ACA Recap and Upcoming Events

We just finished up a super ACA conference in Phoenix and sustainability is rapidly becoming the watchword of the profession. We had the chance to speak in three different workshops along with our friend Paul Sheldon, we also provided training to ACA auditors on the new sustainability standard, and thanks to John Rees had the opportunity to speak to the policy committee of the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA).

In every presentation folks had more to share about what they were doing in their agency and were equally eager to hear what was happening in other parts of the country. There was genuine enthusiasm for what we are doing and support for the overall goals of sustainability.

We attended a workshop early on Saturday morning presented by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) that focused on a model that can be used to assist agencies to determine what makes sense for them regarding sustainability when considering new construction or retrofit. It is a model I think that could be utilized by large and small institutions alike. We hope to have it available on GreenPrisons.org in the coming weeks to share with you.

We are indebted to a lot of individuals and companies who made our travel to ACA possible. First on the list is the North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents (NAAWS) and their leadership Art Leonardo, Gloria Hultz and Pat Keohane, and President Daryl Vannoy. They gave us space to operate out of and encouraged their membership to check out what GreenPrisons had to offer. We will be presenting at their conference in Springfield, Mo in April along with Commissioner Bruce Lemmon of Indiana and we hope you can be with us for this very special event.

CorrectPac, Solaris, I-Con, Pabs Management, Energy Systems Group and Zone 3 all, not only helped us to get there, but were ready and willing to answer questions and informally discuss their products and services. I encourage you to visit each of their websites to learn how they can not only save you money but in some instances create revenue streams as well. All of these companies have a true commitment to corrections and in addition to their products have developed training programs that can help prepare inmates for green collar jobs. We encourage you to check them out and support the companies who support GreenPrisons.

Our next webinar is only two weeks away and registrations are limited. We have almost maxed out the number we can accommodate. Register now for any of our upcoming webinars by going to www.GreenPrisons.org and clicking on the link on the home page. February’s webinar is on Lighting and Energy. Be sure to join us!

Thanks to all of our amazing sponsors and friends!

GreenPrisons.org at the ACA Winter Conference with Sponsors and Friends, Jack Hanley of Solaris, Gregg Riphagen with I-Con Systems, Greg Johnson with Zone 3, and our friends at Portion Pac.

Thanks for making this ACA a green success!

GreenPrisons Gears Up for 2012

It's been a busy couple of weeks since my last post but I thought this would be a good week to share with you what we're planning for the new year before everyone got caught up in their holiday festivities.

First and formost I met in Indianapolis last week with representatives of the Indiana Department of Correction, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, the Bluegrass Recycling Center (KY) as well as Johnson Controls, WESTCO Distributors, and Designaire Engineers for the purpose of initiating planning for next year's National Symposium on Sustainability in Corrections. Following on the heels of our very successful innaugural event we will return to Indianapolis for 2012.

So mark your calendars for October 29 - November 1, 2012, for this important event. A call for presentations, participant registrations, and exhibitors will be available on www.GreenPrisons.org shortly after the first of the year.

In addition to planning next year's conference we have also been busy preparing for the first issue of a new quarterly journal on sustainability in corrections. We will have copies available online and at ACA. Be sure you are on our mailing list to be able to download your free copy! Advertisers and contributors for stories for future issues are also wanted. Send me an email at Tommy@GreenPrisons.org for more info.

Also be sure to look for us in the NAAWS suite at ACA in Phoenix.

I was recently contaced by a vendor who has a large quanty of CFL lightbulbs available at deep discounts. If you can use them send me an email and I will put you in touch with the vendor.

Finally, as we approach the holidays I want to thank eveyone for your support. GreenPrisons is barely six months old but we have managed to become the voice for sustainability in corrections. While it would be impossible to identify all the individuals, agencies and companies who have lent their support to get us started. I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the support we have gotten from the Indiana Department of Correction and Commissioner Bruce Lemmon. Both in his former life as the warden of the Pendleton Correctional Facility and now as Commissioner of the Department he has been a leader in this movement. Our vendors, particularly Johnson Controls, I-CON, Energy Systems Group, Solaris, and Portion-Pac have been with us since the beginning and continue with their support and we sincerely appreciate it.

I also want to acknowlege all the members of the Clean and Green Committee of ACA and particularly Former Commissioner John Rees and former Secretary Richard Staler for giving me the opportunity to get invloved with this important work. The contributions of Paul Sheldon have been incalcuable. His expertise in this field continues to boggle my mind every day.

Finally, I have to acknowledge the contribution of my daughter Ann as the Marketing Director for GreenPrisons. She is the one who inspite of a full time job in a totally different field, regularly Tweets about our activities, maintains our Facebook page, publishes the newsletter and all other things electronic. GreenPrisons would simply have no voice with out her, and I am very greatful for her contributions.

2012 will be a big year for us. Hopefully we will achieve 501 (c) non profit status with the IRS, expand our webinar offerings, activate our vendors data base, and host another stellar conference.

Merry Christmas and a Green New Year!!!

Planning for 2012

Thanksgiving is barely over and we have more than a month until Christmas but here at GreenPrisons we have already begun planning for a number of activities for the new year.

On the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving Ann and I spent the day checking out possible locations for the 2012 Symposium. Our goal was to find a location that provided as much meeting and exhibit space as the Hilton but to do it more economically. We think we've done it. We won't announce the location until after a planning meeting the week of December 5th but we believe this venue will provide more space, upgraded accommodations, and reduced costs for participants and vendors alike. Keep an eye on the website for all the details.

Speaking of next year's Symposium we have options on two dates, one in late September and one in early November. What is your preference? Let us know before the planning meeting and we will include that in our discussions.

In addition to the Symposium and the webinars we will begin conducting Sustainability Surveys for agency's in 2012. If you would like us to assist you in getting started or maximizing your current efforts shoot us an email and we can talk details.

Doing More with Less

On a mission to find out as much about energy savings in corrections as possible, we attended an ACA workshop on "Best Practices: A Review of Facilities" presented by Robert Schwartz, VP of the Justice Group at HOK, Inc., and Eric Hackman, Project Manager with Tower Pinkster. They reviewed three facility projects in three separate counties in Michigan and gave us project highlights including the energy savings established due to the new construction. Here are a few notes:

Midland County Jail:

• Created with a compact floor plan which encourages energy efficiency
• Designed with extensive day lighting to reduce the need for artificial lighting, saving electricity
• Installed a ground source heat pump
• Ozone laundry system, allowing cleaner laundry washed with cold water, reducing the demand for warm water
• Light harvesting - system automatically turns the electric lights off when a pre-determined amount of light is detected in a given space
• Design avoids inmate cells on the exterior wall, thus reducing the amount of energy needed to heat the cells in the winter
• Polished concrete floors can be cleaned with a wet mop, reducing the need for chemicals

Midland county energy costs:

• $185 annual energy costs
• $1.75 per square foot/year
• $740 per bed/year
  
• $57K annually in energy savings
• 25% savings of a "typical" building

Washtenaw County Justice Complex:

The new Justice Complex added 30% more space to the building's footprint but created a 20% energy savings from $2.43 to $1.93 per square foot by using the following practices:

• Installed new "air handling" units
• High efficiency boilers
• Ozone laundry system