Being Green in Cincinnati

in cincinnatigreen

being2010

25Becauseit makes

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SustainabilityAn inspired way to live, work, and playWE ALL WANT TO CREATE A BETTER WORLD for ourselves, our children, and future generations.And respecting the natural environment is fundamental to that pursuit.

That is why Melink is committed to the principles of sustainability, conservation, and energy effi-ciency. It starts with us … as individuals and leaders within local companies, schools, and governments.

Fortunately, Cincinnati is already leading Ohio and the U.S. in several ways. For instance,Cincinnati has more LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) registered projectsthan any city in Ohio.

In addition, Cincinnati Public Schools is planning to have more LEED-Silver certified schoolsthan any city in the U.S. And the City of Cincinnati offers a unique tax-abatement on LEED homesand buildings.

With this maiden issue of Being Green in Cincinnati, we hope the homeowners and business ownersfeatured inside will inspire YOU to help create a more livable and sustainable community.

Our homes, places of work, and modes of transportation can be powerful examples. Let’s rise tothe challenge and make Cincinnati a top 10 green city in America.

– Steve Melink & EmployeesMelink Corporation


www.melinkcorp.com | 513.965.7300

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BEST_GREEN_2010:BEST_BEINGGREEN 8/12/10 12:44 PM Page �

JOHN HUEBER HOMESis a Cincinnati based, family operated

Custom Home Building business founded in 1987. We specialize in LEED homes and high end custom homes

ranging from $200,000 city infill projects to over $1,000,000 scattered lot estate homes.

Whether your idea of home is a pastoral estate nestled among sprawling acreage or a LEED Certified, urban loft

within walking distance of Cincinnati’s finest restaurants and attractions, John Hueber Homes has the experience,

resources and attention to detail to make your project a reality. With a respect for traditional hands on craftsman-

ship, functionality, originality, aesthetics and value we personally guide our homeowners through every step of the de-

sign/build process tailoring every home to the individual’s lifestyle, and budget.

We have the honorable distinction of being the first builder in Ohio to build and certify a LEED home and currently

have received certification on 5 LEED homes including two LEED Certified Silver homes. Constantly working to

improve our processes and procedures, maintaining the highest standard of quality, guiding and assisting our cus-

tomers, and staying on the cutting edge of building trends are all hallmarks of our company.

www.johnhueberhomes.com 513.683.3080




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American Heating & Air Conditioning 83Amp Electric Vehicles 120Appliance Loft 13Architects Plus 53Arronco Comfort Air 144Beck Architecture 105Benchmark Outdoor Outfitters 45Black Diamond Construction 16Camery Hensley Construction 64Cincinnati Bell 44Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens 8Coldwell Banker West Shell 108Cornette/Violetta Architects 8Custom Distributors 146Duke Energy 93Eagle Creek Custom Builders 24Elk Creek Vineyards 140Ferguson Bath Kitchen & Lighting 59Frame & Save - Hyde Park 137Geothermal Solutions 10Gilkey Window Company 127Great Traditions Homes 4Green City Resources 29Hafner & Sons 34HGC Construction 8Jacob Brothers Heating & Air Conditioning 136Jami & Libby - Comey & Shepherd 23, 84John Hueber Homes 6John Senhauser Architects 48John Tisdel Fine Appliances 103, 143Kent Bradley Roush Architects 96Klotter Builders 56Marsh Window & Door 116McCabe Lumber 119McSwain Carpets & Floors 109Melink Corporation 2Mercedes-Benz of Cincinnati 148Merwin Farms 23, 84Patterned Concrete of Cincinnati 60Perrin March - Coldwell Banker 104RLT Design 56Rookwood Pottery Company 126Rumpke 39RWA Architecture & Design 66smart center Cincinnati 110Stewart & Jervis Builders 117Switch Lighting & Design 89ThirdSun Solar & Wind 42Verbarg's Furniture & Design 30, 125

Real Cincinnatians who have gone green because it makes senseA Special Edition of Best Magazine Cincinnati

FEATURE STORIES14 Why Be Green?

18 The Zoo’s Thane Maynard rides his bike to work

20 Build Green: Save $300,000 on property taxes

31 COMPOST: The Love Story

36 Solar power’s time is now

40 Get 150 miles per charge with this car

43 The Red’s Chris Dickerson: My at bat against waste

46 Teaching green starts in kindergarten

49 All the green that’s fit to print

54 Re-seeding rooflines

6 1 Cincinnati’s LEED® tax abatement

62 Making your home certifiably green and does it matter?

67 - 82 Tour of green homes & businesses

Four homes and three businesses that have been awardedLEED® certification for being green: the visions, the plans,and the results. The major players include: RWA Architects,Great Traditions Homes, John Hueber Homes, BlackDiamond Construction, Melink Corporation, PNC Banksand The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.

86 Finding a green job

88 Energy Audit: The first step

90 Geothermal: Letting the earth do its job

94 Who’s Who in Being Green in Cincinnati

98 Salvaging the workplace

106 Gorillas, cell phones and an 8-year old kid from Glendale

1 1 1 Recycling: On the trail of trash

121 Eat local, eat smart, eat green

122 Rolling out the barrels to save water, save money

128 Living Green: Gerald and Jan Brown Checco of Clifton

137 Old topic, but new thinking on green

138 Brewster Rhoads: Promoting the Ohio River

inside

in cincinnatibeing green

Photo by Cathy & Mark Lyons

About the cover: Our good friend and well-known artist Beverly Erschell provided the paper, the colors, and the vision; the inspiration came from Steve Melink, founder ofthe Melink Corporation. To see more of Beverly’s work, her book The Art of Beverly Erschell, can be purchased at cincybooks.com, the Cincinnati Art Museum or at Joseph-BethBooksellers. In September her work will be showing at the Cincinnati Architectural Foundation.

For more info, go to: www.beinggreenincincinnati.com


BEST_GREEN_2010:BEST_BEINGGREEN 8/12/10 12:44 PM Page 1�

With this first edition of Being Green in Cincinnati, wewanted to keep things simple and defined. In showcasing dozensof examples of those who have chosen to go green in one ormany aspects of their lives, you can see how their decisions havehad a positive impact on their pocketbooks, their lifestyles, andthe environment. But even more so, you can see how you can doit too. Nothing presented in these pages is that difficult to do, orto understand. You can read this magazine inone hour and implement a few of the ideas inthe next. A year ago, I wasn’t entirely sure ifgoing green made sense. Today, there’s noquestion in my mind.

Simply put, green is living your life in amore environmentally friendly way. It’s anunderstanding that we have a great impacton the ground on which we walk, the waterfrom which we drink and the air in which webreathe. We cannot afford to continue takingthe “I’ll take care of it later” approach. Manyof the negative impacts we have created canbe fixed but, we no longer have the luxury of waiting. Thetime is now.

Green is us. It’s the passion found in the eyes of thousands ofregular people and professionals throughout Cincinnati who havedone it. It’s the story of Gerald and Jan Checco. Through theirexperiences, these two have found a way to integrate green intotheir everyday lives. In every niche and corner of their 100-year-

old Clifton home, at work, above their garage, in the garden, evenon their way to and from the grocery store, this couple embodieswhat we all can achieve. Like the rest of us, they just want to savemoney and maintain a beautiful city that we all can enjoy formany years to come (see story, page 128). In their story, andothers, we explain their motivations, their conclusions, theprocess, and their cost-savings. Green is no longer for a select

few. It has become a mainstream reality that isoccurring right now and if you aren’t on boardthen you’re missing the boat.

In many respects, Cincinnati and the state ofOhio are actually leading the nation’s green move-ment. Cincinnati Public Schools is in the processof building the largest number of certifiably greenschools in the entire country (see story, page 46).If you are planning on building a green-certifiedhome within the city limits, Cincinnati will awardyou a tax abatement worth up to hundreds ofthousands of dollars (see story, page 61). Duringyour next stroll through the Cincinnati Zoo and

Botanical Gardens, take a moment to look around at what manyconsider to be the “greenest zoo in America” (see story, page 80).

Others are taking notice. Because of our many contribu-tions to the green movement, the City of Cincinnati has beenselected to host the 2011 Midwest Greenbuild Conference ofthe U.S. Green Building Council, Greening the Heartland.

There is, as you can guess, much more to do. We have the

cincinnati14

because it makessense

Story by Jason Sandhage,Publisher, Being Green in Cincinnat i

A s we navigate our way through life there are many important questions weshould ask. One of the most significant being, are my decisions today makingthe most sense for the future? There are no easy and absolute answers to this

question and you will not find the key to life within these pages. But what you willfind is that, much like a key, the correct series of decisions, or notches, will open thedoor to a brighter future. Start with the things that make the most sense and do them.Eventually you will unearth that you’re living the answer to yesterday’s questions.


capabilities of branding Cincinnati as the landmark on themap to green living. What if coming down the cut-in-the-hillto Cincinnati opened to buildings covered in vegetation,solar panels glistening in the sun in the quest for energy,and bicyclists on their way to and from work? Look whatthe Arch did for St. Louis.

Our skyline and our buildings don’t have to competewith the natural environment. We can use the sun and the earthto fuel our needs while we create greener and healthier surround-ings. It’s not one or the other. Let’s make this vision a reality.

Take a look through these pages and decide where you canmake your own contributions. You don’t have to do them all.Try one for starters. Because it makes sense.

Special ThanksBeing Green in Cincinnati is the result of more than a yearof careful planning and research. Hundreds of people andprofessionals were consulted and without their support,confidence, resources and their educating of our staff ongreen principles, this project would not have been possible.At every stop along the way we learned something new and

exciting which spoke of the dedication by Cincinnatians tocreating a more eco-friendly city. We wish there was enoughspace to thank everyone, but here are a few:

To RWA Architects, particularly principals John Isch andMichael Mauch, who spent the equivalent of days talkinggreen housing with us, and in the details of how we shouldproceed. To Chad Edwards, Chuck Lohre and the entireCincinnati Regional Chapter of the U.S. Green BuildingCouncil. Andy Holzhauser at the Greater Cincinnati EnergyAlliance. Thane Maynard, Brewster Rhoads and ChrisDickerson. Libby Hunter, Steve Melink, Michelle Greenfield,Barb Yankie, Rose Seeger and Pam Simmons. Everyone atPNC Bank, Duke Energy, the Cincinnati Zoo, Rumpke, JohnHueber Homes, HGC Construction.

And, of course, thanks are due to those who let us featurethem in these pages. Without them, we wouldn’t have much totalk about.

Until the next issue of Being Green in Cincinnati, Go Green!

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cincinnati18

if Thane can do it,we can do it

RIDING A BIKE TO WORK, OR ANYWHERE FOR THAT MATTER

Story by Jason Sandhage

In the early morning of May 20 I stood atop one of the rolling, greenhills above Newtown. The air was cool and held a foggy haze. I wasoutside of Thane Maynard’s home trying to forget that it had been

many months since I had last ridden a bicycle. Today’s destination – TheCincinnati Zoo where Thane is the Executive Director of the “greenestzoo in America.” From Newtown, the zoo is a long 13 miles away.

Chances are, if you drive to or from work along Newtown Rd,Wooster Pike, Plainville Rd, Erie Ave, Madison Rd, or Martin LutherKing Dr, you’ve seen a tanned, fit man riding his bike during your com-mute. Chances are it was Thane Maynard and chances are it will be theonly time you’ll ever see him sitting down.

As Thane took off like a cheetah down his driveway onto the road,I followed behind at a pace resembling that of a three-toed sloth. No

worries. I knew he would eventually slow when he hit Newtown Rd.Everyone slows when they hit Newtown Rd.

In his role at the zoo, Thane tells the story of biological diversity,natural history and wildlife conservation to the public. Of his many for-mal responsibilities, riding a bike to work isn’t one of them. Neither iscleaning up after the giraffes or using a fireman’s-sized hose to washand cool down the elephants. He does not perform these tasks becausehe feels obligated. He does them because they make sense. Just likebeing green makes sense.

My excitement grew with every pedal stroke as we snaked fromNewtown to the zoo. As we moved from Newtown to Mariemont,Hyde Park to O’Bryonville, I could feel the burn rushing through mycalves and a hint of sweat trickling down my back. For Thane, this was


a ride that he had done many times before but for me, it was a first.I’ll admit it. I have become addicted to my car. A rite of passage

occurs at the age of 16 when most of us exchange our bicycle helmetsfor a set of car keys. If it’s not fast and convenient, it’s usually not forme. And in writing this, I feel ashamed. Interestingly, my brother Roryoften rides his bike from his apartment in Clifton to his job at thedowntown branch of the Public Library. He loves it!

Pedaling in Thane’s downdraft, my mind wandered to my earlieryears when a bike was an important means of transportation, able toget me from one neighborhood to another, to school and around thecorner to the convenience store. Yet, the simplicity of a bike is oftenoverlooked as we age.

Certainly, for those shorter, more leisurely trips around town, abike is a perfectly acceptable and possibly preferable choice. Basketsand bags can be attached to enable the rider to carry most anythingneeded for work or a day trip. For those longer rides, or days when theweather isn’t agreeable, it’s OK to take a car or, better yet if you can,the bus.

Many progressive cities cater to bicyclists. Portland, Seattle andChicago have healthy biking communities with people like Thane whocommute to work, taking advantage of designated bike lanes, bike pathsand well-placed bike racks. Throughout many European cities, biking towork, shops and corner markets is actually the norm. Enjoying a cityfrom the seat of a bike opens up an entirely new vista that showcases thearchitecture, sights, smells and people of the community. It also providesone with an opportunity to think, void of noise and distractions.

“Biking is not only great for helping you get in shape, it helps yousave on gas and it’s good for the environment,” explains Thane. Usingour 26-mile round-trip commute as an example, by leaving my car atThane’s home and utilizing a bike instead, I was able to save 26 poundsof carbon dioxide emissions (www.epa.gov). I also burned well over2,000 calories (www.healthstatus.com).

For those of us more sedentary in our lifestyles, we need to knowthat the benefits are overwhelming. Our health, our well-being, ourquality and length of life would all be improved if we got behind thehandlebars more often. And, we would save money. The cost of pur-chasing and maintaining a bike is minimal when compared to that of acar. You could laugh at those who pay to park their cars while you con-sign your bicycle to a slot on the rack.

Some companies have even gone as far as to provide perks forthose who choose a more eco-friendly commute. As part of their healthand wellness program, the Cincinnati Zoo has put together a biketeam. Members of this team who ride to work frequently are being re-warded for doing so in the form of assistance with simple bike fixes,tune-ups and helmets. They get together as a group once a month toembark on an adventure that might include bike trails, scenic routesthrough various neighborhoods, a pleasant ride through Cincinnati’sbeautiful parks, or treks that involve bird watching.

There are currently many great places to bike in Cincinnati. Oneof Thane’s favorites is the Loveland Bike Trail. It is the longest pavedtrail in the United States and it stretches 76 miles through five of Ohio’ssouthwestern counties. From Newtown to Springfield, that’s a lot ofenjoyment. Lunken Airport is another great option – whether you wantto enjoy some time with your family or get exercise, watch the planestake off and land while you make loops around the airfield.

Biking in Cincinnati is still far from perfect. As Thane and I sawfirsthand on our ride, bike lanes need to be improved and expanded.On most major thoroughfares, bike lanes are nonexistent – forcing bi-cyclists to ride shoulder-to-shoulder with the cars on the road. For themost part, drivers were very respectful of our presence and provided uswith more than enough room to operate with them, side-by-side. How-ever, if we would like to become a more bike-friendly city, we need toadd to our bike trails and lanes, implement bike share programs andadd more bike racks. The potential is here.

To get started on the road to better health and a greener lifestyle,first find the right bike for you. Make sure it is a comfortable fit foryour body type and fits your needs. Will you be riding on city streets,off road or both? A road bike allows you to experience a smoother,much quicker ride from point A to B. Mountain bikes are sturdier andbetter suited for those rugged warriors who wish to experience thethrills of riding a bike through the woods or off of the beaten path. Ahybrid is the best of both worlds. It takes a little from the mountainbike and a little bit from the road bike and morphs them together, pro-viding a great option for those who want to get started. If you have anyquestions, visit your local bike shop. They can help you with a bike fit-ting, recommend bike routes, provide you with gear, and more.

From the seat of a bike, the city is entirely different. It’s the pushand pull of the pedals. It’s the open air. It’s getting to where you needto go without having to talk on a cell phone, apply makeup or eat acheeseburger. No distractions, no windshield, no parking fees, no gaspedal and no need to go to the gym. It’s a great way to wind up orwind down from work. It’s a fun activity you can enjoy with yourfriends and family. For some time I had forgotten why I rode. I wouldlike to thank Thane for re-introducing me. In Thane’s words, “get outand pedal.” It’s as simple as that.

To find out more about biking in Cincinnati, please visitwww.queencitybike.com

Special thanks to Reser Bicycle Outfitters in Newport (648 Mon-mouth St., Tel. 859-261-6187) for their assistance with this story.

being green 19

Zoo Bike Team, left to right: Top Row – Cody Sowers, Jocelyn Coulter,Jamey Vogel, Deb Zureick. Bottom Row – Chris Edelen, ThaneMaynard,Michael Berry.


cincinnati20

Story by Doug SandhagePhotos by Cathy & Mark Lyons

The Project:Build a new home

in CincinnatiThe Theme:Use green

materials withina great design

The Result:$300,000 saved

in property taxes


being green 21

Looking up at the home is as interesting as being inside looking down. The homeowners, working withtheir landscape architect, chose non-invasive and draught-tolerant plants in keeping with green thinking.


cincinnati22

ake no mistake about the owner’s intentions when he heard aproposal from the designer of his new home about building itwith green standards. It was about the money.

Not on the spending side; on the saving side.The proposal was straightforward. If the homeowner

would agree to spend approximately $75,000 additional dol-lars on the cost of building their new home to “green indus-try” standards, on which they would get $11,000 back in taxcredits, and save about $300,000 in Cincinnati real estatetaxes, would he do it?

Oh yeah, and one other thing said the designer: Yourmonthly energy costs will be lower. For approximately $275 amonth, they would be able to heat and cool this home that hasabout twice as much square footage and volume as their previ-ous home in Hyde Park. Even the insurance costs would godown due to a lower fire hazard rating.

There was no shoe to drop. No April Fool’s joke. No kid-ding around. This was Green in many more ways than one.The million-dollar-plus home is gorgeous, and has a stunningview of the Little Miami River valley below. You don’t, in thewords of some less-than-green enthusiasts, have to have athatch roof and dirt floor to be green.

Now that the owner and his wife have been in the homefor about a year, a 5,515 square footer in Linwood, they call

themselves “Ambassadors for Green,” ambassadors becausethey average a party a month and everyone gets to hear thegreen story of the house. The Mr. said if it hadn’t been for thetax abatement, they would have moved out of the city (thecouple was paying about $20,000 a year property taxes ontheir previous home on Handasyde in Hyde Park). The Mrs.in the household says she now recycles and loves using thecentral vacuum system, yes, it counts as a green item.

At the time this story was being written, the homewas in consideration for being one of the first PlatinumLEED®-certified homes in Cincinnati. That would meanthey scored 107 or more points (see story, page 62 aboutLEED certification).

The homeowners asked that their names not be usedfor this article, so we talked about the job with Tom Walter,owner of Klotter Homes (the builder), and Randy Travis,owner of RLT Designs (the residential designer). Both areclearly proud of their plan to reach the top-level Platinumscore and of helping the homeowners save so much money.

Tom has known the couple for some time and when theyasked him to build this new home for them, and wanting afantastic view, he knew that the location would qualify forCincinnati’s tax abatement program (see story, page 61). Hewas also aware that if they installed a geothermal heating and

m

The expansive deck on the home features motorized screens tokeep bugs and rain sprays away and Trex composite decking

made from recycled plastic bags and sawdust.




[email protected]

“BUILDING HISTORIC, SUSTAINABLEHOMES OF THE FUTURE”


cincinnati26

cooling system, a 30 percent tax credit would apply, a creditnot limited by income.

Randy accompanied Tom to the planning meetings withthe homeowner. Randy had already designed two homes thatare registered for LEED certification, including his own home.He told the homeowner the details about the tax abatementprogram and the rest, as they say, is history.

The key green components of the house include:• Geothermal heating and cooling.• Energy Star rated appliances.• Windows that exceed Energy Star ratings.• Rainwater reclamation.• Low-flow toilets, faucets and showers.• Use of recycled materials in the construction of the home.• Minimized construction waste and all leftover materials

recycled.• High R-Value rated insulation in the attic and in the

walls. Randy said the attic insulation is double that ofcode regulations.

Points were also awarded because of the home’s close-ness to shopping areas, and because it was built in a devel-oped area, where less infrastructure was required. For thehome to be rated for LEED certification, Randy and Tom

were required to submit for review several binders totalingseveral hundred pages to the United States Green BuildingCouncil (USGBC). In addition, a local rater from theUSGBC visited the house for inspections. Randy said therater told him that the house was one of the “tightest” everbuilt, meaning that air leakage was minimal.

Interestingly, Tom says that since he started buildinghomes in 1979, he has always made it a point to make themenergy efficient. “I’ve always found it to be practical to thinkin terms of energy use, such as using low-E windows andhigher R-value rated insulation, but with new technology, it isnow at an all new level.” He adds that he thinks much of thetechnology will soon be included in building codes.

Randy began designing homes in 1988, and started hiscompany in 2001. He quickly saw the rise in green awarenessand his first LEED certified home was featured in Homearamain 2008 (Long Cove). He makes a point of saying that the netcost of owning a LEED home is actually less than that of aconventional home.

The Linwood homeowner, says Tom, now feels “empow-ered with wanting to be more green. If he (the homeowner)could, he would like to be off the power grid.” The home-owner told us that he is considering adding solar panels to

You can have a wall of windows with a great view even in agreen-built home. The great room features 12 ft. ceilings. TheLow-E glazed windows are from the Pella Architect Series and

the 2x6 walls include R-24 insulation which combines bothblown cellulose and closed cell spray foam.


being green 27

Not all features in a green home are obvious. In this case, you would need to betold that the auto court and the gutters direct all rainwater into a 4,000 gallon

holding tank that is used for irrigation.


cincinnati28

the home. Solar panels are also eligible for tax credits fromboth the federal and state levels.

Together, Tom and Randy plan to break ground onThe Arbors of Pleasant Ridge in the fall of 2010. The planis that all 14 homes in the development, located adjacentto the Ridge Club, will be LEED certified. An entire greencommunity, if you will. It is, says Randy, one of only 27developments chosen out of a nationwide LEED Neighbor-hood Development Pilot Project Plan.

Each home in The Arbors will be about 2,000 sq. ft. andbe available in the upper $200,000s. If one of the units sellsfor $295,000, the Cincinnati tax abatement will be about$5,000 a year for 15 years ($75,000), plus 20-25 percentsavings in energy costs, or about $600 a year based oncurrent energy costs. Randy estimates that the additionalcost to bring each home to green standards vs. conventionalbuilding costs will be about $7,500. Do the math to see thesubstantial “green” savings.

The home in Linwood has a panoramic view of the LittleMiami River and valley, the new Otto Armleder Dog Park,and many a hawk soaring in the skies above. But at the base ofthe hillside, within sight of the observatory deck on the house,

stand two firms that saw the green side of business well aheadof the current trend. H. Hafner & Sons recycles wood andconcrete products and Cincinnati Paperboard takes cardboard.And not too far away is Evans Landscaping which excavatedthe hillside for the home, took the rocks to its fabricationplant in Newtown to create stone veneer, and returned themfor use on the exterior walls.

Being Green can be easy if you stop and think about it. Itmakes sense. It is all around us.

Who Did It?The following businesses were involved in one or moreaspects of helping this home qualify for LEED certification:Builder: Klotter Builders, Inc. Residential Designer: RLT DesignLandscape Irrigation: Anderson Irrigation Landscape Architect:Bayer Becker Panelized Framing: McCabe Lumber Insulation:Mooney & Moses Geothermal Heating & Cooling: PinnacleAir Solutions Plumbing: MT Crowe Plumbing Windows: PellaPaint: Beck’s Paint & Hardware Decking: McCabe Lumber

Above: The kitchen in this Linwood-builthome features appliances that have allbeen rated as Energy Star compliant.

Even the Sub-Zero refrigerator and Wolfrangetop are energy efficient. Near right:The exposed beams on the house are allrecycled lumber coming from a demol-ished garage on a previous Hyde Park

project. Right: Even a shower can be litnaturally, and at no energy cost. This onewas done via a solar tube which directs

light from the roof right into the shower.


Doing the most withyour rain.

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installation and maintenance landscape firm. Specializing

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that we will guide your project in the best, most cost-

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Creating the framework for environmental, economic and

social benefits, allow us to do the most with your rain.

www.greencityresources.com

Rose Seeger and Pam Simmons5912 Kellogg Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45230513.383.1071

Vegetated Roofing

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Native Landscaping

Storm Water Management

Raingardens

Monarch Way Stations

Rainwater Harvesting

Pervious Pavers

LEED Submittal



being green 31

tlc and compost: the perfect mixto make this garden spectacularJOHN AND AMY DUKE OF HARTWELL Story and photos by Michelle Crawley

John and Amy Duke intended to spend their retirementcruising Kentucky’s Craig’s Creek on their houseboat. Infact, they did just that for about five years after John retired

from his engineering job at Procter & Gamble in 1991. But theysoon grew tired of the water, and 1996 found the couple againon dry land – specifically, in the dirt – as they began to dabble intheir garden. They started out growing daylilies, and soon hadcollected 500 varieties. John then took a Master Gardener courseas his hobby quickly turned into a passion. Now the half-acre of

land in Hartwell where their Victorian home rests is the site ofmany garden tours. Besides being beautiful, their gardens arefully organic. The Dukes have been “going green” since before itbecame a national movement.

Inside their home, the Dukes have been consistent about re-cycling household plastic for many years. Outside in their gar-dens, they do not use chemicals. Amy says any weeds that comeup around their many flowers and ornamental trees and shrubsare pulled by hand, which helps to aerate the soil. Because they

John and Amy Out Standing in their GardenJohn is a past president of the Greater Cincinnati Daylily-Hosta Society, and the Greater Cincinnati Master Gardener Society. Amy and John haveserved on the Board of Directors for the Association of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society. John occasionally staffs the Help Line at the CivicGarden Center. John is also a Certified Master Composter, a Certified Master Gardener, and the founder of the American Compost Society.


are not using weed killers, they are preserving valuable worms inthe soil. They also overwinter some tropical plants and coleuscuttings in their greenhouse – a process that saves them $500each year in new plants. But, perhaps what makes the Dukesreally “green” is their regular composting.

John is founder and president of the American CompostSociety, Greater Cincinnati Chapter. The group’s mission is topromote composting through demonstration and educationprograms as a way to showcase good gardening practices and toimprove the environment. John and Amy practice compostingevery day in their own garden, a process that makes their plantsthrive, and mimics what naturally happens with plants in theforest. “It’s really common sense when you think about it,” saysJohn. “The idea is to recycle the good stuff. The only way to getgood garden soil is through composting.”

When used in gardens, organic compost loosens soil for betterroot penetration, improves soil capacity to hold water, controlsweeds, maintains soil temperatures, and adds valuable nutrients tothe soil. Composting is a great way to recycle all types of yard wasteand it is free – composting naturally breaks down yard waste rightin one’s own backyard, saving time and energy of bagging the yardwaste and setting it at the curb for pickup (which can sometimescost extra, depending on the community).

John says compost piles require only a minimal amount ofmaintenance to produce a useable product that is a valuable soilamendment. Organic materials can be thrown into a pile andthen nature does its work. Instead of a rough pile, one can pur-chase a compost bin to hold the material or make one at home.Carbon (brown) and nitrogen (green) sources – such as leaves andgrass – are all that are needed to get started, and turning the pileonce a month will keep the process going. John says it takes ayear or longer to produce the compost.

John has several compost bins marked with signs that reflecta sense of humor that can be found throughout the Dukes gar-den. “Frond Farewell” is a composting bin that the Dukes beginto fill when the growing season begins. Here they put yard scrapsfrom pruning and deadheading plants and trees. John and Amyalso shred their junk mail and add that waste to the bin, addingcarbon to the mixture. They also add scraps from the kitchen,except for meat and dairy products which tend to cause odorand attract critters (Amy says coffee grounds repel raccoonsand can be obtained free at Starbucks). The contents of this bindecompose throughout the summer, and at the end of the grow-ing season John empties the bin’s contents into the “GratefulDead” compost pile, which is almost ready for use.

The third composting bin, “Sense of Humus” – which is fullfrom the previous year – is fully decomposed and ready to bespread around garden plants in the spring when the groundwarms. After spreading the mixture, the couple puts mulch ontop of this compost. John says they use pine bark nuggets insteadof typical hardwood mulch because pine bark does not decom-pose as fast as hardwood mulch, which also tends to steal thenitrogen from plants. John and Amy say they get five times thebloom in their plants from composting them, versus just puttingdown hardwood mulch.

The Dukes spend about 20-25 hours a week getting theirgarden into shape in the spring. Once it is summer and the plantsare blooming in their full glory, the Dukes spend about 12-15hours a week in the garden. It’s literally a part-time job, and Johnand Amy share a work hierarchy, “I’m the master gardener, andAmy’s the boss,” laughs John. But they point out that othersdon’t need to spend that much time working outside to enjoy agarden. It can be done on a much smaller scale.

