Your Dream Kitchen on a Budget

12:15 pm – 1:15 pm, Room B

Carl Smith, Boyer Building

Learn unique cost-saving design solutions for a variety of budgets. See how to transform smaller rooms into efficient, workable spaces. Photos will help you envision the space of your dreams.

Porches and Porticos

1:30pm – 2:30 pm, Room B

Bob Boyer, Boyer Building

Build and dECOrate Green

11: 15 am - 12:15 pm and 12:30 – 1:30 pm, Room 206

Rachel Maloney, Natural Built Home

Become an environmentally conscious remodeler without sacrificing beauty, quality or durability. See examples of eco-friendly building supplies and products to create a safer and healthier home for your family.

The ABC's of Interior Design

12:15 am – 1:15 pm and 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm, Room 207A

Mary Zigan, The Design Doctors

Learn the importance of combining Ambiance, Balance & Color when making decor changes in your home. These elements can be translated to paint, furniture, lighting and accents....we'll tackle them all!

A Beginner’s Guide to Remodeling Green

12:15pm – 1:15pm and 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm, Room 207B

Michael Anschel, Principal and Architectural / Interior Designer for 

Otogawa-Anschel Design-Build, LLC and Interim Executive Director of 

Minnesota GreenStar

Michael Anschel will explain the new Minnesota GreenStar certified homes and remodeling program and show how easy remodeling Green can be. Green remodeling incorporates creative and resource efficient design to create a healthy and sustainable living environment. Green remodeling also utilizes both new and previously used materials to create a cost effective option for your home remodeling project.

MN GreenStar is a non-profit organization the offers Minnesota’s first Green standard for certified Green remodeling and new home construction. For more information visit www.mngreenstar.org.

Otogawa-Anschel Design-Build is a small, award-winning design-build firm devoted to green building and urban living. For more information, visit their website at www.otogawa-anschel.com.

Spring into Landscaping

12:15 pm – 1:15 pm, Room 213B

Jim Vaughan, Environmental Coordinator, City of  St. Louis Park

The City of St. Louis Park's Environmental Coordinator will present information on how to get your garden, shrubs and trees ready for the coming growing season.  Find out how to reduce disease and insect problems, how to incorporate native plants into your landscaping, and learn how to save your plants from your construction activities. 

Show Me the Money: Why Sustainability Makes Sense and Cents for Your Home

1:15 pm – 2:15 pm, Room 213A

Terry Gips, Sustainability Associates

Can a green home actually cost less? Can we have better lives while caring for the earth? Can we create a sustainable future for us and our children? Does environmental responsibility have to cost more or mean a lesser lifestyle? In the face of seemingly overwhelming challenges, can we really turn things around?

Come find out at this inspiring, interactive introductory look at a powerful new educational approach to sustainability called the Natural Step Framework (NSF), which was created in Sweden in 1989 and brought to the US in the mid 90s by Ecology of Commerce author Paul Hawken and MIT learning organization leader Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline.

It is now being used by numerous municipalities, government agencies, nonprofits, schools, religious institutions, architectural firms, hospitals, cooperatives and businesses such as Interface, Starbucks, Nike, Home Depot, Electrolux, IKEA and McDonalds to save money, improve performance and become more environmentally and socially responsible.

This session will present an introduction to sustainability and the NSF, how it can benefit you at home and in the community, and several simple, practical steps you can take to save money, time and the environment while protecting the health and well-being of you, your children and future generations. Participants will gain a positive, new perspective and see how we can create a sustainable future.

Terry Gips is an economist, ecologist, author (Breaking the Pesticide Habit and The Humane Consumer and Producer Guide), Adjunct Professor at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, independent Natural Step Framework Instructor, and head of Sustainability Associates, a Minneapolis-based environmental consulting firm. He volunteers as President of the nonprofit Alliance for Sustainability in the Hillel Center at the University of Minnesota (www.afors.org) and has previously served as Director of Ecological Affairs and Sustainability for the Aveda Corporation, Cargill assistant to the Chief Economist, White House and Congressional aide, and co-founder of the Sacramento Community Garden Program.

Contact: Terry Gips (tgips@sustainabilityassociates.com), 612-374-4765, 9000 W. 28th St., St. Louis Park, MN 55426. www.sustainabilityassociates.com.

Rain Gardens and Barrels

1:30 am – 2:30 pm, Room 213B

Rusty Schmidt, Natural Resource Specialist, Washington Conservation District

Rusty Schmidt, a wildlife biologist and landscape ecologist with 16 years of natural resource experience, will explain how to utilize Rain Gardens and Rain Barrels to contain and filter storm water runoff in your yard. Learn how to have it all—a beautiful yard with low-maintenance landscaping and native plants. Your rain garden and rain barrel will help keep lakes and streams clean, recharge groundwater, and attract wildlife.