Green Education Tools

“WATCH ME WRITE” – LIVE EDITING ON MONDAY, JULY 18, 2011

Briquette Pressing Machine of C.F. Nielson Manufacturing Company.

Briquette Paddy in Briquette Pressing Machine.

Two years in the making GreenTech a  new sustainable company planted in the Senegambia region in The Gambia West Africa is up and running. Anthony Tabbal a Gambian National and Lenja Guenther’s from Germany are owners the Briquette (biomass fuel paddy) producing company whose purpose is to enhance a greener way of living in The Gambia that will be better for the environment. GreenTech has also begun to employ Gambians and offers business opportunities to make a even more social development impact in the ever progressing West African country of The Gambia which is promoting a greener society one sustainable company and initiative at a time. Briquettes emerged on the scene in the 1980s in Kaur. It was said to be a little expensive for most and dropped out of the picture. Twenty something years later it’s back on the scene. Perhaps folks are seeking a more efficient way of fueling day to day activities such as cooking, heating, and smoking foods.

What is Briquetting?

A material compressed under high pressure is the process of Briquetting. During the compression of the material, temperatures rise enough to make the raw material free of the parts that are normally stuck together. The moisture content of the raw material must minimum be 6% in order to make this process successful.

The purpose of the high temperature is to evaporate the moisture in the raw material. If a briquette is broken down or crumbles in the process it is usally due to steam pockets build up which creates an expansion of the briquette.

C.F. Neilson’s quality control team knows from experience “that the recommended water content is from minimum six percent and to the maximum 16%.” Please note that from water content 16% and higher the quality will go down considerably to a point in which briquetting will become impossible.

To be continued

Greg P. George Educator in Sustainable Development - Solar Energy and Eco Building.

One man brilliant with ideas turned one of his magnificent dreams into a fully solar equipped Eco Lodge, and he provides Solar workshops for the world community at the Marcus Garvey People Foundation in The Gambia West Africa.

I will publish this right now before the “power” lever is pulled in Dakar, Senegal. Not to take away from the “Solar in the Gambia with Educator/Eco-builder Greg P. George” story, just want to mention that outages occur at any given moment throughout the Gambia as well as Senegal. And not only in Africa, power outages occur throughout the world. Fed up citizens vandalized the Senelec (National Electric Company) in Quakum. See photo below.

Electric Company in Ouakum is vandalized due to electrical outage frustrations among Senegalese.

What can they and or we do? Well, anyone can learn about Solar basics and the installation of Solar panels. It’s free online. Yes, true the Solar panels aren’t free though. (Please contact us if you own a Solar installation company. Let’s get a collaborative effort going that can benefit everyone in need of this particular Green energy but whom lack the financial resources). Take one or participate in a series of Greg P. George’s Solar Panel hands-on workshops which are given on an on going basis. The next workshop is Saturday, March 5, 2011 from 10 am – 6 pm. This class is open to the public. Educator and Eco Builder Greg P. George in The Gambia West Africa The location of the workshop is the Marcus Garvey People Foundation in Tranquil near the roundabout.  The landmark is Gam-post office near Brusubi Highway. Call Greg at 00.220.702.1151. You must let him know in advance that you would like to take the Solar Workshop. He will inform you of the price at that time. He can also provide accommodations for those who are wishing to stay overnight. Please request this information from him when you speak to him. Surely to be exciting as well as informative, MSYInternational will be right there take it all in and share with readers.  The lesson will begin in a classroom setting and then move on to the practicum in actually installing solar panels. This is a workshop for newbies to Solar and can be a refresher for the advanced students who lack hands-on experience. So if ever you’ve taken one of those online or automated classes in Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) this is a perfect opportunity for you to immerse yourself in the Gambian culture and actually work on a Solar project. Please excuse me for jumping around. It’s the passion from the visuals in my head in the moment. We left MGPF which Greg (AKA Sun Ra in my head) is the Founder and Director of and headed to the Evergreen Eco Lodge. We’re excited anyway so once we get close to the lodge we see a windmill supporting an entire village over to the right the Green “thrill” got even better.

Wind Turbine supporting village with electricity in The Gambia, West Africa. Photo by MSYInternational.

Definitely want to visit there and share information with you especially since we didn’t write about Wind Turbines yet. Can hardly wait.

