This year, Wayland will celebrate not a day, not a weekend, but a whole Month of Earth… day.
This is our line-up so far:
MOVIE: Friday, April 15, 7:30 PM: Screening of Food Chains at First Parish, 50 Cochituate Road… more info to follow.
Saturday, April 16: 1-4 PM: THREE OPEN HOUSES – SEE ALL THREE:
1) OPEN HOUSE: Wayland architect and retrofit specialist Doug Sacra will show the solar photovoltaic canopy system in his garden on 55 Glezen Lane, as well as the new attic insulating in his 1904 attic, plus the new system of ducted air to air heat pumps that serve each room so they all have individual control and are very efficient. If you have an older house and are looking to retrofit, this is the open house for you! Also featured is sustainable landscaping, replacing the worst areas where grass never grew well (boy, do we know those!).
~ and, at the same time and within walking/biking distance ~
2) OPEN HOUSE: Tour the brand-new Briber-Pollitt passive house on 113 Concord Road with the builder. The systems, eye for detail and efficiency of this house will wow you!
3) OPEN HOUSE: Have a look at the MESys Fully-automated Wood Pellet Central Heating System at 11 Simpson Rd. This Maine Energy Systems (MESys) modern wood pellet boiler heats the whole home using existing plumbing and thermostats, reducing the carbon footprint by 86% as compared to traditional oil-burning equipment. In addition to homeowners benefiting from extremely stable fuel prices, MESys boilers and furnaces are eligible for rebates up to 65% from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. The homeowner, a MESys representative, and the installer, John Lataille of JPL Construction, will be on site to help answer questions.
Sunday, April 17 (NEW DATE): 12-2 PM: Electric Vehicle – EV – Brag Fest! “Tour” a wide array of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids at the end of Forty Acres Drive (off of Route 27), talk to the owners, take a spin in some of them. One new 100% electric VW Golf, one Smart Car, one Chevy Volt, Mercedes EV,… Check back soon for a full list of makes. (Contact: Wynn Calder, wynncal@gmail.com)
Sunday, April 24, 2-4 PM: ANOTHER TRIPLE BILL: SEE ALL THREE:
1) and 2) OPEN HOUSE x 2: Visit Tony and Margie Lee’s solar house at 14 Brooks Road (look for the Earth flag), featuring a solar photovoltaic system that was put in through Solarize 2012 (info here). This system has already paid for itself and is now making money. The Lees will share info on their solar production, the savings on electricity bills, and the SCREC shares, rebates and tax deductions, and you’ll see going solar is not just a good deal for the planet, but for the wallet as well. Then, to assured yourself this is not an exception, stroll on over to their neighbors, who have the same thing going on.
~ at the same time, within biking distance ~
3) OPEN HOUSE: also visit Sabine von Mering’s house at 6 Melville Place Solar: another Solarize Solar PV system, with more added later on, a newly installed heat pump, and an electric Smart Car (yellow!).
Saturday, 30 April, 9 AM-2 PM: TWO NET-ZERO and LEED Gold Homes in Wayland and Concord
1) OPEN HOUSE: The “Toaster House,” at 17 Waltham Rd. in Wayland was designed and built by Tempietto Homes of Sudbury as part of their “Solar Modern” catalogue. It was a 2012 LEED National Finalist for “New Home of the Year”. It demonstrates the new aesthetic and spatial effects that high performance materials, combined with solar orientation, make available. It was featured in the Wayland “375th Anniversary” to represent the future model for homes of the 21st century and beyond.
2) OPEN HOUSE: In conjunction, Tempietto Homes is also giving tours of their “Firefly” design now being built in Concord at 45 Arrowhead Rd. It uses the same high performance materials and systems, and shows how dynamic floor plans come from the intersection and “twist” of environmental factors and necessities, combined with manmade ones, such as street orientation and views. “Firefly” is a “net-zero” home, and offers a blueprint of how single story living can be exciting, solar, and versatile. You’ll be able to see the materials still exposed, such as “Insulated Concrete Forms” (ICFs), Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), radiant floor heat, thin-film, “triple-pane” windows, and “no maintenance” exteriors.
Both designs demonstrate the extraordinary comfort that high performance materials and solar power bring, and show how all of us individually, and as communities can take positive action ourselves towards achieving an inspired net zero future. You can get a preview of the designs on the website: www.tempiettohomes.com.
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We also want to spotlight this very special program put together by our colleague Katy Allen and very much in keeping with our Earth Month celebrations: Celebrating the Web of Life: Trees in Word and Art, a special program for students in Grades K-12 is being offered this spring by the One Earth Collaborative, a project of Open Spirit in Framingham. Celebrating the Web of Life: Trees in Word and Art provides children, tweens, and teens with the opportunity to express themselves through a variety of written and art media and then to share their work with others. Celebrating the Web of Life: Trees in Word and Art begins in April with a series of workshops, each one for students of a specific age range. Many of these are during April vacation. The workshops are:
- Tree Collage Art—Monday, April 11, 4:00 PM, Grades 2-6, Wayland Public Library
- Poetry of Trees—Monday, April 11, 4:00 PM, Grades 8-12, McAuliffe Library, Framingham
- Tree Photos—Tuesday, April 19, 2:00 PM, Grades 4-7, Open Spirit, Framingham
- Build a Recycled Tree—Sunday, April 10, 1:00 PM, All Ages, FireSeed Arts, Framingham
- Build a Recycled Tree—Wednesday, April 20, 3:00 PM, All Ages, FireSeed Arts, Framingham
- Tree Journals—Tuesday, April 19, 10:00 AM, Grades K-3, Wolbach Farm, Sudbury
- Tree Journals—Thursday, April 21, 10:00 AM, Grades K-3, Open Spirit, Framingham
Students are invited to write or create artwork about a tree or forest, exploring their memoires of trees and why trees are important to them. They may participate in one of the workshops, or they may create their art and writing work at school, at religious school, or independently.
Celebrating the Web of Life: Trees in Word and Art will culminate with a joyful TREE CELEBRATION: Art show, Readings, and Reception on Sunday, May 22, 3:30-5:30 PM in Edwards Hall at Open Spirit, 39 Edwards St, Framingham. Students’ artwork will be displayed and authors will have the opportunity to read to their work if it is not too long. Other written works will be displayed as well. All participants will receive a certificate and a small token for their involvement. Students must submit their work by May 9 for inclusion in the celebration on May 22.
Students in Grades K-12 may work alone or in a team. They may submit art in any medium and written works of poetry, story, or essay, which may also include artwork or photographs. Writing may be in any language. Art and writing must be submitted by May 9. Make sure that artwork is well protected. Parent volunteers are needed for May 22.
To register, go to www.openspiritcenter.org. Send artwork or writing electronically to info@oneearth.today or mail or deliver to Open Spirit, 39 Edwards St., Framingham 01701. Donations are requested: $5-15 per entry and $5-15 per workshop, more if you can, less if you can’t. Scholarships are available. See www.oneearth.today for more details and descriptions of the workshops.
This project is funded in part by grants from the Framingham and Wayland Cultural Councils.
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PAST EVENTS IN THIS SERIES
Saturday, April 2: 10 AM -2 PM: Kick Off with Wayland Cleans Up! town-wide cleanup, organized by PTO Green Team, Transition Wayland and the Wayland Democratic Town Committee. Read all about it here.
