Housing complex for medical students is celebrated as southern Maine’s most environmentally sensitive commercial building, housing resource.

Portland, MAINE (June 17, 2010) – Gov. John Baldacci and other community leaders today officially opened the Crescent Heights student housing complex, which is one of the most environmentally sensitive commercial structures in Maine and a showpiece for “smart growth” urban-development techniques.

The building at 25 Crescent St. was constructed by Portland-based Developers Collaborative and is expected to be certified at the Platinum —or highest – level for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a program developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. It uses 37 percent less energy and 30 percent less water than a typical housing building.

“The location itself is a wonderful green feature of the building,” said Jay Waterman, a LEED consultant and senior project manager at Fore Solutions. Residents can walk the nearby hospital and area businesses. “You can have the most ‘green’ building in the world, but if you have to drive 45 miles to get there, you are putting a lot of pollution into the environment.”

The building’s 11 suites help keep area rents affordable, while providing housing for medical students and support for a program that adds to our health care infrastructure and helps train the next generation of physicians

“Crescent Heights meets a lot of community needs, without creating the impact that sometimes comes from a new building,” said Kevin Bunker, a principal in Developers Collaborative. “We have been able to take a third-of-an-acre lot and produce 44 bedrooms for students. We’ve been able to do that without adding traffic or on-street parking.”

On the inside, Crescent Heights has unique features, meant to appeal to the particular needs of medical students. An interior design consultant researched the lifestyle of these students, using social science journals, interviews, focus groups, site visits and surveys, so that she could more fully understand the needs and meet their desires of medical students, on everything from vibrant colors to carefully selected furnishings.

“I designed it like a boat: Everything is space efficient and meets their needs,” said Lisa Whited, a design consultant with Whited Planning and Design. “The whole thing about this project is to have the students have a wonderful experience and stay in Maine.”

All units come with amenities such as 42-inch flat-screen televisions and WiFi internet access; offer views of the White Mountains, Back Cove or the Portland cityscape; and in some cases, have balconies.

Furnishings in shared spaces within the units are designed to move easily and encourage social interaction among students who are putting in long hours. Artistic nature photography from Maine, carpeting from Angela Adams and other Maine-focused design elements help create a pleasing environment and puts the state in a good light with physicians-in-training. Purchasing materials and furnishings in Maine supports local businesses and protects the environment, because items do not have to be transported far.

“We do a lot of listening at Developers Collaborative because we believe that projects need to work effectively for communities as well as tenants,” Bunker said. “We work hard to make sure our projects like Crescent Heights address needs and make our communities stronger.”

About Developers Collaborative
Portland-based Developers Collaborative is an association of allied real-estate developers who produce state-of-the-art buildings that contribute to host communities by meeting specific local needs. Developers Collaborative can be reached at (207) 772-7673, info@developerscollaborative.com or on the web at www.developerscollaborative.com.

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“Earth Day is our holiday, an opportunity to do more for our planet and our community. As a relatively young holiday, we’re starting to see traditions beginning to form with annual events and clean-ups; and I’d love to see more emerging,” said Heather Chandler, president and founder of The SunriseGuide.

“Holiday traditions root us in the meaning of the day and provide a way for us to celebrate. Mainers take Earth Day seriously and we’ve identified numerous activities around the state where people can get involved and celebrate together, like the Scarborough Marsh Earth Day Clean Up, Wells Reserve Earth Day Celebration and the week-long celebrations at Frontier Café & Cinema in Brunswick. Our website www.thesunriseguide.com/earthday has a comprehensive list of local events, as well as the history of earth day and tips for celebrating. In addition, we are excited to launch a new Earth Day Scavenger Hunt to get friends and family outside and explore their communities.”

“We plan to start a tradition of planting something every year on Earth Day with our son, something that we can watch grow together,” said Robin Tannenbaum, a Westbrook resident and architectural designer who has a 1-year-old son. “My son loves the dirt and being outside. My husband is a landscape architect and loves the natural world. It seems only fitting that our family traditions reflect that too.”

Below is a sampling of ideas for starting your own Earth Day traditions.

Around the House

• Lights out and electronics free for the day
• Craft projects with recycled materials —cards, puzzles, magazine pages, etc. The recycle bin is a great source of materials for this.
• Start a garden or work in your garden, build a raised bed. Learn about and plant some native plants – visit the University of Maine’s resource link (http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/2502.htm
• Break bread with friends and neighbors showcasing local dishes where most ingredients used are grown or produced right here in Maine.
• Spring clean and donate clothes, recycle the rest (FreeCycle.org as a way to give away anything, the Habitat ReStore in Portland or Bath for furniture and building materials, and Goodwill for computer equipment. They take it free of charge.)

