Pima County, Ariz. (March 29, 2012) – Now there’s an interactive website just for kids that helps them learn about air, water, soil, resource conservation and climate change – and why it’s important for them to learn how to take good care of planet Earth.

The Eco Kids Corner website was developed by Pima County’s Department of Environmental Quality and a student intern from the University of Arizona’s College of Public Health to engage children in learning about the natural world and their role in it. Here’s the link: http://www.cleanair.pima.gov/ .

Not only can they learn fun facts, like how old the Earth is and what air is made of, but they can write poems, guess the answers to science questions, learn why recycling really matters, take a look at the hydrologic cycle and find out about pedology. That’s the study of soil.

The colorful website provides links to other activity-based sites for kids from agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control.

The site also provides links to the local zoo, museums, the Sonoran Desert Kids Club and other venues that offer educational programs and materials for children.

The site includes resources for teachers and inspiration for science fair projects, too.

A special program to introduce the website is set for  Saturday, April 7, at 11 a.m. at the Murphy-Wilmot Branch Public Library, 530 N. Wilmot Road, during the library’s monthly Science Saturday event.

Pima County, Ariz. (March 20, 2012) Celebrate Earth Day at the 18th Annual Tucson Earth Day Festival and Parade Saturday, April 21, 2012. The theme of the 2012 Festival is “It’s in Your Hands.”

The event is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Reid Park, off Country Club Road north of 22nd Street. The Parade starts at 10 a.m.

Exhibitors and parade entrants are being sought. The registration deadline for both is March 30.

Non-profit organizations, private businesses, government agencies, clubs, families, youth groups and community groups may register to take part in the event and the parade.

Exhibits should provide information on environmental products or issues such as water conservation, water quality, air quality, household hazardous waste, sustainability or other “eco” topics. Exhibitors should provide engaging, hands-on activities for all, with take-away information about how to preserve our wonderful world.

Parade entrants should share friendly messages about eco issues. They can reflect the parade theme “It’s in Your Hands.” Environmentally themed floats must be human-powered or use alternate fuel.

If your auto, bike or motorcycle runs on clean fuels such as biodiesel, compressed natural gas, electricity, ethanol, propane and even waste vegetable oil, show it off and provide information on alternate fuels at an exhibit at the park.

Middle school students will show off their design and construction skills in a competition for the best solar model vehicle. Kits for this competition are available from the Society of Women Engineers at www.swetucson.org/solar.

For more on the event, go to www.tucsonearthday.org, call (520) 206-8814 or e-mail tucsonearthday@yahoo.com. Also, Tucson Earth Day Festival is on Facebook.

Pima County, Ariz. (Mar. 5, 2012) -  A new Pima County web site provides you with the tools to design “Net-Zero” energy homes, apartments, offices and retail buildings that won’t use more energy than they create.

The information can also be used to remodel a structure to save energy costs.

The website, http://www.pima.gov/netzero, has a residential section and a commercial section for apartments, retail and offices with calculators based on the City of Tucson/Pima County Net-Zero Energy Standard.

“We are pleased to have another terrific tool for helping the community reduce energy use. Energy bills are a significant portion of the cost of running a business or owning a home,” said Leslie Ethen, Director of the City of Tucson’s Office of Conservation and Sustainable Development.  “Resources like this and the City’s Green Business Certification program are ways in which we can help businesses and homeowners reduce these costs.”

Working with a few basic facts about the design of the building, such as the shape of the roof, the orientation of the building and number of stories, the website can calculate the building’s “energy budget.”

The website provides a “recipe card,” or set of energy efficiency building elements, to be incorporated in the design.

The website also has a calculator to determine the financial performance of the building.

The site is useful to homeowners, commercial builders and commercial property owners, who can use the information for new construction or for renovation of existing structures, to reduce energy costs.

Net-Zero homes and apartments can save residents money every month, said Rich Franz-Under, Pima County’s Green Building Program Manager.  A typical home owner can save between $40 and $80 a month because of significantly lower utility bills, he said.

Pima County and the City of Tucson are the first governmental jurisdictions in the nation to develop a building standard to achieve Net-Zero energy.

The City of Tucson’s Office of Conservation and Sustainable Development (OCSD) provided the funding for the project through an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Pima County Development Services, Building Safety and Sustainability made up the principal research group on the web project, with assistance from the University of Arizona College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and Tucson Water.

Pima County led the development of a regional green-building rating system for homes in 2008. Using that knowledge, the County worked with its collaborators to develop the Net-Zero energy code.

