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Posts Tagged ‘Green’

While driving through the neighborhood, do you find yourself admiring the thick green lawn in a neighbor’s yard? Have you ever wondered how they did it? Do you find yourself trying to grow a lush lawn without success? Well, growing a thick green lawn can be easy if you just follow a few simple guidelines.

Your lawn needs plenty of sunshine to grow. So, if your lawn gets a lot of shade, you need to choose the type of turf that can grow with less sunshine. For example, Kentucky bluegrass or Bermuda grass need more direct sunlight (at least 6 hours) while the St. Augustine variety can survive with less sunlight. So, if you have a lot of trees on your property that prevents your lawn from getting sufficient sunlight, you should plant grass that can tolerate being in the shades.

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Besides planting the proper variety of grass that can tolerate being in the shades, you also need to keep foot traffic in that area to a minimum. Additionally, you should let the grass in the shade grow a little longer than the rest of the lawn. This allows the longer leaf blades to absorb more energy and become stronger. You can also use a growth regular that encourages more grass to grow.

Contrary to popular belief, you should not water your lawn frequently. Instead, you should water LESS frequently, but more deeply. What does that mean? Well, you need to get the water to the roots. When you water frequently, but for a shorter amount of time, the water does not get to the roots since the soil gets dry quicker. Ideally, you need to water the lawn until the water gets to about 6-8 inches deep.

Just like you would take vitamins to supplement your diet, your lawn needs fertilizer in order to get all the nutrients it needs to grow into a thick green lawn. And don’t forget, if you mulch your grass clippings, you can cut down on the fertilization by up to 25 percent. That’s because your lawn will absorb some of the nutrient left in those grass clippings.

Growing a thick, green lawn does not have to cost an arm and a leg. You just have to understand what makes a lawn grow. By picking the right type of turf for the growing environment, watering your lawn more deeply, and fertilizing properly, you will be on your way to a more healthy, green, and lush lawn.

 

http://www.articlesbase.com/landscaping-articles/how-to-grow-a-thick-green-lawn-4154492.html

Building Green in Tampa,  Implications for Commercial Real Estate. By Stephen Beachy

Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to a structure and using a process that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. This practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort.

Although new technologies are constantly being developed to complement current practices in creating greener structures, the common objective is that green buildings are designed to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health and the natural environment by:Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources,Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity and Reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation

Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies intended to improve performance in metrics such as energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED is intended to provide building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

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As with any process claiming environmental benefits,  the actual construction of Green Buildings and there economic impact must be evaluated.

In an article by Norm Miller, PhD, utilizing CoStar data, and updating earlier studies he presents findings indicating that only 378 Class A commercial office properties were sold in the United States in 2010,  and of these only 5 were LEED certified and only a dozen were Energy Star labeled. He further noted the following results. Rents continue to show premiums for LEED properties of several percent over non-green counterparts even though any of these came on line during soft markets. Energy Star labeled property rents appear more in line with the overall market. Miller states, “the delivery timing of many LEED buildings has resulted in higher than average vacancy rates by about 4% to 5 % on average but they note that the rental premium makes up for this differential in most markets. A vacant building searching for tenants is less likely to be focused on selling green features and simply trying to find tenants and make a deal.”

According to Miller, the greenest states based on the proportions of green office buildings relative to the total stock of buildings in the market in the US are: Washington, DC, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Colorado, Michigan, Maine, New Hampshire, Illinois, and California.

The brownest states based on the proportions of green office buildings relative to the total stock of buildings in the market in the US are: Oklahoma, Louisiana, West Virginia, South Dakota, Mississippi, North Dakota, Alabama, Kentucky, Indiana and Nebraska

Miller goes on to state that “in the long run these greener buildings are likely to retain more value as the bar is raised and tenant expectations change. Many of the green building owners plan on keeping their properties. They know that in the long run this modest effort pays off very well indeed. Those who have ignored many of the simple actions necessary to improve existing buildings when undergoing a retrofit, and this includes distressed property, or to design buildings for greater occupant comfort and operating efficiency will find not a premium for green but a discount for brown.”

Local LEED-rated buildings in the Tampa Bay area include the newly constructed headquarters of R.R. Simmons on a bank of the Hillsborough River in Telecom Park in north Tampa and the Southeast Regional Office of San Antonio, Texas-based USAA. Both are Gold certified. The Simmons headquarters as a new building and USAA’s office as an existing building.

