Central Virginia People: Making it easier to be green

Earlier this year, Jenny Trevey knocked on the doors of nearly 200 businesses to spread the word about environmentally conscious building.

The surprise? No one slammed the door shut.

The result? A new dialogue is growing between builders, interior designers, landscapers, engineers and others in the building community about finding new ways to increase green building in Central Virginia.

While the Lynchburg Green Building Initiative, which launched this spring, is still in the beginning stages, the response has been mostly positive, Trevey said.

“I have been surprised at how many people and companies have already started to think about how they can be environmentally friendly,” Trevey said. “We’ve had a lot of really positive responses.”

Trevey, a 1989 Brookville High School graduate, doesn’t come from an environment-related background. Her expertise is in advertising and art, she said. “I’m not an expert in environmentally friendly building, but what I bring to the table is the ability to help those who are experienced to communicate what they are doing.”

Her interest in adopting environmentally conscious and sustainable habits was sparked after living in San Francisco for several years.

“When I moved to California, everything there is so much more wholesome and pure and no processed foods,” she said. “I started paying attention to alternatives for eating and I think that’s where the spark came.”

After moving back to Lynchburg about three years ago to be with her family, Trevey taught art at R.S. Payne Elementary. Like many teachers, she incorporated some of her interests into the lessons, including projects on recycling, she said.

But this spring, a freelance web design job with Scott Elliott and Custom Structures, a custom homebuilder, resulted in a new path.

“(Elliott) was concerned about all the waste on building sites and how all of it gets picked up and put in the dump,” Trevey said. “He said, ‘I think this is something where we can make a difference.’ … He had the idea, but he didn’t want to be in charge of it.”

Building what will be the Lynchburg branch of the U.S. Green Building Council has become Trevey’s full-time job. After realizing knocking on doors was an inefficient way to get the word out, Trevey began holding seminars at her office to talk to those in the building community about green techniques.

That could be ensuring shrubs and trees shade houses, using a special concrete that allows water to trickle through rather than rush off, decorating inside space with sustainably grown fabrics and flooring and using products that are produced locally, Trevey said.

In October, the organization sponsored a workshop where participants made rain barrels, which collect runoff from the roof so the water can be used later.

As part of getting the word out, a major step to becoming a full chapter, Trevey is working on a nearly 200-page resource guide that will be distributed free throughout the city. Called the Eco Book, Trevey said the goal is to educate consumers about various products and services they can use that are more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

“Being educated is everything, so you can at least make an informed decision,” she said. “That’s what really caught my attention – the opportunity to affect some change and inform people so they can make a better decision.”