| September
2 (Tue) |
|
An
Eco- Conscious Strip Mall? It’s Reality by O’Reilly
of Dynamic Earth
Join
us for a slideshow presentation by a representative from
Dynamic Earth which built an
eco-conscious strip mall in Springfield, Missouri.
Dynamic
Earth is an outdoor equipment store specializing in quality
gear and service whether hiking, climbing, backpacking,
paddling,or skiing. They have been outfitting people locally
with a proper combination of gear, knowledge, and ethics,
for five years running, with stores in Kansas City and Springfield.
Dynamic Earth in Springfield is now in its new Platinum
LEED certified Green Circle Shopping Center. This
has been a been a long term vision and project of Matthew
O’Reilly to build an environmentally friendly building
to accommodate his outdoor gear store as well as other tenants
in a green building that is profitable as a retail
development.
The
Green Circle Shopping Center employs the latest technology,
strategies and materials for ensuring sustainable design.
This 18,000 square-foot facility has achieved LEED Platinum
status.
The
LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Green
Building Rating System™ is a voluntary, consensus-based
standard to support and certify successful green building
design, construction and operations. The Green Circle Shopping
Center is designed to preserve as much green space as possible
while utilizing techniques such as porous concrete pavement,
below–ground retention, a roof-top garden and more.
The interior is equally impressive, including geothermal
heating, ventilation, HVAC, high-efficiency windows, recycled
products, occupancy lighting controls and daylight harvesting.
The presentation on this labor of love will be right after
Labor Day so don't miss this interesting meeting! |
| October
7 (Tue) |
|
For
our October 7 meeting, we will have a presentation on Kansas
City Trails by Richard DeHart, Citywide Trails Coordinator.
Kansas City, Missouri is on the verge of implementing its
first ever citywide trails plan. This comprehensive plan was
funded through the support of the City's capital improvement
citizen review body, the Public Improvements Advisory Committee
(PIAC). Planning efforts were initiated in January, 2007 with
the appointment by the Mayor of steering and technical committees
to oversee the development of the plan. The
Citywide Trails Plan will serve as an implementation guide
and resource for City policy makers, planners, engineers,
landscape architects, developers, trails advocates and others
who are involved in developing, designing and maintaining
trails in Kansas City. Its major components include:
•
trail design and construction standards;
• funding and maintenance options needed for a sustainable
trail system;
• the needed organizational processes to manage trail
planning, construction and maintenance;
• policy recommendations for plan implementation;
and
• a five year priority plan to get trails “on
the ground” quickly.
The
plan calls for 230 miles of off-street shared use trails,
26 miles of on-street facilities and 41 miles of equestrian
trails. Development of these major trail corridors will
allow Kansas City to have a trails which are within 15 minutes
by walking or two miles by bicycling of the vast majority
of Kansas Citians. In an era of rapidly rising gas prices,
the need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to help
deal with global warming and a growing awareness of the
need for physical fitness as an integral part of health
and wellness, our trails system in being implemented none
too soon. |