Gotta Say! Edition 3: Middlesex, Worcester citizens share hopes for environmental causes with State Senator Eldridge

Last Saturday, volunteers and employees from a range of environmental organizations across Middlesex and Worcester Counties carpooled and, in at least one case, biked to Acton to get an update on green legislation filed for review by the current session of the State Senate and to give voice to issues on which they hope to see movement.

Lincoln-Sudbury High School students air hopes and frustrations with
their school's pending solar project before State Sen. Jamie Eldridge.

Jamie Eldridge, State Senator for the district, hosted this meeting of his Green Advisory Council at the Parker Damon Elementary School. Among the towns represented were Acton, Ayer, Harvard, Lincoln, Maynard, Shirley, South-borough, Stow, Sudbury and Westborough. 
Attendees came from energy advisory councils, recycling committees, agencies concerned with protecting rivers and groundwater, an energy audit company, community preservation committees and other organizations driven by environmental concerns.

Here's a rundown on the environmental bills Sen. Eldridge filed last week:

• An act to require producer responsibility for collection, reuse and recycling of discarded electronic waste -- Goals for this bill, which has been filed several times in the past 10 years, are to boost public access to e-waste recycling for items such as computers, televisions and printers, and remove the financial burden for collecting and recycling these materials from municipalities, placing it instead on manufacturers.
• An act to create a grant program for municipal and regional energy managers -- This bill aims to allow Green Communities grants to help fund salaries for energy managers who could be hired to develop, coordinate and monitor comprehensive energy-use reduction plans and work with town agencies and officials on administering them. According to Sen. Eldridge, when the town of Acton was becoming a Green Community, it created such a position, and the savings generated by the energy manager's work more than offset her salary.
• An act relative to streamflow standards -- This bill would update the Water Management Act, and is aimed at using science-based streamflow standards to ensure adequate water flow for the people, habitats and wildlife that depend on waterways. Sen. Eldridge noted that there is also a separate Water Infrastructure Bond Bill that would provide $2 million to help communities across the Commonwealth learn how to manage their water infrastructures.
• An act to encourage municipal recycling and composting -- This bill would formally require all cities and towns to establish recycling programs for solid waste, and require residents to separate recyclables and compostable waste. 
• An act relative to plastic bag reduction -- If passed, this bill would strike dramatically at the environmental impacts caused by single-use plastic carryout bags by banning their use from Massachusetts stores and requiring that stores only supply reusable bags or recyclable paper bags.
• An act relative to energy efficiency funds generated by municipal lighting plants -- Currently, independent municipal light plants (such as those operating in Littleton and Hudson) are not required to apply funds collected from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative toward energy efficiency programs. This bill would require that they do so. 
• An act to promote zero net-energy buildings in the Commonwealth -- This bill would give the Board of Building Regulations and Standards authority to establish definitions of residential and commercial zero net-energy buildings, with an eye to having all towns adopt these standards for residential buildings by Jan. 2020 and commercial buildings by Jan. 2030.
• An act to protect the natural resources of the Commonwealth (known as the "no net loss bill" redraft) -- In essence, this bill says that if open space is sold for development or private use, the same amount of land must be purchased to replace it. This system is already more or less in effect; the bill would formalize it to help protect against a current trend of cash-strapped municipalities selling off formerly protected land to raise revenue.
• An act further promoting energy efficiency and green jobs (the Home Oil Heat bill) -- Establishing a fund similar to those natural gas and many electric customers pay into, this bill would assess 2.5 cents per gallon on home heating oil to be used by oil heat retailers to develop improved energy-efficiency programs, and would coordinate with existing Mass Save programs to allow customers to get energy assessments, weatherization services and efficiency rebates.  

"How to improve political will"
While these bills have been submitted, Sen. Eldridge observed, they face some formidable challenges. "There continues to be a focus at the State House on pure job-creation versus sustainable job-creation." The Senator's legislative aid Kelsey Smithwood added that environmental bills that call for certain kinds of changes are often portrayed by the opposition as a tax, "and it's very hard to overcome that in this climate," she says.

Said Eldridge, "We need to focus on how we improve the political will to get these bills through."

