Author Archive

Dave Heun

Dave Heun is a freelance writer and editor with more than 30 years of experience in publishing and digital media. Heun is a graduate of Southern Illinois University, where he received a bachelor of arts degree in journalism. He worked as a reporter and editor for 24 years at the Kane County Chronicle, and spent seven years in marketing and communications in the medical laser industry. He has also been a freelance writer for the past eight years with the Daily Herald in the Chicago suburbs. His writing experience covers many facets from business, the arts, and sports, to environmental issues and high-energy physics. Part of his role with the medical equipment company called for working with environmental consultants and recycling companies involved with the recycling of scrap materials from old medical equipment, particularly surgical lasers.

It has a long name – the Green Fuels Depot demonstration project. And it could go a long way toward a new phase of green technology that may one day become as common as a community’s water treatment plant.

The first Green Fuels Depot in Illinois was introduced recently in Naperville as part of a federally funded project that has the backing of Argonne National Laboratory. Scientists, community leaders and politicians who support the concept showcased a full-scale prototype gasifier/reactor designed to convert lawn and farm waste into electricity, ethanol and hydrogen.

Packer Engineering, which intends to equip farms and sawmills across the country with this technology, showed off the first depot. But the City of Naperville was able to get in on this green energy prototype through federal funds and the support of local Congresswoman Judy Biggert, who has pushed for solutions to the country’s dependency on foreign energy sources.

The gasifier/reactor in Naperville is located at a city water reclamation site. Any expenses the city incurs are reimbursed by the U.S. Department of Energy. Communities that are able to utilize this technology in the future would most likely locate it in similar surroundings already associated with energy or water treatment.

When the gasifier is integrated with other technologies being developed at Argonne, it will give the reactor the potential to produce automobile-grade ethanol. Those on hand at the unveiling of the reactor saw the full operation of the 12-foot device and heard presentations on local developments in hydrogen storage and space-based solar energy. The gasifier produces electricity and heat from agricultural residue like corn husks or switch grass, while leaving behind minimal waste such as sand and ash. Once integrated with related technologies under development in Argonne’s labs, it also will power hydrogen fuel cells and produce automobile-grade ethanol.

Because it is only a pilot program, the depot will not be converting all of the city’s waste materials. In fact, it will use only 3 percent of the annual landscape waste collected by Naperville. In looking ahead to the future, officials speculated that if all 48,000 cubic yards of the city’s landscape waste were used in a full-scale green fuels depot, the amount would be enough to fuel all 300 vehicles in the city fleet.

Those types of numbers are fueling the hope that green-energy research will continue to emerge in some form from laboratory think-tanks and area colleges, while communities across the country slowly become more involved in the technologies that will pave the way for extensive conservation and money-saving practices.

A look at the “house of the future” has piqued the curiosity of people all over the world for generations—whether that look came in futuristic movies, cartoons (remember “The Jetsons?”), novels or displays at theme parks or museums.

With the “green” trend enjoying its strongest momentum in decades, the call for “smart homes,” or those that employ and utilize all facets of conservation, has increased. As the general public’s interest has likewise increased, the need for a “smart home” to be current and even trendy has become more apparent.

An excellent example, and exhibit to visit, is the “Smart House” on display at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. This functioning, eco-friendly home has been on the museum’s grounds and open to visitors for more than two years.

But it was recently transformed, through the work of Midwest Living magazine, to be even more relevant as the “Smart Home: Green + Wired” to be on display through January 2011 at the museum at 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive in Chicago.

The redesign of this home will catch the attention of those who are looking to be friendly toward the environment while also cutting down on maintenance. When architect Michelle Kaufman brought this pre-fabricated house to the museum two years ago, it was billed as the “greenest” home in the city – a title it could still boast to be true.

The three-story Smart Home is green inside and out. All the materials used to construct the building are non-toxic and low in volatile organic compounds. The home also has an air filtration and purification system and uses spray-in foam insulation, which does not wear down over time.

