Tagged: sustainability

Officials will break ground this morning on the new Sheppard Square housing development, and the project will be one of Louisville’s greenest.

The old Sheppard Square housing project was anything but green: it was 70 years old, with old boilers, window air conditioning units and single-pane windows. But the new $167 million development—which includes $22 million in federal funds—will utilize the most sustainable materials available.

Calling it "the gift that keeps on giving," Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has given his wife Alexandra Gerassimides a new municipal wheeled recycling bin for Christmas.

In a video released by the Mayor's office, Fischer presents the gift to his wife an unorthodox three weeks before the Christmas holiday. The video shows the gift was a surprise, though Fischer dropped hints in the hours leading up to the gift's presentation.

A draft of Louisville’s comprehensive sustainability plan is finished.

Louisville Director of Sustainability Maria Koetter was placed in charge of the plan when she began her job in January. The draft hasn’t been released to the media or public yet, but it’s been submitted to Mayor Greg Fischer for his review.

Mayor’s spokesman Chris Poynter says the final plan will include measures big and small the city can undertake to improve sustainability.

Work has begun on a new greenhouse for Yew Dell Gardens—one that incorporates renewable energy and other sustainable elements. But the structure’s architects say the most important elements are the simplest.

Yew Dell’s new greenhouse is meant to be a demonstration structure of different ways to build “green.” It’s powered by solar panels, and heated by geothermal energy.

The University of Kentucky recently spent $25 million in energy savings projects, and that work is already showing results.

The Herald-Leader reports that costs have been cut by $2.4 million a year. $2.2 million of those savings will go toward the $25 million bond, while the remaining $200,000 will be set aside for future energy projects. And the projects have also reduced UK's carbon dioxide emissions by 23,291 tons a year.