Presentation at the DuPont Nature Center

Jodi Kerstetter and Mick McLaughlin of JCM Environmental presented an educational program at the DuPont Nature Center in Milford on Saturday. They had "critters" on display, including snakes, turtles and frogs. It was all a part of a celebration at the Center.

To learn more about the Center, visit http://www.dupontnaturecenter.org/index.html

To learn more about JCM Environmental, visit http://www.jcmenv.com

Submitted by Jim McCulley -

Yesterday I spent the day in Washington DC with several Delaware Builders as part of the NAHB Legislative Conference. In the morning we were given a briefing about the issues affecting Home Builders throughout the country and then we went to Capitol Hill to meet with Congressmen and Senators to discuss these issues.

We stopped in several offices and discussed Green Building Issues with staff for Mitch McConnell and Bob Casey.

In the afternoon we met with Congressman Mike Castle and his staff in his office, Senator Tom Carper and his staff in his office and Senator Ted Kauffman and his staff in Joe Biden’s old office (Senator Kauffman is in a small temporary office and Biden’s old office is unused presently).

We made sure to get the message out that the NAHB has an approved Green Building Standard that is ANSI Certified and ICC Endorsed and that this represents the only Green Building Standard in the Country. We discussed that any legislation that addresses Green Building should include reference to the NAHB Standard and should avoid setting unrealistic goals that are not based on the Standard. We also had the opportunity to discuss the issue surrounding Construction Lending and the problems in banking right now as well as the budget and stimulus packages.

Another Way We Help Our Clients

Last weekend JCM Environmental was the Signature Sponsor for the "Know Before You Go" Expo in the Fort Monmouth area. The Expo was to assist the 15,000 transferees in learning more about the Aberdeen Area prior to their move prior to September 2011.

JCM Environmental teamed with some of our Green Building clients to educate the transferees about the value of buying a green built home. We also educated them on the value of a certification in order to ensure that the home they are buying is really green.

Several JCM Employees were stationed in our booth right at the entrance to the expo as well as several of our builder clients. Everyone we talked to was a transferee and was making the move from NJ to either MD or DE. About 300 families came to our booth and learned about the green built homes in the area.

JCM Environmental also presented three Green Building Seminars throughout the weekend.

Two local newspapers also visited with JCM Environmental and plan to do stories on the expo and talk about Green Built Homes.

JCM also made numerous great connections with new builders, Realtors, government officials and others at the expo.

For more information, please contact Howard Fortunato at howard@jcmenv.com or visit http://www.jcmenv.com/ for more information.

NAHB Research Center Tour

Several JCM Employees were the invited guests of Mike Luzier, president of the NAHB Research Center at the Research Center in Upper Marlboro, Maryland earlier this week. The NAHB Research Center is an accredited testing facility for all types of building materials and were the brains behind the NAHB Green Building Program.

The facility is amazing and Mike is an awesome leader for the group. The type of testing they can do is absolutely amazing and the credibility they bring to the Green Building Program is unparalleled due to their numerous independent accreditations and audits.

Mike invited JCM because of our tireless advocacy of their Green Building Program and our accomplishments to date under the program.

While there, we also learned of some programs which could help our green builder clients which we will be sharing shortly. For more information, please call Howard at 302-737-9335 x306 or howard@jcmenv.com or http://www.jcmenv.com/ for more information.

Another NAHB Standards Verifier

Even with his busy schedule, Howard Fortunato was able to pass the NAHB Standards Verifier Test. Now both Howard and Joe are approved to consult and verify green building under both the NAHB Guidelines and Standards for all types of residential construction, including: Single Family, Townhouse, Condo, Multi-Family and others.

You can contact Howard at 302-737-9335 X306 or howard@jcmenv.com or visit http://www.jcmenv.com/ for more information.

More Great Praise from Clients

The praise for our Land Management group just keeps coming in, here is the latest:

“We have seen much improvement in all the ponds this past year” (since JCM has taken over maintenance of the ponds)

“We appreciate everything you have done for our community…. Your service and commitment is excellent and we are very satisfied with the pond results.”

The Land Management group does much more than just make ponds look good......to find out more visit http://www.jcmenv.com/ or call 302-854-9138. You can also e-mail Dave at dave@jcmenv.com

National Green Building Award Finalist

We learned this week that JCM Environmental was named as a finalist in the National Green Building Awards presented by the National Association of Homebuilders.




JCM ENVIRONMENTAL NAMED NAHB NATIONAL GREEN BUILDING AWARD FINALIST

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) announced today that JCM Environmental is a finalist for the 2009 NAHB National Green Building Awards.

