[GSBN] Congressional briefing most popular download

[Derek Roff]

Although many of you may remember, the ever-modest Laura didn't mention 
that she was one of the volunteers who built the demonstration 
strawbale Eco-house right across from the major Congressional 
buildings, completed shortly before the Congressional Briefing.  If you 
haven't looked lately, new pictures, video and articles are available 
on the Builders Without Borders web site.

<http://builderswithoutborders.org/>

Many congressional aides, and at least a few members of Congress and 
the Senate, have taken note of the structure.  The nexus of a beautiful 
structure, the Congressional Briefing, and the lasting availability of 
the downloads, creates a powerful combination.

The Eco-house will remain in place through the Inauguration of 
President Obama, and a few weeks beyond.  Catherine Wanek, Pete Fust 
and Darren Port will be travelling to Washington DC for a week, to help 
explain strawbale and natural building to any of the millions of people 
attending the inauguration, who also choose to visit the Eco-house 
during this period.

Congratulations to Laura, David, Bob and Sandy for the great 
Congressional Briefing, and to everyone who contributed to the 
Eco-house.

Derek Roff

--On Sunday, January 11, 2009 12:51 PM -0700 Laura Bartels 
<laura at greenweaverinc.com> wrote:

> Dear GSBN community,
>
> This week I received some very good news from Carol Werner, the
> executive director of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute
> which was the sponsor of the Congressional Briefing in June. She
> wrote  to say that "it turns out that we have had more than 1500
> unique  visits to our strawbale briefing information since it was
> posted --  making it the most popular briefing for pulling down
> information after  a briefing." If you look at the breadth of topics
> they cover, the  amount of briefings and the kinds of speakers they
> host, it makes this  really astounding.
>
> In light of this, I want to encourage those in other countries to
> consider a similar effort with your federal governments if you
> haven't  already considered it. With the impacts of the economy and
> awareness  and efforts around climate change, it's no news to any of
> you that  placing information about solutions into the right hands
> now is  critical.
>
> The influence that the briefing has had has reached to federal
> agencies, national organizations and non-profits among, obviously,
> many individuals. One immediate impact was that the Department of
> Interior subsequently funded a Straw Bale Housing Symposium in South
> Dakota along with the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy that
> several of us presented at. There is now interest from USDA to repeat
> the symposium for a wider audience in the same region. That is just
> one example, and there are more brewing and in process.
>
> Beyond working with codes which is such a necessary effort, this
> experience opened my eyes to the need to work on awareness and
> support  at the policy level and continue to encourage federal
> support for  research and housing programs.
>
> Please know that the link has been changed and share it with those
> who  may benefit. The direct link for the briefing summary and
> downloads is  now
> http://www.eesi.org/062008_Straw-Bale_Construction
>
> I wish you all many blessings for 2009.
>
> Laura
>
>
>
> Laura Bartels
> P.O. Box 912, Carbondale, CO 81623
> Ph 970-379-6779, Fax 970-963-0905
> laura at greenweaverinc.com
> www.greenweaverinc.com
>
>
>
>



Derek Roff
Language Learning Center
Ortega Hall 129, MSC03-2100
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
505/277-7368, fax 505/277-3885
Internet: derek at unm.edu