A Proactive Energy Conservation Company

July 2011

2011-07-19T12:38:00.001-04:00

Sustainability Reporting Methods 'Outdated'
The current once-yearly model of commercial sustainable development reporting is looking increasingly out of date and will be replaced by myriad forms of reporting, according to research by Acona and SABMiller.

Multiple Messages, a division of Acona, argues that discussions over the nature and practice of sustainable development reporting are taking place in the shadow of a “tidal wave of social and technological change” that is fundamentally transforming the way we communicate. Social media, instant access, handheld devices, syndication, and all-powerful search engines have conditioned users to find the content that they want when they want it, the report says.

At the same time the fast-rising BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India & China) economies are developing their own views on the role of companies in society and affecting the way global corporations think, the report argues. As a result, annual reporting on such issues is behind the times.
Multiple Messages concludes that the future of sustainable development reporting will be “plural, bespoke and continuous”: plural in that the content will be spread through multiple documents and channels; bespoke in that different audiences will require different content; and continuous in that companies will be expected to communicate regularly – and the development of the story will become as important as the facts themselves.

The annual report will be replaced by tailored multi-stranded communications to different audiences, using technology to allow regular updates, Acona and SABMiller argue. This, they say, requires a more nuanced view of verification, breaking the task into pieces dependent on the nature of the content and the requirements of the audience.

“Sustainable development reports may work as a ‘document of record’ but they fail when judged as an exercise in communication,” said Simon Hodgson, managing partner at Acona and one of the report’s authors. “They tend to be long documents full of information in search of an audience. To succeed in the new connected, plural future, they must recognize the audiences in search of the information.”

“Leading global companies are often at the forefront of efforts to tackle environmental and social issues but more and more stakeholders are looking for deep, up to date information on their specific issue, to understand its materiality for the business and to break performance down market by market,” said Andy Wales, global head of sustainable development at SABMiller. “It’s a significant communications challenge, but one which companies cannot shy away from.”
July 11, 20011 Environmental Leader

Getting Americans to Buy In to Global Warming
I realize the idea of saving money by saving energy is nothing new. Everyone’s heard that tune. The question is, if it didn’t change consumer attitudes in the past, why should we expect it to work now? That’s an easy one. Most of the time, when people talk about preventing climate change, they focus on individual actions. This seems like a smart approach, after all there are over three-hundred million people in America. Getting them to be more energy efficient would pay big dividends.

Here’s the problem –for a typical consumer, the effort required to use less energy may not be justified by the savings. Suppose your monthly electric bill is around $100, excluding taxes and other fees. If you’re able to reduce consumption by 10%, you’ll save $10. That’s about the price of a burger and fries at a premium quick serve restaurant. For a lot of people, it’s just not worth the hassle.

To a large corporation, however, a 10% savings can quickly add up. One of the world’s leading apparel retailers spends over $100 million a year on energy for their stores in the U.S. and Canada. For them, a 10% savings is worth more than $10 million. Now, apply that same 10% target to the hundreds of thousands of commercial buildings in the U.S., a group that happens to be responsible for almost 20% of the nation’s annual energy consumption. Improving the energy efficiency of these buildings by even a small percentage will have a much bigger impact on the environment than arguing ad infinitum with the global warming skeptics.

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Here’s the good news: even if the cost of energy right now isn’t high enough to motivate action, it soon will be. Thanks to new technologies like smart meters, the utility industry has begun rolling out new pricing programs that penalize customers for using too much energy at the wrong time of day. These so called dynamic pricing programs include variable electricity rates that rise and fall in response to changing energy demand. Building owners who don’t invest in energy savings initiatives should expect significantly lower net operating income.

In summary, the threat of global climate change is very real, but continuing to argue about it won’t get us anywhere. If we want to save the earth, we have to change the message. Everyone cares about money, so let’s focus on that. Every commercial organization wants to reduce operating costs and increase profits. Once they grasp the financial consequences of doing nothing, they’ll quickly change their ways and operate more energy efficiently. The end result will be reduced greenhouse gas emissions and a healthier plant.

Corporate avarice may not be pretty, but in the words of Gordon Gekko, when it comes to saving the environment, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.”
Michael Nark 7/11/11

Bloom Boxes Make Big AT&T Sale, But Sit 10^th in Fuel Cell Rankings

Remember Bloom Energy servers, those low-cost, energy-efficient fuel cells born out of a scrapped NASA project? The company made a splashy debut last year, starting with a spot on 60 Minutes and a long list of early-adopting corporate heavyweights like FedEx, Walmart, Google, Coca-Cola, Staples, and eBay. Since then, we haven't heard much from the company, but today she's back -- AT&T says it will be the first telco to use these refrigerator-sized servers to power its operations. For now, the company's planning on using the technology to run 11 sites in California, a move AT&T says will cut its carbon dioxide emissions in half and virtually eliminate SOx, NOx, and other smog-forming particles. Eleven AT&T sites in California will install 7.5 MW of Bloom Boxes, in one of the biggest deals ever for the fuel cell maker.

AT&T, which reached nearly 3 million kWh of solar energy production in 2010, is the first telecom company to use Bloom Boxes. They are expected to produce over 62 million kWh of energy annually – enough to power over 5,600 homes – and to reduce carbon emissions by about 50 percent compared to grid-sourced electricity, saving 250 million pounds of CO2. Despite being the best-known maker of fuel cells, Bloom Energy has been heavily outscored by, among others, FuelCell Energy and UTC Power, in a report that ranks the competitiveness of such manufacturers.

The "Pike Pulse Report: Prime Power Fuel Cells" by Pike Research evaluates 15 of the leading prime power station fuel cell developers and rates them on 12 criteria for strategy and execution, including go-to-market strategy, product portfolio, partnerships, innovation, reach, market share, pricing, and staying power. FuelCell Energy attained the highest overall score in the Pike Pulse report due to a combination of a clear go-to-market strategy, geographic reach and partnerships, coupled with its cost-down systems and mass manufacturing, Pike says. In this market, where high-quality, high-volume manufacturing is not the norm, FuelCell Energy’s ability to ramp up manufacturing based on market demand gives it a clear edge, according to research director Kerry-Ann Adamson.

UTC Power is the runner-up and is assessed as second in both strategy and execution. The highest-ranking residential prime power fuel cell manufacturer in the study is ClearEdge Power, with Ceramic Fuel Cells only one point behind. Bloom Energy came in tenth in the ranking. The company, generally considered the market leader, fell into the report’s “challengers” category. FuelCell was the lone company in the “leaders” section. The report terms the companies ranked two to nine “contenders”.

“The prime power fuel cell market is in a fluid, vibrant phase of market growth. In the midst of this critical stage of development, we are seeing some new market trends appearing,” said Adamson. “These include the ‘electrons or hardware’ business model where adopters lease or buy the stationary fuel cell prime power unit. The benefits of both vary depending on the adopter and, interestingly, the country in which the company is operating.

“In terms of geography, we have seen some companies developing a single country-specific product, for example in the Japanese residential market. So although a company may be leading today, in terms of deployment, looking forward it could face significant barriers to entry for its product in other regions,” Adamson adds.

The top 15 vendors according to the report are as follows:

1. FuelCell Energy

2. UTC Power

3. Hydrogenics

4. POSCO Power

5. ClearEdge Power

6. Ceramic Fuel Cells

7. Fuji Electric

8. Panasonic; Toshiba Fuel Cell Power; Eneos Celltech

9. Topsoe Fuel Cell

10. Bloom Energy

11. Intelligent Energy

12. Baxi Innotech

13. Ceres Power

14. Hexis

15. GS Fuel CellsTechnology
Dana Wollman for Engadget/ EL 7/12/11

Earth's Population Will Hit 7 Billion People This Year

It seems like only yesterday that the planet’s population hit 6 billion, but in fact it was 12 years ago in 1999. This year, the planet will hit the next big milestone – the UN Population Division just announced that the world’s human population will hit 7 billion on Halloween 2011. Unfortunately, 7 Billion Day means that as we continue to dominate the planet, we are stretching natural resources, fresh water and food supplies to their limit while increasing our environmental impact exponentially.

The increase of a billion people in 12 years is worrying, especially since the global population only reached one billion in the early 19th century. In the following 150 years the earth’s population rose by 1.5 billion people, and in just the past 60 years the population has exploded with an increase of 4.5 billion people. This is not a good thing, as we continue to consume more water; food and fuel then we can create. That’s not even considering the increase in carbon and nitrogen we are responsible for and the natural species we have made extinct through our presence.

All in all this means that in the next 20 years, our population growth is predicted to see a ‘perfect storm’ as the population rises to 8 billion people and our demand for food increases by 50 percent, water by 30 percent and energy by 50 percent. It’s enough to make you start building a survival shelter in your garden right now. So what can we do? Adopt a one-child policy like China? Grow more food? Switch to renewable sources of energy? Well, yes to the last two. As each generation is born, we are going to have to adapt our diets, our energy sources and how we live if we are to survive a global humanitarian disaster. After all it is not our numbers that are the problem ( 7 billion people could fit into Los Angeles apparently) — it is the resources we currently crave. Our consumption grossly outweighs our needs and, unless we address that the world is not going to change.

According to UN scientists, our impact is creating an epoch called the Anthropocene. This is: “a break with the geologic past marked by humanity’s long-term alteration of the natural world and its biota.” In short, we are inadvertently bringing on the sixth mass extinction because our desires are too great, our technologies have had too great an impact on the environment, and our use of the land is unsustainable.

Timon Singh 7/19/11 The Guardian, Images by Arenamontanus

June 2011

2011-06-20T11:39:00.000-04:00

Building Owners Expect Energy Price Spike, Target 12% Energy Reduction
Eighty percent of building owners expect double-digit energy price increases over the next year, which has prompted an average energy reduction target of 12%, according to Johnson Controls annual global energy efficiency indicator survey of nearly 4,000 building owners and operators around the world. Lighting and heating, ventilation, air conditioning and controls improvements are the most popular energy efficiency improvements.
The primary motivation for energy efficiency projects continued to be energy cost savings. Government incentives and enhanced public image were also important, ranking second and third in the survey. Greenhouse gas reduction, which ranked as the second highest motivator in 2010, ranked fourth in 2011. Access to funding topped the list of barriers to energy efficiency projects for respondents in the U.S./ Canada (38%) and Europe (30%).

   Nearly 40 percent of respondents achieved at least one green building certification, twice as many as the prior year. An additional 32 percent have incorporated green building elements. There are 39 percent of building owners planning to pursue green building certifications for existing buildings, and approximately 35% have plans to certify new construction.
   The research also found that building owners have greater access to energy data, but few are taking advantage of it. More than eighty percent measure and record data at least weekly or monthly, but fewer than 20 percent review and analyze that data at least weekly. Those who have implemented smart grid/smart building technology such as advanced energy metering and management systems are nearly 3 times more likely to review and analyze their data frequently.
   Organizations that set a reduction goal, analyze energy data frequently, add internal or external resources and use external financing, were found to implement four times as many improvement measures as those who did none.  Seventy-seven percent of U.S./ Canada building owners plan to include green building elements in their facility plans in the next 12 months.  Further global and North America survey results were released June 16, 2011 during the 22nd annual North America Energy Efficiency Forum in Washington, D.C..
Environmental Leader 6/2011

DOE Design Guides "Can Halve Energy Costs"
   The U.S. Department of Energy has released the first in a series of design guides aiming to cut the energy consumption of commercial buildings in half. The first of the 50% Advanced Energy Design Guides focuses on small and medium-sized office buildings. The DOE says the guides provide a practical approach to help architects and engineers design buildings that achieve 50 percent energy savings compared to the commercial building energy code used in many areas of the country.
   The guidance also supports President Obama's goal to reduce energy use in commercial buildings 20 percent by 2020, and will help drive demand for energy-saving products made in the U.S., the department says. The guides recommend ways that designers can choose energy efficient designs for daylighting, building envelope assemblies, and heating and cooling systems, among other technologies. They also recommend commonly available equipment.

     DOE says the guides are designed to reduce the time and money that designers would otherwise spend to individually model energy use for high performance buildings. The guides will also inform the development of future commercial building energy codes, according to the department.
   The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Condition Engineers (ASHRAE), American Institute of Architects (AIA), U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) are all helping to develop the booklets.
Three more guides, on large hospitals, medium to big-box retail buildings and K-12 schools, will be released in coming months.
Environmental Leader 5/11

Subway to Submarine

In what looks like an eco-disaster, retired subway cars are duped into the Atlantic Ocean to create artificial reefs. For over a decade, the New York City metropolitan Transportation Authority has saved millions of dollars diverting old subway cars from the scrap yard into the Atlantic Ocean. Instead of carting sweaty straphangers from borough to borough, the cars now serve as a haven for over 150 species of fish and marine life. According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection , the reefs enhance the marine ecosystem by providing spawning, refuge, and feeding for aquatic creatures. The cars are stripped of seats, light fixtures, ad banners, lead paint, windows, and doors before being submerged. Studies show that within a few weeks, blue mussels, sponges, barnacles and after a year, soft corals attach to the structures, and the subway cars develop into fully functional artificial reef habitats.

Delaware was the first state to participate, using the agency's oldest cars to create the "Redbird Reef." The site takes its name from the 1,300 dark red subway cars dating back to the sixties that were donated by the MTA in 2001. A second stage of deployment from 2008 to the present saw another 1,311 B-division cars sent to the ocean floor as reefing material. Other debris making up these artificial reefs includes armored tanks, naval ships, tugboats, refrigerators, and even washing machines.

Though some environmental groups initially opposed the process due to the small levels of asbestos in the glue and insulation of the older cars, state and federal environmental officials said the asbestos was not a risk for sea life and has to be airborne to pose a threat to humans.
Green Source Magazine May/June 2011

Facts from The Sierra Club:

The United States slips to third in clean-energy spending, behind China and Germany.
U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2009 were 14 percent lower than they were in 2000.
In 2010, renewables provided 11 percent of U.S. energy, the same amount as nuclear power.
Cats kill more than a thousand times more birds than do wind turbines. Sierra July/August 2011

Room with a View

The QTvan is the world's smallest carbon-neutral caravan. It has bright green walls, a 19 inch TV, a bar cabinet, and a full-size bed. Hook it up to a scooter, but don't expect to get anywhere fast: it goes about 5mph.
Newsweek 5/15/11

Better Fans
While browsing in a gift shop one day, Pennsylvania biologist Frank Fish came across a sculpture of a humpback whale. He was surprised to find bumps on the "wrong" side- the front edge- of the flipper. Conventional engineering wisdom said that a smooth leading edge reduced drag, whereas a ragged edge increased it. If the sculpture was anatomically correct, everything Fish had learned on the subject would be turned on its head. And it was. Far from being a hindrance, Fish discovered, those flipper bumps, or tubercles, actually reduced drag and improved aerodynamics, allowing the whale to maneuver using less energy. Today, Fish's WhalePower Corporation develops and markets tubercle-enhanced fan blades.                                                 Readers Digest 6/7/11

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May 2011

2011-05-20T13:26:00.000-04:00

Scientific Conservation Inc. Enters Global Alliance with Intel to Improve Energy Use

Scientific Conservation Inc. (SCI), a leading provider of energy efficiency solutions via Predictive Diagnostics and Analystics, announced a global strategic alliance with Intel to improve energy use in large campuses, optimize data center cooling, and collaborate on technologies to improve the energy efficiency of IT-intensive workspaces.

     SCI's CEO, Russ McMeekin explained, "We are delighted to collaborate with Intel to enable smarter energy grids and more sophisticated demand-side management. Intel is a global leader in the technologies that enable greater energy efficiency not only in IT equipment, but also in the facilities in which IT equipment resides." Intel General manager of Eco-Technology Program Office, Lorie Wigle said, "Intel is excited to collaborate with Scientific Conservation to help commercial building owners and occupants reduce their energy use." The combination of SCI's cloud-based artificial intelligence algorithms, and Intel's expertise in energy measurement and efficiency technologies, is a great example of smart energy solutions that are being brought to market through the Intel Open Energy Initiative.
Tanya Blackburn, RTJ Consultants

Corporate Sustainability, Competition and Collaboration
   Sustainability has become a competitive battleground. Companies like Starbucks and Darden Restaurants are building green credentials to compete for employees. Firms such as Enterprise Holdings are implementing sustainability strategies to differentiate themselves from competitors. Dell is gunning to become the "greenest technology company on the planet." News Corp. recently crowed about becoming the first carbon-neutral media company. There is no question that many companies bring an intensely competitive spirit to the pursuit of sustainability, a point that others have also noted.
   Corporate sustainability ranking schemes fan these competitive flames. Companies eagerly pour over the Newsweek Green Rankings and anxiously track their standing on the Dow Jone Sustainability Indes (DJSI). Executive bonuses are sometimes tied to a company's rank in a key index. One sustainability executive told me he'd get fired if his company slipped in the ranks o the DJSI.

