E is packed with everything environmental — from recycling to rainforests, and from the global village to your own backyard. Click here to subscribe for an amazing low price.

Published every other month by a staff of six full-time and two part-time employees (plus a steady stream of college interns).

E is smartly designed, full color and off course printed on recycled paper.  E is completely independent of any membership organization and has no agenda to promote except that of their very diverse and dynamic movement as a whole.

E reports on all the current and emerging issues:

* Air and water quality
* Forests and Waterways
* Biodiversity
* Oceans and fisheries
* Biotechnology
* Human population growth impacts
* Climate change
* Recycling and re-Use
* Endangered wildlife
* Toxic health threats
* Food safety
* Transportation and energy issues

They answer all kinds of questions in the magazine including things like:

“Is genetically modified food safe for human consumption?”

“How do I remove the asbestos siding from my house and dispose of it properly?”

“Are ‘environmentally safe’ household cleaners really better for my health and for water quality?”

“How do I know if what I’m buying is truly organic?”

Click here to subscribe for an amazing low price.

With the ever increasing costs of living and global warming, there is no better time to consider the benefits of generating your own energy. Stop throwing your good money out the window and save $$$ by cutting out the big energy companies, it is not a dream, for many it is a reality.

Whether you want to simply cut your power bills to half or completely eliminate them – the one stop solution is Earth4Energy.

Why pay a huge amount like $1000’s for utilization of solar or wind power when you can have the opportunity to build your own home made solar system for less than US $200.

That’s right, there are guides that teach you everything you need to know about generating your own electricity by using wind and solar power. With the complete step-by-step setup fully illustrated manuals and easy to follow video instructions present in the guide you will be able to create renewable energy at home.

Solar and wind power systems brought from the market costs higher but the guide and the program in it gives you the information that is required to get the same results at a tiny price.

Once you have learned and ready to build and install your alternate power supply, you will save hundreds of dollars on your electricity bill. You need not have to build a 500 hundred foot high wind turbine to save lots of money on energy, a much smaller can be built by following the instructions present in the Earth4Energy kit.

The Earth4Energy kit is the best system for people who are looking to save money on their home energy bill and want to build a energy generator at home .There is no other kit out there in the market like Earth4Energy that explains clearly with manuals or even includes videos. The Earth4Energy kit is available online for purchase. Many people can now have access to alternative solar and wind energy.

The Earth4Energy kit suggests one of those popular alternative energy devices that prove to drop home energy costs by 50-80%. The kit also shares information on where to purchase free batteries required for your project. These batteries store the alternative energy making it a portable energy resource. You can take them anywhere, for any use!
Eartth4Energy is simply the best friendly system for preparing an alternative home energy. So if you are planning to save money on those high energy bills, then you should bring this guide and start working on it.

Make power at home with solar and wind energy to eliminate your power bill. Get our complete guide at www.earth4energy.com

TREDS collates and standardizes marine turtle data and is critical to understanding population trends throughout the Pacific. The launch event will include a briefing, demonstration and question-and-answer opportunity. CD copies of the database system will be distributed.

Over the last few decades, various institutions throughout the Asia-Pacific and the Pacific Islands region have been tagging turtles and collecting a variety of data. While these efforts generated large volumes of information, there was little overall coordination of the work. In 2002, based on recommendations from participants who attended the Western Pacific Sea Turtle Cooperative Research and Management Workshop, the Hawaii-based Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council began coordinating and supporting the development of TREDs.

The central database for the Pacific Islands region will be housed at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in Apia, Samoa, and plans are underway for a second central database to be managed by the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center–Marine Fishery Resources Development and Management Department (SEAFDEC MFRDMD) in Malaysia. Together these agencies will manage and consolidate turtle research data for their 31 member countries in the Pacific Ocean.

TREDS can store tag information (flipper, PIT and satellite), nesting beach and foraging ground data, clutch and hatchling information, and biological sampling (such as genetic data). It can systematically inventory tags used per project, generate project-specific and/or site-specific summary reports, and help standardize data collection protocol.

