Great News from Delaware General Assembly!

The Delaware 146th General Assembly recessed on Wednesday June 30, 2011 for the year.

A highlight came on June 28, 2011 when the HBADE represented by Mark Grahne, Steve Bomberger and Fred Fortunato were recognized on the floor of the House as House Concurrent Resolution #24 sponsored by Representative Brady was passed. This Resolution Recognizes and Proclaims June as "New Homes Month".

In addition, the Delaware Green for Green Program received additional funds to extend it through 2012 and hopefully into 2013 with an additional $500,000 set aside for rebates for homebuyers of Green certified Homes!

Congrats Mark, Steve and Fred! And thank you Jen Casey for your advocacy to help Delaware provide this successful funding for such a wonderful program! Of course it goes without saying we thank our State officials to provide the funding!

Happy Fourth of July to all!

NAHB Research Center Announces 2,000th Certified Project

The NAHB Research Center announced last week their 2,000th Green Certified Project in the Nation. Certified projects are almost all single family homes, but they also include remodeling, multifamily projects and site certifications such as this one. Congrats to the NAHB Research Center and the developer of this project in Cecil County Maryland. The link to the article is below.

We are happy to see the National Green Building Certification Program explode, a worthy accomplishment which is helping to support the housing economy. Of course here in Delaware, we have a lot of green to brag about. Our HBADE created the Green for Green homebuyer rebate program in conjunction with State DNREC officials. Delaware ranks #1 on a per-capita basis for the number of certified green homes in the nation. And while our many fine builders and clients in Delaware are embracing green, just last April Bestfield Homes in Delaware achieved the 1,000th certified green home project in the nation.

LandmarkJCM is happy to help all our clients build green, we are the most experienced Accredited Verifiers in Delaware. We're always happy to tell you about it, call Howard Fortunato at 302-323-9377 for information.

2,000th Green Certified Project link: http://www.nahbrc.com/news/pressreleases/rc_20110214.aspx

Tour of the NAHB Research Center

Friday the Home Builder’s Green Building Council was treated to a tour of the NAHB Research Center in Maryland. Nearly 30 members - builders, associates, and Kent County inspectors attended the tour. The first part, conducted by President Mike Luzier and Green Director Michelle Desiderio was to learn about the numerous services the Research Center provides besides green home certifications, including state of the art market research and focus groups for housing and housing product clients. We learned that the Research Center’s independence from NAHB and non-biased results are without dispute as they hold many accreditations from independent national testing certification bodies.

Then Bob Hill, Director of Laboratory Services, hosted our tour of the 45,000 square foot, 4-story indoor testing facility which can evaluate all parts of housing product components - weatherization of walls, materials, and insulation, osb strength, thermal characteristics, plumbing fixtures, etc.

The Research Center congratulated our HBADE with implementing the Green for Green homebuyer rebate program which rewards new home buyers of certified green homes with cash rebates. Mike cited it as an example of a win-win partnership in Delaware between the State DNREC and SEU and HBADE. He commented that other States are looking to implement the program nationally.

Green for Green Success !

Saturday, Mr. and Mrs. Fritts received their ceremonial $3,000 rebate as the first recipients of the new DNREC/SEU Green for Green program! Because Silverstock Builders delivered the home in Ocean View Delaware that earned Silver Certification from the National Green Building Certification Program, Mr and Mrs Fritz were the first to receive a rebate, actually issued a couple weeks ago.

Reybold Development delivered the second rebate check, also Silver, to their buyer at Meridian Crossing in Bear a couple days later. Buyers are seeing the benefit of Certified Green homes!

Pictured from left includes Howard Fortunato representing the Green Accredited Verifiers at LandmarkJCM; Mr & Mrs. Fritts; Homebuilder Bob Thornton; sales rep Mary Cerami; DNREC Energy and Policy Director Carolyn Snyder; and Jen Casey, EVP of Home Builders Assn of De.

We hope more buyers continue to buy homes and obtain their energy efficient, certified green homes - plus a rebate! Info at http://www.degreen4green.com/

Silver Woods Green Event Sept 11, 2010

Congrats to our good friend and client Bob Thornton of Silverstock Builders. He scored another green "first" and delivered the first NGBS Silver Certified home in Delaware last month under the new State Green for Green Rebate program for homebuyers.

To celebrate, we are helping Bob at his Green Event held onsite Sat 9/11/10 from 11am-4pm. In addition to display of our native Delaware critters by our Senior Biologist Mick McLaughlin, we will be on hand to explain green homes to prospective buyers and the rebates available to buyers. More importantly we will explain why Certified Green homes is so important to new homebuyers.

There will be music and food and goodies. Further info is available from Silver Woods Mary Cerami at 302-745-7004.

Look to see you there!

Another Successful Pig Roast

The Green Building Council of the HBADE held their third annual Pig Roast, and it was as popular as ever.

Several speakers promoted green building, discussing pervious pavement and house wrap. DNREC Secretary Collin O'Mara, flanked by several aides, offered his comments about our new co-jointly-assembled Green 4 Green new home rebate program. As most are aware, each home must be certified green - by the National Green Building Program, as endorsed by HBADE, or LEED.

Perfect sunny weather combined with the star of the day - the pig. Great food, a little education, a lot of marketing interaction and entertainment combined to make this a successful event.

Congrats to the Green Building Council and the HBADE.

FIRST ANNUAL GREEN FEST A SUCCESS

The First Annual Green Fest, put on by the Green Building Council and the Home Builder’s Association of Delaware, was a great success, held this past Sunday.