   To be sure, the ranking schemes have their problems. To begin with, there are too many of them. Consultancy SustainAbility identified some 108 different corporate sustainability rating schemes. Nonetheless, all this competition helps drive innovation and encourages companies to adopt advanced methods to improve sustainability and is ultimately good for people, the planet and for profits.
   Sustainability isn't all about competition, of course. Collaboration also plays an important role in helping sustainability executives reach their objectives. Sustainability leaders recognize that collaborating with customers and suppliers can be critical. And there are numerous examples of companies collaborating with competitors to address sustainability challenges.
   It's not uncommon for competitors to come together to set standards for their mutual benefit, for instance. In organizations ranging from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to StEP (Solving the E-Waste Problem," whose focus is electronics recycling), competitors routinely work closely together to tackle problems that are too large for any one company. I recently attended an event at Dell headquarters at which a Dell exec told me the company works with Hewlett-Packard "daily" on recycling standards.
     Sustainability execs have even come to each others' rescue. I recently heard the story of a sustainability executive at a consumer packaged goods company who was getting heat from an NGO. Knowing his competitor had had dealings with that NGO in the past, the executive called his counterpart at the other company and received some friendly advice on managing relations with the NGO.
   At the end of the day, companies will compete where they feel it's in their interest to compete and collaborate when that path is more effective. Industry is adopting a mix of competitive and collaborative strategies in pursuit of greater sustainability, but what about the class of challenges that carries great potential competitive benefits but is too costly for any one company to pursue? Perhaps that is where government steps in. Government support for electric vehicles is a case in point. Where do you draw the line between competition and collaboration in pursuit of your sustainability goals?
David Schatsky, Green Research May 2011


Synthetic Trees Soak Up Carbon 1000x Faster than the Real Thing
   Each synthetic plant promises to do the work of a thousand old-style wooden trees-
Trees are great absorbers of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and inhibitors of climate change- that is why treehuggers hug them so much. But leave it to humanity to engineer a better tree. A synthetic tree, currently being tested as a prototype, ensnares carbon about 1000 times faster than a real tree.
     The "tree" uses plastic leaves that capture the carbon dioxide in a chamber. The carbon dioxide is then compressed into liquid form. The tree captures the carbon without the need for direct sunlight, which means that, unlike traditional trees, the synthetic trees can be stored in enclosed places such as barns, used anywhere, and transported from one site to another regardless of conditions.

     Klaus Lackner, a professor at Columbia University who is developing the tree, says the captured CO2 could be used to create fuel for jet engines and cars, the two most common carbon emitters. In other cases, the CO2 could be used to enhance current production of begetable produce.
     Lackner met with U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu to talk about the concept. In an interview with CNN, Lackner said the synthetic tree is "several hundred times better at collecting CO2" than windmill generators. He says that for every 1,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide collected, the tree emits just 200 kilograms. This ratio is more than enought to warrant the relatively high cost of building the trees (about the same as a new automobile) or retrofitting coal plants. Each synthetic tree could collect about 90,000 tons of carbon per year.
John Brandon for Popsci

Reducing our Carbon Footprint: Kindle Books Now Outsell All Print Books on Amazon
   Amazon announced this month that its Kindle ebooks are now officially outselling all print books, including paperbacks and hardcover editions. For every 100 print books sold, Amazon sells 105 Kindle books, a trend that the company expects to keep increasing. Amazon said it has already sold three times as many ebooks so far in 2011 than it did in the same time period of 2010.
   A study last year by the Cleantech Group found that a Kindle has a lower carbon footprint than print books once you replace the purchase of 22.5 new books with ebooks. Now that Amazon is selling so many ebooks, it's clear that people are reducing their reading-related carbon footprints very quickly.
Megan Treacy for Mother Nature Network

Life After Management by Spreadsheet:
Let's face it, an ideal business world does not exist. There isn't an environment where everything goes to plan, productivity is sustained at peak levels, and asset performance is unquestionable. In an ideal situation, we would like to maintain 100% efficiency for each and every asset on the books and realize the best value for the money against our investment.

In reality, we purchase assets according to their potential and often base our decisions on the track record of the manufacturing company, experience, testimonials and warranties. We expect each asset to meet peak performance levels according to its specified purpose. Asset ROI is a critical measurement, yet all too often we take a very poor approach to the science of gathering all the data needed to make our assessment.
Management executives have to tread a delicate path on the road to profits and they must satisfy the needs of a wide variety of stakeholders along this path. Investors expect ultimate return, customers expect perfect service, environmentalists expect accountability and employees expect the support and systems to be in place, to enable them to do their job.

   In order for executives to make the right decisions, they need to be in possession of the most accurate and up-to-date data. Data gathering becomes a critical part of the mission statement because if the base information is inaccurate, the repercussions could be costly.
   Systems that are based on conventional spreadsheet input and audit are prone to significant errors, are static, and provide little opportunity for large-scale data mining. Yet many organizations rely on this kind of approach when handling a critical part of their business intelligence. Consequently, they base many important decisions on data which is far from reliable, let alone dynamic.
   Spreadsheets have inherent limitations. They can serve only certain purposes and do not allow us to truly manipulate the data contained within as we try to make informed business decisions.   Excerpted from SRP/Verisae whitepaper

April 2011

2011-04-15T12:08:00.001-04:00

Japan Disaster Proves Wind Power's Sustainability
In the wake of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, Japan's food supply is being poisoned by nuclear radiation. That's after oil refineries and natural gas storage tanks exploded and burned. But wind power- whose reliability is constantly questioned by advocates of our energy status quo- survived the disaster without a scratch.

     While Japan's water-dependent nuclear power plants suck and wheeze and spew radioactive steam, "there has been no wind facility damage reported by any (Japan Wind Energy Association) members, from either the earthquake or the tsunami, says association head Yoshinori Ueda.
   Even the country's totally bad-ass Kamisu offshore wind farm, with its giant 2 MW turbines with blades as big as the wings on a jumbo jet, and only 186 miles from the epicenter of the largest quake ever recorded in Japan, survived without a hiccup, thanks to its "battle proof design." As a result, the nation's electric companies have asked all of its wind farms to increase power production to maximum, in order to make up for the shortfalls brought about by the failure of certain other aging, non-resilient 20th century technologies.
   Wind's clutch performance is especially notable in light of how much Japanese power companies have resisted it. Here in the United States, when we're making our energy choices, we ignore things like how well they'll survive a disaster, or how vulnerable they'll leave us to global price shocks, or how many cases of asthma they'll cause. Instead we pick our energy sources almost solely on how cheaply they can produce a unit of electricity. We get low prices in the short term, but like Japan's shaky nuclear construction, what long-term bills may come due?
Miles Grant for The Green Miles 3/22/11

Talk Big on Sustainability? You May Have Higher Emissions
   Companies that use key words related to sustainability in their annual reports tend to have higher greenhouse gas emissions than those who don't use such words, according to new research. The paper by University of Notre Dame management professor Sarv Devaraj and 2010 Notre Dame MBA graduate Suvrat Dhanorkar, recently won the prize for "Best Environmental Issues Paper," out of 1,100 entries submitted to the International Conference of the Decision of Sciences Institute.

     The paper also found that high use of the keywords correlated with poor performance in Newsweek's rankings of companies' environmental performance.  "One of the reasons for the negative finding could be that companies are including mentions of sustainability in their annual reports because the topic increasingly is important to investors, even though operational measures haven't yielded actual performance results as yet," Devaraj said. But he said that over the longer term, the companies that "talk" sustainability now could turn out to be the ones that significantly improve their environmental performance. The study is now being expanded to cover multiple years, to test that hypothesis.
Environmental Management and Energy News 3/15/11

Green Roofs Up 29% in 2010, Survey Says
     The square footage of green roofs in the U.S. grew by 28.5 percent in 2010, according to an industry survey. The 2011 Annual Industry Survey by Green Roofs for Health Cities (GRHC) found that the sector grew faster in 2010 than in 2009, when the rate of increase was 16 percent. Last year, Chicago was the city with the biggest square footage of green roofs for the seventh year in a row, with more than 500,000 square feet installed. It was closely followed by Washington, D.C., GRHC said.
     "Government investment in green roofs for their stormwater, air quality, green space and city cooling benefits largely fuels the growth of our industry," said GRHC founder and president, Steven Peck. "Cities such as Chicago, Washington, New York, Portland, Seattle and Philadelphia continue to lead the way with incentives and regulations that recognize the many benefits from green roofs, including much needed green jobs in their communities. "We are also seeing tremendous leadership within the federal government and its agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and General Services Administration."

Green roofs are roofs planted with vegetation to absorb rainwater and help regulate temperatures. In Chicago, more than 600 green roofs have been or are being built, the city Department of Environment said. GRHC chair Jeffrey Bruce explained, "As the green roof and wall industry develops further, we will see costs come down and benefits to building owners rise, through the application of integrated design practices that turn wasted roof and wall spaces into value added urban farms, habitat, recreational spaces, horticultural therapy centers, energy conservation, green energy production, and stormwater management infrastructure."
Environmental Leader 4/1/11

Boston Area 12th in Energy Efficiency
The Boston area has been ranked No. 12 among the nation's metropolitan areas for buildings with the Energy Star label, which is earned when certain efficiency standards are met. In 2010, the area had 145 buildings that earned the designation, which the US Environmental Protection Agency estimates saved about $48.7 million in energy costs. Across the rest of New England, another 132 buildings earned the label. Energy Star is a program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save energy. It is run jointly by the EPA and the Department of Energy.

Associated Press 3/20/11

Lifecycle Analysis: Moving from Black-box to Transparency
Lifecycle analysis, or LCA, is all the rage. Academics and consultants tout the amazing insights that an LCA can provide companies. Labeling organizations solicit companies to run LCAs to produce carbon or other environmental footprint numbers. And it's true- mostly- that LCAs can provide incredible and sometimes truly revolutionary insights into a company's impacts that highlight waste and illogical supply chain steps.
There are two very real problems about LCA that everyone needs to know about (but which, in my opinion, shouldn't actually prevent anyone from running an LCA). The more you know, the more you know- right? So it makes sense to know as much as you can about your product's lifecycle. However, you also need to know about LCA and the best way to make it work for you.

Problem #1: Who's running your LCA and how are they doing it? The title of this piece references a magical, mysterious "black-box," because many LCAs today are shrouded in secrecy. And the secrecy is being defended as "intellectual property" or "proprietary data" or "just too complicated" and "we're the experts." And while some of that may be true, how can LCA become common practice if the only way to do it is to hand over your private information to a magician, pay him (or her) a vast sum of money, and sit back and wait for him to reappear with spreadsheets and spreadsheets of data in teeny tiny fonts that only he understands? And when you pay him another vast sum of money, he'll give you his interpretations and recommendations about what he sees in all those numbers and you'll have to take his word concerning the data. And then, hopefully, you go away with a feeling of satisfaction that now you have run an LCA and have some insight too. (Of course, you've also got all those spreadsheets that you don't really know what to do with but that you suspect could possibly have additional insights somewhere in them but unfortunately, you've run out of your budget and can't afford to pay another vast sum of money to get another reading!)

Problem #2- The data itself. Building on Problem #1 is the common assumption that the data used in an LCA is precise and must be down to a bunch of decimal places and must be absolutely defendable in every instance. For the vast majority of LCAs, that may be the line you hear; but that's not actually what's going on behind the scenes. Imagine a wheat field on a hill. If you're measuring the water footprint of wheat, should you measure the water use at the top of the hill or at the bottom of the hill? What about in the shade of that tree? Or, what about in the last dry year? Or during the 100 year flood year? What about calculating productivity (tons per hectare)? Which is the key variable? This depends on the soil type, texture and moisture level. The reality is that productivity varies from plot-to-plot. Despite the scientific community's efforts to relate LCA results and productivity, unfortunately there is no real correlation.
There are so many problems and angles that it would actually be scientifically more reasonable to take an average of water consumption of this type of wheat, in this type of climate, in perhaps the past 10, 20 or 30 years. Even though it may seem a little scary and difficult to defend, the average water consumption would actually provide more accuracy than the actual measurement of water usage in that field today. And if we expand that example to carbon, do you really need to know the exact carbon emissions of a truck in Argentina versus the same type of truck used in Spain? Wouldn't it be more cost and time effective to use average measurements from readily available data?

The key to a defendable useful LCA is transparency. Transparency of methodology, transparency of data sources, and transparency of assumptions. Without transparency, the results mean very little. Recently, I went through a bunch of retailer's websites and pulled their published carbon footprints -from Japan, to France, to the UK and beyond. There's actually quite a lot out there and definitely a lot of investment behind these numbers, but there is absolutely no transparency about how these numbers were calculated and what they actually mean. Unfortunately, despite the hype and PR, the numbers end up being fairly useless and undermine real measurement models that can inspire real, sustainable change in a world that really needs it.
So, do yourself a favor. Recognize that LCA is going to become a common business practice in the not too distant future. And demand transparency and full disclosure from your magicians and their assistants.
Sara Pax, Bluehorse Associates, EL 4/12/11

Student Teams Compete for P3 Awards
The 7th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo will feature EPA's P3- People, Prosperity, and the Planet- Program, which is a unique college competition for designing solutions for a sustainable future. The program offers students hands-on experience that brings their classroom learning to life. P3 student teams will present technologies they have developed to address alternative energy, purification and distribution of drinking water, reduction of pesticide run-off, green buildings, and more. The student teams can win up to $90,000 to develop their ideas and apply them to the real world.
The Expo also provides a forum for government, nonprofits, and the business community to demonstrate their diverse approaches to sustainability. All are welcome at the Expo, which will take place on Saturday, April 16 and Sunday, April 17 on the National Mall between 4th and 7th Streets- NW in Washington, D.C.

March 2011

2011-03-07T21:49:00.009-05:00

The Green Market:
Critcs argue that the phrase"Green Luxury" is a contradiction in terms- that you can't buy luxury goods and promote the environment at the same time. To which there's only one response: Why not?

What does Green Luxury really mean? I was pondering that question not long ago while standing in the spiffy new Heritage Aviation terminal at Burlington Vermont International Airport. Heritage had invited local luminaries, business people and New York journalists to witness the opening of the 79,000 square foot Fixed Base Operation.

   Company reps were proudly emphasizing that their new terminal was remarkably eco-friendly. A young woman from their PR firm showed me its green roof- covered with grass to keep the building warm in winter and cool in summer- and the talked up the fact that the terminal requires almost no electricity for lighting during the daytime, collects 98 percent of the rainwater that falls on it for use in washing planes, and is mostly powered by solar panels and a wind turbine.
     Impressive, but not the only reality. After all, this attractive smartly designed building is dedicated to promoting one of the least eco-friendly means of transportation on the planet: private jets, one of which I and a handful of other visitors would board that night to return to Manhattan. Is it legitimately "green" to harness so much sophisticated technology in the service of something so anti-environmental?
     Truth is, green luxury has benefits that its critics don't appreciate. Many of its business practices-like, say Tiffany, refusing to use endangered coral in its jewelry- are unquestionably good. And by displaying their consumption so consipicuously, affluent purchasers serve as thought leaders, promoting the sex appeal of environmentalism. It is likely that technology first developed for green luxury items- a hybrid engine, for example- will eventually filter down to more mass-market models. Because they're buying such technology first, and at a premium, green luxury consumers are subsidizing the development of green technologies for widespread adoption later. That may not make them angels- but does it really make them evil?
Excerpted from Worth Magazine, by Richard Bradley 3/11

Empire State Building's Windows Technology Now Being Sold for Commercial Use
   Serious Materials' energy efficiency technology for windows, used in the high-profile retrofitting of the Empire State Building , is now being sold for commercial properties. The iWindow is a thin material frame containing the company's own Serious Glass, which is installed on the inside of existing windows. This then improves the thermal performance of single pane aluminum systems. The company says that by warming glass temperatures in the winter and cooling glass in the summer, the iWindow can help building owners change temperature set-points, reducing heating and air conditioning costs.

The iWindow evolved in part out of Serious Materials' work on the Empire State Building renovation. In that project, Serious Materials replaced 96 percent of the building's 6,514 windows, rebuilding them using the original panes of glass but adding in spacers, a gas fill and a layer of coated film. The $20 million energy retrofit project, primarily funded by energy and operational savings, is expected to reduce energy use by up to 38 percent, cut energy costs by $4.4 million annually, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 105,000 metric tons over the next 15 years. The retrofit, due to be completed in 2013, will make the skyscraper more energy efficient than 90 percent of all office buildings, according to Serious Windows.
Its product is available in a range of solar heat gain measurements, so it can be customized to a building's location and orientation relative to the sun. Fine-tuning the amount of solar heat that gets into the building helps to further increase thermal efficiency. The manufacturer says an iWindow can be put in place in 20 minutes, without replacing the existing glass or altering the exterior appearance, making the product ideal for renovations of historic projects. Installation is priced at a fraction of the cost of full window replacements, the company says.
Environmental Leader 3/7/2011

The Firefly: A Revolutionary- and Disruptive- Approach to Electrifying Africa

A recent piece in the New York Times on a $12 solar panel at the heart of an emerging micro-economy in rural parts of Africa, caught my eye. The system, called the Firefly, comes with a panel, a four watt LED lightbulb, and an outlet for a cell phone charger. It is far simpler, and far dinkier, than anything we might consider useful here in the U.S. but its potential in its markets, and beyond, is nothing short of transformational.

Cell phones have revolutionized life around the globe, but in many rural parts of the developing world, people have to travel to centralized locations that have electricity to recharge them, and thus maintain connection with the outside world, with markets, with family. This is understandably inconvenient; one Kenyan woman profiled by the Times had to walk two miles to catch a three hour ride just to drop off her phone to be recharged and then had to repeat the journey three days later to pick it up when it was ready. Furthermore, she, like far too many others in the developing world, did not have good options to light her home when darkness fell. She lit her home with kerosene lamps, but they were dangerous, smokey, and their light quality made studying difficult.

These were really strong, clear, primary needs- and a simple solar panel outfitted with extension cords to low-cost, long lasting bulbs and a plug- solved them. Students of disruptive innovation know where this tale is headed: this is a terrific human interest story, yes, but it can and should also be the seed of a terrific business opportunity.
The Firefly presents a disruptive entry point to a holy grail of economies around the globe, developing or developed; affordable, decentralized, renewable electricity.

