Now there’s another reason to buy a hybrid besides helping Mother Earth.

Free Preferred Parking at Sierra-at-Tahoe.

Guests who drive a hybrid to Sierra will be rewarded with more than just great skiing. You get rock star parking!

It’s all part of the resort’s PROJECT: GREEN SIERRA program that includes easy ways for skiers and snowboarders to help the resort curb global warming, like this:

• Take the free daily shuttles.
• Purchase green tags through the Bonneville Environmental Foundation to help offset your trip.
• Join the Sierra Rideshare band wagon – click here to find fellow mountaineers to car pool with to save gas and the environment.

These are just a few of the many ways Sierra is helping to Keep Winter Cool like changing all of their lights to LEDs, adding auto light sensors, recycling all of their waste from paper to motor oil, and using eco-friendly cleaning products.

Click here to learn more about PROJECT: GREEN SIERRA so you can join the band.

According to Slow Food USA, it’s “an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.”

With values like that, it’s no surprise we have a chapter based in Truckee.

In a nutshell, Slow Food is an international movement to counteract our fast paced lives. Slow Food is good, clean and fair food.  Slow Food members believe that food should taste good and be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work.

Slow Food Lake Tahoe hosts the popular Dinners in the Barn events and promotes regional farmer’s markets and community supported agriculture (CSAs).  They even list some healthy tips and recipes for veggies on their website.  And, fundraisers help the Truckee Tahoe Nutrition Coalition which promotes optimum health through nutrition and physical activity such as Fun Food Days, Harvest of the Month, and Fit, Fueled, Ready to Move and the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District Student Wellness Policy.

Slow Food Lake Tahoe is committed to promoting the environmental and health benefits of slow food and these four key ingredients:

1. Good: Naturally delicious food created with care from healthy plants and animals.

2. Clean: Grown and harvested with methods that have a positive impact on ecosystems and biodiversity.

3. Fair: Produced by people who are treated with dignity and justly compensated for their labor.

4. Fun: Connecting with like-minded community members who savor good food and good times.

To learn more and how you can get involved, please visit www.slowfoodlaketahoe.org.

Growing up in Kings Beach you see, Bob always shared something in common with his neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Bear.

Trash.

Yes, Bob loves trash.

However, Bob quickly realized that trash was killing his fellow Tahoe natives.  So he got to work collecting scraps of metal, discarded pieces of whatever – old car pieces, wood, anything – and he started to weld and create some beautiful one-of-a-kind bear boxes that made Smokey proud.

Bob calls his recycled bear boxes “an amalgam of the past, a multi-layered quilt of metal that lived a former life in a completely different context.” Considered art, Bob’s Bear Boxes are completely functional and not only help reduce the waste in our landfills, but they may just help keep our Tahoe bears alive by keeping them away from last night’s dinner.

To learn more about Bob’s Bear Boxes and to see his custom, intricate designs, click here.

Following family and friends, Bret’s passions include protecting the playground he enjoys daily by practicing what he preaches, and through his new green business, Healthy Home Consultants.

Bret Hackett, local builder and designer of the first LEED home in the Tahoe Basin, discusses the ten key elements that make a house green. And, he should know.  Bret won the 2008 Best in Basin Awards for the “Best Green Building Project” presented by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.  Congratulations Bret!

As the principal of a green design and build company, I receive a lot of questions from clients regarding the green-ness of products and design principles.

Considering past projects and future designs, there tends to be one commonality.

Unless one is looking at a large array of solar panels or a residence that resembles a green house made from tires and adobe, the common response is: What’s Green about that?

Green building is not rocket science, nor is it as complex as nanotechnology. In fact, green building has a closer resemblance to the homes of our ancestors than the homes we live in now. In the words of David Johnson, a green building consultant in Colorado, Green Building is simply “applied common sense.” In this article I will give ten examples of Green Building. The photos will not show endless rows of solar panels or geo-thermal heat pumps, rather, the examples will display simple and elegant solutions to creating a healthy, efficient, and bomb-proof home. Yes, a Green Home.

The ten examples below were all implemented on a recent project which was designed and built by my company, Healthy Home Consultants, in South Lake Tahoe. This home is the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified Home in the Tahoe Basin.

The home is angled on the lot so that one large gable end is oriented to the South. (see top photo)

This allows passive solar heating which can reduce heating bills. It is accomplished by placing an extensive amount of glass on the south side which brings in the low winter sun to heat the concrete floors. The gable end facing north has few windows to protect against heat loss.

The garage is a separate structure from the home, attached with a covered walkway.