Pima County, Ariz. (Jan. 9, 2012) – Parade entrants and exhibitors are being sought for the 18th Annual Tucson Earth Day Festival and Parade Saturday, April 21, 2012.

The registration deadline for exhibitors and parade entries is March 30, 2012.

The festival is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Reid Park, off Country Club Road north of 22nd Street. The Parade starts at 10 a.m.  The theme of the 2012 Festival is “It’s in Your Hands.”

The festival and parade are open to non-profit organizations, private businesses, government agencies, clubs, families, youth groups and community groups.

 Exhibits should provide information on environmental products or issues such as water conservation, water quality, air quality, household hazardous waste, sustainability or other “eco” topics, according to festival spokeswoman Flo Wooters.  She can be reached in Tucson at 206-8814 or tucsonearthday@yahoo.com

Parade entrants should share friendly messages about “eco issues.” They can reflect the parade theme “It’s in Your Hands.” Environmentally themed floats must be human-powered or use alternate fuel.

The  Earth Day Festival will include an Alternate-Fuel Vehicle Exhibit.  It’s open to any vehicle,  bike or motorcycle that runs on clean fuels such as biodiesel, compressed natural gas, electricity, ethanol, propane and or waste vegetable oil.

At the 2012 Festival, middle school students will show off their model solar car race and solar house design skills.

Kits for this competition are available from the Society of Women Engineers at www.swetucson.org/solar.

For more information and to sign up, go to www.tucsonearthday.org,  or e-mail tucsonearthday@yahoo.com. Tucson Earth Day is also on Facebook.

Pima County, Ariz. (Nov. 15, 2011) – Pima County’s efforts to “go beyond code” to provide guidelines for Green Building and sustainable projects are included in a new federal guide to “Creating Effective Green Building Programs for Energy Efficient and Sustainable Communities.”

The Going Beyond Code Guide is designed to help state and local governments design and implement successful “beyond code” programs for new commercial and residential buildings.

These guidelines, such as those developed by Pima County, encourage energy efficiency and other sustainable elements in the construction and operation of buildings, without having to mandate them by creating additional building codes.

Rich Franz-Ünder, Pima County’s Green Programs Manager in the county’s Department of Development Services, helped shape the Going Beyond Code policy options noted in the Guide to Green Building.

Pima County is included along with the cities of Scottsdale, Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Longmont, Colo., as an example of best practices to emulate.

The guide to “Creating Effective Green Building Programs for Energy Efficient and Sustainable Communities” describes model green building guidelines from around the United States.

The goal of Green Building, Franz-Ünder said, is to advance energy efficiency by reducing waste and by building water and energy efficiency into the construction of homes and businesses.

The new document is based on the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project’s (SWEEP) “Going Beyond Code” guide, which also includes Pima County. The new guide was prepared by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Program in collaboration with SWEEP.

The guide, which is free, is available online and can be downloaded as a pdf  file at http://www.energycodes.gov/publications/resourceguides/packets/gbc_guide/GoingBeyondCode_LoRes.pdf.

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Pima County, Ariz. (Oct. 24, 2011) – Learn more about how to go green and save money at the 2011 Green Living Fair on Saturday, Nov. 12 at the HabiStore, 935 W. Grant Road, just east of I-10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The HabiStore, the site of the fair, sells home improvement supplies to benefit Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit that builds homes for local, first-time homeowners living in poverty.

Along with the HabiStore, sponsors of the Green Living Fair include Pima County, Mrs. Green’s World and the Pima Association of Governments.

At the 2011 fair, “gurus of green,” experts on “green” building, water conservation, rainwater harvesting, green gardening, landscaping, and solar power will show how to live economically while protecting the environment.

Pima County’s Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Sustainability and Conservation and Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department will join representatives from the Pima Association of Governments to give tips on sustainability.

And they will show visitors to the fair how to conserve energy and save money.

Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, a Home Depot employee will demonstrate how to safely deep fry a turkey.

County workers will introduce visitors to the county’s own Grease Monster, who can tell you how grease poured down drains that clog sewer lines can  instead be recycled and turned into biodiesel by local companies.

Also, free books will be given away to those who bring books to donate.

Mrs. Green, who operates the website Mrs. Green’s World and hosts a weekly webcast, will produce a segment on the Green Living Fair that can be heard on Nov. 12 on streaming audio at http://www.mrsgreensworld.com/radio-show/.

The HabiStore, which also sells gently used furnishings along with lighting fixtures, paint brushes and other home improvement supplies, will be open for business during the fair.

