Greenovation

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The primary goal of this initiative is to establish Tallahassee as the leader in existing and emerging “green” technologies that benefit the environment and spur economic development. Facets of this initiative include taking an inventory of existing technologies and activities within the region, establishing policy and regulation to promote energy conservation and sustainable design, and developing a strategic plan to create the infrastructure to support intellectual and entrepreneurial development. Potential partnerships include local and state government, universities and grade schools, and businesses in the private sector.

Green-Focused

In order to attract green industries, Tallahassee must first become green-focused. To ignite this effort, Greenovation team members are researching best practices in green building and sustainability, and plan to publish a comprehensive document on all regional green activities to determine how green we are right now and how much greener we must become. 

K-12 and Higher Education 

The team has helped establish a partnership between the city, the county and Leon County Schools to help intensify K-12 recycling policies and programs. Take a look at the poster that was created and distributed in the Tallahassee Democrat and posted in our local schools as a result of Greenovation’s efforts: Recycle Poster.

Through this partnership, the three parties have jointly applied for a recycling grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which indicates unprecedented progress in getting everyone to work together to accomplish a mutually beneficial goal. The Greenovation team is also working with our three major universities to increase their recycling efforts and identify grant opportunities.

In addition, the team is receiving additional guidance from the Sustainable Energy Science and Engineering Center, which is constructing the Zero Emissions building at FSU. This building will be completed by the end of 2007 and will be the first of its kind in the southeastern United States. 

Park & Ride Pilot Program

Greenovation has partnered with StarMetro to establish a Park and Ride Pilot Program, which will run between downtown and the northeast side of town Sept. 4 to Dec. 7, 2007. For more information, please visit www.parkandridetallahassee.com, e-mail parkandridetallahassee@gmail.com, or click here for the program Fact Sheet.

Sustainable Tallahassee

Greenovation plans to establish a public-private funded organization known as Sustainable Tallahassee. Sustainable Tallahassee will be a community resource center offering the public a “how-to” on green construction, as well as green resources, products and vendors, and funding sources for green building. Sustainable Tallahassee will educate and certify builders and professionals, certify green buildings, and pursue grants for research development. Ultimately, it will be the engine that continuously enables and encourages Tallahassee to be green.

Green Inventory

Currently, the Greenovation team is collecting an inventory of “green” initiatives around the Capital Region. If you know of any local “green” efforts – no matter how small - please e-mail David Byrne at byrned@talgov.com. For instance, if your church is starting a new recycling or conservation effort, let us know. If your business encourages carpooling or walking to work, let us know that too. If your neighborhood is working to make residents aware of ways to make their homes “greener,” tell us. You get the idea! The inventory will be indexed and cataloged and made available via the Sustainable Tallahassee Web site, which is currently in the early stages of development.

Urban Design Studio

The Urban Design Studio will enable custom development that follows development patterns envisioned by the community. Tallahassee’s current Comprehensive Plan and land development ordinances do not recognize the difference between urban, suburban and rural development patterns. The Urban Design guidelines will offer incentives for green building, walkable communities, public transportation systems, etc. and encourage planners and developers to think outside the box.

Want to Help?

If you would like to serve on the Greenovation team or have ideas about how to help it succeed, please leave a comment below or e-mail kccitallahassee@gmail.com.

30 Comments Add your own

  • 1. Steve Urse  |  April 7, 2007 at 11:40 am

    We in the big Bend Climate Action Team have been encouraging Clean Energy projects in Tallahassee like biomass, solar hot water and solar photovoltaic. We encourage emerging technologies.

    How do I join the Greenovation Team?

  • 2. Elinor Elfner  |  April 7, 2007 at 4:05 pm

    There is a local chapter of the US Green Builidng Council and they have very informative speakers on many aspects of green construction at their meetings. The general public in Tallahassee area is not aware of the opportunties available even now to help the environment. For example, anyone putting in a solar thermal water heater (about $4800) can get $450 rebate from the City, $500 rebate from the state, and claim 30% of the cost as a tax credit on federal income tax. I just did my taxes. That really helps. The Greenovation Team will probably be able to spread the word about this and a million other opportunities, including the new kind of jobs available as the City Electric Utility seeks to reduce 162 megawatts of demand from customers.
    I look forward to following your progress in Greenovation.
    Elinor Elfner

  • 3. Francis T. Ventre  |  April 7, 2007 at 9:48 pm

    At a recent meeting of the US Green Building Council [USGBC], I was told that the Leon County Library going to build a northeastern branch library on Buck Lake Road–and the library refusing to “build solar.” Now the USGBC whole meeting was how you were able to “build solar” for only 5-7% more than the “as built” cost of a new building, thus minusing the cost of the operating a new building. Two examples where offered. I think that GREENOVATION could insist that the northeastern library “build solar.”

