The U.S. Environment Agency is kicking off the anniversary on April 24th with a two-day event in Washington which showcases EPA’s many achievements in protecting America’s environmental heritage. One of the event’s major features is the National Sustainable Design Expo, which will present the best new green technologies and alternative energy designs from more than 40 college teams.

The U.S. Air Force is also no stranger to environmental stewardship. For Earth Day’s 40th anniversary, the U.S. Air Force has recommitted to protecting more than eight million acres of land and water areas including over 234 acres of wetland, 570,000 acres of forest land, 200 miles of preserved  coastline and 70 endangered and threatened species. In addition, the U.S. Air Force continues to lead research efforts on alternative and renewable energy sources.

Yet Washington is only one of many actors on this important stage. Grassroots, citizen-initiated action is vital in achieving a cleaner, greener world. In his April 13th address, President Obama urged Americans to take local action and make a difference in their communities – and from coast-to-coast they are doing just that.

In Massachusetts, Salem State College has organized April 12-22 an environmental series entitled “Growing a Greener Economy for a Healthier Planet”. The series features lectures on wind power and food sustainability, environmentally-conscious art work, and multiple environment-networking opportunities for students and the local community.

On April 17th at North Hampton State Beach in New Hampshire, local divers took to the ocean depths to remove debris from the sea floor, while non-divers cleaned-up the surrounding beach areas. Maryland-based vendor and growers gathered for lectures on how to increase sustainability within their organizations, while volunteers from a Georgia middle school helped with trail beautification in nearby forests.

What better way to remind people how important their environment is, than to get them actively using it! On April 17th and 18th, Cloudland Canyon State Park invited visitors to an Outdoor Adventure Weekend of caving, climbing, rappelling and fishing at rock-bottom prices ($3-$5 an event).

And the celebrations continue. On April 22nd, the community of Carbondale, Illinois is hosting an “Off the Grid” Solar Music Festival. Residents of Boise, Idaho will be planting trees along the city’s main streets on April 24th.  In Portland, Oregon, Audubon Society volunteers will gather on April 24th to rebuild a bridge over a local waterway.

Here at US Embassy Helsinki, we are also making a difference. We have just added two Chevrolet flexi-fuel vehicles to the Embassy fleet. We have also installed more motion-sensor lights in Embassy corridors.

In June 2010, Ambassador and Mrs. Oreck will host a bee colony in their backyard to promote the importance of local beekeeping. Expert beekeeper Corwin Bell is visiting Finland this month to connect with the local Finnish beekeeping community, and share information on new, advanced bee hive equipment that is effective and easy to use for first-time beekeepers.

Ambassador and Mrs. Oreck also have plans to create an Embassy vegetable garden at their residence this summer, to support the use of organically-grown, sustainable produce. 

Perhaps our most ambitious green project is the rehabilitation the 109-year old Chancery Annex. Ambassador Oreck is working hard to incorporate green elements into the renovation plans. Use of advanced insulation and state-of-the-art lighting are just a few of the elements that will improve the building’s energy-efficiency and reduce the Embassy’s carbon footprint.

So whether from north-to-south, coast-to-coast, or even beyond in our overseas Embassies, Americans are actively working to make the world a little greener for many more Earth Days to come.

**  More information on local U.S Earth Day celebrations can be obtain from the EPA website at http://www.epa.gov/earthday/events.htm.

Thermometer (Photo Credit: Wikimedia)

Imagine a newly-built apartment heated only with the excess energy produced by your television, your computer, even your own body. Now imagine that same apartment in Helsinki, Finland – one of Europe’s northern-most cities where winter climes can dip to -20C (5F). Sound impossible? Not at all. Finnish building contractors, Reponen Oy, are making it an everyday reality with their new low-energy building concept called MERA. 

Reponen’s Jukka Kinnunen and Mika Airakselaa recently took Embassy Helsinki’s Economic staff on a tour of their latest MERA project – a new apartment complex that blends passive housing designs with Finnish craftsmanship to create ultra-low energy housing.  

Here’s how MERA works – in simple terms. First, the apartment building is super insulated.   The roof and walls have extra thick insulation to keep warmth in and the cold out. Next the windows are quadrupled paned – four layers of specially-designed glass that lets in light but effectively keeps out drafts. Then there are the pièces de résistance: a thermostat box located near the door and a small, understated air vent near the ceiling. Via the thermostat, you set the desired temperature for your apartment – say 20 degrees Celsius. Your appliances, your own body, even your dog produce heat that raises the apartment’s internal temperature. The air vent sucks up the internal air, runs it through a filter located in an adjacent hallway and then shoots it back out into the apartment in quantities sufficient to keep the internal temperature at your desired level. 

