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Indianapolis Going Green
Magazine Articles - Utilities
Wednesday, 30 May 2007 06:04
indygreen1.jpg

You can already see hints of the tint in Indy. The skyline will soon sprout more green roofs designed to slow storm water runoff and reduce the effects of heat islands. Residential and commercial districts will boast new or renovated energy-efficient structures built with aesthetically pleasing and environmentally friendly materials. More paving will be done with special, pervious materials that allow storm water to seep slowly into the ground rather than gush off impervious pavement. The intrinsic value of green spaces, from parks to cemeteries, has registered in the public consciousness. There seem to be serious discussions about mass transit and urban sprawl.

A recent Indianapolis conference on green roofs drew more participants than any other locale, according to Jennifer Sprout of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, who sponsored the seminar with the city.

Could Indianapolis be turning green?

indygreen2.jpg
Chicago City Hall’s green roof, completed in 2001, saves at least $5,000 a year on utility bills. (Photo courtesy of Michigan State University)
"There has been an amazing transformation in this country the last few years," said Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson. For example, the agenda for the National League of Cities’ meeting last January did not contain anything about sustainability. By the end of the two-day conference of mayors, sustainability was the number one item, said Peterson, who is president of the organization. "It was the only thing anybody wanted to talk about."

The impetus for this heightened awareness, concern and action comes from ordinary people, who seem light years ahead of many politicians, civic leaders and corporate executives when it comes to implementing green practices.

More than 1,000 of the believers heard Peterson make his remarks recently at Congregation Beth-El Zedek in Indianapolis, before former Vice President Al Gore, the guest speaker, took the podium. Gore reminded the audience that the Chinese symbol for crisis also could be interpreted as opportunity.

"Global warming is the most serious challenge our civilization has ever confronted. It also is our greatest opportunity," Gore said. Changing our ways and insisting governments and businesses do the same is a "moral and ethical imperative."

As in his Oscar-winning movie An Inconvenient Truth, Gore used graphs, charts, photographs and animated images to illustrate the changes we’ll see as the climate warms. Indeed, Gore said, the map of the world may have to be redrawn because of climate-warming changes to the topography of planet Earth.

Gore’s message is a powerful motivator for people everywhere to meet the challenges of climate warming. People like Dave Forsell, president of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful Inc., and his board of directors who want to do their part in the Fountain Square neighborhood of Indianapolis.

For the past few months, KIB has been raising money to buy a vacant, two-story, red brick building in Fountain Square and turn it into the not-for-profit’s green headquarters. Built in the 1960s, the building will allow KIB to consolidate people, plants and equipment from three different locations under one roof, just a few minutes from downtown Indianapolis.

indygreen3.jpg
Architect’s concept of proposed headquarters for Keep Indianapolis Beautiful Inc., at 1029 Fletcher Ave. in Fountain Square. (Rendering courtest of Ratio Architects)
Forsell has been working with architects, designers and others to develop plans that would use environmentally friendly building materials and practices. He expects to earn points in the industry- standard rating system called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED.

"I do see a cultural shift taking place and a lot more interest in LEED buildings and sustainable practices. It’s on the mainstream’s radar screen," he said. KIB’s use of green building techniques will give the estimated $1 million budget about a 2-percent bump up, he said, adding quickly that the additional costs would be recovered with energy and water savings within three years. "And that savings continues year after year," Forsell said.

The goal is to help KIB develop as a resource for others interested in environmentally friendly construction materials and practices.

Water and energy efficiency is also an integral part of the renovation of a two-story building on the southeast corner of Rural Avenue and 10th Street on Indianapolis’ eastside. So is a green roof that will have public access, said Joe Bowling, a volunteer with the Englewood Community Development Corp., which is part of Englewood Christian Church.

{sidebar id=5} Bowling is on a mission to make the building as efficient as possible, with plans that include a green roof that will have hanging gardens visible from the street. In the rear of the building, an atrium will be built that will have a stairway to the roof, providing public access. Coupled with the adjacent pocket park, the building may be the greenest intersection in town when the work is completed this fall.

When you talk about green living, Forsell said, "you see the usual suspects, the handful who are already interested. But at Gore’s talk, there were 1,000 people who paid money to hear about environmental quality and sustainable cities. I walked away from there overwhelmed by the evidence. And, maybe, that’s his intention, to overwhelm us with the evidence of climate changes to spur us into taking action."
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About the author Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp, editor of Indiana Living Green , is a director of Garden Writers Association . She is secretary of the Marion County Extension Office , director of the Indianapolis Museum of Art Horticultural Society, secretary of the Friends of Garfield Park Inc., and president of the board of the Business Ownership Initiative of Indiana.

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