   Once a business forms that is able to deliver on the need, it tends to take off; it gathers momentum, improves its performance, and ultimately enters mainstream markets- upending leading companies. The Firefly is proof that disruption is finally happening in renewable energy.
Excerpt from Josh Suskewicz- Innosight

Building Sustainability in Hard Times
   The triple bottom line concept for sustainability- addressing economic, environmental, and social business effects, is becoming well established in corporate boardrooms. This is particularly evident in the case for companies with sensitive environmental, safety, and social footprints, where related operating costs are substantial, and failure to perform can impede an otherwise expanding license to operate. The good news is that sustainability IT projects have strong business cases and that these can even be more compelling in a tough economy.
   Responsible companies maintain daily environmental, health, and safety compliance in an efficient, routine manner. This proactive approach, often assisted by IT solutions, is far more cost-effective than allowing many non-compliance problems to occur and necessitates corrective actions. There are many examples of cost savings tied to a systematic sustainability governance approach.

-Alcoa operations at a Tennessee facility, report facility-level savings of more than $160,000 per year as a result of reducing third-party inspections and faster discovery of equipment reliability issues.
-Campbell Soup at the Napoleon, Ohio facility reports having shortened EPA inspection times from days to less than one hour at their 65 acre food manufacturing site.
-Volvo reduced water usage by 10 million gallons a year, along with air emissions and the associated costs.
In these cases and others, IT solutions play an important role in weaving compliance into daily operations, helping to achieve cost savings as compared to manual or ad-hoc approaches.
Excerpt from an IHS White Paper by David Cox, PE and Neal Rosen

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February 2011

2011-02-22T12:37:00.004-05:00

LEED as the Seed: Sustainability Beyond Certification
Congratulations. You have been LEED certified. Now what?

     That is the question facing the owners and operators of over one billion square feet of commercial space that have obtained LEED staus under the U.S. Green Bulding Council's (USGBC) Green Building Rating System. What they (and you) decide will make a big impact- it will mean the difference between one billion square feet of truly sustainable real estate, and one billion square feet of 'potentially' sustainable real estate.
     The gap between real and potential sustainability lies in the way LEED is perceived. If you think attaining LEED is attaining sustainability, your answer to the "now what?" question might well ge "nothing," since you've already achieved your goal. But you would be missing the point because LEED does not equal sustainability. It merely opens the door to sustainability. True sustainability is a process.
     Think of it this way. Would you walk away from your garden after carefully planting your seeds? Or would you continue to tender and monitor it to make sure it thrives? With LEED as the seed, what's next is to ensure that sustainability blooms.
     So back to the question. Now what? Well, first go ahead and hang that LEED plaque up on your wall. You deserve it. You've made a great start. To reach your full, sustainable potential, here's what you must do beyond LEED:
1) Establish a long-term environmental management system:
In a nutshell, this means putting in place a plan to ensure the continued improvement of your building's environmental performance.
2) Measure and manage with a sustainability metrics:
Is your building saving as much energy as its LEED certification predicted? Are the bathroom retrofits lowering water consumption? These questions can only be answered if a building's sustainability performance is being measured and managed.  USGBC research suggests that a quarter of new LEED building are not saving as much energy as expected, and that most buildings do not track energy consumption.

3) Communicate and educate:
Your building's tenants and employees have to realize that they do not just work in a LEED building, but that they are in fact part of the green process.
4) Conduct management review:
As a process, sustainability has to be incorporated into your building's or comapny's overall strategy. Sustainability has to be accounted for in capital budgets, risk management, corporate reputation and other decisions. This will ensure that the sustainability process continues beyond LEED as part of your long-term vision.
Richard Fuller and Anna Dengler, Great Forest Inc.

Yellow Pages Faces Another Ban
Two cities are pursuing legislation to ban or restrict distribution of the Yellow Pages, as the directory publishers themselves launch a website to help customers opt out of deliveries. In San Francisco, Board of Supervisors president David Chu is leading the push to ban the books, which he says are wasteful and becoming obsolete. Chu has proposed prohibiting Yellow Pages distributers from leaving them on doorsteps without advance permission. Distributors could be fined up to $500 for each violation. The law would make San Francisco the first U.S. city to ban unsolicited distribution of the Yellow Pages, the San Francisco Chronicle said. "If we're serious about the environment , it's time we recognize that phone books are a 20th century tool that doesn't meet the business or environmental needs of the 21st century," Chu told the Chronicle.

   Seattle City Council voted on Monday to keep pursuing plans to levy a 14 cent fee for every Yellow Pages book distributed, despite a federal lawsuit against the city, the Seattle Times reported. Directory parent companies Dex One, the Yellow Pages Association and SuperMedia filed suit in November, saying the Seattle ordinance restricts their right to free speech. The city is no longer pushing for the $148 tonnage fee it approved in October to help pay for recycling the books, the Times reported. Also last October, the council voted to create a registry for people wanting to opt out of phone book delivery. It plans to launch the site in April.
   But some distributors are trying to beat the city at that game. The Yellow Pages Association (YPA) yesterday launched an upgraded website, www.yellowpagesoptout.com, to allow consumers to opt out of some or all Yellow Pages deliveries. The association says the redesigned user interface makes opting out more convenient for customers by reducing the need to contact multiple publishers. The website was developed together with the Association of Directory Publishers. "The site, supported by directory publishers across the country, illustrates our ongoing commitment to not delivering a directory to someone who doesn't want one," YPA president Neg North said.
   The associations said that Yellow Pages companies have cut the amount of directory paper they use by 29 percent since 2006 and use paper that is either recycled or made from leftover woodchips from the lumber industry. Three-quarters of U.S. adults use the print Yellow Pages every year, the association said. "We believe print remains a central component of our industry's growing portfolio, which today includes digital and mobile platforms," Norton said.
Environmental Leader 2/11

Site Lets Companies Sell Waste

A service has been launched to help companies disposing of their refuse to make money in the process. RecycleMatch is an online business-to-business (B2B) marketplace that allows companies to buy, sell or give away large volumes of waste including plastics, textiles, paper, chemicals, food, metals and building materials. Companies can anonymously post messages on the site, listing materials that they wish to get rid of. Prospective buyers interested in reusing or recycling the waste can then ask the sellers questions, get samples and make offers.

   Until now, companies have only been able to give away their waste on the site. Now, they can sell their materials by asking for bids and judging offers on pricing and other factors. Companies can choose offers based on the factors important to them, which could include the end-use of the materials or the distance the goods would have to travel. Austin and Houston-based RecycleMatch says that U.S. companies spend $22 billion to landfill materials they no longer need, even though the value of those materials is about $20 billion. "Due to changing customer demands and supply chain mandates by industry leaders, companies are scrambling to reach zero waste. 70 percent of materials that get dumped into landfills can be repurposed, and the RecycleMatch marketplace finds those alternative uses," CEO Chris Porch said.
   Companies can also use the service to find better pricing for materials they are already recycling, Porch said. "We're the first marketplace designed specifically for the needs of large corporations who want control, protection, and trust in the entire process. This is a large and exciting opportunity to help companies reduce costs, strengthen their brands and help the environment."
RecycleMatch was named on of Entrepreneur Magazine's Most Brilliant Ideas in 2010.
Environmental Leader 2/11

Study: Companies Up Commitment to Sustainability

More than two-thirds of businesses are strengthening their commitment to sustainability, according to a new study by MIT Sloan Management Review and the Boston Consulting Group. This is the second annual study that the two have put together, and the new study is based on data gathered from more than 3,100 corporate leaders, representing every major industry and region of the world. The new study is titled "Sustainability: The 'Embracers' Seize Advantage.

     The new study "found that a two-speed landscape is energing, with a gap between sustainability 'embracers'---those who place sustainability high on their agend---and nonembracers or 'cautious adopters,' who have yet to focus on more than energy cost savings, material efficiency, and risk mitigation," MIT Review and Boston Consulting Group said in a joint press release. A commitment to sustainability can pay dividends: Nearly 50 percent of survey respondents said "improved brand reputation" is perceived as the biggest benefit of aggressively addressing sustainability issues.
     The press release included a statment from Knut Haanaes, a Boston Consulting Group partner and managing director and co-author of the report. "Most companies, whether currently embracers or not, are looking toward a world where sustainability is becoming a mainstream, if not required, part of the business strategy," Haanaes said. "Those not already putting sustainability at the heart of their business will need to do so in the near term."
Boston.com Business Updates 2/10/11

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January 2011

2011-01-04T12:44:00.009-05:00

The Best of 2010- Top Rated Green Technology
#1. Amazing Brick Machine Rolls Out Roads Like Carpet:

Brick roads are beautiful and durable, but we don't see them too often due to the effort it takes to produce them. What once was a labor-intensive, back-breaking job, has now become a snap with this automatic Dutch paver laying machine, called the 'Tiger-Stone.' The device rolls out a beautiful and sustainable hardscape, creating an instant road anywhere it travels. While the process may look magical, the secret lies in a smartly designed gravity-based system.

The machine consists of an angled plain that workers feed with paving stones or bricks. As the electric crawler inches forward along a sand base layer, the bricks are automatically packed together by gravity. A small telescoping forklift feeds the hopper, allowing the Tiger-Stone to lay out an impressive 400 square meters of road a day, and the span can be adjusted up to six meters wide.

Brick roads have been around for centuries and they have been revisited lately by the green building community for a number of reasons. Bricks are easy to procure and reuse, cement pavers last a very long time, and they are easy to repair and replace. They tolerate water and freezing without forming cracks, and some newer systems actually absorb rainwater between the pavers and infuse it back into the ground again, reducing storm water run-off and helping improve the effectiveness of acquifers. Not to mention, the roads look pretty great too.

by Andrew Michler, via Gizmodo

Think you’ve had enough of retail after the holidays? Think again:

Discovering Automated Continuous Commissioning at Neiman Marcus
Mark Boraski, VP of Property Management with Neiman Marcus, has been in the business for over 30 years and has witnessed first-hand the energy management technical evolution. What’s been missing from these disparate data gathering systems, according to Boraski, is the ability to pull complex information into an easy-to-use format that detects, identifies and diagnoses system faults and anomalies in advance of major problems or outright failures. “Building automation systems(BAS) display variable information , but unless you have a process for this level of analysis, you just have raw numbers on a computer screen,” Boraski said.

After a 15 year search, Boraski’s team implemented SCIwatch, a software-as-a-service based Automated Continuous Commissioning platform from Scientific Conservation, Inc. to detect, monetize and prioritize system faults. To date, Neiman Marcus deploys SCIwatch across 21 of its facilities and intends to apply the platform for every property over the coming years. “For the first time, we have an automated process that continually checks our system assets across properties from a centralized dashboard to pinpoint which systems are performing outside of acceptable tolerances,” said Boraski. “This enables us to intelligently assign technical resources to address system issues on a prioritized basis.” It has proven to be an invaluable resource allocation tool.

To better understand the need for Automated Continuous Commissioning (ACC), Boraski offers the following analogy: “Let’s assume you build a facility and it’s designed correctly to run at optimal efficiency. It’s no different than a new car. As time passes, fuel injectors get clogged, exhaust systems degrade and oil gets dirty. It’s inevitable that you move away from that ideal place that you started because of entropy. After you commission a property for optimum efficiency, it immediately starts to degrade and there is drift away from the ideal. ACC allows you to always check against that base to see if there is meaningful change. And it allows you to isolate and pinpoint specific systems that have moved beyond acceptable levels so you can assign first line resources to resolve problems well ahead of outright failures.”
Excerpt from Scientific Conservation- Finding a Solution to Complex Data Problems.

Massachusetts Sets 25% GHG Reduction Goal
Massachusetts' Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary, Ian Bowles, has set the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit at 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, the maximum authorized by the state's GLobal Warming Solutions Act of 2008.

Currently Massachusetts has policies that put them on track to reduce emissions by 18% and the remaining quarter of the targets will be realized through a "portfolio" approach. The clean energy plan calls for: buildings energy GHG reductions of 9.8%, 7.7% reduction of emissions from the electricity supply; 7.6% reductions in transportation, and 2% reductions in non-energy emission, according to plan documents on the state's website. While there are fresh policies included in the plan, the Boston Globe says it does not include sweeping new regulations that will deeply alter everyday life for most businesses and people.

In order to meet the new environmental targets, Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary-Designate Richard K. Sullivan, Jr. named four seasoned members to the EEA leadership team. Philip Giudice as Undersecretary for Energy; Steven Clarke as Assistant Secretary for Renewable Energy; Frank Gorke as Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency; and Mark Sylvia as Commissioner of the Department of Energy Resources (DOER), according to the state's website.
Environmental Leader, January 2011


Fireman's Fund Expects Bloom Boxes to Meet 60% of Energy Needs
Joining a prominent list of customers such as Bank of America, Coca-Cola, E-Bay, FedEx, Google, Staples and Wal-Mart, insurance company Fireman's Fund will install six high-tech fuel cells from Bloom Energy technology at its Novato, Calif. site. The technology will allow the insurance company to produce 60% of its energy needs for that location, reducing the firm's carbon footprint by 15% according to the North Bay Business Journal.

The "Bloom boxes," the informal name of Bloom's Energy Servers, which turn fuel into electricity through a clean electro-chemical process, will cost the insurance company about $5 million, an expense that is expected to be offset by tax credits and lower energy bills. Of the initial $5 million investment, $3 million will be covered by state incentives for self generation and with federal credits of about 30% for installation.

"The efficiency of the Bloom fuel cell gets us off the grid more effectively and with a much smaller footprint than solar. If we covered the entire parking lot with panels, we'd still realize only 10 percent of the energy savings," Michael LaRocco, president and CEO said in the statement. "This solution is not only good for the environment, but it makes economic sense."

According to the report, the company aims to reduce carbon emissions by 25% by 2012. Its efforts to cut energy use include such milestones as attaining an Energy Star rating of 92 at its Novato headquarters as well as LEED certification at that location and others. Fireman's Fund is one of the first carriers to widely introduce green insurance to the U.S. commercial market.
12/22/10 Environmental Leader

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December 2010

2010-12-13T14:20:00.001-05:00

One Green Design Fits All

Chain Reaction

The U.S. Green Building Council is launching a "volume certification" program that allows national chains to submit plans for a prototype store, office, bank or restauranct for LEED certification. If the design, construction and building management plan meet LEED standards, the council will waive the rigorous process of evaluating each new store as it is built. Instead, the council will conduct random audits to ensure that its standards are being met as certified prototypes go up in city after city, state after state.

A four-year pilot project that tested the volume concept drew tremendous interest. Nearly 40 companies and organizations took part, including Bank of America Corp, Best Buy Co, Cushman and Wakefield, Starbucks Corp. and Target Corp. Participants have certified 355 projects so far and have more than 1,000 in the pipeline, says Doug Gatlin, a vice president at the Washington D.C.-based Green Building Council.

For every project, one key ingredient for success has been developing an "orientation neutral" design. PNC Bank executives, for example, wanted each of their branches to have an atrium-like entrance with glass walls. But an entrance might face north, south, east or west, depending on the shape of each lot, traffic flow and available parking.

     The architects know that the direction an atrium faced would dramatically affect how much sunlight and heat would come into each building, affecting its energy use. So, they sketched out an alternative entrance: still an atrium, but one with two rooflines, one on top and the other halfway up the building. Both protrude like awnings, blocking excessive heat from the glass wall beneath. But the undersides of the awnings are painted white to bounce daylight back into the building and minimize the need for interior lighting. Motorized blinds can be raised or lowered to modulate the intensity of the sun as well.
     Such features, along with glazed glass, solar power and high-efficiency heating and air conditioning, helped PNC earn LEED certification for its branch prototype, while maintaining a sleek look.
     Granting LEED certification to lots of buildings based on a single set of plans has its risks. For instance, many companies rack up LEED points by requiring that their construction crews aggressively recycle materials and minimuze waste. Yet in parts of the country, especially in some Mid-western cities, that's not part of the construction culture. Also, much of a building's carbon footprint comes from how it is used. So, chains must commit to training their employees in every new building on the best practices for maximizing energy efficiency. But developers who have been through LEED certifications for individual projects say the benefits of group certifications should outweigh the hassles.
Exerpted from the Wall Street Journal 11/29/10 by Stephanie Simon

Ford Uses Recycled Jeans in 2010 Focus

Ford's 2010 Focus will use cottons from recycled clothing in areas such as carpet backing and sound-absorption materials for interior quietness. One of the clothing materials used in the next-generation Focus is post-consumer cotton that comes from recycled blue jeans. The amount of post-consumer cotton from blue jeans used in a vehicle comes out to roughly two pairs of average-sized American jeans, based on pounds of cotton used per yard of denim and the yards of denim used to make a pair of jeans.

Over the past several years, Ford has introduced non-metal recycled and bio-based materials, including soy foam seat cushions, recycled resins for underbody systems, recycled yarns on seat covers and natural fiber plastic for interior components, into its vehicles.

Environmental Leader 12/1/10

Tato Nano Cars
I love cars, but I am very aware of their shortcomings. Perhaps nothing bothers me as much as parking lots. They are in many ways just wasted space, and the bigger the store the bigger the parking log. We've sort of grown into though, and parking lots make great meeting places for all sorts of events...though I believe we could do away with a lot of them.