Smithwood called for "people who are passionate about these topics to come testify at public hearings to help move them and keep bills alive."

One session participant suggested raising consciousness via more online petitions. Another wondered if the Eldridge's office could put out public hearing alerts to interested constituents. Smithwood said she'd use the contact information from the sign-in sheet for that day's event to get in touch with members of this group, who could in turn spread the word to their own contact lists. 

Practical exchange
That sort of practical exchange -- a key purpose of the meeting -- went on throughout the session. During discussion of the e-waste bill, an audience member pointed out that there are very few players currently equipped to reclaim the materials from this type of equipment, and suggested creating incentives for developing such a business in Massachusetts.

A woman who works preserving the Sudbury and Assabet River watershed areas spoke about the need for homeowners to recognize that water and sewer rates are lower than they ought to be and called for them to support increases to bring the rates in line with the demands on the system. She also suggested the possibility of requiring area pharmacies to participate in more pharmaceutical take-back programs to help reduce river pollution from these substances.

A Maynard volunteer who also works for Tufts University noted that the school's low-impact development class, where students work on real-world projects, could provide a free resource for towns looking for help with designing their water districts. And in another exchange, volunteers for several towns' Green Communities committees shared current and past experiences with the process of adopting the Stretch Building Code.

"I'm really pleased with the efforts of the Green Advisory Council," said Sen. Eldridge. "The members continue to bring me their ideas on how to better protect the environment and reduce global warming, some of which I have turned into legislation to file. With that kind of grassroots activism on the ground, I'm confident that Massachusetts will continue to lead the nation in alternative energy and conservation policies."

Gotta Say! Edition 2: A Passive approach to green building that's anything but

A few years back, I started a blog called Green Ayer News. It served as a clearinghouse for environmental news from town organizations and other local groups who provide services or educational activities to people around town and beyond. I moved on from the blog some time back, but still get updates and occasional invitations to events. Last weekend, I RSVPed yes to a couple of events and came home with both my green mojo and sense of community energized. Today, I'll cover the first: a Green Building Roundtable presented by the Devens Eco-Efficiency Center. Next up, I'll fill you in on the latest meeting of the Green Advisory Council for Middlesex and Worcester Counties, where State Senator Jamie Eldridge set the stage for a number of environmental bills he has just filed for the current legislative session on Beacon Hill.

Last Friday, the Devens Eco-Efficiency Center hosted its quarterly Green Building Roundtable. These roundtable discussions give participants a venue to gather new information about trends in environmentally-sustainable building practices and share their own insights and experience with others who might benefit.

This quarter, the roundtable zoomed in on Passive House energy design, an energy-design standard aimed at driving residential and commercial buildings' energy consumption toward and even below zero. A US take on the European Passivhaus standard, Passive House takes "buttoned up" to a new level, relying on tight construction and insulation techniques to keep the indoor climate comfortable and clean while slashing the need for power-chugging equipment to heat or cool the space.

Five elements
Neil Angus, an environmental planner with the Devens Enterprise Commission and moderator of the roundtable discussions, pointed to five key elements that make the Passive House standard what it is:

• superinsulation from a combination of double-wall construction and air sealing of all seams, which helps maintain consistent temperatures
• energy-efficient, triple-glazed windows and reduced thermal bridging (heat lost through gaps in construction or insulation)
• passive solar heat gain and thermal massing (using interior materials such as granite or concrete, which absorb heat and then release it slowly, as well as heat put out by other sources, like electrical equipment and even humans)
• avoidance of heat gain and reduction of the need for cooling via shading and well-thought-out window placement
• use of heat recovery ventilation (HRV) or energy recovery ventilation (ERV) units to provide fresh air while conserving heat and energy already in the building

With all these methods in place, buildings can be heated or cooled with one to two small, wall-mounted units, such as the Mitsubishi Mr. Slim. In fact, Angus noted, the savings on mechanical systems for heating and cooling are a significant offset to additional material costs for the difference in construction techniques.

A leading-edge standard
The move for builders to adopt energy-design practices like these is accelerating. In Massachusetts, it's driven in part by Governor Deval Patrick's Zero Net Energy Buildings Task Force, which is pushing for all new construction to be net-zero energy by 2030.

