Aaron and I were invited by our good friends at The Brick Companies to attend the sponsor’s dinner for the Akridge Save The Bay Classic to benefit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. It was an absolutely amazing event, held at the Phillip Merrill Environmental Center, which is the headquarters location for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. It’s just an amazing building that has set the standard for sustainable workplaces with features like geothermal walls, natural ventilation, solar panels, insulated panels, rooftop barrels, composting toilets, a bioretention system, and even more. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

This is the inaugural Save The Bay Classic, but by the looks of the event last night you would never know. The presentation was amazing, and I really learned some great things about the efforts many organizations are making to do sustainable business. Among the speakers was Will Baker, the executive director of the CBF, Ed Allenby, the director of development of the CBF, an executive from Akridge, Ron Dodson, the founder of Audobon International and Lex Birney, the CEO of The Brick Companies.

Each of these folks had a lot of great things to say, both about the role the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is playing in saving the national treasure that is the Bay, as well as how important this golf tournament is in that effort–both in raising money, but as Will Baker said it also helps to spread the word of their cause out into the public. And it’s amazingly fitting that they chose Queenstown Harbor as a location for the tournament. That is, after all one of the most sustainable golf courses in this region. It has also recently been certified by Audobon International as a cooperative sanctuary.

Unfortunately Aaron and I couldn’t be there for the tournament today due to other commitments, but we’re definitely going to play next year. Actually, if all goes well, we could even be helping CBF with their tournament marketing materials and more next year! After all, they ARE one of our dream clients!

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

*Photo courtesy of the CBF Web site.

Hi all -

We’re thrilled to be working as a sub-contractor to fellow Baltimore design firm Novak Birch for one of our dream clients: The Peace Corps. The contract is for print design work on collateral materials that will be used to further the Peace Corps recruitment campaign “Life is Calling. How Far Will You Go?” Our design work will create a visual brand framework that can then be applied to new and existing recruitment materials.

The Peace Corps has helped 139 countries around the world with issues ranging from AIDS education to communication/information technology to clean water.

Building awareness for Peace Corps, driving interest to their website and recruiters, and generating applications is accomplished in large part through collateral material that recruiters use.

We’re proud to be designing Peace Corps recruitment materials and look forward to sharing our work on this site. Stay tuned!

Garret Ohm
Marketing Director
Orange Element

It’s official, I’ve caught the bug. The more our firm gets immersed in the sustainability space the more I learn about the interesting technologies that are bubbling to the surface in this area. The technology that has caught my eye and left me reeling lately is the emergence of EVs or electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles have been gaining momentum lately because unlike traditional fossil-fuel powered vehicles, they emit almost no air pollutants. That only begins to tap the surface of why these vehicles are superior to those powered by an internal combustion engine. They are also more efficient, have less vibration and have the ability to generate additional power through regenerative braking. A few companies like Fisker Automotive are even experimenting with solar roof panels to regenerate energy.

One of my favorite manufacturers that it taking a lot of the spotlight (even though GMs PR machine is also commanding much of the attention) is a company out of California called Tesla Motors. Tesla Motors is an amazing little company with a product that I believe will truly put EVs within reach to the average American consumer. It hasn’t happened yet, but I think we’re on the cusp.

The Tesla Roadster is a spectacular little sports car. While the aesthetics of the car might lead you to think it was designed with the Lotus Elise in mind, Darryl Siry the company’s VP of Marketing and Sales, will assure you that it actually shares only a very select few innovations with the Lotus. Even still, the looks of the car (like the Lotus Elise) are stunning.

And then there’s performance. In a world where thoughts of electric vehicles conjure up images of the pedestrian Toyota Prius, the Tesla Roadster’s performance numbers are shocking. This vehicle is capable of going from 0-60mph in under 4 seconds. If you’re counting, that’s about the same as a Porsche 911 Turbo, which as you’ll recall is one of my favorite cars EVER. And it does that while earning the equivalent of 135 miles per gallon. Ridiculous!

Here’s a pretty cool promotional video I found:

The Tesla Roadster is on sale now, and can be had for around $100,000. It might sound like a lot, but when you consider that you’re buying a vehicle with incredible technological advancements, insane performance and a tiny little carbon footprint, it just might be worth it. Stay tuned for a new sedan coming out soon from Tesla as well.

In the mean time, check out their “Think, Feel, Touch, Hear” blogs at www.teslamotors.com/blogs.php

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com