Burbank Green Building Forum

Burbank City Council candidate Kimberly Jo is hosting a Policy Forum on Green Building Initiatives tonight, March 25.

Speakers are Michael Cusumano, head of Cusumano Real Estate Group; Eddie Arango of the U.S. Green Building Council; Mark Greninger of County of Los Angeles Solar Map; and Jeff Bricmont who operates Modern Earth Finance.

The event starts at 6:30 p.m. in Room 104 of the Community Services Building and is scheduled for just one hour, so don't be late!

CSUN, Pacoima Beautiful, Habitat

In a press release from the Cal State Northridge campus, Nichole O'Grady writes about a couple of CSUN professors who are putting their paintbrushes where their pencils have been, teaming up with Pacoima Beautiful and Habitat for Humanity.

And they're bringing their students along with them. O'Grady writes:

"Pacoima has become a focal learning tool for Cal State Northridge professor Kyriakos Pontikis. Together with associate urban studies professor Zeynep Toker and Pacoima Beautiful, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the area, Pontikis and Toker’s students have dedicated a semester to not only helping Pacoima, but also similar current and future communities design more sustainable and livable environments."

To read more, visit the CSUN press website.

County "Freecycle" Program

Just stumbled across LAcoMAX, a materials exchange website operated by the Los Angeles County Dept. of Public Works. It's open to individuals, nonprofits, and businesses and works much like a Freecycle group. Let's say your business is replacing some older computers that are still quite serviceable. You can either look for an organization that is seeking such items for donation or post that you have it available. If a nonprofit gets it, you get the write-off!

Here's a sample Available! posting.

Available!! Computer tower in Area 1 ( North Hollywood, CA ).
Category: ELECTRONICS
This listing is for schools/nonprofits only.
Description: 2001 Dell computer, still workable, but outdated.

I've removed the info about contacting the poster for security purposes. The nice thing about the site is you can search by region within LA County to reduce getting a bunch of materials very far away. You can also select what type of materials you are interested in. Categories range from electronics and durable goods to construction materials and textiles.