What about countries like India though? Just seven people in every 1,000 own a car (whereas America has 647 cars per 1,000 people), and yet have you seen the traffic jams they already have to deal with?    What will happen when that number goes up and up and up as India makes big economic strides? Well, you might start to see super-garages like this Tata- designed one sprouting up.
I've seen video of the traffic jams in India and it sends shivers up my spine. Imagine what it will be like 20 years from now? Some studies say that by 2030, 25 percent of Mumbai will be covered by cars and parking lots. That is a lot of space devoted to just parking cars and in Mumbai, space is at a premium. The Tata Tower, however, acts as a vertical parking garage, providing ample space (and charging for electric vehicles) to 4,050 Tata Nanos, the world's cheapest car. The towers would lift the Nanos up into slots along the tower, and I am assuming some sort of ticket system or code would retrieve the car for you.
Not only would they hold Tata Nanos, but Tata employees as well. Starting to see a pattern here? The Tata Tower would have up to 930 residences for employees. The towers wouldn't just be self-sustaining, but actually provide power to charge the cars. It all looks good on paper, but is such a project feasible? It might have to be, as Mumbai is the second most populated city on the planet. They are going to need somewhere to park all those cars, or come up with a better publice transportation system.
by Christopher DeMorro gas2.org

Setting Sustainability Goals: 10 Golden Rules
     I was recently impressed by hearing goals described by the phrase "dreams with a deadline." There tends to be a relatively 'yes' or 'no' answer to the question; "has the goal been achieved?" With companies striving to do better by deploying the right practices without any absolute end point, sustainability goals should arguably be seen more as intentions with targets, as opposed to boxes that need to be ticked. The best sustainability reports deliver significant internal management benefits. They provide a valuable tool for corporate leadership to negotiate realistic ambitions with its managers to secure enhancements across all areas of the operation. Goals are a central part of business management. They provide a compass to managers who need clear, benchmarkable targets that can steer them in an agreed direction.

1. Reach for motivating and aspirational goals that will benefit the business and expand opportunities for the company.
2.Senior management must be committed to the goals. Ideally, it should be the CEO who is seen as the principle trailblazer.
3. Sustainability goals must be integral to the business, and should not require separate work, because the right sustainability strategy will enhance the efficiency of the company's existing operation.
4. Always make sure the targets are credible, which means striking a balance between what can be practically achieved while setting the bar at a level where real improvements will accrue.

5. Prioritize sustainability goals towards areas where you can make the most meaningful impact and generate the biggest results.
6. Publishing sustainability goals must be much more than an expression of hope and desire. No goals should be included without there being a clear roadmap as to how they can be achieved in reality.

7. Company employees can provide the richest source of ideas as to what sustainability goals should be set- they are among the first to recognize opportunities.

8. Establish goals that have real traction with customers and consumers. A company's drive for sustainability must neither be seen purely as an internal management tool or as an external public relations opportunity.

9. Meaningful goals cannot be set in isolation from the world at large. Collaboration with external 'watchdog' organizations, NGOs and partners is necessary to advance a sustainability agenda and communicate with the public in a credible and authentic manner.

10. While sustainability goals must be designed to benefit the business, it is important that they include elements that position the company as a good corporate citizen. Innovation is key to driving new sustainable products which can also enable the solving of environmental or social sustainability issues. This should be factored into the thinking when developing new goals.
Excerpted from Jonathan Wootliff, Reputation Partners

Best wishes for a Happy, Healthy and Green Holiday Season ~ from all of us at Impact Energy Solutions, Inc.

November 2010

2010-11-10T20:14:00.003-05:00

How Algae Fuels the U.S.
South San Francisco, Calif. - The forest green algae bubbling in a stainless steel fermenting tank in a suburban warehouse may look like primordial pond scum, but it is a promising new source of domestically produced fuels being tested on the nation's jets and warships.
In a laboratory just a few steps away from the warehouse, white-coated scientists for a company called Solazyme are changing the genetic makeup of algae to construct a new generation of fuels. These "bioengineered" algae are placed into tanks where they get gat on sugar beets, switch grass or a host of other plants. The sun's energy, which is stored in the plants, is transormed by the hungry algae into oil, which can be refined into jet fuel, bio-diesel, cooking oil or even cosmetics.

   While it may sound far-fetched, the U.S. Navy in September ordered more than 150,000 gallons of ship and jet fuel from Solazyme and the company received a $21.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy last year to build a new refinery in Riverside, PA to help push production to commercial levels.
   "Most of the the planet is producing some kind of plant matter, even in the oceans," said Jonathan Wolfson, the CEO and co-founder of Solazyme. "(Our) unique microbial conversion technology process allows algae to produce oil in standard fermentaion facilities quickly, efficiently and at commercial scale."
   The U.S. military hopes to run 50 percent of its fleet on a mixture of renewable fuels and nuclear power by 2020. As part of this drive, the Department of Defense has been investing in companies like Solazyme to help jump-start the young industry. The military as a whole uses more than 90 percent of the energy consumed by the federal goverment, officials said. The federal government uses about 2 percent of the energy consumed in the United States.
Excerpt from Fox News/Associated Press 10/27/10

USGBC Requests Public Comment for LEED Program Update

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is requesting public comment on a proposed update to the LEED green building rating system as part of the organization's continuous improvement process and on-going development of the LEED program. The public comment period will close on December 31, 2010.
The proposed update builds on the foundation of LEED 2009, including the alignment and weighting of credits, and advances the "bookshelf" framework where credits are applied to specific building types. This latest draft also places increased emphasis on an intergrated process and building performance. USGBC also is improving the process it uses to collect and respond to stakeholder feedback on the ideas presented in the public comment drafts of LEED.
In addition to the public comment Web pages at usgbc.org, USGBC will also take feedback from projects testing pilot credits, and use input from a moderated forum dedicated to discussing the LEED program as well as comments from various webinars that will be held with key stakeholders.
Environmental Leader 11/10

BMW has been lagging behind other carmakers by not having solid plans for a mass production electric vehicle. There have been auto show concepts and there's the Mini E conversion, but that's about it. The European Federation for Transport and Environment even called out the automaker recently for not doing enought to meet new EU emissions targets (130 grams of CO2 per kilometer by 2015).
Well, that's finally changing. BMW has announced that it's investing $560 million by 2013 to develop and produce an EV. The BMW plant in Leipzig, Germany, will be expanded to produce the new vehicle, which is currently being called Megacity. BMW will of course be using its luxury car expertise and materials in this new car. The head of BMW has said that this will be the first production model "with a carbon fiber passenger compartment" to lighten the weight while retaining strength and resistance -- and keep up the cost.
That's about where the details end for now. It is being called a series model, so we'll have to wait and see where this vehicle falls in the BMW range.
Megan Treacy for AFP

Greenbuild 2010 Returns to Chicago

Greenbuild 2010 will be held in Chicago's McCormick Place West on November 17-19. As one of the first cities to adopt LEED for public buildings, Chicago is home to more LEED certified buildings than any other city. Scientific Conservation will be hosting "Greentalk" with John Picard, Rob Watson and David Gottfreid, founders of LEED. Be sure to visit the Impact Energy Solutions team while you are there!

October 2010

2010-10-18T14:14:00.000-04:00

Sustainability Builds Brands

The more sustainable a brand is perceived, the more meaningful it becomes to consumers, according to research from Havas Media. A key finding of the "Brand Sustainable Futures" analysis find that only one-third of brands are considered meaningful to consumers. It also reveals that while sustainability is a key issue for consumers worldwide, few brands live up to increasing expectations.
According to the survey of more than 30,000 people across four continents and nine markets, the vast majority of mainstream consumers wouldn't care if two thirds of today's global brands disappeared in the future. More than half of the consumers surveyed say confusion, a lack of clarity, and perceived higher prices prevent responsible purchasing. The analsysis also shows that social issues and sustainability still rank as major concerns among consumers worldwide, with 80 percent of consumers expecting business to act responsibly. In addition, an increasing majority (76 percent vs. 70 percent in 2009) place the responsibility for environmental and social issues on business, rather than governments, say researchers.

Other key findings reveal that only 29 percent of respondents believe that brands are working hard to resolve sustainability issues and 68 percent (64 percent in 2009) believe companies only act responsibly in order to improve their image. The analysis also shows opportunities for brands who adopt clear and engaging communications, offer greater product incentives (such as price) and availability, which were all cited as key barriers to responsible consumption, say researchers.
These barriers varied by country, with price the main issue in western economies (France, UK, US and Germany) and lack of information the most important in Spain and fast growing markets such as China, Brazil, Mexico and India. Havas Media says the project's proprietary metric, the Brand Sustainable Futures Quotient (BSF Quotient), allows a company to assess, track and compare its brand's sustainable health over time.

In the 2010 analysis, IKEA received the highest score of the "multi-market" brands, while scores have risen for almost all brands surveyed from 2009. Companies that improved the most this year include Volkswagen, BMW, L'Oreal, BBVA, Reckitt Benckiser and Carrefour. The study also looks at brands by sector. The brands with the most defined sustainability profiles last year included food and consumer-product brands and retailers such as Danone, Nestle and Unilever, say researchers. This year a more diverse selection of brands from other industries are making a difference versus their competitors by raising their sustainability brand profile include BMW, Volkswagen and Philips, say researchers. The study also finds that integrated 360-degree approaches are needed to communicate sustainable issues. These include digital and indirect communications channels (such comments from employees, friends and family, key opinion leaders, experts, NGOs, certification labels).
Branding of green products also is considered to be more difficult than traditional products.
Environmental Leader 10/15/2010

IBM Plays 'Smart' Games

IBM has unveiled CityOne, a Smarter Planet interactive simulation game that is designed to help business and civic leaders make their cities and industries smarter by solving real-world business, environmental and logistical problems. The simulation game enables players - business leaders, city planners, government workers - to develop and budget improvements that address some of the biggest challenges in global cities. It provides more than 100 real-world scenarios to transform cities through technologies that reduce traffic congestion, save water, streamline supply chains and tap alternative energy sources, says IBM. You can view a trailer of the Smarter Planet Game at Youtube.

In all of the missions, players must determine the best way to balance the city's financial, environmental and sociological interests, says IBM. They are challenged with improving the city by attaining revenue and profit goals, increasing customer satisfaction, and making the environment greener with a limited budget. Players also will learn how to adopt technologies such as business process management, service reuse, cloud computing and collaborative technologies to help make organizations in city systems more intelligent.

Cities consume an estimated 75 percent of the world's energy, emit more than 80 percent of the greenhouse gases, and lose as much as 20 percent of their water supply due to infrastructure leaks, according to IBM. CityOne is a virtual environment that helps business and government leaders learn how to use advanced technology and to better understand how their city infrastructure works in order to improve their energy and water efficiency and cut greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, CityOne content is linked with cloud-delivered business process management capabilities that allow real-time communication with other players and IBM industry experts. This allows players to discuss how the process models from the game relate to real world implementations.

Since plans for the game were announced in May, more than 8,000 people have pre-registered to play CityOne, IBM says. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also provided content and resources to help develop the CityOne simulation game. IBM's Smarter Planet strategy is aimed at helping cities and utilities become smarter with new technologies and tools that help them better manage their resources, while reducing cost, increasing reliability and lowering energy and water consumption.
Environmental Leader October 5, 2010

Do Not Fly at Night-
Flying during the day is greener and bluer

   We all know that flying in an airplane takes a terrible toll upon the environment. Skipping on flight saves as much CO2 as going vegetarian for an entire year. And going vegetarian is one of the greenest things you can do in terms of CO2 savings. But in this fast-paced, modern world, plane travel is almost unavoidable. Our society revolves around being able to transport ourselves and each other over vast distances. Until we can change the way the world works, we just have to make decisions that are more environmentally friendly and hope we get it all figured out before global warming does some serious damage.
   One thing that you can do to reduce carbon emissions when traveling by plane is by booking a flight in the daytime instead of at night. Contrails left by airplanes at night have a greater impact on global warming than the ones left in the day. At certain altitudes, aircraft produce contrails- condensation trails caused when the plane's hot exhaust hits the chilly atmosphere. These contrails have a surprisingly big, but also complex effect on the climate. Because they are clouds, they trap heat that is emitted by the Earth's surface, creating a "greenhouse effect" that adds to warming. Yet during daytime, these clouds have a cooling effect because they are white and thus reflect some of the Sun's energy back into space.
   As weird as it sounds, flying during the daytime can help reduce your carbon footprint. So if you have a choice of when you are going to fly, opt for the afternoon flight. It's the greener way to fly.
Josh Peterson, News in Science

Aquafina's New Eco-Fina Bottle: Greenwash or Progress?

Aquafina, Pepsi's bottled water brand, is apparently paying attention to consumer demands. the new Eco-Fina bottles are designed to reduce their environmental impact, using 50 percent less plastic than bottles produced seven years ago. They are actually a pretty snazzy bit of industrial design. The plastic is paper-thin through the body of the bottle. It would crush in your hand if it weren't for a cleverly designed system of decorative ridges. These add enough strength to the container that it performs like a conventional bottle. The whole thing weighs a bit less than 11 grams.

So - does this make Aquafina's new bottle eco-friendly? While no disposable plastic product will ever be truly sustainable, we'd be less than honest if we didn't admit that the new bottles are a step in the right direction. If every manufacturer of bottled water adopted similar technology, the industry would save more plastic each year than is currently being conserved through recycling. Given the economic slowdown and reduction in demand for recycled materials, this seems like a pretty good deal. Sure, you'd be a lot better off filtering your own water and carrying it in a reusable, BPA-free container. But less plastic is less plastic.
Chris Baskind in Recycling 10/18/10

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September 2010

2010-09-27T10:26:00.010-04:00

Stickers for Buildings: Monitoring Environmental Impact

Cars Have Mileage Ratings - Why Don't Buildings Have the Same for Carbon Emissions?
It is hard to believe, but there is a lot to learn from the automobile industry in terms of environmentsl efficiency. One model, in particular, is how car dealerships display stickers on each car stating its fuel consumption.
These stickers effectively communicate, and help control, the overall fuel consumption and the carbon emissions in all cars. The U.S. government was able to double new car uel efficiency between 1975 and 1985. These results eventually lead to President Obama's decision, in May 2009, to continue raising the average for cars and light trucks. By 2016, the estimated savings are expected to be 900 million metric tons of carbon, the equivalent of closing 194 coal-fired power generators.

What about Our Buildings?

     What is preventing us from replicating this and applying it to our buildins? Buildings are responsible for about 40 percent of total carbon emission in North America, while SUVs are responsible for only three percent. Imagine the difference we could make by placing efficiency stickers on buildings and decreasing their emissions by 50 percent over a 10 year span. In only one year, a 50 percewnt reduction of building emissions could save 1.14 billion tons of carbon in the U.S.
     There is no general standard for building performance and there are challenges when it comes to tracking energy efficiency of our buildings. City and government authorities do not have visibility into the "fleet average" performance of their buildings. Lack of information prevents the implementation of a policy to minimize building carbon emissions using the same procedure as seen with automobiles.
     Change is really possible. Emerging technologies provide appropriate tools to perform measurements and calculations of carbon emissions, water usage and total energy usage. By introducing these measurement capabilities, we can evaluate each building's performance and assign an efficiency sticker. When a city has acquired all measurements for its buildings, an average can be calculated in footprint per square meter of floor space.

     Imagine that a city averages 50 kilograms of carbon per square meter, but government regulations under jurisdiction must achieve a target of under 40 kilograms of carbon per square meter in a five year span. This results in a 20 percent reduction. To reduce the overall footprint, a similar limitation can be placed on water and total consumption.
Comparison Brings Improvements
     The U.S. government does not require in-depth information on a city's buildings or specific targets for individual building types. It requires only an overall benchmark of the average footprint (comprised of carbon, water and total energy) and for individual cities to independently determine based on knowledge of building stock.
     Residential buildings could be controlled through similar use of a footprint sticker and the benchmark average methodology. If houses provided visible stickers, comparison of carbon ratings and evergy performance could be a determining factor towards buying a house. Neighbors could compare performance with one another, which would help drive change.
Driving Towards Positive Change
     We are currently headed in the right direction. President OBama hopes to make all U.S. buildings carbon neutral or with zero emissions by 2030. Other countries like the U.K. now require houses on the market to be nergy rated. By having footpring stickers on buildings, city building stock averages and building emissions are severly lower, and they have created substantial global carbon savings.
     Automobile companies have made a huge progress in the reduction of car pollution using measurement stickers and enabling direct comparisons. With the right tools, we can achieve the same improvement of operating efficiency in our buildings as we have with automobiles.
Ron Dembo, Zerofootprint 9/23/10 for Environmental Leader              comment on our facebook page

Why is Energy Efficient Lighting Outpacing Lighting Controls in Existing Buildings?

Why are so many building owners implementing projects to improve the efficiency of their lighting without also improving the control of their lighting? At the core of the issue is the reality that lighting controls are very different from energy efficient lighting. The result of this dichotomy in the marketplace, is the under-utilization of lighting controls as a way to drive sustainability, energy savings and financial returns. Lighting control or sensor projects are often 20 to 50 percent smaller than they should be, leaving energy savings opportunities untouched.

Why does this happen? Two primary reasons: 1) Lighting controls and sensors can be complicated and confusing and 2) quantifying the energy savings with accurate empirical data is rarely offered. Although lighting manufacturers have strived to make user-friendly products, lighting controls are much more challenging, so lighting contractors may not offer the option, and building owners often avoid them.

