Please Take a Few Minutes to Help the CRC Succeed!

The CRC is looking for ways to engage more people in its programs.

We are hoping you can spare 10-15 minutes in the next few days to take a brief survey that will give us some important feedback on our programs and how we talk about them.

Please click here to take the survey.

The survey will close September 21st, so please act soon!

We would love to extend our reach beyond the normal community with whom we engage. Please send this survey to 3 of your friends (all must live in Boulder County):

1) Your most green friend

2) Your least green friend

3) Someone who has not heard of the CRC

Thanks so much for helping us make a difference in Boulder County!

Be a Part of CRC’s 14th Annual Boulder County Solar Week

Come join the CRC’s 14^th Annual Boulder County Solar Week! Solar Week is the premier event in Boulder County to learn about how to ‘green’ an existing home or build a new green home with topics including energy efficiency improvements, residential renewable technology, and green building basics.

Solar week kicks off Saturday, September 26^th with the Tour of Solar and Green Homes, which features two newly-built homes and 12 retrofitted homes in Boulder County this year. Tour highlights include plenty of solar thermal and photovoltaic (including roof-integrated) panels, and ground-source electricity, heating, and cooling, many creative passive solar designs, hundreds of sustainable options for interiors, a solar-powered plug-in hybrid, a graywater recirculation system, and much more! The tour starts with registration at one of two Green Products and Services Expos either in front of the CRC or in Louisville near the Farmer’s Market outside the Old Louisville Inn and the Louisville Public Library.

Following the Tour we offer a week of inspirational and educational seminars to help you bridge the gap from inspiration to action. Check out this year’s series at: http://www.conservationcenter.org/e_solarweek_workshops_select.html Seminars often sell out so be sure to register now!

New this year! BGBG’s Ask an Expert Event: One-on-one with local contractors to get advice specific to your home! Tap into the local expertise of Architects, Builders, Renewable Energy Specialists, Energy Auditors, Landscape Designers, and Interior Materials Specialists to get advice on projects from minor energy tweaks to new home construction! Ask an Expert is the perfect solution – affordable advice from local professionals who can help you get the most for your budget, your personal goals and the best efficiency for your investment. For more information: http://www.conservationcenter.org/e_solarweek_ask-an-expert.html

Volunteering for the event is a great way to get involved and to support the CRC! It’s also a great way to learn more about green building. Volunteers can help out during the tour or during one of 7 Solar Week seminars in Boulder, Longmont, or Louisville in the evenings during the following week. Volunteer shifts on the day of the tour are 9:00am-1:15pm for the morning or 12:45-5:00pm for the afternoon. Breakfast and lunch will be provided to tour volunteers. Volunteer tasks will include helping with registration at the CRC office, greeting tour participants at tour homes to confirm registration, helping tour participants understand more about the homes, and educating tour participants about services offered by the CRC, including handing out educational materials. Volunteers are not required to have prior knowledge in sustainable architecture, renewable energy, energy efficiency measures at home, or other tour topics. Contractors will be present at the homes to answer technical questions. Seminar volunteers help with set-up or break-down of the venue and registration. They receive free admission to the seminar (usually a $10 admission fee). Interested volunteers please email Julie Hayes at solarweek@conservationcenter.org with specifics of when and how you would like to help out.

Visit http://www.conservationcenter.org/e_solarweek.htm for Solar Week event details and registration.

Boulder City Council Candidates, Environmental Issues Forum

Want to know candidates’ positions on the Open Space Visitor Master Plan, Growth and Development, Bus/Rapid Transit, Valmont Coal Plant, the Climate Action Plan and other environmental topics? Hear directly from the candidates.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Boulder Public Library, Main Branch
Canyon Theater
1000 Canyon Boulevard, Boulder

6:00pm Doors will open to public
6:15pm–7:45pm Moderated forum
7:45pm–8:30pm Meet and greet candidates

Hosted by: Friends of Boulder Open Space (FOBOS), PLAN Boulder, the Sierra Club and Boulder Climate Action Network (BCAN). We would like to thank the Boulder Public Library for hosting this event. For additional information, please go to: http://rockymtn.sierraclub.org/ipg

"Green Renovation Was a Better Investment Than the Stock Market"

By Julie Hays

Most of us come in to contact with hundreds of synthetic surfaces and materials daily and for the most part, we don’t think about it. These synthetics, everything from the carpet to your toothbrush, are slowly but constantly degrading and releasing particles, often harmful ones, into the air.