R.R. Simmons, a design and construction firm, developed a heavily wooded riverfront and left most of the site’s natural vegetation in place. The firm also used native plant materials in the building’s construction. Double laminated (low-emittance, or Low-E) glass windows help Simmons reduce its energy consumption.

The USAA building in New Tampa is nearly 524,000 square feet. It was the first existing building in the Southeast to be certified by LEED and is one of the largest existing buildings to receive the certification.

Other Gold-certified buildings include: Hillsborough Community College Multipurpose Facility, Ruskin, Met West International, Tampa, Walker Brands, Tampa and Woodland Corporate Center, Tampa

 

http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/building-green-in-tampa-implications-for-commercial-real-estate-4532378.html

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Through the government green card lottery program the US government gives out 50,000 diversity visas (green cards) each year. This green card lottery program is meant to maintain the immigrant ratio in the USA and it is fully operated by the Government of USA.. Here the applicants are selected randomly by a computer generated program. If you are one of those lucky ones to have won the lottery you and your family will be authorized to live work and study in the USA permanently.

 

To be eligible for the lottery one must be born in an eligible country and must have successfully completed elementary or high school education of 12 years duration or must have 2 years of work experience after completion of education to perform a job which is accepted by the Department of State (DOS)

 

The current government green card lottery is called as DV-2012 which is otherwise called as Diversity Visa 2012 lottery. As mentioned earlier, you should be born in an eligible country to qualify for the lottery. However if you are born in an ineligible country you can still qualify through your spouse or parents provided they were born in an eligible country.

 

The US Kentucky consular section operates the Diversity Visa 2012 under the aegis of the U.S. State Department. It is understood that between 10 to 13 million people used to apply for this government lottery program and it was estimated that around 9.1 million people did submit their entries for the DV 2009 lottery. Out of the 50,000 visas that are earmarked every year around 5,000 visas are normally reserved for NACARA people.

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The government green card lottery does not make it mandatory that the applicant should be of 18 years to apply for the lottery, but the eduction/work requirements usually means that the applicant is around the age of 18. Per the guidelines issued by the State Government only one entry per person will be allowed for the DV-2012 lottery program. In any such instances were more than one application is submitted then such application will be rejected on grounds of failure to comply with the requirements.

The lottery allows a person to apply every year till he wins the lottery. One of the preconditions laid down by the government is that the applicant should include his spouse and all unmarried children under the age of 21 years in the application. The only exception is that, children in the US with Permanent Residency or children who are already US citizens are exempted. Though it is not essential to speak the English language fluently to get the visa it would be mandatory that they learn it once they are in the US.

The US Kentucky consular section which conducts the lottery announces the winner of the lottery between the months of May and July of each year. The winning notification is usually sent through mail. The Diversity Visa lottery also allows the applicant to check their status on line with the confirmation number to see if they are selected for further processing.

The official green card lottery program is the ultimate boon for all those aspiring individuals who seek to live,work and study in the land of dreams.

 

Check out the reference below:

Immigration and Naturalization

Apply Green Card

USCIS Raises Filing Fees

http://www.articlesbase.com/immigration-articles/the-government-green-card-lottery-program-3504468.html

Purposes

In those countries which have them, development in green belt areas is heavily restricted. The stated objectives of green belt policy are to:

Protect natural or semi natural environments;

Improve air quality within urban areas;

Ensure that urban dwellers have access to countryside, with consequent educational and recreational opportunities; and

Protect the unique character of rural communities which might otherwise be absorbed by expanding suburbs.

The green belt has many benefits for people:

Walking, camping, and biking areas close to the cities and towns.

Habitat for wild plants, animals and wildlife.

Cleaner air and water

Better land use of areas within the bordering cities.

The effectiveness of green belts differs depending on location and country. They can often be eroded by urban rural fringe uses and sometimes, development ‘jumps’ over the green belt area, resulting in the creation of “satellite towns” which, although separated from the city by green belt, function more like suburbs than independent communities.

History

The Old Testament outlines a proposal for a green belt around the Levite towns in the Land of Israel Moses Maimonides expounded that the greenbelt plan from the Old Testament referred to all towns in ancient Israel. In the 7th century, Muhammad established a primitive form of a green belt around Medina. He did this by prohibiting any further removal of trees in a 12-mile long strip around the city. In 1580 Elizabeth I of England banned new building in a 3 mile wide belt around the City of London in an attempt to stop the spread of plague. However, it was possible to buy dispensations which reduced the effectiveness of the proclamation.

