Sustainable Building Coalition Grows Into Design~Build~Live
Interest in sustainable building, and sustainable living in general, continues to grow at an exponential rate and the Sustainable Building Coalition (SBC) is keeping up by transitioning into Design~Build~Live, a non-profit corporation. Ken McKenzie, an SBC Coordinator and now a DBL Board Member says, "The transition is exciting because it affords us more options in gathering and investing money for sustainable projects. In the past, the SBC has been an extremely successful booster club-type organization, raising funds by appealing to green building enthusiasts." Austin has plenty of green building enthusiasts and the SBC has been operating in the black for several years. In fact, the SBC is so successful that, over the years, they have spun off and reabsorbed a straw bale association and spawned a San Antonio SBC.
Along with offering tax write-offs, DBL will use membership fees and donations to fund both short- and long-term projects says McKenzie, who produces "Shades of Green" a weekly program on KO.OP Radio 91.7 FM devoted to sustainable living topics. DBL's first major undertaking will be to produce the Natural Building Colloqiuim, a 10-day workshop to be held in Kerrville, October 19-28, 2007.
DBL's major long-term project is to construct a thriving, sustainable ecovillage that will function as a living laboratory, with many of the buildings built as part of hands-on workshops. "Our goal with DBL is to take sustainability to the next level," says Gayle Borst, a well-known local Architect and owner of Stewardship, Inc., who helped found the SBC in the early nineties. "SBC already educates people on more than just building techniques and we see DBL as a way to expand into a more wholistic entity." DBL will continue the SBC tradition of holding free monthly meetings on the third Wednesday of the month at Casa de Luz.
For more information about Design~Build~Live, contact Gayle Borst.
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