will be going to the college community asking for ideas over the next couple of months. This will be both challenging and exciting.

Russ

TTC Nursing and Science Building

2011-02-22T13:26:00.000-05:00

I attended the Trident Technical College design meeting for the sustainable Nursing and Science Center on the Main Campus. One goal of the center is to be the Charleston model for green building, efficiency and sustainability. The center will focus on the following key areas to reach these goals: Attention to Site Use, Water Efficient systems, Care of and smart use of Materials and Resources, Energy Reduction, and Exceptional Indoor Air Quality. These goals will be met with an attention to cost and providing students the science and art of nursing.

The site use area will focus on building up not out thus creating a smaller footprint which provides more green space, reducing or eliminating storm water runoff by using permeable paving systems, using local native plants to reduce water irrigation and site parking will encourage car pooling. The Nursing and Science center will also install low flow urinals (1 pint per flush) and water closets that use 1.28 gallons per flush all well below standard water sustainability baselines. In addition, a rain water harvesting system is planned to further reduce potable water consumption by using rainwater for irrigation and water closets. The design will practice sustainable construction techniques by minimizing waste during construction and design a process flow within the center that will make recycling part of the building upon on completion for faculty, staff and students.

Since Energy cost is a large concern for most buildings the College’s focus on energy reduction will be to use natural lighting or highly efficient lighting, orient the building to minimize solar heat gain, employ passive solar design techniques like overhangs above windows to reduce summer heat gain, install a highly efficient heating and cooling system using the ground as the heat exchanger and most importantly construct an air tight and well insulated building envelope to reduce the heating and cooling systems size as well as run time. Since people spend about 90% of their times indoors the center will strive to provide the highest possible level of indoor air quality. To this aim, the center will include features that monitor carbon dioxide, provide fresh air ventilation, use high value filters for the HVAC system and use low VOC paints and finishes.

Tim Fulford, Energy Training Manager

Charleston Sustainable Cities/ Home Depot Foundation Program Charette

2011-02-22T12:50:00.000-05:00

Tim Fulford and I had the opportunity to participate in the Charleston Sustainable Cities Program Charrette. A Charrette is a term being applied by groups to describe the intense planning that is associated with the kickoff of a program, especially programs designed to reduce energy consumption.

The Charleston Sustainable Cities program is a partnership between the City of Charleston and the Sustainability Institute http://www.sustainabilityinstitutesc.org/ with support from the Home Depot Foundation. The program will conduct an energy audit for 200 homes and retrofit 50 of these homes to demonstrate the savings generated from wisely retrofitting home to save energy and money.

The program will provide other valuable benefits including the development of a curriculum for teaching professionals to weatherize Historic Homes. TTC Green will be assisting in the development of this curriculum and will be delivering this training later this year.

Renee Patty, Bryan Cordell and Ben Leigh of the Sustainability Institute did a great job of leading the program, Brian Sheehan and the team from the Charleston Green Committee dedicated numerous hours to help get this program off to a good start.

This is another example of Charleston's Green Leadership.

Russ

New Nursing and Science Building Programming Meeting

2011-02-19T12:31:00.000-05:00

Bob Walker, TTC Green Chair, and I attended the programing meeting for the new Nursing and Science Building. The programing meeting is where college leadership communicates to the architect the college vision and needs for the building. Dr. Thornley, started the meeting with a history of the building and thanked lots of people who helped make the building a possibility.

Dr. Thornley communicated a vision to the architect and the college staff that will be working with the architect's team of a building that would an inspiration for faculuty and students but also a model of green that other colleges and universities would come to visit to better understand how to design and construct a green building. Scott Poelker, VP of Business Affairs and Bob Walker reinforced this vision with discussions of energy efficiency and green material handling.

The discussions and the focus on demonstrating TTC's commitment to creating a green and sustainable building was both fun and inspiring.

Russ

James Meadows and the Charleston Green Committee

2011-02-09T07:02:00.000-05:00

Bob Walker, TTC Green Chairperson and I attended the City of Charleston Green Committee yesterday morning. James Meadows, chairperson of the Green Committee complimented the group of the two years of hard work that culminated in the Charleston Green Plan. Cities from across the USA are modeling there planning process off of Charlestons..

James Meadows, Chairman Charleston Green Committee

James then challenged the team to invest the same amount of energy and dedication in the implementation of the plan. An excellent presentation with a balance of great work in the past and focus on what we need to do. Each committee chair then provided an update on their committee's activities/ successes.

The Green Committee has done a great job, which is also a reflection of excellent leadership. Yet, there is lots to do and Trident Technical College continues to invest in the sustainability of our communities.