In modern times, green belt policy was pioneered in the United Kingdom in the 1930s after pressure from the CPRE and various other organizations. There are fourteen green belt areas, in the UK covering 16,716 km, or 13% of England, and 164 km of Scotland; for a detailed discussion of these, see Green belt (UK). Other notable examples are the Ottawa Greenbelt and Golden Horseshoe Greenbelt, green belts in Ontario, Canada. Ottawa’s 20,350 hectare greenbelt is managed by the National Capital Commission (NCC). The more general term in the U.S. is green space or greenspace, which may be a very small area such as a park.

The concept of “green belt” has evolved in recent years to encompass not only “Greenspace” but also “Greenstructure”, taking into account all urban greenspaces, an important aspect of sustainable development in the 21st century. The European Commission’s COST Action C11 (European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research) is undertaking “Case studies in Greenstructure Planning” involving 15 European countries.

An act of the Swedish parliament from 1994 has declared a series of parks in Stockholm and the adjacent municipality of Solna to its north a “national city park” called Ekoparken (the “Eco park”; it stretches from the parks surrounding the royal palaces of Ulriksdal and Haga in Solna, through the Brunnsviken area, down to the former royal hunting grounds of North and South Djurgrden).

Criticism

The difference/contrarian interpretation of the green belt’s effects/motivation (for example, suggested by economist Tim Harford ) is that a green belt is created by residents to preserve the bourgeois status quo of those already living within the zone, and especially the advantage of landlords who profit from a scarcity of housing (see above, “preserving the character of rural communities”). In this interpretation, the stated motivation and benefits of the green belt are well-intentioned (public health, environment), but these benefits accrue as intentioned or claimed (for example, critics claim that only a small fraction of the population ever sets foot on the green belt for leisure purposes,[citation needed] and they claim that a green belt is not strongly causally linked to clean air and water). Rather, the ultimate result of the decision to green belt a city is to maintain the middle class status quo,[citation needed] thus exacerbating high housing prices by concentrating demand within the zone and stifling competitive forces in general.

Another area of criticism comes from the fact that, since a greenbelt does not extend indefinitely outside a city, it might spur the growth of areas much further away from the city core than if it had not existed, thereby actually increasing urban sprawl. Examples commonly cited are the Ottawa suburbs of Kanata and Orleans, both of which are outside the city’s greenbelt, and are currently undergoing explosive growth (see Greenbelt (Ottawa)). This can lead to other problems, as residents of these areas have further to commute to work (if they seek employment in city) and little access to public transport. It also means people will commute through the green belt, an area not designed to cope with high levels of transportation. Not only is the merit of a green belt apparently subverted, but the green belt may heighten the problem and make the city unsustainable[citation needed].

There are many examples whereby the actual effect of green belts is to act as a land reserve for future freeways and other highways. Examples include sections of the 407 highway north of Toronto and the Hunt Club Rd / Richmond Rd. south of Ottawa. Whether they are originally planned as such, or the result of a newer administration taking advantage of land that was left available by its predecessors is debatable.

In Britain, greenbelt barriers to urban expansion have been strongly criticised as one of several major protectionist political-economic barriers to housebuilding with negative effects on the supply, cost/prices, and quality of new homes. (The other barriers include new housing development taxes and quasi-taxes; political discrimination against particular classes of new housing supplier, household consumer, and housing product; and controls on housing technical-product development in particular, the blocking of innovative low-cost housebuilding using new materials and production technologies). Critics argue that the greenbelts actually defeat their own stated objective of saving the countryside and open spaces. By preventing existing towns and cities from extending normally and organically, they result in more land-extensive housing developments further out i.e., the establishment beyond the greenbelts of new communities with lower building densities, their own built infrastructure and other facilities, and greater dependence on cars and commuting, etc. Meanwhile, valuable urban green space and brownfield sites best suited to industry and commerce are lost in existing conurbations as more and more new housing is crammed into them.

Notable green belts

Australia

Adelaide’s Central Business District is completely encircled by the Adelaide Parklands, as was initially planned in 1837.

