Avondale is Cincinnati’s fourth largest neighborhood and home to the nation’s second oldest zoo, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Burnet Avenue runs through the community and serves as headquarters for two of the region’s top hospitals and research centers: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The neighborhood abuts both Xavier University and UC main campuses. The developing Cincinnati Innovation District is anchored by 1819 Innovation Hub on Reading Road, just off of interstate I-71 at the Martin Luther King Dr. exchange.
Startup catalyst Rock Health is soliciting hopeful health startups to apply for a chance to develop their ideas into fully-fledged businesses, products and services. To assist them, they will receive a grant, office space in Silicon Valley, branding, design and PR advice from Rock Health's in-house Creative Director, and access to experts at hospital partners such as Cincinnati Childrens Hospital.Read the full story here.
It's hard to imagine getting excited about parking lot solar panels and elephant manure. But prepare for the improbable when the Cincinnati Chapter of the US Green Building Council brings the conference "Breaking New Ground: Greening the Heartland" to the city June 22-24, 2011. LEED-accredited professionals and leaders from across the Midwest will join those here to learn the latest, best practices in sustainable building and tour innovative centers like the University of Cincinnati, Melink Corporation, and the Cincinnati Zoo to see those practices in action, including the collection of manure for organic waste composting.With more LEED projects than anywhere else in Ohio and the fourth largest number of LEED accredited professional in the Midwest, Cincinnati is a national hub of sustainable building practices. The Cincinnati Chapter was selected to host the conference this year from a competitive crowd of sixteen chapters in the twelve-state Heartland region of the US Green Building Council. "When we were competing to receive the conference, we stated our case on how we were evolving sustainably as a region by sharing our good news," recollects Chad Edwards, past president of the board and chair of the conference committee. One outstanding success is the city's green school program. Cincinnati has the largest number of LEED-registered schools in the state, and Ohio has more of these schools than the states of California, Florida, Washington and Oregon combined. When members of the local chapter go to national events, they are recognized for having over 20% of all the LEED-registered schools in the country. "We're treated like rock stars!" Edwards laughs. People want to know what the region is doing to foster this success. "It's collaboration," says Edwards. "It's people coming together. What we're not doing well is sharing our stories outside our region, and this conference will help with that."Keynote speakers are LEED professionals and leaders from around the country and close to home. Procter & Gamble Company executive and Global Supply Officer, R. Keith Harrison, Jr., will discuss the business aspects of sustainability and what P&G's past actions and current commitment to sustainability will mean for development in the region and businesses here.Local LEED accredited professionals will appreciate the opportunity for continuing education credits that the conference will offer. Over a 1000 professionals are expected to attend the conference and its programs and visit the exhibition hall, where Cincinnati and Midwest businesses will display their sustainable building products and services.Says Edwards, "Quite frankly, we're one of the top sustainable cities in the country," and this conference should spread the word. Registration is open online.Writer: Becky Johnson
The new baby giraffe born at the Cincinnati Zoo will be named from suggestions given on the Zoo's Facebook page. The 1800 pound mother was the first giraffe to give birth in the Zoo in 26 years.Read the full story here.
A team of developers, city officials and UC administrators have big things in mind for Uptown. This week in Soapbox, key members of this visionary group speak to the motivations, aspirations and potential payoffs for the mega-development they are spearheading.