Evergreen Eco Lodge is situated in the area of Tintinto, Tujereng in South Kombo, The Gambia, West Africa.  It’s very well secured by high walls. The ambiance is tranquil and the Eco Lodge is a mere 20 minute walk to the Tujereng unspoiled beach. And a short drive to Battokunku Beach. If ever you should want to go in town regular local buses are just a 15 minute walk to the main highway. The lodges are spacious and luxurious in this state of the art solar efficiency. The vibe is a homely and comforting. Breakfast and evening meals are provided and snacks and cool drinks are always available. Four luxury and two modest accommodations are available for reservation at 00.220.702.1151 as well.  Maybe we will see you at the workshop or at the lodge. ###

MSYInternational visits Build a Green Roof Workshop with GrowNYC, Saturday, September 11, 2010

Green Roof Workshop taught by Marni Majorelle of Alive Structures and facilitated by Tom Twente of GrowNYC with participants. Photo: MSYInternational

A clear and beautiful day, the sun shown brightly upon the sedum reflexum/succulent plants waiting in the wings to land a spot in their new home. In a wooden box on top of a shed in the Greenspace Community Garden, 222 5^th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn New York is where students installed a small model of a Green roof. This hands on workshop was led by the founder of Alive Structures Marni Majorelle and Tom Twente of GrowNYC.

What is a Green Roof?

A Green roof is a roof designed with plants/vegetation for the purpose of reducing surface temperatures.

Morgan Mail Processing Facility, New York; Photo Courtesy of EKLA for MSYInternational

Green roofs have many benefits such as providing a buffer between the direct sunlight to the roof’s surface. Energy efficiency, filtration of pollution, storm water management and enhancing the quality of life are some of the reasons why Green roofs are designed and created. The Green roof technology keeps the internal building temperatures balanced and lower in comparison to a roof with no Green vegetation. This results in energy savings. Green roofs last much longer than a non-vegetated one.  Heat island effect is a term that refers to a temperature of 10 degrees or more in urban cities which is caused by concrete and asphalt in these urban areas. Ask yourself this if you were on a roof would you be cooler if you were standing in the middle of an asphalt roof or a Green vegetated roof if the temperature outside is 100 degrees. Most likely the Green roof with provide you with a cooling mist. How exactly does this cooling mist happen? Well the plants naturally convert sunlight to chlorophyll which makes it possible for plants to convert carbon dioxide and water that creates the cooling effect. In this workshop Marni discussed two types of Green roofs with the students extensive and intensive:

Extensive Green Roof – Is the common and most affordable of the two. Usually 3 to 5 inches of soil is used. The type of plants used are those that grow low, are resistant to drought and do not require irrigation. Those plants are known as succulents or sedums as mentioned above and also Moss.

Intensive Green Roof – Also know to be more expensive since more structural support is needed and if it’s a public Green roof, safety features would need to be designed within the Green roof space to allow the public access.

Intensive Green roof’s soil is usually 4-24 inches and are planted with various types of plants which will include shrubs and trees. This workshop covered eight components into the Green Roof-shed; vegetation, engineered lightweight soil, irrigation, bio-blanket, drainage mat, root barrier, waterproof membrane and roof deck.

Concrete, flat roofs are structurally the best if you’d like to add a Green roof with a minimum of a 10%-20% slope to promote the best drainage. Plant anchors for plants on a 40% slope to prevent the sliding of the pots.

All participants had the opportunity to have a more personal experience with the creations of mother earth; soil, native plants, and herbs. Added into the mix is engineered lightweight soil consisting of a special blend of organic compost, expanded shale, brick shavings and sand.

[Tip: Compost is organic matter broken down. Consisting of leaves, grass. You can add vegetable and fruit peelings, egg shells and organic scraps from your breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Ground coffee is also added. To make compost, gather organic material into a bin or pile, aerate (create small holes in it to give it air) and add it to your soil.

Note: Expanded shale, is gravel-size rock full of air. It makes the soil easy to work and helps the soil drain better. You only need to add it to garden beds one time;therefore, saving on costs down the road.]

African nations have limitless opportunities in providing solar energy to its people. Long days and effective sunlight equals Fatima, Alseny and Ethel keeping their businesses open all day if they choose. Schools having electricity all day long will allow students to learn in the day time as well as evening.  I personally have been traveling to Africa at least twice a year since 1999.  The electricity situation leaves a lot to be desired. Want to write a long email at the Internet? Think again. Write your email in advance then cut and paste into your email window. Electricity is “not sure” therefore it can go off at anytime for an unknown duration. Leaving that unfinished email in “webland” and your thoughts stuck on “no not again, and what had happen was….”. We can’t even talk about picking up our clothes from the tailor. Now if you have the privilege to have a generator you will be fine. But it’s not about you it’s about all of us, a nation, a continent, a world.

Courtesy of NREL for MSYInternational

Well what exactly can Solar Energy do for an African country?

Solar power of street lights, lamps, refrigerators, and general solar connectivity to homes and businesses can have profound advantages on the local and national communities of each African nation.

