In Memory of Sharon Gaber and the Legacy of CLEED

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With a heavy heart, I am sharing that my beloved wife, Sharon Gaber, founder of CLEED, passed away from cancer in 2023.

CLEED was more than a website or a consultancy. It was a reflection of Sharon’s passion, her vision, and her deep belief that cultural institutions could help lead the way toward a more sustainable future. Through CLEED — CloverLeaf Energy and Environmental Design — she worked to support museums and cultural institutions in learning about and implementing green initiatives, reducing energy use, and thinking more responsibly about the environment we all share.

Sharon cared deeply about sustainability, education, green living, and the power of institutions to inspire change. Her work brought together her love for culture, community, and the planet. The articles, resources, and ideas preserved here show the kind of future she believed in: thoughtful, creative, practical, and hopeful.

I am keeping this site alive as an archived legacy of Sharon’s work and spirit. It remains here for anyone who knew her, learned from her, worked with her, or shares her commitment to a greener world.

Sharon’s life, love, and vision continue to live on through the people she touched and the values she championed.

In her memory, may we keep looking for ways to care for each other, our communities, and the earth.

May your beautiful soul rest in peace my love.

#Rochester Museum and Science Center @ROCrmsc to develop Regional #Green Infrastructure Showcase

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rmsc2As the Greece Post reports, The campus is now undergoing a huge sustainability demonstration project called the , set to be completed by the end of the summer.

The new RMSC campus will feature areas to explore green infrastructure and sustainability, including rain gardens and interactive displays. The Environmental Facilities Corporation awarded $525,000 for the installation of a new porous pavement parking lot and bioretention areas on campus to decrease and treat . The areas capture and filter stormwater runoff from roadways and parking lots and water several low-maintenance native species plants, many of which are adaptable to high volumes of water.

“We at the RMSC care deeply about our local watershed and are taking action to protect it by creating new landscape campus features,” said Kate Bennett, RMSC president. “One responsibility as the community’s museum is to demonstrate options that create a sustainable future for our region and our ecology.”

Guests will be able to participate in green infrastructure workshops at a learning pavilion. The pavilion includes a green roof complete with plants and a water harvest collection area that captures roof runoff.

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Courtesy of RMSC

The stormwater runoff process will be showcased in an artistic educational glass design called “Genesee River Watershed,” created by local artist Nancy Gong and sponsored by the . The art glass will divert water from the pavilion roof to a rain garden. In another exhibit area, downspouts will transfer water from roofs to rain barrels. A treadle pump, a human-powered suction pump, will offer guests an opportunity for physical activity in understanding the irrigation process. Other areas with porous pavers and concrete will reduce runoff and winter salting requirements. For every tree that was removed during construction, two new ones will be planted on the campus.

RMSC exhibition components include a rain garden puppet theater, explanations on how porous pavements works and various interactions with the . RMSC’s new campus will be incorporated into the Stormwater Coalition of Monroe County’s ongoing series of Green Infrastructure Trainings and Workshops, as a green infrastructure tour stop and as a location for workshops.

Also, students are including the campus transformation as their environmental science senior capstone with the objectives of designing and implementing a monitoring plan to establish the effectiveness of the various green infrastructure areas and to provide scientific information to support exhibit development.

#AAM2016 Follow Up & @PICGreen SEA Awards

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aamexpoHere is a recap of the PIC Green Events at AAM 2016 Conference and Expo. First, all the events and sessions were an overwhelming success! So, it shows there is a definite growing interest to learn how to make your institution more sustainable.
We had the following sessions:
1. Energy Efficient Cold Storage
2. Future Choices – Best Practices for Profession
3. Environmental Sustainability – Power, Influence and Responsibility
4. Stages of Sustainability
5. Sustainability Sins

picOur winners for the SEA (Sustainability Excellence Awards) for the following categories: Facilities, Programs and Exhibits were as follows:

usbotanicAnd the field trip to the US Botanic Garden was educational and bursting with sustainable initiatives, we even received our very own instruction manual for teaching. Check out the Sustainable SITES Initiative!

The Expo had a few highlights, but I have to mention the Virtual Reality Booth by SimWave Consulting in Canada. If you are an interactive museum, then you are going to want to keep an eye on their technology.

And a huge thank you to the Natural History Museum for letting us use their booth and partnering up in many ways moving forward!

Until next year in St. Louis…..keep up the green momentum!

 

 

Nation’s First #Solar-Powered Community Under Construction

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Phase One of Babcock Ranch, FL is slated to open next year.

It’s pretty exciting to see that a whole community will be powered by the sun and what better place than Florida. Per EcoBuildingPulse,com, in 2006, developer Syd Kitson released plans for Babcock Ranch, a massive community to consist of 19,500 homes powered exclusively by the sun (but void of any unsightly solar systems on roofs).

Instead of individual PV panels, the community and the broader region will be supplied with solar energy via Florida Power and Light’s 74.5 megawatt Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center. Expected to be operational by the end of the year, the 443-acre solar power plant will be located in the Babcock Ranch and will supply more than enough energy to meet residents’ needs, according to project planners.

“Babcock Ranch will exemplify what it means to be a town of the future, offering residents a highly unique balance of the most technologically advanced infrastructure and amenities, with ready access to a rich natural environment and a true sense of community,” says Kitson, CEO of West Palm Beach, Fla.-based development firm Kitson & Partners.

Phase 1 development encompasses 1,100 single-family and multifamily residences and a downtown area with a wellness center, café, restaurant, and outdoor outfitter shop.

For more information check out Builderonline.com. We’ll be on the look out for the development of the town, they should be welcoming their new residents by 2017.

LA Natural History Museum Opens Urban Wildlife Center

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The Natural History Museum in LA County just launched the Urban Nature Research Center to promote the study of wildlife in densely populated Southern California. This is a new twist for the 103 year old institution and it is the first project of its kind in the United States.

The new initiative will combine the work of NHM’s Nature Garden and Nature Lab, which focus on plants and animals on museum property, with its various citizen-science projects and animal surveys, all with a budget of $250,000 a year.

The ultimate goal is to increase knowledge and understanding of the ecosystems in L.A.’s mountains, parks, streets, backyards and even medians.

There have been many exciting new species discoveries right in LA, including 43 new species of fly. And with this new program the ability to catalog and use that data increases immensely.

NHM will also have the ability to utilize the “citizen science”  program. Basically, every day people get to participate in plant and animal surveys and submit that data using their smartphones to platforms like iNaturalist. Although many aren’t familiar with the program, Lila Higgins, NHM’s manager of citizen science “is working to change that by reaching out to communities across the region and asking them to look at the animals around them.”

NHM is also launching what it’s calling the world’s largest biodiversity project, dubbed the SuperProject, that will examine 200 urban-nature sites from the coast to the desert.

All in all, NHM’s new focus is part of a larger shift from museums and how they are setting about redefining their role in the community and beyond.

Lila Higgins says, “we’re really trying to push it forward and see how we can work with our communities […] and I think the Urban Nature Research Center is the perfect example of that.”