Beginning in Fall 2024, USGBC Redwood Empire officially integrated with USGBC California, initiating a year of transition and expansion focused on regional priorities including wildfire education and resilience, green schools, and building decarbonization. This integration has opened new pathways for professional networking and development, connecting local leaders with statewide initiatives and resources. In July 2025, … Read more
Practical understanding: Students from at least three high schools enroll in a CTE construction or STEAM, project-based course to build a “high school hut-to-hut” experience. Over the course of one year (preferably) they design and build hut accommodations and decide on a trail system on which to place them. The huts may be tiny homes … Read more
4/5/23 1.The science and practice of green building has changed since you first built your own sustainable house at Oak Springs so many years ago. What are the most exciting changes you see in the field and what would you change about your own house? Sustainable building practices and opportunities for green construction solutions have come … Read more
Fire ecology is a scientific discipline that “focuses on the origins of wildland fire and its relationship to the environment that surround it, both living and non-living,” (source: Pacific Biodiversity Institute). Climate change (which is causing more extreme heat, droughts, and other adverse conditions) is affecting the fire ecology of many western states, including California. … Read more
As told by USGBC Redwood Empire Board Member Claudia Cleaver: It was a hot day with questionable air quality, but I quickly realized I was so lucky to interview Natasha Stocker, Well AP of the Santa Rosa interior design firm Inspired Spaces. I got to walk away with inspiration of my own. I heard about … Read more
The working document link. Background info on Climate Emergency Resolutions This revision: August 12, 2019 Start here: this is a letter that was sent to community groups in all the cities in Sonoma County to introduce the model Climate Emergency Resolution. The Climate Mobilization is the organization in the U.S. that began advocating for emergency … Read more
Version 2.0 | October 2016 STAR : Sustainability Tools for Assessing & Rating communities STAR Communities is a Washington, DC based nonprofit organization, now partnered with USGBC , that works to evaluate, improve and certify sustainable communities. They administer the STAR Community Rating System (STAR), the nation’s leading framework and certification program for local sustainability. … Read more
August 19th, 1946 – May 10th, 2019 We lost a real leader in the green building community last month. Our chapter president, and guiding light died unexpectedly. We were shocked. Steve spent his last day meeting with an inspiring new client, training for a San Francisco to Santa Barbara bike ride / climate fundraiser, playing … Read more