Soon, you’ll see electric cars buzzing around Old Salem. A recently awarded grant will help the museum and gardens replace gas-powered golf carts with energy-efficient, safer low-speed vehicles. For Old Salem, that translates to a savings of more than $700 a year in fuel costs. For the city, that means a significant decrease in greenhouse-gas emissions from a fleet of vehicles that log between ten and twenty miles every day.

It seems appropriate that Old Salem, from which this city grew, is now leading us into the future. Look a little closer, though, and you’ll find that environmental responsibility is taking hold all over Winston-Salem. Some local architecture and engineering firms have committed to designing and building sustainability. Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County is expanding on the “greenness” of its already energy-efficient homes. Family Services believes that a healthy living environment helps create healthy families.

Still, the statistics on global warming are grim.

Environmental groups like the Piedmont Environmental Alliance (PEA) and the Foothills Sierra Club understand that science is not painting a rosy picture of the future on our current course. But, by following the lead of these trailblazers, tomorrow can be a much healthier color: green.

Energy Stars

For more than five years, Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County has been building Energy Star homes - with features like effective insulation, tight construction, high-performance windows, and energy-efficient appliances and HVAC systems - before going green became a cause celebre. Now, they’re moving a step further.

Habitat’s recent green-build plan incorporates a passive-solar design, drought-resistant landscaping, and a two-story model that minimizes foundation and roof materials. “We believe it is important to pay even more attention to sustainable building practices… as a way of conserving natural resources and respecting the environment,” says executive director Sylvia Oberle.

“We also believe that the owners of affordable housing . have the right to have lower energy costs and take advantage of updated building materials.” Sponsors of Habitat’s green initiatives will absorb the sometimes slightly higher cost of building a green home so homeowners will bear no upfront burden.

Others share Habitat’s concerns. In fact, several custom-home builders are making it their business to offer healthy houses. Reliable Builders, Sonoma Building Company, and Homes by Hamrick are accredited leaders in residential Energy Star building. Don Hamrick developed the first mold-resistant home in North Carolina and publicly supports pro-green initiatives, like the PEA’s 2007 Earth Day fair.

Additionally, Family Services is in the funding stage of its proposed green headquarters. If completed as planned, the group’s new building on Broad Street will be the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified building in the county.

LEED certification is a challenging process, but it’s nothing new for Calloway Johnson Moore & West, says LEED-accredited professional and principal architect Scott Lahr. The LEED system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, recognizes buildings that implement sustainable design and a green building process, including everything from location to indoor environmental quality. Lahr is one of several LEED experts at the firm, and a program is in place for all of their architects and engineers to receive accreditation. “What we would really like to see is for sustainable design to become routine in our culture,” Lahr explains. As more firms support the LEED program, green building will likely become the standard.

“It’s important that we have examples of green buildings in our community,” says Gayle Anderson, president of the Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce. “As companies look to be more responsible environmentally, having a green building is a way to demonstrate their commitment.”

Filling the Gaps
Smart Growth America, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, developed a semiannual study of urban sprawl in the eighty-eight largest metro areas in the U.S. The group bases their index on more than twenty factors. Shockingly, the Triad placed second only to San Bernardino, California, for the worst rating.

We’re taking steps to improve the menacing numbers. The revitalization of downtown is an important move toward reducing urban sprawl - by reclaiming extinct factories and warehouses for multiuse space, and building upward instead of outward. This concept is known as urban infill, and two local firms in particular are leading the way.

Walter Robbs Callahan & Pierce and Cavanaugh & Associates share the same vision. In fact, the two firms have joined forces to build the first LEED-certified interior project in the city, which also happens to be their new headquarters on downtown’s Trade Street.

“It’s satisfying to see Winston-Salem joining the ranks of proactive, forward-thinking communities across the country,” says Rence Callahan, a principal architect. “We felt a responsibility to demonstrate how green principles can be integrated into beautiful, cost-effective design.”

Going Public
The Foothills Sierra Club strives to make being green a public-sector precedent rather than simply a private-sector ideal. “Green buildings are something that can be done without major public-policy coordination,” says David Pritchard, group chair of the six-county chapter. A complex issue still looms: “Transportation is the other gorilla of energy use, but it is much harder to change.”

Directly connected to transportation, air quality in Forsyth County is a problem, too. The American Lung Association’s “State of the Air: 2006” graded Forsyth a C on particle pollution and a disappointing F for high-ozone days. In response to these unsettling stats, the Triad Air Awareness Program, PART, and transit authorities launched the 2007 Triad Commute Challenge. They suggest taking public transportation, carpooling, even riding a bike to reduce emissions.

To reverse the effects of pollution, several cities in North Carolina have signed the Cool Cities U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, a nationwide, local-government accord that strives to meet or beat the United Nations’ Kyoto Protocol emissions targets (which have not been federally ratified), reduce urban sprawl, and restore urban forested areas.

Mayor Allen Joines has encouraged councilmembers to support Cool Cities’ emissions goals. Perhaps one day Old Salem won’t be the only place around town with a low-emissions fleet.

School Is In Session
Without a doubt, the most effective way to reach these green goals is through education. “We’re trying to facilitate educating the community about environmental sustainability,” says Janet Loew, the PEA’s volunteer assistant director.

“We’re building a human infrastructure,” adds PEA member Amy Lindsey. By facilitating networking, like with its Piedmont eco-directory, the PEA hopes to “bring together [green initiatives] for a stronger voice” in the community, Loew says.

The PEA’s recent Earth Day Fair drew more than two thousand people. Next on the agenda is a solid education program for children. At this point, “local schools are limited about environmental science,” says Lindsey, “which is critical.”

Teachers may, with the support of a principal, teach some environmental education and supplement the classroom with projects like school gardens. However, environmental science is not required and often not championed by school boards across the state. The PEA is trying to change that.

“Children are sponges,” explains Loew. “They often teach their parents.”

Stay tuned. With continued work from these forward-thinking groups, Winston-Salem will be a clean, healthy - and green - place for the next generation.

For more information about going green, visit these websites:

  * http://www.triadair.org
  * http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org
  * http://www.piedmontenvironmentalalliance.org