Goodwin Heart Pine Blog

When Do You Celebrate Arbor Day?

Apr 28, 2012

The national and international celebration of Arbor Day started many years ago. The first Arbor Day was held on April 10, 1872, and an estimated one million trees were planted that day. When do you celebrate Arbor Day? Well, it depends on which state you live in:

Florida and Louisiana (January); Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi (February); Arkansas, Arizona, California, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Tennessee (March); Alaska, Maine, North Dakota and Vermont (May); Hawaii (November); and South Carolina (December). Similar events to encourage the planting or care of trees are arranged in many countries around the world. The dates are usually chosen to coincide with the optimal season for planting or caring for native trees.

Remember to consider replanting the longleaf pine if you’d like to carry on with the great energy from Arbor Day. These trees, because of their great size and strength, formed the foundation of the industrial expansion that happened across the USA in the early 1900s. Because of over harvesting, only a few natural stands of longleaf pine remain. Read about planting and growing longleaf pine at Auburn University website here,

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/forestry_wildlife/longleafalliance/landowners/forestrestoration/plantingb.htm

More Arbor Day Fun and Facts…

About Carol Goodwin

Carol Goodwin, CR, MCR, is President of Goodwin Heart Pine and holds Craftsman and Master Craftsman degrees from the National Wood Floor Association. She is also a Certified Hardwood Flooring Inspector, and an accredited CEU Provider.

Green Building Meets Historic Renovation

Apr 23, 2012

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The Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency partnered with a team of respected companies and a nationally acclaimed architect to design and implement a “green” renovation on one of the City of Gainesville’s oldest, most cherished buildings – the historic Gainesville Depot, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Famed architect Bert Bender of Bender and Associates Architects, P.A., best known for his work on Key West landmarks such as the Custom House, developed the “green” design to rehabilitate the 1860s era train depot to its original splendor, while ensuring its durability and sustainability. Superintendent Coley Pitt of West Construction, Inc. spearheaded the construction efforts, utilizing Goodwin Heart Pine Company’s world-renowned reclaimed longleaf heart pine wood throughout the building. Other recyclable and reclaimed materials include copper gutters and downspouts by CopperWorx, Inc., and doors, windows and millwork restoration by Williston Door & Millwork, Inc..

photo courtesy of Gainesville CRA

According to Pitt, the Depot is eligible to receive the LEED-Gold certification (Leadership in Energy & Design) from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) – and is only a few steps away from Platinum eligibility. The Depot’s “green” features include a dual plumbing system utilizing reclaimed water and dual layer radiant barrier foam and sheet insulation in the attic. Additionally, a comprehensive waste management and recycling program was implemented throughout the construction and operations of the building.

“This innovative project sets the pace for other ‘green’ building projects across the state and even nationwide,” explains Carol Goodwin, CR, MCR, President of Goodwin Heart Pine Company and Board Member for the USGBC – Heart of Florida Chapter. “We hope the model used for the Depot in Gainesville will be replicated with other historic rehabilitation projects across the U.S.”

The USGBC meeting at the Depot offers a special sneak peek tour of this exciting new site:

Thursday, April 26^th from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Cost: $5 USGBC members and $10 non-members

Guest speakers include: Diane Gilreath, Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency, Project Manager; Bert Bender, Bender and Associates, P.A., acclaimed architect and historic restoration specialist; and Coley Pitt of West Construction, Inc. Guests are asked to please enter through the gate off of Depot Avenue, opposite of SE 2^nd Street. For more information, please call Carol Goodwin, 352-745-2822, or visit www.USGBCHeartFl.org to register.

About Carol Goodwin

Carol Goodwin, CR, MCR, is President of Goodwin Heart Pine and holds Craftsman and Master Craftsman degrees from the National Wood Floor Association. She is also a Certified Hardwood Flooring Inspector, and an accredited CEU Provider.

Celebrate Earth Day in Your Unique Way

Apr 22, 2012

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What will you do to celebrate Earth Day?