When Sarah and Marshall Lee’s cats started dying from respiratory cancers and related diseases, the most apparent cause were these very synthetics, specifically flame-retardants used on carpets and upholstery. These “canaries in the coal mine” signaled to them the need to remodel their home with natural and sustainable materials.

After moving into an old home in the perfect location, they started the process with a REAP (Residential Energy Action Program) energy audit from the Center for ReSource Conservation. This home visit by home energy professionals included a blower-door test. After sealing all the windows and doors, auditors seal the front door with a curious contraption that includes a large nylon sheet, a large fan and a pressure-sensing device – a ‘blower door.’

The fan blows air out of the house, creating a pressure difference between the inside and outside of the house. This differential allows the device to calculate a ratio of natural air changes per hour (nACH), or how much air might leak out or into your home in an hour. “It was a real eye-opener” says Sarah Lee of the blower door test. “We learned that we were having air leak from our windows and doors, and from places that we didn’t even imagine.”

What a blower door does for air sealing, an infrared camera does for insulation – that is, make problem areas obvious. This is commonly lauded as the funnest part of the energy audit. Areas of the home exterior that provide little resistance to heat loss are illustrated for homeowners in full color. With this information and detailed attention to the home, a prioritized list of energy improvements is determined for the homeowners.

With energy audit in hand, the Lees decided to add attic insulation before moving into the home. They chose to spend time living in the home getting to know its ‘quirks’ before making more substantial changes. Like test-driving a car or going on a first date, this turned out to be an important first step, one that Sarah Lee recommends to other homeowners looking to renovate green or improve home energy performance. “Had we not lived in it, we might not have discovered that our master bathroom was 48 degrees in the winter time and in need of more insulation,” she notes.

Armed with high-speed Internet and robust curiosity, the Lees also began to educate themselves, moving from ‘novice’ to ‘expert’ level in their knowledge of green remodeling and retrofitting. They found many knowledgeable contractors able to assist them, however none whose expertise was able to cover their entire home.

Empowered with information, the Lees implemented a variety of different green and renewable technologies to create exactly the dream green home they wanted. These eventually included a photovoltaic (PV) electric system, geothermal heating and cooling, solar thermal water heating, additional insulation in walls and attic, more efficient (better insulating) windows, CFL and LED lighting, an induction cook top and ENERGY STAR appliances.

Indoor finishes and accents of sustainably-sourced or reused materials and low or no VOCs (volatile organic compound; refers to virtually any carbon-based material that vaporizes under normal conditions) were implemented in many creative ways all over the house. The final touch to the renovation was a complete xeriscape of the yard.

“In the end, it was definitely worth it. Now that it’s done we love it,” says Sarah Lee. “Our green renovation was a better investment than the stock market,” adds her husband, Marshall Lee.

To tour the Lee Residence and others like it, join us for the 14th Annual Boulder County Tour of Solar and Green Homes on Saturday, September 26. The tour kicks off Boulder County Solar Week, which also includes seminars on green building and residential renewable energy topics and rounds out with the inaugural ‘Ask an Expert’ event produced by the Boulder Green Building Guild, in which homeowners can bring their green building project questions to experts for answers.

Visit http://conservationcenter.org/e_solarweek.htm for a full schedule of Solar Week events.

Annual Fall Weekend Sales at ReSource

A different sale every weekend in October!

ReSource reclaimed building materials program locations in Boulder and Fort Collins are hosting 30% off sales in select departments all October long! Materials are regularly priced at a fraction of the cost you would expect to pay at a big box store. Take advantage of this opportunity to get more bang for the buck while saving the environment. ReSource is open seven days a week at both locations.

30% Off:
Oct. 2-4: all lighting
Oct. 9-11: all windows
Oct. 16-18: all doors
Oct. 23-25: all cabinets
Oct. 30- Nov. 1: everything

For more information and to view pictures of select materials currently in stock, click here.

Allenspark's Hilltop Guild…Boulder County’s original recycling team

(This article appeared in the Daily Camera on Friday, July 31, 2009)

By Kerrie B. Badertscher, CPH – ASHS, Badertscher Horticulture

Boulder County’s best kept secret is a small nonprofit located high on a hill up in Allenspark, called coincidentally, Hilltop Guild. Founded in the early 1930’s this group began as an informal gathering of the women in the Allenspark area. Formalized in 1954, The Hilltop Guild remains primarily a philanthropic organization whose mission is to contribute to the well-being of the residents of Allenspark. Well, what does THAT have to do with recycling?