The Uptown Consortium is working with a local recycling and job training program to demolish a building at 3500 Burnet in Avondale and make way for a new mixed use project that will play a key role in the group's master plan to revitalize Burnet Avenue in Avondale.This past weekend the Partnership for Green Building worked to remove decorative sandstone features, fans and other fixtures from the building at 3500 Burnet. The brick and concrete will be ground up and used for gravel and underlay, and the wood will be shredded and composted. Lisa Doxsee, communications manager for Building Value, said that up to 90 percent of the mass of the building would be recycled or repurposed during the project.The Uptown Consortium is currently working with two developers on potential development plans for a mixed use building on the site, and the developers will be encouraged to aim for LEED certification, Uptown's executive director Beth Robinson said.The building was purchased by the Uptown Consortium three years ago during an $11 million campaign to purchase land and buildings on or near Burnet Ave, with the intent of attracting new development to the area. Other projects built on that land include a new medical center and parking garage for Children's hospital and a low income housing project built by Model Group."We've redeveloped a lot of the street and now [3500 Burnet] is a major corner, a major site that's really underutilized." Robinson said. "We're trying to get some commercial activity on Burnet and that's a logical site for it."She said working with the Partnership will help them achieve two of their goals, to be more sustainable and provide better employment opportunities for residents of the Uptown neighborhoods. Building Value, ACT Recycling and Rumpke Recycling created A Partnership for Greener Building about two years ago as an extension of job training programs Building Value had already implemented. In the partnership, Building Value trains unemployed or underemployed residents to deconstruct buildings and salvage usable materials like lumber and fixtures to be sold in Building Value's retail store. Rumpke and ACT recycle the materials that can't be salvaged.Most of the program's graduates receive employment upon graduation, and any building constructed on the site can earn points toward LEED certification.Writer: Henry Sweets
The Cincinnati Zoo enhances its "green" reputation by installing a solar canopy system over the parking lot. After a long and dedicated process of zoning, financial, and political issues, the installation will be completed by April. This addition not only helps the Zoo maintain its national reputation as a "green" leader, but it will also educate visitors about green technology."Since we are the greenest zoo in the country, we keep pushing the envelope to maintain this status," Mark Fisher, the Director of Zoo Facilities said. "We are always asking what to do next and it will be hard to top this one."The Zoo collaborated with Milford, Ohio based Melink Corporation, a local leader in energy efficiency and energy renewable solutions, to install and maintain the solar canopy for seven years. At the conclusion of the $1 million contract, the Zoo has the option to buy the project."For the Zoo it's a win-win situation, that's why it is attractive for the Zoo to install it," Fisher said.The solar canopy will utilize 6,400 panels that will cover 800 spots in one of the Zoo's parking lots. Once completed the canopy will provide 20% of the Zoo's energy needs. It will also educate visitors about green technology, using interactive kiosks to show how and why green technology works. "People have the wrong perception that if you don't live in the areas like the West, solar power will not work," Fisher explained. "But this will show that it can work in a city like Cincinnati."Fisher said word is traveling fast with other zoos contacting Cincinnati to learn more about the canopy. "We just want to push the issue. We're using our house power to elevate the issue of using green technology," Fisher said.The project will employ dozens of local workers and provide visitors the opportunity to have a hands-on experience with this one and only unique urban environment project. "Nothing has been done like this in the history of the city and people are already looking for the next project!" Fisher said.Writer: Lisa Ensminger
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center partnered with Baltimore's Kenny Krieger Institute for research on children with ADHD. Research found that children's impulsive hand movements control ability may have insight on brain-based differences of the ADHD children. Different studies showed that ADHD children had twice the amount of unintentional extra movements showing that actions and behavior may be unintentional as well.Read the full story here.
The Cincinnati Zoo will become the largest public accessible parking lot with a solar canopy. The solar canopy will provide 20 percent of the facility's energy needs and will be completed in April. By maintaining its reputation as the greenest zoo in America, all of the major components will be manufactured locally or within the nation.Read the full story here.
Antonio lingers at the elephant house, taking pictures and marveling at the size - and the smell - of the creatures before him. UC undergraduate Zach Koons laughs as he watches his 10-year-old charge snap photo after photo before the two move on to the Reptile House, where snakes hold the charm for the wide-eyed Bond Hill Academy student. The elephants and snakes have a serious if invisible advantage over Antonio, though. They have permanent night-time addresses. Antonio is homeless. Koon meets with Antonio every week as part of Zoo-Mates, a partnership between Project Connect, the University of Cincinnati's Center for Community Engagement and the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. "Zoo-Mates enables UC students to bridge the gap between childhood and adulthood," says Koons, 21, who changed his major from Business to Middle Childhood Education as a result of his work with the program. "We can touch the lives of inner-city youth, and they can remind us of what is truly important in life." When it began, Zoo-Mates was a once-a-month program, with UC students meeting their young partners at the zoo, where they toured and talked. Now in its sixth year, Zoo-Mates pairs meet weekly, including regular visits to UC's Clifton campus. The success of the program has exceeded its organizers' expectations, according to Center for Community Engagement Director Kathy Dick. "The a-ha moment for me was when two families decided to keep their children in their home school so that they could continue to be a part of Zoo-Mates," she says. For families without homes, maintaining stability at school is a major challenge that can lead to academic problems for kids. Koons started volunteering because he needed to log community service hours to maintain a scholarship. But that's not why he stays. "Time can be worth more than any amount of money you can spend on someone," he says. For Antonio, any time he can spend away from worry is particularly sweet, even when it's laced with the smell of elephant. Do Good: • Donate: Make a financial contribution to the non-profit Faces without Places, which provides local homeless children with a wide range of services. Specify that you want your donation to support Zoo-Mates. • Cast your vote: Visit True Hero and vote for Zoo-Mates to receive additional funding. • Follow the blog: Find out the latest program activities at the Zoo-Mates' blog.
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