52% of all paper, 31% of all plastic soft drink bottles, 45% of all aluminum beer and soft drink cans, 63% of all steel packaging, and 67% of all major appliances are now recycled.*
When you make green efforts in Cincinnati, you are not alone. Live Green Cincinnati is asking people around town 3 questions to find out how they make Cincinnati green and what they wish for in the future.
Who are you? Shawn Hesse, LEED AP, registered architect, volunteer
How do you make Cincinnati Green? I work at emersion DESIGN, a local architecture/interior/engineering firm that focuses on sustainable and thoughtful design. We are currently working on 11 LEED projects, including Commercial Interiors for our own office expansion, scheduled to be complete by the end of summer with a target of LEED Platinum. We are also working on several local projects seeking Certification under LEED for New Construction, LEED for Existing Buildings, and also working to evaluate LEED for Neighborhood Development with the Over-the-Rhine Foundation.
I volunteer my time as the Chair of the local U.S. Green Building Council. We are a non-profit whose mission is to educate and advocate to make green building the standard rather than the exception in the Cincinnati Region.
I also live in the City (Mt. Auburn) and I am fixing up a 130 year old townhouse using green building strategies (high efficiency windows/doors, bamboo floors, low VOC paints, FSC certified wood, salvaged doors….) and I ride my bike to work (weather permitting).
What's on your wish list for a greener Cincinnati? What isn't?
Streetcars, light-rail, green roofs, and most of all a positive self-image for Cincinnati… ( no more "I admit that I like it here"... Why not "I love it here"?)
Chuck Lohre, LEED AP
Who are you? Chuck Lohre, LEED AP
How do you make Cincinnati Green? Hold seminars to educate Cincinnatians about the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program and volunteer as the PR/Media Chair of the local Cincinnati Region Chapter http://www.usgbc-cincinnati.org.
What's on your wish list for a greener Cincinnati? I just got my wish that the American Financial Queen City Tower be LEED. It was announced last Thursday at the CREW/NAIOP event at Linden Pointe Al. Neyer Inc.'s project in Norwood were SHP Leading Design plans to have a LEED Gold office on the 4th floor. That all developers in the region build to LEED certification. That the Fernald Visitor's Center (on track to be a LEED Platinum project) becomes a major energy and environmental educational destination in the region.
Chris Wiedeman
Who are you? Chris Wiedeman, downtown Cincinnati resident and handyman.
How do you make Cincinnati Green? I always suggest the most recent green products and practices to my customers. I try to keep up with new products and trends so I can inform my clients and help them move in the correct direction.
What's on your wish list for a greener Cincinnati? I'd like to see the city require all new construction and rehab to use a certain amount of green products or practices. Without a little push inertia will keep us from moving forward.
Alison Glover
Who are you? I’m Alison Glover; a soccer playing, people earth-loving, adventure-seeking woman who works for Seek, Inc (a wonderful, small, super-innovative, creative market research firm).
How do you make Cincinnati Green? I recently proposed that my employer, Seek, go green. The owners have given an enthusiastic thumbs up, so I’m implementing green measures company-wide. The best part is listening to my co-workers excited tales of green things they are now doing at home as a result of changes at work.
What's on your wish list for a greener Cincinnati?
My wish list is for Cincinnati to be completely infiltrated by an undeniable, overwhelming surge of green enthusiasm & commitment – leadership, industry, average everyday folk – everyone working together for a healthy, green city! Just imagine – Cincinnati – a leader in green innovation, paving the way for people all over the globe…
Dean E. Niemeyer - Senior Planner, Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission
Who are you? I am a Senior Planner for the Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission. Since 2005, I have been the staff support person for the Local Alliance for Nature and Development for Hamilton County (LAND-HC). LAND-HC is a group of volunteer-based committees dedicated to preserving greenspace, and also, influencing the balance between development and the environment through the dissemination of information and resources on sustainable design and green building practices.
How do you make Cincinnati Green? LAND-HC has developed WEB pages to present information on greenspace preservation and green building.