This ensures that the home will have the best indoor air quality possible by keeping chemicals and exhaust out of the home.

The home is sided with corrugated steel and CertainTeed fiber cement.

The steel will weather naturally, and last indefinitely with a mountain style patina which requires no maintenance.

The fiber cement siding was finished in the factory and has a 50 year warranty.

Radiant Floor Heating. The Pex tubing is laid out and ready for a finished concrete floor. The home is heated by circulating warm fluid through concrete floors.

There are five separate zones on the first floor and eight throughout the house.

This gives the homeowner complete temperature control, which improves comfort and saves money.

The home is constructed of Structural Insulated Panels (SIPS) which are stronger, more durable and more energy efficient than conventional building.

Hard at work as the second floor wall panels are craned in. A 6 ½ inch SIP wall has a true R-Value of R-21 compared to a 2×6 stud framed wall with a true R-Value of R-11.

True R-Value is the measurement of a completed wall assembly (studs, insulation, sheathing).

Structure as Finish is a very important green design principle. It unites people with the bones of a building and minimizes resource and material use.

This photo exemplifies how we used two crucial structural elements to create a finished product.

The steel I-beam was left exposed as opposed to being wrapped with sheetrock or wood.

The concrete floor, which holds the energy from the radiant heat, was dressed up for a no-maintenance, beautiful floor as opposed to adding tile or hardwood as a finish.

Daylighting is a green design principle which uses the sun to light a building as opposed to electricity.

Interior glass doors and interior windows located at strategic locations are a vital element in accomplishing daylighting in a building.

This door illuminates an otherwise dark hallway.

One of the basic tenets of green building and sustainability in general, is using local materials and local production.

These counter-tops were made locally (onsite by Healthy Home Consultants carpenters) and produced from locally salvaged wood.

The bar-top is a Juniper slab and the butcher block counters are made from juniper and oak.

In order to supply the home with fresh air throughout the day and night which is essential for Indoor Air Quality, the home has a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV).

This technology is a must in today’s tight homes.

The heat recovery occurs in the winter; as the HRV exhales stale indoor air it stores the heat in a heat exchanger, thus capturing up to 90% of the heat, and using it to heat the incoming fresh air.

This home’s walls are protected by large eaves which are the extension of roof beyond the wall.

The eaves are 2 and 3 feet throughout the house and garage.

This design feature protects the walls from moisture in the winter and intense sun in the summer.

Creating quality Outdoor Living Space is not only a green design principle, but a fundamental element to every structure.

Areas where one can relax, reflect, and connect with their surroundings are essential for promoting a comfortable and relaxing setting.

This home has outdoor living on both the north and south aspects.

The north facing entry porch gives shelter to skiers, groceries and guests in the winter and a cool spot for conversation and relaxation on the hot summer days.

The deck is oriented to due south to take advantage of the warm Tahoe sun whenever one desires.

To see this LEED home and to learn more about Healthy Home Consultants, contact Bret at 530-412-0316 or bret@healthyhomeconsultants.net

Photos by Bret Hackett

Meet Bret Hackett

Bret Hackett lives and plays in South Lake Tahoe with his wife Rosie, daughter Ruby, and dog Osa. Bret followed the snow from Flagstaff, AZ to serve the local community as a ski patroller at Heavenly and an avalanche educator at Lake Tahoe Community College for 8 years.

In between adventures of rock climbing, mountain biking, skiing, surfing and river running, he has worked in the building trades and studied sustainable building since 1994.

From 1996-1999 he studied Ecological Design at Prescott College both nurturing his passion and expanding his knowledge base for green building.

Currently, Bret is paving the way for green building in the mountain environs of the Sierra Nevada. In 2008, he designed and built the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) home in the Tahoe basin. Bret continues to serve this beautiful mountain town with stunning architecture and high quality craftsmanship with his company Healthy Home Consultants.

That’s right.

Located in Incline Village, the U.C. Davis Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences building has received a Platinum LEED Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

What a perfect tribute to our preservation efforts.

TCES is the first building in Nevada to earn the recognition, one of 5 laboratories and one of only 26 facilities in the world to have earned the highest tier of recognition for energy and environmental design excellence under the LEED program for New Construction (LEED NC.). LEED is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

To achieve this designation, the project design had to achieve over 52 credits in 6 subject areas:

• Sustainable Sites
• Energy & Atmosphere
• Water Efficiency
• Materials & Resources
• Indoor Environmental Quality
• Innovation & Design Process

TCES got 56 points – OVER ACHIEVER!