“We encourage people to garden with someone because it’s a

cincinnati32

John Duke’s sense of humor is clearly evident throughout the ½ acre he and Amy have carefully cultivated and loved over more than twodecades of helping nature grow. The two bins pictured are hosts to compost in its various decaying status. “Grateful Dead” is for remains addedthroughout the summer, after which it is transferred to “Sense of Humus” for final fermenting. It will meet its final resting place on the Duke’sgarden in the spring.


lot more fun,” says Amy. She and John have been married for 36years and still enjoy each other’s company. They also point outthat their garden draws the neighbors together – which is anadded bonus.

For the Dukes, the time spent in their garden is well worth it.“Being out here makes me feel good,” says Amy, whose otherpart-time job is church organist. “I get a lot of visual pleasurefrom the garden. I feel like I have to be out here surrounded bythese plants. I also feel I inherited my love and appreciation of

plants from my grandfather, who was a gentleman farmer in Ala-bama years ago.” He would certainly be proud of her results.

For those of us who want to learn to garden or compost,John suggests first getting an education from a University exten-sion service, or by joining a gardening club like the Civic GardenCenter. Besides teaching gardening, these places also have tipsabout being “green.”

And remember . . . “All gardening is experimental,” saysJohn. “It’s okay to make mistakes.”

being green 33

THE DUKE’S TOP 8 COMPOSTING TIPS1. Choose a composting site that is shady and protected.

2. A properly made compost pile should reach a temperature of 125 degrees in four to five days. That will kill the weed seeds, too. If the pile

starts to settle, it’s working!

3. Turn the pile once a month with a shovel to allow oxygen to get to the bacteria. Turn it again if it gets smelly.

4. The pile should be moist like a damp sponge. Use a hose to wet it when the weather is dry.

5. Compost is ready when it’s dark brown and crumbly.

6. You can compost fruits and vegetable scraps, leaves, green plants, coffee grounds, tea bags, grass clippings, manure from animals that don’t

eat meat, flowers, pine needles, wood chips, shredded newspaper, wood ash, straw, sawdust, cornstalks, alfalfa hay, brush and shrub trim-

mings, prunings.

7. Do not compost oils/fats/grease, bones, corn cobs, meat, weed seeds, salad dressing, diseased plants or weeds, inorganic material (plastic),

butter or dairy products, cat or dog manure.

8. Do not spread compost around plants in the fall when they are about to shut down for the winter.

SUGGESTED CONTACTS FOR SUPPLIES OR MORE INFO ON ORGANIC GARDENING• TLC Landscaping & Garden Center, Reading, for pine bark nuggets, 513-733-5535.

• Lakeview Garden Center and Landscaping, Fairfield, for interesting and unusual trees and shrubs, 513-829-6624,

www.lakeviewgardencenter.com.

• A.J. Rahn Greenhouses, Cincinnati, 513-541-0672, www.ajrahngreenhouses.com.

• Pipkin’s Fruit and Vegetable Market, Montgomery, for a nice selection of perennials, 513-791-3175.

• Greenfield Plant Farm in Maineville and Anderson for perennials, 513-683-5249, www.greenfieldplantfarm.com.

•Marvin’s Organic Gardens, Lebanon, 513-932-3319, www.marvinsorganicgardens.com.

• Civic Garden Center of Cincinnati for classes and resources, 513-221-0981, www.civicgardencenter.org.

• Greater Cincinnati Master Gardener Association for classes, www.mastergardener.org.

• University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Boone County Extension for classes, 859-586-6101, ces.ca.uky.edu/Boone.

• Ohio State University, Hamilton County Extension for classes, 513-946-8989, hamilton.osu.edu.

If you would like to take a tour of the Duke’s garden or ask John to be a speaker at your next garden club meeting, call 513-821-9163 or email

him at [email protected]. His topics include:

• Backyard Composting – The only way to get good garden soil. This program covers all the information needed to make world-class compost

in your backyard. Inexpensive bins, special additives and other useful tips are included (1-2 hrs).

• Sun, Soil and Water – These three things must be about right in order for your plants to thrive. Learn how to measure sun exposure accurately,

what you need to do to your soil and tips for effective watering (45-60 minutes).

• Sun/Shade Patterns In Your Garden – Learn a simple graphical technique to find out how much sun any spot in your garden gets at any time

of the year (30-45 minutes).

• Talkin’ Dirty – Learn the most important soil properties for the garden. Find out what kind of soil you have and how to get the soil you want

(45-60 minutes).

• Fall Tasks – Develop your own checklist of things to do to help the garden and the gardener survive the winter (45-60 minutes).

• All About Daylilies – Learn daylily terminology, which ones to buy, how to hybridize, when to divide and how to handle pests (30-45 minutes).

• Nomenclature – If you can’t name it, you can’t talk about it. Remove the mystery about Latin names. Understand species, speciation and

cultivars. Listen to interesting stories about plant names (45 minutes).

• Plants That Shaped History – Hear interesting stories about some familiar and not-so-familiar plants that influenced world history and human

history in major ways (45-60 minutes).


H. Hafner and Sons, Inc. | 5445 Wooster Pike | Cincinnati, OH 45226 | 513.321.1895

W W W . H A F N E R S . C O M

KEEPING CINCINNATI GREEN SINCE 1923

Most people in Cincinnati know us for our Virgin

Shredded Topsoil and Midnight Magic Mulches,

but that’s not all we do. For the past 87 years we’ve

been at the forefront of recycling construction and

demolition waste in Cincinnati. In 2009 alone we

diverted over 225,000 tons of material from local

landfills. These reclaimed materials helped fuel

our local economy by providing recycled aggregate

for roadway and foundation construction, reusable

lumber for new construction and remodeling and

scrap steel that entered the world market through

local buyers.

M U L C H

T O P S O I L

C OM P O S T

G R AV E L

WHETHER YOUR NEXT PROJECT INVOLVES LANDSCAPING, NEW CONSTRUCTIONOR REMODELING, HAFNERS CAN HELP YOU KEEP IT GREEN.



cincinnati36

Every generation of Americans alive today has heard ateacher tell them that more energy comes from the sunin a single day than our country has consumed since the

industrial revolution. True or False?No matter the answer, the far bigger question today – while

green remains the hot button that it is – is whether or not thesun’s energy is truly ready for mass-scale harvesting in a manner

in which we can afford it. The answer to this one is in the test-ing. Nobody wants to be the guinea pig on this one.

Except for this one guy in Cincinnati: John Succo. Todayhis energy bill is about zero.

John believes he now has either the largest, or thereabouts,solar array of panels on a home in the state of Ohio. More than1,400 sq. ft. cover the many faces of his shade-free roof on the

HARNESSING THE SUN

solar power’s time may be nowTHE SUCCOS OF MADEIRA

Story and photos by Doug Sandhage

The Madeira home of Terri and John Succo have one of the largest arrays of solarpanels, 108 total, in the state of Ohio. Each panel is 31” x61” and collectively theycover 1,418 sq. ft. of the home – including the backside, the patio, and a portico.


being green 37

backside of his home in Madeira. Built in 1990, the 9,000 sq.ft. two story home, abuts Indian Hill property lines. The grass isthick and greener than a Scotts commercial. A 20 x 40 ft. poollooks particularly inviting as does a vegetable garden, which hiswife Terri tends with obvious great care, and an adjoining por-tico off to the side.

John, a native Cincinnatian, is quick to tell you how he gotto this point. He worked on Wall Street for 25 years for thelikes of Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers, and then as hisown fund manager. He did “well,” he says, which is allowinghim to be the guinea pig on solar energy. But interestingly, hisinterest is only suntan-deep new. It was in 2007 when researchalarmed him on the status of the nation’s energy grid, and therising cost of generating power. It would, he adds, only con-tinue to increase so it was time to do something.

Wall Street gave him lots of knowledge about investments.Especially their volatility. So he looked up and saw an investmentthat won’t do anything but go up. It’s a sure bet; no hedging here.“The sun is unlimited clean energy,” he says. But, on the otherside, it is expensive. “If I were truly mercenary about this, I would

not have done solar. I would have gone geothermal. This is anarea (solar) where all the balls are still up in the air.”

The most interesting part about Succo’s solar experiment,which was started in 2008, is that he is NOT using the energyfor his own home; conventional heating and air units still dothat. He is, instead, using his house as a power plant: whatevercomes in as energy – now 23,000 kilowatts a year, goes into thegrid and back to Duke to resell to others as energy. And whilehe doesn’t have a smart electric meter that tells him exactly howmuch power he is generating at any given time on any givenday, his Duke utility bills are nearly always about the cost ofwhat he sells to them; thus, an even-steven switch. He calls theprocess “economically energy neutral.”

John purchased the solar panels from ThirdSun Solar &Wind, but did not want to disclose the cost of the units andinstallation. “My objective is to spend money on (solar), to getfamiliar with the technology,” he says. “My ultimate goal is tostart a company in some aspect of the business.” One of his twosons, a recent graduate in engineering from the University ofDayton, will partner with him in the business. “As it develops, it(solar) will be a significant contributor to the whole energy piegoing forward. This is the one true green energy (solution) outthere. Everybody can put up solar, but not everybody can putup a wind turbine.”

For anyone else considering solar, Succo suggests that “youdo your own research and be confident in what you are doing.The only real way to do this is to surround yourself with peoplewho understand the technical side of things. That is why myson is working with me.”

The Succos own a second home in Bloomington, Indiana,where John guest lectures on finance at Indiana University. Theother home has geothermal as its primary heating and coolingsource; it does not have any solar panels.

In summary, for people who want to be green in theirhome, John strongly suggests that they start with an energyaudit (see story, page 88) of their home. “It is the biggest, mosteconomical thing you can do,” he says.

Another Point of ViewGeoff Greenfield and his wife, Michelle, live in Athens, Ohiowhere they founded ThirdSun Solar & Wind Power. It was theircompany that sold and installed the panels on the Succo home,and the Checco home (see story, page 128). They founded thecompany in 1997 and today counts installs throughout Ohio,Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Michigan and one in Florida.They currently have about a dozen in place in Cincinnati,mostly installed on remodeling projects.

Since the Succo job, Geoff says that the price of going solarhas come down dramatically, especially in the last year. Todaythe payback for a typical residential job is about seven years; forbusinesses it is about two years. “Most of our customers see a


50 to 75 percent reduction in their energy bills,” says Geoff.“Some go all the way and zero out.” He adds that a popularmisconception about solar energy is that it requires batteries,lots of maintenance, dials, switches and an engineering degree –lots of user interface. Now it is mostly a hands-free operation.

Geoff has a very positive personality, a sunny disposition Iguess you could honestly say. Like Succo, he contrasts an invest-ment in solar against the stock market. “The sun always rises inthe morning,” he says. “Within five years, almost every newlyconstructed home will have solar. It will be like air condition-ing. If you go to California subdivisions, they ask: ‘what kind ofcountertops do you want, what kind of solar panels?’ It will bea standard offer. It catches on virally. The neighbors see it andsay, ‘Wow.’” Another huge factor, he adds, is that solar panelsare actually more pleasing to look at today. Succo was particu-larly pleased that this writer did not notice the panels on hishome upon pulling into the driveway.

One of the reasons for solar going down in cost are the taxand grant benefits in effect. Geoff says Ohio now has a programwhere if he gets five projects signed and ready to go, he cancollectively ask for a state grant that typically pays about halfof the costs. It does, however, require a lot of paperwork andmonths of lag time. In addition, the federal government nowoffers a 30 percent tax credit with no limit on income. Thatmeans, for those successful in getting both, the net cost to thehomeowner is about 20 percent.

Finally, adds Geoff, real estate agents are already notingthat energy efficient homes, especially those with solar and/orgeothermal, are seeing better re-sale values; some as high as a20-to-1 return based on the investment.

“In the old days green meant sacrifice; now it means bene-fit,” says Geoff. “We’re talking about changing people’s mind-sets. You can be green and be financially responsible. You can bea leader.”

cincinnati38

Terri Succo’s vegetable garden separates the house fromthe portico which is covered in solar panels.



cincinnati40

the electric car AND THE VERDICT IS . . .

Story and photo by Jason Sandhage

Has the all-electric car turned the corner? The logicalquestions that remain are:

• Is it affordable, or, at least, comparable to buying a tradi-tional gasoline-powered model?• Is it reliable? Does it run the risk of running out of energyon a road trip and becoming stalled in the middle of a 3-laneinterstate road?• Is it efficient to use, to maintain, to charge? Is it as easy asplugging it in to a household electric socket?• Is it safe? Can it get the driver from zero to 60 mph in a matterof seconds, to help pass another vehicle or to avoid an accident?• Is it better to wait until tomorrow when an upgraded modelwill be introduced?

The electric car has been around for decades, usuallyhauled out to showcase in parades, or car shows as the lookand feel of the future. But to be fair, the last few years has

resulted in a jump-start to entrepreneurs who know that thecorner has indeed turned more to their favor.

One of those entrepreneurs is Amp Electric Vehicles.It opened its doors in February and already customers are atthe door. But it has a unique sales plan: you provide the car,currently limited to three types, and they provide the batteryand conversion package.

The three cars are Chevy Equinox, Saturn Sky and PontiacSolstice. The three were chosen simply because Amp’s owners feltthey were models the buying public would want. They are sportylooking and, says Amp CEO Steve Burns, “we had the technologyto move a larger vehicle at a good clip that would go farther.Nobody had yet claimed the larger size (electric) car market.”

Burns, who grew up in Symmes Township and remains aCincinnatian, is, he says, a happy owner of one of his ownAmp modified cars, a 2010 Chevy Equinox.

Mick Kowitz, a co-founder of Amp, and his ownconverted-to-electric Saturn Sky. He drives it

daily from his home in Deerfield Township to theAmp headquarters in Blue Ash. He says that onecharge-up will get him four to five roundtrips, or

about 150 miles total.


Mick Kowitz, a co-founder of Amp, is also an owner – anall-electric Saturn Sky. He drives it daily from his home in Deer-field Township to the Amp headquarters in Blue Ash. He saysthat one charge-up will get him four to five roundtrips, or about150 miles total, well beyond the 100 mile range of what Burnssays most of the others in the electric car industry are able to do.“It’s the perfect commuter vehicle,” says Kowitz, noting that therange for a charge is actually between 120 and 150 miles.

“We go the furthest, the fastest, with the biggest,” says Burns.If an owner is worried about running out of a charge, the

best way to treat an all-electric vehicle is to keep it plugged inwhen not in use. “We tell people to treat it like a cell phone,”Kowitz explains. “When you go to bed, you plug in your cellphone . . . same thing with the car.” If the battery is fullydischarged, count on four hours of charge time if using a220-volt connection (the kind that hooks to your clothesdryer); eight hours if using 110.

So, plug-and-go appears to be easy and answers one ofthe basic questions. But once charged, can an Amp conversioncar produce the extra power needed for Interstate drivingor passing? As Kowitz explained, and this writer can confirmhaving experienced it first-hand on a test ride, Amp’s con-verted, electric vehicles can go from 0-60 mph in about 6.5seconds, topping out at around 90 mph on the highway.There’s no loss of energy in an electric vehicle, allowing itto convert electricity into force at a moment’s notice.

The electric car is more than functional for most of ourdriving needs, says Kowitz. “It has to drive like a car,” headds. Drivers quickly notice that there is no shifting, resultingin a more smooth and enjoyable ride.

Now we come to the cost. Since Amp only does conversions,you have to buy the car first. Let’s start by assuming you canbuy a Saturn Sky for about $15,000. The electric conversionwill cost about $25,000 (after an anticipated $3,000 - $7,000tax credit kicks in). The math comes up to a net grand total ofabout $40,000. Expensive, yes, but there are some deductionsyou can take. They are or can include:• Charging Costs. Figuring that electricity now costs about 10cents per kilowatt-hour, and that about 35 kilowatt hours areneeded for a full charge, the cost of driving 120 miles would be

about $3.50. The equivalent distance in a gas-powered enginewould cost $15-20, depending on the type and size of your car.Burns says to figure 3¢ per mile for electric; 15¢ per mile for gas.• Maintenance. There is no need for oil changes, savingmaybe $100 a year; tune-ups and mufflers are not necessary;and brake pads will generally last about 100,000 miles saysBurns. His math, he says, shows that a $50,000 electric carover seven years is equitable to a $35,000 gas powered car.

Unknown cost factors include the rising costs of gasolineand/or electricity, and the life expectancy of the vehicle.• Perks. When you buy a car from Amp, they will give you anall-electric car sticker that entitles you to park for free at anymeter in downtown Cincinnati or in a city-owned parkinggarage (the latter can even get you a spot in the most desirablespaces). Some states are offering tax breaks or grants on thepurchase of all-electric cars, and, says Burns, one state allowsowners, even if in the car alone, to drive in the rideshare laneduring peak hours. He is even aware of some businesses thatprovide charging stations for employees with electric cars toplug in at no charge while they work.

The bottom line is that an electric car will cost you moregiven today’s technology. But for those where the cost isnot the #1 factor, buying electric makes to make sense.Your new car will leave behind no smog, no carbon dioxideemissions – only clean air. As the Boy Scouts still say: leavewhat you encounter better than you found it.

being green 41

“How does it go without gas and air? How does it go without sparks and explosions? How does it go without

pistons or transmission? How does it go, you ask yourself. And then you will ask, how could we have possibly

gone so long without it.” – GM produced, EV1 Ad Campaign, 1996

Amp converts select cars to electric by replacing the gas combustionengine with its own battery pack. A conversation takes about a weekto complete.


There’s solar in your neighborhood.

Third Sun Solar and Wind Poweris a full service solar power design and installation firm. We work

with commercial, institutional and residential customers in Ohio and

surrounding states. We have Ohio’s most experienced solar design

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Third Sun makes solar easy.• Market leader for solar power in Ohio• 13 years of installation experience• Nationally certified designers and installers• We help secure the maximum in rebates, tax credits andsale of solar energy credits for our customers

• Solid history of delighted customers• As a Third Sun customer, you are in good company.Our customers include Duke Energy, Cincinnati Parks,Cincinnati Water Works, Cincinnati State, Osborne Coinage,BHE Environmental, AEP, Ameresco, Kentucky National Guard,and the Wayne National Forest.

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The folks of Third Sun have been nothing short of outstanding. They are

willing to share their extensive knowledge in a way that makes difficult

concepts clearly understood, from the technical issues to financial outcomes.

Their guidance on available grants, tax implications, and carbon credits

enabled Jan and I to make an educated decision on our energy future.

— Gerald Checco, Solar power homeowner.


being green 43

my at bat against wasteCHRIS DICKERSON

If you asked most people to describe a major league clubhouse,they would probably mention camaraderie, competition,testosterone, sweaty socks, horsing around, and possibly towel

snapping. Yet, if Chris Dickerson has anything to do with it,“environmentally friendly” may soon be added to the list.Many of us know Chris as a professional baseball player withthe Cincinnati Reds but, perhaps more importantly, Chris is CEOand co-founder of Players for the Planet (PFTP).

PFTP is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awarenessof the impact of professional sports on the environment. Since 2008,the organization has been educating and providing members of thebaseball community with resources to reduce waste and becomemore eco-friendly. Custom recycling bins, reusable water bottles andefficient clubhouse lighting are all areas of focus. While these mayseem like small improvements, in reality it’s these simple changeswhich make the largest impact. This is the realization Chris Dicker-son had one day while playing for the Louisville Bats, the AAA minorleague baseball affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

“I was sitting in the clubhouse and I started to add up all theplastic bottles being used,” says Dickerson. Every day, each playerwas using an average of six plastic bottles that went un-recycled.Not the biggest of concerns but, when you take into account theaverage roster of about 25 players, 120 teams in the minors, 30teams in the majors, and many days in a season, the amount ofplastic bottles being used at these levels of baseball is “truly stagger-ing,” says Dickerson. Let’s use the 2010 Reds as an example.

In 2010, the Cincinnati Reds will play 193 games in the pre-season and regular season combined. Now, if we have the talentand luck to make it into the postseason and play every game in eachseries, the Reds would go on to win the World Series having played212 total games. Are you following the math?

That’s a lot of baseball and certainly a lot of plastic. Assumingeach player consumes six bottles of fluid a day, while taking intoaccount the ebb and flow of the roster, the total number of plasticbottles that could be used by the players on the major league rosterof the Cincinnati Reds is over 34,000. That’s over 34,000 bottlesused by one 25-40 person organization in about three-quarters of ayear. If you were to line these bottles up end-to-end (based on anaverage 11” plastic bottle), you would still be rounding the bases after86 laps. Thankfully, through 7th inning recycling efforts, the re-useof water bottles and clubhouse recycling bins, Chris Dickerson andthe Cincinnati Reds were successful in saving more than 96 tons ofcardboard and plastics from the landfill last year.

Today, PFTP is supported by more than 45 professional athletesnationwide and continues to grow. With the likes of Jack Cassel(co-founder), Matt Cassel, Chase Utley, AJ Hawk, Ryan Braun, ScottNiedermayer, Matt Leinart, and our very own Dhani Jones and Jay

Bruce, PFTP has an all-star lineup of support. With the help of theseenvironmentally minded athletes, Players for the Planet would like toextend their reach into all levels of baseball, their community, cityand country.

Currently, teams are involved throughout all levels of baseball.Some of the participants include the Cincinnati Reds, ClevelandIndians, Xavier University, and some high schools around the coun-try. And with the help of the Minor League Baseball Green Team,PFTP is in the process of implementing a pilot program in whichdozens of teams will be supplied with recycling bins. Combined withsteps to offset the carbon emissions created by team travels, electronicwaste collection events, and a collaboration with SIGG water bottles,Players for the Planet is well on its way to creating a greener playingfield for the future. If there’s something we all can learn, it is a basictruth that Chris recognized a long time ago. You don’t have to hit ahome run when it comes to helping the environment. Just take a lookat your own lifestyle: at home, in the office, at the supermarket. Be-come more aware of the changes you can make and follow throughwith those changes in your everyday activities. You too can step up tothe plate and fight against waste.

To find out more about the organization, go towww.playersfortheplanet.org




At The Benchmark, environmental awareness and respect for ourneighbors is more than just a public relations campaign. It is our lives.We enjoy our natural environment as much as our customers and weare committed to keeping it as clean, safe and beautiful as can be.Whether you want to hike or climb, camp or kayak, we can outfit youwith what you need to get out and enjoy the outdoors as much as we do.

INDEPENDENT OUTDOOR OUTFITTER SINCE 1974

9525 Kenwood Road Cinc innat i OH 45242 513-791-WILD (9453) www.benchmarkoutf itter.com


cincinnati46

teaching greenTHEY START IN KINDERGARTEN IN THIS AWARD-WINNING GREEN SCHOOL

Story by Lindsay Kottmann / Photos by Doug Sandhage

Beneath a clear afternoon sky and a lush golf-coursebackdrop, seven young schoolchildren work in agarden. A few others run by, tossing the remains of a

fresh snack of fruit into the nearby compost pile.Class is in session at Pleasant Ridge Montessori (PRM),

located adjacent to Losantiville Country Club.Angie Okuda, the community learning center resource

coordinator at the 500+ student K-6 school, looks on. Sheoften gushes about the many eco-friendly initiatives andtechnologies at PRM, the state’s first public elementary schoolto achieve certification at the Silver level in the U.S. GreenBuilding Council’s Leadership in Energy and EnvironmentalDesign (LEED®) program.

But she takes particular delight in an act as simple as astudent throwing food waste in a compost pile – not the trash– without being reminded.

Such behavior is a result of the school’s emphasis onenvironmentalism, which started with the building itself.And this idyllic spring scene is coming to a school near you.

Green building has been embraced by Cincinnati PublicSchools (CPS) and the Ohio School Facilities Commission.All school buildings approved for state construction fundingin Ohio must now be LEED Silver or above. Four years fromnow, 22 of 51 CPS buildings will be Silver certified – whichthe district touts will be one of the highest concentrations ofgreen schools in the nation.

Michael Burson, director of planning and construction atCPS, hopes the buildings will make a lasting change in the waystudents see the world. “The kids are really involved in thetechnology and can someday green the rest of us,” he says.

A LEED LifeMontessori education emphasizes self-direction by students overtraditional lecture-style lessons, which may explain the laughterand chatter drifting into the hallway this Friday afternoon.

Burson stands in an “Extended Learning Area” in betweenseveral classrooms, speaking over the buzzing activity to pointout a rug made of recycled plastic bottles. Floor mats are par-ticularly important in Montessori education, because studentsoften choose to work on the floor. And, with the school’s new,energy-saving heating and cooling system, kids are less likelyto breathe in dust or germs when they do.

In older buildings, air is introduced in the ceiling, forcedthrough the space, and back out the ceiling, whipping air andgerms around in a circle. At PRM and other new CPS build-

Above: Rain gardens in front ofPleasant Ridge Montessori absorbrunoff water before it enters the

sewer. Right: Pleasant RidgeMontessori students can work

in the gardens behind theirschool as part of daily learning

activities. Note that the cell phonetower, without the usual attached

disks, also serves as a flagpolefor the school.


ings, says Burson, rooms are heated and cooled from underthe floors, and air circulates naturally as warmer air rises.

As students step out of their classrooms on trips to thedrinking fountain or restroom, Burson explains that they’rewalking on floors of “Marmoleum,” composed of regionallysourced flax and linseed. These floors require less water toclean than a typical floor, and less waxing is necessary.

You won’t see futuristic, energy-saving gizmos when youfirst glance inside the classrooms. But, Burson explains, thewindows are large to maximize natural light, and they onlyface north or south, eliminating heat spikes caused by directsunlight. Blinds are encased in three energy-efficient panes ofglass, and classroom lights can turn on or off automatically.

Burson leads the way into the school gym, where a teacheris placing cones on the floor for his next class activity. Thefluorescent lights above use just half the energy of the typicalbuzzing gym lights that take several minutes to heat up. Soon,Burson says, they’ll also be motion-sensitive, just like those inthe school’s library, bathrooms and hallways.

Eco-friendly features at PRM are everywhere. Outside,rain gardens soak up runoff water before it enters the sewagesystem. Solar panels on the roof generate enough electricityto power 42 compact fluorescent light bulbs. And several“cubbies” and shelves are made of wood from local parks,discarded as a result of the invasive Emerald Ash Borer beetle.

All together, Burson says, newer buildings like PRMconsume three to four times less electricity than their olderequivalents.

A Special PlaceThe green mentality doesn’t end with physical infrastructure.At PRM’s after-school environmental camp, students can analyze

data from the solar panels, study and maintain the rain gardens,and get hands-on experience mixing and spreading compostcollected in classroom bins.

Daily lessons integrate bird observation and gardening.Teachers explain where the kids’ fruit and vegetable snackscome from (many of them come from local farms), and whycertain items can be composted while others cannot.

And, behind the scenes supporting all these programs isthe arguably most influential advocate for this green school:the surrounding community.

PRM, which opened its current facility in 2008, was thefirst school in CPS to go green because residents pushed for itthroughout the school’s planning process. In 2006, that samecommunity advocated Montessori education for PRM, helpingto make it one of only a few neighborhood elementaryMontessori schools in the U.S.

PRM’s success helped spark CPS’s adoption of greenbuilding policies in its Facilities Master Plan.

Five more CPS elementary schools opening in August willbe LEED Silver. In addition, Clark Montessori High School’snew facility will feature geothermal heating, a water-perme-able parking lot, and one of the city’s only “intensive” vege-tated roofs – deep enough to host shrubs and perennial plants.It’s scheduled to open in 2011. The long-term plans are excit-ing, and some of the technologies are amazing.

But sometimes it’s the little things that deserve the mostcelebration: Things like a bright orange peel avoiding thetrash can on a spring afternoon – proof that these efforts arecreating eco-savvy kids and an even greener future.

being green 47

Left to right: Recycling is second nature to the kids at Pleasant Ridge Montessori. Both of these bins are the first things you see when you enterthe lobby of the school built in 2008. CPS schools feature desks, storage cabinets, and cubbies constructed from "urban timber" harvested fromCincinnati’s local parks. Most of the wood is Ash, cut down before they are expected to die from an insect borer. Classroom compost bins areemptied into a pile near Pleasant Ridge Montessori's community garden. The pile is mixed with wood chips from a nearby landscaping com-pany and spread around the school's gardens.



Somewhere along the line, some-body added up how far the 2008version of the 950,000 CincinnatiBell white pages books, each in-cluding 1,275 pages, would extendif the pages were faced end to end.It was pretty far.

For sure Cincinnati Bell added up the cost savings when itdecided to reduce the printing of the books in 2009 to 150,000.The math showed:• In 2008, Bell spent $4.14 million to publish the 950,000books. Of that, $3.12 million went to the printer; $150,000 forfreight (to get them from the printer to Cincinnati); and$874,000 to the guys and gals in their cars who delivered them toeach home.• In 2009, Bell spent $637,000 to publish 150,000 books. Ofthat, $588,000 went the printer; $29,000 to the truckers; and$20,000 to the guys and gals in their cars.

That’s a $3.5 million savings, year-over-year. But wait –there’s more. Less trucking and fewer cars being driven by theguys and gals saved significant CO2 emissions.

