My Green Cities

Do you LOVE the My Green Cities concept?
Do you want to have the information you need to be a conscientious consumer no matter where you?
Do you want to earn credit to your favorite MGC affiliated store just by spreading the word to your friends and favorite businesses?

Then you are in luck! We’ve created a new program just for you!

Become an Official My Green Cities “Green Your Scene” Ambassador and Start Earning Credit To Your Favorite MGC Affiliated Business Today.

What it is:
The MGC “Green Your Scene” Ambassadors Program allows you to earn store credit to the MGC Affiliated Business of your choice by referring friends and businesses to MGC. We value engaged and active citizens and we value your judgement!

How it Works:
1) Sign up to be an MGC Ambassador by e-mailing info@mygreencities.com. Include the following:
- Full name (include a middle initial!)
- Your e-mail address
- Your city and state
- The name of the MGC Affiliated Business to which you would like to earn credit (If there aren’t any in your area yet, don’t worry, you can still accumulate credit!)
- Tell us why you would like to be an MGC Ambassador

2) We’ll e-mail you a packet of info including an agreement (which you will need to sign and return), Ambassador “Business Cards,” Tips for talking to Business Owners and More!

3) As you go about your day, shopping at your favorite Fair Trade Store, going to your favorite local coffee shop, or picking up your Dry Cleaning at your PERC Free Cleaners you can help spread the word about MGC and accumulate credit as you do! You even get paid to suggest us to your friends on Facebook!

The movement builds, people have more information and you get credit and MGC affiliated businesses earn money, too. Win, win, win!

There is no commitment or quotas, it’s just a fun new way to get our supporters involved and show you how much we love you – so e-mail me at info@mygreenciites.com today!

Sincerely,
Arianna

Q: How long have you been in business in Columbia?

A: Since the summer of 1978 or 32 years.

Q:  At what point did you decide to build a commitment to the environment into your work?  How has your work changed since then?

A: PWA opened as Nicholas Peckham & Sun in 1977 with the goal of focusing on solar energy use in buildings.  Brad Wright came on board in the September 1977 and PWA was incorporated in June 1978.  Over the course of 32 years, Nick and Brad have helped the company grow from a 2 person design studio into one of the largest, locally-owned commercial design firms in central Missouri with a solid portfolio of built projects.  We continue to strive to incorporate sustainable design into all of our projects.  Working closely with clients we offer opportunities to trim utility costs, reduce energy usage, conserve water, minimize waste and promote the health and satisfaction of a building’s users and visitors.  We understand the economic concerns of our clients and tailor our sustainable design efforts to their specific needs and aspirations.

Q: What are some LEED projects you have worked on in the past and what is your favorite project to date?  What are you working on now?

A: Columbia Fire Station Nos. 7 and 9 received LEED Certification, Silver and Gold respectively.  The Eco Schoolhouse at Grant Elementary School, Columbia, Missouri, which received LEED Gold Certification, has to rate as one of our favorites.  It took an outpouring of community support to make the project happen, but the result will have a profound effect on the lives of children for many years to come.  Other projects that have included LEED practices include the Remington Nature Center for the City of St. Joseph, Missouri, the Cape Girardeau Conservation Campus Nature Center, the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church Office, Missouri Credit Union Branches in Columbia and Jefferson City, the Moberly Housing Authority Community Center, and even our own office.  We are currently working on new regional offices for the Department of Conservation, another branch for the Missouri Credit Union and are providing LEED Coordination services for the chapel at Fort Leonard Wood.

Q:  What do you believe is the biggest obstacle to more environmentally aware architecture and building and how do you think we can overcome it?

A: Economic factors, including the initial capital investment vs. life-cycle costs are the biggest obstacle.  However, we believe this will change as sustainable design continues to become more mainstream and accessible.  It is incumbent on those of us who provide design services to educate ourselves and others about sustainable design and promote its practice whenever possible.

Q: What do you wish more people knew about your work or your business?