TREDS is a joint initiative of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, SPREP, SEAFDEC, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, the US National Marine Fisheries Service–Pacific Islands Fishery Science Center and the Marine Research Foundation in Malaysia.

For more information, contact Asuka Ishizaki at asuka.ishizaki@noaa.gov, Anne Trevor at annet@sprep.org or Milani Chaloupka at m.chaloupka@uq.edu.au.

The world is now only six months away from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 15th Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC COP15) in Copenhagen, where a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol is slated for adoption. In preparation for the meeting, Pacific Island countries party to the UNFCCC received in-depth training in negotiations strategy and techniques.

Dr Ian Fry, a prominent climate change specialist and a negotiator for the Government of Tuvalu conducted sessions to help prepare participants for key issues that will be addressed at COP 15.

SPREP’s Climate Change Adviser Espen Ronneberg is pleased that this training has brought many new faces to the climate change negotiations table. He feels it will help strengthen the capacity of the Pacific at the negotiating table by providing additional trained negotiators that will have a strong understanding of the issues to be discussed.

“The training component provided valuable inputs in negotiation techniques, as well as expert knowledge on preparation for the very complex meeting arrangements at the international level. In addition, the Pacific has had an opportunity to also discuss the key issues that are still under negotiation, which will allow them to gather information back home to address concerns arising from those key issues,” Ronneberg said.

The training is an important component of activities planned during the 2009 Pacific Year of Climate Change. “Our Century’s Challenge, Our Pacific Response” is the theme of the year, which hopes to build momentum in the Pacific before December’s meeting of the COP in Copenhagen.

Ronneberg believes that strengthening the climate change negotiation skills of Pacific island country parties to the UNFCCC will also contribute to greater participation in climate related discussions at both the national, regional and international level.

In addition to the negotiations training, the Pacific held consultations with the European Commission on the implementation of the Pacific-EU climate change declaration in the Pacific Islands. This represents a new and additional financing opportunity for climate change work in the region, and could expedite action on the ground in the Pacific on responding to the adverse effects of climate change.

The training was held 11 – 15 May at the SPREP Compound in Apia.

For more details please contact SPREP’s Climate Change Adviser Espen Ronneberg E: espenr@sprep.org T: (685) 21929 F: (685) 20231 W: www.sprep.org

PHOTO: Participants at negotiations training session.

Close to forty participants from throughout the Pacific African-Caribbean-Pacific (PACP’s) countries are attending a regional capacity building workshop on the Clean Development Mechanism at the IUCN Oceania headquarters in Suva.

The CDM is an important term in the context of the international climate change negotiations. It allows for developed countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by carrying out climate-friendly projects in developing countries.

The workshop is part of a larger European Union funded project entitled, “Capacity Building related to Multilateral Environmental Agreements in African Caribbean Pacific Countries.” This is one of the special events coordinated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to mark 2009 as the Pacific Year of Climate Change.

Mr Epeli Nasome, the Director of Environment in Fiji opened the workshop in Suva this week.

In his statement, Mr Nasome noted that Carbon trading and the CDM has been at the center of discussion in international meetings and negotiations, and he welcomed the opportunity to discuss the issue in the Pacific.

Mr. Nasome challenged workshop participants to utilise the Clean Development Mechanism to result in the improved livelihoods of the communities of PACPs, especially resource owners.

Fiji was the first country in the world to sign the Kyoto Protocol and intends to play a leading role in implementing measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The CDM is fairly new in the African Caribbean Pacific countries. Currently there are only two registered Clean Development Mechanism projects in the Pacific region: the Wainikasaou and Vaturu hydropower project in Fiji and the Lihir Geothermal Power project in Papua New Guinea. The workshop will learn from the experiences from these two projects.

