We’re helping to spread the “green” at the River City Roots Festival this coming weekend. As the credit union has started its quest to be a greener organization, we’ve realized that others want to do the same thing and we wanted to help–We’re helping this fabulous event provide reusable beverage mugs (significantly reducing the amount of plastic headed to the landfill) and to purchase green tags for renewable energy. While the festival isn’t totally carbon neutral, it is headed in the right direction–every step helps!
Spreading the Green
Aug 18th, 2008 by marketingmfcu
Art-a-pult
Jul 24th, 2008 by marketingmfcu
YOU can help create artwork for our Russell Street Branch! Inside your head, you’re thinking “But I’m not artistic!” No worries! If you attend the Home Resource “Spontaneous Construction” fundraiser August 16th you can participate in the creation of community artwork to be displayed in our new branch. We are partnering with Home Resource on their “art-a-pult” fundraiser. You purchase cups of paint, load them onto the catapult and let ‘em rip…leaving your personal touch on our artwork. We thought this was a great way to help out a wonderful “Green” organization, help use up small bits of old latex paint that aren’t big enough for larger projects AND to encourage community participation in yet another aspect of our new branch. What could be more beautiful?
There will be a huge variety of activities and fun events for the family…check out their schedule on their website for more details. Hope to see you there!
Lighting by Mother Nature
Jul 14th, 2008 by marketingmfcu
The windows and skylights are being installed. While this might sound like a fairly common occurrence and perhaps a bit mundane to address in a posting, never fear, these windows are out of the ordinary.
The windows we are using are aluminum clad wood windows—triple paned! They have some of the highest insulation values of any windows available. The window glazing transparency varies around the building to correspond to its exposure. For example, the south facing windows are more tinted than north facing windows. This regulates the heat that enters as well as the intensity and direction of the light. Ultimately, in cooperation with the highly efficient HVAC system, the SIPS panels, strategically placed reflective surfaces, and the architect’s design to enhance natural lighting, these windows will be a significant part of the overall efficiency of the building. Who knew windows could be such team players!
More than materials
Jul 7th, 2008 by marketingmfcu
Getting a LEED certification requires a lot more than just using recycled or renewable materials. The certification also indicates that the construction process is environmentally friendly. For a project to be considered for LEED certification, it must have—as a prerequisite—a “construction waste management” plan. While it sounds fairly straightforward—reduce waste where possible, reuse scraps, recycle what you can, and keep a clean work site—it’s far more complicated than you might imagine.
In fact, the Construction Waste Management document for our project is 4 pages long. It lays out the goals of the waste management plan (recycle or salvage 75% of construction, demolition and land clearing debris), lists potential recycling companies, and defines specific processes for specific materials including concrete, scrap metal, plastics, wood products and many others.
In addition to all that, everything is documented—how much of what materials were recycled where, when and how they were reused. Whew!
Raising the Roof!
Jun 11th, 2008 by marketingmfcu
The building is starting to take its shape.The most visible part of the project is going up….exterior walls and roof. These are unusual walls and roof, as they are made of pre-fabricated panels called “SIPs”—Structural Insulated Panels. They are made of plywood and filled with Styrofoam insulation (check out the photos).
Showing the inside view of the SIP panel.
These walls (and roof) are much faster to install than traditional framing methods and their insulating factor is through the roof! (pun intended) Extensive use was made of locally –grown “good wood” and FSC lumber for the dimensional lumber needs. We’re using everything we can that supports sustainable practices and uses local suppliers.
The site work will be starting later this summer and will include the use of recycled concrete as aggregate for the new concrete. When our crew was excavating the site for the building, they unearthed a HUGE chunk of old concrete (it’s been suggested that it is an street car turntable or perhaps the foundation for a teepee burner from days of yore). Rather than just fill the landfill with this, our concrete guys suggested we use it for the concrete in the sidewalks, curbs and driveway on our site.
Greywater system approved…
May 12th, 2008 by marketingmfcu
We have received a variance approval from the City-County Health Department for our experimental greywater system. Our greywater system will divert water from the water fountain, shower and sinks through a special filtering system and use the cleaned water for irrigating our landscape plants in the summer months. All of the irrigation system emitters are underground (no sprayers, etc) which virtually eliminates evaporation and puts the water right at the plant that needs it.
Because using greywater has not been done in a commercial project in Missoula and there are no specific rules yet, we needed to get the OK. We will be tracking and measuring the effectiveness of this system and using our experiences with it to help provide data for future policy-making discussions.
