Green Day Planner: Smart Design Strategies - Woodbury University

Smart Design Strategies for Managing Water
+ Energy in a Changing Climate
Arid Lands Institute
Ahmanson Main Space - Woodbury University

The Arid Lands Institute (ALI) at Woodbury University is hosting a series of free workshops beginning March 27 to help homeowners, business owners, real estate developers, and design professionals make smart decisions about water and energy.

The “Smart Design Strategies for Managing Water + Energy in a Changing Climate” series recognizes that localized management of rainwater, storm water runoff, and reclaimed wastewater will be crucial to sustaining Western cities in the face of climate change. Workshop leaders will offer strategies for both new construction and retrofits.

Workshops are offered in partnership with the City of Burbank as part of a major grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development/Office of University Partnerships.

April 3: 9am – 3pm
Smart Landscapes: Yard, Driveway, Sidewalk, Street

Architect and Edible Estates gardenrg Fritz Haeg will share his experiences related to turning lawns into gardens to grow food at home. David Fletcher and Holly Harper will focus on strategies for capturing rainwater and minimizing runoff by looking closely at the edges of private property and public space such as driveways, sidewalks, and green streets.

April 17: 9am – 3pm
Smart Systems: Rainwater Harvesting + Grey Water
Despite heavy rains this year, water for irrigation, washing, and bathing is scarce and more expensive. Jenna Didier of Fountainhead Design will lead participants in assessing their water needs and resources on their property, arriving at the best water reuse strategies. Leigh Jerrard of California Greywater Corps will lead a hands-on workshop tapping into laundry machine drainage and legally reusing that water.

Green Day Planner: Green Expo - Lake Balboa

THE GREEN EXPO
March 20 – 21
Lake Balboa – Woodley Park
6000 Woodley Ave

An all day free event to connect with information, education and contacts to help save money, natural resources and ultimately, the planet !

Saturday: March 20
10:00 am - 2:00pm Green Job Career Fair
12:00pm – 3:00pm Green Educational Workshop
12:00pm – 1:00pm LIVE MUSIC – FREE FOOD

Sunday: March 21
FEATURED SPEAKERS
Alex Rivera
Dr. Christopher Scott
Jeffery L Lee, DVM
Marc Martinez
Lara Laskay
3:00pm – 3:45pm Eco Parade

Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy

A federal effort to lead 'green' technology

An energy research agency applies the same theory that led to the invention of the Internet: that government funding churns out radical innovations. Director Arun Majumdar talks about the challenges. LA Times: March 1, 2010 by Jim Tankersley

Reporting from Washington - Half a century ago, after the Soviet Union jolted Americans by sending Sputnik into orbit, the Defense Department launched a little-noticed program designed to help the United States leapfrog the frontiers of technology by doling out millions of dollars for research on radically new ideas.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency -- DARPA in Pentagonese -- backed projects that led to such military advances as the light, rapid-fire M-16 rifle and Stealth warplanes that were invisible to radar. The efforts also led to revolutionary civilian technology, such as the Internet.

Now, the same approach is being tried for energy and "green" technology. Though critics say innovation is best achieved by private-sector entrepreneurs, the Obama administration is betting an initial $400 million in government seed money on such future possibilities as giant batteries filled with molten metal and exotic materials that spin sunlight and water into methane.

Arun Majumdar, a former UC Berkeley professor and national lab assistant director who worked under DARPA funding for a decade, is the director of ARPA-E -- the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy created under the Energy Department -- which will showcase its program at a meeting in Washington on Monday. READ MORE !

Green Day Planner: Green Film Festival - Mar 19-21

Green Lifestyle Film Festival
March 19 – 21
James Bridges Theatre
1409 Melnitz Hall - 405 Hilgard
Westwood CA 90024

This festival is a celebration of film makers who dedicate their talents, income and energy to examining what sustainability really means: from how we birth our young, to how we raise children, the construction and design of homes in which we live, to how we deal with illness, how we move about the earth in our physical bodies, and how all this is reflected in how we feed ourselves, to how we treat others in the animal kingdom all in the name of “the perfect steak” the “fashionable coat or accessories” or for entertainment, and its impact on all spheres of life on Planet Earth.

