Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ

Think Globally: “Every great architect is-necessarily-a great poet. He must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age. (Frank Lloyd Wright)

Act Locally: Consider energy use. “The ongoing energy use of a building is probably the single greatest environmental impact of a building, so designing buildings for low energy use should be (a) number one priority. Decisions made during the design and construction of a building will go on affecting the environmental performance of that building for decades to come- perhaps even centuries – through energy consumption. An integrated design approach can often take advantage of energy savings that become feasible when the interaction between separate building elements, such as windows, lighting, and mechanical systems, are considered. There are cost implications. Likely to increase first cost, but significant sayings in operating cost can often be achieved. Reduced heating and cooling loads may reduce first cost of HVAC equipment, helping justify the expense.”
(from Environmental Building News Volume 4, No.5, 1995)

Think Globally: The Cartridge Family
According to Fifty Simple Things Your Business Can Do To Save the Earth , published in 1991, American businesses were throwing away about 15 million plastic toner cartridges every year. The meant that more than 40,000 tons of plastic cartridges were ending up in landfills every year. But by the mid to late 90’s people were realizing the waste in time, money, and resources involved in tossing the cartridges. Companies such as Canon, Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark, and Xerox have helped diverted tons of cartridges from the landfills through recycling efforts.

Act Locally: Recycle and Re-use Toner Cartridges
It only makes sense, recycle that cartridge. It saves on resources, landfill space, and costs less than new cartridges. If you don’t know where to recycle your cartridge, check the yellow pages or surf the web. I got 1,090,000 hits when I typed in recycle toner cartridge.

Think Globally: “Organic buildings are the strength and lightness of the spiders’ spinning, buildings qualified by light, bred by native character to environment, married to the ground” (Frank Lloyd Wright)

Act Locally: Consider Low-impact Materials

“Most-but not all- of the environmental impacts associated with building materials have already occurred by the time the materials are installed. Raw materials have been extracted from the ground or harvested from forests; pollutants have been emitted during manufacture; and energy has been invested throughout production. Some materials, such as those containing ozone-depleting HCFCs and VOCs, continue emitting pollutants during use. And some materials have significant environmental impacts associated with disposal. Sample strategies include: Avoid materials that generate a lot of pollution (VOCs, HCFCs, etc.) during manufacture or use. Specify materials with low energy use in creation. Specify materials from waste or recycled materials. Specify materials salvaged from other uses. Avoid materials that unduly deplete limited natural resources, such as old-growth timber. Avoid materials made from toxic or hazardous constituents (benzene, arsenic, etc.)

Think Globally: “The architect must be a prophet…a prophet in the true sense of the term…if he can’t see at least ten years ahead don’t call him an architect”
Frank Lloyd Wright

Act Locally: Maximize Longevity-Design for Durability and Adaptability
(from Environmental Building News Volume 4, No.5, 1995)

“The longer a building lasts, the longer the period of time over which the environmental impacts from building it can be amortized. Designing and building a structure that will last a long time necessitates addressing how that building can be modified to satisfy changing needs. Sample strategies include: specify durable materials-this is usually even more important than selecting low-embodied-energy materials. Design for easy maintenance and improvements. Allocate an appropriate percentage of building funds for ongoing maintenance and improvements. Consider aesthetics during design, and whether a particular style is likely to remain popular-the idea of “timeless architecture.” Cost implications: Though not necessarily more expensive in all cases, building for durability usually does require a larger initial investment.

Think Globally: A Switch in Time
(From Fifty things Your Business Can Do to Save the Earth, The Earthworks Group)

Up to 70% of computers and related equipment are left on all the time-even though they are used infrequently. Because of the heat needed to fuse images onto paper, laser printers and photo copies are especially big energy users. Keeping them warmed up takes a lot of electricity too. Inefficient use of office machines costs American businesses up to $4billion worth of electricity every year.
According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, careful attention to efficiency and operation of office equipment could save enough energy in a decade to eliminate the need for nine power plants.

Act Locally: Turn Off Computers If They Won’t Be Used For At Least 15 Minutes

It doesn’t hurt hard drives to turn them on and off. At least turn off the computer screen, even if only for a few minutes. Turn off printers and copiers when not in use. Select a copier which has an energy saving switch that puts the machine on “stand-by”