NASA Study shows common plants help reduce indoor air pollution

ChuckLohreNASA

Common indoor plants may provide a valuable weapon in the fight against rising levels of indoor air pollution. Those plants in your office or home are not only decorative, but NASA scientists are finding them to be surprisingly useful in absorbing potentially harmful gases and cleaning the air inside modern buildings.

NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) have announced the findings of a 2-year study that suggest a sophisticated pollution-absorbing device: the common indoor plant may provide a natural way of helping combat “SICK BUILDING SYNDROME”.

Elevated Indoor Carbon Dioxide Impairs Decision-Making Performance

ChuckLohreBerkeley Lab

Overturning decades of conventional wisdom, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have found that moderately high indoor concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) can significantly impair people’s decision-making performance. The results were unexpected and may have particular implications for schools and other spaces with high occupant density.

“In our field we have always had a dogma that CO2 itself, at the levels we find in buildings, is just not important and doesn’t have any direct impacts on people,” said Berkeley Lab scientist William Fisk, a co-author of the study, which was published in Environmental Health Perspectives online last month. “So these results, which were quite unambiguous, were surprising.” The study was conducted with researchers from State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University.

City’s Green Roots Beginning to Flower – Green Umbrella Summit – May 3, 2013

ChuckLohreCincinnati Fire Station No. 51, City of Cincinnati, Civic Garden Center, CPS Clark Montessori, EarthConnection, Green City of the West Poster Show, Moerlein Lager House, Times Star Building, UC Joseph A. Steger Student Center

Green Learning Station Flower Signage Idea Germinating in Cincinnati – Green City of the West

The eight poster show will be on exhibit at the Green Umbrella Summit May 3, 2013. Then it will move to another of the venues illustrated on the posters.

The Queen City and environs are gaining national attention for green and sustainable efforts. An idea from the Green Learning Station of the Civic Garden Center of Cincinnati will identify greater Cincinnati’s stock of green buildings.

Thanks to some recent green-sky thinking, area residents and visitors should be able to point to the major buildings exemplifying sustainable energy and environmental design that are part of Cincinnati’s green building movement. The area will be “blooming” when a proposal to “plant” exterior signs in front of these sites becomes a reality. The project (Cincinnati Green Building Signage Project) is just another way the Queen City (and the city that sings) is moving forward as the Green City of the West. Beyond attracting architectural tourists (believe me, these folks exist), the colorful, eye-catching signage project will go the distance in promoting healthy environments – good for the planet and its people.

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Sept. 11, 2012 LEED GA – Green Associate Exam Study Class Starts

ChuckLohreLEED AP Exam, How to pass, LEED GA AP+NC/CS/SCH Class

Prepare to pass the U.S. Green Building Council’s Green Associate Accreditation Exam. Includes the opportunity to work on a LEED Project to obtain the work experience required to take the exam. After the last class Oct. 9, 2012, the instructor will work with each member individually to review their practice tests until they are achieving a 90% score and ready to pass the exam.

When: Five Tuesday evenings from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. – Class will prepare you to pass the Green Associate exam.

Where: Green Cincinnati Education Advocacy LEED Platinum office, 126A West 14th St., Cincinnati, OH 45202

Class fee: $250, space is limited so please contact Chuck Lohre ASAP 513-260-9025, [email protected]

Class Materials Required: You will need this study package for the class: An online subscription to GreenExamPrep.com Silver Package (Study Guide, Flash Cards, On-Line Practice Tests) $64.95 http://www.greenexamprep.com/

USGBC Registration and Exam fee: $250, http://www.gbci.org/main-nav/professional-credentials/credentials.aspx#

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Green Cincinnati’s USGBC LEED Platinum Project Profile Published

ChuckLohreGreen Cincinnnati LEED Project Documentation, USGBC Directory

A renaissance is taking place to restore Cincinnati to a walkable and sustainable community. Locating this office project in the inner city represents the best in historical reuse and renewal.

This project, in the second floor of a three-story rowhouse, houses the office of Lohre & Associates Marketing Communications and Green Cincinnati Education Advocacy, the sole tenant. The building is among other older inner-city buildings undergoing renovation. The firm is a marketing communications agency that designs literature, web sites, photography, and trade show exhibits primarily for industrial clients, and which has a green building education and marketing division.

Arapahoe Acres

Arapahoe Acres -> International Style -> Usonian -> Green

ChuckLohreArapahoe Acres

Homes have evolved over the years and the major trends have been the result of builders wanting better more efficient homes for their clients. After World War I and II the world was introduced to new materials and construction methods, the International and Usonian Styles were the result. Usonian has a unique history associated with Frank Lloyd Wright but it can represent a more natural approach used to improve the home environment and many features are similar to the International Style. Green homes are the present day future in home building. The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design guidelines can help any homeowner understand how to improve his home and enjoy living there while saving money.

Green Cincinnati Signage Project

Green Cincinnati Building Signage Project Show at the Betts House Sept. 28, 2012 to Oct. 9, 2012

ChuckLohreCincinnati Fire Station No. 51, Cincinnati Zoo, CPS Clark Montessori, EarthConnection, Moerlein Lager House, Northern Kentucky University, Times Star Building, UC Joseph A. Steger Student Center

The Green Cincinnati Building Signage Project is a proposed project to expand the Civic Garden Center of Cincinnati’s Green Learning Station environmental design signage to other projects around the region.

Great American Tower at Queen City Square LEED Tour

ChuckLohreArchives, Great American Tower, Queen City Square

May 3, 2012 – Great American Tower at Queen City Square LEED Tour – 6 p.m. – 303 Broadway, Cincinnati, OH 45202 – Free – Max of 20 people. Registration requested, email [email protected] or call 513-260-9025. We’ll meet in the lobby for a short introduction for 15 minutes and then go on the tour to include one Office Floor, Fitness …