Cape Fear Green Building Alliance

The first meeting of the Cape Fear Green Building Alliance in 2008. Resea Willis spoke about a group she started in Brunswick County called Brunswick Housing Opportunities (BHO). She did her part during the meeting by mezmorizing the audience with a presentation style that was clear and engaging. Her purpose was to educate stakeholders about the housing crisis for working people - where those who work in the community can't live in the community due to high housing costs; and the systems / attitudes / concepts that perpetuate and inflame this crisis.

CFGBA meetings are held in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina at "The Balcony", Front & Dock St, above Roudabush Cafe. There was quite a turn out of more than 40 people, I would say.

Resea Willis dazzled with style and substance. Telling stories that clearly outlined the housing shortage and the challenges to finding a solution.

After the presentation, a good discussion formed around planned communities and what makes a good sustainable community - and how to make it happen. Good working communities were mentioned that are established in Western North Carolina.

The board of CFGBA with Alan Held and the speaker from Brunswick Housing Opportunities, Rissa Willis .

Full Belly Project

The Full Belly Project in Wilmington North Carolina

The Full Belly Project is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to
empowering people in developing countries with the ability to achieve
independent and sustainable economies by facilitating the design and
distribution of appropriate technologies.

read more about Full Belly at there website - http://www.fullbellyproject.org


Three people standing around and one doing work! Ha! ... Actually, I made them stop working and pose for the picture. The full belly workshop is like Santa's workshop - I've never seen so much action going on.

My Friend, Evie, with the Full Belly organizer and universal nut sheller, Jock Brandis. The shellers are being designed, built and tested here in Wilmington, so that plans can be shared with low-tech communities around the world.

The energy of the place is reflected in this photo. With vision and hard work, sparks fly.

Helping hands are what make it happen.

Wanna get involved with this group? Check out their Website!

Cape Fear RiverWatch Jan. First Saturday part 2

After the meeting, of course, there were lots of good conversations.

Dr. Huber discussed topics concerning inquiry education and his RiverRun data visualization tools.

Ruth from the Dogwood Alliance (http://www.dogwoodalliance.org/) discussed a campaign for our wonderful forests.

Dr. Cahoon and Alan talked about Cape Fear water quality and river ecology.

Be sure to check out the CFRW calendar for more events like this.

First Saturday at RiverWatch part 1

Cape Fear RiverWatch presented The first Saturday meetings started in 2008 with Dr. Larry Cahoon and Rich Huber from UNCW. These two professors presented an environmental seminar on Riverrun Technology. Riverrun is an interactive web based data tool used to visualize water quality data for the Cape Fear River.

Alan Held enjoying blueberry pancakes. That's right. BLUEBERRY PANCAKES!

I figure there were at least 30 people there.

The 'Talk' centered around the RiverRun project build by Dr. Huber and Cahoon. It's a 'Data visualization tool' that displays the data collected from the river over time in a format that allows users to answer questions about water quality. It's an excellent decision making tool for policy makers and learning tool for students.

See part two for the 'after party'

green building means common sense

Common sense plays a big role in regards to green building. For instance choosing products that can be renewed, use less energy to produce and ship, and have less impact on the planet.
The second part to this equation is to use these products to build a structure that requires
less energy to operate. Existing structures can also be adapted to become more energy efficient.

There is a payoff by going green. A building will be more affordable to operate and be more environmentally friendly.

I am here to help if you want to start today making your home a smarter place to live.

Alan Held Wilmington N.C.

Hello Green World

This is the first of many posts about creating a healthy environment in your home in and around the Cape Fear region of Eastern North Carolina.

It's an exciting time. There are many challenges to face and obstacles to overcome. We can do it with friendship and cooperation.