These ladies recycle almost everything! The community knows to donate items to the Guild so that they may be cleaned-up, recycled and re-styled into usable objects for your home. On one day - yes just one day per year - the Hilltop Guild conducts an annual bazaar reselling these crafts and art treasures back to the community. All of the proceeds go for scholarships that are awarded to graduates within the Allenspark, Lyons and/or Estes Park area. Also the Hilltop Guild supports the Flight for Life, Allenspark Fire Protection District, Air Life, Crossroads Center, Special Transit and special disaster relief. A strong connection with Charlie Eagle Plume was formed many years ago and the Guild continues to send contributions to the Kayenta Indian School in Arizona.

This year some of the crafts include recycled art from old blue jeans that have been woven into beautiful throw rugs. Still other jeans become ladies' purses. Donated yarn and textiles from the community become elegant throws, crocheted toys, placemats, aprons, hot pads and many other usable objects. The Guild prides itself on elegant weaving from its many looms. Greeting cards have new life when remade into recycled cards. Even those ubiquitous green newspaper sacks are crocheted into beach bags and other types of carriers. This year, several types of holiday ornaments are made of recycled materials. Even dominoes become a piece of usable art. Donated remnants of cloth become fun and usable items for you and your home. In addition to shopping at the various craft and art booths, there is a silent auction and a raffle event. This year, the top item in the raffle includes a handmade cross-stitched quilt that is sure to become a family heirloom.

The annual bazaar does sell newly-made items. The active members (including some ladies in their 90’s) spend most of the year creating and donating home-crafted items including 144 embroidered dish towels. Each towel is different and like a gift from your Grandma! Some of the new items this year include a new line of decorated gourds and alpine trough gardens. There are holiday items, children’s' toys and clothes, all with a whimsical bent. Homemade candles, bath salts and soaps are also available.

Other items, such as books, useable household items and even some hidden old (perhaps even antique) articles find their way to the White Elephant. This is a garage sale where everyone can find a retro goody or two.

The annual bazaar, scheduled this year for Saturday, August 1^st, is located on the grounds and in the donated Kelley House on Route 7 (South St. Vrain canyon), which the Hilltop Guild now owns and maintains. This historic log building provides a weekly meeting place for locals to gather and swap stories and jokes. In addition to maintaining the Kelley House, the Allen cabin site and the Bunce Schoolhouse are also part of the philanthropy for visitors to take in. On most Saturdays in the summer, the historic Bunce Schoolhouse is open and kids of all ages can visit a real old-fashioned schoolhouse. It will be open on August 1st during the bazaar next door.

Come up for the day, browse around and find a treasure or two that you cannot live without. It is worth the early morning drive to help out so many of our mountain neighbors. So now you are in the know about Boulder County’s best kept recycling secret. Pssst…. spread the word about the annual bazaar on Saturday, August 1st in Allenspark. Doors open at 9:00 am. See you at Hilltop.

Want to give beautiful, re-used items as holiday gifts this year? Check out the Hilltop Guild bazaar in Allenspark. You can also get quality re-used materials for pennies on the dollar at Boulder’s ReSource Yard, a nonprofit program of the Center for ReSource Conservation. ReSourceYard.org. (303) 419-5418.

The CRC is seeking participants for upcoming Community Forums. Participants will be entered to win a $50 gift card from Ellie's Eco Home Store

The CRC is looking for ways to engage more people in our programs. Our upcoming Community Forums will give us the opportunity to hear from community members how we might effectively do this.

We are currently recruiting participants for two groups of Boulder County HOMEOWNERS who represent a range of environmental engagement.


Group 1.

Description: Community members who are interested in the environment and engaged in environmental issues, want to green their homes or make them more energy/water efficient but have not done a lot about it (yet).

This group will meet on Monday, August 31 from 7 - 9 p.m.

Group 2.

Description: Community members who are at least moderately interested environmental and energy/water efficiency issues but are currently not interested in CRC-type services and are not actively engaged in other environmental actions (from buying organic to using more efficient technologies)

This group will meet on Sunday, August 30 from 7 - 9 p.m.


Light refreshments will be served in each group, and as a "thank you" for their time, each participant will be entered into a raffle to win a $50 gift certificate to Ellie's Eco Home Store in Boulder.

If you fit one of these descriptions, and are interested in participating, or could recommend someone who might be, please contact Kate Eckhardt at 303-999-3820 x218
or keckhardt@conservationcenter.org


Thank you for your assistance with this project!