Bell’s policy in 2009 became that if you still wanted to re-ceive a copy of their white pages book, you could either re-quest it online to be delivered to you, or pick one up at one oftheir phone stores. The policy required approval from a stateregulatory agency. Interestingly, only about 10,000 people

asked for one of the 150,000 books, and 15,000 were deliveredto local businesses such as hotels. That meant that just under100,000 went to Rumpke’s recycling facility.

In 2010, Bell will print 50,000 books – the extras just incase. In printing, you have to print a few more than what youneed as it is very expensive to go back on a pressline to printsmaller quantities. Customers will still be able to request a bookon-line or get one at a Bell store.

Cincinnati Bell serves the greater Cincinnati marketplace.Brian Duerring, Director of Wireless Services for the company,and whose task it was to enact the cut-back policy, said the localinitiative to reduce the number of hard-copy books was the firstin the nation and that other phone companies will soon followsuit. As for comments from customers, he said that a voice mailcomment line set up to take any concerns was mostly filled withthose who thought the Yellow Page directory should be cut backas well. However, Duerring said Bell no longer owns that direc-tory and has no choice on that matter.

For those who still need to look up a number that wouldhave been in the printed white pages, their fingers can still dothe walking over a keyboard. Duerring says the info online is inreal-time so all changes are updated to the site as they aremade. Go to cincinnatibell.com/white pages.

Go Green!

being green 49

green is about saving money, makingmoney, saving the environment, and God

love those backyard inventors

GREEN UPDATE

Stories by Doug Sandhage

Fewer white pages means less in the landfills and $3.5 million toBell’s bottom line

VIRTUALLY ANYONE you talk to has a green story they can share. And virtually every business has, or can develop,

a product or service that can go green.

Being Green in Cincinnati intends to be the #1 source for consumers to find out what’s greening them in the

greater Cincinnati marketplace. We will do it through his magazine (the next will be out in January 2011), and through

our website that premieres on August 1 – www.beinggreenincincinnati.com.

We have already found some news and/or actions of what some call “greenwashing.” As if with any good idea,

scammers pop up and do a disservice to those who have the passion and spirit to do green the right and honest way.

If you have a story for Being Green in Cincinnati, contact us with some of the details and how to best reach you. What

follows are several interesting stories we thought you would enjoy.


cincinnati50

Big, beautiful & stylish can be green, tooThe thought that a green-built home has to have a thatch roof anddirt floor is the same flawed argument that your green-built carmust be tiny and all electric, or your refrigerator an icebox.

Any corporation, no matter the size, is thinking green insome aspect due to consumer demand and to have braggingrights. Being Green is good PR. And good PR usually translatesto profitable transactions.

Take Mercedes-Benz, for ExampleMore specifically, the company’s BlueTEC brand of vehicles. Intro-duced in 2006, the car was Mercedes introduction to what it calls thecleanest, most efficient diesel car yet built. No smoke, no smell, says thecompany. The car immediately met national acclaim.

At the 2007 New York International Auto Show, the Mercedes-Benz E320 BlueTEC was declared the 2007 World Green Car. Tobe eligible for the award, entries had to be all new or substantiallyrevised, in production, and introduced for sale to consumers in atleast one major market in 2006. Other requirements includedmeeting or exceeding tailpipe emissions per California standards,efficient fuel consumption, and the use of advanced power planttechnology aimed specifically at increasing environmental responsi-bility. BlueTEC converts NOx emissions into nitrogen and water.

Automotive journalists from around the world started the WorldCar of the Year Awards program in 2004.

As with all green technologies, money helps keep the momentumon track. Currently, three of Mercedes BlueTEC models qualify for afederal tax credit, not subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax require-ments. The credits range from $900 to $1,800. The MSRP of a ML350BlueTEC SUV starts at $49,700.

To drop names, singer and environmentalist supporter SherylCrow owns a Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC. "The newest clean dieselvehicles are eco-friendly and deserve as much attention as other gasalternatives like hybrids," said Crow.

Mercedes-Benz also sells two hybrid models, both introducedin 2009: the S400 HYBRID and the ML450 HYBRID. For moreinfo: www.CincyBenz.com

Take Sub-Zero, for AnotherIt’s hard to look at a Sub-Zero refrigerator and not see a fullyloaded tank. And at the same time, fashionable to a New Yorkminute. Sub-Zeros are all hand-made in Madison, Wisconsin –meaning that parts do not need to be trucked from places likeTaiwan, thus a lower carbon footprint.

Sixteen of Sub-Zero’s refrigerator models are Energy Star®

qualified. This means that they use at least 20 percent less energy –

saving an average of $165 in energy costs over the lifetime of thefridge – than those not labeled as Energy Star qualified. Other Sub-Zero features are dual compressors to maintain more control overthe cooling, meaning less food waste, and a built-in air purificationsystem that scrubs the air of odor, bacteria, and ethylene gas. TheSub-Zero website says its built-in units averages less than $79 peryear to operate (based on 10.65 cents per kilowatt hour).

The Sub-Zero company adds that 75 percent of the stainless

steel and 50 percent of theplastic used in the manufac-ture of its refrigeratorscomes from recycled mate-rial, and that any parts leftover in the manufacturingprocess are returned to themaker to be reused. In addi-tion, the shipping containersare returnable and reusable.

In order to encouragekitchen designers and

architects who specify Energy Star rated Sub-Zero and Wolfappliances in their designs, the company has added a new category– Sustainable “Green” Kitchen award – to its prestigious kitchen -design contest.

For more info, go to: www.growagreenkitchen.com

Get your charge-up here, there& everywhereImagine all the solar carports. It’s easy if you try. Ah, if only JohnLennon were alive and writing today. Perhaps he would be a signifi-cant part of the energy revolution and the Beatles would land againin the U.S.A. on board a solar powered aircraft.

Imagination is what much of the future of green is all about.Somebody has to dream it, think it through, kick it in to place, thenmake improvements.

I recently got a call from good friend Shannon Roush who saidthat she and architect husband Brad designed a solar-panel-toppedcarport that would allow anyone with an electric car to convenientlydrive in, plug in, and drive away again a few hours later. She imaginedapartment or condo complexes where every carport is the Roush’s de-sign, and everyone had an electric car – harnessing energy from the onesource that doesn’t cost anything, short of the setup costs. The sun.

The Roushs executed the design for The Fischer Group. I calledMatt Kuhn, the general manager of Smart Energy Solutions, a division

Mercedes BlueTEC series

Sub-Zero


being green 51

of the Fairfield-based company, for the details. “As far as I know, this isa first in Ohio,” says Matt. “I did the solar calculations and the Roushsdid the design.” The energy taken in via the solar panels goes to an in-verter, a device that converts DC energy to AC energy. If an electric caris plugged in at the time, the energy goes into recharging the battery; ifnot, it goes into whatever needs the owner has – such as heating anearby structure, or back into the energy grid to sell to Duke Energy.

Kuhn says the Roush’s design was approved and built onsite as aprototype charging station, and also at the new Amp Electric Carsbuilding in Blue Ash. The onsite station has room for three cars to beplugged in simultaneously. But if you wanted a single-bay station foryour home, they are ready to build one for you today. It would re-quire about 10 solar panels which would charge up your car in aboutfour hours. The cost is estimated at about $14,000 but with 30 per-cent energy tax credits and grants of up to 50 percent from the stateof Ohio, the final bill would be about $5,000.

The advantage of having your own charging station is in severalways: it provides a roof to protect against the weather, the plug is easilyaccessible, and it’s quick and easy. Kuhn says that the energy landscapewill someday include charging stations on every corner, much like gasstations today. His immediate vision is seeing the stations at stores likeKroger or Meijer, at places of work, and at churches.

Al Fischer, the president and owner of his namesake, said that hiscompany is well positioned to be in the right place at the right time.“One of the main problems with their (electric cars) proliferation is thatthere is no place to charge them. We are working on how to fix that.”But, he adds, the total picture is far bigger than Fairfield, or the USAfor that matter. He sees Africa as a wide-open opportunity, not only incar charging stations, but also in building “net-zero energy buildings,”which is primarily what he wants his company to do. “We want thetotal package,” he says, adding that his company primarily serves as aconsultant, or integrator, to businesses seeking energy solutions.

Upon reflection, Fischer says that going green is not an imme-diate fix. “It’s a 50 year venture, but if you don’t start today,you’re delaying the 50 year venture.”

The Smart Grid: coming soonto your homeWhoever heard of a power company that encourages its customers touse energy more efficiently? For shareholders, that could be a signfor Going Out of Business.

But Duke Energy says energy efficiency is the plan – and thatwhen they are done, the resulting energy revolution will be likenothing else since electricity was first harnessed in the 19th century.Duke is the third largest electric power holding company in the U.S.based on kilowatt-hour sales, serving 11 million people.

Specifically, the issues that Duke says it faces today include:• Rebuilding the economy.• Addressing climate change• Conserving natural resources.“Sustainability,” Duke says, “helps the company recognize link-

ages, address impacts, and seize opportunities that might be missedwith more traditional, ‘linear’ approaches to problem solving. Oneprimary area to build sustainability is for the company to modernizeits generation and distribution network, and more specifically, to de-velop and implement smart grid technology.”

The Smart Grid Plan in ActionIn mid 2009, Duke started installing what is known as smart metersin the homes of 8,100 customers in a Charlotte, North Carolinaneighborhood, as well as new digital communications technology onutility poles and power lines. The meters, says Duke, along with thetechnology, will improve the reliability of electric power, reduce out-age duration, and provide customers with usage data and the abilityto customize their energy usage.

"Today's electric distribution system has changed little over thepast 100 years," said David Mohler, Duke Energy's chief technologyofficer. "Smart grid will provide a 21st century, two-way digitalcommunications link between the company and its customers."

Beyond the smart meters, 100 of the 8,100 households in thesmart grid test project are participating in a residential energy man-agement system pilot. “This pilot will focus on the technical, opera-tional and customer satisfaction characteristics of emerging energymanagement systems that will allow customers to save electricity andmoney by customizing how they use energy,” says Duke.

For example, a customer will be able to work with Duke Energyto develop an "energy profile" which can be used to monitor andcontrol appliances, air conditioners, heat pumps, water heaters, anddryers. This means greater efficiency and savings for the customer.

Duke says it has already spent about $90 million of a $5 billion,5-year plan to have the smart meters in place throughout its cus-tomer service area. In Ohio, Duke says its smart meter deploymentwill include over 1 million installations.

For more info, go to the frequently asked questions on the Dukewebsite: www.duke-energy.com/about-us/smart-grid-faq.asp

In the same North Carolina suburb, Duke recently installed 213solar panels that will provide approximately 50 kilowatts of electric-ity, enough to power five homes when the panels are operating. Elec-tricity from these panels is sent directly into the distribution linesserving the test area or used to charge a 500-kilowatt storage battery.

Power by the People, from the Peopleand to the PeopleIf you’ve watched the TV show 24, two of the burning questions arealways: while saving the world from nuclear attack, when does JackBower have time to go to the bathroom, or to charge the cell phonethat is always at his ear. Perhaps he could use the device Tim Moellerof Pierce Township is now inventing in his garage.

It’s a power plant the size of a beer can or less, and works with theturn of a hand. The concept is the same that runs a hydroelectric dam.

Another of Tim’s prototypes is a more efficient generator thathooks to the wheels of an exercise bike. While the operator is losingweight or just strengthening some calf muscles, the generator is produc-

Fischer Group solar carport


ing power for the TV, the microwave, the cell phone, or the computer.While most in the energy arena appear to be finding power sourcesfrom the sun, the wind, or heat from the earth, Tim is more interestedin “people power.”

Tim is, in many ways, the Tim the Toolman character long playedby comedian Tim Allen. Inventions and ideas keep him up at night, andduring the day he fabricates or designs the right part for the right pieceto see if something new he imagined will work as planned.

Much of what Tim sees benefits the green movement. He has hisown wind turbine atop his house. It doesn’t generate enough energyto do much more than to charge a 12-volt battery, but nonetheless,it works. He shows me a new, more efficiently designed and signifi-cantly lighter-weight turbine blade he modified that he says willmake wind turbines at least nine percent more efficient. He adds thatwind tunnel experiments using the blade prove his figures.

Tim is most proud of where he sees his instant power generatorheaded. The prototype is about a foot in diameter cylinder that istotally surrounded by powerful magnets. The cylinder will fit intoa larger cylinder with a handle that, when turned by hand, will pro-duce electricity. He hopes to sell the concept to the military, and toThird World countries. He sees it as part of his mission to “bringpower to those who don’t have power.”

Visitors to Tim’s garage often call him ‘the professor,’ or, simply,a ‘problem solver.’ “My talent is to build prototypes. Many peoplehave great ideas, but they don’t know where to start.” One of Tim’sultimate objectives is to start a think-tank of others like him, not nec-essarily to make a pot-full of money, but to share mutual interests.

Tim, 50, is a self-made man, schooled in mechanical engineer-ing, and an entrepreneur with his own heating and air conditioningcompany – Moeller Mechanical Services – for 30 years. He retiredfour years ago to pursue the art of garage-based inventing, and todo the laundry and cooking for his two growing kids. Perhaps hisinspiration is simply seeing all the energy it takes to run a household.He is convinced that his new and improved generator that turnsfrom the wheels of the exercise bike will be 30 percent more efficientthan anything else on the market in this genre.

“We’re just the little people; the engineers and the do-it-yourselferswho are enthusiastic about renewable energy products,” says Tim.

The Dream: whole green neighborhoods& communitiesToday there are a half-dozen LEED® certified homes in Hyde Park.They are scattered, determined only by available lots and who wants to

go green. In the case of some homeowners, the City of Cincinnati’sdecision to abate all or part of their property taxes for 15 years was theincentive to go green.

But it isn’t just single-family homes here and there that are goinggreen. Some builders are envisioning entire condo buildings, completeneighborhoods, or even communities built to green-rated standards.

A few are in Cincinnati worth checking out:• The Lofts of Mottainai. Completed in 2009, the building has eightcontemporary, loft-style condos carved out of two, 100-year-oldbuildings on Republic Street in Over-the-Rhine. The condosreceived the LEED Silver certification. Mottainai is a Japanese ex-pression signifying “that which is too valuable to waste.” Some ofthe green features in The Lofts include using existing infrastructure,smart meters, low-flow faucets and dual-flush toilets, CFL lighting,efficient HVAC systems and appliances, bamboo and cork flooring,bike racks, a recycling cove, roof-top patios, and low VOC paints.

"Our renovation of these historic structures serves as a perfectmodel of how older buildings can be brought back to life using envi-ronmentally responsible materials to create beautiful and energy effi-cient living spaces in an urban setting," says Mike Huseman, Presidentof HGC Construction and builder of The Lofts of Mottainai.• The Arbors of Pleasant Ridge. Planned to be Cincinnati’s first all-LEED neighborhood development, there will be 14 homes withstarter prices in the high $200s. Each home will about 2,000 sq. ft.The development is adjacent to the Ridge Club in Pleasant Ridge.The project is one of only 27 developments chosen out of a nation-wide LEED Neighborhood Development Pilot Project Plan.

The developers – Klotter Homes, Inc. and RLT Design – say thateach homeowner, because of the LEED certification, will qualify fora 15-year tax abatement from the City of Cincinnati, and save 20-25percent in energy costs, or about $600 a year.• Rockford Woods. This Northside community, off of HamiltonAvenue, was the home to Citirama 2010. There are 36 new homesin the development, three of which are registered for or LEED certi-fied. Participating builders include John Hueber Homes, PotterhillHomes, M/I Homes, Greystone Country Homes, Maple StreetHomes, Perry Bush Builders, and Maronda Homes.

Some of the green elements found in the homes include geother-mal heating and cooling, water efficiency, CFL lighting, programma-ble thermostats, Energy Star rated appliances and more energyefficient HVAC systems, reclaimed and recycled materials, andsmaller lots.• 2801 Erie. This 13-unit condo complex is a stone’s throw awayfrom Hyde Park Square. The project began in 2007 and all but twoof the units remain to be sold. One of the units is owned by one ofthe two partners in the firm – Steve Bloomfield – that developedthem. The entire project, says Ken Schon, the other partner, is regis-tered for LEED certification. The asking price for the units rangesfrom $700,000 to $1.5 million.

Schon says that green features in the project include energyefficient windows and heating and air conditioning systems,Energy Star rated appliances, LED lighting, a white roof to reflectsolar heat gain, and low-flow water fixtures. The project is alsoexpected to receive LEED rating points because it has bike racksand a no-smoking policy.

cincinnati52

Tim Moeller


The Green Team at Architects Plus includes:Mike LeVally, AIA + Andy Schaub, AIA, LEED AP+ Nora Wiley, LEED AP + Rick Koehler, AIA

Go green. Save money. Look good.Whether its built into student housing, one of your favorite restaurants, or your own home, going green

is not complicated and doesn’t compromise desired architectural elements. And, in most cases, it saves

money. Call Architects Plus and ask for one of our “Green Team” designers.

Archi tecture | Inter iors | Furnishings

+ Highly-durable low maintenance exterior materials+ Compact infill housing on a previously developed lot+ Drought-tolerant landscaping+ Rain gardens to control stormwater runoff+Water-conserving plumbing fixtures+ Energy Star rated performance+ Bamboo and recycled content tile flooring, no carpet+ MERV 13 HVAC air filters+ Radon gas evacuation system+ Low VOC interior finishes

CAMPUS COMMONS, Miami University, Oxford

BLUE ELEPHANT, Hyde Park+ Lighting controlled by automatic daylight dimming system

+ Low VOC paints and interior finishes+ Rapidly renewable Bamboo wall panels and casework

+ Recycled carpet and ceramic tile flooring+ Geothermal HVAC

+ Permeable parking lot paving+ High solar reflectance roofing to keep building cool

+ Non-vented roof with closed cell foam insulation+ Geothermal HVAC system+ Energy recovery ventilator keeps air constantly refreshed+ FSC mahogany wall panels and trim in new addition+ Reclaimed historical interior doors and trim+Green guard-certified carpet+ Rainwater harvesting from roof drainage for irrigation

HISTORICAL HOME RENOVATIONIndian Hill

www.architectsplus.com 513-984-1070


cincinnati54

re-seeding roof linesIT ’S WHAT’S ON TOP THAT COUNTS

Story by Lindsay Kottmann

Mill Creek Valley looks harmlessly pastoral from theroof of the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD)building in Hartwell.

But when Mike Flanders takes in the view, he sees 200years’ worth of aging, labyrinthine pipes and drainage sys-tems, plus a terrible history of pollution.

Flanders, a senior engineer with the District, is standingon one step toward a greener future: a roof covered in plants.Vegetated roofs like this one reduce water runoff and stresson the sewer system. But Flanders had other reasons foradvocating this roof ’s installation in 2007: its longevitycompared to a standard roof, and its ability to reduce thebuilding’s energy consumption.

For these reasons and many others, vegetated roofsare gaining popularity in cities across the country, andare already popular overseas. The city of Cincinnati,along with the MSD of Greater Cincinnati and the OhioEnvironmental Protection Agency, announced a GreenRoof Loan Program in 2008 to help finance such roofsin the MSD service area.

We don’t have as many green roofs as Chicago or Portlandyet, but the number is increasing. Just a few examples: TheRed Cross facility off Smith-Edwards Road, the Civic GardenCenter in Avondale, Firehouse 51 in College Hill, the EdenPark Waterworks pumping station, the College of Mount St.Joseph, Turkeyfoot Middle School, the Cincinnati Zoo, andseveral PNC banks.

Keeping Sewage at BayAccording to the city of Cincinnati’s web site, 14.4 billiongallons of sewage overflow finds its way into local homes,streets, creeks and rivers each year, a result of storm wateroverwhelming the sewage system.

Eliminating that overflow through traditional infrastruc-ture alone isn’t an option. “We can’t afford to maintainevery piece of pipe we’ve got in the ground,” Flanders says.

The swamps and wetlands that were once common inthe area have long since been drained, and, according toFlanders, restoring some would go a long way in reducingpressure on the sewage system. Such wet areas reduceerosion by slowing the flow of local streams, and purifyingwater as it filters through.

However, there are additional ways to ease the burdenand consequent maintenance costs on our sewers, includingabsorbent “rain gardens” near drains, porous driveways and

parking lots, and – you guessed it – vegetated roofs.Vegetative roofs act like a sponge. They absorb water so it

drains off slowly, allowing more to evaporate and easing theinitial storm surge that leads to sewage overflows.

That’s One Cool RoofCincinnati residents are no strangers to humid summers andsmog alerts, especially in urban areas that trap heat because ofa lack of vegetation and an abundance of dark surfaces. Theseplaces can be cooled by plants, whose process of using andevaporating water has a natural cooling effect. If such plantshappen to be on your roof, you’ll also save on your energybill: A cooler roof equals a cooler building.

“If you come out here on a hot summer day and you putyour hand on this gray stuff, it’s hot,” Flanders says of the ma-terial on the MSD roof. “But if you go six inches over and putyour hand under a plant, it’s cool. You don’t have to counter-act that heat radiating down into your building.”

Another bonus for smoggy areas: More plants mean lesscarbon dioxide, more oxygen, and generally better air quality.

The layers on a vegetated roof insulate the building itcovers and are practically impermeable to air leaks. And,since the roof itself isn’t exposed to the weather, it lastslonger. Most vegetated roofs are expected to last more than50 years, at least twice as long as a typical, non-vegetatedroof. Flanders figures that makes up for the higher cost ofinstallation. “It’s almost certainly going to pay for itself,”he says.

Green City Resources, a local company that providescomplete “watershed management” services, installs roofsjust like the one on the MSD building. Green City Resourcespartners with Tremco for most of their roofing projects. RoseSeeger, co-owner and vegetated roof specialist at Green City,mentions that a leak detection system costing as little as $1per square foot allows owners to repair leaks at their sources,with no need to replace the entire roof at once. That said,she hasn’t actually had to deal with a leak yet, and she doesn’texpect to for decades to come.

Although deeper, more complicated vegetated roofs requirea maintenance level similar to that of a typical garden, MSD’sroof features only has to be maintained twice a year – mostly justremoving weeds and checking plant health. The plants can sur-vive without much water, and they go dormant in the winter.The maintenance effort isn’t much, Flanders says, especiallysince roofs should ideally be maintained once a year anyway.

Continued on page 58


being green 55

The vegetative roof of the Metropolitan Sewer District building on Galbraith Road (near Drake in Hartwell) features Sedum, a cactus-typeplant, Allium (Chive), and Talinum (Fame Flower). The 3,000 sq. ft. roof was installed in 2008. – Photo courtesy of Green City Resources


THINKING OF GOING GREEN?

While Klot ter Bui lder s was the contractor for the f ir s t

registered for LEED® Platinum home in Cincinnati, owner Tom

Walter is no stranger to building green. All jobs — new

home construction, renovations, kitchen remodels, and even

historical preservations — are done with “green in mind.”

Having been in business since 1987, Klotter Builders has a

long history of craftsmanship and attention to detail. These

standards are maintained with Tom’s hands-on approach

and the quality supervision of his own personal staff of

framers, trim carpenters, painters, and electricians.

And saving lots of green at the same time? We can help you do just that.

T H O M A S W A L T E RP r e s i d e n t

5 1 3 . 7 9 1 . 0 9 0 8

THE ARBORS OF PLEASANT RIDGE ~ Two Stor y Arts & Crafts Exter iors


Over 20 years of experience specializing in the creation of custom new homes and renovations. Currently

at the forefront of green design, our client-driven creative designs range from traditional and historic, to

contemporary and modern. Attention to detail and a focus on quality design in both form and function

truly transform houses into homes.

R A N D Y T R A V I SR e s i d e n t i a l D e s i g n e r

The Arbors will soon be Cincinnati’s first LEED NeighborhoodDevelopment located in Pleasant Ridge off Losantiville Avenue nearThe Ridge Club. This quaint development designed by RLT Designconsists of fourteen new LEED Homes with cutting-edge greentechnologies. The plans vary between ranches with first floor mastersand full two story homes; all of which will have authentic Arts & Craftsexteriors. Klotter Builders has planned for the development and homeconstruction to begin in the Fall 2010 with home prices startingin the 290,000’s.

Developer & Builder: Klotter Builders Inc.Project Designer: RLT DesignProject packaging by City Lands Development Co.

5 1 3 . 3 1 2 . 9 6 3 1


Even More BenefitsGreen roofs, especially if rarely disturbed, also present an op-portunity to restore native habitats that are being destroyed byurbanization. Seeger, who comes from a farming background,knows the importance of re-introducing plants that help localbirds, butterflies and especially bees, which are essential to ourfood production.

Other reasons companies choose to install green roofs in-clude aesthetics for employees, whose office windows maylook down on flat roofs. Green roofs also help businesses earncertification credits in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Lead-ership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

Just make sure that if you’re interested in installing agreen roof, you work through a company that has good refer-ences in this kind of installation, Seeger emphasizes. A regular

roofing company may say they can do it, but it’s best to trustthe complicated process to an expert. While there are onlya few residential properties that have vegetated roofs in theCincinnati area, Seeger says they certainly make sense toinstall, especially on new homes, and help qualify the homefor LEED certification points. “Expect to pay about double,but hope for less,” says Seeger, noting that while the financialpayback is yet unknown, immediate benefits include an energyuse reduction, noise reduction, and less storm water runoff toclog up sewer lines.

Speaking of experts, there may be more in this area in thenext few years. A Green Roofing course was recently intro-duced as part of the University of Cincinnati’s horticultureprogram, Seeger says, and Cincinnati State is also in theprocess of adding a program.

cincinnati58

While vegetative roofs remain in their infancy in Cincinnati, primarily on commercial buildings, the concept is growing. This is the roof of the PNCBank on the corner of Ridge and Highland Streets. Sedum, a cactus-type plant, is the primary vegetation; but also seen are Allium (Chive), andTalinum (Fame Flower). The soil is approximately 4 inches deep and the total roof coverage is around 3,000 sq. ft. – Photo courtesy of GreenCity Resources




being green 61

when the city of Cincinnatigives $ to you

IT ’S EASY BEING GREEN

OK. Let’s make sure we’ve got this straight. If you:1. Build a new home within the city limits of Cincinnati.2. Make sure the architect designs and/or the builder constructs thehome so that it meets what is known as LEED® rated sustainable“green” building standards. Verification will be required. And;3. File the proper paperwork

The City of Cincinnati will abate all or a significant partof your property tax on the value of the home for up to 15years. In this issue of Being Green in Cincinnati five homes arefeatured which qualified for the tax abatement for a grand totalof nearly $1 million in savings (see pages 68-75).

It’s true.Granted, there is a catch. The cost of purchasing and in-

stalling the green items in the house, and paying for the requiredpaperwork can add anywhere from 3-10 percent to the cost ofthe house. But taking just one of the featured homes in this issue,a million-dollar-plus, 5,500 sq. footer in Linwood, the $75,000extra cost compared to the $300,000+ savings . . . it is, as theysay, a no brainer. Add to that a 30 percent tax credit the home-owner got on the geothermal heating and cooling system, and areduced energy bill, and now you’ve got a testimonial to greensecond to none.

Why such a big give-a-way in financially tough times? To eitherget people to move in, or stay in the city of Cincinnati limits. Thehomeowners we talked to all agreed that the strategy worked onthem. No doubt.

Here’s how it works:• Follow the three steps noted at the beginning of this story.• New LEED construction of one, two, and three unit residentialstructures, including condominiums, are eligible for a 15-year

100% tax abatement valued up to $530,450. Using the maximumamount, the annual property tax savings would be $11,140; or$167,100 for 15 years.

For renovated LEED residential dwellings (condominiums,one, two, and three unit structures), there is 10-year taxabatement on improvements up to a maximum $530,450market value.

In both new and renovated homes, the owners must still paythe tax on the land. The market value limit increases by 3% com-pounded each year.• There are four levels to LEED certification: certified, silver, goldand platinum. If the home or rehabilitated structure is certified atthe highest platinum level, there is no maximum value limit. So, ifyou built a home valued at $3 million, the annual tax savings wouldbe $63,1003; or $945,047 for 15 years.

The tax abatement program, known as the Green BuildingResidential Property Tax Exemption, started in 2007 and ex-pires in 2017. As of May 2010, 33 homes / condominiums havequalified for the tax abatement.

It is important to note that many of Cincinnati’s buildersalready include green features into the homes they build. But tomeet LEED certification standards it requires additional workand training so it is a good idea to ask all questions upfront ifyou intend to take advantage of the city’s tax abatement pro-gram. For more information on LEED, see page 62 of this issue.

For more information on the tax abatement program, contact

the Department of Community Development at 513-352-6146, or

[email protected].


cincinnati62

making your home certifiablygreen and does it matter?

You will see the words “LEED®” and “Energy Star” appear morethan a hundred times in this issue of Being Green in Cincinnati.

You’ve probably already seen them hundreds of times before.What do they mean? Why are they important? If you plan on being

green in your home, they mean a lot. Both cost money to do, but bothcan save you thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars if youwant them to. Tax abatements and tax credits are both lying in wait to goto those who qualify. And, for many, energy savings can be 50 percent ormore. It is not complicated; common sense can easily prevail.