“The scarcity of projects clearly reflects the lack of capacity and awareness about the Clean Development Mechanism in the PACPs. The Kyoto Protocol imposes specific emission reduction targets on Annex 1 parties (developed countries to the treaty), which are binding under international law,” explained SPREP’s Solomone Fifita, who is coordinating and assisting with the conduct of the workshop.

“These reductions must be achieved during the Protocol’s first commitment period. The CDM is therefore one of the win-win mechanisms in the Kyoto Protocol designed to assist Annex 1 Parties to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as cost-effectively as possible while at the same time provide the much needed capital, jobs, trade opportunities and infrastructures to non-Annex 1 countries like the PACPs.”

Fifita believes the CDM enables developing countries to take advantage of low-cost opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in other countries rather than relying solely on domestic emission reduction measures, which may be more expensive.

The United Nations Environment Programme RISOE Centre on Energy, Climate and Sustainable Development in Denmark is responsible for implementing the CDM capacity-building component with SPREP as the Pacific hub for the project.

The workshop will explore the current status and potential of the CDM activities in Pacific countries, and prepare a work plan based on the common and country-specific capacity building needs of the PACPs. The UNEP RISO Centre and SPREP will then implement this workplan over the next three years.

The workshop is attended by representatives from the power utilities, senior energy and environment officials from the PACPs, Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific agencies, the private sector and NGOs. The workshop will conclude on May 29th.

Jun 16, 2009 – RALEIGH, N.C. – Miles M. (Bud) Smart, Ph.D., president of Audubon Environmental, a sustainability consulting firm that works with landowners, developers and government entities to protect and sustain land, water, wildlife and natural resources, has announced that the Bahía Beach Resort & Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, was selected by the Puerto Rico Homebuilders Association to receive the Heritage and Sustainable Community of the Year Award for 2008.

Bahia Beach Resort is the first resort to be certified as Gold Sanctuary in the Caribbean by Audubon International.  Audubon Environmental provided sustainability consulting services for the resort in an effort to preserve and enhance the facility’s natural environment.

The award recognizes the resort developers for outstanding dedication and commitment to sustainable development and for implementing practices that protect and benefit the environment.  The resort, situated on 483 acres, has a nature-based focus that includes integrated architecture and a commitment to preserve about 65 percent of the land as green area.  Working to honor this commitment, the Bahía Beach Resort has transplanted more than 4,000 trees and coconut palms, has propagated and planted more than 62,000 native or naturalized plants and trees, added more than 6,500 linear feet of aquatics, converted about three acres from grass to shrubs and transplanted wild ferns and oyster plants on the property.

The primary goals of the project were to protect the land and water, and improve the lives of the local population with education and jobs.  Soul of Bahia  serves as an environmental education and outreach arm of the Bahía Beach Resort and has created several pamphlets on beach and river conservation and traveled to local school groups to address the topics in addition to hosting beach and river cleanup events.  Audubon Environmental worked with the Bahia Beach Resort development team to achieve the highest level of sustainability, preserve the history and culture as well as protect and maintain the ecological diversity of the region.  The firm accomplished this through performing an on-site assessment of restoration, enhancement and protection opportunities; implementing strategies to promote those opportunities; and educating those who live, work and recreate on-site.  Management programs were developed and implemented to ensure protection of the ecological treasures in perpetuity.

The Bahía Beach Resort boasts a 2-mile stretch of beach along the Atlantic Ocean, an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., world-class golf and beach clubhouses and the 139-suite St. Regis Resort at Bahía Beach – the first five-star resort in Puerto Rico’s history.  For more information, visit www.bahiabeachpuertorico.com.

Related Links:
www.audubonenv.com
www.bahiabeachpuertorico.com
www.mmimarketing.com

News Facts:
•   Audubon Environmental, a sustainability consulting firm that works with landowners, developers and government entities to protect and sustain land, water, wildlife and natural resources, has announced that the Bahía Beach Resort & Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, was selected by the Puerto Rico Homebuilders Association to receive the Heritage and Sustainable Community of the Year Award for 2008.
•   Audubon provided sustainability consulting services for the resort in an effort to preserve the facility’s natural environment.