Pima County, Ariz.  (Sept. 30, 2011) – The Pima County Development Services Department is lending its expertise to the Arizona Planning Association’s annual conference in Tucson this week. On Wednesday, Pima County senior planner Elva Pedrego helped lead a training session, “Board of Adjustment Basics,” aimed at clarifying the role of Boards of Adjustment in the planning and development process. A Board of Adjustment is an appointed body that considers requests for relief from zoning code requirements, such as building setbacks and height, when strict adherence to the requirement cannot be achieved.On Thursday, Betty Stamper, Pima County’s solar power coordinator, presented information on how the public and private sector can work together to expand the use of solar technology and renewable energy in the region.  Stamper, in her presentation, “Take a Walk on the Solar Side” Thursday morning, spoke about the Solar One Stop multimedia center and display at the Public Works Building at 201 N. Stone Ave., as well as the www.SolarOneStopAZ.orgwebsite.  Both help consumers, property owners, developers and engineers get more information about using solar technology in the region.

 On Friday, Pima County Planning Director Arlan Colton is moderating a panel discussion on the Arizona State Land Department’s five-year disposition plan. Arlan is a former member of the State Land Department and remains actively involved in regional planning efforts involving public and private lands, including the Imagine Greater Tucson regional visioning process.

The conference, which ends at noon Friday, brings together hundreds of professionals from throughout Arizona who work in the public and private sectors in land use, planning and development.

Among the topics to be addressed at the 20011 conference, which ends Friday, are habitat conservation, modern streetcar planning, using policy to build healthy communities, micro-climate planning for alternative vehicles and planning for wildlife.

The Arizona Planning Association has 1,100 members. The conference is at the Tucson Westin La Paloma resort.

For information on the conference, call the Planning Association office at (602) 866-7188 or email info@azplanning.org.

To reach the Arizona Planning Association, go to www.azplanning.org.

University of Arizona's Dr. Neal Armstrong

Pima County, Ariz. (Aug. 23, 2011) – Dr. Neal Armstrong, a professor at the University of Arizona, is working to inspire and train future scientists in solar electric energy conversion.

Armstrong is the director of the UA’s Energy Frontier Research Center, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.

His center is part of a team of scientists, engineers, and staff located at major universities and research centers in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, New Jersey, and Washington working on developing new photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion technologies.

The UA center is pursuing shared research advancing the understanding of “interface science” underlying PV technologies.

Armstrong, a longtime UA chemist, says it’s not difficult to get students interested in solar technology.

They’re already engaged, he said. Their research at the UA’s Energy Frontier Research Center is already paying off and appearing in numerous scientific publications. And in several cases, the UA center is filing patent applications.

Armstrong attended a conference in Washington, D.C. in May 2011 with others working at the 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers located around the country in 35 states and in the District of Columbia.

The conference, “Science for our Nation’s Energy Future,” was organized by the U.S. Department of Energy. It brought more than 700 researchers and students together to talk about their scientific research advances in areas that are important for the nation’s critical energy challenges.

As Armstrong looks to the future, he is also looking at the present and the ability for everyone to have the amount of power they need when they need it.

As an example, Armstrong said he sees solar technology one day helping governments lead their communities in establishing renewable energy portfolios, which enable a more secure response to day-to-day needs of their citizens, as well as power needed for emergencies and natural disasters.

Developing more affordable solar technology “so cheap it would be like buying a washer or dryer” would help ensure wider energy security, he said.

Armstrong has praise for Pima County’s sustainability efforts as it incorporates solar technology into its plans.

Already the county has installed solar panels to provide power at a small cattle ranch it owns in the Santa Rita Mountains and it put 896 solar modules on the roof of the county’s health department headquarters on West Ajo Way.

That solar technology will provide 57 percent of the energy needed to operate the health department offices and reduce carbon emissions by about 6,200 tons over 20 years.

In 2010, the county powered up a 1 megawatt solar power plant at its wastewater treatment facility on Sweetwater Road and added another 1 megawatt plant on Walked Road in early 2011

The county aims to provide 15 percent of its energy through renewable sources by 2025, as outlined in its Sustainability Initiative approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2007

Also, Pima County’s Development Services Department, which issues building permits, is making it easier for others to use solar technology.

The department unveiled a tool on its website in early July that makes it quicker to get a permit from the county for a photovoltaic installation.

The solar photovoltaic calculator, a spreadsheet tool, is available at the county’s Development Services website, http://www.dsd.pima.gov/building/ under the heading: “Forms & Calculators.”

Armstrong said Pima County can provide leadership in the global market for solar technology by encouraging the development and production of solar photovoltaic technologies here.