The dining room table features wood from a century-old oak that fell on the museum property and the chandeliers are hickory branches. With features like that, it is not surprising that the house utilizes bamboo hardwood flooring, carpets made from recycled coffee bean bags, kitchen counters made from recycled sawdust, bathroom vanities made from recycled porcelain toilets, and a shower stall made from recycled chardonnay glass bottles.

Visitors who are weary with home maintenance are amazed to learn that from the multi-sectioned exterior of the home to its removable interior walls, the Smart Home is engineered to anticipate repairs and replacements. This eliminates the need for major replacements of what amounts to permanent features. And if we do finally get to a life that “The Jetsons” envisioned years ago, the garage is made to accommodate alternative uses if these machines known as cars prove to be a rather long fad that eventually fades.

Virtually everything in the home is operated by a computer home automation system—controlling heat, window coverings, lighting, security sensors and cameras, and tracking electricity, gas and water consumption. A green roof sits on top of the building covered by native perennials to keep internal temperatures down in the summer, insulate the home in the winter, absorb rainwater and minimize water runoff. Also atop the home are a series of photovoltaic solar strips (more powerful than traditional solar strips) that power a majority of the home’s energy needs.

In an excellent example of water conservation, the Smart Home is close to Lake Michigan but utilizes water-saving devices with its showerheads and toilets. It also uses 30-gallon rain barrels beneath the first floor, catching rainwater to then be purified and recycled for drinking and bathing. The toilets may represent the “ultra green” in water conservation by using water recycled from the baths and sinks, or “grey water,” to flush waste.

At first glance, one would think that the Midwest, home to so much farmland, would naturally be in the forefront of “green” initiatives. After all, that farmland is producing a major share of the nation’s food. And the farmers who own that land are surely setting the best examples of how to be green – because that is what their life work is all about.

But the truth of the matter is this: Farmers who own several hundred acres of property may be using only a portion of that land to produce agricultural commodities. Some may be using a great portion of their land for production, but not doing it in a way that preserves or protects nature.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has stepped in with federal programs that provide incentives for working farms to also be working to conserve by introducing the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). CRP is a voluntary program for agricultural landowners, which provides annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish long-term, resource-conserving covers on eligible farmland.

The USDA’s Farm Service Agency reports that CRP protects millions of acres of American topsoil from erosion, thus keeping the nation’s natural resources safe. By reducing water runoff and sedimentation, CRP protects groundwater and helps improve the condition of lakes, rivers, ponds and streams. Acreage enrolled in the CRP is planted with resource-conserving vegetative covers, making the program a major contributor to increased wildlife populations in many parts of the country.

Another facet of the program is called the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), which is a voluntary land retirement program that helps farmers protect environmentally sensitive land, decrease erosion, restore wildlife habitat, and safeguard ground and surface water. CREP tends to be a community-based effort under local leadership that addresses local and national conservation issues – impacts to water supplies, loss of critical habitat for threatened and endangered wildlife species, soil erosion, and reduced habitat for fish populations such as salmon.

As an example of these federal programs in action, the Illinois Farm Bureau reported that a Peoria County farmer has 320 of his 700 acres devoted to soil and water protection, animal habitat, and prairie conservation. This farm is a showcase for visitors, providing an education in viewing prairie grasses, wildflowers, woodlands and wetlands. The farm also features a system of dams, terraces, waterways and grass filter strips that capture potential pollutants from water before they reach streams or rivers.

As more farmers understand that CRP reimburses those who remove environmentally sensitive cropland from production and foster wildlife habitat, more farms will become living “classrooms” for conservation and the protection of our planet.

The millions of Americans who have driveways may not realize the environmental hazards those driveways can produce. Don’t be surprised if your community or homeowners’ association introduces rules in the future regarding driveway runoff.