Since Finland’s winter weather can be rather severe – and the amount of heat-generating appliances/people/dogs may vary from one apartment to the next – each apartment complex is equipped with back-up central heating for the coldest winter months. But according to Reponen, central heating is used only two months at the most throughout the entire year –an impressive feat considering Finland’s cold weather can stretch for eight months from September to April.  

Equally impressive is that the MERA design is more energy efficient than Finnish passive housing standards. For the non-initiated, passive housing standards require that a house (or an apartment building in this case) have exceptionally low energy consumption – particularly for heating/cooling systems. How low to go varies vary widely from country to country. 

In Finland, passive standards require that the amount of energy required to heat a home not exceed 30 KwH/m2 per year. By comparison a conventional apartment building uses an average of 70kWh/ m2  per year for heating.   Reponen’s first MERA apartment complex, located in Heinola (2 hours from Helsinki) and occupied since May 2009, measures in at 15.6 KwH/m2 per year. That translates into a nearly 25% reduction in heating energy compared to conventional apartments.

But how comfortable are the apartments, really? After all, living in a cave with blankets might be energy-efficient but not entirely practical. Luckily, the apartments are aesthetically pleasing with all the modern conveniences one would expect from high-quality apartment living in Helsinki – lots of windows, enclosed balconies, electric ranges and even individual saunas. As for its winter warmth, we unfortunately could not judge the toasty-factor just yet.  But similar designs in central (albeit warmer) Europe have proven quite effective. 
 
MERA homes are also surprisingly affordable. Construction costs for Reponen’s MERA designs are only 1.7% higher than conventional buildings, keeping the price of a MERA low-energy apartment competitive with traditional housing.  Clearly the Finns are hooked:  the new MERA apartments are still under construction yet every unit is already sold. 

In the US, passive housing is gaining traction. In 2003, architects Katrin Klingenberg  and Nicolas Smith built America’s first passive home in Urbana, Illinois. The two-bedroom home’s annual heating demand averages only 11kWh.  Klingenberg now co-directs the Passive Housing Institute US, a consulting and research firm working to further the implementation of Passive House standards and techniques nationwide. Many US top architectural schools, such as MIT and Yale, are also introducing green and passive building courses into their curriculums. Solar panels, green roofs and state-of-the-art energy efficiency are all steadily becoming the norm of the built environment – a small, but important step on the road to a greener, cleaner tomorrow.  

Even our new US Ambassador to Finland Bruce Oreck has personal experience with US-based green housing. Ambassador Oreck and his wife Cody Oreck launched the Zero Carbon Initiative as a clearinghouse of information on green housing standards. They even used their own Colorado home as at a test lab, successfully turning it into a model of low-carbon living that sacrifices neither quality nor luxury.  

Imagine fifteen years from now living in a low-carbon world where homes are fully energy efficient and actually make more energy than use. Sound impossible? Not any more.

Paul Sheldon in Finland

Former US Representative Thomas Barrett once said, “Chaos in the world brings uneasiness but it also allows the opportunity for creativity and growth.” And it was this opportunity for creativity and growth, which Paul Sheldon, Senior Consultant for Natural Capitalism Solutions based in Longmont, Colorado, highlighted on September 21st to US Embassy contacts during an evening reception hosted by Ambassador Bruce Oreck and Mrs. Cody Douglas Oreck.

The ‘chaos’ in this context was global warming. Global climate change is rapidly altering the environment in which we live, and the impact on businesses will be significant. Deteriorating ecosystems will lead to more volatile energy prices and increased economic instability – neither of which bode well for the commercial sector.

Yet businesses do not have to be passive players when it comes to global warming. As Mr. Sheldon pointed out, businesses not only have an important role in protecting the environment, but ‘going green’ is actually very profitable.   He pointed to the example of DuPont – an American Fortune 500 company. In 1990 DuPont decided to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and raise revenue by 6% with no corresponding increase in energy use. Today their GHGs from global operations are down by 80%, their global energy use is 9% below 1990 levels and they recorded a savings of $3 billion between 2000 and 2005 alone – all thanks to new green measures.