  • 4. AL Simpler  |  April 10, 2007 at 6:37 am

    There is a much larger group of home owners and businesses wanting to “go solar” and the city of Tallahassee has raised their maximum solar grid tie from 10kw to 25 kw to match the state rebate program. We are a small company with lots of experience and needing more trained personell to get our work load out.Looking at what has recently been installed and what is beeing considered…….Tallahassee is the # 1 PV installation area in the State……AL

  • 5. gabriel  |  April 20, 2007 at 12:12 am

    Tallahassee, Leon County and FSU need a world class research park to help greenovation develop and thrive.
    Madison, Austin, and Raleigh have one, but why not Tallahassee? It is time to go beyond Innovation Park.

  • 6. Mike Wright  |  April 22, 2007 at 11:08 am

    This is an area that Tallahassee could take a huge leap forward. Solar water heaters should be required on all new construction and a retrofit incentive program should be started for all existing structures. Photovoltaic arrays should be required on all new commercial construction and in apartment complexes at the universities and the other institutional facilities. There should be an incentive to help residential owners add PV to their home energy systems.
    The SE “farm” should be expanded and converted to a bio-diesel endeavor using the sewage effluent to grow plant matter that is best for bio-diesel and then the city and county should convert their vehicle fleets (including StarMetro bus fleet) to use that fuel.
    Tallahassee should scrap the coal plant investment and build a solar energy farm and a wind energy farm that will meet our growth needs along with an aggressive conservation renovation program for all existing construction.
    We should be the leader of what can be done to reduce our environmental footprint.

  • 7. Mike McManus  |  April 24, 2007 at 6:06 pm

    Gabriel,

    What goes into a world class research park? Of the research parks you named, do you know the mix of university, private sector, and government agencies that are a part of those parks. I think a limitation at Innovation Park is that the main entity that’s out there is FSU.

    Mike

  • 8. Mike McManus  |  April 24, 2007 at 6:13 pm

    Mike,

    Of the ideas you mention, PV, bio-diesel, solar farms, and wind farms, which can be done and show the quickest results? I am on the Greenovations team. However, my professional background is in ecology and not energy production so I am eager to find out what you know about producing energy from those these methods.

    Thanks,
    Mike

  • 9. Ivan Johnson  |  May 1, 2007 at 8:19 am

    I am the Architect for the proposed Eastside Branch Library which was referenced in the April 7 comment by Francis Ventre. Because I know Francis to be sincere and well-meaning, it must be assumed that he was given erroneous information regarding Leon County’s intent for the design of the Eastside Library as it relates to “green” construction. Here’s what I know:

    Leon County strongly supports green and sustainable design and construction for its new facilities. The proposed Eastside Library on Pedrick Rd is the County’s “pilot” project for compliance with the Florida Green Building Coalition’s green design criteria. Although the Building Program has been completed and the site selected, actual design has not yet begun. The Architect, Engineers and Building Committee will review each of the criteria available for certification under the FGBC “Green Commercial Building Standards” and develop a building that assures compliance with the FGBC as well as good economic sense for Leon County taxpayers, now and into the future. Regardless of which specific systems and materials are selected and most appropriate for this project, the Eastside Library will become a model for future green construction in Leon County.

  • 10. Thorbjoern Mann  |  May 3, 2007 at 7:55 am

    Calling Mike McManus: I tried to send you the material we discussed at Wednesday’s meeting but it came back as undeliverable. Is the email address active? Please let me know at thormann@nettally.com

    Thanks

  • 11. kccitallahassee  |  May 9, 2007 at 7:35 am

    “To meet our energy challenge requires the most important energy of all – human creativity. That’s the real prize.” -Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Prize and Commanding Heights, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates

  • 12. Mike Wright  |  May 28, 2007 at 11:31 am

    We need to make the Tallahassee region a realistic example of green living with a serious recycling program that includes apartments and commercial sites that also includes processing industries that convert the waste into useable products that in turn could be marketed elsewhere.
    We need to lead the country in the use of solar applications on new construction and incentives to retrofit existing structures. We should establish a “Big Bend Institute of Environmental Awareness” along the lines of the Rocky Mountain Institute that would provide educational hands-on examples of how we could retrofit our homes and offices. It could be a partnership with the Tallahassee Musuem of Science and Natural History and maybe TCC and could include a nice large exhibit space at the Tallahassee Museum.
    We need to use existing techonology and set up our own solar energy “farm” and start generating clean energy. We need to give our transit system a kick start with an ambitious Bus Rapid Transit network (a much cheaper version of light rail transit) that would have exclusive lanes with loading stations. This would be coupled with medium density development at those stations that could help to alleviate the affordable housing situation in our community.