Randy Sarafan has found a unique way to express his concern over energy use. Many celebrate Earth Day by switching off of lights for one hour, or making new earth-friendly resolutions, while others go the extra yard in their effort to show that they care. While we are not so sure if Randy Sarafan seriously wanted to conserve energy or if there is underlying sarcasm in his creation, there is no doubt that we would all love to play around a bit with a lamp that switches on and off as you blink. Your eyelids become the switch that controls the map and while its practicality might be questionable, the idea and its execution are pretty cool.

Ok, we know that more energy is used to turn the lamps on and off, but sometimes we need a laugh too! Happy Earth Day everyone, Enjoy our beautiful blue and green playground!

…More at Reading with a twist: Blink to turn your light on and off

About Carol Goodwin

Carol Goodwin, CR, MCR, is President of Goodwin Heart Pine and holds Craftsman and Master Craftsman degrees from the National Wood Floor Association. She is also a Certified Hardwood Flooring Inspector, and an accredited CEU Provider.

Harvesting Rainwater

Apr 20, 2012

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There is wide spread interest in water conservation and specifically in capturing and reusing rainwater in both residential and commercial buildings to reduce costs, reduce the environmental impact of the building and lessen the load on the municipal sewer and stormwater systems in the arid southwest where droughts are a way of life.

Harvesting rainwater from rooftops is one solutions to conserving our precious water, where it can be used instead of municipal drinking water for many non-drinking water (i.e. non-potable) applications (e.g. landscape, toilet flushing) as well as drinking water. There are two general types of rainwater catchment systems – “active” or “passive”. Most professionally installed systems incorporate aspects of both to maximize the water conserved.

Active rainwater catchment refers to systems that actively collect, filter, store and reuse water. The storage is usually the most visual aspect of an active system (i.e. large tanks), but they also generally incorporate pumps, and sometimes filters that require electricity (e.g. ultraviolet lights). These are active components that require regular ongoing maintenance to run efficiently and effectively. (Read the full article at the link below)
harvesth2o.com1/23/12
Passive versus Active – Rainwater Catchment – HarvestH2o.com Blog

Mary Alford writes of one family’s experience in utilizing rainwater for all their needs, from watering the garden to taking showers and cooking. You can discover how they capture rainwater and store a 3 month supply, in the April edition of Natural Awakenings for North Central Florida, read it here.

About Carol Goodwin

Carol Goodwin, CR, MCR, is President of Goodwin Heart Pine and holds Craftsman and Master Craftsman degrees from the National Wood Floor Association. She is also a Certified Hardwood Flooring Inspector, and an accredited CEU Provider.

Interactive Healthy Home Site

Apr 19, 2012

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We wanted to share a very interesting website with you that makes learning about hidden household dangers interactive and fun. Visit myhealthyhome.com and take the healthy home tour. After all, we spend the majority of our time in our own homes. If our home-health is not good, then how can we expect to improve our health through things like diet and exercise? Health begins in a healthy home!

We love hearing about the excitement and improvements that families experience when they learn about the benefits of using wood in their homes. Enjoy this testimonial from one of our satisfied customers….

When our grandson was born his bedroom had new carpet and fresh paint. I gave my wonderful daughter the Lung Association’s Healthy House book and thought we were doing better.

Two weeks before our granddaughter was born her room suddenly had to be painted pink. And the paint store didn’t offer my daughter the low VOC paint!

This spring the family replaced the carpet with Precision Engineered River Recovered Antique Heart Pine wood floors in both grandkids rooms.

We are all breathing easier… literally. So far, so good. I’ll keep you posted.

Love wood floors and grandkids!

About Carol Goodwin

Carol Goodwin, CR, MCR, is President of Goodwin Heart Pine and holds Craftsman and Master Craftsman degrees from the National Wood Floor Association. She is also a Certified Hardwood Flooring Inspector, and an accredited CEU Provider.