Let’s start very simply. You are standing on your lot – the placewhere you want to build or remodel your home. You have alreadydecided to become more green in the way that you live, starting withthe place you call HOME. If it’s an older home, chances are theinsulation is weak or non-existent; the toilets consume more thanfour gallons of water per flush; the appliances eat-up double theenergy that they should; the windows leak air like a sieve; and theheating and air-conditioning system is so old it sounds like a freighttrain. Another word for this is MONEY PIT.

You can start being green this afternoon by making a consciousdecision to replace all of these money and energy wasters withgreen-related items – all, or one, or one at a time as they die off.If you want to make it real easy, just replace your light bulbs withCFL lights. For most of these replacements you don’t need anyone’spermission, but some might require a remodel permit. The internetis the mother lode of green products and services, most of whichyou can, and should, buy from local stores.

You want to build new? Your builder most likely has alreadybeen suggesting and installing green items for the better part of adecade. There is really nothing all that new about the intended pur-poses of each item: they have only gotten more technically efficientand financially feasible as each day passes. For example, solar panelsand geothermal heating and cooling have been here for decades.

What is new is that professional organizations have been formedthat suggest a planned program for going green, usually at differentlevels. These organizations have partnered with interested parties –architects, builders, remodelers, and designers – who receive trainingon how to help homeowners be green. One of the older of theseprograms is Energy Star. Of more recent vintage is LEED, whichwas implemented in 1998 by the U.S. Green Building Council; andThe National Green Building Standard.

This article could consume the entire 148 pages of this issue, butwe’re only going to give it two. Suffice it to say that those in the

building trade know the ins and outs of this far better than we do.So what you are about to read will include the basics of LEED andEnergy Star, and our strong advice that you consult with the businessyou’ve chosen to do your new home or remodel and get their sugges-tions on how to proceed, while always asking three questions:

How much will it cost?How much will it save?How much will I feel better because I’ve done my best to be green?

What is LEED®?

LEED is short for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEEDprovides those in the building industry – architects, builders,designers – a framework for identifying and implementing practicaland measurable green building design, construction, operations andmaintenance solutions. For homeowners it provides third-partyverification and certification via USGBC raters that the green homebeing purchased meets select qualifications – that it is what they sayit is. For example, if you live in the City of Cincinnati and want toreceive a 15-year tax abatement on your new home, it must bedocumented LEED certified (this is where you can save up to hun-dreds of thousands of dollars; see story page 61).

LEED measures items, via the assignment of points that mattermost to making a house green. They include: energy savings, waterefficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmentalquality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.It is a voluntary program but there are costs associated with it,largely due to the price of “green” items – such as geothermal heat-ing and air conditioning or low-flow faucets – and the associated pa-perwork that verifies compliance. Some of the measures don’t costanything. If the home is near shopping and public transportation orif it is built in an area (an in-fill lot for example) that does not re-quire extra infrastructure – such as road building, sewer or waterlines, extra green points are rewarded.

For a new home, there are four degrees of LEED certification:Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Each degree requires morelevels of green – Platinum being the highest level. Interestingly,while it might be assumed that each level or adding any greenfeatures will cost more money, whether LEED certified or not,sometimes that is not the case. Chad Edwards, president of theCincinnati Regional Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council

by Doug Sandhage


and his own firm, Emersion Design, says, for example, that with atighter and more insulated home the demand for heating and coolingis significantly reduced – thus a savings on the front end cost of themechanical equipment. Edwards’ Emersion Design, which was certi-fied for LEED Platinum level in 2008 when it was renovated, said hiscosts were under $27 per sq. ft. while the industry average is $45-85.

In the pages that follow, you will see examples of real Cincinnatihomes and businesses that have been LEED certified. We’ve made it par-ticularly easy to spot the green features with the use of a number system.

In layman’s terms, the sexy parts that can make your home bemore green include:

• The use of reclaimed materials, such as wood or tile for yourflooring.

• The installation of geothermal heating and cooling, now so tech-nologically advanced that the payback can take as little as a few years.

• Super energy-efficient windows anddoors that keep air loss at a minimum andhave every bit the style you will be proud toown. Both, along with geothermal, now comewith a handsome tax credit.

• The use of an underground cistern tocollect rainwater from your roof for later usein watering the lawn, the garden, or to washthe car.

• Pervious pavers that allow rainwaterto soak through to the ground rather thanflow into an already over-clogged sewersystem.

• The use of more energy-efficientappliances. Even many of the big, stylized,built-like-a-tank Sub-Zero refrigerators areEnergy Star rated.

• And, for Gerald Checco, superintend-ent of operations for the Cincinnati ParkBoard and featured in this issue (page 128), itis the Smart Meter. Because he has both geot-hermal heating and air conditioning, and solarpanels, there are many days when his meter isactually turning counter clockwise (one of several functions of a SmartMeter). That means he is putting power in the system, rather than tak-ing it out, and resulting in a credit on his Duke energy bill.

LEED points are awarded on different scales depending on the typeof project and whether or not it is residential or commercial. Credits areweighted to reflect their potential environmental impacts. A project mustsatisfy all prerequisites and earn a minimum number of points to becertified. Think of it like the nutrition label on a box of crackers: LEEDprovides the same kind of important detail about the green aspects of abuilding that, taken together, deliver higher performance.For more info go to: www.usgbc.org

What is Energy Star?

Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency and the U.S. Department of Energy. If you have shopped forwindows or appliances in the past 15 years, it would be hard to have

missed the Energy Star logos that adorn a lot of these products. ButEnergy Star is much more than just products. While there are LEED-certified homes, there are Energy Star-rated homes.

To earn an Energy Star label for your home, the primary guide-line is that it must be at least 15 percent more energy efficient thanhomes built to the 2004 International Residential Code, and includeadditional energy-saving features that typically make them 20–30percent more efficient than standard homes. Energy Star uses averified rating system on the homes that it checks.

Any home three stories or less can earn the Energy Star label ifit has been verified to meet EPA’s guidelines, including: single family,attached, and low-rise multi-family homes; manufactured homes;systems-built homes (e.g., SIP, ICF, or modular construction); loghomes, concrete homes; and even existing retrofitted homes.

Energy Star qualified homes can include a variety of ‘tried-and-true’ energy-efficient features that contributeto improved home quality and homeownercomfort, and to lower energy demand andreduced air pollution.

Simply buying Energy Star rated productscan help make your new or remodeled homesignificantly less energy reliant. Energy Starpress releases say that Americans, with the helpof Energy Star, saved enough energy in 2009alone to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equiv-alent to those from 30 million cars – all whilesaving homeowners nearly $17 billion on theirutility bills. In addition, there are a number oftax credits available on Energy Star rated prod-ucts. Check with your accountant or at thepoint of purchase for details.

The Energy Star website – www.energys-tar.gov – cites 79 Energy Star Builder Partnersin the Cincinnati / Middletown marketplacewho are building Energy Star rated homes.Collectively, the partners built 1,194 EnergyStar qualified homes in 2009 and 2010, or3,661 since the program was implemented.

What Is The National Green Building Standard?

In many ways, the National Green Building Standard (The Standard)is not all that different from LEED, but focuses primarily on homes.It, too, is a rating system based on measurable metrics concerning ahome’s green-worthiness. One of the big differences is that this pro-gram is co-sponsored by the National Association of Home Buildersand the International Code Council.

The Standard was developed in 2007 with its goal to establisha standard definition of what is meant by “green building.” Thereare four degrees of certification: bronze, silver, gold and emerald.Energy savings of 60 percent or higher are a part of the emerald rating.

Because the program is new, only one home (at the time wewent to press with this issue) has so far met the National GreenBuilding Standard qualifications in the Cincinnati marketplace.For more info go to: www.nahb.org

being green 63



we offer cincinnati greenhome building solutionsfrom the ground upAS A MEMBER OF U.S. GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL (USGBC), CAMERY • HENSLEY SPE-

CIALIZES IN ENERGY-EFFICIENT, HIGH-PERFORMANCE, LEED-CERTIFIED RENOVA-

TIONS AND NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION.

The Camery • Hensley Construction team is trained in environmentally sustainable building practices.Whether you

are renovating an existing home or building new, we offer a variety of renovation and construction options to help

you achieve a healthier, more energy-efficient home environment. In addition to lowering your carbon footprint,

green home building solutions can produce healthier indoor environments, reduce energy costs, and—in some

cases—even qualify for tax credits, rebates, and low-interest loans. Green homes use less energy, water, and

natural resources, create less waste, and are more durable and comfortable for occupants.

John Camery 513-309-2262 | Jeremy Hensley 513-319-2664

LEED AP

www.cameryhensley.com

We conduct low-cost home energy assessments! To learn more about our green home-building

services and potential tax abatements, visit www.cameryhensley.com/greenhomes



being green 67

The connection between humans’ quality of life and the rest of the natural world’s health is inextricable. A multitude of motives exists that mayprompt one to live and build more sustainably; sometimes it may be difficult to know where to begin. Discover what takes hold of your heart andstart there.

Do you understand the value that wildlife presents? Non-sustainable logging and coalstrip mining destroy the habitat that sets the locale back decades. One species goes ex-tinct every 20 minutes. Do you want safer working conditions? The recent oil and coal dis-asters should drive us to understand the true cost of our current energy portfolio. Is therea desire to reduce unemployment? Green jobs may be the answer. Interested in financialsecurity? Invest in energy efficiencies; many come with a 20% ROI. Want to make a buck?Sustainable strategies have boosted retail sales by 33%.

Perhaps the easiest place to start is in the home, school and office. Highly sustainablebuildings contribute to an improved indoor environment, better test scores for students,lower vacancy rates and a healthier lifestyle. Whether it is driven by doing good for ourecosystem, human need or the economy, I ask that you get involved in the one aspect thatyou hold most dear. Make connections and learn. Collectively and individually, we canmake a difference in protecting all life, born and unborn, current and future generationsof all species. Enjoy learning from the examples in this magazine.

– Chad Edwards currently serves as President of the US Green Building Council, Cincinnati Chapter, and as a principal of emersionDESIGN.

Mt. Lookout

LEED Certified

B e i n g g r e e n i n C i n c i n n a t iT O U R O F C I N C I N N A T I L E E D P R O J E C TS

r e s i d e n t i a l

Montgomery Hyde Park

LEED Gold LEED Silver

Hyde Park

LEED Platinum

c o m m e r c i a l

PNC Banks Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

LEED Silver LEED Silver / Gold / Platinum

Melink Corporation

LEED Platinum

Four homes and three businesses – each of them LEED® certified green, but at different levels – are showcasedover the next 15 pages. Since green isn’t always obvious when it comes to buildings, we asked the participantsto show us the projects, either as architectural cut-a-way views, or aerials. LEED is a program of the U.S. Green

Building Council. For more on what LEED means, see page 62.

Chad Edwards

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68 cincinnati

Building a LEED® certified home, particularly at the ultimate Platinum level, is no

easy task. It requires lots of paperwork, and costs extra. But when the home-

owner, architect and builder all agree that it is the right thing to do, it’s time to buy

the flooring – reclaimed, of course.

“The fact that the owner shared an active interest in obtaining LEED certifica-

tion and having an interest in sustainable issues in general,” is what got the ball

rolling, says architect John Isch. “Also, that we could accomplish a traditional look-

ing and aesthetically pleasing house, have it incorporate sustainable practices, and

not end up looking like an experiment.” As of presstime with this issue of Being

Green in Cincinnati, the home was registered for LEED platinum level certification,

meaning that the required third-party verification was still to be completed.

The homeowner said that he chose RWA Architects because of their reputation,

and strong desire to design sustainable housing, and Camery Hensley Construction

because “they took the time to sit down and preplan the project. It was a significant

commitment on their part to be part of this.”

Primary green features of this home includes geothermal heating and cooling,

high R-value rated insulation, and Energy Star rated windows that allow for lots of southern exposure, says the homeowner.

Isch adds that the City of Cincinnati tax abatement for LEED certified homes, the energy efficiency over the life of the house, and the de-

sign of an extremely low maintenance exterior are also key features.

the architectOBTAINING LEED PLATINUM STATUS WAS OUR TARGET

Getting a new home LEED® certified is, unquestionably, a major objective of RWA Architects, one of the

city’s largest cheerleaders in building sustainable housing. The Hyde Park based firm has six American

Institute of Architects (AIA) members: all of them LEED accredited professionals. So, when the home-

owner shared his enthusiasm to go green with his new Hyde Park home with great Ohio River views, RWA

Principal John Isch jumped at the opportunity.

“Obtaining LEED Platinum status was our target,” says Isch, meaning it would be the first such rec-

ognized project built in the city. But, he adds, the project would not be simple since the homeowner, with

a growing family, had a large square footage plan in mind, and wanted a more open plan on the main

level. “The combination of these two factors is what sets the requirements for obtaining the various lev-

els of LEED certification,” says Isch. But many other factors contributed to LEED points such as the ad-

dition of solar panels, a geothermal heating and cooling system, low flow water fixtures, and an

underground rainwater reclamation cistern.

Isch says that the overall satisfaction to him when the project was completed was “being able to ad-

dress the owners functional requirements, meet their budget, and integrate sustainable strategies in

order to obtain LEED certification – the benefits of which included delivery of various health, energy, and a sensible use of resources.”

– John Isch, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, Principal RWA Architects

H Y D E P A R K

LEED® PlatinumRegistered for


being green 69

the homeownerIT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO FOR OUR CHILDREN“Being in an older neighborhood like Hyde Park, I didn’t think I would have the opportunity to take advantage of the (green) technologies out there,”

says the homeowner. But once enlightened by his architects – John Isch andMichael Mauch of RWAArchitects – “I found it was an opportunity I could-

n’t pass up.” The new home is a LEED® registered home for Platinum level certification, the highest of four levels that can be obtained.

Green features most favored by the homeowner include geothermal heating and cooling, energy efficient windows and the use of recycled

materials. “Geothermal is the biggest no brainer of it all. I think every home, even older ones, should be implementing this system,” he says. He

added that his home incorporates recycled tiles and that the white oak hardwood floors in the home are made from reclaimed boards obtained

from a teardown house and barn.

Because the house is expected to be certified LEED Platinum level, it will qualify for a full tax abatement (on the value of the home) for the

City of Cincinnati for 15 years. While important, the homeowner says the larger value for him was that he was doing the right thing for the envi-

ronment. “It is the right thing to do for our children. We have a young family and we enjoy the outdoors. I have a real interest in sustainability. It

is a very, very important issue to me.”

1 Solar panels Designed to capture the sun’srenewable energy and provide a large por-tion of the home's electricity. – Icon SolarPower

2Geothermal system Uses the earth's tem-perature to efficiently heat and cool thehome. – Anderson Automatic Heating &Cooling

3Energy Star appliances Most energy effi-cient on the market.

4 Low flow water fixtures To save water, aswell as the energy used for water heating.

5Sustainable flooring materials Reclaimedhardwood flooring locally harvested from abarnand house in Ohio. – Rogers Lumber& Millwork

6 Pervious pavers Allows for water filtrationthrough the driveway and patios to reducestorm water runoff from the site.

7 Landscape Designed to use local,native plants that are drought-resistantand reduce the water required forirrigation. Limited turf also reducesirrigation demands and pollution fromyard maintenance.

8 Rainwater reclamationWater is caughtand stored in underground cisterns, tobe used for irrigation of the landscapeand garden.

Most green features installed in homes are rarely obvious. The illustration above is a cut-a-way view of the home highlighted inthis story. The numbers in the drawing correspond to the primary green features noted below. Where applicable, we have notedthe provider or contractor for each of the features. To qualify for LEED® certification, each green item must be verified by a ratertrained by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Contractor: Camery•Hensley Construction LTD • John Camery & Jeremy Hensley, LEED AP


cincinnati70

In a burgeoning industry that changes by the day, green industry experts are

not always easy to find. Douglas Hinger, though, is one and he covers many

bases. As a registered architect and the president of Great Traditions Homes

(GTH), hundreds of structures have been given his blessing to build, but one

stands above the rest: it received the first LEED® certification for the Gold level

in the state of Ohio. The 6,000 sq. ft. transitional styled home is located near the

intersection of I-275 andMontgomery Road in The VintageClub development of

Great Traditions Land and Development Co.

Completed in 2008, the home was built, says Hinger, to showcase what

“Great Traditions Homes can do, particularly to include the green segment.”

At first glance – if you look only at what is obvious – green may not be the

first word that comes to mind. It looks too nice, like a conventionally built

home, some might say. But green usually isn’t obvious anyway.

Donna and Jim Ruehlmann own the home and confirm that nothing

really is obviously “green,” unless you go to the basement and see the

geothermal units, or look at the energy bill. However, Donna says that since

they moved in in November of 2009, they’ve noticed that the heat appears

to be the “same temperature all the time.” It doesn’t vary and there are no

drafts. “With geothermal, our gas bill is like nothing,” she adds.

Reminded that because the home was showcased for two weeks as Cincinnati Magazine’s “Design Home” and that thousands of people

walked through each room, Donna says that when she tells people where she lives, many are aware of its notoriety and “are curious about the

home’s green components.”

Hinger’s hat at GTH as an architect put him in touch with those in the green industry, and with the movement toward building LEED certi-

fied homes. Some of the items considered green by LEED were already being included in homes he was designing / building, so the next step

was a logical one to take. “We are building in six different communities and thought, ‘We can do a LEED home.’”

Since the home was completed, Hinger says that he is finding the demand for green is being driven by a “younger demographic.” The long-

term potential will be based, he adds, on building smaller homes. In a late 2008 interview with Cincinnati Magazine, Hinger said that a primary

goal in building the house was that it be “intimate, comfortable and livable. Elegant but not pretentious.”

the architect / builderYOU DON’T HAVE TO BE OVER-THE-TOP LUXURIOUS TO BE GREEN

Building green is not just using green products, says architect Douglas Hinger, AIA. It has a lot to do with location:

homes that are close to shopping, schools and public transportation are a large part of the equation. This home, the

first to receive LEED® certification for the Gold level in the state of Ohio, met all of the external qualifications, he says.

Another large qualifier is the square footage. “This house is not terribly large, and it was constructed on a very man-

ageable lot. The smaller footprint made it very efficient.”

Hinger says that the most satisfying element to him in building the home was hearing people say that ‘“you don’t

have to have an over-the-top luxurious home to be green.’ But you can have it well designed. Green doesn’t mean

compromising the design at all.”

– Douglas Hinger, AIA, President of Great Traditions Homes

M O N T G O M E R Y

LEED® Gold


being green 71

the homeownerNOT SEEING GREEN IS PART OF THE ALLURE

Is living in a home that helped jump-start a significantmovement in Cincinnati toward thinking about buildingmore

homes using “green” technology any different than living in a conventionally built one?No says Donna Ruehlmann.

In fact, if anything, most people wouldn’t know the difference since most of the green elements are hidden or dis-

guised. For example, you can’t see the heat coming from the geothermal unit, and you can’t see the high R-value

rated insulation in the attic or the walls. When she and husband Jim bought the home in late 2009, Donna says she

was not even aware that it had received the first LEED® certification for the Gold level in the state of Ohio. But be-

cause the green isn’t obvious, Donna sees that as a positive toward keeping the movement alive. “People might

shy away if they think it might be different,” she says. The green things she says she likes themost are the even tem-

perature of the geothermal heating and cooling system, a low utility bill, skylights that open up and allow for im-

proved air flow, cork flooring in a homeoffice, and the home’s easy access to shopping, schools and transportation.

6

2 1

7

5

3

4

8

1 Community Connectivity This home's de-velopment is in close proximity to manyamenities and reduces automobile travel byencouraging walking and biking.

2Compact Development High-density devel-opments exhibit an efficient use of land, that re-duces the impact of providing andmaintainingutility services, like water, sewer, and electricity.

3Permanent Erosion Controls Landscapingand permeable pavement help to managerainwater and site run-off to minimize erosionof the land. – Townescapes, permeable pave-ment;MSteele Design, landscape designer;Landscaping by Don Gilb, landscaping; Van-derwist of Cincinnati, irrigation

4Off-Site Fabrication Construction of buildingcomponents in a controlled, off-site factoryhelp to reduce or eliminate fabrication wasteand ensures a consistent product in a shortenedtime period. –Whitewater Building Products

5Geothermal Heating & Cooling/En-hanced Ventilation A properly sized me-chanical system, natural ventilation, andexhaust fans combine to enhance ventila-tion and improve indoor air quality. –WillisHeating & Air Conditioning, geothermal

6 Energy Star Lighting Efficient light fix-tures and the use of compact fluorescentlight bulbs saves in electricity as well asutility costs. – Central Light

7 Building Performance A tight building en-velope, comprised of enhanced insulationand exceptional windows, combines withefficient equipment and appliances to re-duce air leakage and minimize energy con-sumption. –Whitewater Building Products,windows; Overhead Door Co. of GreaterCincinnati, insulation; Ferguson BathKitchen Gallery, appliances; Keidel, plumb-ing; Green Building Consulting & Homes+, Barb Yankie, third party verification

8Education and Training Educating the home-owner in regard to proper maintenance andcare of a LEED certified home helps to ensurethat sustainable features will be protectedand maintained in the future.


TheLEED®CertificationMarkisaregisteredtrad

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cincinnati72

Twenty-five years ago, John Hueber built a partially underground, pas-

sive-solar house in Loveland. So no one can say he jumped on the now

trendy bandwagon of being green. But he is on the bandwagon if you look

at the number of homes he has built that are officially certified green homes.

Hueber is the most prolific builder of LEED® certified homes in the

greater Cincinnati marketplace, if not Ohio. He has six under his hammer

belt, and two more in process at the time of this writing. People do want

to be green, he says, but there is still a lot of educating to do. “Green has

always been a part of our program andwill always be so. That’s the way I’ve

raised my sons.” Son Marc Hueber is now the project manager for the

company; other son Andy Hueber is the Vice President.

Roger and Julie Heldman live in one of Hueber’s LEED certified to

the Silver level homes in Hyde Park. They came here in 2008 after living

in Seattle for eight years. In Seattle, says Roger, everyone talks about the

environment and often does something about it. “When you live in the Pacific Northwest, you have a greater awareness of the environment,” he

says. In Cincinnati, you often have to ask around and only now are things starting to change. The Heldmans knew that the home Hueber had for

sale was LEED certified and because they wanted to be green, it was already pretty much a done deal. Upon touring the house, liking it, and hear-

ing about the tax abatement offered by the city of Cincinnati (see page 61) they were ready to move in.

One of the features about the home, and one of the reasons why it was awarded LEED certification points, is its proximity to shopping and

public transportation. “We can walk places, go get a cup of coffee easily,” says Roger. He also likes his home office since it means less driving.

His business is selling business uniforms, to places like the postal service.

John Hueber built the home, designed by architect Kenneth Bowerman, knowing full well that it would qualify for the city’s tax abatement

program, a huge selling point. “I did that house because of where it was located. It was one of the big reasons LEED was created, to find in-fill

lots close to shopping and transportation.” Hueber says he now gets frequent calls from other builders wanting to know if he is aware of any other

vacant or tear-down lots in Hyde Park.

As previously noted, Hueber says green isn’t altogether new to him. “For us personally, and individually, we’ve always been interested in sus-

tainable housing. The LEED program just formalizes it,” he says. “Even in homes where customers don’t ask for LEED certification, our homes

are still very much green homes.”

the builderGREEN HOME AT HOME IN HYDE PARK

“I designed the home as I was going to live in it myself,” says John Hueber, which was his intent. But when buyers

were found, things changed. Julie and Roger Heldman live in it today, finding that it fit many of their environmental

concerns learned from living in Seattle.

“One of the main things is that we were able to deliver a traditional look that fits the Hyde Park style of unique

homes and still get it LEED® certified,” says Hueber. “At first, when we started this (LEED certifications), we thought

the style and architecture would have to be stark. But really, you can have any style that you want.” Hueber is par-

ticularly fond of the geothermal system of heating and cooling, a key component of many LEED certified homes.

Hueber has built more LEED certified homes than any other builder in Cincinnati, and probably Ohio, he says.

– John Hueber, President, John Hueber Homes

H Y D E P A R K

LEED® Silver


being green 73

the homeownerTHE RETURN ON INVESTMENT IS THERE

When Roger and Julie Heldman moved away from Cincinnati to live in Seattle from 2000 to 2008, they found

that the Midwest is significantly behind in its green thinking compared to the Pacific Northwest. But all good

things get started when the time is right and in this case the Heldmans discovered, upon their return, one of

the few LEED® certified homes in the area they most wanted to live – Hyde Park. “The utilities for this size

house (5,000 sq. ft.) are running at 50 percent less than we might have otherwise experienced,” says Roger.

“It is very energy efficient.” In addition to energy savings, and the good feeling that “we are consuming less

resources,” the house qualified for the city’s tax abatement program meaning they won’t be paying an

annual $11,140 property tax (or $167,100 for the 15 years of the abatement period). Should others go green

when buying a new house? “Absolutely,” says Roger. “The return on investment is there.”

1 Tightly Sealed Building Envelope The useof high-density batt insulation minimizes airinfiltration and cuts down on heating andcooling costs. –M & D Insulation Co.

2 FSC Certified Sustainable Wood ForestStewardship Council (FSC) is an independent,not for profit organization established to pro-mote the responsible management of theworld’s forests.

3LowFlowWater Fixtures Simply put, these fix-tures reduce domestic water use and energy

costs associatedwith hotwater production. –Keidel, plumbing

4 In-Fill Lot Choice Building on a lot in anexisting community means less infrastruc-ture work. Plus the home’s close proximityto shopping, business and transportationhelps promote walking and biking.

5 High Performance Windows Extensiveuse of high performance windows takesadvantage of natural light and reduces theneed for energy consuming fixtures. –Marsh Building Products, Marvin Windows

6 Energy Star Appliances Appliances,windows and light fixtures awarded anEnergy Star rating means reduced waterand energy consumption. – CentralLight, lighting; Custom Distributors, Inc.,appliances.

7Geothermal HVAC System Geothermaluses the earth’s temperature to efficientlyheat and cool the home. It’s renewableenergy at its best. – Pinnacle Air Solutions



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So, you build a green home, put it on the market, and the couple who

buys it is named Green. How cool is that? Interestingly, if you walked

through the 4,000+ sq. ft. Mt. Lookout home today about the only thing

Green you would see would be Patty or her husbandWhitney. That’s the

fun about the green industry in the homebuilding process: you don’t no-

tice it necessarily, but when you see a cut-a-way illustration like is on the

opposite page, your immediate response is ‘Ah-Hah.’

Jason Long, president of Black Diamond Construction, has built

four LEED® certified homes, including the Greens, in the city of Cincin-

nati in the last two years. The Green home is rated certified; the other

three are rated silver (there are four tiers in progressive order of green:

certified, silver, gold and platinum). Relatively new in the construction

business, he is yet an old-timer on the green side of it. Long said he

started building to LEED standards long before they became so. It al-

ways made sense to be energy efficient, he adds.

But it was the City of Cincinnati’s decision to award 15-year tax

abatements to homes built to LEED certifications that spurred home-

owners to start asking about it as well, says Long. “It was an initiator, that’s for sure. It perked our attention.” He figures that he helped save the

four homeowners of the LEED certified homes he has built nearly $600,000 (see tax abatement story, page 61).

Patty Green says that when they looked at the house to buy, Whitney already had a “green theme in mind, but wanted a new house, main-

tenance free.” Previously they had lived in an older Hyde Park home that was not at all energy efficient, she adds. When she and Whitney learned

of the tax abatement, the deal was largely secured. They will save about $9,000 a year for 15 years. And since moving in a year ago, she said the

home’s utility bills average about $375 a month (in past homes, adds Whitney, they’ve seen monthly bills in the $1,000 and up range).

the builderGREEN WILL ONLY GROW IN IMPORTANCE

“The more I looked into it, going green meant really not doing much different than I was doing

already,” says Jason Long, president of Black Diamond Construction. He has completed four LEED®

certified homes in the last two years within the city of Cincinnati. However, he adds, one difference

is in attitude. The quest for green will become standard practice: suggestions today will become

building codes, and the movement will grow in expectations.

Long says that an advantage to being LEED certified means that the green additions / improve-

ments must be third party validated. “It adds credibility to the buyer . . . and it gets you to thinking

about things you might not do otherwise.” For example, he says that a LEED standard requires that all

ductwork be sealed and taped to cut down on air leakage. And that landscaping be less turf, more

ground cover: meaning less water, less waste.

Other LEED points awarded to the Green home included its proximity to shopping and public

transportation, the small amount of scrap left over from construction, the installation of Energy Star

rated appliances and energy efficient windows.

– Jason Long, President, Black Diamond Construction

M T . L O O K O U T

LEED® Certified


being green 75

the homeownerICING ON THE CAKE

“The tax abatement was the icing on the cake,” says Patty Green, talking about her and husband Whitney’s

decision on whether to buy a new home within the city of Cincinnati. They will save about $135,000 total over

the 15-year abatement. But while she says she now better understands what green means, it remains hard

to show visitors the green aspects of her home. “We recently had some parents from our kid’s school visit

because they wanted to see some green things. She (the wife) was surprised at how ‘normal’ it looked.

‘What’s really green here?’ she asked,” says Patty. Patty advises that if you really want to see green, visit a

construction site. “That’s when you really get to see the green features,” she says.

