Projects

The Ozone Hole Inc. is a nonprofit a 501-(3)(C) organization dedicated to protecting the ozone layer, the climate and Earth's environment by educating and motivating the public through its internationally respected websites, http://www.theozonehole.com and http://www.solcomhouse.com .

The http://www.solcomhouse.com website has a wide range of environmental and educational topics presented, contains articles and photographs. Over 150 different subjects are presented. Each subject is thoroughly researched and constantly updated.

The http://www.theozonehole.com website is internationally known as the top destination on the Internet on ozone related issues. The Ozone Hole website won a Montreal Protocol 20th Anniversary Public Awareness Award from The United Nations on September 16,2007.

 Marco Gonzalez -Charles Welch -Achim Steiner

On the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol, on Sunday, 16 September 2007, the Ozone Hole Website a project of The Ozone Hole Inc. was presented the Montreal Protocol Public Awareness Award for outstanding work in raising awareness about ozone depletion and the global effort to address it.

Charles Welch, Executive Director, accepted the award from Marco Gonzalez, Executive Secretary, Ozone Secretariat and Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme at the opening ceremony, which was attended by representatives from 191 nations.

Marco Gonzalez

It is my distinct pleasure to inform you that, on the occasion of the 20th
Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol, the Ozone Hole Website has been
selected to receive the  Montreal Protocol Public Awareness Award. The
Award Ceremony will take place on Sunday, 16 September 2007.

The Ozone Secretariat is very pleased to have the opportunity to recognize
the contributions of key participants in the ozone process and is looking
forward to honuring your organization for the work that it has done to
protect the ozone layer.

Your team in your organization is requested to choose one individual who
will accept the award and thus your team is encouraged to look towards your
upper management to attend the event and accept the award.

Please accept once again my heartfelt congratulations for this deserved
recognition. Congratulations and thanks for your contributions to

the global efforts to protect the ozone layer!!!

Sincerely,

Marco Gonzalez

Marco Gonzalez
Executive Secretary
Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

http://www.theozonehole.com/2007unepaward.htm

The Ozone Hole website won a 2006 Environmental Protection Agency Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award.

The Ozone Hole, Inc.
For Leadership in Protecting the Ozone Layer through Education and Motivating Change

The Ozone Hole is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the ozone layer, the climate and Earth’s environment by educating and motivating the public through its internationally respected website. Leading Internet search engines rank The Ozone Hole website as the top destination for information on ozone-related subjects. One particularly laudable feature of The Ozone Hole website is their “Ask the Scientist Program” where leading researchers and scientists answer questions submitted by students and the general public about ozone depletion and atmospheric science.

http://www.theozonehole.com/epaaward.htm

Leading Internet search engines rank The Ozone Hole website as the top destination for information on ozone-related subjects. Leading Internet search engines rank the solcomhouse in the first page of results on numerous environmental and science subjects.

With the convergence of cable, video and the internet we have the opportunity to educate people in a way never before possible. Technology has revolutionized how we live, learn and work. To participate in today's knowledge economy, people need a level of literacy and education that is unprecedented in history.

The following are the projects The Ozone Hole Inc. is developing and implementing

Affordable Housing Program

The Ozone Hole Inc. will build a house that will save 60% of energy costs with no additional building costs just by design and placement. With a photovoltaic system added the house would be virtually energy self-sufficient with little impact on the environment.

The solcomhouse (solar computer house) uses the 'whole buildings' approach to design and construction. Whole buildings are energy efficient, deploy appropriate mechanical equipment for comfort and indoor air quality, feature optimized site design, are illuminated by day lighting and save energy and reduce environmental impact.

The solcomhouse addresses five key issues:

promoting affordability in housing for seniors and lower income brackets
increasing occupant health productivity, and comfort
reducing pollution and slowing Global Warming
alleviating the strain on the utility infrastructure
conserving conventional fuel supplies and natural resources

Websites

The Ozone Hole Inc. websites are internationally known and respected as some of the leading sources for information regarding ozone and atmospheric science, environmental issues ,science subjects and social issues.. Our websites are being used as an educational tool by educators and students worldwide. All of the leading Internet search engines rank our websites as a top destination for information on a variety of subjects. We plan on adding multimedia and interactive features to the website. This will include interviews and presentations from scientists, researchers and experts from around the world. We will also make the material available on Youtube.

Ask The Scientist Program

The Ozone Hole Organization has brought together some of the leading researchers and scientists together to answer questions on subject matter relating to ozone depletion and atmospheric science. We will be adding many more in various subject areas. Students and the general public can submit questions via e-mail or by mail. We plan on adding video responses on the website to many of these questions.

