Wildlife and Students Participate in Earth Day

Embassy Zagreb celebrated Earth Day robustly with a Green Week of activities culminating in three outreach events. On Earth Day employees opened a sustainable no-mow lawn area of 450 square meters, augmented with birdbaths, bird feeders and native wildflowers to attract local insects and birds, thereby earning the mission a designation as a certified wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. Embassy staff personally seeded the area with wildflower seeds!

The next day, students from the landscape design department of the University of Zagreb's school of Agriculture came to the Embassy to present their environmentally sustainable designs for the entire Embassy grounds. The best designs were recognzed by the Ambassador. And the Embassy Public Affairs Office helped celebrate Earth Day and mark 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity by sponsoring a digital video conference on biodiversity for Croatian students at its American Corners with Henry Ortiz, the Science Advisor for Los Angeles County Schools.

Top Down Greening in Athens

US Embassy Athens has begun greening the roof of the Embassy with extensive vegetation. This will reduce wasteful runoff and lower heating and cooling costs for the building.

Next step to offset carbon and environmental impact is a greenhouse at the Ambassador's residence to grow carbon consuming plants for landscaping the embassy and other US Government residences.

Vienna Uses Danube To Cool Homes

US Embassy Vienna is not satisfied with new Mag-Lev chillers or adding Smart cars to the motorpool fleet. They've now leased apartements that are cooled by heat exchange with Danube River water!

Conserving Water At The Valletta NEC

Reduce Demand and Consumption of Potable Water through Irrigation Techniques and Water-conserving Plumbing:

- Demand for water consumption for irrigation was reduced by 50% from the baseline case through landscaping design using native plant selections
- Drip Irrigation will be installed to deliver water directly to the plant roots and reduce losses from evaporation
- Reduce Demand and Consumption of Potable Water through Water Conserving Plumbing fixtures:
- Building plumbing fixtures reduce potable water demand by at least 20% against the baseline case
- Strategies used to reduce demand include; waterless urinals, low flow fixtures, and automatic shut-off fixtures

The New Embassy in Valletta

The New Embassy Compound in Valletta Addresses Stormwater Run-Off:
1. Erosion and Sediment control during construction including sediment traps, basins and silt fencing.
2. An underground stormwater retention tank will be permanently installed to retain 95% of stormwater runoff from the site so that it can be reused for the landscaping.

Saving at Consulate Istanbul

Consulate Istanbul is working on a photovoltaic array, windmill, waterless urinal, water catchment, energy efficient security lights applications. OBO will be sending a team of energy experts this coming June to begin the photovoltaic design and best placement of an anemometer tower for wind study data. The are also working directly with the previous Clinton Global Initiative lead in Turkey who has provided many inroads into local authorities for permit purposes and local contractors who can install these applications.

Saving Water in Jordan

Mindful of being situated in the fourth most water-poor country in the world, Post also focused on water saving measures. Drip irrigation is used to water the plants and zero-scape landscaping is used throughout the compound. The Ambassador's residence uses rock garden topography with indigenous, drought-resistant plants. Water-saving devices will be installed on faucets and shower heads in embassy buildings, including the gym and club. Post also installed what perhaps are the first waterless urinals in Jordan. A dual flush mechanism is currently being installed in Embassybathrooms. Future plans include reducing water usage for washing the Embassy motor-pool fleet.

Embassy Amman Leads the Way

Post launched the Green Embassy initiative in September 2008 to reduce the Embassy's environmental, water, and energy footprint and to lower operational costs. The positive results have included estimated annual savings of $55,000 in electricity costs, $25,000 in water costs, and $40,000 in diesel fuel bills. The Embassy also recycled 30 tons of paper and cardboard, 4 tons of plastic, 2.5 tons of cans, and 3 tons of glass. Embassy Amman has set an ambitious target of working towards LEED certification as one of the first Green Buildings in Jordan and is working on a LEED audit with a vendor.

LEED in Sofia

The Embassy in Sofia was the first to be awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) when it was constructed. The features include a pulse-powered water treatment system, water saving fixtures and a drip irrigation system to reduce water consumption. More than 95% of the light bulbs is energy saving and light sensors ensure that lights are turned off when areas are not in use or when there is sufficient daylight. Timers are similarly used to shut down systems after hours. Solar water heaters and a heat exchange connected to the hot water system are utilized to reduce energy use. In addition, greater insulation has been obtained through the thermal properties of the external materials. Outside containers also promote recycling by employees after hours.