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The Outlook
July 2006
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W e l c o m e
This
month we celebrate the official launch of Dovetail's Eco-Affordable
Housing Program with our first housing project
in Aitkin, Minnesota. With a couple years of planning and visioning
already under our belts, the real work now begins!
Our Eco-Affordable Housing Program is aimed at meeting and providing specific
housing needs, specifically in rural areas. However, for us, it is not just
about the house. The main goals of this program are to create environmental
awareness, to demonstrate the use of housing as an economic development
tool for rural communities, and to facilitate the process of obtaining and
constructing eco-affordable housing so that it may be replicated easily.
For more information about this program, the project in Aitkin and the other
projects we have on-deck, please visit: http://www.dovetailinc.org/EcoAfford.html
Also, this month we take a break from sending out any new
reports, but invite you to review the list of what we've written so far
this year and to check out any you might have missed! If you
have ideas for what we should be digging into between now and the end of
2006, please drop us a note and let us know.
- Jeff
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I n T h i s I s s u e:
Green Homes for Rural Communities
Dovetail
Launches Eco-Affordable Housing Program
2006 Dovetail Reports in Review
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D o v e t a i l N e w s
Green
Homes for Rural Communities
Dovetail
Launches Eco-Affordable Housing Program
White Bear Lake,
Minn. July 17, 2006 - In Aitkin County housing was becoming a major problem.
“Any family that wanted to buy a house had two options – buy
a fixer-upper or buy a million dollar lake home,” according to Ross
Wagner, head of Aitkin County Economic Development.
“These two options demonstrate a growing problem in Minnesota –
low-to-middle-income housing is just not available to the people that
live and work in these communities,” states Alison Lindburg, the
director of Dovetail's Eco-Affordable Housing Program.
Besides challenges with housing, rural communities are also often searching
for economic development opportunities. One opportunity in Northern Minnesota
that helps address both issues is to connect the local wood products companies
with the green building movement.
In 2005, Jeff Howe, President of Dovetail Partners, began discussing possibilities
of a demonstration home in Aitkin County. The home would demonstrate
green building principles and make use of local, certified wood products.
“We're trying to sustain communities and the environment,”
says Howe, “Why shouldn't we be able to connect affordable housing
with building green, and support the community by using the local FSC-certified
wood?”
The idea of green building
is rapidly gaining momentum, but rural communities often get left behind
as attention is focused on the needs of urban centers.
“Community leaders in rural areas are interested in energy efficiency
and good building practices just as much as those in urban areas,”
says Lindburg. “And rural communities often have greater opportunities
to use local materials that not only benefit the environment, but support
local businesses and entrepreneurs.”
This demonstration home in Aitkin County is Dovetail's first eco-affordable
housing project. It features in-floor radiant heating, local FSC-certified
wood, locally-manufactured prefabricated panels by Talor Building Systems,
and various other green building practices, while remaining affordable
for someone in the local community to purchase.
The construction company, Talor Building Systems, whose mission includes
an interest in eco-friendly construction, will be manufacturing the prefabricated
wall, floor, and roof panels at its Aurora location. The Mille Lacs Band
Corporate Commission has invested in Talor with the future intent of helping
create new sustainable living wage jobs for its band members and others
in the Onamia/Mille Lacs/Hinckley region.
The house is breaking ground in July and will become available for purchase
soon after. There will be two open house events at the house in September.
Other upcoming projects are being planned for Greenbush, MN and Warren,
MN.
For more information, contact Dovetail Partners at 651-762-4007 or info@dovetailinc.org
This press release is also available at:
http://www.dovetailinc.org/AitkinPR0706.html
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2 0 0 6 D o v e t a i l
R e p o r t s i n R e v i e w
All publications are available online at: http://www.dovetailinc.org/publications.html
Designation of Environmentally Preferable Building
Materials - Fundamental Change Needed Within LEED
http://www.dovetailinc.org/DovetailLEED0606.html
International Standards and Trade Barriers
http://www.dovetailinc.org/DovetailTradeStandards0606.html
Innovations in Family Forest Certification: What's Happening & What's
Needed
http://www.dovetailinc.org/DovetailFForest0506.html
Wood Science Research - Not Trendy, But Absolutely Necessary
http://www.dovetailinc.org/DovetailResearch0506.html
Forest Certification Auditor Qualifications
http://www.dovetailinc.org/DovetailAuditors0406.html
An Environmental Quiz That Can Open the Door to Inquiry and Learning About
Forests & Forestry
http://www.dovetailinc.org/DovetailEnvQuiz0406.html
Biomass Energy - From Farms to Forests an Emerging Opportunity for Rural
America
http://www.dovetailinc.org/DovetailBioenergy0306.html
Conservation Easements to Protect Working Forests
http://www.dovetailinc.org/DovetailEasements0206.html
U.S. Forest Statistics Paint a Picture of Dynamic Growth and Renewal as
Well as Problems Ahead
http://www.dovetailinc.org/DovetailTrends0106.html
Finding New Markets
http://www.dovetailinc.org/DovetailNewMkts0106.html
“The Outlook” is the monthly e-newsletter
of Dovetail Partners Inc, a 501c3 non profit corporation.
Dovetail Partners is a highly skilled team that collaborates to develop
unique concepts, systems, programs and models to foster sustainable forestry
and catalyze responsible trade and consumption.
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