Passive House is out in front of many of the other current energy design standards, Angus added. For instance, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard calls for a finished building to use 25-30 percent less energy than a traditionally-built design; Passive House angles for a 60-90 percent reduction in energy usage. 

And while a house built according to the current Stretch Energy Code (which many Massachusetts towns have recently adopted in their quest to become Green Communities) needs to meet a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rating of 70 (down from 100 for a standard code-built house), homes built using Passive House techniques typically achieve a HERS rating of no more than 20, and frequently a negative number. Angus noted that the latest of the Transformations Inc. Net-Zero Energy Homes built on Devens Green (which used Passive House methods) has a HERS rating of -36.

Angus rounded off the Roundtable discussion with two key examples of Passive House design at work:

• The Glasswood Passive House, a commercial retrofit in Portland, Oregon
• The Sonnenschiff, a commercial and residential complex in Freiburg, Germany

"It is really great to see these energy efficient design and construction methods catching on," said Angus,"and even better to have examples in our own backyard."

Gotta Say! Edition 1: Uxbridge crafters share life, gallery space and love of community

First things first: Glad you're reading the inaugural post of "Gotta Say!" That's "gotta say" as in, what you'll find here are pieces about topics I think people (especially people from east central Massachusetts) should be hearing about. There's way more interesting stuff going on in the world out there than can ever make it into standard media outlets. I'm here to bring some of that goodness into the light. Enjoy! 

When ArtsWorcester put out a call last spring for proposals for its next season of exhibits, Uxbridge, Massachusetts, furniture maker Steve Butler and his wife, jewelry maker Liesl Carlson, both got to work on individual proposals. After all, their respective crafts are about as dissimilar as they could be.

A five-member panel, comprised of local artists, art history professors, appraisers and museum curators, reviewed the artists' submissions on their merits alone with no information about the artists. Butler's proposal made the cut out of more than 30 applicants.

Then, in the process of mapping out his show, ArtsWorcester's Aurora Gallery, where his work was to be featured, had a dilemma. Accustomed to having the walls hung with art, the gallery staff wondered what to do to fill them, as Butler's work was not, for the most part, wall-friendly. One of the gallery staffers said, “How about Liesl's jewelry?” And a husband-and-wife show was born. “Co-Habitat: The Studio Work of Steve Butler and Liesl Carlson” is at ArtsWorcester's Aurora Gallery through November 30.

Craft as art

Juliet Feibel, executive director for ArtsWorcester, says, “Steve Butler's half of 'Co-Habitat' is ArtsWorcester's first exhibit of studio furniture. We're thrilled to have it, and equally excited to show Liesl Carlson's jewelry alongside it. This exhibit allows viewers to see how craft can and should be viewed as art, and how the divisions between the two are often meaningless.  

“That Carlson and Butler are also married gives us an unusual glimpse into the shared world of two artists,” adds Feibel.

Cynthia Woehrle, manager of the Aurora Gallery, says, “This show is fun and funky, and it's touchable, which not all fine art is.”

The differences in the couple's work extend beyond their materials, Woehrle notes. “They are very yin and yang. Liesl says she couldn't draw or cut a straight line if her life depended on it, and Steve's work is, of necessity, so precise.”

Because this was the Aurora Gallery's first 3D show, Butler built all the pedestals on which his work is displayed, and also made the cabinets where Carlson's jewelry is hung.

Carlson says, “I'm really happy with how the show came out. It's really nice to see all my work on the walls. I've never seen it like that, and it looks fabulous.

“It's also great to see so much of Steve's work in one place,” she adds. “I can fit all my work in a box, but it takes a storage unit for Steve's,” she laughs.

Asked whether they subscribe to a particular school of art, Steve says, “I let other people define us. All I know is I have to make stuff.”

Meet cute

Butler and Carlson met while Carlson was a student in the professional crafts studies program at the Worcester Center for Crafts, where Butler taught. Butler was running the wood department, and as one of the program faculty, had to review Carlson's work.

“The wood department was down this corridor you had to go through to get to other places in the building,” Carlson recalls, smiling. “I made a lot of trips down that corridor.”