  • 13. Mike McManus  |  May 31, 2007 at 7:34 pm

    Mike,

    You make some very good points. The Greenovations subcommittee on land use and transportation has been trying to address some of those topics. While we haven’t come up with a “kick start”, we are trying to nudge the transit system along by getting an small, experimental park-n-ride program going along one of the Star Metro routes. Also the topic of development has been addressed by finding out how other other cities have “design studios”. Such studies try to reconcile development with long-term planning. The idea is to house urban designer and planners in the same agency or department within a city so development can be more coordinated instead of just being plunked down (if plunk is actually a word?).

    Mike

  • 14. gibson  |  June 3, 2007 at 11:42 am

    Biofuels in Gainesville. Below is the link:

    http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070603/LOCAL/706030308

  • 15. Roxanne Manning  |  June 7, 2007 at 10:11 am

    Just thought I would mention that the Tallahassee CRA and the City are investigating the potential for a Green Roof incentive zone on Gaines Street.

    We believe that we can use green roof technology to reduce the amount of storm water in the Gaines Street basin. If we can make this work, we will be able to significantly reduce the need for additional storm water improvements, move the Gaines Street redevelopment timeline up significantly, and save money at the same time.

    It an exciting plan, and I believe it will work. I hope to attend the next Greenovations meeting. I am going to the KCCI meeting today.

    By the way, the City and CRA have already done a lot of work to facilitate the redevelopment of Gaines Street. We will be sending out more information about that in the near future.

    Thanks, RMM

  • 16. Initiative Team Updates &&hellip  |  June 13, 2007 at 3:58 pm

    [...] Greenovation [...]

  • 17. Nancy Marcus  |  July 6, 2007 at 2:56 pm

    Latest update on Greenovation activities

    Bill Berlow and others will be meeting Monday, July 9, at 4 p.m. at the office of Merry Ortega, 2757 W. Pensacola St. (school district hq). This is the first meeting following the School Board’s approval June 26 of the two specific requests: for Leon County Schools to sign on as a co-applicant with the City of Tallahassee and Leon County for an innovation recycling grant through the Department of Environmental Protection (to be awarded in 2008); and to develop a much stronger, clearer districtwide recycling policy and program.

  • 18. PanamaMike  |  July 21, 2007 at 12:04 pm

    Since the Governor has hammered the last nail in the Perry Coal Plant can we now approach the State and get them to participate in a state of the art solar power plant? There are several under construction in California, Portugal and Germany that will generate up to 10mw or more power. We could eventually have several such solar power plants in our area!
    Couple that with an agressive energy conservation program and domestic solar power applications – hot water heaters, pool water heaters, rooftop arrays that could supplement domestic power needs AND be there for any kind of natural disasters that disrupt the power supply!
    The Governor says we need to lead by example let’s take him up on that and challenge him as the head of our biggest employer and landowner to help in this endeavor!

  • 19. Rosa Morgan  |  August 9, 2007 at 8:21 pm

    I am eagerly awaiting transportation services throughout Tallahassee that will serve a wide range of commuters. Manatee County recently purchased a hybrid school bus.

  • 20. kccitallahassee  |  August 10, 2007 at 3:57 pm

    Rosa, check out KCCI’s Park and RIde Web site: http://www.parkandridetallahassee.com. The program starts Sept. 4!

  • 21. Charlie Rushing  |  August 27, 2007 at 6:40 pm

    We are currently almost finnished designing a Concept/Idea House with Green Construction and products.
    I need ideas and contacts for companies who might want to participate in this exciting project:

    I plan to keep this “Green House Concept”, open for a 5 year commitment.

    Charlie Rushing
    Developer

    Contact: Charlie Rushing
    Ponce “de” Leon Development Group
    236 Matties Way
    Destin, Florida
    32541
    (850) 654-5170
    (850) 685-5535

  • 22. MIke Bigbie  |  October 12, 2007 at 11:10 am

    City/County Recycling Program
    I coach a girls fastpitch softball team and I am continously reminded of how much waste goes on at our parks & rec fields. Thousands of plastic sport drink containers are discarded at every event. I would like to see “at least” plastic recycling at all of our sports fields.

    Mike 445-7532
    bigbie@comcast.net

  • 23. Bill Lowman  |  October 26, 2007 at 5:03 pm

    I am interested in dome home (monolithic) building for sustainable and affordable housing that won’t have to be rebuilt in the event of hurricanes, and severe storms. I believe this innovative design can address any number of critical Gulf Coast housing and environmental opportunities. I am just an ordinary citizen, but I have a great passion for this design concept and feel it could uplift many people who currently cannot afford decent housing in the area. We need all income levels in a viable community and it really is possible to build affordable housing.