LAND-HC will be collaborating in 2008 with the Cincinnati Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) in the roll-out of its Green Infrastructure Program. http://www.msdgc.org/wetweather/greenreport.htm
What's on your wish list for a greener Cincinnati?
I wish that greater Cincinnati will get re-branded Green Cincy through the implementation of MSD’s Green Infrastructure Program, the fruition of Cincinnati’s LEED tax-abatement program, the realization of Cincinnati’s Climate Action Protection Plan, and the adoption and implementation of the Cool Counties agreement by the 48 Hamilton County jurisdictions.
Jami Stutzman
Who are you? Jami Stutzman - Realtor for Sibcy Cline Realtors Co-developer of ENCORE Cincinnati (Environmentally Conscious Real Estate of Cincinnati)
How do you make Cincinnati Green? In my business I'm seeing people quickly turning to a more green lifestyle when it comes to their home purchases and remodeling. Everyone is becoming energy conscious and they are looking for ways to cut their costs and help the environment at the same time.
What's on your wish list for a greener Cincinnati?
More public transportation
Bike paths throughout the city.
Greater awareness of how much Cincinnati is doing on the greenside. We're very progressive and people should know that!
More incentives for green remodeling of our homes.
Rain barrels on every house
Jeff Salisbury and Cristine Plepys
Who are you? Jeff Salisbury and Christine Plepys, Newport KY
How do you make Cincinnati green? Nothing major, but a lot of little things. Parking is at a premium in Newport, so when we moved there we built a garage behind the house. It has a green (vegitated) roof that soaks up rain water, helps with the urban heat island effect and looks a lot better than the black rubber roof underneath. We also support Bike Newport, a group trying to make Newport a more bike friendly community. We only have one car since Jeff walks to work downtown. We are trying to use some recycled materials (flooring and a sink from Building Value, reusing our current appliances) in our kitchen remodel. And Christine trys to always take her own shopping bags to the grocery store.
What's on your wish list for a greener Cincinnati? A more expansive, integrated and diverse multi-modal transportation system. As many people on bikes and on foot as in cars in the urban core. Green roofs on every flat roof surface. A realization by everyone that being green not only makes sense, but makes cents (and dollars too) so there is greater acceptance for taking steps to be green.
Alice Emmons
Who are you? I'm a middle-aged woman energetically juggling the roles of mom, spouse, architect, homeschooler, gardener, and a few other consuming interests.
How do you make Cincinnati green? Professionally, I've been very fortunate to take part in the construction of two green homes in my neighborhood of Northside, and hope to help more of my clients "go green".
What's on your wish list for a greener Cincinnati? My most fervent wish for Cincinnati is to find a way to connect all the people who are interested in / trying to do green. There seems to be a very broad interest in green ideas right now, and there is incredible strength and energy to be had by getting all these interested folks together.
I'm including a copy of the original rendering for the Northside houses as an image. For a website, there's a great article at Co-op America about recycling sources for a broad variety of items. It's at: http://www.coopamerica.org/pubs/caq/articles/21things.cfm
Thanks for giving me the chance to take part!
Brent Quebman
Who are you? Brent Quebman - Executive Director energyQue
How do you make Cincinnati green? Our mission is to improve local air quality and reduce green house gas emissions through building energy conservation. Residential, Commercial and institutional buildings waste tons of energy. We feel, with the right information, people will have the ability to make an excellent investment in their future that we all will benefit from. EnergyQue helps people understand where energy loss is occurring using LeakFinder Thermal Imaging to inspect the building envelope.
What's on your wish list for a greener Cincinnati?
I wish I could take public transport to work.
I wish I could heat my home with a hair dryer.
I wish the Union Terminal had bullet trains I could take cross country.
I wish people understood where our energy comes from.
I wish we weren't so politically divided in this city.
Shawn Hesse, LEED AP
Chuck Lohre, LEED AP
Chris Wiedeman
Alice Emmons
Brent Quebman 