Brazil

The So Paulo City Green Belt Biosphere Reserve – GBBR, an integral part of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve, was created in 1994 stemming from a people’s movement that collected 150 thousand signatures. It extends throughout 73 municipalities including So Paulo metro and the Santos area. With approximately 17,000 km, it is inhabited by about 23 million people, corresponding to more than 10% of the country’s total population in an area equivalent to 2 thousandth of the Brazilian territory. There are over 6,000 km of forests and other Atlantic Forest ecosystems at the Reserve, one of the planet’s most threatened biomes. In addition to a spectacular biological diversity, the GBBR’s ecosystems render valuable ecosystem Services.

Canada

Ottawa Greenbelt – Surrounds the Capital city of Ottawa

Greenbelt (Golden Horseshoe), is a 7300 km band of land that encompasses the rural and agricultural land surrounding the Greater Toronto Area and Niagara Peninsula, and parts of the Bruce Peninsula. Most of the land consists of the Oak Ridges Moraine, an environmentally sensitive land that is a major aquifer for the region, and the Niagara Escarpment, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. In an effort to restrain urban sprawl that has encroched on these lands, the Ontario government created the Greenbelt Act in February 2005 to protect this greenspace from all future development, with the exception of limited agricultural use.

British Columbia – the Agricultural Land Reserve protects agricultural land throughout this mountainous province from urban development, including around Vancouver. This protection is strict and urban development of agricultural land is only allowed if no reasonable alternative exists. However, it does not protect non-agricultural land, particularly hillsides, leading to substantial, and highly visible, leapfrog-type hillside sprawl.

Dominican Republic

The Greater Santo Domingo has a Greenbelt(Santo Domingo Greenbelt) project surrounding the whole D.N. It is composed of the National botanical Garden, Mirador Del Norte, Mirador del Este, and other parks surrounding the area from its outer municipios. It has largely been affected by uncontrolled urbanization, but other parts remain unaffected.

Mainland Europe

European Green Belt

Banjica Forest, Belgrade

Stockholm Eco park

German Green Belt

New Zealand

Dunedin’s Town Belt is one of the world’s oldest green belts, having been planned at the time of the city’s rapid growth during the Otago Gold Rush of the 1860s. It surrounds the city centre on three sides (the fourth side being the city’s harbour).

The Philippines

Makati City’s green belt is very green yet full of malls and modern structures.

South Korea

Seoul

United Kingdom

Main article: green belt (UK)

The London Metropolitan Green Belt (5,133 km)

The North West Green Belt (2,578 km)

South and West Yorkshire Green Belt (2,556 km)

West Midlands Green Belt (2,315 km)

United States

The U.S. states of Oregon, Washington and Tennessee require cities to establish urban growth boundaries (UGBs).

Notable US cities which have adopted UGBs include Portland, Oregon; Twin Cities, Minnesota; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Lexington, Kentucky; Miami-Dade county.

More than 20 cities in the San Francisco Bay Area have UGBs (see Greenbelt Alliance, a Bay Area organization that has been involved in establishing these boundaries).

Staten Island Greenbelt

Barton Creek Greenbelt

Ann Arbor, Michigan is acquiring conservation easements on agricultural land around the city without the establishment of an urban growth boundary. While the city’s initial plan did not include the participation of surrounding townships, at least four townships have participated directly or have initiated their own efforts to protect agricultural land surrounding the city.

See also

Environment portal

Ecology portal

Earth sciences portal

Sustainable development portal

Community separator

Conservation movement

Development Supported Agriculture

Ecology

Land use planning

Open space

Prime farmland

Sustainability

Urban growth boundary

Urban rural fringe

Urban sprawl

References

^ Numbers 35:1-5

^ Mishna Torah, Zeraim, Shmittah & Yovel 13:4-5

^ Iqbal, Munawwar (2005). Islamic Perspectives on Sustainable Development. p. 27. Published jointly by Palgrave Macmillan, University of Bahrain, and Islamic Research and Training Institute.

^ Halliday, Stephen (2004). Underground to Everywhere. Sutton Publishing Limited. pp. 118. ISBN 0750938439. 

^ National Capital Commission. “National Capital Commission :: The National Capital Greenbelt :: History and Culture.” National Capital Commission – Commission De La Capitale Nationale (NCC-CCN). 07 Dec. 2007. NCC-CCN. Accessed 28 June 2008.