This is 2010 Solar Energy has been around for decades and I’m not including ancient antiquity. There’s no reason why everyone can’t have Solar.  Now, let’s keep it positive. Let’s be about solutions and be proactive in getting more Solar to African nations.

Real ways to use Solar with real results:

Before:Kerosene lamps causes fires. After: Solar light for the home, no more kerosene lamps causing fires and generating bad fumes into the air causing sickness and lowering the quality of life.

Before: No light, Moonlight (yes, moonlight is a gift from God). After: Solar Street lights to allow families in rural areas to work longer in the fields if they choose.

Before: No light in schools. After: Solar light in schools increases literacy, higher scores on exams.

Before: No electricity throughout the city. After: Increase in business production adding to better a economy.

Overall by choosing to use solar powered lights and by choosing solar power as an energy source we choose to: Lessen health problems associated with fumes of Kerosene lamps in non-ventilated homes. the possibility of someone being burned by kerosene lamps that use lightening fluid (mixture of gasoline and diesel fluid) for lighting use. That is definitely a recipe for disaster. You will constantly need to refill kerosene lamps. The Sun in itself is solar power. When is the last time you had to pay for sunlight?

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July 14, 2010, MSYInternational at TRESPA:

This competition among Emerging Green Builders nationwide was to design LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for Homes projects with New Orleans’ Broadmoor neighborhood in mind as well as affordability, universal design and elderly occupants. All part of the post-Katrina rebuilding strategies the U.S. Urban Green Council (USGBC) partnered with Envirenew, the Salvation Army’s program initiative. Two issues to analyze and resolve are to dissect the ongoing challenges of quality sustainable homes being high in purchasing and occupancy and the second being the difficulty in lower to middle income New Orleanians returning post-Katrina to build their homes as well as their communities.

The four winners announced this evening will move forward and compete nationally against projects at Greenbuild International Conference and Expo 2010 November 17 – 19 in Chicago, Illinois.  The amazing thing is that four winners from the national competition homes will be built in New Orleans. Once built the homes will be judged on measurement and verification. The final prize will be based on energy, water, IAQ, and occupant comfort.

Winners of the July 14, 2010 New York City Competition:

First Place – Emerging Professionals:

Focus on Essential Values
Current Team Members

• Alan Stevenson-Architect
• Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP; Charlie Marino-Engineer
• AKF Group LLC

RAMPed Up
Current Team Members

• Yavuz Akcora, Rogers Marvel; *Daniel Bersohn, Buro Happol; *Tim Hanna, Buro Happold; *Nicholas McDermott, Rogers Marvel; *Shane Neufeld, Rogers Marvel; *Rossella Nicolin, Buro Happold; *Lauren Page, Buro Happold; *Irmak Turan, Buro Happold; *Jenny Wu, Rogers Marvel

First Place – Students:

Rising to the Challenge
Current Team Members

• Emily Balaban, *Emily Clark, *Jaliya Fonseka, *Rebecca Lai, *Laura Langridge, *David McMurchy, *Andy Oh, *Laura Pellow, and *Steven Zhao; Team affiliation: University of Waterloo School of Architecture

Nola’s Ark
Current Team Members

• Omer Kalafatoglu, MechanicalEngineer
• Chianju Ku, Architect
• Charles Kunken, Cost Engineer
• A Auriemmo, Environmental Engineer
• Jennifer Yang, Architect
• Vincent Chin, Architect

(Nola’s are winners but are not going to the nationals. Thanks J.L!)

Green building (also called green construction or sustainable building) is the act of building structures and using resources or methods that are safer for the environment. The resources used for the building’s purpose is to be efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle. The cycle of the building’s life is from choosing the design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and deconstruction. This act of Green building enhances the way classical building designs were created. Green building focuses and carries out concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort.

New ways to create greener structures are being developed everyday. The common goal is that green (sustainable) buildings be designed to have a better impact on human health and the natural environment:

• Building efficiency in using energy, water, and other resources
• Protection of occupants health and improving employee productivity
• Lowering waste, pollution and the natural environment.

This Green Education Tools blog is for individuals, groups, and organizations seeking Green industry information to use for themselves and to share with others. Here at Green Education Tools we provide the information for you.

The Obama administration wants to provide a way for people to work in Green jobs. There is no reason why the knowledge of what Green is, what it involves and how you can participate should be difficult to access.

The Green revolution is unfolding rapidly before our eyes. We must get a grip on and use it for the good of all. Research, research, research. We will provide you with basic green information that you can share with your family, friends, colleagues, employees/employers, organizations, NGOs, foundations, community groups, universities etc. The goal is for all to become more knowledgeable about the Green industry.

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