COMMONWEALTH SUSTAINABILITY WORKS
GREEN BUILDING + SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES + STRATEGIC PLANNING

current news and resources

CSW Principal Andrew Grigsby will be teaching a green building workshop - focusing on water use (efficient fixtures, site design, rainwater harvesting, etc.) - at Ferguson Enterprises Plumbing Showroom in Winchester, Va. from 5:30 - 7:30 PM on Tuesday, September 16, 2008. Admission is free.

CSW Principal Andrew Grigsby will be teaching classes on green building for homes at Germanna Community College during the Fall 2008 semester. Culpeper campus classes are October 22 and 29 (Wednesday evenings). Fredericksburg campus classes are November 6 and 13 (Thursday evenings). See www.germanna.edu for details.

The 2/19/08 Culpeper Star Exponent featured a story on local EarthCraft homes - certified by CSW Principal Andrew Grigsby. See www.starexponent.com.

Want to know the facts about global climate change? See an excellent primer on the topic compiled by the Woods Hole Research Center at www.whrc.org. To take action, see the recommendations of the Union of Concerned Scientists at www.ucsusa.org.

Fight sprawl, improve your health, and improve local economies - buy your food from local producers. See an online list of Virginia farms and orchards at www.piedmontgrown.com.

Affordable Housing Reader from the American Planning Association. This web site includes more than 100 documents and articles on every aspect of affordable housing compiled into an online reader accessible to all visitors to the APA web site. See www.planning.org.

The US Green Building Council says that patients at hospitals using green technologies are discharged an average two and a half days earlier than patients at traditional hospitals. Read "Hospital, Heal Thyself: Greening the Design and Construction of Healthcare Facilities" at sustainablebusiness.com.

Schools that incorporate green design are delivering improved test scores and lower maintenance costs. Learn more at www.nesea.org. Read about an Arlington, Virginia high school that recently earned a silver rating from the US Green Building Council at www.arlingtonva.us.