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1 Site Selection By using a previously devel-oped infill lot in Mt. Lookout, the home tookadvantage of established infrastructure, suchas water, sewer, and electric hookups.

2 Proximity to Business / ShoppingMt. Look-out Square – which offers restaurants, shop-ping and offices – is just over ½mile away.

3 Indoor Contaminant ControlAmudroomserves as a shoe and jacket drop zone to keeppossible contaminants out of the home's livingspace and air systems.

4 Heating, Ventilation and Air Condition-ing Installation of high quality filters andefficient equipment preserve indoor airquality while saving energy and money. –Contractors Heating & Cooling

5Minimal Site Disturbance Preservation ofsite drainage and habitats reduces thehome's imprint on the land.

6 Landscape Designed to reduce irrigationdemands. – Ken Peck Landscapes

7 Construction Waste Management Reuseand recycling of left-over building materi-als reduces the impact of construction onthe environment. (Not illustrated.)



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Isuspect Steve Melink’s blood runs green. He talks it, he walks it, hesmells it, he sells it.

To many he is Cincinnati’s Mr. Green Jeans. Those in the greenmovement all say that Melink is the man to see. Ohio Governor Bob Taftand Ted Strickland both made visits to his Milford-based headquarters.

The short story is that Melink is actually a newcomer to green. Hegrew up in Loveland, and received degrees in mechanical engineeringfrom both Vanderbilt and Duke. He founded in 1987 the Melink Corpo-ration, a heating, ventilation and air conditioning commissioning firm.Through this line of work, Melink quickly realized that one product inparticular, conventional ventilation systems, were huge energy wasters.Melink’s company developed the first variable speed controller for com-mercial kitchen hoods which is now an industry standard.

The Melink company prospered, then, like any good companythat looks ahead, something happened to make it even better. In2004, Steve attended a green building conference in Cleveland. Hesaw, he experienced, a passion. A vision, too. The writing was on thewall that energy use needed significant fixing and would require folkslike him – along with other architects, engineers, manufacturers andcontractors – to think sustainability.

“I came back with a fresh, long-term, let’s do the right thingmindset,” says Melink. A new building became the first objective.Melink chose property in an industrial park with plenty of openspaces, off Round Bottom Road, a few miles from where U.S. 50 inter-sects with I-275 near Milford. At the green conference he learnedthat the U.S. Green Building Council had established green building

standards, known as LEED® (see story, page 62). They had four levelsa company could achieve: certified, silver, gold and platinum. Like anygood Olympian, he set his sights on gold. In 2006 he opened thedoors to his 30,000 sq. ft. plant, making the Melink Corporation thefirst office building in Ohio to be LEED Gold certified and one of onlyabout 100 in the world. Earlier this year, the building was upgradedto LEED Platinum status.

So, what happens now inside this very modernly-styled businessthat greets visitors with obvious signs of green: a wind turbine, solarpanels, and a well manicured architectural landscape?

Melink Corporation has three businesses. They include nationalHVAC testing and balancing services for restaurant, retail, supermar-ket, and hotel chains such as Wal-Mart, McDonalds, and Walgreens;the manufacture and sale of the Intelli-Hood controller, a commercialkitchen ventilation system that saves energy by monitoring the heatand smoke inside hoods and adjusting the fan speeds automatically;and the design and installation of solar photovoltaic systems for gen-erating onsite electricity and hedging against future rate increases ofcoal-fired electricity and reducing peak demand charges.

The mantra at Melink’s firm is three fold: to be proven, practicaland profitable, all in a mainstream sort of way. “To take what we’vedone, and apply it to future construction,” says Melink.

• On the proven portion, Melink says that his building is nowabout 80 percent more energy efficient than a conventionally builtone, as costs are only about 40 cents per sq. ft. per year. After addi-tional building envelope improvements and solar PV is installed this

M I L F O R D

SEEING ISBELIEVING

LEED® Platinum

Story by Doug Sandhage

GREEN PROVINGGROUNDS


being green 77

summer, it should be a net zero energy building – meaning it exportsas much energy back to the electric grid as it imports from the grid.

• On the practical portion, Melink says that his company’s solu-tions to going green have a payback period that averages, on the ag-gregate, five years. “There are very few companies with this kind ofpayback,” says Steve, adding that company’s like his have a muchmore predictable return, compared to stocks, for example.

• On the profitable portion, the Melink Corporation has been onthe Inc. 5000 list for each of the last three years (rated 3,554 in 2009).The website for Inc. says that Melink’s revenue for 2008 was $13.8million, up from $8.2 million in 2005. “There is a huge vacuum for acompany like ours to fill and we’re going to do it,” says Steve.

Melink says that other than an obvious energy savings benefit,companies that go green have happier, healthier employees and canrealize a public relations bonanza. “Increased awareness benefits thetop line,” he adds, noting that media and public attention to greenefforts shows a “commitment to becoming a green leader that raisesyour credibility, reputation and brand as an environmentally responsi-ble corporate citizen.”

Melink says the future for companies like his are obvious when, henotes, that the world population will reach nine billion people by themiddle of this century. “That suggests the huge number of buildingsthat will be needed.” All of which need to be green-built, he adds.

Back on the local front, Melink can easily look out from the com-pany conference room and see his wind turbine, and a like-mindedrecycling firm maybe 1,000 ft. away. But his mind is focused well be-yond. He sees a green “clean tech” business park that he is hoping isonly months away from development, and perhaps even a “greencorridor,” meaning Round Bottom Road, which connects Milford toNewtown. The road, if you haven’t experienced it, hugs the LittleMiami River and is dotted with several landscaping firms and nurs-eries. It is its own green belt in many ways already.

For employee use, Melink leases a fleet of hybrid cars, offers in-centives to live green – such as an annual contribution of $3,000 forup to five employees who invest in renewable energy for their homes– and reinvests five percent of its sales toward new product develop-ment in renewable energy technologies.

An aerial view of the Melink Corporationshows some of the building’s greenfeatures that helped it become LEED®

Platinum certified. The combined featuressaves the company about $45,000a year in energy costs.

1 Building Envelope Features super-insulatedprecast concrete walls, high-performancewindows, and a reflective roof membrane.

2Solar Electric Solar PV panels generate 25%ofthe corporation’s electric needs. Since the pic-turewas taken, twomore types of solar havebeen installed and four new typeswill be addedby the endof 2010.

3 Solar Thermal Provides hot water for em-ployees who use the showers after workingout in the company gym, running on thecorporate campus, or biking to work.

4Geothermal Five miles of undergroundtubing connects 28 geothermal wells.The ground serves as a heat source inwinter and heat sink in summer.

5Wind turbine The turbine begins operatingat 4 mph, suitable for low-wind markets likesouthwest Ohio.

6 Building Orientation & Layout (Naturaldaylight) The orientation of the buildingand extensive use of exterior windows andskylights maximize natural daylight andminimize the need for electrical light.

Building Automation and Reduced WaterConsumption (not pictured) Controls turnlights on and off based on ambient light andthe occupancy of a room. Sink faucets haveaerators and infrared sensors for automaticon/off operation, and dual-flush toilets andwaterless urinals both help save waterusage, estimated at 50 percent.

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There isn’t a bank in the world that doesn’t think green. And you

know what I mean.

But PNC is taking another meaning of green and making it a

focus in the way they do business. It all started 12 years ago, when

Earth Day was the only significant event that the majority of the pop-

ulation even thought about green.

“We made the decision to build (a 650,000 sq. ft. operations

building, Firstside Center, in Pittsburgh) in 1998 and when we opened

in 2000, it was the largest LEED® certified building in the world,” says

Gary Saulson, director of corporate real estate within the PNC Finan-

cial Services Group. “The decision was made deliberately; it was the

right thing to do – to build a place where our employees could thrive

and would want to go to work.”

Today, PNC has 99 “green buildings,” 77 of which are LEED cer-

tified, seven of those are in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati branches are

located in the areas of Fairfield, Liberty Township, Mason, Florence

and Cold Spring.

“The reaction (of customers) has been fantastic,” says Saulson.

G R E A T E R C I N C I N N A T I

G R E E N O N G R E E N :PNC Makes them Work for Each Other

LEED® certifiedStory and photos by Doug Sandhage


being green 79

And while emphatically emphasizing that the green movement was

not for publicity, Saulson does admit that media coverage has been

overwhelming. Each time a new PNC green bank opens, he says

there is usually a substantial story and/or photo in the local news-

paper. After seeing a story, customers usually start a “conversation

with the teller” about the green features of the bank, he adds. “The

employees then become extremely engaged. It helps them provide

better customer service and to say that they are proud of their em-

ployer, and proud to share the story.” Even school field trips have

been scheduled for bank visits.

Over 50 percent of the construction materials used in PNC LEED

certified banks are locally manufactured or made from recycled or

green materials—from the structural steel to the carpeting and fabrics

throughout the building.

Future plans, says Saulson, is to make every PNC Bank even more

green than they are now. “Our plans are to continue; to be better today

than yesterday.” In February, he told Being Green in Cincinnati that in a

pilot program the corporation spent $400,000 on lighting that will save

them $300,000 a year. “That’s a phenomenal investment; imagine the

benefit of expanding this? This is very shareholder positive; it is environ-

mentally friendly; and consumes much less energy. And it improves the

quality of the lighting. We see it as a big win.”

Saulson unquestionably sees the green movement as sustaining.

“The train has left the station,” he says. “Good architecture (today) is

the convergence of old fashion architecture and green architecture.

Frank Lloyd Wright would have been a green architect. At the end of

the day, it’s really about waste. The materials we use are sustainable.”

Saulson says that PNC now offers discount loan rates for small busi-

nesses if the financing is used to help make them more energy efficient.

For now, Saulson is clearly happy about PNC’s foresight in build-

ing green and the benefits it has endowed on the company, its cus-

tomers and its employees. “We want to lead by example. If we put

them (employees) in an open, friendly environment, they will want the

same in their home,” he says.

Other PNC Green Facts provided by the company:

• In summer 2010, PNC will open a new regional headquarters in

Washington, D.C. It is planned to be the first office building in the city

to be certified at the LEED Platinum level.

• In 2009, in downtown Pittsburgh, PNC opened Three PNC

Plaza, a 780,000 sq. ft. building. It is one of the largest green mixed-

use projects in the world.

• In total, PNC has more buildings LEED certified by the U.S.

Green Building Council than any other company in the world.

More info: go to pnc.com


The Cincinnati Zoo is the greenest zoo in the U.S.A. Says who? Says

Mark Fisher, Senior Director of Facilities at the Zoo. Yeah, but isn’t he

biased, seeing as how he works there and part of his job is to plant good

PR? “Seeing” is the operative word here. Fisher has been to other top

zoos. And there, he says, lies the proof. It’s as big as an elephant herd. In

other zoos, green is little more than a “window dressing,” he says. They

have the recycling bins, they have the greenery, they have the exhibit

signage that says conservation is important, and on each of their websites

they proclaim their green-worthiness.

The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, its official name, has all

that and more. The “more” part includes three building projects com-

pleted in 2009, all of which were awarded the ultimate benchmark in

green building, LEED® certification (see page 62).

“At the end of the day, the number one determinant of howgreen you

are is determined by howmuch green infrastructure you have,” says Fisher.

“You can have a nice recycling program but it doesn’t move the needle. It’s

how you design, build and operate that should be your measuring stick.”

Fisher says that much of the green movement at the zoo started in

2005. Decisions were made that included significant green-thinking

design, about the kind and use of mechanicals for heating and cooling,

and even on the type of paths and parking lots for visitors. The aerial

photo within this story shows many of the details.

Spend $500,000 . . . Save $1,500,000 . . . Four Years Time . . . Next Question?The Proof is Clearly in the Numbers

LEED® certifiedStory by Doug Sandhage

C I N C I N N A T I


Some hard-core facts are in, says Fisher:

• The projects resulted in a 25 percent increase in square footage in

buildings at the zoo.

• The cost for the heating and cooling portions of the projects, and

fixes on some of the older installations, was about $500,000.

• Utility bills are now at 2005 levels, prior to the projects.

• Savings so far on utilities alone is $1.5 million.

The numbers, adds Fisher, are the proof that defies anyone who says

green doesn’t pay.

“People said, ‘We’re (the zoo) non-profit, we can’t afford to do this.’

But then they would turn around and complain about the utility bills.

We’ve paid off the investment three times already, and now it’s ongoing.”

“We are the only zoo that I know of that has committed to building

all of its buildings in green (technology),” says Fisher. Two other projects

are in the works, he adds.

To Fisher, it only makes absolute sense that zoos, in all their talk about

conservation, be leaders in green building. But, he adds, “I’ve been to

zoos with unlimited budgets and they aren’t doing squat.”

being green 81

1 Pervious Pavers and Concrete Perviouspavement manages rainwater and elimi-nates runoff. It is estimated that morethan 1 million gallons of water will bediverted away from the sewer system.Decorative Paving, pavers; StructuralSystems Repair Group, concrete

2 Solar Panels Solar panels convert the sun’s en-ergy into electricity. Dovetail Solar & Wind

3Geothermal / HVAC System Relies on theearth’s constant temperature as a source ofheat in the winter and cooling in the summer.– Bill Spade Electric, Heating & Cooling

4 Polished Concrete Eliminate future tile /carpet landfill waste. – Structural SystemsRepair Group

5Waterless Urinals Conservation of over40,000 gallons of water per year. – Carri-gan & Grimm

6 Solar Water Heater Water is heated bythe sun. – Dovetail Solar & Wind

7 Foamed-In-Place Insulation Higher R-valuethan standard insulation and fills in crevicesto block drafts. – Priority 1 ConstructionServices

8 Storm Water Collection Tank Collectsstorm water underground to be re-used toirrigate surrounding plants. – PerformanceSite Management

9 Low Albedo Roof Sunlight is reflected tohelp avoid a heat island effect.– Holland Roofing and D.M. Norris Co.

What’s green about the “greenest zoo in America?” If right now you were standing in the area of the turnstiles and ticketing of-fice, the most green you would see would be the plant material. Ah, but look closely. Much of what is green – when it comes tomaterials or design – is not all that obvious. The numbers below correspond to the aerial photo. Each item also notes who wasprimarily responsible for design and installation. The four LEED® certified projects at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden are:• The Harold C. Schott Education Center, certified to LEED Silver level in 2006.• The Historic Vine Street Village, certified to LEED Platinum-NC level in 2009. It was the first LEED Platinum certified

commercial project in the city of Cincinnati, the third in Ohio.• The Pavilion, certified to LEED Gold level in 2009.• The Gift Shop, certified to LEED Gold level in 2010.

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Are zoo visitors – who number more than a million every year – notic-

ing the change? Do they care? Will being the “greenest zoo in the U.S.A.”

bring more people through the turnstiles? And how do you measure suc-

cess in terms of a green yardstick?

At minimum, says Fisher, he sees people stopping to read the sig-

nage in the “green garden” near the zoo’s entry gate. The garden show-

cases pervious pavers, rain barrels and rain gardens. “People can see it,

they can touch it. And our staff of volunteers talk about green.” The vol-

unteers, he adds, are often asked the logical green questions. “Where did

you get the materials? How much did it cost? The intent is to offer a vision

where visitors can take what they learn home, to work, their school, or

their church.”

“It has been well received,” concluded Fisher. But, he notes, you have

to always note the money side of it. To him, saving more than a million dol-

lars in energy costs in just four years clearly shows that being green works.

A whole lot. Even the lions are roaring about it.

cincinnati82

builders point of viewThe Cincinnati Zoo asked three primary questions when it most re-

cently hired HGC Construction to make sure three of its most recently

completed projects would be LEED® certified.

1. Can we get / use recycled materials?

2. What is the payback timeline?

3. What is the cost / benefit ratio?

HGC and the Cincinnati Zoo go way back. One of the first big proj-

ects was in 1961 when HGC built a train trestle, which is still being used

today. HGC founder Richard J. Huseman was known for his salvaging of

found objects (doors, windows, leftover construction lumber that might

have otherwise been sent to a landfill – see page 98), and the Zoo was

legendary for its conservation efforts. In many ways, they were both

green well before green was cool.

But these particular recent projects were out of the ordinary.

LEED certification (see story, page 62) requires a much-more

planned strategy, and third-party verification to confirm that specific

LEED standards are actually met.

Gary Gilbert, a 30-year employee and now the vice president for

HGC, said that one of the biggest “green challenges” was educating sub-

contractors and HGC staff about “why we were doing things a certain way

and why everybody needed to be on board with it.” LEED demands, he

adds, significant record keeping. For example, paperwork must document

what recycled or salvaged materials were used, and where obtained.

Gilbert says that one of the biggest “green” things his company did

was to insure that the “buildings were well insulated – that no air got in or

out that wasn’t supposed to go in or out.” He also noted that the com-

pany harvested a dead 3 ft. diameter Bur Oak tree from the construction

site, had it milled and kiln dried, then made it into benches for the zoo.

architects point of viewA conscious decision to go green means a conscious decision by

someone to take the ball and run with it. In the case of the Cincinnati

Zoo, it was Mark Fisher, senior director of facilities.

“It was pretty amazing,” says Dean Violetta. “Fisher went to a

green conference in Chicago, came back, got his team together, and

said, ‘we will be on the forefront of this. All of our (new) projects will be

as green as possible, all LEED® certified.’” Violetta is the vice president

of Cornette/Violetta Architects, the architects for the projects. “He

brought the challenge to us. He inspired us to go green.”

But, adds Violetta, it was not all that easy. “We had to catch up,

educate ourselves, take classes, become LEED certified.” Catch up they

did. The first of the three projects – the Historic Vine Street Village – was

awarded Platinum certification, the highest level achievable.

According to Violetta, when the projects were done and proclaimed

LEED, Fisher said: “‘This is the way it’s going to be from here on out.’”

It was the use of recycled materials that Violetta says was one of

the more fun parts of the projects. He says he was amazed at how recy-

cled steel and masonry items could be used. He also notes that he was

happy at how the buildings were sited to take advantage of prevailing

winds, thus less reliance on air conditioning in summer months, and that

through the use of retaining walls, two, hundred-year-old oak trees,

were saved from chain saws.

Cornette/Violetta was formed in 2003 and primarily designs

commercial projects.

Violetta says that all good things must lead to others. Two more

projects now in the works – the renovation of the zoo’s cathouse and cat

grottoes, as well as an area to be titled Africa Savannah – are expected

to be LEED certified as well.





While there are plenty of firms throughout the U.S. that cancite that they’ve created hundreds, even thousands ofjobs due to the green industry, most of the growth is

coming in on the ones-and-twos side of things.Take us for example, Being Green in Cincinnati. While it is a

special edition of our primary product, Best Magazine, the skill setsrequired to research, write, edit and sell the advertising necessitatedus to double our full-time staff – from one person to two. Putting thismagazine together meant conducting hundreds of interviews and/orpresentations over the last year. Nearly all of the material and ideaswere new to us.

My son, Jason Sandhage, a recent graduate of Ohio University, isthe new staffer. Go Green!

But Jason was not the only job recipient of our enterprise. Themagazine helped provide new income to our designer, two writers,our photographer, the printer, mail house, and the U.S. Postal Service(we added 20,000 new pieces to their dwindling supply of payingcustomers). And for our readers who choose to buy the productsand services from those who advertise in these pages and make it allpossible, potentially hundreds of more jobs can be created – now,when we need them the most.

We asked several of our advertising partners and friends howgreen has affected their growth and hiring practices.

Melink CorporationPresident Steve Melink says that the renewable energy portion ofhis business added six people to his staff in the last few years andexpects many more to come on board in the next few. The Milford-based company is actually three businesses in one. It does HVACtesting and balancing services for restaurant, retail, supermarket, andhotel chains; the manufacture and sale of the Intelli-Hood controller, acommercial kitchen ventilation system; and the design and installationof solar photovoltaic systems for generating onsite electricity.

He says that candidates who want to work for his company needto have more “soft people skills than hard technical skills. Their in-tegrity, attitude, customer-service mindset, passion for our mission,sense of accountability, and work ethic are more important to us thantheir grade point average, degree, certifications, and years of experi-ence.” Many of the skills necessary, he adds, can easily be learned onthe job.

ThirdSun Solar & Wind PowerMichelle Greenfield, CEO for ThirdSun based in Athens, Ohio butwith an office in Cincinnati, says that a total of eight new employeeswere added in 2008 and 2009, and three so far in 2010. She hopesthat eight to ten more can join in 2011. But, she adds, her company’scontribution to green jobs has also involved more use of subcontrac-tors, and in the purchasing of manufactured and wholesale materialsfrom Ohio companies whenever possible.

“The green industry needs employees in all aspects of business.People always think of solar panel installers, or wind tower climbers,but there are many people behind the scenes. Many common fi-nance, manufacturing, sales and construction skills can readily beapplied to the green industry,” says Greenfield.

ThirdSun Solar & Wind Power was founded in 1997 and todaycounts installs throughout Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania andMichigan. They currently have about a dozen in place in Cincinnati,mostly installed on remodeling projects.

emersionDESIGNSince its founding in 2007, this multi-faceted company based in Nor-wood has hired 71 employees to its green-based roster, and severalmore are expected to be added before the end of this year. emersionDESIGN is a group of architects, engineers, planners, interior design-ers, and sustainability consultants.

Shawn Hesse, project architect and sustainability consultant forEmersionDESIGN, said that his best advice for getting a job in thegreen industry is to “get involved. There are so many environmen-tally focused organizations throughout Cincinnati that are alwayslooking for volunteers. By getting engaged with a non-profit that isfocused on environmental issues, you can demonstrate your knowl-edge, skills, and your passion for sustainability, and build relationshipswith professionals in the field at the same time. Choose the organiza-tion that aligns with your professional interests – if you are interestedin green building design and construction, volunteer for the Cincin-nati Chapter of the US Green Building Council; if you are interested ineducation, volunteer with Imago, or the Cincinnati Nature Center; orif you are interested in workforce training, volunteer with BuildingValue. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved.”

Interestingly, Hesse says that the definition of a green job is any-thing but set in stone. “Every job can be a green job if it is done in a

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finding a green job


TO GET A GREEN JOB, YOU HAVE TO THINK GREEN FIRST

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way that builds environmental, social, and economic value at thesame time. The best way to get a ‘green’ job is to make your currentjob green. Start your company’s recycling program, start a rideshareor carpooling program, make note of where your business uses en-ergy in wasteful ways – are the bathroom lights always on? – make anote, then point them out to your employer. Eliminating wastefulenergy use can save them money.”

Chad Edwards, a principal behind the company, also serves asthe current president of the Cincinnati Chapter of the US GreenBuilding Council.

Green Buildings Consulting & Homes+Barb Yankie, president of Green Buildings Consulting and Homes+ saysthat her companies have created three jobs since 2008, and hopes toadd 3-5 more by the end of 2011. The two companies headed byYankie primarily do consulting and verification of structures to check forenergy efficiencies and sustainability.

Barb Yankie’s name is known by nearly everyone in the greenindustry in Cincinnati. She was on board with green well before itbecame an everyday word in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

“There are many different types of jobs in the green industries,”says Yankie. “The consulting, verification and testing of structures partof the industry is one of the fastest growing in the Cincinnati area. Themain skills needed for this area are to be detail oriented, computer liter-ate, able to communicate well, and being able to learn continually.” Sheadds that many green positions require some type of certification, suchas HERS Rater, BPI Building Analyst, or LEED Green Rater. “I would rec-ommend that anyone interested in this part of the industry researchRESNET (Residential Energy Services Network) and the US Green Build-ing Council for more information,” says Yankie.

Park + VineDan Korman, owner of Park + Vine, a downtown Cincinnati businessthat a city magazine claims is the “general store of the future,” saysthat because of the growing green industry, “it caused us to initiate afull staff and official payroll in 2008. We current employ five and havehad a total of seven employees for the last three years.” The retailbusiness sells eco-friendly merchandise that minimizes the use ofnatural resources and animal byproducts.

For those wanting to go green with a job in the industry, hesuggests getting a “knowledge of alternative lifestyles; productdevelopment; marketing; ecological education; horticulture; bio-fuels;bio-degradation; water conservation; alternative fuel/energy ideas;conscious packaging/advertising; and recycling technologies.” Hesays resources to learn about any one of these would be colleges anduniversities, as well as private workshops. “Perhaps the biggest trendwill be in the development of standards and curricula for such pur-poses,” says Korman.

Building ValueJerry Janszen, Director of Building Value, says he hopes to double thedeconstruction part of the business that would increase the numberof crews to two or three, and would create approximately 15 newgreen jobs in 2011.

Building Value LLC, located on Spring Grove Avenue, is a non-

profit social enterprise that provides Cincinnati residents with a placeto donate and shop for reusable building materials. Additionally, itprovides employment opportunities for people with disabilities anddisadvantages.

Janszen says that Building Value employees are taught theimportance of recycling and reusing material and the inherent valuein salvaged or “rescued” building material. “In most cases, newemployees have not lived in a household where recycling is a partof the daily routine and they are somewhat surprised when they areintroduced to Building Value’s business model.”

New employees start either in the retail section of the business or,if they are interested in a career in construction, they have the opportu-nity to work on Building Value’s deconstruction team. “This team hascompletely deconstructed 12 buildings in the last 8 months, includingfoundation removal,” says Janszen. Building Value’s deconstructionprocess allows for over 80% of the material in a typical 2,000 sq. ft.building to be recycled or reused. All reusable material is transportedback to the retail store and is then made available for purchase.

RumpkeWith its ever increasing emphasis on its customers – homeownersand businesses in several states – to do more recycling of trash,Molly Yeager, corporate communications director for the company,says that “we added at least 55 jobs directly related to recycling”in 2009 and so far in 2010. And, she adds, “based on our currentgrowth and anticipated contracts over the next two years, we areprojecting substantial growth in terms of jobs in our recyclingoperations. There is a study that shows that for every 10,000 tonsof material recycled, 34 jobs are created.”

Yeager adds that as the company’s technology is updated in “ourrecycling facilities, we are looking for candidates that have computerand mechanical skills. We post our jobs weekly on www.rumpke.com.”

Cincinnati StateLarry Feist, program chair of renewable energy for CincinnatiState, says that his school is leading the state in the developmentof courses and programs for students to learn about the greenbusiness. The school has two primary paths. The first is basedon the manufacturing and implementation of the technologiesneeded to go green. “We are wrapping up our third year withthat program,” says Feist, adding that it offers an associate degreewith two years of study. About 170 students were enrolled in theprogram as of June.

The other, says Feist, is about sustainable design and construction.“It prepares architects and construction people to help make buildingssmarter. Classes include lighting, heating and air conditioning effi-ciency.” Now in its second year, about a dozen students are currentlytaking classes.

Feist says that one of the reasons why Cincinnati State imple-mented the green studies is so that “industry doesn’t have anexcuse any more that nobody is trained in the field, and that thisis common-sense stuff no matter what side of the aisle you are on.It’s nothing to be scared of.”

For more info: www.cincinnatistate.edu

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A ir isn’t all that’s leaking out of thecracks in your home or business.Your money is close be-

hind. From your choice inlight bulbsto hiddenheatingissues,there areplenty ofchanges you can maketoday to save yourselfsome serious cash.

The first step towards sav-ings and reduced consumption isefficiency, explains AndyHolzhauser. Andy is the Executive Di-rector of the Greater Cincinnati EnergyAlliance (GCEA), a non-profit organization dedi-cated to helping Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky com-munities reduce their energy costs. “We believe that througheducation, expertise and innovative financing, we can help GreaterCincinnati become more energy efficient,” says Holzhauser, “savingmoney for residents while creating local jobs.”

An energy assessment, or energy audit, will examine how muchenergy you use and determine the measures you can take to becomemore energy efficient. Inspections of your insulation, lighting, heat-ing and air conditioning (HVAC), appliances, and other energy-con-suming equipment are most common. If an audit is conducted by aprofessional auditor, they will be able to analyze your results andprovide you with a prioritized list, or “road map,” which will em-power you to make your own decisions. Energy audits are gainingin popularity and, in fact, some communities such as Austin, Texasare starting to require them when a home is sold.

There are two ways to conduct an energy audit: on your own orusing a professional. If on your own, some of the easiest solutions canbe found by taking a look around and making note of the obvious. Ifyour insulation or appliances aren’t up to building codes and Energy

Star standards, consider achange. If your light bulbs areinefficient, change the oldest,most frequently used bulbs

first and thenwork yourway downthe line. Theexamination of,and the appro-priate reactionsto these “low-

hanging fruit,” are oftenthe fastest and easiest problems to fix. In fact,

put this magazine down for a second and take a lookaround your home or business. I’m sure you can find a few

things that you can do right now to save some money.For those more difficult tests, there are plenty of professional en-

ergy auditors who can assist you in a more in depth analysis of yourenergy use and waste. These tests include the blower door, thermalimaging, ductwork integrity, and electrical phantom loads tests (in-volving electronics plugged in but not being used), in addition to aninsulation R-rating check, and water usage check. Air leakage, pres-surization, moisture, gas and carbon monoxide issues, and appliancesmay also be included. Due to the complexities and the equipmentneeded for many of these tests, you may want to call a professional.

Holzhauser recommends for you to keep in mind that simplesteps can lead to big savings. If you spend $2,000-4,000 on thetests and the improvements, you will average a return on your in-vestment in two-to-three years, he explains. After that, it’s noth-ing but savings.