Most property is in a watershed and drains to a nearby waterway, even when that property is not located close to a lake or river. Analyses in heavily populated counties indicate that 17 percent of a typical suburban watershed is made up of driveways, according to the Conservation Foundation.

So what’s the problem with our driveways? They direct rainwater runoff into stormwater systems, where it is then directed, usually untreated, to our waterways.

Auto and household hazardous waste tends to accumulate on driveways, and some environmental experts think they are a more dangerous source of pollution than roofs or lawns. In the summer, the elevated heat of asphalt driveways creates a higher temperature of runoff that could potentially harm certain fish species. The coal tar used to seal asphalt driveways on a regular basis produces dangerous levels of hydrocarbons that have been linked to mutations in fish.

So what could potential ordinances or covenants look like regarding our driveways? Shorter front yard setbacks would create shorter driveways. Limits could be placed on the length and width of driveways. The crown and pitch of a driveway could be sloped to direct runoff to porous areas and not to the street.

The future may see more “ribbon” driveways, which basically are two paved strips for a safe driving surface, with the rest of the area being short grass or a native grass. Another option could be the use of more permeable pavers as a driveway surface.

Experts also suggest that you sweep your driveway clean, rather than hose it and create even more runoff into the local waterways.

Rain barrels and the creation of rain gardens on your property are becoming popular alternatives to having gutter spouts pouring onto a driveway surface.

Here’s something to consider about your driveway: If you had a 1,250-square-foot driveway, it is estimated that in a climate that generally produces 34 inches of rain per year, your driveway would potentially contribute up to 26,500 gallons of runoff per year.

They usually pull up in a truck or van. And they usually need some assistance in pulling an old TV, computer, stereo, VCR or DVD player out of their vehicles.

It’s been going on for at least six years now, maybe even longer in some places.

It’s people taking advantage of an “Old Electronics Recycling Day,” and a county recycling service most often offers it.

With the choices in TVs, video components, computers and numerous other cell phone or compact music/Internet players growing with each passing year, there continues to be a great need for places to recycle these products.

It was only a few years ago in which consumers were warned that their appetite for new electronics carried an unhealthy side effect with the huge amounts of “toxic e-waste” they were creating in the process. Health experts were specific in their warnings that the cathode ray tube in old-style TV sets or computers contained as much as four to eight pounds of hazardous lead.

With the smaller appliances, the amount of mercury in their batteries and the cadmium in their displays was a health concern.

Without a national recycling program in place for electronics, states and mostly county municipalities created recycling programs and in some cases even banned the cathode-ray devices from landfills.

Just two years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency was estimating that 20 to 24 million unused TVs and computers were stuck in closets or cluttering up desks and tables across the country. With the advent of high-definition and now LED television sets, that number could skyrocket.

With a growing number of manufacturers creating their own recycling programs, there may be more options available to consumers for recycling old electronics.

However, it would be wise to check with your county government and contact a recycling coordinator to determine what is offered.

Generally, old electronics recycling days are held on a quarterly basis, or at least three times a year.

It’s a good alternative while state governments consider other programs. For example, Consumer Reports reported three years ago that Main instituted a first-of-its-kind of statute in which manufacturers would be directly billed for the cost of recycling based on the proportion of waste generated by their products.

The concept was simple. It would be one of many future steps designed to hopefully convince manufacturers to either design longer-lasting equipment or recycling-friendly models, or inform consumers about bringing old equipment to the manufacturer’s “consolidation center.”

Some states have gone as far as banning any CRT materials from landfills, while others have mandated that manufacturers create trade-in or buy-back programs for their own recycling efforts.

Much more will unfold in the coming years, mainly because much more will continue to happen on the new electronics front.

In the meantime, load up the truck or van with those old computers and TVs and head off to your county’s old electronics recycling location, or investigate the possibility of donating them to organizations seeking such equipment.

