ASU students launch green campaign in Phoenix

A nonprofit organization started last year by Arizona State University students will promote energy-saving and cost-effective construction methods and materials to low-income communities during an event on Saturday.

GreenAssist focuses on providing materials such as low energy light bulbs and water-saving fixtures to low-income neighborhoods plagued by dense consumption of electricity and water, said executive director Andrew Krause.

“We have issues that affect us globally, yet there is not a lot of incentive to act locally,” said Krause, an ASU junior majoring in housing and community development and construction management.

Krause said he wanted to start a simple organization that was easy to spread.
“So many people these days talk about 'going green,' and it’s great to see a student group really taking initiative to do something,” said Lindsay Bennet, a public relations senior at ASU and GreenAssist spokeswoman.

“We are not only making a local difference in the community, but we are making a global difference as well,” said Ken Wendtland, GreenAssist’s director of finance.

GreenAssist projects include going from home to home in affordable housing communities promoting efficient use of water and energy, including changing incandescent light bulbs to the CFL type and installing aerators on all water fixtures, Krause said.

“It is important for us to build attractive projects so that people want to participate,” Krause said.

The group's pilot project will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday, when as many as 90 volunteers will go into 200 homes. Transportation to and from the W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU will be provided along with lunch.

In addition to light bulbs, Krause said GreenAssist received donations from the Phoenix Water Conservation Office for showerheads and faucet aerators that volunteers will be installing in the homes.

“Our light bulbs are compact fluorescent bulbs but project the same effectiveness,” Krause said.

He said the showerheads and faucets use less water at a higher pressure, so it makes it feels like the same shower as before.

The first project will take place at South Ranch II, a community of 195 homes, originally developed by the Valley of the Sun chapter of Habitat for Humanity in south Phoenix.
In movements like this, it is important to understand that what you put in is what you get out, Krause said.

“We want to make it easy, we want to make it marketable, we want to make it effective,” Wendtland said. “There are no closed doors to employees, investors or volunteers, so that there are no questions of our integrity or purpose.”

Wendtland encourages anyone interested in investing time, money or ideas to contact the organization through the group's Web site at www.greenassist.org