COMMONWEALTH SUSTAINABILITY WORKS
GREEN BUILDING + SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES + STRATEGIC PLANNING

current news and resources

Learn about government incentives for energy upgrades at www.dsire.org.

CSW Principal Andrew Grigsby will teach three green building related classes at Germanna Community College in the winter and spring of 2010: "High-Performance Homebuilding"; "LEED© and other Green Building Certification Programs"; and "Energy Smart Home Improvements". Open enrollment. See www.germanna.edu. Classses also available at Piedmont Va. Community College - see www.pvcc.edu.

Read about home energy tips and see videos of CSW Principal Andrew Grigsby conducting an energy audit at www.energysmartsolutions.org. A project of The Piedmont Environmental Council.

Understanding what an energy audit is and how it helps - A review of CSW Principal Andrew Grigsby's presentation on energy audits at The Link Community Center in Sperryville Virginia. Published in the Rappahannock News on Aug. 13, 2009.

Green-collar employment - A review of the May, 2009 Green Jobs Conference held at Germanna Community College, which CSW Principal Andrew Grigsby helped to organized Published in the Culpeper Star Exponent on May 20, 2009

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.

"Conservation Based Affordable Housing: Improving the Nature of Affordable Housing" - This report spotlights the opportunity to develop housing for low- and moderate-income residents and also protect natural and working landscapes. See www.conservationfund.org.

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.