Schools have a long history of allowing students to get immersed in environmental and conservation studies, projects or causes. When the first “Earth Day” was celebrated on April 22, 1970, it marked the first time in history that students in classrooms across the country spent their physical education classes picking up litter or taking part in other simple environmental tasks.

As “green energy” and “going green” become more common parts of our vocabulary and, ultimately, in the way we live our lives, it makes sense that our nation’s schools will continue to be on the front lines of such work.

One key for cash-strapped schools is to obtain grants from any number of foundations, organizations or businesses to help fund green projects. Names such as American Honda, Boeing, Captain Planet Foundation, Coca-Cola, and the National Education Foundation are just a sampling of the hundreds of sources of grant money available to help protect the environment. These sources have helped schools spearhead thousands of field projects addressing conservation and environmental issues.

It is also common for schools to take advantage of their own state’s energy grants. A good example unfolded in the Geneva School District, which recently received $36,500 from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation as a reimbursement for lighting projects in two of the district’s elementary schools.

The money was used to pay for lighting retrofitting during renovation projects at the schools. In addition to replacing many light fixtures with more energy-efficient light bulbs, as many as 110 fixtures between two elementary schools were removed. The district reported to residents that the work resulted in energy savings of more than 27,000 watts of electricity. It was a good start, they insisted, on reaching an overall goal of reducing district-wide energy use by 10 percent during the 2009-2010 school year.

If all school districts across the nation could somehow attain a similar goal, the amount of savings in electricity usage would be impressive.

In another Midwest state, Missouri’s Department of Conservation offers  many education grants through its “Fresh Afield – Serving up a Slice of Conservation” program in which the emphasis is on getting school children out in nature and understanding the importance of conservation at a young age.

In this particular area of conservation study and grants, it is common for zoos in major cities to have similar offerings to keep children aware of the pros and cons of nature’s interactions with humans.

The canvas for learning about our environment and the habits we can all live by to conserve our natural resources, and the canvas for obtaining funding to help with those causes, are both endless with opportunities.

Golfers know a nice golf course when they see one, and they appreciate one that is kept in top-rate condition. But they may not realize the effort and the science that golf course superintendents employ to put good conservation techniques to work. Perhaps the most significant is the current trend toward conserving water use when trying to keep the fairways and greens pristine.

The United States Golf Association’s “Green Section Record” has provided information to golf course superintendents for decades, dating back to 1973 when it forwarded the latest research of the times in “Environmental Concerns for the Golf Course Superintendent.”

The messages of more than 30 years ago remain relevant today, but the nation’s dwindling water supplies have made it more urgent than ever to consider methods of proper water usage.

The use of recycled water has been a key advancement, though the salt content of recycled water can be difficult for certain types of turf grasses to tolerate.

“Golf courses do conserve the use of well water by using community waste water or effluent water,” says Peter Leuzinger, a golf course superintendent for 30 years before retiring to teach horticulture and turf grass studies at Kishwaukee College in DeKalb, Ill.

“We did it at Ivanhoe golf course and for 170 homes in the community,” Leuzinger said. “We had our own waste water treatment lagoons and fed our irrigation system with that water.”

Leuzinger said many golf courses throughout northern Illinois do the same thing today, which goes a long way toward saving water, particularly during periods of drought when water usage restrictions are in place.

“The sodium (salt) issue comes mainly from water softeners discharging into the sewer system,” Leuzinger explained.  “Often the pH of this ‘grey water’ is very high at 8.4 and is treated with acid to get it close to neutral (7.0).

“Sodium build up in the soil should not be allowed. It can be treated with gypsum or sulfur and watered in. This replaces the nitrogen on the exchange sites of the soil and it flushes out with heavy rain water as it restores the soils’ fertility level and structure.”

Leuzinger said that winter snow and spring rains also help reduce salt levels in the soils in the Midwest, but in western states the golf course superintendents have to flush their greens and tees “by watering very heavily, from time to time, taking the salt out through the drainage system to reduce the concentration to an acceptable level for fine turf.”