The prestigious annual awards honor home builders, remodelers, home builders’ associations and other organizations for advancing green building through innovative design and construction techniques, excellent educational programs and successful advocacy efforts.

JCM was nominated in the Advocate of the Year category for their work in promoting Green Building in Delaware and around the country.

The awards are part of the NAHB National Green Building Program, NAHBGreen, which includes education, advocacy, marketing and certification services for green homes. Since NAHBGreen debuted in February 2008, almost 150 homes have been certified across the country. Project entries must be scored to the NAHBGreen rating system to facilitate judging.

You can reach JCM Environmental by calling (302) 737-9335 or visit our web site at http://www.jcmenv.com/

NEW Delaware DataMIL Site

The Delaware DataMIL site has been updated and revised and is a great source for your mapping needs. From the press release:


When entering the revised DataMIL site (http://datamil.delaware.gov), users will see a data catalog and be able to preview each layer in a "map viewer," read the metadata, or download the entire statewide dataset. The data layers are also searchable by category, by keyword, and by spatial search. When exploring the metadata records, users can share these data with colleagues through e-mail and social networking sites. Another helpful item is a GeoRSS feed that notifies users of recent changes on the DataMIL site. Lastly, the site makes use of a Google Map interface which allows large datasets to be available for download. The DataMIL Tiled Data Distribution page is an easy way to click and get tiles of imagery and elevation raster data sets for the entire state.

NAHB Standards Verifier

Congratulations Joe Gordon, Environmental Scientist at JCM Environmental (www.jcmenv.com) on passing his test and being accredited as a verifier for Green Certification of sites and buildings under the NAHB Green Building Standards.

The NAHB Standard (www.nahbgreen.org) is the only National Green Building Standard and it was ANSI approved in late January of this year.

JCM Environmental is proud to be able to verify homes for certification under both the NAHB Guidelines and Standards. JCM has verified ten (10) homes in Delaware in the last year, including the first Gold Home in the Nation, First in Delaware, First in Sussex County, First in Kent County, First in New Castle County and First Model Home in Delaware.

For more information contact Howard Fortunato at (302) 737-9335 X306 or howard@jcmenv.com, Joe Gordon can be reached at joe@jcmenv.com
or www.jcmenv.com

Delaware Amphibian Monitoring Program

Amy Nazdrowicz, an environmental scientist at JCM Environmental, is participating in the Delaware Amphibian Monitoring Program (DAMP) and gave this report:

Last Friday night I attended the training and orientation to the DAMP (Delaware’s Amphibian Monitoring Program), which is coordinated by DNREC. DAMP is a subset of the nationwide USGS Amphibian Monitoring Program, which encourages and coordinates individual states to execute roadside frog call surveys in order to track long-term presence/absence data of frog species and populations. Because amphibians are used as “biological indicators”, the health of their populations can be used to assess the environmental health of the surrounding areas. Frogs are especially easy amphibians to track because male frogs make an advertisement call that is used to attract females into the wetlands for breeding and each frog species has its own, unique advertisement call. So, the presence of a species within a wetland area can be determined by listening for its specific advertisement call. The data collected by this project is important because it compiles huge data sets from all over the country that have been collected using standardized methods over many years. The idea is that the data, eventually, will be able to determine which population and/or frog species are in decline.

Each participant in the program must attend the training session where they are introduced to the advertisement calls of each of the species of frog that occurs in their state. Participants are also required to “study” their frog calls on a c.d and website prior to taking a mandatory online quiz that tests their ability to identify the advertisement calls of each species. Each participant must pass this quiz prior to conducting their frog call surveys.

Once these requirements have been met, each participant will receive a route somewhere in Delaware that they must survey. Each route contains 10 stops where the surveyor will listen for 5 minutes and record each frog species heard calling and their relative abundance (on a scale of 1-3) at each stop. The route must be surveyed a minimum of 3 times a year (during specific peak breeding months and under strict weather requirements) and the data is submitted to DNREC for review and eventual submission to USGS.

You can reach Amy at amy@jcmenv.com or visit www.jcmenv.com

Delaware Amphibian Monitoring Program

The Ultimate Recycler

We met an awesome artist, Leo Sewell, yesterday in Philadelphia that recycles junk into works of art. He made a re-creation of the Liberty Bell from junk all related to Philadelphia in some way. I encourage everyone to visit his site: http://leosewell.net/, send him some junk or even commission him to create a piece for you.