At 6:30 a.m. on Friday, September 18, 2009 a small, enthusiastic and slightly crazy group of Architecture for Humanity – Indy members assembled at the corner of Meridian and Washington Streets. By 8:00 a.m. two metered parking spaces had magically transformed into park space and the first International PARK-(ing) day in Indianapolis had begun.

Originally invented in 2005 by Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, PARK-(ing) Day challenges people to rethink the way streets are used and reinforces the need for broad-based changes to urban infrastructure. “In urban centers around the world, inexpensive curbside parking results in increased traffic, wasted fuel and more pollution,” says Rebar’s Matthew Passmore. “The strategies that generated these conditions are not sustainable, nor do they promote a healthy, vibrant urban human habitat. PARK-(ing) Day is about re-imagining the possibilities of the metropolitan landscape.”

Architecture for Humanity Indianapolis Chapter was excited about hosting this fun, one day annual international event that afforded an opportunity to bring awareness to creatively thinking about how we as Hoosiers can utilize our urban spaces in downtown Indianapolis. This event celebrated and promoted sustainability, civic engagement and environmental awareness.

Many thanks to everyone who donated materials, participated or stopped to talk. Hope to see you next year!

Parking Day

Submitted By: Janet Thomas

With the onslot of students moving into Indiana University for the beginning of another year, I had a chance to examine if the campus was doing their part to be sustainable to the community at large. The campus does recycle all aluminum, glass, plastic 1-7, paper, news print, and cardboard. In fact, every dormitory and classroom building has recycle bins for the co-mingling of these items. Particularly on move-in day, each dorm has a cardboard dumpster large enough to take all the cardboard for the entire week. They further educate all students with an all-dorm floor meeting to inform the residents of all opportunities that each person can take to ensure the 3R’s – recycle, reuse, reduce!

Other examples are in the food services areas of Wright, Foster, and Read Quads. Here the students are informed by use of a large information center at the point-of-disposal on how to sort their plate and utensil waste into recycle bins.

Within the dorm rooms of Wright Quad, each resident has a restricted showerhead, faucet and toilet power flusher to help increase water efficiency. Each room has flourescent lighting and blinds to help control the use of energy. Also, each student can choose to purchase a water bottle and the water refills are free! No redundant purchase of plastic bottles.

The IU campus has developed a great transit system. Any person can ride the IU bus system at no cost and the Bloomington bus transit is free to students with their ID. The endless bike racks and persons walking is very evident on any given day as well. They also provide bike lanes on most campus roads. All are a great way to save energy and promote individual health. And, with OnCourse, the IU website, the university has tried to become more paperless. Here are posted all assignments, class syllabi, lecture slides, grades and handouts. All important ways to conserve energy and materials. Not to mention that students can return books for cash or drop off to a recycle bin, if unable to return for cash.

But the quest to be green does not stop on the campus. With some students choosing to live in off-campus apartments or homes, there is still the need to be considerate of potential waste. As furnishings go, a student has the option of renting their furniture or, if they are leaving an apartment, they can sell to the next student that is moving in. This is a great solution for the ever changing campus.

But is there room for more greening? Always, and the IU campus might be interesting in hearing more.
Do you have any suggestions to pass on to IU?

Submitted by: Julie Knight

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, one of the most recently added words – “BLOG” is a verb, and it is defined as: To write entries in, add material to, or maintain a weblog. And so, one might ask himself or herself the following: “To BLOG or not to BLOG that is the question …” or in other words, is blogging a necessary form of communication? Since our firm has bought onto the rationale of blogging, our Firm has jumped into the blogging pool with both feet, and will be experiencing a Blogfest effort this month.

With that said, I was interested in knowing if you receive daily Management or Marketing e-mail Ticklers & Refreshers from: Simple Truths – Founder Mac Anderson; Brand Acceleration – Founder Jim Walton; Work is not for Sissies – Founder Glenn Shepard; Profiles International; and Leadership – from Leadership Institute of Indianapolis … to name a few. If so, how valuable do you find these Management/Marketing 101 articles to be? If not, what turns you off about them? Do you receive any other similar words of wisdom that you would favorably want to share with others?

Listed below are just a few of the many words of wisdom Links that you can refer to in order to help inspire others … enjoy:

Simple Truths

Brand Acceleration

Glenn Shepard

Profiles International

Leadership Institute of Indianapolis

Submitted By: Gary Pino

As you may know, i.d.o. Incorporated’s office located in downtown Indianapolis was the first LEED certified building in the city, achieving the LEED-Silver designation. We (i.d.o. Associates) are all very proud of this that we could all work together to achieve this accomplishment and be the pacesetter in LEED design in Indianapolis.

But we didn’t stop there! To further support our dedication to environmental design, several of our associates have taken their commitment to environmental stewardship and passion into their own homes. I will admit that I was slow to practice environmental stewardship in my own home. However, after being intimately involved with the LEED process, I realized how simple it is to live a “green” lifestyle!

For instance, I was never really into recycling, at home, due to the extra costs involved…However, after researching, I found that my little town actually had a recycling drop zone located just ½ mile from my home that consists of basic recycling of paper products, aluminum, steel, glass and plastics (Type 1 and 2)! I didn’t realize how much recyclable waste my husband and I produced until we began recycling. It was eye opening. Now I can’t help but to consider if everyone took the small steps and initiative to recycle, how much waste could we divert from the landfills that not only are an eye sore, but also contribute to the deterioration of our precious environment!

I could provide a nearly endless amount of simple steps to help you turn your homes “Green” (such as composting, implementing a cistern and programmable thermostats). However, I will open it up to you to provide some of your own ideas and practices to share! i.d.o. Inc., and its associates look forward to hearing what you are doing to help green your own homes and our world!

Submitted By: Amanda Medlen