My Own Portland Holiday: The Build It Green! Home Tour Day
This Saturday, September 25th, we’ll enjoy the annual Build It Green! Home Tour. This year’s tour of 21 remarkable projects focuses on smaller projects that integrate sustainable design and building practices. It’s like a holiday for me–being an annual event that I make tradition and look forward to celebrating. For the past 6 years I’ve volunteered as a site host to help provide tours and answer questions for those touring. This year, I’ll be touring! I always feel like I miss out on so many interesting homes. I’m especially excited about this year’s tour as a great opportunity to gain inspiration and insight from the various imaginative and innovative small spaces that people have created. With 21 options it would be easy to run myself ragged trying to see it all. Here are my top five picks (I think. There are a couple others that I may not be able to miss.):
- CoreHaus new construction PassivHaus
- Engstrom & Werlin Duplex Renovation
- Doleman Strawbale Dwelling
- Harpoon House
- Woolsey Corner Affordable Cohousing
Wow! That was hard. I’m still unsure of my choices, as there are so many interesting ones this year. Some I’ve already visited or anticipate having the opportunity to visit down the road, so that helped take a few off my plate, but there are still some that might make the list come tour day. Tickets are available online.
If you’re unable to make the tour, but would like to tap into the local green building and sustainable design world, there will also be A FREE fun, family-friendly information fair with green vendors, demonstrations, food, drink and music. I will have a table there to share my business and answer questions. There are usually dozens of local businesses and non-profits present to share what they’ve been working on and how they can help as you assess how this impacts your home and fits into your life. Overall, it’s a great day to gain inspiration and insight into how others are making strides to create healthy, sustainable living situations and dwellings. If you attend the info fair, stop by to say, “HI!”
The info fair will be held at EcoHaus from 3pm to 7pm. EcoHaus is located at 819 Se Taylor St., Portland, OR 97214. If you’d like updates on events like this throughout the year, check out my facebook page or twitter feed. Or, just contact me directly. Enjoy.
Portland Sunday Parkways
Sunday Parkways is one of my favorite events in Portland. Combining biking, walking, skating, and strolling with block parties, games, music, food, and festivities in our amazing parks is nearly unbeatable. Starting in North Portland in 2008 with one Sunday event, the Parkways have grown to include multiple parts of Portland on 5 Sundays this year.
This is huge public-private collaboration to close the streets for an extended car-free loop that connects multiple parks all day. It’s a dream to ride all day amongst friends and neighbors and new friends reveling in the open road and the variety of entertainment and activities that await you at each park. On some of the longer open stretches last year, I remember letting myself daydream that this is actually how the city always functions and feels. I think of it creating new urban planning muscle-memory for what’s normal. If it’s difficult to imagine a world with reduced reliance on automobiles, this is an opportunity to develop a vision for it. I know it’s a sunny Sunday daydream, but so were automobiles and highways at one time. Take a ride on one of these glorious Sunday Parkways, and you’ll see. . .and look out for a 6’8″ guy on an orange bike.
For schedules and route maps, visit the Sunday Parkways site.
For more information on the collaboration and how this is manifesting in other metro areas, check out the Sunday Parkways Blog. (Images by Anomalily)
Beyond 2020: the Sustainability Unconference, part 3
Part 3 of Beyond 2020: the Sustainability (un)Conference is all about collaboration. Part 2 was about “Growing the Choir,” exploring ways of engaging the business leaders in sustainability efforts, but this time around participants will be bringing questions about the place of collaboration in sustainability.
At first mention of the topic, I think back to collaborative projects in school, and I immediately think of group efforts that illuminate the social dynamics and politics already playing out in adolescence. Not all members contribute equally; not all have the same skill set and drive; not all have the skills to make collaboration work to their advantage to result in and end product that couldn’t have otherwise been acheived. The skills for “synergizing” are unclear and widely untaught, so I am interested in seeing what people have to say about how this can play out in our adult lives as citizens, neighbors, and business people driving for a more vital sustainable future. Personally, I feel like I collaborate in many ways throughout the course of running my business, improving my practices, and as I engage in various creative efforts in the sustainable business world and real estate market. I’m excited to glean and integrate some new skills and communication techniques that can empower my collaborations to be more mutually beneficial, enjoyable, and powerful.
