contractors guide class

A Four-part series to help the contractor step into green design, sustainability, and alternative construction. Participate in one or all.

Spend a day of workshops at Environmental Building Supplies learning about alternatives to current materials that are low-toxic and renewable such as insulation made of blue jeans, or hard-wood floor alternatives like bamboo. Hydronic heating, Low-voc paints and sealants Roofing systems Carpet alternatives

19-Jan    Place: Environmental Building Supplies
Green Materials/Conventional Style

9:00-10:00    Intro    layout of schedule
        meeting places map
        collection of monies

10:00-11:30    Tour    EBS
        services offered
        products available

11:30-12:30    Lunch    on your own

12:30-1:30    intro to EBN    GreenSpec
        Archive CD
        Advisor program

1:30-2:00    Project example    Skelton and
        Tamarack options

2:00-3:00    Demonstration    bamboo floor installation?
        Hydronic heating under wood floor? Eric Sherman?
        ?


Part One - Green Materials/conventional style
Spend a day of workshops at Environmental Building Supplies learning
about alternatives to current materials that are low-toxic and renewables
such as insulation made of blue jeans, or hard-wood floor alternatives
like bamboo. Hydronic heating, low-voc paints and sealants, carpet alternatives,
and lots more.


Location: 819 SE Taylor Street, Portland, Oregon 97214 (503)-222-3881

Part Two -- Saturday February 16 Economics (recycling, reusing, get more for green, incentives, rebates)

What is the incentive to include green products or design an alternative structure? Learn about where to find recycled products and what is the economic advantage of reusing. What are the long-term payoffs, and the performance values for alternatives? Government and state rebates, incentives, LEED and the Green Building Initiative and where the market is going. How do you make your business green and still be competitive? Hear from others already working in the field.

Part Three -- Saturday March 16 Alternative construction (materials and solutions)

Take a video/slide tour of structures we call "thinking out of the box." Well discuss Paolo Solari and Arcosanti, Mike Reynolds and Earthships, Malcolm Wells and Recovering America, Bucky Fuller, Frank Lloyd Wright, and many more. These workshops are "thinktanks" to creating new and livable designs including community and living within the biosphere. These ideas can be applied to everyday building in urban and rural environments including greenhouses, strawbale houses, earthships, earthshelters, rammed earth/adobe, papercrete, terracrete, structural insulated panels, rastra block and lots more.

Part Four -- Saturday April 20 Systems (greywater, stormwater incentives, water catchment, ecoroofs)

Through guest lecturers you will learn about what is happening in renewable systems information. Greywater and its use in residential and commercial buildings, stormwater management and collection (state and federal incentives), rainwater catchment and ecoroofs. Whether your building is new or being retrofitted these concepts and ideas can all be used.

These workshops use multi-media learning through video, slide shows and actual hands-on planning and design. Each class will be held in a different location as per the nature of the workshops. Locations will be announced upon first workshop. Please register early as class size is limited. Whether you are an independent contractor looking for new or different ideas, or working for a large company bringing change to your office, come join us in talking about green ideas and sustainability.

Each Saturday workshop is designed to be inter-related to the other workshops and priority will be given to enrollment of the entire series.

Candace is founder of solar7.83 design studio specializing in ecology and architecture, with a Master's degree in Building Design and is a phD candidate in Environmental Science.