USGBC-STL Growing Green Awards Dinner 2010.

If you were nominated or your business or organization was nominated, then you probably already have tickets to the 2010 Growing Green Awards Dinner held tomorrow night in St. Louis. If not, the STL chapter of the USGBC is holding the Growing Green Awards contest to honor those individuals, businesses, and/or organizations that are "actively transforming the built environment while sharing their knowledge of green building and sustainable practices."

There were almost 70 amazing nominations that were categorized as follows: innovator, home builder, government, quietly green, educator, corporate, or non-profit. After a thorough review by a panel of judges that included Jeremy Sigmon of the USGBC Advocacy & Policy Team, Shawn Rush of NELSON, Carolyn Kaplan of Nixon Peabody, Jeff Rehm of Grainger, and Nathan Benjamin of PlanetReuse, the winners from each category were selected and will be recognized tomorrow evening.

All of the nominees have done so much to further sustainable thoughts, designs, and lifestyles throughout St. Louis. Great work and best of luck!

PlanetReuse in Kauffman Foundation's National "Top Start-Up" Competition

PlanetReuse has been nominated by the San Francisco based firm, Public Architecture to be a part of the, "Top Start-Up Companies Outside of Silicon Valley," contest. The contest is being put on by both the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Bob Cringley. Our objective is to get as many comments and star ratings (or votes) as we can on our nomination before the end of the six week time period. The top 24 companies (the winners of the challenge), will get the opportunity to be a part of a 12-hour reality television series!

Please support PlanetReuse by going to this site and comment on our listing or feel free to give us a five-star rating! Vote here: http://bit.ly/cPeJMp

In thanks for your support, if you comment on our listing, you will also be entered for the chance to win a free one day pass to the Greenbuild 2010 Expo in Chicago, IL on November 17th-19th. If you would like to enter for a chance to win more than once, you can also retweet the following...

"Vote and comment for @PlanetReuser as one of the top start-up companies outside of Silicon Valley in 2010 here! {http://bit.ly/cPeJMp}"

We will be drawing two winners from all of the Kauffman comment-entries and retweets every Friday until we run out of passes so spread the word and best of luck! NOTE: THE FIRST DRAWING WILL TAKE PLACE ON MARCH 26TH, 2010.

37th National Demolition Association Convention: March 21st-23rd.

Next week from March 21-23, the National Demolition Association will be holding their 37th Annual Convention. This convention will take place in Las Vegas, NV in the 100,000 square foot Mirage Convention Center.

"As the largest exhibition of demolition products and services in the world, the NDA’s annual convention draws everyone involved in the demolition process from around the globe."

Being the largest event in the industry, the NDA hopes to push sustainability at this years' conference by means of actively educating membership throughout their sessions. Nathan Benjamin has been asked to speak about Material Reuse, its perceived roadblocks, and ways it makes sense for the environment and for demo companies' bottom line. The panel will be on Tuesday in the late morning education session. If you are in the demolition industry and are interested in attending this fantastic event, click here for more information.

Hopefully we will see you there!

PlanetReuse in April issue of Popular Mechanics!

PlanetReuse continues to broaden it's horizons with our most recent mention in the April 2010 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine! You will find us in the "Upgrade: Smart Home" section among other sustainable companies with the following write-up.

"The main challenge of using second-hand building materials? Navigating the salvage yards to find what you need. Kansas City's PlanetReuse acts as your scrap agent, sourcing anything from ex-ocean-boardwalk lumber to brick from an abandoned factory. The matchmakers pair materials requests with new online listings in an operation so streamlined that the firm can often price salvaged items for less than an equivalent new material. Good thing - they don't mill it like they used to."

To name a few of our page-side neighbors, US HydroTech is mentioned for their graywater filtration system, Green Depot showcases their line of nontoxic cleaning supplies, and Energy Complete explains the importance of using their spray-foam latex sealer. To view our mention as the "salvage scavengers" in this month's publication, click on the second image to enlarge!

PlanetReuse featured in Architect magazine!

PlanetReuse has been featured in the March issue of "Architect" magazine! If you keep reading just past the "Color Me Sustainable" and "A Plan for Haiti" articles, you will find in the culture section an article about how, "these matchmakers want to find the perfect used materials for your project." Featured in the piece are both the Principal+Founder Nathan Benjamin and Operations Manager Tim Bensman.