Quantifying energy savings is most likely the single largest barrier to comprehensive lighting control and sensor projects. The challenge of accurately modeling the use of a building in order to calculate energy savings from lighting controls requires not only a thorough understanding of the building space, but also the collection of enough data to be statistically significant. In the absence of this data, service providers become hesitant to present savings with any level of confidence and buyers become hesitant to invest in comprehensive projects.
When lighting controls and sufficient data have been addressed, a comprehensive project can be implemented and the financial returns often outpace those of an energy efficient lighting upgrade.

The fact that the market has relied on service providers to provide technology that they are not qualified to deliver, has led us down a path where each new LED or high performance system that is installed without controls, significantly diminishes our continuing conservation and sustainability efforts. In the final analysis, 'lighting' is not the same as 'lighting controls.'
Brad Jenkins, PES Controls 9/10 comment on our facebook page

Wind Turbines Slated for New York

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey hopes to have the five wind towers, each more than 280 feet tall, operating on the west side of New York Harbor within three years, while the Department of Veterans Affairs considers wind turbines on or near its hospitals in manhattan and Brooklyn, reports The New York Times.

The five turbines are expected to produce as much as 7.5 megawatts, which the authority plans to use to operate the container port, then feed the surplus energy into the local power grid, offsetting some of the authority's consumption elsewhere, according to the article.

In 2998, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed to install wind turbines on top of the city's skyscrapers and bridges, as well as off the coastline of Queens and Brooklyn to help reduce the ciy's dependence on power plants that run on fossil fuels. Currently there are large-scale projects underway and only a few samll turbines on the roof of an apartment building in the Bronx and a wind-powered electronic billboard for Coca-Cola in Times Square.

However, the city's Economic Development Corporation is evaluating the feasibility of putting turvines atop buildings, including a warehouse at the Hunts Point Cooperative Market in the Bronx. There is also an ambitious project underway in partnership with utility companies and the New York Power Authority to build a wind farm on about 65,000 acres of the Atlantic floor, which will generate as much as 700 megawatts of power by 2016. Nearby in the city of Bayonne, MJ, an equally harge turbine as the ones at the port authority will be installed to power a sewage-pumping station.

Touted as the first windmill in New York Harbor, construction of a 262 foot tall turbine has already started at a plant operated by the city's Municipal Utilities Authority. The $5.6-million tower, which would be the biggest wind turbine in New Jersey outside of Atlantic City, will generate more electricity than it needs to power the plant by September.

Stephen J.Gallo, executive director of the utilities authority told The New York TImes the city plans to sell the excess power, saving at least $150,000 a year. Both projects in Bayonne will help New Jersey achieve its goal of developing 200 megawatts of wind evergy onshore by 2020, according to the article. The state's energy plan also calls for 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy offshore within 10 years.
The New York Times 8/2010 comment on our facebook page

Color Filter Could Boost LCD Efficiency by 400%

Researchers at the University Of Michigan have created a color filter that could boost the efficiency of LCDs, the power hog of all your gadgets, by more than 400 percent, and no, I didn't add an extra zero there.

The researchers made an optical film that colors and polarizes the light that passes through an LCD, taking the place of the several layers of optical devices that typically serve the same function in an LCD. Those multiple layers give rise to inefficiencies: the best LCDs out today only emit eight percent of the light their backlights produce. The researchers found that the film allowed 36 percent of the light to make it through - a huge increase.

The color filter is made up of three ultra-thin layers--two layers of aluminum enclosing a layer of insulating material--and it only measures 200 manameters thick. The filter is etched with slits that produce different colors when illuminated by the backlight. The slits are matched in scale to the wavelength of visible light and their length and distance apart determine the color produced.

This grating pattern is where the efficiency boost comes in. In current LCDs, a polarizing filter absorbs half the light (the part with the wrong polarization). The grating on the new filter doesn't absorb the light with the wrong polarization, it instead reflects it back towards a mirror that flips some of its polarization, letting more light pass through the filter.
Researchers are trying to improve the efficiency further and are coming up with ways to mass produce the filters, like with roll-to-roll printer.
EcoGeek, by Megan Treacy via MIT Tech Review comment on our facebook page

Does your company have energy-related news to share? Please submit it to info@impactenergysolutions.com and we will publish it in an upcoming Newsletter.

August 2010

2010-08-13T10:49:00.045-04:00

From Coin Counting to E-cycling Coinstar:

All hail the kiosk! Coinstar, which runs businesses around kiosks that count coins and kiosks that rent DVDs (redbox), announced that it has invested in ecoATM, a startup that has developed a kiosk for recycling electronics. San Diego, California based ecoATM was also one of the Green:Net 2010 launchpad winners and raised its first round of VC financing from Tao Venture partners back in February. The terms of Coinstar's investment were not disclosed.

Cash for high-tech trash. That's the basic concept for the recycling kiosk from ecoATM. You drop off old electronics at one of these machines, it calculates their value, then pays you on the spot, in cash or coupons. The company says its secret sauce is its kiosks' ability to automatically estimate- using electronic and visual techniques- a price of the unwanted items that will give consumers an immediate financial incentive to recycle at the station.

The two year old company says it has built a network of 50 buyers around the globe that will take used consumer electronics devices that it collects from its kiosks (from mobile phones to iPods to MP3 players to game cartridges) and recycles the components. ecoATM finds the best price for the devices and then passes a portion of that revenue onto its customers.

The company told us earlier this year that it aims to deploy 200 kiosks across the U.S. by the end of the year, mostly in electronics retailers. Typically, customers receive coupons for buying products in the store where the kiosk resides, and ecoATM then reimburses the store for the value of the exchange. Incentivizing consumers to recycle gadgets and cell phones has been incredibly difficult. The EPA says that in 2005, the U.S. generated 2 million tons of e-waste and only about 350,000 tons of it was recycled. The remaining bulk ends up in landfills.

All that valuable waste has led to a flurry of activity in the recycling market, with a half dozen startups launching web sites like SecondRotation, that help consumers find homes for their used goods. The high profile green VCs at Kleiner Perkins, backed RecycleBank, which partners with cities to provide incentives for residential recycling.

ecoATM's CEO Mark Bowles told us earlier this year that he thought the web site, as recycling center model, doesn't work. Most people don't want to go through the hassle of labeling and shipping their used items and finding prospective buyers. ecoATM is all about convenience.

Katie Fehrenbacher for Earth2tech 8/10 Comment on our Facebook page

Two-Thirds of Healthcare Organizations are Planning Efficiency Investments:

Sixty-two percent of healthcare oranizations said they plan to make capital investments in energy efficiency over the next 12 monthe, according to a new survey by Johnson Controls. In March, they commissioned the 2010 Energy Efficiency Indicator (EEI) survey, which polled 2,882 executives and managers responsible for making investments and managing energy in facilities worldwide. Of these respondents, 288 operated in North America.

The results show the healthcare industry to be a leader among sectors in pursuing energy efficiency initiatives. The survey also found that 58 percent of healthcare building decision-makers say that energy management was very or extremely important to their organization, compared with 52 percent among North American respondents across all sectors. The most important decision driver for energy efficiency investment they found is the potential for cost savings.
The sector, which constitutes 8 percent of the U.S. carbon footprint, has been trying to reduce its energy needs in recent years. Suppliers have been making commitments to reduce energy needs as well, such as GE Healthcare's commitment to cut energy use in ultrasound equipment by 25 percent, Sharp's Compliance breakthrough process that eliminates medical waste to landfills by 100%, and a new co-generation plant for St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica, New York.
The healthcare segment comprised of 20 percent of the North American respondents, and 85 percent of this segment were members of the American Society for Healthcare Engineering. Eighty-six percent of the respondents were employed in a private heatlhcare organization, compared with the remaining 14 percent working for government-owned organizations. Most of the respondents held a VP/director of facilities or a facility manager role.
Environmental Leader 8/10      Comment on our Facebook page

Benchmarking Ensures Energy Management Programs Remain a Priority:
To implement an effective corporate energy management system, businesses need a combination of senior management support, good data, clear targets and technical, managerial and economic resources, as well as consistent implementation over decades, says energy expert Peter Garforth in an article written for Plant Services. View video of Peter Garforth addressing the city of Cleveland:
However, the reality is that other business priorities typically take precedence over the energy challenge and few companies can keep up with the implications of a changing energy world, says Garforth. This often means that companies continue to use tried and tested approaches using data and assumptions that may be out of date. In addition, engagement at the start of a program can fade, which jeopardizes the sustained consistency needed for successful energy management, he says.
Garforth's recommendation is to use regular detailed benchmarking to ensure that your company's energy management strategy is "refreshed, challenged and adjusted." He cited a recent meeting between sustainability and energy teams of major U.S. corporations, which shared their different approaches to energy management.
Topics included energy metering and reporting systems, employee motiviation and incentives, low-cost efficiency practices, climate change legislation, efficiency and clean supply technologies and the energy efficiency in all major procurement decisions.
While each company was building its own energy management expertise in different ways, they "all recognized the importance in understanding the direct and indirect carbon footprints, as much for avoiding business risks associated with climate legislation as for mitigating climate change," says Garforth.
It also reengergized their programs by sharing their approaches with other companies. The upshot: "Systematic benchmarking of energy management programs keeps them relevant and successful." Environmental Leader                  Comment on our Facebook page

Green Mountain Coffee has a sizable carbon footprint:  Coffee production is known for emitting methane gases, and the fertilizers used to treat the soil can be considerable. Green Mountain Coffee of Vermont has long been known as a practitioner of eco-friendly business methods. But the company's use of the single-use K-Cup has left a lot of environmentalists protesting. Recently, The New York Times reported on the "coffee conundrum: that Green Mountain Coffee faces with its K-Cups.

Last year Green Mountain Coffee made $803 million in sales, and 80 percent came from the single-use K-Cups. K-Cups are all made from non-recyclable plastic and tinfoil pods that are thrown out after one use. And as Green Mountain Coffee reports, "in the Keurig system broadly, over 2.7 million K-Cup portion packs were brewed every day in FY '08."
Environmentalists are concerned that a company with the motto "brewing a better world" would embark on such a wasteful enterprise. After all, the company's green initiatives have been abundant. Green Mountain Coffee, which has been composting since 1983, has developed oxygen-whitened and dioxin-free Earth-friendly filters and opened a 10,000 gallon biodiesel fueling station at its Vermont distribution center. Further, in 2008 the company commissioned a life-cycle analysis of its package types to determine the most eco-friendly practices.

Green Mountain Coffee maintains that brewing one cup of coffee at a time reduces the environmental waste, therefore limiting the environmental impact per cup. Further, they say that 30 percent of the company's sales are of fair trade-certified coffees, which come from environmentally friendly farms and growers who are paid an ethical price for their beans. They also offer the "My K-Cup" which is a reusable filter assembly, and they have developed all K-Cups to be free of bisphenol-A (BPA).
Michael Dupee is Green Mountain's vice president for corporate social responsibility. As he told the NY Times, "Consumers see the waste stream and they compare it to what they had done before, and they have a perception that there is a problem." The company plans to test come recyclable paper K-Cups that they deem more eco-friendly.
Katherine Butler for MMN network Comment on our Facebook page

July 2010

2010-07-26T13:19:00.004-04:00

HEAT WAVE ~ ~ ~
White Roofs Can Save 15% on Energy Costs
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu this month announced a series of initiatives underway at the Department of Energy to more broadly imlplement cool roof technologies on DOE facilities and buildings across the federal government. Cool roofs use lighter colored roofing surfaces or special coatings to reflect more of the sun's heat, helping improve building efficiency by reducing cooling costs and offsetting carbon emissions.
Under the Executive Order on Sustainability, the federal government has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 28 percent by 2020. As part of that effort, Secretary Chu has directed all DOE offices to install cool roofs, whenever cost effective over the lifetime of the roof, when constructing new roofs or replacing old ones at DOE facilites. With cool roofs, these federal buildings will consume less energy, offset additional carbon emissions, and save money.
Roofs and road pavement cover 50 to 65 percent of urban areas. Because they absorb so much heat, dark colored roofs and roadways create what is called the "urban heat island effect," where a city is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas. Cool roofs significantly reduce the heat island effect and improve air quality by reducing emissions. A recent study by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) found that using cool roofs and cool pavements in cities around the world can help reduce the demand for air conditioning, cool entire cities, and potentially cancel the heating effect of up to two years of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions.
source: Environmental Leader

World Cup Responsible for 2.7M Tons of CO2 Equivalent
The total carbon footprint for the recently concluded 2010 World Cup came to 2,753,250 tons of CO2 equivalent, according to a recent study by Ernst & Young, an eight-fold increase over the last World Cup in Germany.

The majority of emissions were the result of international travel: teams, fans, administrators, and support staff all contributed to the 1,856,589 tons emitted as the result of international travel to South Africa, by far the largest component of the World Cup's carbon footprint, representing 67.4 percent. The second largest component, intercity travel, generated 484,961 tons and represented 17.6 percent of the total. The third largest component, energy used for accommodations, emitted only 340,128 tons, or 12.4 percent. Although South Africa struggled to build environmentally friendly stadiums, they only accounted for 0.5 percent of the tournment's footprint.
The Ernst & Young study was part of an effort to plan for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with an eye toward reducing its carbon emissions. Since the German World Cup in 2006, FIFA has been developing "The Green Goal," an official program aimed, among other aspects, at reducing CO2 emissions. It focuses on four aspects: water, waster, energy and transport.
Given Brazil's location and its size, the Ernst & Young study suggested that carbon emissions from international travel will likely not change very much in 2014. But the report named several steps FIFA could take in Brazil to reduce the next Cup's footprint. Among some of the transportation solutions mentioned in the study are the use of energy-efficient eco-taxis to ferry spectators to the games, the creation of bike and pedestrian paths to discourage the use of automobiles, and increasing the efficiency of existing public transportation options. Using vehicles that run on biodiesel or ethanol were also recommended.
The study also recommended steps to increase the energy efficiency of facilities built for the Cup, including having new construction certified under internationally recognized design auditing programs, such as LEED, Acqua and Breeam certification, which would help reduce the CO2 emissions in both the construction process and in the use of the buildings. Establishing carbon offset programs associated with the tournament could be another way to reduce the net effect of its carbon emissions, the report said. London is currently struggling with similar issues as it tries to reduce the carbon footprint of the 2010 Olympics.
source: Green Web

Colleges Selling Their Green Bona Fides to Students
Colleges are using their green credentials to burnish their reputations with prospective students, according to a report in USA Today.

The paper reported that according to 2010's College Sustainability Report Card, 69 percent of colleges and universities are now including environmental pitches into their admission and enrollment systems, a massive increase from the 27 percent from the year before. The College Sustainability Report Card is produced by the Sustainable Endowments Institute in Massachusetts.

As part of the pitch, colleges are showing off new energy efficient buildings and introducing students to their recycling programs. The paper reported that at the American University, the school uses online communication methods to interact with new students, reducing its demand for paper. Colorado State University, meanwhile, is publicizing the fact that it is building what may be the largest solar power plant on a college campus in the country, and uses battery powered vans to take families on tours of their campus. The paper interviewed one student at the University of Colorado at Boulder who said she chose its business school specifically because it offered an MBA program with a focus on sustainability issues.
Texas Am& M publicized that is has managed to reduce its energy intensity by 33 percent while expanding the size of the campus. The University of California, San Diego touted the $900,000 it saved by incorporating an energy dashboard. Even many college athletic departments are starting to see their environmental footprints as a top priority.
Over half of the schools surveyed by the College Sustainability Report Card have made a carbon reduction commitment. Increased attention to climate change is reflected at an impressive 58 percent of the schools through a commitment to carbon reduction. Fifty-two percent of the schools have signed the Presidents' Climate Commitment, while 23 percent made carbon reduction commitments in addition to, or instead of, the Presidents' Climate Commitment.
Nearly half of the schools produce renewable energy on campus. Facilities for producing solar, wind, bio, or geothermal energy are in operation at 45 percent of the schools.
Source: Environmental Leader 7/10

Turn Blighted Property into Community Assets through Re-powering

Left untouched, contaminated sites create public health and safety risks, drag down property values, drain the tax base and tend to attract criminal or other undesirable activity. While many sites can be cleaned up and reused as residential, commercial, or conventional industrial facilities, blighted and abandoned sites that are not readily put to these uses may be perfectly suited for solar arrays, wind farms, geothermal installations, or manufacturing centers for renewable energy components. According to one high ranking political appointee, "Re-powering is not just a win-win; it's a triple win because communities are fully engaged, economy flourishes with new jobs and renewed hope, while forgotten or abandoned eyesores are given new life."
Marjorie Buckholtz, Environmental Consulting Solutions

June 2010

2010-06-25T11:01:00.004-04:00

Cape Lobster Industry Faces Crisis
"Regulators say warmer seas are the reason traps in Buzzards Bay have come up increasingly empty in the last decade"

Too hot for a lobster? The imagination leaps to boiling water, followed by lots of melted butter. But the water temperatures that are killing off far more lobsters than make it into a cooking pot, are of a much lower order. In what could be the first major economic blow to local fisheries pinned on global warming, regulators are comtemplating shutting down the lobster industry from Buzzards Bay to Long Island Sound for five years due to a drastic population drop brought on by temperature changes of just a few degrees in inshore waters.
Lobstermen south of Cape Cod have seen their catches nosedive for the past decade, from more than 20 million pounds in 1997, to less than 5 million last year. In the past, overfishing, water pollution, pesticides and an outbreak of shell disease were blamed for the failure of the fishery.
But tough fishing regulations have done nothing to reverse the trend, and some scientists now believe water temperature may be the primary obstacle to recovery. "(The lobster decline) is a combination of factors that are all related back to changes in water temperature," said Robert Glenn, a senior marine fisheries biologist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries. It's called trophic shift- when the environment changes so dramatically that the least tolerant resident species move out, and more adaptable species move in.
To the north on Georges Bank and continuing up into Maine, lobster populations remain relatively robust. Although temperature increases have been noted in Boston and in Maine, the water is so much colder north of Nantucket Sound that it would take a huge increase in the average temperature, of 15 degrees or more, to reach levels that lobsters can't tolerate, said Glenn.
Cape Cod Time, by Doug Fraser 6/13/10

Impact of B2B Green Marketing in an Increasingly Environmentally Conscious World
One could make the point that marketing is often about answering the question: "Why would someone buy your product?" That question is often answered based on one or more of the following three variables: Cheaper, Faster, Better.
Volumes of research suggest that purchasing decisions are largely based on factors of cost, performance and quality. Today, however, there is a new variable in this mix; Green has become a category all to itself. The marketing paradigm has shifted to become: Cheaper, Faster, Better, Greener.