Here some of the leading questions and thoughts to preface the agenda, which will not actually be decided until the event, as per the Open Spaces format. From Portland Beyond 2020:
Collaboration for Sustainable Business
How can you put collaboration to work for environmentally, socially, and financially sustainable business? How can you use collaborative tools and processes to share and benefit from abundance?
When it comes to sustainability in business, there’s power in numbers. A coordinated group of people or businesses can make a greater impact than individuals acting alone. But in order for businesses to collaborate successfully, you must address several issues.
- What endeavors are best done collaboratively and how do you identify common goals?
- How can you find and join forces with fellow business leaders?
- How do you balance the goals, skills, and tasks among your collaborative partners?
- What are the decision-making and management options for collaborative enterprises?
- What are examples of successful collaborations in Portland and beyond?
Come to the 3rd Beyond 2020 Sustainability Unconference on May 6th to seek and offer answers to these questions.
- Present your ideas and needs, and offer your skills for collaborative projects.
- Share experiences with collaboration tools and processes.
- Develop skills for collaboration toward sustainable business.
- Discuss what you need and can offer for collaborative projects to create more sustainable business and the world.
Join us, May 6th, 5-8pm at KEEN Footwear (926 NW 13th Ave., Portland, OR 97209). For more details, check out Beyond 2020. Pass it on!
Power in Numbers, Renewable Solar Power!
Solar need not be for the renewable energy martyrs who overlook payback schedules. More power to the early adopters and pioneers, but SOLARIZE PORTLAND ups the ante to make solar pencil for more Portland residents than ever before. I highly recommend you check it out while you can. Solarize SE is in the early stages of Phase II. After a widely successful campaign last year, then an effort in NE and SW, it’s time for SE to take it the next level.
By joining your “neighbors” (other residents in your quadrant of Portland), local installers are able to offer incredible savings to add to the already aggressive incentive package through federal and state tax credits.
How it works (excerpt from the SE Uplift site):
- You and your neighbors all buy solar PV at once, allowing the contractor, Imagine Energy, to increase efficiency and buy the equipment at lower prices. They pass those savings on to you for dramatically lower costs, especially after incentives. The more people join in by the May 1st deadline, the lower the prices drop for all.
What to do:
1) Sign up by May 1st to let us know you’re interested in learning more. Pricing for the project will be set on the 1st based on the number of people on the list.
2) Tell your friends: Again, the more that join in, the better the deal gets. Email tim@southeastuplift.org to get materials you can distribute to your friends and neighbors.
3) Attend a training session (free): We’ll teach you all about the how solar PV works, how the pricing and incentives impact things, and what the process will be like. You must attend one Basics of Going Solar with Solarize SE, and one topical session of your choice. You can do both of these in one day, or split them up at your convenience (see schedule here). Already know all about Solarize? If you already know how the project works you can take our quiz instead of attending an information session.
4) Schedule a site assessment: Once you’ve been to the training and think Solarize is right for you, Imagine Energy solar experts will come evaluate your home and tell you what your options are.
5) Go Solar PV! …Or Not….You’ll get a contract with a week of your site assessment. If solar PV wasn’t right for you, you can tap into community discounts on solar hot water or a Home Performance Energy Audit.
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Agent Profile
In addition to offering sound real estate services, we bring a broad awareness of sustainable living and design to our practice. We thrive on making connections that help clients live and invest in alignment with their values, while supporting our local community, economy, and environment. Contact David and Steve today to learn how your next realty decision can enhance the place you call home. AGENCY INFO
1902 SE Morrison St. Portland, OR 97214