Mr. Sheldon also discussed Wal-Mart, describing how in undertaking a comprehensive review of its carbon footprint its executives noted several wasteful energy practices – particularly in the open-bin refrigerated meat and dairy aisles. Wal-Mart redesigned the aisles putting all refrigerated food behind sealed doors and installing motion-sensory lights. This small effort significantly improved Wal-Mart’s energy efficiency and reduced its carbon footprint. It also helped sales! Children found the motion-sensory lights fascinating, which attracted parents (as potential buyers) to new items.

As Mr. Sheldon described it, the developed world is entering the “6th wave” of industrial innovation, which encompasses sustainability, radical resource productivity and renewable energy. Just like the 1st wave (iron, mechanization) or the 5th wave (digital networks, software information technology), companies that react first will reap the best rewards of reduced expenses and increased revenue.

Finland already has a number of local companies riding that wave and tapping into green growth. During his two-day trip, Mr. Sheldon met with representatives of the Federation of Finnish Financial Services, Helsingin Energia, and BaseN to exchange best practices.

Mr. Sheldon’s presentation provided the kick-off for US Embassy Helsinki’s Energy and Environment Series – a four-part speaker series running October to December 2009. The series features key American specialists highlighting America’s technical and scientific creativity in dealing with global warming. The series details can be found on the Embassy website . All are encouraged to attend and take part in this most important discussion.

View from summer cottage (Photo Credit: Wikimedia)

To say that the Finns have a certain reverence for their summer season is no understatement. From May to August, nearly every Finn heads outdoors to take advantage of the twelve-plus hours of sunlight before the long, dark winter creeps back in. Government and other activity slows down, prompting many to travel to forest cottages where on Midsummer’s Eve they build bonfires and revel in the longest day of the year. So enticing is the Finnish summer that many Finns stay at their cottages for the entire month of July.  

In Finland, the summer season is a fleeting miracle – a mere four months of life-giving growth after months of sub-arctic temperatures. And the Finns do not take it for granted. With such an appreciation for their world around them, it is not surprising then that Finns have such an active interest in reducing their carbon footprint.

Since 2001, the Finnish government has produced a series of action plans, known as the National Climate Strategy, detailing concrete steps the nation must take to reduce their share of emissions. In its latest Strategy published in November 2008, the Finnish government set ambitious goals to ensure that 38% of energy and 10% of transport fuel is produced from renewable sources. By 2020, Finland hopes to produce 14.2 terawatt hours (TWh) of hydroelectric energy, 1.0 TWh of wind power and 34.9 TWh of nuclear energy – a big leap from their 2006 levels of 11.3 TWh, .1 TWh and 22 TWh respectively.

Finland’s efforts are starting to pay off. According to the latest United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s report, Finland’s total emissions declined slightly in 2007 from 79.9 teragrams of carbon dioxide equivalent (Tg CO2) to 78.3 Tg CO2. Just this month the OECD’s Environment Directorate Director Lorents Lorensten called Finland a pioneer of environmental policy.

Such environmental awareness coupled with a “can-do” attitude make the Finns excellent partners in the fight against global warming. In June 2008, Embassy Science Fellow – US Forest Service Senior Researcher Dr. Alan Rudie – spent several weeks with top Finnish scientists to advance work on the production of biofuel from forest trimmings. Building on this successful collaboration, the US Embassy Helsinki hopes to sponsor another US Forest Service Science Fellow in 2010.

In 2008, Finland joined the Methane-to-Markets program – a public/private partnership in conjunction with the US Environmental Protection Agency that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by promoting the cost-effective, near-term recovery and use of methane, while providing clean energy to markets around the world.

In June 2009, the first of three American National Science Foundation (NSF) research fellows will arrive in Finland via the newly established Nordic Research Opportunity Grant. Funded by NSF and the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES), the new program will foster closer research ties between US and Finnish scientists.

Landscape of the area of Kayes, in Mali (Photo Credit: Wikimedia)

Needless to say, not much happens during the heat of the day.  But as I sat melting under the shade of a mango tree, mint tea in hand, I couldn’t help but think what an asset all this sunshine could be. A field of solar panels in the Kayes region alone could potentially supply the entire country with much needed electricity. Expand them to Mali’s other regions – over one-third of the country lies in the Sahara Desert – and Mali could produce enough electricity to sell to its neighbors.