Marketing strategies and messages still need to make legitmate and credible claims about their products and services. Consider the case of Miura Boiler, a Japanese manufacturer of industrial steam boilers- and their effort to become a market leader in the North American market.
Steam remains a primary source of energy in manufacturing and processing. Steam supply is needed for not only heat, but hot water, sterilization, and other important systems. The typical industrial steam boiler manufacturer uses oil and gas to boil large amounts of water and turn them into steam in about two hours. Miura, with experience working under strict water conservation and emissions regulations in the Japanese market, developed a technology that could actually turn water to steam in about five minutes, prior to entering the North American market.
This technology, developed before being "green" meant something other than money or a popular frog on a children's TV show, boils the same amount of water as its counterparts. However, instead of using "one large pot," these boilers distribute a similar amount of water boiled in several smaller pots enabling faster boiling times and increased water usage efficiency.
In turn, this reduced the amount of fuel required to run these systems- an advantage that, as the cost of oil and gas began to climb, increasingly caught the attention of North American industrial boiler buyers.
We will eventually pay a higher price not to produce greener products and services. But for now, while green marketing is an increasingly important way to attract B2B customers and deliver your message, cheaper, faster and better, remain cornerstones of attracting customers.
Excerpted from The Environmental Leader, by Bob Lipp, President of Marcomm Group, Inc.

Compostable Packaging Increases Overall Rates
A survey by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition found that the use of compostable materials in packaging has the corollary effect of increasing the rate of food composting.

According to a report on Greener Packaging, the survey interviewed 40 composting facilities on the effects of compostable consumer packaging. The sector has received a significant boost since Frito-Lay introduced its 100 percent compostable potato chip bag last year. Since then, Green Planet, Dell and Cereplast have all announced new compostable packaging. According to a Pike Research study last year, compostable packaging is expected to grab 32 percent of the market by 2014.
Pactiv, the makers of Hefty garbage bags, recently introduced the first compostable meat tray. The tray is being used by grocery stores in Seattle in order to comply with a new city-wide ban on the use of Styrofoam in stores and restaurants, which goes into effect July 1. The new tray is a bioplastic made from corn, and will be used by local Seattle supermarket chain Metropolitan Market. The new Seattle law is expected to reduce landfill waste by 6,000 tons a year.
The survey found that 72.5 percent of respondents said accepting compostable packaging allowed them to increase their overall rate of food waste tonnage, due to increased hauling efficiencies. Ninety percent of respondents said that they accept compostable packaging. Those that do not cited difficulty in certifying whether material was compostable, longer composting times and fear of contamination from regular plastics, as their reasons.
The survey also found that a large majority, 82.5 percent, said that standardized labeling of compostable materials was the most significant area of potential improvement, with responders saying they would be more likely to accept compostable packaging if it were more clearly labeled.
Source: Environmental Leader 6/24/10

Microsoft App Reduces PC Energy Use up to 80 Percent
Microsoft has created a new application with the potential to reduce energy use by personal computers by up to 80 percent, according to a report in PC World- "Sleepless in Seattle No Longer."

The six month study included 50 PC users. Researchers developed a "sleep proxy" which allows the computer to enter sleep mode when not in use, but remain connected to the network. The computer can then be "reawakened" by the user or IT administrator either directly or remotely when its resources are needed. The report stated that implementation of the sleep proxy by large enterprises could create several millions of dollars worth of savings.
The system Microsoft implemented allowed computers to sleep more than 50 percent of the time. The system is composed of two components, the SleepServer and SleepNotifier programs. According to a second study on the SleepServer component, energy savings from implementing the system could range from 60-80 percent. Fifity to eighty percent of electricity use in modern buildings can be attributed to IT use, according to the second study.
Microsoft plans to present the paper at the Usenix conference in Boston. The software company recently won the Uptime Institute's Audacious Idea Award for its data center efficiency strategy. The company also recently unveiled its Hohn tool for computing home energy use.
PC World 6/10

May 2010

2010-05-27T22:40:00.005-04:00

Data Centers Can Apply for Energy Star Rating in June

The EPA hopes to launch its Energy Star Program for data centers in June, reports PCWorld. Last May, EPA launched Energy Star for servers. EPA said it is working onEnergy Star for uninterruptable power supplies, or UPS systems. With the forthcoming rating system, data center operators will be able toassess the energy use of their facilities and receive a metric that allows them to compare how they are performing relative to their peers.
Based on the EPA's 1-to-100 rating system, data center operators will enter basic information about their energy use and operational characteristics into a password-protected account they establish in the EPA's Portfolio Manager, an online energy-benchmarking tool. A score of 40 indicates average performance, and a score of 75 or higher means the facility is in the top 25 percent in terms of energy efficiency, qualifying the data center for an Energy Star label.
The rating earned will be based on PUE, or power unit efficiency, a measure of the total power used by the data center, divided by the amount that actually reaches IT equipment, as opposed to being used for cooling systems or inefficient power supplies.
Some critics think that the rating system also should take into account whether a data center uses free cooling, as well as what level of redundancy the center provides.
Environmental Leader 2/10

MLB Adopts League-wide Environmental Data Collection

Major League Baseball has adopted a program that will see all 30 clubs begin collecting and analyzing stadium operations data. There also is a marketing component to the program, which being conducted i concert with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The clubs will host events at their ballparks this summer to educate fans about environmentally responsible behavior, as well as events in their host cities that emphasize similar messages. Here is a look at selected programs:
Boston Red Sox-
In addition to the club's new recycling program with Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch and Waste Management, the club has installed water-effecient fixtures on the mezzanine level of Fenway Park. In 2008, Fenway Park installed 28 solar panels.
Cincinnati Reds-

The Reds are offsetting emissions on Earth Day through purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (REC) as well as having more than 1,000 members of its staff wear polo shirts made of recycled PET plastic bottles all summer long.
Kansas City Royals-
The Royals Green Team, a project with Allied Waste, will stroll the aisles during the "Green Stretch" to collect recyclables from fans. The stadium also has 150 recycling bins in and around the stadium.
Philadelphia Phillies-
The Phillies are purchasing RECs to offset 100 percent of utility use at the park for the third consecutive year since starting in 2008. The deal will see the Phillies purchase 20 million kilowatt hours worth of RECs.
Seattle Mariners-
The Mariners celebrated Earth Day at a home game April 21. The game saw the Mariners partner with Cedar Grove COmpost for the Second Annual Zero Waste Game, in which all food service items and waste are recycled.
Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist with NRDC, calls the program "arguably the most important environmental initiative in the history of professional sports, worldwide."
In its first year, the data collection program will focus on:
-Energy use, including total energy used, sources of energy, and use of renewable energy;
-Waste generation, including total waste generated, materials diverted for recycling and composting, and cost of disposal-Water use, including amount of water used, water conserved, and cost of water use, and;
-Paper procurement, including the amount of recycled paper used in club offices, in stadium restrooms and for yearbooks, game-day programs and media guides.
Environmental Leader 4/10

Sustainable Consumption: Acknowledging the Elephant in the Room

"Green" guru Joel Makower has been know to call sustainable consumption the "elephant in the room" when he talks with corporations about their environmental footprints. After all, for many leading brands, the business case for adopting more environmentally friendly practices is the promise of increased customer preference and loyalty, resulting at the end of the day in...selling more stuff.
Enviros have long pointed out the design flaws in today's consumer society, which exploits common resources like air and water, and values gratification today over resources tomorrow.
Forty years after the first Earth Day, that dynamic may finally be shifting. Companies big and small are seeing opportunities to re-examine long held beliefs about exactly the business they're in.
"We shouldn't see ourselves as a car company when having two cars in every driveway around the world just isn't sustainable," said Ford Motor Company Chairman, Bill Ford, at the Fortune Brainstorm Green conference last month. "We're in the business of providing transportation."
ZipCar, the car sharing service, has already put that concept into reality, providing its primarily urban members with all the convenience that cars can bring- with none of the ownership headaches. The net result for the planet- each ZipCar takes 15-20 personally owned vehicles off the road, according to its founder, Robin Chase.
ebay.com/greenteam Amy Skoczlas Cole 5/10

Financial Community Seeing Green
Lenders and insurers not only see the importance of green building, they're also willing to buy into it because it will help them save money in the long run. Green buildings have lower operational costs, have healthier interiors, and are doing their part to reduce climate change, which is a great risk to insurance companies. Insurers and lenders also feel that green home owners, for the most part, are more responsible, less likely to default, and more likely to maintain their property. Fireman's Fund, for example is one of the first insurers to offer coverage for innovative green buildings.

www.fixr.com

April 2010

2010-04-05T21:30:00.023-04:00

Social Enterprise
Salesforce GreenExchange: Open Source Sustainability?

Chances are that you've used a CRM customer relationship management tool for some job function at one time or another. Taming the wild beast of a CRM often became the bane of my past jobs- and to its credit, salesforce.com really leveled the playing field. Salesforce.com's product line, working from the cloud, not only made my pesky paper-pushing, number crunching data entry tasks more palatable, it also made them easier by being able to do it from any computer browser, instead of having to deal with a clunky software hulking on my desktop. Now salesforce.com is part of a revolution that could make companies' move to sustainability far more seamless through its hosting of GreenExchange (GX)

GX is a web-based marketplace designed for companies that wish to collaborate and share intellectual property (IP), with the hope that these firms can share new sustainability business models and technologies. Companies among the 10 that announced this venture with salesforce.com include Best Buy, Yahoo!, Nike, and Mountain Equipment Co-op. Companies participating in GX can choose the terms under which they share their ideas, such as a simple fee structure, attribution recognition, or even on-competitive use. By making their IP available and usable, GX's founding members hope that their companies will partner together in accelerating the development of sustainable products and processes.

One example that demonstrates how different industries could benefit from GX is Nike's Environmentally Preferred Rubber. This rubber uses 96% fewer toxins than the formula the footwear company had been using. Nike could hypothetically allow licensing this rubber for other company's footwear, for Mountain Equipment Co-ops bicycle inner tubes, or perhaps in the future, for automobile manufacturers. Best Buy could share its e-waste process with other retail chains. Green data centers at Yahoo! could become an industry standard for technology companies.

So the question arises: why would any company just give their IP, i.e. patents away? Answer: they aren't. GX allows for non-commercial research at universities, where much American innovation occurs. By working collaborating with other firms, a company like Nike can either save money by sharing resources with others, or limit certain patents to particular industries. In the end, companies will improve their IP by sharing and improving them, not just hoarding.

Should GX become successful, look for this platform to offer another method for consumers to gauge whether a company is truly "sustainable" and "socially responsible." It's one thing for a company to say that it's "green," uses LED lights, and will use all recycled products by 2018. Disclosing what patents and technologies it's sharing for the greater good, however, will give concrete examples that will show action... not just a snazzy web page with slick pictures of trees. Let's hope GX catches, on giving tangible results; I know I get weary of all the buzzwords that many companies just slather across their sustainability reports.
Source: Wellsphere / Leon Kaye

5 Green Apps We're Excited About for the iPad
While there could be a variety of effects of the success of Apple's iPad on the energy consumption associated with computing, applications developed for the iPad could also play a role in promoting low-carbon lifestyles like better fuel economy and home energy efficiency.

We'd been hoping that some of the iPhone apps developed for next-generation connected cars and home energy efficiency would be available for the iPad launch but there's actually very few. The lone official one we've seen that touches on home energy Control4's, which enables the user to control a thermostat and lighting (as well as audio, video, security) via the iPad device.

Apple says that most of the current 150,000 iPhone and iPod touch apps will be viewable on the iPad, but those are unofficial versions and won't necessarily be formatted well for the expanded screen or work exactly the way the iPhone versions work. But there's already over 1,000 official iPad applications available from some of the eager adopter app makers. And I'm expecting a lot more official iPad applications when the 3G (connected to cellular networks) and GPS-embedded iPad versions come to market.

Here's one official green application you can already get on the iPad, and 4 more green iPhone apps that we're looking forward to checking out the iPad versions:

1). Control4: Control4's iPad app was the only green-leaning official iPad application I could find as of iPad launch time. The free app basically turns the iPad into your central home dashboard, enabling the user to control a connected thermostat, lighting, entertainment systems (video, audio), and home security. To get this to work properly, of course you need to buy - and have a dealer install- the Control4 connected home system. An iPad app really plays into the sweet spot of Control4's offer: a high-end home product, slick design, and dashboard offering rich media around energy.

2). Tendril: We're not sure if Tendril has an official iPad app in the works (we're waiting to hear back on that), but the six year old home energy management startup plans to release an iPhone app to both select utility customers and consumers this year. Dubbed "Tendril Vantage Mobile," the iPhone app will enable users to see home energy consumption in real time, view dynamic pricing changes, and control connected appliances and thermostats remotely. Like with Control4's application, the iPad, more than the iPhone, could offer a superior centralized dashboard for home energy management.

3). ZipCar: ZipCar created a free iPhone app (iTunes) that enables ZipCar members to find, reserve, and lock/unlock ZipCars via iPhone. For the iPad version, ZipCar's service could use the larger screen to integrate more rich media, including navigation, directions, entertainment for, say, touring, and even syncing with audio and visual content. (We're waiting to hear back on if ZipCar will add more iPad functionality to its app.)

4). Nissan LEAF: Nissan has been working on an iPhone app that can connect with the information technology system of its electric vehicle the LEAF and can monitor battery charging and temperature controls (on/off). The LEAF doesn't go on sale until the end of December, so it's safe to expect to wait that long for the iPhone app, too. For an iPad version, Nissan could use the larger screen to better incorporate navigation, and entertainment.

5). Visible Energy: Young startup "VisibleEnergy" was an early advocate of turning to the iPhone for home energy management. And recently the FCC mentioned the company's iPhone app as an example of how IT can help the environment and global warming. As for Control4 and Tendril, an expanded screen and more rich media could help a Visible Energy iPad application make the consumer experience more interesting and more connected with the consumers digital content and the web.
Source: Earth2tech/ Katie Fehrenbacher

Test Your GREEN Acumen:

* Who played detective Robert Thorn in Soylent GREEN?
Al Pacino Charlton Heston Roy Scheider Gener Hackman

*What rural town was the setting for GREEN Acres:
Farmopolis Tatersburg Corntown Hootersville

*Which of these series did not feature Lorne GREEN?
Battlestar Galactica Bonanza Adam 12 Griff

*Which country's flag is complete solid GREEN?
Kenya Libya Zayre Egypt

*Who was the GREEN Party presidential nominee in 2008?
Ralph Nader Ron Paul Cynthia McKinney Carol Mosely-Braun

*What NFL team featured "Mean" Joe GREEN from 1969-1981?
Miami Dolphins Dallas Cowboys Pittsburg Steelers Minnesota Vikings

complements of Yahoo.com

March 2010

2010-03-08T13:01:00.005-05:00

Push Begins for 'Building Star' Incentives for Commericial Properties
First there was Energy Star,the long-established energy ratings system. Then came Home Star, An incentive program supported by President Obama. Now the Senate has introduced a bill that would establish a Building Star program to provide incentives to commercial buildings related to their energy efficiency. Building Star would promote energy efficient installations in commercial and multi-family residential buildings. The bill was introduced March 4 by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D.-Ore.) and Sen. Mark Pryor (D.-Ark.). The program is expected to save building owners more than $3 billion on their energy bills annually by reducing peak electricity demand by an equivalent amount of power as that supplied by 22 300-megawatt power plants. If fully realized, the program would help reduce U.S. emissions by 21 million metric tons, the bill's sponsors say.

"Buildings represent 40 percent of the energy used in the United States, and many have old equipment that waste energy and money," Pryor said. In addition to rebates to reduce the cost of energy-saving measures such as high-efficiency heating and improved insulation, "Builidng Star" would also extend low-interest financing options to small businesses and other building owners.
Building Star is similar to Home Star, a parallel program that offers energy-efficiency assistance to homeowners. Through the umbrella group Rebuilding America, Building Star has the support of the National Electrical Contractors Association, the Energy Future Coalition and the Center for AMerican Progress Action Fund. The American Architectural Manufacturers Assoc. also has pledged its support for the measure.
In February, it was announced that the EPA's Energy Star Leaders prevented the emissions of more than 220,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide and saved more than $48 million across their commercial building portfolios in 2009. The EPA says these savings have quadrupled since 2008 and is the single greatest year of savings since the program's launch in 2004.
Among items proposed to be covered by the Building Star incentives are: -building envelope insulation; -mechanical insulation; -windows, window films, and doors; -low-slope roofing; -HVAC equipment, water heaters and boilers; -duct testing and sealing; -variable speed motors; -interior and exterior lighting; -building energy audits, commissioning, tune-ups, and training; -and energy management and monitoring systems. Source: Environmental Leader3/5/10

Lindt Recycles Cocoa Bean Shells into Biomass Energy:

Chocolate maker Lindt USA and Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH), New Hampshire's largest electric utility, will soon be producing renewable power from cocoa bean shells. PSNH's Schiller Station power plant will produce supplemental electricity from cocoa bean shells, considered a biomass fuel source in New Hampshire, supplied by the chocolate maker, according to a press release.