Quotes:
“The Bahía Beach Resort project was a tremendous success and we are pleased to see it gain recognition,” said Smart.  “This project is an example of how luxury can be coupled with environmental sustainability to create something great.”

Federico Sanchez, president and CEO of Interlink Group, development member of Bahia Beach Resort and Golf Club said, “It is an honor to receive this recognition on behalf of the Bahia Beach family.  The work put in by our Green Team with the great guidance and support of Audubon International and Audubon Environmental, has allowed Bahia Beach to mature into a great natural setting where residents and tourists can enjoy and cohabitate with the wonders that nature has to offer.”

About Audubon Environmental:
Audubon Environmental partners with landowners, developers and government entities to protect and sustain land, water, wildlife and natural resources in a way that balances economic realities with the needs of an ecosystem.  Through design, development, management and education, environmental permits, golf services, and certifications, the firm provides comprehensive environmental services to communities around the world.  It has diverse experience working with multi-family, single-family, mixed-use and new urbanist communities, resorts and amenity centers, golf courses, marinas, commercial and other land use developments.  AE is the exclusive provider of environmental technical services to members of the Audubon International’s Signature and Classic programs.  For more information about Audubon Environmental, visit www.audubonenv.com.

Keywords:
Audubon Environmental, Bud Smart, Bahía Beach Resort & Golf Club, Puerto Rico Homebuilders Association, Heritage and Sustainable Community of the Year Award, Robert Trent Jones Jr., St. Regis Resort at Bahía Beach, Federico Sanchez

Patty Briguglio
MMI Associates, Inc.
(919) 233-6600
patty@mmimarketing.com
PR Firms Raleigh, NC

With this transaction, the Group pursues its optimization of the maturity profile of the Group’s debt, refinancing shorter term bank facilities.

The settlement and issue of the bond is expected on June 24. BNP Paribas, Calyon, Citi, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Societe Generale acted as joint-lead managers and bookrunners for this bond issue.

Lafarge is the world leader in building materials, with top-ranking positions in all of its businesses: Cement, Aggregates & Concrete and Gypsum. With more than 84,000 employees in 79 countries, Lafarge posted sales of Euros 19 billion in 2008.

In 2009 and for the fifth year in a row, Lafarge was listed in the ‘Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World’. With the world’s leading building materials research facility, Lafarge places innovation at the heart of its priorities, working for sustainable construction and architectural creativity.

Additional information is available on the web site at www.lafarge.com

This press release and the information it contains do not constitute an offering of securities.

1 Euro Medium-Term Note program

This post was submitted by Patrick.

Context

All buildings have context. That is, they are built in a specific place, with a specific climate, topography and social setting. A work of Architecture must visibly and sensually address these issues.

For example, a building in the Bahamas must clearly address the need for shade, the opportunity for outdoor living and the threat of hurricanes. It must then address its location, especially the topography and orientation. But while these issues are raised here for the Bahamas, they are equally issues for the rest of the Caribbean, Central America, the southern part of the US and a multitude of countries around the world, located between the Tropics.

Aesthetic Response

Balance, pattern, proportion, silhouette, scale, texture. These words are tools in the hands of every artist designing a building. And while there may be minor cultural deviations, these requirements for aesthetic judgment are quite nearly universal. For example, whether the columns are made of stone, wood or plastic, there is a requirement for their spacing and proportion to address those rules of aesthetic judgment. Patterns of fenestration, openings and handrails must meet the same standard.

Buildings in the Bahamas, most of North America, much of Europe and the Mediterranean tend to apply conclusions institutionalized by the Greeks and the Italians, developed by the Egyptians. And while the countries of the East and the North may use different historical references, their basic aesthetic judgment still uses very similar criteria.

