Check this out I am so proud! Here are some of our commercials that we made for our local TV3. They are only 15 seconds each and only took a few hours to make. Let me know what you think. They are short but informative. :)

Although fall is settling in, it's never to early to plan for next summer and spring-time projects. In that vein, here are a few things I bet you didn't know about salt water pools: first, salt water pools clean with zero scoops or discs of chlorine. No more red eyes, green hair or dry skin. They have a chlorine generator system that sanitizes the water and converts it back into salt, so the pool itself remains free of chlorine.

 You won't need to store chlorine, which is expensive and hazardous to have around. On occasion you'll need to add salt, like when rainwater overflows a pool. Any pool or spa can be converted to a salt water pool. discountsaltpool.com offers kits to convert your pool to salt water.

The latest in luxury is 100% chemical-free water, as in zero chlorine, from Eco Smarte. The process uses less wattage of power and claims even the backwash is safe. It involves converting calcium to bicarbonate which eliminates scaling on pool surfaces. Then, an ionization and oxidization process sanitizes the water. Next, a copper ionization process cleans the water and leaves a by-product of organic dead matter . And finally, an electrical current separates the oxygen and hydrogen atoms that eliminate the organic dead matter along with body oils and sun tan lotion. At ecosmartepool.com you have to request pricing but 5% of the cost is donated to the eco-charity of your choice.

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GreenerBuildings News: October 23, 2008 ===========================================================

Welcome to the latest edition of GreenerBuildings News. We are committed to bringing you the latest information and resources on the full spectrum of environmental issues related to buildings and facilities. Log on to http://www.GreenerBuildings.com for more up-to-date news, tools, case studies and other resources related to greener building practices. A full-color, graphic version of this newsletter is available online at: http://www.greenerbuildings.com/enewsletter

=-=-=-=-=-=-= A NOTE FROM THE EXECUTIVE EDITOR =-=-=-=-=-=-= F

rom Rob Watson: There is a growing emphasis on greening America's schools, and not a moment too soon. According to the U.S. Green Building Council, with 50 million students and 5 million faculty approximately 20 percent of the country's population is involved on a daily basis with the 120,000 K-12 schools in the U.S. — significantly more if parents are included.

As USGBC CEO Rick Fedrizzi's letter notes, America's existing building stock represents a huge and largely untapped resource that can put our citizens to work, reduce costs and conserve our natural resources while providing lifelong lessons for our future leaders. Check out this week's newsletter for news on the Mayors' Alliance for Green Schools, which was spurred by the USGBC in partnership with the U.S. Conference of Mayors and is led by progressive mayors such as Miami's Manny Diaz and Seattle's Greg Nickels. The Mayors' Alliance will focus on partnerships with local businesses to support the implementation of green measures.

Since LEED for Schools was launched in 2007, nearly 1,000 schools have registered and over 100 have certified. For more information and resources about LEED for Schools and tools to advocate for green schools in your area, visit www.buildgreenschools.org. The Clinton Global Initiative's K-12 greening program will support this effort ... Read the rest online at: http://www.greenerbuildings.com/enewsletter

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= THIS WEEK ON GREENBIZ RADIO =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

How to Navigate the Green Seas http://www.greenerbuildings.com/podcast/2008/10/17/how-navigate-green-se... By Tilde Herrera GreenBiz.com Executive Editor Joel Makower discusses his new book, "Strategies for the Green Economy: Opportunities and Challenges in the New World of Business." He offers three keys to help companies assess how well they are doing and answer the question: How good is good enough? You can listen to GreenBiz Radio online, download episodes to your computer or subscribe to our the RSS feed at: http://www.GreenBizRadio.com

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= FEATURES AND COLUMNS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Green vs. Greed -- An Open Letter to Green Building Professionals http://www.greenerbuildings.com/blog/2008/10/23/green-vs-greed Rick Fedrizzi, the CEO, president and founding chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council writes about the strength and resilience of green building movement in these tumultuous economic times. Holcim Honors Top Green Building Projects in North America http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/22/holcim-honors-top-green-... An arts and education center in New York, a day labor station in San Francisco and a lake restoration and research center in Canada are among the nine winners sharing $270,000 in prize funds in the prestigious North American Holcim Awards competition.

=-=-=-=-=-=-= THE LATEST GREEN BUILDINGS NEWS =-=-=-=-=-=-=

U.S. Mayors, USGBC Join Forces to Green Schools http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/20/green-schools

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has formed the Mayors' Alliance for Green Schools, which will work with the U.S. Green Building Council toward the goal of making the nation's schools environmentally friendly within a generation.

Indiana Hospital, California Library Snag LEED Gold, Colorado Capitol Goes Green http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/21/leed-gold-green-capitol Community Hospital South in Indianapolis and the San Mateo Public Library Main Branch have attained LEED Gold status, and Colorado’s Capitol has become the first LEED-certified state house in the country.