“We need to brand ourselves as a place where, if you’re thinking about installing solar or you want to build new solar technology, this is the place to be,” he said.

Not only does the county need new high-tech jobs, but the sun shines here nearly every day of the year.

“Pima County has the best solar fluence in the world,” he said. (Fluence is the total energy per unit area carried by a pulse of electromagnetic radiation.)

Armstrong said the director of the Department of Energy, Steve Chu, wants the United States to develop large scale dollar-per-watt solar energy by the end of this decade.

That would require a 75 percent cut in the present cost of solar-powered energy.

“That’s a pretty breathtaking challenge for the scientific community,” Armstrong said.

But he said it is an important and inspiring goal for PV energy conversion technologies, to contribute to our nation’s development of economical, terawatt-level solar energy sources for the 21st Century.

For more on the UA’s Energy Frontier Research Center (Center for Interface Science: Solar Electric Materials), go to http://solarinterface.org.

To learn more about Pima County’s commitment to solar technology, go to the Pima County Solar One Stop website:

http://solaronestopaz.org/AboutUs.aspx

Pima County, Ariz. (August 19, 2011) – Pima County’s Building Safety and Sustainability Department is exporting its expertise in green building to the Phoenix area in the state’s Sun Corridor.

The County’s department is one of 39 LEED for Homes Providers in the nation and the only government jurisdiction to have this designation from the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

LEED for Homes Providers certify homes and apartments in the LEED for Homes green building rating system. LEED is a program of the U.S. Green Building Council.

Pima County’s Building Safety and Sustainability Department is working on a 65-unit affordable- housing project on Central Avenue in Phoenix. The project has access to the Phoenix light rail system and is anticipated expected to earn a Platinum level LEED Certification, the highest possible rating by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The Pima County Department is also working on a women’s shelter near Sacaton on the Gila Indian Reservation southeast of Chandler, and on two private homes in Scottsdale.

The Sun Corridor is an economic activity area the size of Indiana that extends from Prescott south to the Mexico border in Nogales

According to a report by the Sonoran Institute, “The Tucson homebuilding industry should be encouraged to build homes that are more appropriate for the Sonoran Desert – focused on both creating a distinctive design and appearance and promoting energy efficiency.”

The report notes that “Tucson already supports a small industry based on green building and renewable energy. . .Tucson can focus on exporting the materials and techniques of climate optimized architecture [to] Phoenix.”

“Exporting techniques” is exactly what Pima County Building Safety and Sustainability is doing.

By certifying LEED homes and apartments in Phoenix, Pima County’s Building Safety and Sustainability staff is exporting Tucson expertise, and at the same time gaining valuable experience that can benefit projects in the Tucson area.

Rich Franz-Under, the manager of  Pima County’s Green Building Program, notes that “Project teams pay for all of the LEED For Homes services provided by (Pima County’s) Building Safety and Sustainability, so it truly is an export of expertise.”

What is LEED?

LEED certification assures homebuyers and residents that the home meets requirements for energy and water efficiency, indoor air quality, non-toxic materials and environmental performance. That means locally produced materials and woods from certified sustainable forests are used whenever possible.

Homes that are certified through LEED complete a technically rigorous verification process that includes a home energy rating (HERS) and onsite inspections.

Lower home insurance rates, advantageous home financing, and government incentives may be available for owners of LEED-certified homes.

Who Can Help a Builder Go LEED?

Pima County’s Building Safety and Sustainability team is a LEED for Homes Provider, offering technical support and verification of compliance with LEED for Homes program throughout Arizona.  For more information about LEED for Homes visit www.pimaXpress.com/green .

About USGBC

The U.S. Green Building Council is a nonprofit membership organization whose vision is a “sustainable built environment” within a generation. Since USGBC’s founding in 1993, the Council has grown to more than 20,000 member companies and organizations and a comprehensive suite of LEED® green building certification systems. Its membership includes corporations, builders, universities, government agencies and nongovernment nonprofit organizations. All share the Council’s commitment to a prosperous and sustainable future for the nation through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. For more information, please visit www.usgbc.org.

About LEED® for Homes

LEED® for Homes is a third-party certification system for building and designing high-performance green homes that are energy-and-resource-efficient and healthy for their occupants.

Developed and administered by USGBC, LEED for Homes awards points to projects in eight categories of environmental performance: Innovation and Design Process, Location and Linkages, Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Indoor Environmental Quality, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, and Awareness and Education. To date, more than 12,600 homes have been LEED-certified, and more than 59,000 are registered and under development.  For more information, visit www.thegreenhomeguide.org.