I am hardly the first to see the potential of green technology in the developing world.  Over a decade ago, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) called on developed nations to provide financial and technical support to the developing world in mitigating the effects of climate change. Since then 192 countries have ratified the UNFCCC, including the United States in October 1992.      

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has been at the forefront of meeting America’s UNFCCC commitments in the developing world. Since 1991, USAID’s Global Climate Change Program (GCCP) has been implementing projects which provide sustainable, climate-related benefits to over 40 developing countries. 

• In Mexico, GCCP projects are reducing GHG emissions through the promotion of solar and wind water pumps for off-grid farm use.
• In Central America, the USAID and NASA-sponsored SERVIR satellite monitoring system provides weather alerts and a fire warning system to assist decision makers tackling climate change issues.
• In South Africa, USAID solar water heaters are reducing household energy consumption and costs while providing hot water to households that could not otherwise afford it.

Solar Panels (Photo Credit: Wikimedia)

Such USAID programs have helped avoid the equivalent of over 15 million metric tons of CO2 over the past five years alone. 

Clean technology alone will not transform the developing world – plenty of challenges remain from good governance to health care. But GCCP’s holistic approach to fully integrate clean technology and development, allows developing countries to leap-frog past ecologically unsustainable technology and embrace the future. So maybe ten years from now, when I return to Kayes for another visit, I will be sitting, mint tea in hand, beneath the cool breeze of a solar-powered fan.

Earth Day was founded in 1970 by US Senator Gaylord Nelson. His call for cleaner air and water in the US was heeded from coast to coast. Earth Day had a special appeal among American youth who called on the US government and fellow Americans to support a healthier, more sustainable world. 

Earth Day flag (Photo Credit: Wikimedia)

So thirty-nine years later has anything in America really changed?  Absolutely.     

Earth Day spurred the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Act.  In the US, leaded fuel and gas guzzling cars have been replaced by unleaded gas and stricter fuel efficiency standards.  Since the 1980s the EPA’s Superfund has cleaned up hazardous waste sites, protecting local rivers from chemical contamination. In 2007, sulfur dioxide emissions fell below its long term emission cap of 8.95 million tons — three years before the 2010 statutory deadline – thanks to a USG cap-and-trade program.   

Today over 140 countries around the world celebrate Earth Day. Great progress has been made, but there is plenty left to do. America is ready to do her part. Recent stimulus funds are funding projects to put plug-in vehicles on the road by 2015 and improve energy efficiency so that 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.  The US Congress is currently drafting legislation to implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

On April 22, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a new program to implement Department-wide environmentally responsible policies.  She also renewed her support for the Green League of Embassies – an effort started by our colleagues at US Embassy Stockholm to encourage US embassies around the world to apply “green practices”. Here at US Embassy Helsinki we have already implemented a comprehensive recycling program that covers everything from old cell phones to bio waste.  The Embassy has also saved energy by installing motion sensor light switches, and using  high-efficiency compact light bulbs at all  US Embassy residences.

Climate warming is progressing rapidly, and every positive change we make no matter how small makes a difference. So, Happy Earth Day Mother Earth – and here’s to another forty years of good environmental stewardship for moms, dads and groundhogs everywhere.

I am Wendy Kahler, Environment, Science and Technology Officer at the American Embassy in Helsinki. I arrived in Finland in August 2008 and will be working here for three years to promote cooperation between the US and Finland on environment, climate and technology issues. This is my first time living in Europe, having spent the last six years or so in Africa. As you can imagine, the weather here is a bit different than I am used to. Thanks in part to the generous spirit of the Finns, though, I have survived my first Nordic winter unscathed.  

I will be contributing to this blog as a way to discuss the Embassy’s work on environment, science and technology (we say EST for short!) issues, and generate discussion on these topics with the wider community. I must admit that I never blogged before coming to Finland. In most of Africa, internet connection can be spotty and full-scale blogging is not so popular. However, Finland is one of the most-wired countries in the world, so it seems only fitting to put that technology to its best use.

I welcome your insights and feedback on all my entries. If you have a specific question, I encourage you to post it on the blog. At the moment, I anticipate posting one new entry a month, and responding to any remarks within a week.  

Finland’s EST advancements matter to America, and I hope my entries will shed some light on how Finland and the US are working together to positively impact the global environment.

Happy Blogging!