Armed with this knowledge, there’s no longer a reason towait for an energy audit. Wasting energy makes completely nosense at all and making the simplest of changes can have thebiggest of impacts on your pocketbook and the environment.

For more information about energy audits go to: www.ener-gysavers.gov. For more information about the GCEA:www.greatercea.org

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to go green with your home,the best advice starts here

Story by Jason Sandhage



90 cincinnati

geothermal: letting the earthdo its jobRALPH TAYLOR & DONNA SCHWARZ OF BLANCHESTER

Story and photos by Doug Sandhage


being green 91

Left: The only exterior evidence that a geothermal system was in-stalled in their home are the trenches where a total of 375 ft. of loopswere installed five feet underground, says Ralph Taylor. Within thenext year, once the grass grows back, the installation in the base-ment will be the only proof that geothermal operates here. Inset,above: Ralph Taylor and Donna Schwarz have the one and onlycovered bridge in Clinton County just a few hundred feet fromthe front door of their country home. Inset, right: In addition toservicing their two-story home, a geothermal system also handles allof the heating and air-conditioning needs of a combined garage,artist studio, wine storage area, plus the hot tub on the couple’sback patio deck. The heating and cooling for this room comes froma forced-air wall unit.

When you live in one of Ohio’s lesser-populated counties,it’s a bit easier to be either the first at getting somethinguniquely new or inheriting something uniquely old. Ralph

Taylor and Donna Schwartz got both; and they have since added athird claim. They succeeded in getting the only permit in a dry town-ship to sell wine.

The first hint that something is different here is when you pull intotheir driveway, a couple miles off State Route 28 outside of Blanchesterin Clinton County. A bright-red covered bridge over Todd’s Fork Creeksits in front of their home. It is the only covered bridge in the county. Apull-off allows for easy access for photographers and fishermen.

The other hint is a bit harder to decipher. A walk in the couple’sbackyard shows where someone has dug four trenches totaling 375linear feet, now covered.

You would have to ask to know the answer, since the trenches goboth up, and down, a small ravine. Ralph and Donna, to their knowl-edge, are the first Clinton Countians to get a geothermal system to heatand cool their home. In the easiest way possible to explain, a geothermalsystem sends a solution through a series of special pipes buried under-ground. This is called the loop. The temperature underground is a con-stant 56 degrees due to the earth’s ability to store solar energy. As thefluid circulates through the underground loop into the ground sourceheat pump, the energy in the fluid is converted to heat for your home inthe winter. On the other hand, the heat in your home during summermonths is transferred back into the fluid to be returned to the earth.Geothermal heat pump systems deliver heating and cooling the sameas most systems; by forced air or through some sort of radiation system;or in the case of the Taylor/Schwarz house, to a radiant floor system.


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“Geothermal heating and cooling has been around for manyyears and is a very mature technology. But more recently, it has takenon a more timely economical twist as energy costs keep soaring,”says Daniel Wright, owner of Geothermal Solutions, which installedthe product in this home.

Ralph used to live in the Hyde Park and Clifton areas of Cincinnati. In2000, he met Donna, herself a Connecticut girl, and after getting hitched,they decided that country living is what they wanted to do. They bought a22-acre mini-farm with a 1997-built two-story home. They owned Cups&Corks restaurant in Blanchester for a while, but decided that the winepart of the business was about to boom. Ralph contacted a number ofOhio wine distributors and opened www.winedog.com to sell wines fromplaces like South Africa, Brazil, Chili, and in the U.S. from California, Ore-gon and New York.

In 2006, Ralph was listening to All Things Considered on one of hisfavorite NPR stations when he heard a promotion for Geothermal Solu-tions. It made him think about his average monthly utility bill – in the$700 range, along with storage tank fees for propane gas. A geothermalunit, he found, includes three separate systems:

• A ground loop for extracting or returning heat into theground to warm or cool the structure as needed.

• A heat pump itself that concentrates the heat.• A delivery system in the form of air ducts or a radiantsystem.

Geothermal systems can be installed using tubes that are laidhorizontally, or vertically if only limited space is available. The tubescan also be placed under ponds or lakes.

Wright says a geothermal system’s greatest advantage is that you“don’t have to create a source of heat as with most conventional sys-tems. These utilize nature’s abundant energy already stored in theground. You are not creating a heat source; you are just moving itfrom the ground to the house in winter and from the house to the

ground in summer. How cool is that?” His company provided thegeothermal system to a home in West Chester in 2007 that was fea-tured on the popular TV show Extreme Makeover Home Edition.

Now that the geothermal system has been installed for abouttwo years, Ralph says his total energy bill is 45 percent less, downabout $300 a month from pre-geothermal days. At a total cost of$39,000 to buy and install the system (after a $2,000 energy credit),he says the payoff will be about ten years. The life expectancy of thesystem is said to be about 25 years.

But Donna says the real payoff is now and adds: “I want some ofthe planet left for my grandchildren.” Until geothermal, she said her“green contribution” was largely recycling, raising chickens and grow-ing some vegetables, but now she says she feels like a larger playerwhile saving money at the same time. She also notes that the system ismuch quieter than their old propane furnace, and that the humiditystays the same inside as it is outside.

The floors in the couple’s 2,800 sq. ft. home are a combination ofwood and tile, making them very warm in winter using the radiant floorsystem. It is especially good for their three dogs and four cats who love tolie on the floor. The geothermal unit also heats the hot tub on the backdeck and a garage that in part houses Donna’s artist studio, and Ralph’s800-bottle wine inventory. She is an accomplished artist in several media,including colored pencils, acrylics, watercolors and pastels. Her subjectsinclude farm scenes and portraits.

Donna says their neighbors, who farm 150 acres, use both awood-burning waterstove and a corn-cob burner for their heat, thecost primarily being the time and labor to haul in the commoditiesfrom their own land. But for those without such fuel resources,Ralph and Donna said they couldn’t be more pleased with their geot-hermal system. “Am I happy with it? Absolutely,” says Ralph. He saidhe would answer questions from anyone who wants to call himabout geothermal systems. Telephone him at 937-685-9154.

Above, left:While the basement of the Taylor/Schwarzhouse might look like a power plant in itself, the lineupis simple. From right to left: A Water-Furnace (brandname) heat pump which can produce either hot orchilledwater; an 80-gallon storage tank for chilledwaterto service the air conditioning water coil; a domestic hot water heater in which the water is heated by the heat pump; and a 120-gallon hot water storagetank for the radiant floor heating system and to heat the hot tub. Above, right: The illustration shows three ways in which a geothermal system can beinstalled to capture energy from the earth via tubes laid out as loops: within vertical trenches, in horizontal shafts, or as placed under lake water.



American Heating & Air Conditioning Co.2284 Quebec Road, Cincinnati 45214Tel. 513.471.2115www.americanheat.com“Call the Dependables.” Mike and DaveDempsey. Specializing in installation of Resi-dential Climatemaster Tranquility 27.0 Geot-hermal systems in LEED Certified Houses tomeet USGBC Standards. Third Generation op-erating business since 1936. Proud sponsor ofXavier Basketball with Joe Sunderman.

Amp Electric Vehicles4540 Alpine Avenue, Cincinnati 45242Tel. 513.360.4704/513.307.1519www.AmpElectricVehicles.comAmp Electric Vehicles has a patent-pendingconversion technology that is presently in-stalled into GM Saturn Sky and Solstice con-vertibles and the 2010 Equinox to make them100% Electric. Amp’s 100% electric vehiclesare available for ordering and delivery now.Amp will be expanding into additional vehi-cles in the future. Amp Electric Vehicles is lo-cated in Blue Ash right off of Ronald ReganHighway. Call to schedule a personal testdrive of one of Amp’s vehicles.

The Appliance Loft3209 Madison Road, Cincinnati 45209Tel. 513.533.0440www.theapplianceloft.comThe Appliance Loft is a local, family-ownedbusiness that focuses on the customer andprovides the most up-to-date and accurateappliance knowledge in the area. Fromfirst-time home buyers purchasing their firstrefrigerator to a contracting firm looking topurchase appliances for an upcoming buildingproject, the Appliance Loft pledges to servethe customer with respect and guaranteessatisfaction. Stop by to see their selectionof Energy Star appliances, including thesuper energy efficient Bosch Vision Washerand Dryers.

Architects Plus10816 Millington Court, Cincinnati 45242Tel. 513.984.1070www.architectsplus.comProviding exquisite residential and commer-cial design for 31 years. LEED for Homesaccredited professional on staff. Experiencewith green design for single family, multifamilyand commercial projects.

Arronco Comfort Air5578 Limaburg Road, Burlington, KY 41005Tel. 513.474.7555/859.525.6407www.arronco.comSpecializing in the installation and service ofresidential and light commercial heating, airconditioning, and indoor air quality systems.With an emphasis on geothermal offeringsand energy savings, their team of profession-als will help you take advantage of tax bene-fits at home and in the office. Secondgeneration family owned and operatedsince 1984. Brands include WaterFurnaceGeothermal Systems, Tempstar, and Bryant.

Beck Architecture, Inc.550 Liberty Hill, Cincinnati 45202Tel. 513.651.5550www.beckarchitects.comBeck Architecture is an innovative firm special-izing in custom residential, commercial andinterior design projects. Founded in 1989by Donald Beck, AIA, the firm excels in tradi-tional architecture, renovation and compatible

new construction. Residences designed byBeck Architecture are praised for their level ofdetail and thoughtful design.

Benchmark Outdoor Outfitters9525 Kenwood Road, Cincinnati 45242Tel. 513.791.9453www.benchmarkoutfitter.comAt The Benchmark, environmental awarenessand respect for their neighbors is more thanjust a public relations campaign. Benchmarkemployees enjoy our natural environment asmuch as their customers and are committedto keeping it as clean, safe and beautiful ascan be. No matter your outdoor need, Bench-mark Outdoor Outfitters can outfit you withwhat you need to get out and enjoy the out-doors as much as they do.

Black Diamond Construction Co.1054 Richwood Avenue, Cincinnati 45208Tel. 513.328.5302www.bdcchomes.comCustom home builder specializing in thedesign and construction of new, energy effi-cient LEED certified homes. Also availablefor remodeling, additions, and outdoor livingspaces, the team at Black Diamond willhandle all of the details, while working withyou to bring your vision to life.

Camery • Hensley Construction, Ltd.1 Cherokee Trail, New Richmond 45157John Camery: 513.309.2262Jeremy Hensley: 513.319.2664www.cameryhensley.comJohn Camery and Jeremy Hensley establishedCamery • Hensley Construction in 2003,bringing more than 40 years of collectiveexperience. A USGBC Member, Camery •Hensley Construction provides upscalecustom home building and complete renova-tion services to Cincinnati-area homeownerswho seek superior quality and service,heirloom-quality craftsmanship, and high-performance homes.

Cincinnati Bellwww.cincinnatibell.comCincinnati Bell Telephone provides moderntelecommunications products and services ina three-state area, including portions of Ohio,Kentucky and Indiana. They are committedto the principles of “corporate communityresponsibility” and pride themselves in beingone of the most visible communicationscompanies in the Midwest.

Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens3400 Vine Street, Cincinnati 45220Tel. 513.281.4700/1.800.94.HIPPOwww.cincinnatizoo.orgOver a million people visit the CincinnatiZoo & Botanical Garden’s award-winningexhibits and its more than 500 animal and3,000 plant species each year. Now, visitorscan also experience the country’s premierexample of sustainable, earth-friendlydesign. Its new entry complex is just oneof many reasons that the Cincinnati Zoo isthe greenest zoo in the country.

Coldwell Banker West ShellFor office locations and contact info, go to:www.cbws.comColdwell Banker West Shell maintains thatcreating a green home will not only increasea home’s sustainability, but add value, andsuggests contacting any of its agents tofind out more about “going green.”

Cornette/Violetta Architects, LLC1117 Cypress Street, Cincinnati 45206Tel. 513.221.6600www.cornette-violetta.comCornette/Violetta Architects, LLC, dates backto 1993. From the conception of a project toits completion, Cornette/Violetta emphasizesquality architectural services and high clientsatisfaction. The firm is a U.S. Green BuildingCouncil Member, and Dean Violetta is a LEEDAccredited Professional.

Custom Distributors9190 Seward Road, Fairfield 45014Tel. 513.874.5444www.customdistributors.comCustom Distributors is the area’s premier ap-pliance provider with over 25 years of experi-ence. Personal, professional attention, andservice is the company’s mantra. “We believebuying appliances should be made easy,” saysPresident Ken Rieman. Brands carried by thecompany include Electrolux, GE, Jenn-Air,KitchenAid, Maytag, Sub-Zero, Hotpoint,Viking, Whirlpool, Dacor and Wolf.

Duke Energywww.duke-energy.comOne of the largest electric supply companiesin the United States. The company is currentlyactive in the development and installation of aSmart Grid throughout its distribution geogra-phy. For more info on its sustainability goals,go to: www.duke-energy.com/sustainability/sustainability.asp

Eagle Creek Custom Builders, Inc.2384 St. Route 132, New Richmond 45157Tel. 513.553.1638www.riverbendtf.comAs timber framing experts, the people atEagle Creek can help you discover the history,beauty, strength and sustainability of timberframe construction. They believe that we havethe responsibility to create homes that areboth amazing and efficient. As the buildersof the Merwin House I home, in the MerwinFarms green community, Eagle Creek cancreate a natural connection between yournext home and its natural environment.

Elk Creek Vineyards150 Highway 330, Owenton, KentuckyTel. 502.484.0005www.elkcreekvineyards.comKentucky’s largest winery is located about anhour from downtown Cincinnati near Owen-ton, Kentucky. In addition to wine tastings,the Vineyards also features big-name concerts(such as the Beach Boys) on its outdoor stage,world-class sporting clays, upland bird hunt-ing, lodging and event hosting.

Eric Doepke Landscape ArchitecturePlanning Urban Design2712 Erie Avenue, Cincinnati 45208Tel. 513.321.1133www.EDAeast.comDevelopers of Merwin Farms, the area’spremier eco-green community, includingthe flagship high performance green timberframed Merwin House. Practicing naturaldesign for 40 years on the Green Path:Gardens, Arboreta, Passive Solar House,Impact of Development on Watershed,Town Center Development Strategy, BettsLongworth Historic District, Sawyer Point.Now offering six of the 20, 5-acre home sitesat Merwin Farms.

Ferguson Bath Kitchen and Lighting Gallery11860 Mosteller Road, Cincinnati 45241Tel. 513.326.2999www.ferguson.comYour Cincinnati area Ferguson Bath, Kitchenand Lighting Gallery is a great source forEnergy Star appliances, plumbing suppliesand water fixtures, and energy saving lightingproducts from leading manufacturers. Fergu-son’s trained product consultants make “goinggreen” easy – whether you are building orremodeling a kitchen, bath, or entire home.

Geothermal Solutions /Wright Solutions GroupTel. 513.228.4900www.WrightSolutionsGroup.comGeothermal Solutions is one of greaterCincinnati’s premier geothermal heatingand air conditioning companies. OwnerDaniel Wright prides himself in that hepersonally sees each job through frombeginning to end and that all work comeswith a 100 percent complete satisfactionguarantee. Geothermal Solutions is aWaterFurnace GeoPro master dealer.

Gilkey Window Company, Inc.3625 Hauck Road, Cincinnati 45241Tel. 513.769.4527www.gilkey.comFor over 30 years, Gilkey has specialized inthe custom manufacturing and installationof energy efficient windows and doors.The Sharonville factory and showroomincludes interactive displays, multipleproduct offerings, and friendly staff availableto answer questions. Members of the USGreen Building Council as well as havingLEED certified professionals.

Great Traditions Homes10123 Alliance Road, Cincinnati 45242Tel. 513.563.4070www.greattraditionshomes.comAn award-winning “green” builderrecognized for its unsurpassed qualityof lifestyle homes built in neighborhoodswith superior amenities. Homes offer open,spacious floor plans, exquisite finishes anddetails, timeless exteriors with inviting out-door spaces and customizable options tocreate a unique, personal home.

Green City Resources5912 Kellogg Avenue, Cincinnati 45230Tel. 513.383.1071www.greencityresources.comGreen City Resources is a specialty land-scaping company, with expertise in design,installation and maintenance of vegetatedroofing, bio retention, native landscaping,raingardens, rainwater harvesting and stormwater management, both for commercialand residential purposes.

H. Hafner & Sons, Inc.5445 Wooster Pike, Cincinnati 45226Tel. 513.321.1895www.hafners.comFor the past 87 years, Hafner and Sons havebeen at the forefront of recycling constructionand demolition waste in Cincinnati. In 2009alone, they diverted over 225,000 tons ofmaterial from local landfills. Those reclaimedmaterials have helped to fuel the local econ-omy in a variety of ways. Hafner and Sonscan help you make your next project green.

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Who’s Who in Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


being green 95

. . . . .HGC Construction2814 Stanton Avenue, Cincinnati 45206Tel. 513.861.8866www.hgcconstruction.comFounded in 1931, HGC Construction has avery successful track record among Cincin-nati-based construction companies, which in-cludes work on many of the region’s mostvisible architectural landmarks. HGC hasgained recognition for green constructionprojects—both urban renovations and newbuildings—last year completing 70% of theLEED Platinum certified projects in Ohio.

Jacob Bros. Heating and Air Conditioning3754 Beechmont Court, Cincinnati 45226Tel. 513.533.3600www.jacobbros.comJacob Bros. sells, services and installs heatingand cooling products; including high efficiencygeothermal heat pumps, furnaces, air condi-tioners, boilers and heat pumps. In addition tosaving customers money on their heating andcooling costs, Jacob Bros. helps to conservenatural resources and reduce carbon emissions.

Jami & Libby–Comey & Shepherd Realtors2716 Observatory Ave., Cincinnati 45208Tel. 513.260.9632/513.515.0689www.jamiandlibby.comKnown as the “green team.” Active membersof the U.S. Green Building Council, Jami andLibby strongly believe that environmental re-sponsibility in residential real estate is not anoption, but a standard of practice. Specializingin re-greening of older homes, LEED certifiednew construction and sustainable living. Jamiand Libby are certified EcoBrokers.

John Hueber Homes526 Wards Corner Road, Loveland 45140Tel. 513.683.3080www.johnhueberhomes.comFamily operated custom home building com-pany founded in 1987. Specializing in LEEDcertified and high-end custom homes. With arespect for traditional hands on craftsman-ship, functionality, originality, aesthetics andvalue, the people of John Hueber Homes willpersonally guide you through every step ofthe design/build process, tailoring everyhome to the individual’s lifestyle, and budget.

John Senhauser Architects1118 St. Gregory, Cincinnati 45202Tel. 513.381.1669John Senhauser Architects has for the past 30years been designing buildings that are “na-tionally celebrated for their craft, durability, witand poetic vitality.” The company has receivedmore than 50 design awards from builder andarchitectural organizations. The citations haveincluded the 1999 AIA Ohio Gold Medal Firmaward, the 2009 Gold Medal, and twice beingnamed a national winner for the prestigiousSub-Zero & Wolf Kitchen Design award. JohnSenhauser is the current chair of Cincinnati’sHistoric Conservation Board.

John Tisdel Fine Appliances7177 Central Parke Blvd., Mason 45040Tel. 513.339.0990www.JohnTisdelFineAppliances.comJohn Tisdel Fine Appliances is a 6-state distrib-utor for Sub-Zero, Wolf and ASKO appliances.The showroom in Mason is considered one ofthe finest in the U.S., displaying more than 120appliances that can be seen by appointment.Sub-Zero and Wolf feature more than 20 appli-ances that meet Energy Star qualifications.

Kent Bradley Roush Architects4142 Airport Road, Cincinnati 45226Tel. 513.321.9242Husband and wife team, Shannon and BradRoush have teamed to design homes forsome of the biggest names in Cincinnati.They have been featured in both national andCincinnati-area magazines, and define theirstyle as “fun and eclectic” at a fair price. Theycan serve on your project from beginning toend, or just in the design phase. Designing“green” is a specialty.

Klotter Builders, Inc.Tel. 513.791.0908Klotter Builders has the distinction of beingthe first builder in Cincinnati to register ahome for the ultimate LEED® Platinum levelof certification. Owner Tom Walter has beenin business since 1987 and has a long historyof craftsmanship and attention to detail.All homes are “built with green in mind.”He employs his own staff of framers, trimcarpenters, painters and electricians.

Marsh Window & Door Classics9384 Montgomery Road, Cincinnati 45242Tel. 513.985.0880www.marshbuild.comAs the exclusive area distributor of MarvinWindows & Doors, Marsh has developed ex-pertise in the application of their products inLEED projects, energy efficient replacements,and new construction. Marvin is one of manyexterior products available at Marsh BuildingProducts that meet current green industrystandards.

McCabe Lumber118 Northeast Drive, LovelandTel. 513.683.2662www.mccabelumber.comLargely heralded as having one of the finestand largest building and remodeling show-rooms in the Midwest, at 15,000 sq. ft., thelocally owned company is perfect for theselection making process. The showroom issegmented into uniquely designed vignettesto showcase windows, doors, mouldings,columns, stairs and railings, doorknobs andhardware, fireplace mantels and wall panels.Each of the staff averages at least 20 yearsexperience in the lumber/hardware business.Many of its lines of windows, doors anddecking are green certified, and many qualifyfor tax credits.

McSwain Carpets & Floors2430 East Kemper Road, Cincinnati 45241Tel. 513.771.1400www.McSwainCarpets.comSpecializing in carpet, hardwood, laminate,tile and hardwood refinishing and restoration.Find that perfect match of flooring based onyour lifestyle, unique fashion tastes, perform-ance needs and budget. Family owned for42 years. Currently recycling carpet, cushion,plastic and paper products. Eight retaillocations, commercial, property managementand builder divisions.

Melink Corporation5140 River Valley Road, Milford 45150Tel. 513.965.7300www.melinkcorp.comFounded in 1987, the Melink Corporation iscommitted to the principles of sustainability,conservation and energy efficiency. Having re-cently received LEED Platinum status at theirheadquarters in Milford, OH, Melink Co. is

three different businesses in one: nationalHVAC testing and balancing services forrestaurant, retail, supermarket, and hotelchains; the manufacture and sale of the Intelli-Hood controller; and the design and installa-tion of solar photovoltaic systems.

Mercedes-Benz of Cincinnati8727 Montgomery Road, Cincinnati 45236Tel. 513.984.9000www.mercedesbenzofcincinnati.comTop-of-the-line service can be found in thisshowroom and throughout the lifetime ofyour vehicle. Making sure that you’re drivingexperience is a great one, the professionalstaff at Mercedes-Benz of Cincinnati will helpyou find a vehicle which fits your specificneeds. Check out their green models: TheBlueTEC, named the 2007 World Green Car,and their two new hybrids: The S400 andML450.

Patterned Concrete of Cincinnati9470 Le Saint Drive, Fairfield 45014Tel. 513.870.9449www.patternedconcrete.usSpecializing in installing stamped, colored,stained concrete on patios, pool decks,floors, and countertops. Since 1994, thecompany has been contributing to thehomes, shopping centers, office buildings,restaurants and streets of Cincinnati. Theirsustainable concrete on LEED CertifiedProjects can be found at the CincinnatiZoo, GreenSource Cincinnati and the BoyScout Achievement Center. Showroomavailable with over 3,000 square feet ofsamples on display.

Perrin March / Coldwell Banker West Shell2721 Erie Ave., Cincinnati (Hyde Park)Tel. 513.379.2253www.perrinmarch.comPerrin March has been serving as one ofCincinnati’s top selling Realtors for nearly 20years, primarily focusing on the eastside.

RLT Design9400 Montgomery Road, Cincinnati 45243Tel. 513.312.9631Over 20 years of experience specializing in thecreation of custom new homes and renova-tions. Currently at the forefront on green de-sign, their client-driven creative designs rangefrom traditional and historic to contemporaryand modern. An attention to detail and a focuson quality design in both form and functiontruly transform their houses into homes.

RWA Architects, Inc.2771 Observatory Ave., Cincinnati 45208Tel. 513.321.9506www.rwaarchitects.comSpecializing in Residential Architecture inCincinnati and around the U.S. With six AIAmembers and seven LEED A.P.’s, RWA has theexperience in sustainable strategies for yourhouse project. Call RWA to discuss how theycan help you with your next project.

Rookwood Pottery1920 Race St., Cincinnati 45202Tel. 513.381.2510www.rookwood.comNow celebrating 130 years in business with abrand known worldwide, Rookwood Pottery isunder new ownership and operating within awarehouse in Over-the-Rhine. They still haveabout 3,700 of the original molds and the for-mulas for more than 5,000 glazes. Owner Chris

Rose has assembled a staff with a collective320 years of experience. The primary focuscurrently is on architectural tile, but cremationurns and art pottery are soon coming on line.

Rumpke Consolidated Companies Inc.10795 Hughes Road, Cincinnati 45251Tel. 1.800.582.3107www.rumpke.comRumpke has been committed to keepingneighborhoods and businesses clean andgreen since 1932 by providing environmen-tally friendly waste disposal solutions. Head-quartered in Colerain Township, Ohio, justoutside of Cincinnati, Rumpke is one of thenation’s largest privately owned residentialand commercial waste recycling firms.

smart center Cincinnati9847 Kings Automall Dr., Cincinnati 45249Tel.513.697.6600www.smartcentercincinnati.comsmart center Cincinnati is the exclusive dealerfor all smart cars in the Cincinnati, Dayton andNorthern Kentucky areas. The smart fortwois the most fuel efficient gas powered engineon the market today (est. 41 mpg hwy). Thesmart fortwo is 95% recyclable and is listed asthe “Best Bang for Your Buck” on Cars.comGreen Buying Guide.

Stewart & Jervis Builders, Inc.4410 Brazee Street, Cincinnati 45209Tel. 513.531.7676.Artisan home builders with more than 35years experience, and the successful comple-tion of LEED certified homes.

Switch Lighting & Design1207 Vine Street, Cincinnati 45202Tel. 513.721.8100www.Switchcollection.comSwitch Lighting and Design has a fine collec-tion of modern architectural lighting anddesign. If it’s in the leading design magazines,you can find it here: Artemide, Fabbian,Tango, Axo, Tech Lighting, LBL, DavidTrubridge, Fontana Arte, Vibia and otherinternational makers. Switch designs anddelivers throughout North America – and toyour home or office.

Third Sun Solar and Wind Power340 West State Street, Athens, Ohio 45701Tel. 1.877.OWN.SOLAR.www.third-sun.comThird Sun is a full service solar power designand installation firm, with extensive experi-ence in Greater Cincinnati. They work withcommercial, institutional and residentialcustomers in Ohio and surrounding states.Third Sun’s highly qualified solar designand installation team includes degreedengineers, a LEED AP and nationally certi-fied solar installers.

Verbarg’s Furniture & Design8155 Montgomery Road, CincinnatiTel. 513.794.1555www.VerbargsFurniture.comVerbarg’s Furniture is family owned and op-erated. Harold and Shirley Verbarg foundedthe store in 1978 and today their fivedaughters manage the operations. Brandnames carried by the store include Harden,Sherrill, Durham, Hancock & Moore, HenkelHarris, and one that is particularly green fo-cused, Stickley. In addition to their primaryshowroom in Kenwood, they also own anoutlet store in Amelia.

Being Green in Cincinnati appreciates the support of our advertising partners who helped make this issue possible. They are listedon these pages in alphabetical order with contact information and noting their current green initiatives, products and services. Yoursupport of these businesses will help us all continue to Go Green!


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Coming soonto your home …

Fun withBradShanno

&Kent Bradley Roush | Archi tects

Kent Bradley Roush and Shannon Lowe Roush4142 Airport Road 3rd Floor, Suite 3 Cincinnati, Ohio 45226 513.321.9242

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SPECIALIZING IN RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS, Kent Bradley Roush Architects is a husbandand wife team. Brad and Shannon share a love for great architecture, especially the fun in creating

it along with welcomed input from clients who share their zeal.Their client list reads likea Who’sWho in Cincinnati and their projects range from large estates to simple additions.

The couple pride themselves in designing solutions that stay in style, with technical detailing necessaryto get the job done in the best way possible. Depending on your budget, they can do the design and detailingonly, or be on site as needed all the way through. If building green is your plan they can either get you started

or help make your home the most environmentally friendly in the neighborhood.The only surprise youshould expect to get from them is a design you will be proud to own, and a fair price.

Kent Bradley Roush Architects’ work has been featured in several national magazines,as well as Cincinnati’s Best Magazine, The Cincinnati Enquirer and Housetrends.

Call for a no-cost consultation and let them show you the list of others who have trusted their lust for creativity.

��UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

"We thoroughly enjoyed designing and realizing our home remodel with Brad and Shannon.They were fantastic about listening to our ideas, working with us collaboratively, and

incorporating elements to make our home our preferred place to be."–Tim and Mary Lou Holt

��DREAMCATCHER

"Brad and Shannon's vision for our house made it all possible and it fits our lifestyle to aT.We feel that Shannon and Brad really listened to what we wanted and how we lived.

We just love the design."– Jim and Liz Niehaus

��FAST & FURIOUS

“Nothing drags a new home project down like having to wait for the first draft. Brad andShannon struck a nerve with us at the first meeting.They listened, they added their thoughts

and a short time later returned with a design that was on-target from the get-go.”– Marianne and Doug Sandhage

��EASY LIVING

“Architecture puts the art in home design but Kent Bradley Roush Architectsputs life and excitement in the home.”