Around the Community

• Commute to work on bike or explore your local neighborhoods on bike with your kids.
• Explore your local public lands and take a hike with family or friends, check out www.healthymainewalks.com for ideas.
• Trail clean up – contact your local land trust or trails organization to volunteer for a cleanup project, i.e. Portland Trails, Maine Island Trails, South Portland Land Trust.
• Team up with your local school or child care center to start a community children’s garden.
• Host an Earth Day scavenger / nature hunt for kids of all ages (visit www.thesunriseguide.com/earthday for ideas on what to hunt).

Recognized on April 22 each year, Earth Day is a celebration of the environment designed to inspire awareness and concern for our planet. The tradition began in 1970 when U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin announced his idea for a nationwide teach-in day on the environment. It is widely seen as a kind of birthday for the modern environmental movement.

The SunriseGuide is an annual resource guide and coupon book for living green in southern Maine. It contains more than 165 coupons for healthy and eco-friendly products and services, plus articles with tips for healthy and sustainable living. Topics include food and dining, outdoor living, home and garden, travel and transportation, community and culture, and more. Look for the 2010 edition at school and community fundraisers, natural food stores, bookstores, and other retail outlets. Learn more and find out where to pick up a copy at www.thesunriseguide.com.

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Last year, Stanford secured $25.5 million in US Department of Agriculture Rural Development Funds for the revitalization of more than 78 housing properties in Stanford’s portfolio, including properties in Maine, Connecticut, Mississippi and Pennsylvania. The funds will help create hundreds of jobs in Maine because most of the contracts will be given to local individuals and vendors for the work that includes repairing/replacing roofs, making ADA upgrades to the parking lot and common areas, elevator system updates, replacing windows and repairing or replacing siding.

And where possible, the upgrades will be completed with hundreds of yards of carpets made from recycled materials and hundreds of gallons of Sherwin-Williams paint with the GreenSure® designation that are designed and manufactured to reduce environmental impact and meet or exceed the most stringent regulatory requirements.

“The residents are going to see big changes to their properties that will make them more comfortable and attractive,” said Rosa Scarcelli, owner and president of Stanford Management. “But they’ll be doubly pleased to know that we’re using materials that don’t harm the environment. And for a major upgrade like this where we’ll be using lots of paint and materials, it’s good to know that companies like Sherwin-Williams offer products that are eco-friendly and meet high performance standards as well.”

For example, Sherwin-Williams Harmony Interior Latex Coating has zero-VOCs (volatile organic compounds emitted by some products that have adverse health effects) and carries the company’s GreenSure® designation. It is also GreenGuard Indoor Air Quality Certified® and GreenGuard Certified for Children and Schools.

Furthermore the paint comes in containers made from plastic that is 100% recycled from post-consumer resin. The label contains 75% recovered fiber and 25% post-consumer waste, and is
printed using soy ink. The containers are manufactured at four plants around the US to lower the distance from plant to store.

“Sherwin-Williams leads the industry in the development of environmentally responsible products through our GreenSure® designation, which takes into consideration product performance and environmental factors,” said Steve Revnew of Sherwin Williams. “However, it is important to us that we offer products to our customers that are third-party tested and certified through the GreenGuard Environmental Institute. These GreenGuard certified products meet or exceed the most stringent green building specifications.”

“It is refreshing for us to work with a company like Stanford Management who understand the importance of using products that help protect the environment for future generations. Sherwin Williams is committed to providing the products, product knowledge and training to help ensure Stanford Management meets it’s goal of going green.” said Richard Alley of the Belfast Sherwin Williams.

About Stanford Management: Stanford Management is the largest woman owned affordable housing provider in the United States and one of the largest women owned companies in the state of Maine. It operates nearly 60 affordable housing facilities in Maine from Madawaska to Old Orchard Beach and provides housing for more than 5,000 families and individuals, as well as properties in three other states. In 2008, Affordable Housing Magazine named Stanford as one of the top 10 affordable housing providers in the country. Rosa Scarcelli, a native of Wilton, Maine, is owner and President. For more information see www.stanfordmanagement.com or go to http://pitch.pe/7464
For more information on Sherwin-Williams eco-friendly products, see www.swgreenspecs.com

CONTACT: For Stanford Management, Dennis Bailey, Savvy, Inc., 207-347-6077