^ How Much Open Space is Enough?” St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN) – April 22, 2007 – A1 MAIN

^ Political Barriers To Housebuilding In Britain: A Critical Case Study Of Protectionism & Its Industrial-Commercial Effects, Industrial Systems Research/ Google Books, new edition 2002. Chapter two: reenbelt Barriers To Urban Expansion. ISBN 978-0-906321-21-8

Categories: Real estate | Urban studies and planning terminology | Local government | Housing | Land management | Zoning | Sustainable urban planningHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from October 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements from July 2008

“A number of new projects in the state of Texas are worthy of note. In Bee Cave, a new project promises Tuscany-style homes with lots of green space. The project, undertaken by Tennessee-based Southern Land Co. will be a $160 million residential development near SH 71 and RM 620. The project, Cielo, will feature a number of residential options, including town homes, condos, and one and two bedroom homes. In addition, buyers will also be able to choose from 400 luxury flats. The designers hope to offer buyers unprecedented levels of choice. The homes alone have more than 20 floor plans. The homes will start in the high $300,000 and building is expected to be completed in 2013. At that time, homeowners will be able to enjoy the more than 28 acres of preserved green space on the 78-acre development and will have easy access to the nearby Balcones Canyonlands Preserve as well.

In Austin, the Avalon Palms apartment complex has been purchased by Los-Angeles-based Palms of Avalon Apartments Texas LLC. The 352-unit apartment complex situated just off US 183 in North Central Austin was constructed in the early 1970s and boasts 13 acres at 9001 and 9003 Northgate Blvd. According to Travis County tax records, the complex has a value of $10 million. In the sale, the buyer was represented by Los-Angeles-based Greg Salyers. The seller was represented by Hendricks & Partners.

Another new project in Austin promises to make a school more effective for children. About $110 million is being offered in state funds to The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI). The money is earmarked for renovations. The 150-year-old campus will be modernized so that it is more child-friendly, according to TSBVI staff. TSBVI is considered one of the top schools in the nation for the visually impaired. Now, the campus will be top-flight as well, with renovations scheduled for the next four to eight years. Landscaping and security will be updated and some buildings will be demolished to make room for new construction. A new student activity center, a vocational building, eight dormitories, a new physical education and therapy building, an indoor pool, track-and-field facilities, and independent apartments will be added to the campus. New student housing will be designed by Dallas firm Halff Associates, a company that has offices in Austin. Staff and students at TSBVI are excited about the proposed renovations, which promise to make learning far more enjoyable in the future.”

Georgetown is the perfect place for the home buyer who wants a country home with convenient access to the city, and the demand for green homes is on the rise. Georgetown Texas real estate agent Edward Lui, recognized the growing need to support home-buyers and recently became EcoBroker Certified®. “EcoBroker offers education and tools to real estate professionals that in turn helps consumers take advantage of energy efficiency and environmentally sensitive design in real estate properties.”

While there are many Georgetown Texas homes for sale, the options to go green in Georgetown are still limited. Lui recommends Green Builders in the sub-community of Georgetown Village. Georgetown Village is a 600-acre, planned mixed-use community featuring new homes built by some of the top local and national homebuilders. Green Builders is a leading developer of green homes and communities in Central Texas. While based in Austin, they only offer their custom homes outside the city in three communities—two south of Austin, and one in Georgetown Village. Their goal is to build attractive comfortable homes with energy-efficient and earth-friendly features.

Green Builders addresses four points in their Green Sense program. A few highlights include:

1) Energy: EnergyStar appliances, energy efficient HVAC equipment, florescent bulbs, and design features like using natural colored stone from local quarries

2) Water: low pressure shower heads and toilets, tankless water heaters, and custom programable sprinkler systems

3) Earth: spray-foam insulation, recycled lumber, and low volatile organic compound paint are used

4) Health: foam roof and wall insulation reduces humidity and lessens possibility of mold, pollen and other allergens; no paper products are used in the foundation which eliminates need for termite treatment; and garages are detached or vented to reduce potential exposure to exhaust

Edward Lui is truly “walking the talk.” He not only recommends Green Builders, but is a proud owner of one of their homes in Georgetown Village. “In an effort to reduce my own carbon footprint, I wanted to purchase a green home. As Georgetown continues to expand, I want to encourage others to do the same and protect and preserve the community I know and love.”

Lui’s website, GeorgetownCustomHomes.com, delivers up-to-date information on Georgetown Texas real estate and communities. In addition to a complete MLS listing and interactive search features,his personal blog shares insider information on his hometown—featuring communities like Georgetown Village, and his experience purchasing and living in a green home.

The votes are in, the green movement is sweeping Central Texas. But, even if you choose to live outside the big city, builders are offering the same, if not better, custom home options for the eco-conscious buyer.