The 45,000-square-foot facility housing UC Davis’s research laboratories, a public education center; Sierra Nevada College laboratories and classrooms; and office space for the Desert Research Institute and University of Nevada, Reno’s Academy for the Environment. To learn more, visit their website.

All of these functions are focused on understanding and preserving the unique ecology of the Lake Tahoe watershed. Achieving the Platinum certification not only shows congruence with that focus, but proves that sustainable, energy-efficient design is possible even for complex, critical-use buildings such as laboratories.

Some highlights:

• The TCES building uses 60% less energy than a building of the same function, climate and size.
• Potable water use was reduced 65% through the use of drought-tolerant native plants, water-efficient plumbing fixtures, and the use of treated rainwater for toilets.
• Retention basins were used to slow down and treat storm water runoff and reduced areas of site disturbance during construction.
• Building materials included high levels of recycled content and materials from local sources (reducing environmental impacts of transportation).
• Over 85% of the construction waste was recycled.

Check it out this engineering marvel.

Take a Tour of the TCES building or Thomas J. Long Education Center.

Location:

The Education Center is located in the TCES building on the campus of Sierra Nevada College located at:
291 Country Club Drive
Incline Village, Nevada

Hours: TCES building is open Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. with special appointments available.

During peak months the Education Center will be open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Tours: Volunteer docents are available for guided tours of the Education Center and TCES building, questions about exhibits, operation of 3-D Visualization Lab, and general information. Regular tours are available on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Contact: Stop by during our regular hours, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., or schedule a docent-led tour.

Call 775-881-7560 for more information.

Photos by Chris Talbot

But electricity causes pollution, right? Not if you tap into the wind like some of our ski resorts.

Recognizing that electricity is a major polluter, some of our local ski resorts are buying wind power to balance our needs with the environment.

Ski resorts across the country and in Lake Tahoe are getting serious about fighting global warming. Many are purchasing renewable energy credits equal to the resort’s entire electricity usage.

By embracing wind power as a clean and renewable source, participating ski resorts counteract millions of pounds of carbon dioxide emissions we emit by driving our cars to the resorts every year. Now that’s cool.

Buying Wind. How does that work?

Since it is physically impossible to deliver electricity straight from a wind farm to a ski resort, renewable energy credits make purchasing wind power possible. Wind energy credits ensure that the amount of electricity the ski resort uses is replaced onto the power grid with wind power. Wind farms sell renewable energy credits to better compete with fossil fuels, allowing consumers to choose clean sources of electricity.

Here’s what a few of our local ski resorts are doing to reduce their use of electricity, and to keep Tahoe cool.

Alpine Meadows
Alpine Meadows purchases 100% renewable wind powered energy from Colorado-based Renewable Choice Energy, a wind power provider. Using this amount of wind energy is equivalent to not driving a car 1,822,061 miles. That’s three and a half round-trip tickets to the moon!

Heavenly
All 5 of the Vail Resorts, including Heavenly, are 100% powered by the wind, making them the second largest corporate purchaser of wind power in the United States. Like Alpine Meadows, Vail has also partnered with Renewable Choice Energy.

Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe
Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe has joined the SkiGreen program and purchased enough renewable energy to match the annual electrical load of the Northwest and Zephyr chairlifts. This represents over 610 megawatt–hours of renewable energy produced from non-polluting resources – equivalent to the annual electricity used by about 50 average homes. That’s the approximate carbon dioxide reduction equivalent of planting 115 acres of trees or not driving 73 cars for one year.

Sugar Bowl
In partnership with 3 Phases Energy, Sugar Bowl is supporting California wind farms by purchasing renewable energy to offset 100% of its energy use. This 4,272 megawatt hour (MWh) per year purchase reduces Sugar Bowl’s consumption of fossil fuels, and keeps 4,588,000 pounds of greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere each year. This is equivalent to planting 310,000 trees or taking 400 cars off of the road for one year.

Want to help? It’s Easy. Buy a SkiGreen Tag.

Several of our ski resorts are selling Mini-SkiGreen Tags with their season pass sales and daily lift tickets. The proceeds from Mini-SkiGreen Tag sales are used to support renewable energy like wind power at the ski resort.

Each Mini-SkiGreen Tag represents enough wind energy to offset the global warming pollution generated from driving an average car around 150 miles.

SkiGreen Tags make a great year-round gift for the planet, your family, friends and yourself. Click here for our local ski resorts that sell them.

Passionate about Pollination
by Julie Brown, Moonshine Ink

This story is reprinted from the October 2011 issue of Moonshine Ink.