A: We think it is wonderful that more and more people acknowledge PWA as a source for environmentally-focused information and design.  We want people to know, though, that we use a collaborative approach to develop design solutions that are customized to the needs and aspirations of our clients.  We approach projects by asking the right questions and pursuing the best strategies in order to achieve the desired result.  Over the years this approach has led to opportunities to trim utility costs, reduce energy usage, conserve water, minimize waste and promote the health and satisfaction of a building’s users and visitors.

Q: What part of your work are you most passionate about or do you have the most fun doing?

A: It is true that we are passionate about sustainable design, but even more so about community-oriented projects.  We participate in events like Canstruction^Ò, our Earth Day “Green” parking space, and projects like the Eco Schoolhouse, Comedor Popular as a way to give back to a community that has offered us so many opportunities.  One of the great things about PWA is that if you ask this question of any one of us you will get a different answer.  Each of us is passionate about and involved in different activities which only enrich the work we do here at PWA.

Q: Looking ahead, what is a new technology, business practice or school of thought that is emerging that you are excited about?

A: The availability of sustainable building products makes it easier to apply sustainable design practices.  Electronic communications makes us more accessible to project teams, including clients and consultants.  The availability of code and product information on the web allows a more comprehensive interpretation of project needs, code compliance and building officials’ evaluations (judgments, satisfaction, interpretations). We are excited about integrated energy systems that allow building occupants to more fully understand and control their environment.

Q:  Anything else you would like the members of the My Green Cities community to know?

A: Over thirty years ago, the founders of PWA laid a foundation and commitment to the profession that continues with the current management of the firm.  With a solid customer base and business model in place PWA is poised to define its own sustainable future.

Societies cannot be stagnant and remain powerful. We can only hope that as we grow as a society and as technology advances our understanding of how to best utilize new technologies and apply new understanding will also advance. We try new approaches; we evaluate their successes and failures. We make modifications. We move on, we evolve. We have tried dependence on foreign, non-renewable energies. We have tried favoring disposability over quality. We have tried both of these approaches for decades and the need for modification is clear. Both have serious associated risks, put our planet in peril and make us vulnerable as a nation by making us reliant not on ourselves, and not on our neighbors, but on those whose faces we never see and on governments for whom we never cast a ballot.

This should bother you whether you are a fiscal conservative, social liberal or steadfastly moderate on all counts. It does not matter which political party runs our nation if we have already decided to outsource our power as a people. We are a large nation with a wealth of resources. We have an educated population and the majority of us have enough money to meet our needs. We have scientists, skilled laborers, artisans, and people willing to work hard for what they want. We are the very solution to the problem that we have created by assuming that others were the solution to a problem that did not exist.

We move forward using our technology and our resources, our great thinkers and hard working men and women to find innovative and exciting advanced energy solutions here at home. We move back to a place where we have already been – back to a place we know – back to a dependence on our skilled laborers and artisans to create lasting products of value and beauty.

We need to take two steps forward and one step back simultaneously but this keeps us moving forward, keeps us from being stagnant. We remain a powerful people in a powerful nation.

16 days ago I started a cleanse.  31 days, no alcohol, caffeine, dairy, meat, gluten or sugar.  It’s taught me quite a bit about will power and food needs/wants, but I am not trying to go all Doogie Howser, I have a relevant point.  Since the cleanse began, the increase in my whole food consumption jumped astronomically.  The main component of my new diet – fresh fruits and vegetables – come in their own handy packages and in my household the remnants are composted, or fed to the chickens.  I am not consuming any foods that have a lot of packaging, maybe some cardboard that will be recycled.  So it got me wondering what the average consumer actually throws away.  I really can’t think of much.  Junk mail, maybe?  That could get shredded and used as packing material if you wanted.  Plastic bags from the grocery store?  They can be taken back in most spots and recycled.  Glass jars are reused.  Used paper towels & napkins – I guess I do throw those out, though they can be composted separately.  So, I am curious.  What do you throw out and why?