Flexing Green Muscles Earth Day and Every Day

NDS is a Neighborworks
America green designee

By Stacy Brown, Neighborhood Development Services Inc, director of asset management

Being a responsible steward of our environmental resources means looking at the variety of ways in which our homeownership and rental home work can reduce environmental harms and build the self-sufficiency of our people and buildings. Benefits of “going green” include lower utility costs for residents to a unique marketing asset for us as we compete for tenants and homebuyers.

Last December, NeighborWorks America named Neighborhood Development Services Inc (NDS), based in Ravenna, Ohio, as a NeighborWorks Green Organization designee. We are proud to be a part of this program and we hope what we learn can inspire others nationwide. Our green work spans weatherization and home repair to ecologically responsible design and materials for new buildings.  We are also branching into alternative energy as a way to raise revenue while helping the community and the environment.

For existing homes, we’ve found that weatherization protections pay off for all involved.  At our Lakeview 2 Apartments complex, we reduced energy 20 percent by installing Energy Star appliances, attic insulation, air sealing, heat pumps and high efficiency lighting and window fixtures. We also used faucet aerators, dual flush toilets, water efficient washers and landscaping to decrease water usage. The work has benefited not only NDS, but also Lakeview residents who now have lower utility costs.

NDS has also committed to incorporating environmental improvements and green maintenance. This means purchasing green materials and supplies when possible, installing rain barrels at all of its properties and creating recycling systems for all residents. Additionally, the maintenance staff is trained on purchasing, methodology and overall green maintenance.

Finally, we are working to take environmental sustainability beyond simply housing improvements. NDS is pursuing the opening and operation of a public compressed natural gas re-fueling site. This site responds to rising demand for cleaner fuel sources for their vehicles. It will dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions and allow local residents and businesses to take advantage of major fuel cost savings. Revenue earned from the site will provide NDS with a new source of funds to support its other mission-driven programs, which will benefit the communities in which we operate. While this project is still in its preliminary stages, NDS has met with local stakeholders to discuss the project and continues to seek funding to perform a formal feasibility study for this project.  Additionally, we are working toward gathering fuel commitments from local companies. These commitments are key to securing funding and partnerships related to this unique, triple bottom line project.

Together, all of us can find ways to use environmental resources more sustainably. We know our efforts are but one example and we look forward to learning about and implementing many new ideas in the years ahead.  To learn more, visit http://www.ndsohio.org.

Earth Day 2011: Underscoring NeighborWorks America’s Green Commitment

by Michelle Winters,
Senior Manager, Green Strategies,

NeighborWorks America

On this Earth Day 2011, it’s time to step back and look at how far we have come in our green practices. Over the past year, NeighborWorks America has moved forward with a variety of initiatives to support the environmental efforts of the NeighborWorks network and nonprofit housing and community development since Earth Day 2010. Among these is the recent national symposium – Green Choices, Green Value: For the Communities and Families We Serve – where green issues ranging from the health implications of green building, sustainable community planning and organizing efforts, and the benefits of green jobs were discussed and debated. In addition, NeighborWorks America has expanded its offering of green courses – offered both on-line and at the NeighborWorks Training Institutes – providing nonprofit developers and community leaders with up-to-date information on environmentally friendly practices.

Our network organizations are leaders in green building, but their commitment to greening stretches beyond the bricks and mortar to all of their programs and the families that they serve. NeighborWorks America supports incorporating green strategies into all business lines and in the day-to-day operations of the organizations because of the financial, social, and environmental benefits that greening can bring. We believe that green housing and education can help residents thrive in their homes and communities, and that comprehensive green strategies are the best way to deliver these benefits. For more see news release.

Within our organization, we are working hard to reduce our carbon footprint, and in honor of Earth Day our staff have also stepped up and pledged ways they can individually make a difference toward a greener work and home environment. These include everyday things that can have a large impact when taken as a whole, like using reusable mugs and water bottles, recycling, and using public transportation more often. Some are going further with things like composting, bicycling to work, installing rain barrels, and volunteering at local recycling facilities.

A year from now, we anticipate more successes to share with you in the green arena, the kind of changes that reduce our impact in the environment while creating more green jobs and sustainable communities.

NeighborWorks America Reaffirms Its Commitment to 'Go Green'

As the nation celebrates Earth Day 2010, NeighborWorks America reaffirms its commitment to help low- and moderate-income communities across the nation go “green” and become healthy, sustainable places for people to live and work.

The commitment begins at home with NeighborWorks America’s pledge to reduce its own carbon footprint by 10 percent by 2012, and to offer training and education on green practices to the nonprofit community development field at large.

The commitment continues throughout the NeighborWorks network, which is working hard to promote green practices in communities through green home design and construction, rehabilitation, weatherization, energy efficient rental properties, and green jobs training. NeighborWorks America and the NeighborWorks network are fully committed to work together to create or rebuild healthy, sustainable communities across the country.

“This is an exciting time for the nonprofit community development field and its efforts to create healthy, sustainable and affordable housing,” said Thomas P. Deyo, deputy director of National Initiatives and Applied Research at NeighborWorks America. “NeighborWorks America is committed to being a leader in employing and promoting green and sustainable practices for the long-term benefit of the environment and our nation’s communities, so that all people can live, work, and play in healthy, ecologically friendly and affordable places.”

The NeighborWorks newsroom has more information, including highlights of just a few of the local NeighborWorks organizations’ green initiatives currently underway.

Learn about NeighborWorks Green Agenda at www.nw.org/green, and about Green training opportunities at http://www.nw.org/network/green/training.asp.