Golf course superintendents understand what works and what doesn’t in their particular environment. “Some turf species are more tolerant of sodium than others, but might not be good grasses to use in the Midwest for golf course turf,” Leuzinger said.

The USGA researches turf grasses and their tolerance to weather conditions, and the organization is finding more requests for grasses that can tolerate less intense management and care. This calls for turfs that need less water or can handle recycled water on a regular basis.

It is not uncommon to see desert golf courses use very limited areas of grass because water usage is heavily limited, but others are seeking turfs that can go nearly dormant, but still be playable.

Which introduces a new reality for golf course pros and superintendents – they will have to lower the expectations of the players at their courses who are used to brilliantly green fairways, while explaining that the playing conditions are the same.They may be able to start with this pitch – saving water will save money and quite likely help keep greens’ fees lower.

A close look at any company that provides a product or service would reveal an economic truth about the waste it generates: Virtually 100 percent of it is recyclable.

Take a look around any office in Anytown, U.S.A., and you would generally find the same things – drywall, computer equipment, glass, metal, Styrofoam, printer ink cartridges, plastic, paper, wood and carpet.

“All of these materials can be recycled, but most of them are overlooked,” says Fred Rosenthal of the Rosenthal Group, a waste consultation business out of St. Charles, IL. that has trademarked the slogan, “Turning Waste Green.”

“The slogan does have a double meaning,” Rosenthal said. “Green can either mean financial or environmental, depending on what our client is trying to accomplish. It normally starts with the environment, but ultimately depends on the cost.”

When a company overlooks the recycling process, it usually comes down to any combination of three key reasons: they were not aware; the volume of material is low; or the cost to dispose was restrictive.
Rosenthal feels there is more awareness of the “green movement” today, but that does not necessarily equate to more participation.

“This will sound political, but I do not believe in global warming and it is that fear that drives a lot of politicians to regulate the recycling industry,” Rosenthal said. “What I do believe is that we should all be good stewards of the world. If we can use materials that were recycled, then we should. “Like most things in life, there is a cost regardless of what is done,” he added. “Most businesses want to do the right thing, but they also have a bottom line they must meet, and that causes many to stay with their old ways rather than recycle.”

The most common items that a waste consultant will help a client deal with are cardboard, paper, plastic and computer equipment. But there is a cost in training employees, installing proper procedures and equipment and the pickup and transfer of waste products.
The poor economy has also put a damper on the recycling industry because rebates for recyclable commodities have fallen.

“Prior to the collapse of our economy, the rebates were at an all-time high,” Rosenthal said. “We saw cardboard at $200 a ton, and then when the bottom fell out and recycling processors were refusing material, the cost to dispose, with no rebates, was $50 a ton, or in effect a $250 drop.“Today, the market has made a turn and rebates for recycling materials have turned to the positive side,” Rosenthal added. “It’s not the $200 a ton of the past, but around $75 to $100 a ton for baled cardboard.”

Rosenthal cautioned that the supply-side of that equation has been low “because companies that used to generate large volumes of cardboard have reduced their inventory and thus do not generate what they did prior to the collapse of the economy.”

While companies start to rebound through an economic recovery and commodities prices edge forward, there is another waste product that Americans have generated for decades without much concern. “It’s food waste,” Rosenthal emphasizes. “For the state of Illinois, there is so much control on regulations for food waste that most is ending up in our landfills.” By comparison, Rosenthal points out, his son worked as a chef with Disney Company at the Flying Fish Restaurant in Florida. “All of Disney’s food waste was either used for feed for the animals, or it was composted.”

It’s becoming a more common question. And, at the same time, a more common practice. “What is a green building?”

The official definition of that would be “the construction of a sustainable or high-performance building.” Translated, it means a building that takes into account all aspects of energy and water conservation, as well as reducing waste before, during and after the building is built. It also is a building that takes into account its occupants’ health and safety.