– Julie K. Back,Executive SalesVice President, Sibcy Cline Hyde Park


Ever wonder how thousands of years from now, asarcheologists and geologists probe the remains of ourgeneration, they will be able to figure out what was

original to the space and what was imported? Nothing willbe in its rightful place. For example, if they dig where myhouse once stood they’ll find fireplace rocks from Utah,boards from Brazil, maybe the volcanic rock I brought backfrom New Mexico. Unless of course these items got recycledto another location.

Those were my first thoughts as I toured HGC Construc-tion in Clifton.

My second thought was: It would be great to work here.More on that later.

The company, founded in 1931, specializes in commercialconstruction work and is considered among the top “go-to”firms in the city. Over the years many of the firm’s projectsrequired removing all or part of a building already on a lot.HGC founder Richard J. Huseman would keep some of theteardown items and would store them in one of the com-pany’s inventory bins until somebody needed it on a new job.Some of the hodgepodge of items were long forgotten as theywere moved to the back of the supply chain. At least until afew years ago.

During a restructuring of the company three years ago, itwas decided that a 8,400 sq. ft., 1903-built HGC headquar-

ters building – which was essentially a brick shell – needed tobe remodeled to house the folks who do most of the creativeor corporate work for the company. GBBN, a Cincinnatiarchitectural design firm, was hired to plan the space arrange-ments, but HGC Senior Project Manager Greg Warner wasassigned the actual building and design tasks. Because it wasthe “green” thing to do and because it was a “cost savingsventure,” the HGC staff decided to search all of the storagebins to see what items could be used in the remodel. Warnersalvaged all sorts of bits and pieces from buildings past to beused as bits and pieces for the future. It was a case of recyclingwithout having to go to a middleman first, combined with theuse of other products regarded as more sustainable.

For example:• The second floor came from stadium bleachers where

tens of thousands of students once sat at Hughes High School.Another of the floors came from remnants leftover from therenovation of the Contemporary Arts Center.

• A metal spiral staircase, also reclaimed from Hughes,now serves as a transport between floors.

• The concrete countertop in the company kitchencame from, simple answer, a concrete company (pouredin a mold made by HGC’s own carpenters). Concrete isa more sustainable product since it comes from readilyavailable limestone.

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construction

leftoversrepurposed

GREEN IN THE WORKPLACE

Story by Doug & Jason Sandhage / Photos by Cathy & Mark Lyons


The “concrete bar” in the company kitchen came from – simpleanswer – a concrete company (poured in a mold made by thecompany’s own carpenters). Concrete is a more sustainable prod-uct since it comes from readily available limestone. HGC Mar-keting Coordinator Dawn Bardone is in the foreground; alsopictured is Tony Akers, a project manager at HGC.


• The carpet squares used in various hallways and officescame from pieces removed during a renovation of a Procter &Gamble building.

• The tin ceiling in one of the offices came from the reno-vation of the Showboat Majestic.

• A beautifully finished mahogany conference room tablecame as a byproduct of the veneer process. In other words, itwould have been trashed had it not been salvaged.

• Redwood wallboards used throughout the building arethe leftovers from a Mt. Adams condominium project.

• Lyptus wood was used throughout as a countertop trim.Knowing that it comes from Brazil might cause hard-coregreeners to grimace, but, says Warner, it is one of the mostsustainable woods on the planet, able to be re-harvestedwithin 15 years.

• A beautifully designed arched back-door entry camefrom the now long-gone Alexander McDonald House inClifton. HGC founder Richard Huseman salvaged it in 1961.It had been kept in a storage bin since.

• The exterior windows were replaced with thermo-panesto increase energy efficiency, and some of the others camewhen HGC renovated College Hill Fundamental Academy.

This is a story about being green in the workplace. Andwhy not? Being green is a lifestyle choice that can be practicedat home, at work, in your free time – even when, and how,you choose your food to eat. For employers, there are dozensof studies that show workers in a green environment are moreproductive, and more creative.

About 25 employees now work in this eclectic-lookinginterior. While there are a few rooms with doors, and cubiclesare made of artfully arranged two-by-fours and desks ofrecycled particleboard, the workspace is free range. Youcould throw a basketball across some of the spaces and nothit anything. But most notable are not the found objects thatGreg Warner discovered in his search to design this place, butthe looks on the faces of those who work here.

They are mostly young. They are mostly happy, friendlyfaces. They are guys and gals who would not be comfortablein a four-square building with whitewashed walls, industrial-strength carpet, and look-a-like desks. Heck, they aren’teven comfortable drinking from plastic cups from the watercooler; it’s glass cups, real silverware, or nothing.

In a way, the place looks sort of Disneyland-ish – whereimagineers went wild. The really fun part is that you’relooking at a bit of Cincinnati history all around you. If thewalls could talk, oh what they could say!

A significant intent of the remodel, says Warner, was thatthe environment needed to be like a think tank. “We are try-ing to change people’s thinking,” he adds, meaning both thestaff and HGC customers. If you are sitting on one of thestools in the kitchen area, it is convenient to allow your mind

to wander. It would be easy to sign a construction contractwith this firm because you can see, touch, smell the creativity.

There is proof that it works. “Our customers walk in and seethat we are doing what we talk about. It’s a big plus,” says MikeHuseman, 45, a grandson of the founder, and now president andone of the five owners of the firm. Sales in 2009 jumped 48 per-cent to $43 million according to a recent story in the CincinnatiBusiness Courier. About 30 percent of the total revenue camefrom projects that emphasized sustainable building products.“If there’s a public green project, we know how to source it.Now that we’ve got that learning done, that’s a big advantage,”Huseman was quoted as saying.

Last year, these projects included a renovation of thedowntown headquarters for Scripps Networks Interactive,Inc., construction of the Lofts at Mottainai in Over-the-Rhine, and the new $3.5 million entry village at theCincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. The village, whichwas awarded LEED® Platinum certification, used an old-growth burr oak tree, removed during the renovation, tomill 1,800 board feet of lumber to be made into benchesand counters. The zoo job is only the last of dozens thatHGC has performed at the facility during the last 50+years of their working together. With four LEED certifiedprojects within its confines, the Cincinnati Zoo is knownby many as “the greenest in the nation.”

Mike Huseman, in a recent guest blog on www.soapbox-media.com says that one of his first jobs as a teenager with hisfather’s company was to pull nails out of old studs that couldbe reused for concrete forms. He added: “It was an old-schoolapproach to construction, but that thrifty attitude still workswell today. Midwestern values rooted in a German heritagetell us not to waste. We value the energy and effort spent inmaking something well: Why would we want to toss it? So,we look for new uses for old things. If we remove an oldwindow in an historic building to replace it with a Low-Edouble-glazed window, we work harder not to throw awaythe old window. We re-use it.”

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Opposite page, [1-2] What once saw the eyes, feet and rears of tensof thousands of students at Hughes High School are now front-and-center at HGC headquarters in Clifton. One is a spiral staircase; theother is hardwood flooring that came from the gym bleachers follow-ing a renovation at the school. [3] A beautifully finished one-of-a-kindmahogany conference room table was made from a byproduct of theveneer process. In other words, it would have been trashed had it notbeen salvaged. [4] Salvaged in 1961 by HGC founder Richard Huse-man during demolition by his company of what was the AlexanderMcDonald mansion, these recycled doors are great eye-openers forvisitors to the Clifton-based company. [5] The exterior windows atHGC were replaced with thermo-panes to increase energy efficiency,and others came from when the company renovated the College HillFundamental Academy.


1

2

3

4 5


In another blog, Huseman lists four steps companieslike his can take to build their green business in this chang-ing economy:Know green. Building green is everyone’s responsibility.Embrace urban. Uptown, downtown, Over-the-Rhine, Cov-ington, Newport. These are the neighborhoods of the neweconomy. If you’re still looking out past King’s Island, you’remissing the show.Work harder. Re-using the old is creatively challenging. It’sharder to salvage trim, to save window frames, to renovatewhile preserving the building’s value.Get experience. How do you budget for unforeseen compli-cations in working with an old building? Experience teachesyou how.

Adds Huseman: “I can tell you that, after our companyhas completed a number of LEED projects in the past 18months, including two that earned the highest LEED Platinumcertification – that the revolution is real. It’s here to say. Befrugal, be cool. Engage in the future.”

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Above: The redwood on the walls of HGC Construction was salvagedfrom a notable Mt. Adams condominium project. Left: A tin ceiling sal-vaged following the renovation of the historical Showboat Majestic nowadorns an office at HGC Construction





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Where does an 800-pound gorillasit? In his natural habitat if this

8-year old kid has his wayTHE HOEWELERS OF GLENDALE

Story by Lindsay Kottmann / Photo by Jason Sandhage

Macallan Hoeweler, 8, returned from soccer practiceone day last year with a special announcement forhis parents. “I want to do something to help people

or animals,” he said.“Mac” probably couldn’t have guessed that this initial ges-

ture would spark an inspiration that spread through his schooland then community, keeping thousands of cell phones out ofthe trash and saving gorilla habitat in the process. Asked whatprompted his impulse that day, Mac, a relatively quiet kidwith a helmet of blond hair, simply reiterates that he wantedto “help out.”

But his mother, Rhiannon Hoeweler, knows a few thingsthat may have influenced him. Rhiannon herself has been intoconservation long before it was the vogue – her undergraduateand graduate degrees are in environmental science. The rest ofus may have recently started bringing reusable bags to the gro-cery store, but she’s been doing it since Mac was a baby. Andshe always makes a point of explaining her eco-friendly effortsto her son, whether it’s the family’s hybrid cars, their aversionto lawn chemicals, or the “green” driveway at their Glendalehome (just two strips of concrete and pavers near the garageinstead of the typical blanket of pavement).

And, she has always emphasized the importance of givingback to the community. So when Mac made his announcementthat day, Hoeweler and her husband were more than happy toput together a list of projects that Mac might want to pursue.

One of the suggestions on the list was to support theCincinnati Zoo’s cell phone recycling program. Coltan, a rare

ore used in cell phones, is mined in gorilla habitat in Africa,and recycling phones reduces the demand for it. The Zoosends collected phones to Eco-Cell, a Louisville-based com-pany, and Eco-Cell pays the Zoo based on the phones’ re-usevalue. That money supports the Zoo’s Conservation Fund,which supports gorilla field conservation projects.

Mac loved spending time at the Zoo, where his momworks as a project coordinator for its visitor engagement ini-tiative. He decided that the cell phone recycling project wasthe one for him.

Terrence Malone, director of the Lower School at SummitCountry Day, received a typed letter from Mac, a secondgrader, requesting that Summit host a cell phone recycling bin.Malone called Mac into his office for more information andwas impressed when the second-grader explained the connec-tion of cell phones to vanishing habitat. “I thought this wasquite cool for a little kid to come up and talk to me aboutthis,” he said.

Yes, the school could collect phones, Malone told Mac.But he didn’t want to stop there. Malone decided it was a per-fect idea for a service learning project. Throughout the schoolyear, Mac and 20 other students researched the benefits of cellphone recycling, constructed bins to collect phones, andworked with their parents to place the bins throughout thecommunity. They also created colorful posters promoting cellphone recycling and made a video explaining their project.(Mac was the star, sporting a khaki safari hat with his schooluniform, and Malone dressed up in a gorilla costume.)


As a result, the school collected 396 cell phones, which thekids dropped off at the Zoo as part of an educational field trip.

The effort has since reached beyond the school. Localcompanies such as Gorilla Glue, ThyssenKrupp, Park + Vineand Urban Sites are supporting the project. In April, nearly allof the Starbucks Coffee locations in the Cincinnati area partic-ipated in a contest to see which store could collect the mostphones, and one location even displayed the Summit students’posters. Mac got to be featured in a video with Zoo DirectorThane Maynard and the Bengals’ Dhani Jones promoting theprogram (you can see the video at www.cincinnatizoo.org/earth/cellphone_recycling.html).

The effort continues: Hoeweler has been approached bystudents from McAuley High School and Indian Hill HighSchool who also want to help collect phones, and she contin-ues to build partnerships with community organizations. Shesays the Zoo has collected more than 2,000 cell phones thisyear, already their biggest annual collection by far since theprogram began in 2006.

Mac isn’t sure if he’ll continue to push the cell phoneprogram at his school next year or try to start another projectto help animals. When he’s older, he says, he might want towork at the Zoo. (That, or be a professional soccer player.)But until then, he still enjoys visiting the gorilla exhibit, wherehe knows the animals by name. It’s nice to watch them, hesays, and think about how he and his friends have helped theirrelatives in the wild.

Here are a few ways the Hoewelers stay green at home.They:

• “Recycle like crazy”• Purchase, when possible, carbon offsets for their travel• Use a tankless water heater, which uses less energy• Drive hybrid cars• Avoid using chemicals on their lawn• Recycle dry cleaning bags as trash can liners• Grow their own herbs• Use rain barrels to capture and use runoff water

being green ��





on the trail of

trashStory by Jason Sandhage

being green ��

Trash has a bad reputation. It can be stinky, grimy, oddand disgusting, bursting out of a 30-gallon plastic bagjust begging to be dragged to the curb. Years ago, we

didn’t give it a second thought, but with today’s overburdenedlandfills and ecological concerns, we can no longer simplymove the trash as far away as possible.

Your trash, garbage and throwaways embark on a journeyas soon as they leave your home. How that journey ends islargely up to the decisions you make. Toss your paper, plastic,glass and certain other materials into the recycle bin and theyhave a good shot at everlasting life. Make a different decision,and the landfill becomes the final resting place. Trash meetsmore trash and it just stays there forever.

We are taking you along on this fascinating journey, show-ing you where and how your garbage gets new life. Have youever wondered how plastic is separated from glass and sent onits way to becoming new packaging or products that will endup on the shelves once again? Have you seen the differentgarbage trucks methodically making their way through yourneighborhood and wondered where they take their loads atthe end of the day?

In the pages that follow, learn about the innovative Recy-cleBank program in Montgomery, where families earn pointsbased on the volume of material they place in curbside trashreceptacles. Meet a family that recycles to get a sense of why

they do it and how it feels to be making a difference.Rumpke graciously allowed us to tag along with their col-

lection vehicles to see and experience their operations first-hand. At dawn, we rode the suburban streets of Montgomeryin a truck with a highly professional, personable driver. At theend of the day, we finished our collections, taking our fullload to the Rumpke facility. This building is a glorious place ofgarbage purgatory. It’s a mere pit stop of automation and tech-nology, with limited manual intervention, where the sorting,separating and sending takes place so our trash can get on itsway to meet a different, better fate.

Hold your nose. It’s still stinky, but this trash is special.Rumpke, our communities, and individual families are

committed to supporting the education, programs and facili-ties that can recover much of our waste, rather than simplyburying it. In our daily lives, we have all sorts of choices. Wecan put that old bookcase to the curb for the next trash day orwe can donate it to a local thrift store. We can buy recycledand recyclable goods on our shopping trips, using our ownbags at check-out rather than the store’s plastic variety. Tablescraps and yard waste can be composted and used to enrichthe soil.

Our trash can travel in different, better directions. Let’sfollow it through its journey.

trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash >


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There’s no reason to put something in the landfill whenyou have a better alternative,” says Jodi Keith. She andher family are part of Montgomery’s green team, an

army of citizens who care enough not to clog the landfills withextra mounds of recyclable rubbish. Jodi, her husbandJonathan and their son and daughter, Dan and Marjorie, makeseparating and sorting the family’s waste, from food packag-ing to paper goods, an automatic part of their daily routine.

Doing the right thing with plastic, glass and paper doesnot begin to tell their story, however. It’s all about reducing,recycling and reusing. The Keith’s’ attractive, brick suburbanhome features kitchen chairs that were once used at Mont-gomery Elementary School, purchased during a remodel of thefacility. The fireplace mantle was fashioned from a tree on theirproperty that had to be cut down to make way for their home.

Today, the Keiths toss more than a third of their wasteinto the recycling bin each week. Their recycling commitmentis so well known that friends sometimes request their expertiseand help with specific items. Add their composting activitiesto the equation and about half of the family’s waste is putback to good use.

Oscar the Grouch is a popular Sesame Street characterwho loves trash. If he visited Montgomery today, he wouldlikely be shaking a tiny green finger at the city, since it hasbeen producing less and less trash in recent years. Oscar hasevery right to blame Rumpke for updating its recycling facility,allowing it to process more items at a much faster rate. Oscarcould equally blame RecycleBank for providing desirable in-centives in the form of points to be redeemed at local estab-lishments. However, for Oscar to get to the root of the

situation, he need look no further than the residents of Mont-gomery, for without their commitment neither the programnor the facility would work as efficiently.

The Keiths are a typical suburban family. They’ve madeMontgomery their home for more than a dozen years.Jonathan works in technical sales at Microsoft and Jodiis employed part-time with Kenwood’s Good ShepherdLutheran Church. Her full-time job, she explains, is takingcare of the kids. Marjorie is a sophomore at Sycamorehigh school and Dan will attend Ohio University in thefall. The family embraced recycling long before the 2008launch of RecycleBank in Montgomery. For them, goinggreen is now a lifestyle.

Across the country, landfills are filling up with trash thatcould have been transformed into new products, much like thepaper in this magazine. Once it’s in the landfill, it stays there, sothe idea is to put trash on a path to becoming something else.

Today, Rumpke is making great strides in educating thepublic about what can be recycled and how easy it is toprepare it. With the new technology in its updated facility,Rumpke can separate and process more material than beforewith greater speed and accuracy. When families like the Keithsdo their part, Rumpke can help make a huge difference. Fami-lies, too, can make a difference with just one step at a time.

One of the Keith family’s favorite spots to cash in on theirenvironmental goodwill is Stone Creek Dining Company inMontgomery, where they purchase some of their favoritedrinks with $20 coupons they receive from the RecycleBankprogram. Something they would do anyway is now paying offin a new, unexpected way. And it’s catching on.

trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash

my recycle bin isfuller than yours

THE KEITHS OF MONTGOMERY

“


being green ��

rash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash

Photo by Jason Sandhage


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trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash

Curbside recycling is nothing new, but the Recycle-Bank program in Montgomery adds a unique twistthat provides households with extra incentives be-

yond a commitment to a green lifestyle. Residents of partici-pating communities can earn significant rewards just formaking smart decisions about how they dispose of theireveryday waste. With its unique business model, Recycle-Bank tracks how much residents recycle, providing rewardsin the form of coupons and discounts to more than 1,500national and local retailers.

The City of Montgomery has rewarded its green cus-tomers with RecycleBank perks since October 2008. The citypartners with Rumpke Recycling, the Hamilton County SolidWaste Management District and the Ohio Department of Nat-ural Resources to make the program available to residents.

Significantly, RecycleBank owns no special facilities andrequires no extra effort from its participants. The companyprovides residents with an oversized, 64-gallon trash cartimbedded with a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip.This chip is used to calculate the weight of your recycling binand that information is sent wirelessly to your online accountand converted into points. Much like a bank statement, all theparticipant needs to do is log-on to recyclebank.com to watchthe points accumulate.

A great feature about the points is the inclusion of neigh-borhood retailers as well as national, well-known companies.Need a trip to the salon? How about a new putter? Just dipinto your points. For those who want to continue giving backto the community, points can be donated to schools and chari-ties. There’s truly something for everyone. But what’s in it forthe recycling company?

Reduced tonnage of solid waste going into the landfillwhile increasing the amount of items recycled is the goal.At the time of the RecycleBank launch, Steve Sargent,Rumpke’s Recycling Director said, “RecycleBank has hadgreat success in other regions of the U.S., and we hope to seesimilar results here in Ohio.” About a year and a half later thestatistics are impressive.

On its municipal website, the City of Montgomery pointsout that residents have met the goal, pointing to a three-yearcomparison that shows an increase in both waste and recyclingtonnage. Looking at results for 2008-09, the website notesthat, “Montgomery residents have increased the amount ofitems they recycle by 72% compared to the same period in2006-2007. During that same period, residents reduced theamount of trash going into the landfill by about 25%.”

The City of Cincinnati is getting onboard and currentlyexpects to start rolling out the RecycleBank program in 2010,with carts capable of holding up to 96 gallons. Cincinnati’s cartdistribution will be carried out in phases, with the containerseventually delivered to 140,000 households throughout the city.In order to handle the increase in recycling, as well as the abilityto accept more types of items, Rumpke has invested $6 millioninto the renovation of its Cincinnati facility.

What began as an idea has quickly become one of themost successful recycling ventures since, well, the introductionof recycling itself. The company says one million people in 20states are participating now. In the future, watch for Recycle-Bank to expand its reach into even more areas.

To find out more, check out this video:www.corporate.recyclebank.com/press

recycle bank programrewards green

customers


At 6 a.m. on Friday, April 16, I was waiting in the dark at thePfeiffer Rd. exit off I-71, ready for some manual labor. Right ontime, my co-worker for the morning arrived. Don Ison is an en-ergetic, friendly guy who has worked for Rumpke for threeyears. Don operates a recycling truck that travels the carefullytended streets of Montgomery, where the RecycleBank programis helping to create a greener community.

The neighborhood was still and quiet as we made our wayto the end of a cul-de-sac where I would begin my day as a recy-cling truck pick-up man. As we drove, Don shared various de-

tails about the duties of the job, how the truck works and thecamaraderie of Rumpke co-workers. On days like this, being apick-up man is systematic and pleasant. Only during harshweather does it get tricky, due to huge drifts of snow and iceplowed over curbs and other unpleasantries of nature.

Rumpke Recycling services more than 200,000 homes andbusinesses throughout the Greater Cincinnati area every weekthrough curbside, commercial and drop box collection. On thisday, I would learn about collection first-hand and help get therecyclables delivered to Rumpke’s impressive, upgraded facility.As I climbed into the truck, I noticed a small video display show-ing the back of the vehicle. For safety reasons, the display makes

it possible to keep a watchful eye on the back of the truck.Don stopped at the first recycling container we spotted at

the end of a driveway, noting that the routine is the same foreach household. Don emerges from the vehicle and rolls thecontainer to an arm-like mechanism on the side of the truck.The arm lifts the container and it is immediately weighed. Be-cause each container is equipped with a radio frequency identifi-cation (RFID) tag, the technology immediately connects to theparticipant’s RecycleBank account. The container, itself, weighsaround 36 lbs. and after that weight is subtracted, the weight of

the contents is determined. That informa-tion is wirelessly sent to the resident’s ac-count at www.recyclebank.com. Based onweight, the resident accumulates points inthe account that can be used to make pur-chases at local and national retail establish-ments. Additionally, each container includesthe address of the resident, making it easyto ensure that the right containers end up atthe right homes.

On this day, Don and I traveled fromhouse to house, stopping only at those witha recycling container at the curb. It appearedto me that three out of every four homeshad their containers out for pickup. Before Iknew it, the sun was emerging, traffic waspicking up and the day was flying by.

On the same route that we were working, other Rumpketrucks were busy with their runs, as well. At various intervals, wepassed trucks collecting compost (organic waste from yards) andregular trash trucks.

Don generally works from 6 a.m. until about 5 p.m. on thisroute through Montgomery. At the end of his shift, he makesone stop at the Rumpke facility in St. Bernard, a newly outfittedand innovative building that uses technology to efficiently han-dle the sorting process. At the facility, Don’s entire truck wasweighed. He then navigated to the landing area where histruck’s recyclable material was off-loaded to the conveyor belt,ready for the next leg of the journey.

being green ��

rash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash

Rumpke: the pick-up

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Stewart & Jervis will work together

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Call us for a consultation and we’ll share with you our list of satisfied customers and discuss how your new home can become a Stewart &

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cincinnati��

trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash > trash>�

Operating since 1932, Rumpke Consolidated has a long and

impressive history both in environmental and community

involvement. Who hasn’t heard of Rumpke Ballpark? And

did you know that the firm was involved in recycling efforts long be-

fore the mainstream movement gained momentum?Rumpke, headquartered in Cincinnati, is one of the nation’s largest

privately owned residential and commercial waste and recycling firms,providing service to areas of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Vir-ginia. Today, the company’s recycling plant in St. Bernard is getting na-tional attention with its new and impressive capabilities that place itamong the most efficient and effective operations in the U.S.

The facility is noteworthy for a variety of reasons. Using impres-sive technology, it is designed to separate the mixed stream of recy-clables (papers, glass, plastics and metals) collected from residentialcurbside, commercial and drop box collection, eliminating the need forcustomers to separate these items themselves. The system also producesa high quality mix of materials appropriate for marketing to vendors.

Upgraded in 2009 with $6 million worth of improvements, theRumpke facility uses computerized systems that keep tabs on speedand efficiency in real time. Here’s how it works: Once recyclablesare collected, the materials begin their swift journey on a conveyorthrough a presort area where trash, cardboard and municipal scrapare removed by hand. Items then fall on two large, upward-slopingscreens, each with areas that have more than 210 rubber discs, calledshafts. The shafts rotate at a high rate of speed as the rubber discssort the materials according to size to determine which directioneach item should take. The discs carry paper items upward to an-other conveyor for further manual sorting. The rigid containers fallback on the conveyor and are carried to another area for sorting.

As the single stream of trash runs through the system, technologyis able to detect and handle a wide variety of recyclable items. Opticalsorting capabilities focus on the stream of trash, ensuring that materialsare identified and corralled appropriately. Cincinnati’s Rumpke facilityis one of just 24 plants in the U.S. to use this impressive TiTech OpticalSorting Scanners technology.

The new system has proven to be more efficient and productivethan its predecessor, able to increase processing from 14 tons perhour with the old system to 28 tons per hour. Not all plastics are thesame and who would expect busy residents to sort and separate themall? Within the Rumpke facility, technology supports more preciseprocessing of plastics, along with an increase in glass recovery from600 to 1,000 tons a month. The new system can recover 97% of allmaterials, compared to 93% prior to the upgrades. According toWaste Business Journal, the industry average is 90%.

More than 100,000 tons of processed materials are shippedfrom this recycling center each year to vendors – local to interna-tional – who use the materials and give them new life.

Today, Rumpke currently accepts these items for recycling:• Plastic bottles and jugs (no lids)• Aluminum cans and steel food, soup or drink cans• Empty aerosol cans with lids and tips removed• Glass bottles and jars• Paper bags• Computer paper and other mixed office paper• Corrugated cardboard, broken down to 3 x 3’ size• Envelopes with or without windows• Junk mail• Magazines• Telephone books• Newspapers with inserts• Paperboard, such as cereal boxesRumpke has proven that the primary challenge in recycling is

not in the technology of sorting and processing, but in the task of ed-ucating the public. By some estimates, 60% of waste currently end-ing up in the landfill could have been recycled if people had justtaken the time to put the items into a cart for curbside pick-up.Modern recycling technology is accurate and efficient, allowing resi-dents to quickly and easily prepare their trash for pick-up. Thesedays, being green takes much less time and effort.

For more information, please visit www.rumpkerecycling.com

Rumpke: the drop-o≠




being green ��

eating greenmeans morethan divingin to a headof lettuce

Diving into a delicious pile of chicken fingers isn’t as easy as itused to be.As we become increasingly aware of our impact on the environ-

ment, we may also hesitate more often before meals, wondering: Didthis chicken lead a happy life? Where did it live? How did the way itwas raised, processed and shipped consume energy and produce waste?

Whether you’re trying to support energy-efficient food produc-tion or trying to avoid indirectly ingesting steroids, hormones or pes-ticides, there are plenty of factors to consider if you want to applygreen standards to your dining. Trying to stay informed on whichspecies and products to eat can be a job in itself.

Thankfully, many local restaurants research all the details onwhere their food comes from and do their best to eliminate waste intheir operations.

Farm to Table: A Short TripToday’s green restaurants strive to obtain the food for their cuisineas locally as possible.

Why?“Number one, because it tastes better,” says Todd Hudson, owner

and chef of The Wildflower Café and Coffee House in Mason.Meals prepared with processed or frozen food aren’t as tasty as

those made with fresh ingredients – perhaps that’s no surprise. Butlocally grown food also takes much less energy to produce, becauseit doesn’t require being frozen or shipped over hundreds or thou-sands of miles. Plus, fresher food is healthier, because food begins tolose nutritional value as it ages, Hudson says.

Wildflower gets all its meat and dairy products from local farms,and Hudson’s goal is to source as many products as possible locally.“People are eating hamburgers all the time, and they don’t know if theycame from China or Vietnam or the farm next door,” he says. Butthat’s changing. Wildflower encourages its diners to ask where theirfood came from and how it got on their plate, and they often do.

Such inquiring diners may even find that some of their foodcomes from gardens on the restaurant’s own property.

Steven Geddes, executive chef at Local 127 downtown, says thatthe restaurant is named after its address, which is the starting pointfor all its sourcing. Local 127 harvests herbs, tomatoes, spring let-tuces, peppers, beets, turnips, peas and more from a garden justblocks away in Over-the-Rhine. The rest, it purchases from selectedlocal farms, which are listed on its menu.

At Virgil’s Café in Bellevue, the roof was built to support a gar-den that the restaurant uses to grow various plants such as basil andarugula, says owner Matt Buschle. Besides the freshness and energy-saving benefits of the roof garden, Buschle hopes that it will alsohelp keep the building cool, saving even more energy.