  • 24. Bob Ryals  |  November 7, 2007 at 4:12 pm

    Mr. Bill Lowman, I have just the thing for you. We will be manufacturing building materials out of fiberglass, much the same stuff as the B-2 bomber is made of, and those materials should be available within the next 3 months. The product has been tested and if far exceeds any hurricane winds and even tornadoes. Let me know and I will guide you to it.. By the way it is less expensive than wood and it is green because it saves thousands of trees.for each house.
    Sincerely,
    Bob

  • 25. Richard Post  |  November 28, 2007 at 11:09 am

    I am very disappointed in hearing that you will not help seniors or the handicapped by allowing the purchase of rides onto the PARC card. This makes no sense and makes it very inconvenient to have to carry change around every time you want a ride. I was told when I signed up for the Park and Ride program that I would get a discount because I am a senior and I am disabled. I find the magnetic cards convenient to use and they allow me to proceed more quickly to my seat without holding up other patrons because I am feeding the fare box coins.
    If you grant a discount fare at the bus for $0.60, why not for the card?
    I would be very interested as to the rationale for this denial of convenient service.

  • 26. parkandride  |  November 29, 2007 at 3:33 pm

    Hi, Richard:

    As we discussed yesterday, it IS disappointing that StarMetro has not yet decided to sell bus passes for seniors or people with disabilities at the 60-cent-per-ride rate. I, too, qualify for the senior rate and find it annoying to have to pay more than double for each ride if I want the convenience of a bus pass.

    I’m reminded of the VISA commercials where everyone is swiping a credit card to make purchases and then one person pays by cash and slows the process down. While I find that ad offensive for possibly promoting overspending, I DO appreciate the convenience of using credit cards (or in our case, bus passes) rather than having to pay with the exact change.

    We in PARC — including you — have made our case to the folks at StarMetro.

    To their credit, they have agreed to allow riders to add RIDES in units of 10 (e.g., 10 rides, 20 rides, etc.) rather than making us buy WEEKLY or MONTHLY passes, which expire after a week or month, respectively.

    And people who don’t already have PARC bus passes can now get them and add rides to them. StarMetro apparently has plans to institute PoGo (pay-as-you-go) cards at some point in the future. Thanks to feedback from you and others in PARC, StarMetro has made this option possible now.

    And if StarMetro would just create the option for 60-cent rides, that would be even sweeter! See you on the bus.

    LaRae — for the PARC Team

  • 27. josh simpson  |  February 24, 2008 at 10:11 pm

    It may be helpful for you to know that our local Comcast office has been working on a new Video on Demand program that will feature information about local companies with green goals. The purpose of the program is to help people take steps to save energy and reduce their impact on the environment. Space is available on the VOD servers for businesses or organizations that want to participate. It’s a great opportunity for local companies to connect with green consumers.

    The program is called Project GreenSpace and it will debut this spring. If you want additional information please feel free to send me an e-mail (josh_simpson@cable.comcast.com).

  • 28. Clayton Bell | Online &ra&hellip  |  March 27, 2008 at 6:33 pm

    [...] you happy with me now, Tallahassee Greenovation? Are you happy with me Jessica Adarme, that I’m following your Dominoes? Well, I feel a [...]

  • 29. Ruthie Chase  |  April 20, 2008 at 2:44 pm

    Where is the mission statement which says by how much and by when Tallahassee is reducing CO2 emissions? We can’t all continue to drive as we always have in “green” cars, living in ”green” buildings, wearing “green” clothes and eating “green” food. Solar is great; CFBs are great; recycling is great; “green” industries are great. But CO2 is killing us. Recycling while we continue to consume is moving the deck chairs…..Many years ago, Amory Lovins, of “The Rocky Mountain Institute” spoke in Tallahassee at a Global Warming Conference. (Al Gore was the luncheon speaker!) Mr. Lovins gave an example of how to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads: Give all state workers an allowance for parking and then charge for the parking spaces. There are many who would then find an opportunity to carpool….perhaps not everyone every day. But 30% of the people 30% of the time could be astronomical. If the state of California can set a goal of emissions reductions, we can too. It must be our centerpiece.

  • 30. Kevin Shea  |  November 2, 2008 at 6:05 pm

    Interested in low weight, tropical storm resistant, extensive green roofs designed for Florida? Check out http://www.metroverde.com and visit the Florida Green Roofing Blog – http://www.kevinsonger.blogspot.com

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