"The great thing about entrepreneurship is there's always a gap to be filled. Nathan Benjamin started planetreuse.com in January 2008 as a Craigslist/eBay-type site for reclaimed building materials that could be used in new commercial projects. He realized, however, that although the listings were diverting waste from landfills, they weren't addressing the communication gap between design and construction teams and the deconstruction/demolition community. So Benjamin and his business partner, Tim Bensman, became brokers for reused materials."

To continue reading the article in it's entirety, either read on "Architect" website here or click on the second image which will enlarge it to full size!

April 22nd-23rd: Midwest Urban Deconstruction Forum.

As the 40th anniversary of Earth Day approaches, keep this outstanding event in mind when mapping out your plans. On April 22nd and 23rd, the Midwest Urban Deconstruction Forum will be held at the Chicago headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and hosted by USEPA Region 5 Land and Chemicals Division, Region 5 Brownfields Program, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, and Office of Brownfields & Land Revitalization.

"The Midwest Urban Deconstruction Forum will provide an excellent opportunity to establish a regional dialogue among local-level decision makers and look at new initiatives and challenges related to:

· evaluating successful strategies to incorporate deconstruction into communities’ efforts to manage abandoned buildings,

· evaluating economic viability of deconstruction on municipal projects,

· encouraging deconstruction, reuse, and recycling in the community, and

· creating local jobs through deconstruction."

If you have some experience with deconstruction, this event would be extremely valuable to consider attending. There are only fifty spots available to encourage an educated discussion and information-sharing event for individuals and communities that already have some experience in deconstruction. If you would like to attend, April 1st is the deadline for registration.

If you are in the Chicago area already and are looking for a more introductory level event, perhaps look into attending the 3rd annual 'Green Your Footprint' held at the Flair Tower which is the newest LEED certified residential building in Chicago.

As it gets closer to Earth Day 2010, check back here for information on more exceptional events taking place around the nation and globe!

March events calendar: Boston edition!

If you are in the Boston area and looking for some stellar events in design to attend in the next week, you are in luck! On March 11th, the Boston Society of Architects/AIA will be holding their monthly "Conversations on Architecture" event where they invite industry professionals to share their experiences. This month they will be highlighting those from the SHIFTboston team. SHIFTboston was the Ideas Competition which invited any design professional to create their ideal Boston public space. The event encouraged participants to truly unleash their creativity for the better of the community with a little cash prize incentive. The brains behind it all will have the opportunity to share their experiences, "developing the competition and forum, details on their current exhibition efforts and a sneak peek at the group's future projects" at this month's "Conversation on Architecture" event.

The following day, Friday March 12th, will be the fifth annual "CBT Green Day." Held by BSA and Childs Bertman Tseckares Architects at the CBT offices, thirty vendors of green products will be invited to display their merchandise and services from 8:30-10:30 AM. PlanetReuse is planning to attend as one of the thirty presenting and would love to tell you about how we can help to incorporate reclaimed materials into your future or current projects! This event also offers the opportunity for professionals to receive their AIA continuing-education credits. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Kristi at sprinkel@cbtarchitects.com by the 10th!

Hope to see you there!

Support New Orleans Historic Green!

From March 9th through the 19th, New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward and Holy Cross hopes to restore, create, preserve, sustain, and green their neighborhood by rebuilding as the nation's first zero carbon community! Historic Green is a non-profit formed in part by USGBC Central Plains EGB Leaders whose project may be the first project in the nation "designed to integrate sustainable restoration practices with preservation of an entire historic community."

HG is in it's third year as a ten-day volunteer project led by a network of hundreds of young professional and student volunteers in the green building industry. Among those making the journey for this volunteer opportunity will be Nathan Benjamin, Founder+Principal of PlanetReuse. In the past two years, homes have been weatherized, rain gardens built, damaged homes deconstructed, playgrounds restored, and educational programs have been put into place. While these projects continue, the newest HG volunteer project, aimed at LEED Platinum certification, will be the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association and Center for Sustainable Economic Development’s headquarters.

If you would like to donate you time, materials, or financial assistance to Historic Green and their outstanding cause, please check out the HG website!