All Posts Tagged With: "building"

On New Year’s Day, we received an email from our good friend, Michael Furbish, who owns the Furbish Company , a green builder whose work we have profiled recently . They are clear about their mission on their website: "Furbish Company designs, sells, installs, and maintains plant-based building systems. We view plants as living machines. Set up properly, they enhance building performance while providing aesthetic beauty." In other words, they are change agents.

In our first post for the New Year, I wanted to welcome our new visitors, and remind our regulars about our purpose here. Since Michael says it so well, I’ll just use his words:

"Your site is absolutely wonderful. Every time I visit, it is deeper and richer. My one regret is that I spend too little time enjoying this space. As you articulate so well, appreciating the empty space . In many ways, your site is just that. It is the space that invites thinking about what can be."

I love that – we not only create space to think about what can be, we highlight what is, already. There are so many businesses and organizations that are doing wonderful, thoughtful, meaningful work around here. We intend to continue presenting their great work. We are the go-to resource for change agents to learn about each other and to refuel on inspiration when they are feeling drained by the challenges of being on the cutting edge of change.

We will also post more often about general, universal themes. Julie’s work as a green design and sustainability consultant, as well as her involvement in the community, provides much material. Alyssa will write more about her urban gardening and DIY projects. As an artist, her hands-on creative urges are boundless!

So, sit back and enjoy. Subscribe to our RSS. Tell your friends, especially your change-agent friends. Find us on Facebook , Twitter , Flickr , and Virb .

Aurora Energy, Inc. is a Columbia, Maryland-based solar-energy company specializing in solar thermal and solar electric installations. Its website includes an extensive photo gallery of previous projects, detailing the construction of solar water-heating systems, solar paneling, and solar signage at various residential and commercial sites, both locally and nationally.

Baltimore Medical System (BMS) is building a Healthy Living Center in Highlandtown on a City-owned parking lot. From the lifeless asphalt will soon rise a LEED Certified building, housing a LEED Platinum community health center. On Friday, June 13, we went to their groundbreaking ceremony, which was both heartwarming and well-attended.

Twenty-three years ago, BMS began providing quality primary health care to the citizens of Highlandtown, many of whom were elderly and wished to age gracefully in their own homes. Today, BMS provides care to 14,000 people, including traditional east Baltimore residents, as well as new refugee and immigrant patients from around the world.

This new center will continue to provide the full range of health services for all people, whether insured or uninsured. The new space will allow BMS to increase their patient base to 21,000 and to provide educational programming such as smoking cessation, prenatal classes, and healthy eating in a new community room. As it increases its staff, it will continue to be the largest employer in Highlandtown. Continued

What’s Working is a team of professionals brought together by green building expert David Johnston who have worked in the field of green building and sustainable program design since the early 90s. They serve customers with practical, effective services in green building program design, policy development, strategic planning, resource tool development, design and materials consultation, marketing, facilitation and training. Whether a business, a municipality, a developer, an architect, a supplier/ manufacturer, or simply a homeowner, What’s Working can assist you.

The Amicus Green Building Center is a collection of genuine “green” products, resources, and expert support for the Mid-Atlantic region. Their mission is to create healthy, environmentally-friendly, stylish, energy-smart, and sustainable buildings. Through services like design consulting, energy analysis, and research reports, and offering green products in the way of paints, flooring, kitchen fixtures, lumber, tile and lighting, among others, the center is a able to assist just about any project toward becoming a little, or a lot more, eco-friendly.

Opened in 1984 as the first non-profit program of its kind in the nation, The Loading Dock, Inc. is a Baltimore-based, non-profit, low-cost building materials reuse center. Its mission is "to increase the supply and use of affordable building materials for housing and community improvement by redirecting landfill-bound, reusable materials into productive use." Since its beginning, The Loading Dock has saved low-income housing and community projects over $16.5 million and has rescued over 33,000 tons of building materials from landfills. As they accept just about all kinds of materials, visit their website to find out what’s in stock and see a workshop schedule. Get a listing of other salvage and reuse centers including Maryland, Pennsylvania Virginia and DC on their website .

Working with local and regional architects, builders, and contractors, Second Chance rescues wood, metal, marble, plaster, stone, and other architectural elements from buildings which are entering the demolition phase. They then give those elements new lives, in new homes, in new ways, with new uses, giving modern homes a touch of history. Through public and private funds, they continue to train low-income Baltimore residents on how to safely deconstruct a building without damaging its historic elements, while also equipping them with a variety of skills, from carpentry to craftsmanship. Visit their website for more information on the company, its events, and training opportunities. Find more salvage centers in the surrounding area here.