GOING GREEN

GroupKayla Wagner, Lydia Gill, Jon Frame, Will Koznarek, Emma Berry, Merrill Clerkin, Lewis Shim, Ally Derthick, Graydon LeggSenior LeaderEvan Litsios Group LeaderMs. Hanley

Introduction

Our group went into JUA with a goal of discovering how urban areas are progressing towards becoming “green”.

This focused on new innovations that help companies and individual people to become more eco-friendly.

We visited the Seaport hotel, which gave us the experience to view a business aspect of the green movement.

As well as a L.E.E.D. certified Arts for Humanities building, which showed new construction technologies that can be used to be more sustainable.

After visiting these informative locations, we had a chance to go out and survey people around us.

The city of Boston gave us the ability to get all ranges of people, and get a sense of where the green movement is going.

The Seaport HotelEco-friendly? Or Business-friendly? One perspective: The Seaport Hotel is a

business oriented group They use “eco-friendly”

practices as gimmicks and money making tactics

Most efforts for sustainability are based around funding reduction for the purpose of saving the hotel money while giving it a good reputation, attracting more customers.

They make money by going “green”…they are not doing it to help the planet.

Seaport Hotel: Eco-friendly pioneer

Another perspective is that the Seaport Hotel is doing great things for the environment and the “Green” Hotel Industry because of programs such as:

Bio-Ez: waste to H2O systema. Converts waste into water

that goes into the sewer system

b. In 2008, diverted 53 tons of organic waste from landfills.

Seaport Hotel: Eco-friendly pioneer continued

Ozone Laundry System: Reduces wash time Penetrates fabrics better More intense cleaning

35% decrease in chemicals

35% decrease in water/sewer usage

80% decrease in hot water generation

30% decrease in electric cost

I Just Want a Nice HotelAnd the a third perspective held by the hotel’s occupants may

be: I don’t care if they bought 36 orchids. I just want a 4 diamond

hotel at a lower rate. I want to hold my convention somewhere that is prestigious.

The seaport seems like any other hotel on the outside. It would not necessarily attract a “crunchy” or “hippy” type of customer. Business types are attracted to it for functions because of its financial availability and its reputation rather than its ideals.

ARTS FOR HUMANITY

An organization which hires 120, fourteen to eighteen year olds to be commissioned to make art work.

Mediums include painting, sculpture, screen printing, graphic design, and seamstressing

Funding comes from private donors, and renting their facilities for outside occasions. Every night the facility is rented out, the Arts For Humanity program brings in $4,000 to $5,000.

Arts For Humanity was established in 1989. The organization moved its headquarters to 100 West Second Street in 2004.

What AFH is Made of It’s a L.E.E.D Platinum certified building!

L – leadership

E – energy

E – environmental

D – design

-To be “green”, the building has large windows to maximize lighting without using energy. The windows also help maximize natural heat from sunlight

-The concrete floors help to hold a more comfortable temperature all year long. The material for the concrete is also mixed with reused fly-ash (nuclear power plant waste). The fly-ash helps make the concrete harder and lighter.

-Instead of using energy-hungry AC units, the AFH building uses a large ventilation system to cool the whole building. Fans are placed throughout the building to keep airflow without using too much energy. The ventilation system is promised to provide 364 days of comfort.

-The L.E.E.D Platinum certified walls are layered with certain amounts of insulation to keep the outside temperatures out, and keep the inside temperatures in.

- Steel beams, holding the inside structure, are set away from the walls so the steel doesn’t take on the cool property of the steel in the walls.

-There are lifted solar panels on the roof to collect energy from natural sunlight, and underneath, the roof is at a 45 degree angle to allow water to run-off into a collection pool. The run-off water is used for jobs that would otherwise need fresh water.

Things We Saw @ AFH

The steel beams were separated from the walls.

The run-off rain water was moved from the roof to the bottom floor through this tube.

The walls were layered with insulations to keep the outside temperatures out, and the inside temperatures in.

Our OpinionEmma Berry – “ Their approach on making a more ‘green’ program and facility was innovative and cool.”

Jon Frame – “ I was slightly disappointed with the lack of zest with the buildings overall look and feel.”

Louis Shim – “Uh, I liked it.”

Ally Derthick – “I thought it was really ‘green’! It was so interesting and fun.”

Evan Litsios – “I thought that, uh, both the building and the program were revolutionary for South Boston, and they are doing great things!”

Will Koznarek – “It was pretty cool what they were doing. Giving the teens an extra step in getting involved in the business world was a great idea!”

Merrill Clerkin – “Um, I think it was awesome. The program they had was very cool. I was excited that they had made it to L.E.E.D Platinum certified!”

Graydon Legg – “It was a steal, for the building to only pay $183 per square foot!”

Lydia Gill – “It was inspirational to see such a great program in itself to take the steps and also be eco-friendly.”

Kayla Wagner – “The program is a great idea. The people were nice, and they really seemed to believe in what they were doing. The ‘green’ and eco-friendly building was unreal.”

Street Interviews – Harvard Square

Recyclers Dado Tea Café

Recycled brown bags Locally purchased goods Sales representative personally likes to

conserve Tis-Tik Jewelry

Fare trade Family made products

Not recyclable bags Sales representative is not conscious

about conserving Envi

All clothes are recycled material or bamboo

Hangers are made of paper maché Locally made clothes Sales representative is heavily

conscientious Street Woman #1

Buys 50% local About 50% environmentally conscious

Recyclers (cont.) Cardulo’s Owner

Personal belifs are very strong She teaches her employees to be

very eco-conscious Tells them to ask for bags

Works with local and environmentally friendly companies

Does what she can (international supermarket)

Destroyers Bob Slate Stationers

A small portion of the merchandise was recycled. Journals Copy paper Stationary

Offer both paper and plastic bags Sell reusable canvas bags at the front of

the store Street Woman #2

Aware of global issues however continues to buy unsustainably

The End