The scientists are:

Stephen O. Andersen is director of Strategic Projects in the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Climate Protection Partnerships Division and a Co-Chair of the Montreal Protocol Technology and Economic Assessment Panel.

Emily Schuckberg is a research fellow at Darwin College, Cambridge. Emily also is a Founder and Director of Weather Informatics Ltd, a company that provides long-range weather forecasts for businesses. In May 2002 Emily was voted "Smartest Woman in Britain" by BBC magazine "eve".

Mr. K. Madhava Sarma recently retired after working for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for more than nine years as the Executive Secretary of the Secretariat for the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol

Dr Jonathan Banks of CSIRO , Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is cochair of the Methyl Bromide Technical Options Committee of the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol.

Mr. Rajendra Shende is head of DTIE's Energy and UNEP OzonAction Branch; he leads a team of staff members in Paris and in the Regional Offices Mexico City, Bahrain, Bangkok and Nairobi.

The Spirit of Earth Day Campaign

The Ozone Hole Organization will work with individuals; government agencies, elected officials and corporations in developing and promoting products that are environmentally friendly. We will promote the purchase of Environmentally Friendly Products. We will encourage people to look for things like: "paper from paper", "100% recycled", "made without ozone depleting chemicals", and "made from post-consumer recycled materials” on a daily basis acting as if every day was “Earth Day”

Digital Media Project

In the past five years there have been revolutionary additions to the Internet, Social Networks and Youtube. Social Networks are this generations digital equivalent of hanging out at the mall. A social networking site is an online place where a user can create a profile and build a personal network that connects him or her to other users. In the past five years, such sites have rocketed from a niche activity into a phenomenon that engages tens of millions of Internet users. More than half (55%) of all online American youths ages 12-17 use online social networking sites, according to a new national survey of teenagers conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. YouTube was created in mid February 2005. Google purchased YouTube in November 2006. Social Networking and Youtube are the perfect vehicles to use as a catalyst to enable students and the general public to use the Internet more for educational purposes. It is easy to find music, comedy, and current event videos on these sites. Searching the Internet for video content from educators, scientists and researchers returns limited results. Adding video and presentations from these sources would be a great resource for students, educators, scientists and the general public.

What we are going to do in this project is to leverage and merge our currently successful websites with the impact, scope and popularity of Social Networking and Youtube.

Currently our websites are being used as an educational tool worldwide by the general public, students, educators, scientists and researchers. Last year 2.3 million people visited the sites- People from all 50 states and 197 countries. Thousands of websites around the world have links to our websites. Here is a small sampling of the websites that have links to our websites -

§ NASA

§ PBS Nova

§ The United Nations

§ American Natural History Museum

§ University Of California

§ Saint Georges College U.K.

§ The United States Army Environmental Policy Institute

§ Mrs. Whiteheads Third Grade Watuga County Schools Boone North Carolina

§ The Ministry of Environment, Colombia

§ The National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs

§ The North American Association For Environmental Education

§ US Permafrost Association

§ University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

With the addition of multimedia content we will be able to attract even more visitors interested in learning. We will have video content that will be available on demand to any viewer of the sites. We will also be adding interactive content and features.

We have incorporated content from Youtube and Google on The http://www.solcomhouse.com website and have received positive feedback and requests for original content from our visitors. The following links are an example of what the proposed project will look like as embedded on the site-

http://www.solcomhouse.com/bono.htm

http://www.solcomhouse.com/mlk.htm

http://www.solcomhouse.com/usa.htm

http://www.solcomhouse.com/hiphoprap.htm

http://www.solcomhouse.com/angelinajolie.htm

We will interview and film the leading researchers and scientists from The Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, NOAA, The British Antarctic Survey, United Nations Environmental Program as well as other experts in their fields putting the videos and presentations on the websites and posting them on Social Network sites and on Youtube. We will also include any existing film or video presentations that are available from these organizations and others.

One current feature of The Ozone Hole website we will expand on is the "Ask the Scientist Program" where leading researchers and scientists answer questions submitted by students and the general public about ozone depletion and atmospheric science. We plan on creating video responses to the questions and including them on the websites and on Social Network sites and on Youtube.

The finished product will also be available on DVD as well as on our websites and the Internet in various delivery vehicles. We will make it available to public and commercial television broadcasters. We will make the DVD available to any one that wants a copy for the cost of postage and handling.