. . . a few from the US around the world: more @ Green Film Festival
AUSTRALIA
-DYING TO LIVE
-NAPPY FREE
CANADA
-A STEP TOWARD A CLEANER FUTURE
-HANDS ON FARMS
INDIA
-THE GREEN WARRIORS OF CHANDI'S FORTRESS
KOREA
-TAEAN OIL SPILL: THE AFTERMATH
NETHERLANDS
-ARMS AROUND YOU: PLEASE HUG ME
-INSURED FREEDOM
-MEAT THE TRUTH
UK
-ECOPLAZA PARADISE OASIS
US
-THE MONEY FIX
-FUEL
-THE POP-UP HOUSE: AN OPTION FOR GREEN LIVING
-UNLIMITED: RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE 21ST CENTURY
-FOSSIL FUEL FREE FILM
-FIGHTING FOR INDIA'S WILDLIFE
-GUARDIANS OF THE SEA: ORCAS
-GUARDIANS OF THE SEA: WILD DOLPHINS
-METAMORPHOSIS
-SWEET REMEDY: THE WORLD REACTS
-GORILLAS... 98.6% HUMAN
-ARCTIC: CHANGE AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD
-I AM AN ANIMAL
-MAKING PEACE WITH GRAVITY

California Watch: Grants - Reformulated Gasoline Settlement Fund

Reformulated Gasoline Settlement Fund

GRANTS TO ACHIEVE FUEL OR AIR EMISSIONS BENEFITS FOR CALIFORNIA CONSUMERS

DEADLINE FOR GRANT APPLICATIONS:
May 3, 2010: 5:00 PM, Monday.

The Reformulated Gasoline Settlement Fund is now soliciting applications from nonprofit organizations for grants to fund projects designed to achieve fuel or air emission benefits for consumers in California.

The Reformulated Gasoline Settlement Fund supports projects designed to achieve fuel or air emission benefits for consumers throughout the state of California. The goal of the Open Grants Program is to fund nonprofit organizations that offer projects that will deliver benefits related to reductions in vehicle emissions and/or fuel use through a broad range of strategies. Examples of eligible projects include:

- reducing diesel emissions
- increasing the use of alternative-fuel vehicles
- enhancing transit use and shared vehicle use
- training local officials in designing effective strategies to improve air quality and/or fuel efficiency
- reducing exposure to near-source or near-road emissions.

Where appropriate, applicants are strongly encouraged to partner with local air districts, other public agencies, and/or other entities such as foundations or industrial organizations.

The Reformulated Gasoline Settlement Fund is the result of the settlement of fourteen class action lawsuits against Union Oil Company of California and Unocal Corporation (Unocal). In these lawsuits, Plaintiffs claimed that Unocal affected the price for CARB-compliant summertime reformulated gasoline in California by urging the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to adopt its proprietary formula for summertime reformulated gasoline. Unocal denied any wrongdoing or that gas prices increased as a result of its actions. Before trial, the parties agreed to settle the class actions. As part of the settlement, the parties agreed to distribute approximately $7 million through a competitive Open Grants Program to fund projects that will deliver benefits related to reductions in emissions and/or fuel use in California.

For more information about the Reformulated Gasoline Settlement Fund and instructions on how to submit a grant application, click on the links below to view the Request for Proposals and Grant Application Form.

Green Showcase

Going Green
Industrial-Strength Fungus
Time: February 8, 2010 by Adam Fisher

At an organic farm just outside Monterey, Calif., a super-eco building material is growing in dozens of darkened shipping containers. The farm is named Far West Fungi, and its rusting containers are full of all sorts of mushrooms--shiitake, reishi and pom-pom, to name a few. But Philip Ross, an artist, an inventor and a seriously obsessed amateur mycologist, isn't interested in the fancy caps we like to eat. What he's after are the fungi's thin, white rootlike fibers. Underground, they form a vast network called a mycelium. Far West Fungi's dirt-free hothouses pack in each mycelium so densely that it forms a mass of bright white spongy matter.

Mycelium doesn't taste very good, but once it's dried, it has some remarkable properties. It's nontoxic, fireproof and mold- and water-resistant, and it traps more heat than fiberglass insulation. It's also stronger, pound for pound, than concrete. READ MORE !

see also: Ecocradle, Greensulate @ Ecovative Design