Says Butler, “She was very flirty.”

Today, the couple has been married six-and-a-half years and has a four-year-old son, Quinn. Butler's workspace is in their home's garage, while Carlson has a studio in the shed out back, outfitted in large part by Butler, and with a space set aside for Quinn to create alongside his mom.

The Aurora Gallery show marks the first time the duo have shown their work together, but not the last. “We will be showing together again at the Uxbridge Library in March,” Carlson reports.

Says Butler, “We might have found ourselves a husband-and-wife niche! But she still has her own path and identity. We still have our separate things. We don't compete.”

In fact, having a partner that understands the creative process makes for some synergy. “We constantly use each other as a sounding board,” Carlson says. “I'm always asking, 'What do you think of this piece? Are the proportions right?' Steve's sense of proportion is phenomenal; mine, not so much.”

Butler adds, “Sometimes you need to step back from what you're working on; you're too close to it. You need someone else to take a look and tell you what they see. And that's what Liesl brings to me.”

He notes that the fact that both are artisans also lends their household a flexibility not every family has.

“We both totally understand that creating is not 9-5, so if one of us has to follow that middle-of-the night inspiration, we get it. We're also very good at alternating our studio times. Plus, it lets us be very free to be there for Quinn.”

The art of economy

Of course, having a two-artist family, with all the accompanying vagaries of the economy and market for art, isn't always a picnic. “It's not like when one partner has a steady, high-income job and the other is free to create,” says Butler. Both teach to boost income, and Carlson also recently began working as a part-time realtor. Beyond that, the pair do everything in their power to live frugally, aided by Carlson's bargain-hunting: Butler points to a sparkling stainless steel coffee percolator which Carlson found “for a dollar!”

The drive to make ends meet while remaining free to work as artists has had a direct effect on the work both Butler and Carlson produce. “Much of Steve's work employs repurposed and upcycled wood and objects, and Liesl's silver is recycled as well,” notes ArtsWorcester's Feibel.

Butler observes, “Repurposing is a trend now, but it's something we've always been into. It's like in the Depression Era. We've never had any money, so we have to make things work. It's a kind of pioneer spirit. It requires problem solving.

“There's a greater sense of satisfaction than just making the object...that you did it under certain circumstances and you pulled it off. Sort of, 'Not only did we make art, but we did it without any money,'” says Butler.

Working within limited means, says Carlson, “is always giving a new direction to our work, so we're constantly evolving.”

Angling to bring artists together

Butler, who hails from Canada originally, and Carlson, who is from Mendon, came back to this area a couple of years ago after spending several years living and working in the Peters Valley Craft Center, a community of artisans, part of the Delaware Water Gap recreational area. Both Butler and Carlson speak glowingly of their time there, and it's where Quinn was born.

Driven by their first-hand experience of the benefits of living and working among a community of artists, Butler and Carlson hope to someday bring something akin to that to the Blackstone Valley.

Bernat Mills, which had been a local spot for artists and musicians to work and gather, burned down in 2007, Carlson recollects. Since then, she says, there's been no venue for artists to work as a community.

The pair have put a fair amount of personal effort into lobbying local officials for a craft center that would offer classes and bring people together. For now, the effort is on hold, but it's still a long-term goal.

Another effort close to Butler's heart is pulling together a juried show of furniture created by regional artisans. In fact, that was one of the proposals he submitted to the gallery call for ArtsWorcester, though the individual show proposal that became “Co-Habitat” ultimately won out.

“New England's got a long tradition of fine furniture crafting. With the furniture design programs at Rhode Island School of Design, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, and Maine College of Art and the Holy Cross sculpture department, there's a lot going on. So I'm looking for space to curate an exhibition.”

In the meantime, Carlson is preparing to teach her “Bangles, Rings and Things” class (note: that link will take you to a review of the class, which yours truly took at Carlson's studio last summer) as well as a class on hollow form silver jewelry at the Worcester Center for Crafts in January. Butler, who hosts a public-access cable show about creating called “The Garage with Steve Butler,” is preparing to form a production company and, if all goes well, take the show to the next level: PBS.