The eNewsletter of the Sustainable Building Coalition

In This Issue...

Austin ranked 6th in Sustainable City list

Native American Affordable Housing Workshop

SBC Calendar:

July 20th - Member Meeting at Casa de Luz

August 17th - Member Meeting at Casa de Luz - "Celestial Geometry for Building Design", Dr. Dan Lester, Research Scientist, Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas

September 21st - Member Meeting at Casa de Luz - "Therapeutic and Hazardous Aspects of Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs) in our Buildings", James Beal

Local Austin Workshops:

Every 1st Saturday of the month - Electrical Wiring

Every 2nd Saturday of the month - Basic Carpentry

All of these workshops are presented by Janet's Solar Electric and they are for women only. For fees and hours, please call 275-0557 or visit www.janetssolarelectric.com

July 20th Member Meeting: "Seeking and Creating Sacred Spaces as a Foundation for Building Healthy Places"
with Roberta Shoemaker-Beal, MFA, ATR

Come join us in a multidimensional sharing of the significance of sacred places~spaces in our lives. After some lecture information is shared, a guided visualization will lead us into an experiential sharing of creating a human henge design as a sacred place among us.

We will create an orienting henge, after the classic shape of sacred places, the mandala shape of medicine wheels and ancient sacred places like stone henge, which gave our ancestors a focus for orientation in time and space. Did you know that we have an ancient henge in America, at the cross roads of our central plains? Cahokia has a wood henge, near a pyramidal mound with a base bigger than the Great Pyramid in Giza, whose approximate latitude we share... Seeking and Creating Sacred Spaces is a foundation for finding and keeping the resonance for creating healthy places that work for us. In September, Jim Beal will follow with a presentation on the creation of Healthy Places in homes, offices and other environments, by the evaluation and shielding of artificial a.c. electromagnetic fields (EMFs) present, which may pose long-term health hazards. Through the 5 years of Spirit of Place Conferences, Roberta and her husband became informed of the multi-dimensional geo-physical aspects in our lives with traditional sacred sites. They also became aware of the importance of maintaining resonant sacred spaces within ourselves. Therefore, they began building labyrinths in the mid 1990's in response to the need for the creation of sacred spaces in retreat centers and on private property, where a resonance with one's inner creative flow can be nurtured and sustained. The labyrinth movement came to Austin, with the building of many labyrinths, with a registry for all to contact when a walk in this archetypal sacred space is felt to be needed. Roberta Shoemaker-Beal, MFA, ATR, wife and mother, has worked as a clinical art therapist for 30 years. She has published The Creative Expressive Journal: A Safe Place to Express Your True Self. Her chapter, Creating a Living Temenos, appeared in Dialogues with the Living Earth, edited by Dr James and Roberta Swan for Quest Publications. She lectures and gives workshops around the country called Sacred Spaces~Healthy Places, with her husband, James Beal, where they also can build labyrinths.

Please join Roberta to learn more about sacred places in our lives. SBC meets every 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7 pm at Casa de Luz, 1701 Toomey Road in the Cielo Room. You are welcome to join us before the meeting at 6 pm for a wonderful macrobiotic meal at Casa de Luz.

Austin ranked as 6th Most Sustainable City by SustainLane

In November 2004, SustainLane began to take a look at 25 US cities across 12 major categories, to measure their relative levels of sustainability, and in the process create the most comprehensive study done to date on the topic. They found an abundance of data and information, but it was fragmented, not always relevant, and presented challenges for use in a comparative analysis. One of the biggest discoveries was that many cities themselves had not found a way to look at the various pieces of information as an integrated system. Cities across America have a lot going on in terms of sustainable practices, so they set out to measure, compare, and rank these cities, thus creating the SustainLane US City Rankings.

But how does SustainLane define sustainability? The SustainLane US City Rankings focus on healthy regional economic development, vibrant communities and quality of life measurements. Their viewpoint of sustainable practices is weighted toward ideas borrowed from our natural systems and implemented in our cities, particularly those geared toward the revitalization of our economy and public health. SustainLane also wants to celebrate the inspirational leaders showing us the way to a better future.

More than any other city in our study, Austin is betting on renewable energy, both solar and wind, for its future. Mayor Will Wynn has spoken of making the city the world's "Clean Energy Capital." Austin's Strategic Energy Plan calls for development of 100 MW of solar and for 20% of the city to be running on renewables by 2020. The community-owned utility Austin Energy's Green Choice program ranks number one in the nation in terms of customers served. About 7,500 home and business owners pay an average of an additional $5 per month to receive their energy from renewable sources such as wind power.

Despite these city goals and programs, the city ranked a #13 in energy/climate of all of our cities studied. So far Austin has not taken a greenhouse gas inventory as of mid-2005. Nor has its City Council passed greenhouse gas reduction goals, though Mayor Will Wynn signed on to the US Mayors Kyoto Protocol goals in 2005. The city ranked a low #18 in transportation, with only 5% of Austinites riding public transit to work. Though air quality ranked a respectable #7 and has been historically good in the "Hill Country", growth in population has been taking its toll, and the city is on the verge of not attaining Clean Air Act standards.

People in Austin have made a strong commitment to local and sustainable agriculture. With nine farmers' markets and 36 community gardens, it ranks #5 in our food and agriculture category.

Other areas where Austin earn kudos include planning, which was bolstered with the 1999 City Sustainability Plan, and an innovative program offering developers tax abatements for sustainable capital improvements.

Find out more at: SustainLane U.S. City Rankings

Excerpted from Jennifer Anderson, "The Portland Tribune," June 3, 2005.

Native American Affordable Housing Workshop - September 3-4, 2005

A Native American Affordable Housing Workshop is planned for September 3-4, 2005 in Crestone, Colorado in collaboration with Brave Heart Construction, Owen Geiger and Builders Without Borders. Workshop participants will build a straw bale emergency shelter and then learn how to modify it to create a permanent straw bale home for use in Native American communities.

The cost of the workshop is $200 and includes simple lunches (soup, sandwiches, chips, fruit and beverages). Local restaurants are available for breakfasts and dinners. Workshop hours are from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

The workshop is open to the general public, however, preference will be given to Native Americans, especially those who plan on using this information to help others. Free camping is available in the national forest and lodging in nearby motels.

The straw bale shelter built during the workshop will be based on the Free Straw Bale Emergency Shelter Plans on the Geiger Research Institute of Sustainable Building webpage.

Please register as soon as possible, as we expect the workshop to fill quickly. This workshop does require a $50 non-refundable deposit to reserve your space. For more information or to register for the workshop, please go to the Workshops webpage of the Geiger Research Institute of Sustainable Building.