Held on Legislative Mall in Dover, this was the first time for this green themed earth day event. Despite somewhat cold wind, temps 50’s and sun in and out, everyone seemed to enjoy the beautiful day. There was music all day, storytelling to kids and kids friendly activities, a fashion show, exhibits and more, all taken in by an estimated 1,000 attendees.

The Air Quality Partnership of Delaware participated to educate people about air quality and they held a press conference to announce the start of the air quality monitoring season. The main speakers at the press conference was DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara and Dover Mayor Carleton Carey.

LandmarkJCM was happy to attend and support our green building clients. The NAHB Research Center participated as an exhibitor and explained the benefits of certified green building to many attendees. Of course we brought our collection of wild critters, always a popular draw.

Congrats to all who participated, sponsored, and helped make this a reality. Special congrats to HBADE and their dedicated and tireless staff for creating and holding this exciting event. We’re sure it will become an annual event not to be missed.

Pollution Control Strategy Lawsuit

An interesting article appeared in the News Journal this week describing the latest developments relating to the on-going Sussex County lawsuit against DNREC for their promulgation of the Inland Bays Pollution Control Strategies, most notably regarding buffers. While there is still considerable debate on the efficacy of buffers, the article did state that attempts to settle the dispute are ongoing. The implications being that some form of buffer regulation will likely prevail. As the “last word” regarding this subject has yet to be written, it is unclear how the final form of these regulations will affect proposed projects or agricultural land containing wetlands, streams, water bodies, forested areas, on-site treatment and disposal or tax-ditches for lands draining to the Inland Bays.



A link to all DNREC documentation is here: http://www.dnrec.state.de.us/water2000/Sections/Watershed/ws/ib_pcs.htm



A link to DNREC Summary is here: http://www.dnrec.state.de.us/water2000/Sections/Watershed/ws/FactSheet_IBPCS_101408.pdf



Additional regulations relating to water quality and limitations for discharge are currently being proposed at the Federal level that will ultimately be the responsibility for DNREC to regulate and enforce. We believe that the abundance of newly proposed and developing regulations coupled with the internal reorganization of DNREC recently announced will result in a significant departure from today’s status-quo. Landmark/JCM will continue to monitor these issues and how they may affect future development. Please contact us with any questions or to meet with us for your next successful project.

by Keith Rudy, Water Resources Branch Manager

iPod Winner Announced

A few JCM Environmental staffers oversaw the drawing of the winning entry for the iPod give-away from the Delaware State Fair.

Congratulations to Gloria Saatman for being the lucky winner. We will be contacting you for details on getting your your prize.

Thank you to everyone else for participating.

We were proud to support DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife for the third year in a row by providing critters and man-power at the Delaware State Fair. We believe that this is a great way to educate the public about the natural environment and the critters that share our great State.

Special thanks to Dawn Webb of the Dupont Nature Center for all of her support.

State Fair iPod Contest Winner

JCM Environmental was proud to sponsor the critter display at the DNREC Fish and Wildlife Building at the Delaware State Fair. Because of a few jealous people, we were not able to advertise. However, we did collect over 300 names and e-mail addresses in our iPod give-away contest.

We will announce the winner in the next 24 hours. Stay tuned!

Georgetown Chamber of Commerce with Alan Levin

Dave attended the Georgetown Chamber of Commence luncheon yesterday at which Alan Levin, Director of the Delaware Development Office (DDO), was the guest speaker.

Alan Levin presented his vision for the DDO which is to focus on small business growth and tourism promotion, both major engines for Delaware’s economy. He shared his philosophy that government should facilitate and not stand in the way of responsible economic growth. To help achieve this goal, Mr. Levin announced that there will be a major reorganization of DDO placing less focus on staff functioning as experts to drive business direction but rather on staff functioning as generalists that help facilitate private sector experts’ initiative and entrepreneurship. Mr. Levin also emphasized that efforts are being made for State agencies to better communicate and coordinate to help rather than stand in the way of economic growth; he also met yesterday with DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara to work to develop ways to enable DNREC to change its process to be more efficient and responsive to enable economic growth while ensuring environmental protection.

JCM will continue to work with DNREC on important issues that affect our clients, with the current opportunity described by Mr. Levin an excellent opportunity to do just that.

Delaware State Fair

The Delaware State Fair runs through Sunday.

Don't forget to come visit JCM Environmental and their critters at the DNREC Building (next to the farm equipment display). You can talk with JCM representatives between 1 and 5 each day and also enter for a chance to win an iPod for filling out a green building questionnaire.

Hope to see you there.

Kind Words for JCM Staff

Mr. McCulley,

I wanted to drop a line and say Thank You to you and your staff for helping our students at Alfred G. Waters Middle School complete a successful year at Science Olympiad. I met Amy during last years Delaware State Fair in the DNREC exhibit. She was very informative and personable and made a huge impression on not only myself but my son as well. After talking with Amy she made me aware of the educational services that your company offers regarding public outreach. She gave me her business card and said to give her a call when school started back up if I needed her.

Amy along with Jodi visited our school twice bringing a menagerie of critters and stimulated the interest of many of our aspiring herpetologist. They had such patience with the students and did a great job in breaking down the material so that even the students that were not in our Reptiles and Amphibians group could understand what was being taught. The students could not wait for Amy and Jodi to come back for their final visit before competition. They are great ambassadors for JCM and the environmental science industry.

Thanks to Amy and Jodi I feel the kids on the Science Olympiad team were well prepared for their competition. Our AGW Reptiles and Amphibians team 11, made of Greg and Amanda, placed 7th overall in the event. They were very proud and said they could not have done it with out Amy and Jodi’s help.

Thanks again for allowing the girls to help out our team. They did a fantastic job.

We really appreciate it.

Regards,

Shannon Hughes
Reptiles and Amphibians Coach

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