Kevin Drake is not a beekeeper. But he is all about pollination.

Under the umbrella of Kings Beach Common Grounds, Drake has partnered with the Kings Beach Family Resource Center and other Kings Beach community members and leaders to create a community garden and plant flowers that will attract native pollinators.

The group is in the process of negotiating a stewardship agreement with the California Tahoe Conservancy to create a pollinator park, a true community garden that will be the first that proactively maintains habitat for native pollinators in the Tahoe Basin. And they’re not solely focused on bees, but also butterflies, humming birds, and the many other pollinators found in Tahoe forests.

“We’re starting with bees and hopefully some of the other subsequent gardens would be butterfly oriented,” Drake said.

Drake hopes to get an agreement in place this fall and break ground in the spring.

“We have to start at home,” Drake said. “If you’re concerned about global food supply, you grow a little food yourself. If you’re concerned about pollinator populations and the myriad of impacts on the economy, the next time you choose plants for your yard, do a little research and find out what the most pollinator-friendly plants are.”

The free annual Solar Home Tour in South Lake Tahoe presented by Tahoe Solar Designs takes place Saturday, October 1st, from 10am to 1pm.

The tour will feature homes with Grid-intertied Solar Electricity and Solar Domestic Hot Water.  To register for this free  South Lake Tahoe event and tour, call 530-542-0780.

Tahoe Solar Designs (TSD) was created by two long-time South Lake Tahoe locals, Leslie Aimes and Bret Alexander. TSD creates sustainable solar energy solutions for residential and commercial customers, and specializes in photovoltaic (solar electricity) and solar hot water.

Passionate about conservation, Leslie and Bret are committed to teaching others about their proven Lake Tahoe eco-tips, and how to reduce our dependency on utility-generated energy and how produce our own clean, renewable energy.  And, how to save money too!

Learn more at Tahoe Solar Designs website.

The sustainable event taking place September 14th in Sparks, NV will feature local, organic, and sustainable foods, host an array of featured green businesses and non-profits, and include live music and a mixed-materials green fashion show.

Mixed Greens will take place Wednesday, September 14, 2011, from 5:30 pm – 9:00 pm at the Great Basin Brewing Company, 846 Victorian Avenue, Sparks, NV.  For only $8, you will receive a glass of organic beer – must be 21 to drink.  For more information contact: Nikki Florio nikki@biggeorgegreen.com or 775.434.5815

Guest speaker Dr. Jason Geddes, Nevada System of Higher Education regent, and Reno City environmental services administrator will address local businesses and nonprofits regarding sustainable business leadership in sustainability and sustainable projects, and the negative impacts of greenwashing.

Mixed-Greens “Featured Vendors” come from a variety of sustainable industries, including but not limited to: food and agriculture, building and energy, transportation, recreation, fashion, green business and more. Each of the featured vendors will be giving a (1-2 minute) mini-presentation regarding their specific products, services, or organizations, to attendees.

The Mixed-Greens fashion show, is a mini fashion show featuring a variety of outfits from Tahoe Hemp Company. Outfits include materials made from Earth-Friendly materials such as hemp, organic cotton, recycled plastics, and bamboo. Outfits include clothing made America and Fair-Trade items as well.

Mixed-Greens is opened to community and business-members who are interested in learning more about – and connecting to – progressive, sustainable businesspeople and community members. The delicious fare comes primarily from local producers with additional snacks provided by organic and sustainable food purveyors. The featured Great Basin beer, Truckee River Red, is Nevada’s only certified organic brew. Live music by Whitney Myers band provides an exciting background to this unique event.

Sponsorship of Mixed-Greens provided by the following generous businesses: Great Basin Brewing Company, United Natural Foods International (UNFI), Miles Construction, Solar Universe, and Green with NV.

Featured Vendors include: SEED Engineering, The Batch Cupcakery, Miles Construction, Great Basin Brewing Company, Hand Brand Book Company, Tahoe Hemp Company, UNFI, Green with NV Solar Universe, and more

Featured Non-Profits include: Envirolution, Electric Nevada, River School, and Reno Bike Project

The Silent Green Auction, hosted at the event by Envirolution, goes to fund Envirolution educational programs at schools in the Washoe County School District and surrounding areas.

You’ll find Workshops, a Mini-Farmer’s Market with a variety of Local Vendors, Live music with HICK’RY SWITCH, face painting and how to stuff a scarecrow at Hungry Mothers Organics. Visit www.hungrymotherorganics.com for details.