Hi-tech meets hi-touch
Apr 7th, 2008 by marketingmfcu
As construction progresses on our Russell Street Branch, we thought it would be helpful for everyone to see the floor plan to get a sense of how the building will function. The first thing you will notice about the lobby is the absence of a traditional teller line. We will be using the latest technology in remote teller systems to speed up your transactions and limit the time you spend waiting in line—the number one issue we hear about from our members.
The lobby will have 4 video teller kiosks….essentially they work just like drive up tubes, in that you put your transaction in the carrier and it is sent to the teller via vacuum tubes. You will communicate with the teller face-to-face via an audio/video link. This provides a greater degree of privacy and security for you and for the teller. Plus, the teller can be helping you in the lobby while the next car is pulling up into the drive up without needing to run back and forth to the lobby and drive up.
Speaking of drive up—notice we have 4 teller tubes in 2 lanes…Exactly HOW will that work? Essentially, just like the gas station—Car #1 pulls to the front tube. Car #2 will pull to the second tube….both transactions will be handled simultaneously; moving two cars through in less time than a traditional drive up takes to handle them. While the next two cars are queuing up, the teller will have time to handle a lobby transaction for another member. This will not only be more efficient for you, but it will cut down on wait time and therefore the vehicle emissions in our drive up! And, just like the lobby tellers, you will have audio and video to talk with the teller face-to-face.
Never fear, our lobby will not be devoid of human contact—we will have 4 staff right there in the lobby to help answer questions and handle special requests should you need them. Plus, consumer loan officers and real estate loan officers to help you.
Other items of note…this branch will have safe deposit boxes (more on that in another post), two ATMs and an exterior walk-up teller tube (just like the ones in the lobby, only available the same hours as our drive up—for those who walk or bike to the branch and don’t want to breathe exhaust fumes in the drive up).
Next Post—Russell Street site plan—How will the site look? How will we enter/exit the branch? Where will we park? What will the landscaping look like?
A Beehive of Activity!
Apr 3rd, 2008 by marketingmfcu
The construction site is a beehive of activity these days! The structural steel columns have been erected and the fly ash/glass concrete beams installed. Once the building is completed, you will be able to see these exposed beams in the lobby. They are a beautiful tan color that fits nicely with our color scheme. The interior concrete slab is being poured this week and next. Part of this slab will be covered with wool carpet or tile in the completed building (offices, conference room, work rooms, etc.),
However, a large portion—specifically in the lobby—will be polished and finished concrete. This is where the glass from our glass drives will be used to create some colorful interest in the lobby floor. We still need lots of glass to complete our project, so be sure to save all those glass bottles and jars and bring them to Caras Park April 19th and 20th.
Glass Drive part deux
Feb 28th, 2008 by marketingmfcu
We’re at it again! MFCU is once again helping sponsor a glass drive in Missoula. We are partnering with REI and the Missoula Urban Demonstration (MUD) Project to bring the pulverizer to our fair city on April 19th and 20th as part of Missoula’s Earth Day Festivities. Just like our previous glass drive, we will be using this glass in the lobby floor of our new Russell Street Branch. Here are some “Dos and Don’ts” for recycling your glass:
- DO remove lids
- DO rinse bottles and jars
- DO remove labels
- DO sort by color (green, clear, brown and other)
- DON’T bring flat glass or window panes (they don’t go through the pulverizer and finishings on window panes cause weird chemical reactions when used with fly ash or cement)
- DON’T bring broken glass or bottles (it creates a hazard for the volunteers handling the glass—and for you!)
- DO bring your glass to Caras Park between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on the 19th or 20th of April
- DO start saving up your glass right away
We will include a link to the full schedule of activities and events for the entire week of April 19-26 as soon as it becomes available. Happy recycling!
“Green” power
Jan 30th, 2008 by marketingmfcu
Because of the building design and the mechanical and electrical systems being used in the Russell Street Branch, our power usage will be considerably lower than if we had just used standard practices. But we didn’t feel that was quite enough, so MFCU has committed to the purchase of “Renewable Energy Certificates” to cover 100% of the power it will consume at this branch over the next two years. This means that we are supporting alternative energy production at a level to replace what we will consume. This website explains the process much more clearly: http://www.renewablechoice.com/node/308
Bottom line…100% of the power we will consume at this branch will come from renewable sources—solar panels (stay tuned for more about those in coming installments) and wind power.