Symbolism

Architecture, like all art (after all, it is the Mother of the Arts) is communication. The architect communicates the building’s function, its importance and its attitude towards social and environmental issues. Through various devices, he also communicates identity and aspiration. In this effort, the designer must understand the language with which buildings speak. The tools that give him voice are the symbolic vocabulary characteristic of his community.

The symbolic vocabulary is the only aspect of architecture that is defined locally. That is, a symbol in one place may have no meaning in another place That is what allows the architect to share the local community’s story through his work. The materials used, the ways in which buildings are assembled, the stereotypical shapes and forms used, the colours and textures used, the decorations and applied art all have symbolic value beyond their utilitarian value, and the use of their symbolic values allows both the sharing of local culture and the establishment of identity.

Clearly then, it is in this area of symbolism and the communication of local culture that the definition of Bahamian Architecture is to be found. This study can be understood in three categories: symbolism in Form, symbolism in Pattern and symbolism in Decoration.

Form addresses the local meaning of shapes and silhouette. Pattern explains the use of specific arrangements in the elements of a building. Decoration discusses the relationship between applied embellishment and local History and Culture.

In short, all regional architecture gains its potency from the expression of local symbolism in the design of buildings, primarily through the manipulation of the symbolism in form, pattern and decoration that reflect local cultural expression.

Form In Bahamian Architecture

The most powerful shapes for which Bahamians have developed particular meaning are the shapes related to the pitched roof and the shapes related to masonry construction (the arch, the vertical rectangle in a wall and the colonnade). Out of these basic references have come symbolic values for the following:
?    The circular opening, or the porthole
?    The triangular opening, or the gable vent
?    The dormer, or window for roof-space
?    The triangular gable wall
?    The projected shutter, or perfect shade
?    The four-columned portico, or Formal Entrance

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but simply to provide a snapshot of the ways in which buildings use form to communicate value.

Pattern in Bahamian Architecture

There are two pattern sets relevant to Bahamian architecture. The first relates to the patterns associated with the construction of the elements of Georgian Architecture. These include the mullions and muntins (glazing bars) of doors and windows, the handrail patterns, the patterns in raised panels and tiles and the patterns used in shade devices (lattice, louvers etc.).

The second set relates to the patterns of African origins, and except for the random stone patterns of walls and floors, are mostly applied decorations.

Decoration in Bahamian Architecture

As mentioned above, the two roots of meaning for the decoration used in Bahamian Architecture are European and African. The European set has been well publicized, as the decorative features of Georgian Architecture, and includes the following:

?    Plaster moldings used in eaves, ceilings and other intersections
?    Plaster and wood trim used around windows and doors
?    Quoins
?    Water Courses
?    Contrasting colours of walls, shutters, trim etc.
?    Pastel colour palette

The African inspired set include:

?    Cutout wood details for fascia, trim, handrails etc.
?    Rich colour, especially on wood
?    Painted and decorated walls (murals etc)
?    Nature patterns, especially reptiles

The study of symbolism is a complex discipline, worthy of deep and serious investigation, and our effort here is to acknowledge its importance in the study and definition of architecture. The study of meaning in the built environment offers the primary opportunity for the advancement of Bahamian Architecture, and its integration into the built environment is the greatest challenge for the Bahamian architect, who must be committed to three pursuits:

1.    Pursuit of appropriate solutions to the built environment in the context of the Bahamian climate, society and lifestyle.
2.    The pursuit of an aesthetic code with meaning for the people of this part of the world.
3.    The pursuit of relevant symbols for integration into the design of buildings of all types.

Hermit crabs tiptoe
Across an Andros fantasy
Carve their welcome in the sand
In words that dodge the lap
Of playful waves

Come be with me awhile
Stand knee-deep in liquid crystal
And feel God’s smile upon your face
But love this place enough
When you are gone
To leave only footprints
Behind

May 2001