Raised the Natural WaySourcing from local, independent farms also tends to yield food thatis organic and better for the environment, Geddes says. “Mostsmaller farmers are very hands-on and are doing it because they wantto protect our food chain,” he adds.

Local 127 seeks out better tasting, higher quality breeds andspecies that are less common because they’re not conducive to mass

Geddes Local 127Local 127 executive chef Steven Geddes says his menu lists the sourcesfor all of the food that the restaurant serves. Some if comes from agarden in Over-the-Rhine that the staff tends just a few blocks fromthe restaurant.

Story by Lindsay Kottmann / Photos by Jason Sandhage

Continued on page 124


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rolling out the barrelsANDREA BOOTH AND JASON STIVERS OF SYCAMORE TOWNSHIP

Many people talk the talk when it comes to conservation, butJason Stivers and Andrea Booth actually walk the walk.Well, to be honest, Jason is a runner – so you may say he’s

running with any ideas he has about preserving the environment.For the past five years, they have been saving one of our most

precious resources by harvesting the rainwater runoff from therooftop of their Sycamore Township home. They divert it into rainbarrels and then to the gardens that they have lovingly cultivatedfrom scratch during the 10 years they’ve lived here.

Rain barrels are large containers that capture rainwater atthe bottom of a downspout. Jason has linked the downspouts atthe back of their home with two rain barrels, which togetheraccumulate and store about 100 gallons of rainwater. When thebarrels are full, the couple can water their entire backyard.

It’s estimated that during the hot summer months, the averagehomeowner uses 40 percent of their household water in the yard,according to Paul James, host of HGTV’s “Gardening by the Yard.”This strains water supplies and costs money. Andrea and Jason decidedthat collecting rainwater would be another great way to recycle.

“One year I saw a rain barrel in a catalog and asked my mother–in-law to give it to us for Christmas. At that point we were alreadycollecting water in buckets in the shower and dumping that in theyard, so this seemed like a natural extension of that,” says Andrea.

Rain is free, and rain barrels can fill in a matter of minutesin a rainstorm. A 60-gallon rain barrel can fill in less than.25-inches of rainfall (depending on the size of the roof andgutter system). By linking two or three barrels together, onecan save up to 180 gallons of precious rainwater.

“It really takes no time to fill the barrels when it’s raining,”says Jason. “And any overflow goes through the soaker hosesinto the planting beds. It’s fun to water the garden withoutturning on the faucet from the house.”

The couple’s smaller rain barrel has a soaker hose connectedto it, which runs to some of their flowerbeds in the back yard.They hook a hose to the larger rain barrel to water plants, or useits spigot to fill watering cans. Typically, the couple can water allof their perennials in the yard with one barrel. It takes a day ortwo of watering to empty the larger barrel. During periods ofdrought in late summer, they may use up the water in the barrelsand have to resort to using the spigot and regular water – butthis is the exception rather than the rule.

The couple says that collecting rainwater in barrels and collect-ing the greywater in the tub and shower is perfectly healthy forplants. (Greywater is a term used for wastewater generated fromdomestic activities such as laundry, dishwashing, and bathing whichcan be recycled on-site for uses such as landscape irrigation. This

Story and photo by Michelle Crawley

CANS FOR SHOES, AND MUCH MOREIn most all aspects of their life, Andrea and Jason practice“being green.” Here are some examples:

• Last year they began making compost outside, using a binpurchased from Lowe’s.

• Inside, they practice Bokashi composting, a high-speedcomposting process developed in Japan. Conventionalcomposting relies on oxygen-fed organisms to breakdown organic material. Bokashi uses different kinds ofmicrobes that thrive without oxygen. They decomposeorganic matter through an anaerobic process. To makebokashi you need a couple of big containers with tight-fitting lids (to keep the oxygen out), some kitchen scraps,and Bokashi mix. The mix contains wheat bran, molasses,and efficient microorganisms that drive the process. Thecouple says this is an easy way to compost in winter.

• Only five percent of the plants and trees found in their gar-den were purchased – the rest have been divided andshared from family and friends. The couple, in turn, passeson divided perennials to others. “You don’t have to spenda lot of money to have a pretty yard,” says Andrea.

In addition, they:• Plant a lot of vegetables like tomatoes, peppers and herbs.• Water houseplants with glasses of water left sitting out, in-stead of dumping the water down the drain.

• Hang clothes outside to dry on a clothesline.• Use environmentally friendly dish soap purchased fromTrader Joe’s.

• Use canvas bags at the grocery store.• Installed honeycomb blinds in the house that help to controldrafts.

• Wait as long as possible each season to turn on the airconditioning or heat.

• Recycle almost everything. Because of the composting andrecycling that they do, they only need to take one can ofgarbage to the curb a month. “If you are diligent in finding aplace to do it, you can recycle nearly everything,” says An-drea.

• Pick up aluminum cans while running or biking and takethem to Deer Park Recycling on Blue Ash Road for cash.“This has paid for many pairs of running shoes,” saysJason.


being green ��

differs from blackwater or sewage from toilets, which is not used).The couple says that there are companies that can install and route apermanent greywater recycling system.

Jason routed the rain barrels and downspouts himself. Andwhile he is a mechanical engineer, he says anyone can make theconnections needed to hook up a rain barrel, as long as they arecareful with their aluminum eaves. The system is simple to con-struct from materials found at your local home improvement store.The rain barrels can also be purchased at garden and home im-provement stores for around $130. Jason does note that rain barrelsshould be covered to prevent mosquito breeding, and to reduceevaporation losses, contamination and algae growth. The barrelsshould also be unhooked, emptied and put away for the winter.

Rain barrels can go a long way in offsetting domestic waterneeds: including gardening, car washing, and pool topping. In turn,the burden on the local water system diminishes and ultimately savesmoney. For this couple, collecting rainwater has become as typical asrecycling bottles, cans, newspapers, and composting – and it keepstheir water and money from going down the drain!

Resources:• Civic Garden Center of Cincinnati,www.civicgardencenter.org, 513-221-0981• Marvin’s Organic Gardens, www.marvinsorganicgardens.com,513-932-3319.

Easy to buy, install and use, barrels filled with roof run-off holds just enough water to keep the grass and the backyard gardens lush.Andrea Booth and Jason Stivers got their first barrel as a Christmas present (per their request).


production. For example, Geddes says, wild pigs that are allowed tograze freely in a field may take more energy to raise and process thandocile pigs that have been bred over years specifically to be mass-produced for food. “Are you willing to go the extra mile and raisedifficult breeds and plant difficult varieties because the end result isbetter? That’s the farmer we’re looking for,” Geddes says.

Even if small farmers can’t afford to do everything required for theirproducts to be officially labeled “organic,” they may still avoid pesticideswhenever possible and treat animals more humanely than those that aremass produced, Geddes says. Overall, it’s important for restaurants to de-

velop relationships with farmers that share their values.When ingredients can’t be obtained locally, restaurants may still

check out the best options for the environment. For example, Hud-son buys shrimp from a farm where they are fed all organic grain,and he checks environmental web sites to make sure that the fish heorders are clean and aren’t being over-fished. He can even tell dinerswhich island their fish came from.

For many, green dining means cutting down on meat consump-tion, or avoiding it completely. That’s because meat requires muchmore energy to produce than vegetables and grains. Many green-ori-ented restaurants, such as Melt in Northside, offer a great variety ofmenu items that are free of meat and animal products.

A Green AmbienceFor many restaurants, the green movement goes beyond food.

Buschle puts it bluntly: “I try to do my best to not generate anymore crap.” The materials for his bar were all reclaimed, as was therestaurant’s furniture.

Hudson says Wildflower’s furniture and silverware was also re-claimed from other restaurants. “We bought an old rental propertyinstead of locating into a strip mall or building new,” he points out.

Wildflower and other restaurants, including Melt, offerbiodegradable or compostable to-go boxes and coffee cups, whichalso take less energy to create.

Many restaurants also make the effort to compost and recycle.Food waste at Local 127 is composted and helps fertilize its urbangarden. Also at Local 127, an in-house water purification systemmeans that guests who want purified water don’t have to get it froma plastic bottle.

Staying green is a constant process, Geddes says. Standardschange frequently as benefits are debated.

But it seems that diners are increasingly likely to patronizerestaurants that do their best to stay on top of eco-friendly initia-tives. “We do get a lot of people from an hour, two, three hoursaway,” says Hudson. “There’s a good chunk of the public that’s madea commitment to the way they eat.”

SourcesTodd Hudson, Owner and Chef, Wildflower Café, Mason, 513-492-

7514 • Matt Buschle, Virgil’s Café in Bellevue, 859-491-3287 • Steven

Geddes, Executive Chef, Local 127, Downtown, 513-721-1345.

cincinnati��

Questions about where the foods come from that are served in restaurants owned by the Relish Restaurant Group (which includes Local 127, GreenupCafé, Chalk, JeanRo, Lavomatic Café and others) can be easily answeredwith a short hike just a fewblocks from the Local 127 locale in downtownCincin-nati. There the group maintains their “Urban Garden,” where they harvest herbs, tomatoes, spring lettuces, peppers, beets, turnips, peas and more.

Greenup CaféIt never hurts to have the “green” in your name when you are pro-moting a menu that uses locally produced food, some of which it growsitself, or buys from area farms. Greenup Café is located in Covington.





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livinggreen

Because it makes sense

Story by Doug Sandhage / Photos by Cathy & Mark Lyons

GERALD AND JAN BROWN CHECCO OF CLIFTON


Being green also means telling your friends and neighborsabout it – to spread the word that it is a good thing, theright thing to do. Everyone is curious about the subject

given the media publicity it gets. The Checcos say they getasked three to four times a week about how they went

green, and why.


cincinnati130

he one sure-fire bet to make you want to go green in yourhome is always the same: a big energy bill.

But once it starts going down, be prepared to say thingsyou would not normally say.

For the record, on April 21, 2010, we were standing next toGerald Checco as he watched his basement meter reader turningBACKWARD. “Now that’s sexy,” said Gerald, articulating withflair in an accent obtained growing up on Guadeloupe Island inthe French West Indies and later Paris. We asked him to take hisshirt off next to the meter for a comparison photograph and, atleast for a second, he thought about it.

Checco and his wife Jan Brown Checco live in a three-

story, 100-year-old Queen Anne Victorian-style home in thegaslight district of Clifton, just six blocks from the IGA Gro-cery on Ludlow Avenue. They can often be spotted carryingtheir empty tote bags to, and full bags from. It saves on gasand gives them a chance to exercise and talk to their neigh-bors. For both of them it’s another notch in the door for theirbeing green in Cincinnati. This couple lives it, breathes it, andthey save money doing it. But, they caution, they do it not tobe “preachy,” but because “it is the right thing to do.”

But let’s start from the beginning: September 11, 2001, the daythey moved from Finneytown into their home. They got twoshocks: the first, we all remember. The second came shortly there-

t

With Jan growing up in Golf Manor andGerald on Guadeloupe Island in the French

West Indies, eclectic decorating can befound throughout their three-story, 100-

year-old Queen Anne Victorian-style homelocated in the gaslight district of Clifton.

Much of Jan’s work as a multi-media artistcan be seen in the living room and foyer.


being green 131

after: their utility bill. They had done their research on the home tosee what the bills had been; only problem was that the home wasempty in the year prior and the bills didn’t accurately reflect thecost of keeping the home in a comfortable temperature range.Their first bills were in the $700 - $800 per month category.

What to do? Their professional careers – she’s an artist, andhe’s the superintendent of operations for the Cincinnati ParkBoard – demanded that they think outside the box. Some thingswere painfully obvious. The windows were like open vents tofree-range drafts, insulation was nowhere to be found, and anold gas furnace spelled M O N E Y P I T. Anybody who watchesTV commercials knows that windows are fixable and that newones with an Energy Star rating (see page 62) would result in animmediate savings. But with a big utility bill, and cash flow a bitslim, Gerald said they struck a deal with Gilkey Windows thatallowed them to buy the windows one at a time. Next came thefurnace. Who could argue that it only made sense using the freeheat from the earth and converting it to a geothermal system?Because of the small lot on which the house sits, Jacob Bros.Heating & Air Conditioning Co. was called to do the installa-tion, which included drilling five wells, each 150 ft. deep. Tubeswere inserted into the wells through which passes a solution that

picks up both heating and cooling energies from the ground tobring inside the house.

During this time, the house was being renovated to thecouple’s liking so that not only would it be a monument togreen, but fun to live in as well. And as if to cap it all off, solarpanels were added in late 2008 to the roof of the garagewhich also serves as Jan’s artist studio.

Today the Checco’s average energy bill runs about $225 amonth. And when we visited with Gerald and Jan on a sunnyday in mid April, the dial on the meter reader was actuallyturning backward: it was putting power back into the gridwhich would result in a credit on their bill. “Duke treats us asa mini-power plant,” says Jan.

In the space between the back of the home and the garageis the couple’s organic vegetable, flower and herb garden.“Every Sunday (in season), for our family meal, I can featuresomething I’ve grown in the garden,” says Jan.

So, what exactly, do they do green? Let’s count the ways:1. They walk to the grocery store, and use recycled bags

for carriers. The grocery store is just six blocks away.2. They walk to work when they can. For Gerald, his

primary office is about 15 blocks away; for Jan it’s

Left: The local IGA grocery store is only six blocks from the Checco homeso Gerald and Jan are often seen bringing home their purchases in recycledtote bags. It costs nothing to walk, and everything is gained with the extraexercise. Above: Having room for a garden makes being green even morefun. Jan Brown Checco usually has enough vegetables in season to feed theentire family on Sunday afternoons. Her art studio is in the garage behindher, heated by the solar panels you can see on the roof.


cincinnati132

about 100 feet from her kitchen to her studio in thegarage behind the house.

3. They reuse the water from their clothes washer to keep thegarden wet. Buckets are kept on the outside steps leadingfrom the basement laundry to the garden. “It takes a lot ofwater to keep our clothes clean,” says Jan, saying it justmakes sense to save the energy by using it again.

4. They dry their clothes on a wooden drying rack.5. They plant their garden from seeds, rather than starts,

meaning less water use. Kitchen scraps are compostedand added to the garden as a fertilizer. A small fountainnear the garden is solar powered.

6. They recycle. All household items are sorted per recyclingstandards and when their garage was converted into a

multi-use building to include Jan’s art studio, they calledBuilding Value (a building recycling company) to pick upthe materials so that they can be used again.

7. They installed solar panels on the roof of the garage/artstudio. The total cost of $39,000 was reduced to$10,000 following a $13,000 tax credit from the fed-eral government and $16,000 in a grant from the stateof Ohio. Additional solar panels planned for installationin Fall 2010 means the Checcos could reduce their en-ergy costs to $0, or even result in a credit.

8. They installed in 2007 a geothermal system to replace thehome’s aging gas furnace system. The house now has fourseparate temperature zones, and pocket doors can be usedto keep the warm or cold air intact where needed.

Above: The garage with the solar panels. Opposite: Why use a power-hungry clothes dryer when the sun will do the job for nothing and only a littlebit of labor? Not only that, the clothes smell better says Jan Brown Checco. Gerald Checco says an electric mower he bought five years ago holds justenough charge to mow his yard for each cutting. When done, he just plugs it back in. Under his feet are five, 150 ft. deep wells that hold tubes to pro-vide the geothermal heating and cooling the Checcos enjoy year round. Jan Brown Checco says that even in the oven, she goes green by always tryingto bake several items at the same time. Husband Gerald and Grover the dog endorse it as well.


being green 133


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9. They mow what little is left of their lawn using an elec-tric mower. The balance is planted in perennials andherbs and watered with a slow-drip irrigation hoseusing a timer. No fertilizer or other-type lawn treat-ments are added.

10. They installed Energy Star-rated windows throughoutthe entire home except where there are stained-glass fea-tures. An energy audit in 2007 found only light air leaksaround some transoms, easily fixed with caulking.

11. They installed Energy Star-rated appliances and whenit comes to using the oven, every effort is made tocook several items simultaneously.

12. All light bulbs were replaced with CFL lighting technology.13. Jan lets the clay she fires in her kiln air dry longer

than normal thereby cutting down use of the kiln,which needs lots of heat to work. She also only fires itwhen she has a full load.

The Checcos say that a week doesn’t go by that friends,neighbors or others who have heard about their ‘green-cut’ways stop in and ask how they can do it too. “Most leave withastonishment saying ‘I didn’t know it was possible,’” says Jan.“They walk away with a ‘can-do-it’ attitude. It’s somethingabout connecting with the earth,” she adds.

Gerald and Jan lived for five years in Paris after they gotmarried and started their family there with two daughters.Jan, who grew up in Golf Manor, quickly noticed that the Eu-ropean way of living was significantly different from what sheknew in Cincinnati. In Europe she said people were muchmore accustomed to opening their windows early in the morn-ing and closing them about 10:30 to “conserve the coolness inthe house.” They use pocket doors to seal off rooms, shutter-ing windows or hanging tapestries over them. And they wearsweaters or three to four levels of wool socks. “They don’tdress like its summer when it’s winter,” she says.

Gerald, who has been superintendent of operations forthe Cincinnati Park Board since 1999, admits that his jobplays a large role in his green attitude. “It is part of my duty.I have to think green,” he says. “I’ve always been mindful asa civil servant to use the least amount of money for thecommon good.” He adds that salaries are the parks’ biggestexpense, followed by energy use. “The driver for my job andhome has been economics. And I’d rather cut electricitythan somebody’s job.” He notes that some of the city’sgreen initiatives include a no-idle policy, installation of a

wind turbine in Eden Park, use of 30 solar trash compactors,conversion of mowers to biodiesel, conversion of vehicles toeither use ethanol or propane, and the harvesting of ashtrees being killed by an ash borer insect. The trees are soldto the public school system of Cincinnati to be used to makeshelving and storage bins. The money from the sale is thenused to help buy the 3,000 to 4,000 trees the park depart-ment replaces each year.

Jan says her artwork is moving more toward “designinglarge projects that engage community participation.” Tounderscore the point, she is the art director for KrohnConservatory’s annual butterfly show. “The Conservatoryhas a mission to connect to the public with nature, andour show design work has successfully folded cultural andarts stories in with green messages,” she says. “Every yearthe set pieces become more reusable and recyclable or areupdated with LED lights.”

In addition, Jan says that since 2000, she has beenusing “found objects” in much of her art. “Instead ofpainting or drawing a portrait of someone, I find a pieceof clothing or accessory that personifies the subject, andthen arrange and change it to more fully tell about whothey are, giving more information about character andsituations than any photo image could. The essence of theperson is the subject, rather than the surface, leaving us asmere observers of appearances.”

In summary, the Checcos say that while green living isstill of recent vintage to them, “It’s now about living a lifethat is necessary for us,” says Jan. She adds that she andGerald enjoy a “symbiotic relationship. He makes it workand knows the costs. I make it lovely.” But, I ask, will any-one still be green 10 years from now once the novelty wearsoff? “I want to believe they will,” says Gerald. “The writingis on the wall. We will be forced to do it.” Reminded thatPresident Jimmy Carter had us all turning off lights forabout a year, Jan retorted that he did get something rightwhen he told Americans that “There’s nothing wrong aboutwearing a sweater in the winter.”

Who Did It?General Contractor for Renovation: Scott CrawfordGarden Design: Tim Young with Brengelman Young LandscapingService Windows: Gilkey Window Co. Geothermal System:Jacob Bros. Solar Panels: ThirdSun Solar and Wind Power

Opposite: While most of the windows in the Checco home have been replaced with Energy Star-rated windows from Gilkey over the last few years, thehome’s stained glass windows were left untouched but can be covered with pull-down shades. Opposite, inset: Nearly all of the lights in the Checcohousehold, even those in decorative fixtures and in outdoor lampposts, have been replaced with CFL bulbs.


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L ong before there was a Cincinnati, there was the OhioRiver. Stretching 980 miles in length, the river drew

people to its waters and shorelines centuries ago, when NativeAmericans created communities along its hillsides and valleys.Cincinnati’s earliest settlers came here by river, using keel-boats, flatboats and later on, steamboats and paddlewheelboats to move animals, people and goods. A true jewel inCincinnati’s crown, the Ohio River remains the focal pointof the city and is in fact, its raison d’être.

A Green AmbienceRegardless of its stature, the Ohio River has not always beenproperly cared for and protected. In fact, it’s been downright neg-lected and mistreated, sparking a long history of pollution controlefforts and regulations aimed at stopping its degradation.

Clean-up and regulatory steps have included the creationof the Ohio River Investigation Station in 1913, the nation’sfirst basin-wide pollution control strategy. Additional effortsinclude the federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 andmost recently, the federal Clean Water Act of 1972. Thesecombined efforts, with the decline of some of the early indus-tries that contributed to the pollution of the river, such asmany of the older steel mills, have led to the river’s improvedconditions today.

Rallying people to the river’s cause, Brewster Rhoads is akey figure in the resurgence of these waters. Well known as aprimary component behind major political campaigns andOhio Governor Ted Strickland’s current Regional Director ofSouthwest Ohio, Rhoads knows how to bring attention to anissue and rally people to action.

paddlefest: it’s all about the waterBREWSTER RHOADS ON THE OHIO RIVER



As a frequent kayaker and originator of the Ohio RiverWay Paddlefest, Rhoads has the river running through hisveins. His home away from home is a 1955 houseboatparked alongside BB Riverboats in Newport. It hasn’t run inyears but it’s a comfortable place where Brewster allowshimself to unwind a little and enjoy what he believes to be“our region’s most precious natural asset,” the Ohio River.“I call it my ‘hour vacation,’” says Rhoads of his time spenton the river. So far, Rhoad’s record for paddling in oneyear is 326 days, which may explain why Reds announcersMarty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall have been heard saying,“Rhoads is out there,” while he was paddling his kayak nextto the stadium. For Rhoads, the Ohio River is his front yard.

Paddlefest 2010What began as a small gathering of friends and paddlers hasgrown into the largest on-water canoe and kayak festival inthe United States. “When we began in 2002, 98 paddlerssigned up and 280 showed up on the day of the event,” saysRhoads. They were a bit overwhelmed and unprepared for theturnout. But with over 1,800 paddlers expected this year,PaddleFest has become a full-fledged three day event wherepeople of all ages can come to enjoy some paddling, music,scenery, wildlife and each other’s company. “That’s whatPaddlefest is all about, explains Rhoads, “taking the time toexperience the natural world.”

At its essence, the event is a pep rally for the river.Illustrating that water quality has improved in recent yearsand providing participants with a chance to see a beaver orblue heron as they paddle the Ohio is an important step ingetting people out of their homes and back in touch withtheir natural surroundings.

During Paddlefest, barge and riverboat traffic is blockedfor four hours to accommodate the paddlers as they maketheir 8.2-mile trek down the river from Coney Island todowntown. The U.S. Coast Guard, Cincinnati Sail & PowerSquadron and the Paddlefest Safety Patrol are all set up onthe water to help where needed. In return, Paddlefest andThe Ohio River Way (ORW), a non-profit, volunteer-ledorganization working to promote, protect and celebrate thenatural beauty and recreational benefits of the Ohio River,give back. Together, they work to raise funds to completethe Ohio River Bike Trail (downtown Cincinnati to LunkenAirport) and to create and promote the Ohio River WaterTrail to help paddlers and power boaters safely explore theOhio and its tributaries.

The annual Paddlefest weekend promotes fun, challengesand educational activities for all ages. The Kid’s Outdoor

Adventure Expo helps youngsters learn about and enjoy theenvironment, launching a new generation of paddlers andprotectors of the Ohio River. There’s also kayak paddlingclinics, environmental education exhibits, a fishing tourna-ment and the annual Ohio River Music Festival, wherepeople can enjoy the sights and sounds of local bands likeJake Speed and the Freddies.

Ultimate Melting PotFor Rhoads, Paddlefest is a state of mind that actually lastsyear-round. Gliding across the water, he gets a chance tounwind, think clearly, plot strategies and enjoy the views thatare only available from the river. In addition to Paddlefest,Rhoads has generated additional attention through activitiessuch as his across the-Ohio River swim with National Geo-graphic Traveler writer Boyd Matson in 2007.

“The river is the ultimate melting pot,” he explains, citingencounters with beavers, ducks and muskrats, not to mentionthe diversity of the people he encounters on the water, fromthe high-rise residents simply enjoying the view to local fisher-men who see the river as a source of dinner. He commentsthat the Cincinnati panorama from a kayak is far morepersonal than anything on land, invoking an inspirationalexperience that speaks to our natural surroundings.

Rhoads says that he has “always been outdoor oriented.”But the credit for his introduction to kayaking can be attrib-uted to his brother-in-law, Olympic Kayaker Jon Lugbill.“I married into the sport,” said Brewster with a smile.Lugbill is widely regarded as the greatest whitewater canoe,slalom racer to ever hold a paddle. During the 1980s, hedominated international racing in Men’s Individual C-1(a decked canoe, similar to a kayak) and he is also knownfor his innovations in paddling technique and boat design,and gracing the cover of Wheaties.

Integrating the river into his everyday life provides enjoy-ment and physical fitness for Rhoads. Well aware of the river’splace in Cincinnati history and lore, he works tirelessly tobring that message to others in the community.

“The Ohio River is the source of our drinking water,” hesays. “It’s an iconic image of what people picture when theyimagine the postcard view of our city, an amenity that othercities would love to have for themselves.” Keeping our riverclean and safe is not only good for the environment and goodfor business, but it’s also good for the soul.

To learn more about Paddlefest and the Ohio River Way, please

visit Ohioriverway.org.

being green 139




T he funny part about most older people that I know is thatthey often laugh when you start talking to them about being

green. Not that the topic is funny. It’s just that they’ve alreadybeen practicing green for most of their lives. Not because some-one told them to, or because of a fancy marketing blitz, but be-cause it made sense to do so.

Growing up in my family, all of ourvegetables came fresh from the gardenin the backyard, and we threw the left-overs on the garden after dinner (nowthey call it composting). Hard goodswere not thrown away if there was anypotential for re-using them (now theycall it recycling), and every plastic con-tainer in the refrigerator had the CoolWhip label – the first inexpensive,reusable plastic container known to my

Mom, and everyone else in the neighborhood. Every trip down-town meant several stops to avoid excess gas and mileage, and asingle shower was always started and stopped several times toavoid wasting water. If a glass of water was not fully consumed,the balance went to watering a plant.

The list goes on. Interestingly, about half of the stories in thisissue are written as if the ideas are new. And to many they are, butto the previously mentioned folks I started this story with, they areold hat. In the good old days nobody talked about climate change,argued about whether the plastic in the Cool Whip container wouldkill you, or if kitchen scraps or good old cow poop was good forthe garden. On the latter, we all knew a farmer or two who hadextra manure waiting for someone to shovel it into their pickup.What we did just made sense.

Sometimes the more advanced we get, the less we know.But I do have to give credit to the newcomers to green who

do it with such gusto. To some of them, saving a half-glass ofwater to share with a plant is as close as it gets to heroism. Butthat’s OK; at least they are doing it. It’s a start.

Which is what this green issue is all about. Get started. Dosomething. Don’t get bogged down into whether it’s right orwrong. Follow your heart. It really does make sense.

•Did I mention passion? Since my son Jason and I started thismagazine nearly a year ago, we’ve talked to hundreds of profes-sionals who have found green – much like finding religion. It’seasy to pick them out. Their eyes glow, their bodies are generallymuch more animated, and they can talk for hours if given aforum. They see things. They know that a half glass of water ishalf full, or a ten-story wind turbine is our future.

Right now I’m thinking about Libby Hunter of Comey &

Shepherd Realtors, one of the first to believe in our venture andour plan to do a magazine to “tell all” about the benefits of beinggreen. I’ve always said that when Realtors get hold of something,something gets done. They know people, they spread news betterthan email, and when homes start going green, they will knowhow best to market them. Libby got involved in the greening ofCincinnati a long time ago and in her you see the momentum.

But, to be fair, I’m also thinking about dozens of others, manyof them mentioned in my son’s opening story to this issue.

•Being Green is for everyone. On a day-to-day basis it takes littleextra effort, and just a little extra thought.

You can be rich or poor, any color, any religion, any size orshape. Every contribution counts.

Earlier this year my wife Marianne and I attended the Sun-dance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. After our plane landed inSalt Lake, we toured the city. If you haven’t been there lately, thedowntown route is like driving through the make-believe streetsof Disneyworld. The streets appear to be regularly picked up, thegreenery is lush, you see lots of bicyclists and people walking,and, most important to the success of any city, lots of holes in theground with active cranes moving steel.

We were amused with a sidewalk billboard promoting greenliving. It implied, aided with the handwritten help from a streetprophet, that you must be poor if you ride, walk, or take public

transportation. But reading between the lines, it shows that, evenif unwittingly participating, we are all a necessary part of thebeing green thinking.

•About our cover. Can Cincinnati be the green capital of the U.S.A.?You bet, and many would say we are already well on the way. If youlike the view of Cincinnati coming down the cut-in-the-hill fromKentucky, think of what it would look like in full, living-green-color. Much thanks to friend, artist Beverly Erschell for her vision.

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new twists on old ideasCLOSING WORDS









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