South Africa Joins World Green Building Council http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/22/south-africa The Green Building Council of South Africa has been accepted as the 13th full member of the World Green Building Council.

Johnson Controls, Dow Chemical Added to Pew Center's Green Business Council http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/22/pew-center Energy efficiency giant Johnson Controls and Dow Chemical have been named to the prestigious Pew Center Business Environmental Leadership Council.

Green Energy Resources Eyes 1M Tons of Storm-Damaged Texas Wood http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/20/green-energy-resources-e...

New York renewable energy company Green Energy Resources is working to obtain up to one million tons of hurricane-damaged forest wood from southeastern Texas.

USGBC, Marriott, Enterprise Honored for Work to Green Travel Industry http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/21/green-travel-tourism Travel + Leisure magazine named the U.S. Green Building Council, Marriott International and Enterprise Rent-A-Car among its winners of the 2008 Global Vision Award.

Giant Eagle Supermarket Tapped as First LEED Gold Grocer http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/17/giant-eagle Supermarket retailer Giant Eagle earned LEED Gold status for a store in Columbus, the first to receive such a high eco-friendly rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Chestnut House from Bobby Harris on Vimeo.

This week we release a Slow Home Test. The Slow Home Test is a quick and easy way for you to see how well your home adheres to the three Slow Home Principles of Close, Simple and Light.

I'm proud to be representing BGTV on a panel at this year's Green Build expo in Boston. The topic? Green Blogging of course. Who's doing it, and what's blogging's role in the green media landscape? I'm really looking forward to it, as the panel also includes some of my own favorite bloggers and influencers, including Preston Koerner form Jetson Green, Lloyd Alter from Treehugger, and Stephen Del Percio from gbNYC.

For some discussion fodder and research, we'd really like your help with a BRIEF SURVEY -- please spend just the minute that it takes to complete it. There's even a prize for one lucky survey-taker. Thanks, and I hope to see you in Boston in November!

Conserve energy, space and money is the upcoming trend for American homes. People are looking at houses with less useless space and more efficiency, all for a common goal, to save money. The great part about eco-alternatives is that we aren't just saving money but we are up-grading our lifestyle as well.

Smaller more efficient changes like a tankless water heater, are desirable for many reasons, over big clunky tanks. The tankless water heater isn't only smaller in size, but doesn't have a pilot light, or experience fluctuations in water temperature. That's an up-grade! The tankless water heater, to put it simply, waits until you need hot water. A power source heats the water when you turn on the hot water. This power source is either gas-fired or electric.

Installation is required to be in close proximity to where the hot water is being used, i.e. showers, sinks, pool showers, or even outdoor sinks on your patio. This eliminates long pipe runs. There are different models that correspond with climate and building size. Hospitals and schools where long pipe runs are unavoidable run on Thermostatic which have a booster for temperature loss.

There are other tankless water heaters specific to small homes, apartments, and large homes with an indoor / outdoor design-- check out www.tanklesswaterheaterguide.com How much you'll save ranges from 30-50 percent, all related to no reheating of water unlike traditional tanks. These high efficiency designs are said to last 3 times longer than tanks. Tankless water heaters require very little maintenance, and you'll find many that come with a warranty.

Anyone here like puzzles? 'Cause we're gonna be putting together 5,000 square feet o' VMI basketball court soon... think of it: The Challenge! The Fun! This is better than the crossword in Sunday's Herald Tribune!

Or not.

"I got up at 6 am, made coffee and hit the road to approve the foundation preparation and receive the VMI Basketball Floor delivery.

As I was emptying out the shed for the floor the plumbers pulled up and I handed them the PEX tubing I had ordered. I began bush-hogging but Ron, the general contractor, soon arrived and we approved prep work.

(Radiant Heat And Off Grid Foundation Video:)

I returned to the tractor for an hour and the flooring arrived. We have a 20x20 shed and the fork lift was too tall/big so we ended up getting the plumbing crew, which had just finished installing the radiant heat loops, to help and were done within an hour.

(VMI Floorboards Unloading Video 1 of 3)

(VMI Recycled Boards Video 2 of 3)

(VMI Wood Reused In Prefab-ulous House Video 3 of 3) (Copeland's note: Oh. My. Gosh... can you believe we were actually thinking we could just rent a U-Haul and drive to Lexington, load the wood *JUST THE TWO OF US*, drive to the land, and then UNLOAD it?!?!? Soooooooooooo grateful to Bill Miller of ZellerMiller Companies, a VMI alumni who heard of our plight and used his construction connections to help, Bill Miller SAVED US by putting us together with these people to deliver the wood.)

I invited everyone to lunch, and as we left I noticed a flat tyre on my car - upon return to the site the delivery guys hadn't left yet and raised the car with their forklift so that the tire was changed quickly.

When I finally made it to lunch we spoke about alternative energy and it turns out that the plumbing company has done several geo-thermal projects."