With far more attention being given to “going green” in all walks of life, it is becoming quite common that building and home developers, as well as buyers, are taking into account all aspects of this environmental initiative.

Several tools and guides have been created to heighten “green awareness” and help manufacturers and consumers make decisions about their current buildings and homes, or future projects.

One such site is the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s “green building” site at www.epa.gov/greenhomes.

The site has extensive information about “green building” with various graphs and informational categories.

For reducing energy use, the website offers a “Home Energy Yardstick” in which consumers can gauge their own energy use and compare it with others. It also recommends various home improvements that can be completed to reduce energy costs.

Water conservation is a key factor, and the site explains and encourages use of water-efficient appliances. It also reveals that there are products now that save water when the tap is on.

Showers represent 17 percent of residential indoor water use, the site reports, and that results in 1.2 trillion gallons of water usage each year. A high-efficiency showerhead fixture can save up to 25 to 60 percent of the water used during showers in the home, so the site recommends installation of a showerhead with flow rates of less than 2.5 gallons per minute. Most showerheads made prior to 1995 flow at more than 5 gallons per minute.

When building a home, there is an array of recycled products available, from drywall and insulation to plastic lumber and carpet padding.

The site also shares several ideas on reducing waste when involved in a remodeling, demolition or new construction project.

In addition, the site reminds us of the impact that building and development can have on our natural resources, including:

*According to surveys conducted in 2002, 107.3 million acres of the 1.983 billion acres of total land area in the U.S. is developed, which represents an increase of 24 percent in developed land over the past 10 years.

*In terms of energy, buildings accounted for 39.4 percent of total U.S. energy consumption and 67.9 percent of total U.S. electricity consumption in 2002.

*Building occupants use 12.2 percent of the total water consumed in the U.S. per day.

*Buildings, and the transportation infrastructure that serves them, replace natural surfaces with impermeable materials, creating runoff that washes pollutants and sediments into surface waters. Urban runoff constitutes a major threat to water resources, as it has been identified as the fourth leading source of impairment in rivers, third in lakes, and second on estuaries.

Strong winds have blown across Illinois’ prairies for hundreds of years, and the state’s residents have used that natural force to provide power in various ways.

But the modern-day windmill, known as a wind turbine, is getting a lot of attention in county boardrooms these days as elected officials contemplate the effectiveness, as well as the energy and cost savings of harnessing wind power to generate electricity.

Companies that specialize in wind turbines have been encouraging county officials throughout the state to consider the wind turbines, especially in light of the potential to capture some of the $80 billion that President Barack Obama had earmarked for clean energy and green infrastructure as part of the federal economic stimulus bills he signed early in 2009.

County politicians have been intrigued by the prospect of generating power in a less expensive manner, but many have been cautious as well and feel a need to obtain more information.

Companies like Chicago-based GSY Energy Inc. provide field tests to determine if the geography and wind flow through a region of a county would support the wind power. Those conducting the studies have told government officials that a wind resource (or how hard the wind is blowing without resistance) can change in as small an area as 100 feet. But they monitor entire corridor regions, which can be several miles in length, and sometimes represent a specific area of a county such as its far west side.

As the thought of 65- to 130-foot wind turbines dotting the countryside is being debated, individual landowners and homeowners have raised the question of whether a smaller model wind turbine could be purchased to power their own homes or businesses.

Interest in private wind turbines is increasing, and experts have noted that they are not a factor in either lowering or increasing property values. Despite some federal and state rebate programs that help pay for wind turbines, many counties are slowing down that process, wanting to make sure they have clear ordinances and guidelines in place for their installation and use.

It is widely known that Holland has long used windmills and wind turbines for power, but those in the industry also remind politicians contemplating their use that states like California and Kansas utilize wind turbines.

For now, it is clear that wind turbines are going to be getting much attention and study in the near future as states weigh the pros and cons of their effectiveness, while also wanting to be part of any federal funding that promotes green initiatives.