Using cocoa bean shells as a fuel source was first tested by PSNH in March 2009 and is now officially being implemented following approval from New hampshire's Department of Environmental Services. The burning of biomass reduces carbon dioxide emissions that would have been emitted through the burning of fossil fuels, say the companies.
Every ton of cocoa bean shells used to generate electricity will replace the need to burn one half-ton of coal, which also helps the utility reduce a portion of its coal producing power with biomass, says PSNH. Lindt says the partnership will allow the company to reduce its carbon footprint by responsibly disposing of a manufacturing byproduct.
Lindt's biomass partnership is one of many that are being planned or have rolled out over the past month. As an example, Tesco announced that its new distribution center in Widnes, England, will be 100 percent powered by renewable energy generated from food waste.
Other projects include an on-site biomass fueled combined heat and power (CHP) energy station at the University of British Columbia campus, and a potential partnership between Mitsubishi and Weyerhaeuser, which are evaluating the potential of biomass and possibly bio-pellet production facilities in the United States.
Environmental Leader 2/10

Device Mimics Leeches, Ejects Plug When Gadget is Done Charging:
Leeches drink blood until they're full and then fall off of their host, but our plugged-in gadgets keep drinking electricity even once they're fully charged. The Outlet Regulator changes this by ejecting the plug from the electricity source once the gadget is done charging, turning vampire electronics into leeches.

Designed by Conor Klein, a student at Rhode Island School of Design, this device solves a dilemma faced in every home. We all want to prevent frivolous energy use by leaving gadgets plugged in too long, but it's almost impossible to unplug your devices at the exact point they're done charging. The Outlet Regulator takes care of that for you.
The project works by using a timer circuit and electromechanics to eject its plug which disconnects your device from the wall outlet, stopping electricity consumption. This is an example of a design where you think, "How has no one thought of this before?" It's such an obvious solution and could easily be adopted by everyone.
via Engadget, Ecogeek.org

Light Inspires Energy Efficient Building Design

Artists find inspiration in many ways. But for the artists (architects and researchers) working collaboratively to create the most energy efficient office space in the U.S., the inspiration was simply light. The National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), near Golden, CO, will use innovative design elements such as "light louvers" to reduce the need for conventional lighting. The curve of the light louvers, which are suspended within the window, catches the light and bounces it deep into the building, about 10 feet deeper than it would naturally. "The windows are literally the balance point in how the building manages energy," said Philip Macy, project manager. "Get the windows too big and you'll get too much heat gain and heat loss. Too small and you won't get enough daylight to light the interior of the building to the middle of the floor plan.
As another method of reducing energy use, once the building is active, employees will be notified when to open windows to let cool air in or shut them to keep warm air out, as predicted by the needs of the building.

The building will also test two new kinds of windows; Electrothermic windows, which can be tinted with a small electrical charge, will keep out heat and reduce load on the HBAC system; and Thermochromatic windows, which have glass that reacts to temperature changes, helping reduce heat transfer. According to Erin Whitney, NREL's dynamic window testing coordinator, "The essence of energy efficiency isn't simply about being 'green'- it's about cost savings and smart resource use."
Scheduled to open this summer, the 222,000 square foot facility will house more than 800 staff and an energy efficient information technology data center, built as a showcase to be replicated by the building industry.
Source: National Renewable Energy Lab

February 2010

2010-02-01T16:00:00.135-05:00

Let There Be Light

Lighting Haiti One Flashlight at a Time:

Are you afraid of the dark? Probably. If you live in Haiti- Definitely. Besides needing food, water, shelter and medical supplies, when the sun goes down, Haiti is in the dark. Given the overwhelming obstacles and destruction from the earthquake, the Haitian people will not only need ongoing assistance, they'll need illumination to light the way. "The quake cut electricity to most of Haiti's capital. Without power, residents and aid workers are struggling to maintain basic communication, lighting and water purification systems..In the aftermath of the quake, Reuters reported that at night, the only lights visible over the city came from solar powered traffic signals.

Now there is a push to roll out more solar. The Light Haiti Project has teamed up with partners, most notably the Clinton Global Initiative, to "roll out more solar." There's just one caveat- they need financial help. Light Haiti is prepared to distribute solar-powered flashlights to Haiti. These lights will have long lasting benefits beyond the immediate crisis. Since lights can be used to improve night time security in the streets of Port-au-Prince, or provide extra light for emergency clinics, giving as many people as possible a solar flashlight is the goal of Light Haiti. Before the quake, people relied on kerosene lanterns, candles and single-use batteries for light at night. These options are both dangerous harmful to the environment. Light Haiti is committed to providing 500,000 lights to help sustain Haitians through this tragedy and beyond. Donate a BoGo Light.

Source: Planet Green

More on Solar Panels boosting Haiti Relief Effort:

Sol Inc. is making good on its commitment to help power Haiti relief efforts with solar energy. The company said in January that it planned to send about $400,000 worth of photovoltaics to the earthquake-ravaged country to help with round-the-clock relief efforts. Electricity was scarce in Haiti following the January 12 quake, but sunlight was not. The panels charge during the day and illuminate the night.

Sol officials say about 40 lights have made it to Haiti, and a shipment of another 90 are planned. The equipment that's been installed has reportedly helped expanded relief efforts at several sites in Port-au-Prince. There are ongoing problems with getting supplies to the country, according to Sol Inc. staffer Mario Gonzalez, and they're looking for help with logistics.
Mario has been sending daily dispatches from Haiti on how the efforts are progressing. "The huge medical camp near the Port-au-rince airport where Doctors without Borders, Partners in Health, the Red Cross and many other volunteer doctors are working, does not have adequate night time light," he said in a January 23 progress report. "We worked with the team on the ground to install lights at this camp and the results are tremendously helpful for medical care and security."

Jeff Kart, Science and Technology 1/31/10

*******

Facebook is Making a Priority of Energy Efficiency at its Forthcoming Data Center:

The Prineville, Oregon data center will feature an evaporative cooling system, which Facebook says uses less energy than traditional chiller-style systems. Prineville has a dry climate, reports OregonLive. An "airside economizer" brings cool air in from the outside, while heat generated by the servers will be used to keep the adjacent offices warm.

Finally, Facebook has developed a proprietary system for maintaining uninterrupted electricity supply that uses 12 percent less energy than other systems. The 147,000 square foot facility is costing up to $215 million to build, reports OregonLive in a separate article. This will be Facebook's first date storage facility. Until now it has leased storage from others. Facebook says it is pursuing LEED Gold status for the data center. The Prineville data center has its own identity on the social networking site, with more than 700 fans.

Data centers are seeking energy savings by going to a range of techniques. For instance, by eliminating vibrations, a server can read hard disks more efficiently, using less energy. At the same time, data centers can benefit from converting to DC power systems to eliminate the energy loss inherent in AC systems. Another trend is the use of free-cooling.
Mike Rogoway, The Oregonian January 2010

IBM "Cloud Computing" Data Center

IBM has launched a new energy efficient data center that lowers the carbon footprint of clients who use it for "cloud computing." The data center, in Research Triangle, N.C., can continuously read temperature and relative humidity throughout the operaiton, adjusting cooling in response to changes in demand. This reduces annual energy costs by 15 percent, acording to a company spokesman.

The data center uses about 6 megawatts of power with 60,000 square feet of raised floor space. At full capacity, it will be able to handle the needs of 40-50 clients. The data center takes advantage of free cooling about half of the year, with a mechanical system design that is 50 percent more efficient than one without heat exchangers for free-cooling or chillers. This equates to a reduction of about 31,799 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

The data center, which is of modular design, has some other eco-friendly features, such as:

-A reflective roof that reduces solar heat.

-Rainwater collection system.

-Use of low-sulfur fuels to reduce emissions from backup generators.

-Energy efficient lighting technology on timers.

IBM has applied for LEED Gold certification for the facility, which was constructed using 20 percent new materials from recycled products. During construction, 95 percent of the original building/shell structure was reused and 92 percent of construction waste was recycled. The data center can provide its own backup power in case of an outage, and it has tanks to hold 150,000 gallons of chiller water to keep equipment cool in such situations.

Source: Environmental Leader 2/10

January 2010

2010-01-05T14:35:00.036-05:00

Winning Causes:

Pepsi Drops Super Bowl Ads in Favor of Cause Marketing
Cause marketing, including asking consumers how they would improve sustainability and the environment, will take the place of PepsiCo's traditional TV advertising that accompanies the Super Bowl, reports DMNews.

This will be the first time in 23 years that the Super Bowl will not have an ad promoting Pepsi. Last year, Pepsi spent $33 million advertising its brands during the game. The average Super Bowl spot costs about $3 million.

This year, Pepsi is trying to build a two-way dialogue with consumers by asking hem to go to a Web site and suggest ways that Pepsi can be involved in social causes.

As part of of the promotion, Pepsi will be putting $20 million into its Refresh Project. (http://refresheverything.com/) Beginning February 1, consumers will have the chance to vote for how Pepsi should spend its money on suggested projects. Each month, Pepsi will be awarding up to 2 grants of $250,000 to projects proposed by large organizations. More grants in denominations of $50,000, $25,000 and $5,000 will be awarded each month for smaller organizations and individuals. The project includes a microsite dubbed "The Plant."

In its own operations, PepsiCo has saved more than 750,000 megawatt hours of energy and more than 7.5 billion liters of water as a result of gains in energy and water efficiency compared to the 2006 baseline.

The food and beverage company is committed to cutting company-wide water use by 20 percent, electricity by 20 percent and fuel by 25 percent by 2015, compared to 2006 usage levels.

The Super Bowl has been making efforts to present a greener image in recent years. The 2009 Super Bowl in St. Petersburg, FL featured green energy purchase and tree planting.

The 2008 Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, was the first ever powered completely with renewable energy by using solar, wind and geo-thermal energy to offset the GHG emissions.

Environmental Leader 1/4/2010

Efficiency: The real esate industry quietly removes a label showing energy use of older buildings
The pending climate bill passed by the House has a medley of programs to save energy in buildings, but there was one in particular that drew the attention of the multitrillion-dollar real estate industry.

It was a plan to create an "energy label" for homes and commercial buildings, showing in one simple illustration, how much energy they use compared to their ideal performance. In theory, the information would be like the miles per gallon stickers on cars, giving vital information to buyers and owners who are becoming increasingly aware of rising energy costs.

The industry had a different take: It called the labels a scarlet letter that would stigmatize old, energy-leaky buildings, making them harder to sell. They said it would hobble a market already suffering from the mortgage meltdown.

Before the bill reached the House floor, Realtors made their case to Congress. As originally written, the bill proposed by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif) and Ed Markey (D-Mass) would instruct U.S.EPA to develop two kinds of labels: one for brand-new buildings and one for the older buildings that cause the bulk of the sector's CO2 emissions--roughly 40 percent of the U.S. total.

Congressmen, lead by Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo) heard the industry's views and struck a bargain: EPA would still design a label, but only for new buildings and major renovations. Older buildings, which will make up the majority of the building stock for decades, were exempted.

"At some point, we've got to count votes," Perlmutter said in an interview. He said the deal swung several lawmakers behind a cap-and-trade bill that passed by only one vote. "We picked up the endorsement of the NAR (National Assoc.of Realtors) to a very substantial energy bill that is far-reaching in many, many respects," he said.

But the deal frustrated some environmental and industry groups that think a label for all buildings, new and old, is needed to make efficiency a valued commodity in the real estate industry, pushing owners to stamp out energy waste or face the wrath of the market.

You can read more by going to the Climatewire website.

Wal-Mart Turns Corrugated Waste Into Pizza Boxes

Wal-Mart is turning cardboard waste collected from its stores into boxes for its private-label take and bake pizzas. The system reduces costs while creating a more durable box, according to the retailer.

After being bailed by employees and sent to partner Pratt Industries, the cardboard is turned into pulp and the pulp is made into liner board, a thick, brown wrapping paper that gets tested for contaminants before it's shipped to Pratt's box plant. There the paper is fed into a corrugator and it becomes cardboard. It's then cut and assembled into boxes.

"Quite literally this program we're partnering with Wal-Mart on is groundbreaking, it's doing something that's rarely been done before, if ever," said Myles Cohen, president of the recycling division for Pratt Industries. "We've totally and literally closed the loop using a retailer's own boxes to go through a paper mill and then to make corrugated boxes out of those same things again is something that's the future."

The ultimate goal of the project is to produce all of the boxes with cardboard supplied by Wal-Mart. The measure will divert 8,600 tons of waste from landfills, save 125,000 trees and 40 milion gallons of water, according to Wal-Mart.

Supermarket News 11/09

Green Growth? Maybe...

A survey sponsored by Siemens has found that Germany is the world's green technology leader, but could be overtaken in the next decade by the US and China. The survey collated responses from 270 researchers and sustainability experts from business, government and academia. Respondents were spit over whether economies could in the foreseeable future achieve non-environmentally-damaging growth, with 51% saying yes and 47% saying no.
EthicalCorp.com

December 2009

2009-12-06T14:05:00.040-05:00

Bah Humbug:
SEC Files Charges Over "GREEN" Ponzi Scheme

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged four individuals and two companies with running a $30 million Ponzi scheme that targeted elderly investors and people nearing retirement who were seeking environmentally friendly investments.
* * *
In a civil lawsuit filed Monday in Denver federal court, the SEC accused Mantria Corp of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania and its principals, Troy Wragg and Amanda Knorr, of raising $122 million from more than 300 investors nationwide in a dozen fraudulent securities offerings.
The SEC said Mantria enlisted Speed of Wealth LLC, a Colorado firm, to encourage investors to liquidate retirement plans and home equity, and buy securities offering returns of 17 percent of "hundreds of percent" annually.
* * *
According to the SEC, Mantria purported to use the securities to finance such projects as a "carbon negative" housing community in rural Tennessee and production of "biochar," a charcoal substitute made from organic waste. Instead it said Mantria overstated its own investment success and used much of the proceeds from new investments to repay earlier investors.
* * *
"The only green these promoters seemed interested in was investors' money," said Don Hoerl, director of the SEC regional office in Denver.

New York (Reuters) Jonathan Stempel 11/16/09

Move Over Eggnog - Thieves Drunk on Napa Valley Winery Solar Panels

While Napa Valley wineries have been adding solar panels in unprecedented numbers, the solar arrays have posed an easy target for theives in the night.

From June of 2008 through September 2009, more than 400 solar panels have been stolen from Napa Valley area wineries, reports the Napa Valley Register. With each panel worth about $1,000, that amounts to $400,000 in losses. The thefts have come in 14 separate incidents. Law enforcement officials were able to stop two robberies in progress. To help stem the losses, state Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St.Helena), added provisions against solar theivery to the Solar Technology Roadmap Act. If adopted, the act would mandate a solar equipment serial number registry.

Having twice fallen victim to solar theft, ZD Wines began adding super-sticky "Property of ZD Wines" stickers to its panels. Brett de Leuze, President of ZD Wines, said "it was not in our consciousness to think people would steal them." Harris Ranch Napa Valley had 30 panels stolen in September, while Honig Vineyard and Winery has been hit multiple times. The thefts have benefited at least one area business. Sunlock Solar Security Systems has ben doing a "booming" business lately, said Dan Sullivan, owner. Sunlock's alarms cost anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000.

Solar owners are encouraged to install rooftop systems, instead of simple ground-mount solar panels, to discourage theft. Additionally, solar owners should consider chain link fences around their properties, as getting the bulky panels over the fences can be a deterrent. In the past several years, numerous Napa Valley wineries have added solar.

Environmental Leader 11/30/09

LEDs Light Up Boston Common

The city of Boston continues its "green" city initiatives to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by upgrading streetlights with new light-emitting diode (LED) lighting on the Boston Common. The city recently installed LED lights along the "Mayor's Walk" to showcase the technology and solicit community input.

Boston has also joined the national LED City program, an international initiative led by Cree, a manufacturer of LED lighting, to promote energy-efficient LED lighting. LED streetlights use less than half of the energy and last three to four times longer than traditional streetlights, which reduce replacement costs and the incidence of unlit streets, according tot he city.

Currently, Boston's streetlights generate 34,000 tones of carbon emissions annually, which accounts for about 8 percent of all municipal emissions. By converting to LED technology, the city estimates it would cut its emissions from streetlights by about half.

It's also expected to reduce lighting costs. As an example, more than 11,000 traffic signals and 1,800 pedestrian crossing lights in Boston were gradually replaced with LEDs over the past ten years, which has saved the city nearly $400,000 annually in energy costs.

Other cities across the nation, including Flint, Michigan and Los Angeles, CA are also making the move to LED lighting. Stimulus grants for energy-efficient improvements will help to fund these projects.

Source: LED Project

Thoughts from Thomas L. Friedman's Hot, Flat, and Crowded:

"In the next twelve years alone, the world's population is expected to swell by roughly another billion people, and many of them will become new consumers and producers...What if we gave each of them a sixty-watt incandescent lightbulb?" David Douglas, VP at Sun Microsystems explains that, "If they're all on at the same time, it'd be 60,000 megawatts, but luckily they will only use their bulbs four hours per day, so we're down to 10,000 megawatts at any moment. Yikes! Looks like we'll still need twenty or so new 500-megawatt coal-burning power plants- just so the next billion people can turn a light on!

All of us at Impact Energy Solutions wish you and yours a happy, healthy and efficient New Year!

November 2009

2009-11-02T15:14:00.019-05:00

Southwest Debuts 'Green Plane'

The new 'green plane' will save Southwest Airlines about $10 million a year in fuel costs, while reducing emissions.

Southwest airlines is kicking off a more robust onboard recycling program. The plane, which is a modified Boeing 737-700, features reduced weight, as well as environmentally friendly features including the carpet, seat covers and life vest pouches, according to a press release.

All combined, the new features amount to a weight savings of near five pounds per seat, or 472 pounds per plane. The reduced weight equates to 9,000 fewer gallons of jet fuel per plane, per year, according to China View.

The new plane features InterfaceFLOR carpet, which is installed in sections. Incorporating sectional carpet means that replacing the aisle carpeting, which currently is one piece of carpet, can be done only in sections that need replacing. The carpet sections are to be returned to Interface for recycling after use.

The plane also features two types of leather replacement seat covers that offer reduced weight and less environmental impact than traditional leather. The seats feature lighter weight foam fill from Garnier PURtec. The plane's life vest pouch, meanwhile, weighs a pound less and creates more room under the seat.

Starting Nov. 1, Southwest Airlines is starting a co-mingled recycling program, which means more recyclable materials can be diverted from landfills. The new recycling program is the result of 18 months testing.
Source: Contract Magazine

UPS Lets Customers Offset CO2 of Shipments
UPS is offering eco-minded customers the option of paying a price to offset the emissions associated with shipment of their packages.

The UPS Carbon Neutral program costs just a nickel per package for regular ground services and 20 cents per package for Next Day Air, 2nd Day Air and 3 Day Select services, according to a press release. In addition to the cost of the offsets, the price includes the cost of calculation and administrative costs associated with the service.

UPS will purchase offsets based on the carbon associated with customer shipments, however UPS chose a flat fee to encourage consumer trial of the service. The company also says it will match the offset purchases up to an amount of $1 million for 2009-10. The calculation to measure the CO2 impact of the customers' shipments is based on a variety of current and historical operational data, including distance and transport mode, according to the release. UPS's calculator is based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the carbon offset process is certified by The Carbon Neutral Company.

At first, the program will be available only to UPS customers who use the company's internet portal and have an assigned customer shipping number. Sometime in 2010 UPS plans to roll out the program to all customers.
Source: Environmental Leader

It's all about Control
The better we understand the occupancy patterns and work habits of users, the more effectively we can design a space that accommodates their needs and preferences most efficiently. We're all aware that a large percentage of a typical office is unoccupied because of the increasingly transient nature of most jobs.

Having the ability to control and regulate an environment according to needs, preferences and occupancy patterns is an enormous benefit for optimizing the space's overall energy and resource use. Energy management systems provide real-time data on energy consumption within a space, allowing personnel to measure, monitor and track savings as it is occurring.

And knowledge is power (to use less energy). Metering brings owners and occupants a level of energy-use awareness that often increases the organization's overall conservation ethic and commitment to waste reduction. Giving occupants access to this feedback loop at the workspace level can impact up to 20 percent to 30 percent of energy savings, according to recent studies.

Having the ability to measure energy use can also lead to some healthy competition to reduce energy consumption among departments, floors or buildings.
Source: Interiors and Sources 2009

Brewery Flips Switch on Methane-to-Energy Plant
A heat and power project that takes methane gas created at a brewery and converts it into clean energy to run a nearby hospital has entered production.

The project, which takes methane from City Brewery in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and converts it into clean energy to run Gunderson Lutheran Hospital, was touted earlier this year as a unique way for a hospital to become more sustainable with local renewable energy. Gundersen Lutheran, in the long term, aims to produce 100 percent of its own electricity.

Methane from the brewery process is captured to run a biogas Jenbacher engine, which fees electricity into the grid, which is credited to the hospital by Xcel Energy. As for the brewery, heat from the co-gen engine can be used in the brewing process.

The project should create about 3 million kilowatt hours of energy a year, or enough electricity to heat nearly 300 homes, according to an article at WKBT.com.
Source: Environmental Leader

Upcoming Webinars:
11/05/2009 LEED Success Strategies Session 4: Reducing Water Use with LEED

11/18/2009 Recognizing and Managing Tenant Financial Distress

12/3/2009 LEED Success Strategies Session 5: LEED and Renewable Energy Techniques

1/14/2010 LEED Success Strategies Session 6: Regional and Renewable Materials

All comments and inquiries welcome. Please contact us at: info@impactenergysolutions.com

2009-10-01T15:23:00.004-04:00

Tech-Savvy Camping with Temperature Control

Orange Solar Concept Tent: A Camper's Dream Come True

Whether you are heading to a music festival or family camping trip, "roughing it" out in the woods may never be the same again! The Orange Solar Concept Tent won't be your average run-of-the-mill tent. This tech-savvy tent is sure to be a camper's dream-come-true.

As the name suggests, the tent is solar. The energy from the sun will provide heating, lighting, recharging and communication to the tent. Instead of using traditional solar panels to capture the sun's energy, the tent is fitted with a revolutionary material. The photovoltaic fabric is made by weaving specially coated solar threads into an outer fabric. The three glides can be easily adjusted and rotated to capture the most sunlight and maximize efficiency.

Besides being solar powered, the tent is equipped with 3G wireless too! Since most of us are joined at the hip with all sorts of electronic devices, this is great news! The central wireless control hub provides the wireless signnal and displays the energy level on a flexible LCD screen. The hub also includes a nifty wireless charging pouch for portable devices. Instead of having to fiddle with all those messy cords, just drop your device into the pouch. That's it!

And you won't have to sleep on a cold, damp floor either. This tent includes a heated groundsheet that automatically starts to warm up when the temperature goes down below a certain temperature.

Since many tents tend to look alike, this particular tent features something awesomely cool. If you are out for a walk or picnicking by the lake and you can't locate your tent, just send an SMS message or use the RFID technology and the tent will glow with "Glocation" technology. So no more worries about sleeping in the wrong tent!

The only downside? True to its name, the Solar Concept Tent is still a concept and is not available- yet.
Source: Jace at IZITGREEN

Building Commissioning: The Stealth Energy Efficiency Strategy

Excerpt from Evan Mills- a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The aim of commissioning new buildings is to ensure that they deliver, if not exceed, the performance and energy savings promised by their design. When applied to existing buildings, commissioning identifies the almost inevitable "drift" from where things should be and puts the building back on course, often making it perform even better than the original designers intended. (Why do we tune up our cars but not our far more complex buildings?) In both contexts, commissioning is a systematic, forensic approach to quality assurance, rather than a technology per se - SCI for efficiency, if you will. Quality assurance is an essential element of any serious technological endeavor. Energy efficiency is not alone in this regard, and commissioning offers a key solution. (consider how even more poorly electric power plants would perform if there was no QA in their construction and operation.)

Specific "deficiencies" identified and corrected through the commissioning process include problems like simultaneous heating and cooling (yes, believe it or not, this is common), mis-calibrated or otherwise malfunctioning energy management controls and sensors, defeated efficiency features (e.g.,variable speed drives locked at full speed), leaky air-distribution systems, and oversized equipment. These kinds of problems collectively waste several tens of billions of dollars in energy each year, while compromising occupant comfort, health and safety. Yes, they should be caught during the original design or corrected by routine operations and maintenance. They rarely are.

Commissioning is arguably the single most effective strategy for reducing energy, costs,and greenhouse gas emissions in buildings today. Commissioning maximizes the quality and persistence of savings achieved through other energy saving technologies and practices. The process ensures that building owners get what they pay for when constructing or retrofitting buildings. It provides risk management and "insurance" for policymakers and program managers, enabling their initiatives to actually meet targets and detects and corrects problems that would eventually surface as far more costly maintenance or safety issues. As such, commissioning is more than "just another pretty energy saving measure." It is a risk-management strategy that should be integral to any systematic effort to garner and maintain energy savings or emissions reductions.

Green Wall Lowers Temperature 25%

North America's largest green wall is adding to energy efficiency for PNC Financial Services Group Inc., which unveiled the giant soil-based wall at its Pittsburg, PA. offices.

The 2,389 square foot wall, about the size of a doubles tennis court, has 602 panels with about 24 plants in each two-foot space. Each of the panels is estimated to offset the carbon footprint of one person, according to a press release.

Ambient temperatures behind the south-facing wall should be about 25 percent cooler, according to preliminary studies. The plants on the wall also help cool adjacent sidewalks and help absorb noise from the street.

When fully watered, the wall will weigh about 24 tons. It should require about 15 minutes of watering, once a week.
Source: Environmental Leader 9/09

Jogging Lighter with Eco Running Shoes and Recyclable Gear

When you go outside to get some fresh air, are you actually making the air less fresh?

From mountain biking to skiing, outdoor sports do not come without an energy burden. Even running, a sport without a massive energy-consuming infrastructure, has consequences.

According to an analysis by Runners' World magazine (based on carbon figures from Green Design Institute and Carnegie-Mellon University), the carbon footprint of a serious runner adds up to 5,449 lbs of carbon dioxide per year.

This number includes the energy used to manufacture and transport shoes durable enough to withstand 300 to 400 miles of pavement pounding, as well as water bottles, clothing and transport to and from races.

Some of the many energy uses include:

3 pairs of running shoes (average number bought by a runner every year): 430 lbs CO2
3 pairs of synthetic socks: 89 lbs CO2
2 pairs of running shorts, 99 lbs CO2
1 pair of running tights, 79 lbs CO2
1 running shirt, 48 lbs CO2
1 load of laundry to wash and dry running gear: 225 lbs CO2 per week

Fortunately, these numbers are not fixed. In the hopes of mitigating how much carbon each runner consumes, many sporting goods companies are rethinking how they make their products.

Reducing how much material is used per item is an easy first step. With bio-mimicry, manufacturing goods doesn't require toxic chemicals or inputs. Reusing materials in order to avoid extracting virgin resources again and again is another major aim of sustainability initiatives. Plenty of exciting developments around sporting goods and running accessories are afoot.
Source: Betsy Herzog,, Rocky Mountain Institute

5 Ways to Save the Ocean:

1. Don't wash your car in the street

Not only does it use 60 percent more water than a commercial car wash, but the detergent run-off ends up untreated, in streams, lakes and the ocean.

2. Pick up after pets

A recent US Geological Survey study of streams and creeks in Kansas showed that per-waste germs made up approximately a quarter of the bacteria in samples collected from local waterways. When enough bacteria get into the ocean, they can cause beach and shellfish-bed closures and threaten the drinking supply.

3. Watch what you wash down the drain

Cooking grease, excessive food waste, and trash in sink drains and disposals can accumulate in city sewer lines and cause blockages that create sewage overflows into the ocean. Everything you put on your body eventually goes down the drain when you shower, as does the water from your washing machine. Waste-water treatment plants are not equipped to filter out these types of chemicals.

4. Choose your fish carefully

Many marine species are over-fished, and some have high levels of mercury and PCBs. Do your research by searching "ocean-friendly seafood" at the New England Aquarium's website, neaq.org, or browsing sites like blueocean.org (its fish phone can send a text message report to your cell phone) and montereybayaquarium.org.

5. Don't flush unused or expired medications

Hormones, antidepressants, painkillers, and other drugs are showing up in our water supply and harming aquatic life. Crush unused pills and throw them away in kitty litter, used coffee grounds, or other unpalatable items.
Source: Elizabeth Gehrman

All comments and inquiries welcome . Please contact us at: info@impactenergysolution.com

2009-09-01T15:06:00.001-04:00

PG&E to purchase solar power from space
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) may see 200 MW of power coming from solar panels in space from 2016.PG&E has already sought approval from the California Public Utilities Commission for a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Solaren Corporation for buying up to 200 MW of Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) eligible energy from solar panels in space over a 15 years period. The project could go live in June 2016.

According to the application document, the space solar project would send its power to a ground receiving station in Fresno County, and “if completed by 2016, the project would deliver an average of 850 GWh for the first year of the term, and 1700 GWh per year over the remaining term of the PPA.”

“If successful, the Solaren project will provide baseload power from a space-based technology that collects solar energy as it travels in a geosynchronous orbit and converts the energy into radio frequency (RF) power for transmission to a receiving station located in Fresno County, California. The RF power will then be converted to renewable electricity for delivery to PG&E and its customers,” writes PG&E.

“According to Solaren, in 2008, Dr Neville I. Marzwell from NASA JPL [Jet Propulsion Laboratory] conducted a Discovery Channel wireless power transmission demonstration using ground solar cells to generate electricity to drive an SSPA array and transmit RF energy a distance of 92 miles (148 km) between two Hawaiian Islands. Dr Marzwell’s demonstration achieved greater than 90% conversion efficiency of RF energy to electricity.”

PG&E further sates that “as a concept, SSP [space solar power] is clearly an emerging technology,” even though it has been researched in the USA for more than 40 years already.

“Space solar technology is based on components that are in use today or being developed for use with satellite communications, radar systems, and other applications. Consistent with its designation as an emerging technology, these components must be engineered, studied, manufactured and integrated into largescale SSP satellite and ground system architectures,” PG&E says in its application.

“We’re convinced it’s a very serious possibility that they can make this work,” PG&E spokesman Jonathan Marshall told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Its staggering how much power is potentially available in space. And I say ‘potentially’ because a lot remains unknown about the cost and other details.”

According to the Californian daily, Solaren has expressed it has not yet decided whether to use crystalline silicon or thin-film, but that it can say something on the safety or sending electricity from space to earth. The beam would not be a ‘super laser-beam,’ but a diffuse RT transmission that would not hurt birds or airline passengers. The problems with the project, were cited as the risk and costs associated with launching equipment into space.

Solaren was founded in 2001 and the space solar power project with PG&E would be Solaren’s first, and possibly also the world’s first space-based solar power project other than those powering space applications. Solaren reportedly has experienced satellite engineers and space scientists among its workforce. The specialists have been recruited from aerospace organizations such as the US Air Force, Hughes Aircraft Company, Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Source: Environmental Leader

PURE RUBBISH ~

The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, is digging through the dumpster for their summer exhibits. “Trash Menagerie” features the work of 24 artists who have transformed bits of garbage to whimsical animal sculptures. The charming works of wonder playfully engage nature’s relationship to industrialization and encourage viewers of all ages to join the conversation. For more information go to: Source: PEM

How safe are low-VOC Paints?Under the radar for years, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been spotlighted for their negative impact on the planet and possible health risks to humans. They are linked to asthma, skin allergies and cancer. Two companies that offer low or zero VOC paints are Benjamin Moore’s Natura line and some Farrow and Ball paints.

Wireless Possibilities with Solar WiFi

The need for Internet connection and wireless communications is ever-increasing, but expanding wireless internet access to outdoor areas with limited access to electrical grids can be difficult. Up-and-coming solarpowered WiFi technology, however, offers a solution that can be used almost anywhere.

“When you deploy wireless access points, they must hook up to some sort of tower,” says Fred Marks, owner and president at Miracle Strip Wireless Inc. in Destin, FL. “You can either run it into a 110-volt outlet, or you can run Power over Ethernet on a cable. Solar WiFi is a different animal; you can install this device just about anywhere, but the power comes directly from the sun.”

Because solar WiFi receives its energy from the sun, it doesn’t require electrical, allowing the system to be self contained and, therefore, flexible. According to Sanjit Biswas, CEO and cofounder at San Franciscobased Meraki, the “development of solar WiFi was driven by a desire to minimize effort for installation and operation of wireless networks, and make wireless more attainable and affordable in areas where extending electrical power can be expensive and time consuming.”

The easy installation means that solar WiFi can be installed in a number of applications, including parks, residential complexes, and hotels. “The only disadvantage is that it must be deployed outdoors to receive the sun’s energy,” says Biswas. “A solar-powered wireless network providing coverage indoors would require additional devices.”

Solar WiFi is a relatively simple system – it consists of a solar panel installed on a pole and a solar-charged battery system that operates a specially designed, low-power-consumption wireless radio. A single pole or access point can get up to 1,000 feet of coverage. And, aside from the alternative power source, solar WiFi provides the same quality wireless Internet services as traditional WiFi.

The green aspect of solar-powered WiFi is also of interest to potential users, although Biswas says, “the most significant cost-saving, green benefits come from not needing to install and run power cabling. Installing power cables could add 20 to 30 percent to the overall deployment cost.” Sometimes, running cables isn’t an option in certain locations; however, the cost of the solar equipment can become pricey. “You definitely pay a premium,” says Marks, who notes that there can sometimes be a $600 price difference between solar and traditional WiFi equipment. But, solar WiFi panels have the added benefit of easy maintenance. “The only special requirement is access to the sun,” says Biswas. Marks says that the panels stay clean from rainfall and are resistant to weather, such as lightning and salt air from the ocean. “The only maintenance is keeping the birds off,” says Marks.

Solar WiFi isn’t yet widely used in the United States; according to Biswas, though, “the concept is growing in popularity, and we expect that to continue for some time.” Marks is also confident in increased use of solar WiFi in the future: “I think you’re going to see solar take off,” says Marks.

Amanda B. Piell is news editor at Buildings magazine.

"A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds"

- Sir Francis Bacon