Browsing environmental news sources so you don't have to. Contact Laura Barnes (lbarnes@istc.illinois.edu) with questions, comments, and suggestions.
Follow ENB on TwitterEncouraging 21st century educators to LIVE GREEN-Discovery Education and General Motors will award forty educators in public Middle and Junior High Schools across America $1,000 each to implement inventive classroom lessons on the environment or renewable energy initiatives. Applications for the LIVE GREEN Teacher Grants are being accepted now through May 15, 2008.
Read the full story in Environmental Leader.
What a difference a year makes. At the start of 2007, few consumer products companies had a focus on sustainability in packaging. However, 54 percent of the consumer goods companies that AMR Research recently surveyed are targeting improvements. The numbers are highest in food and beverage, with 65 percent seeing it as an important objective for 2008.Sustainability matters to major customers
Read the full story in the Chicago Tribune.
There will be dark spots in the Chicago skyline for an hour Saturday night when more than 200 downtown buildings switch off their lights as part of the Earth Hour global campaign to raise awareness about climate change.
UPS (NYSE: UPS) today announced the deployment of 167 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) delivery vehicles in Texas, Georgia and California. The CNG vehicles, part of UPS’s global alternative fuel fleet, will help reduce the company’s carbon footprint and its dependence on fossil fuels.
A full-color, graphic version of this newsletter is available online at:
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/enewsletter
TIAA-CREF to Improve Energy Efficiency of its Portfolio by 10 Percent
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55796
The institutional real estate investor plans to improve the energy efficiency of its portfolio, which consists of 43 million square feet of office buildings and other properties, by 2010.
German Parliament Heading for 100 Percent Renewable Power
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55789
The German Reichstag is set to become the first parliamentary building in the world to use only renewable energy.
Wal-Mart’s Latest Green Store Slashes Energy Use
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55752
Wal-Mart unveiled a new store prototype Tuesday that will use nearly half as much energy as a conventional Supercenter. Its HE.5 prototype is the first to be designed around a specific climate.
San Francisco Officials Move Green Building Codes Forward
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55781
The city is on its way to imposing the strictest green building codes for new large construction and renovation.
Travelers Expands Property Coverage to Support Green Building
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55748
The insurance company is now one of many to promote the use of green building alternatives when rebuilding.
CU-Boulder Researchers Turning Waste Into Building Materials
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55774
Architecture researchers at the university are using cellulose — paper, cardboard and wood waste — to create high-performance building panels.
Green Building is Best Bet for CO2 Cuts in N. America: Report
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55731
A report from a trinational group says green building can cut carbon emissions fastest and most effectively, but also warns about what barriers are holding back widespread acceptance of green building.
Energy Star Developing Data Center Rating
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55750
Dozens of companies and organizations are helping create an Energy Star rating to provide standards and benchmarks for data centers.
New Regs Aim to Control Construction Waste
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55722
All construction projects in England costing more than £300,000 will soon need plans setting out how building materials and other waste products will be removed from the site.
San Diego State University Offers Green Building Education Online
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55739
A new online course at San Diego State University offers training on green construction and design.
Green Building in North America: Opportunities and Challenges
http://greenerbuildings.com/tool_detail.cfm?LinkAdvID=97436
This report makes the case that green building can drastically cut CO2 emissions in North America, but it has many obstacles to overcome first.
Sustainable Solutions: The Impact of the Green Building Movement
By Wes McDaniel
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55809
With rising energy costs, tightening budgets, increasing populations and diminishing resources, an increasing number of businesses are turning to green buildings, and cities and towns of all sizes are beginning to require green buildings as well. If we’re on the cusp of a tipping point, now is the time to review the potential of high-performance buildings.
The Benefits of Energy and Water Audits
By David Wortman
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55803
While energy-wise green building principles are quickly catching on for new construction, many managers are unaware of the basic opportunities for saving energy in their existing facilities. Often, the solutions begin with an audit of your facility’s existing energy and water use.
Via Librarians’ Internet Index.
“A zero and near-zero emission vehicle guide brought to you by the California Air Resources Board.” Features background about clean and cleaner air vehicle types including electric, hybrid electric, alternative fuel, fuel cell, and cleaner gas cars. Includes information about environmental benefits, charging and fueling, technology, safety, and carpool lane eligibility. Also includes fact sheets, a vehicle search, information about government incentives, news, and links to related sites.
Via Docuticker.
eJournal USA: The Greening of U.S. Corporations (PDF; 6.8 MB)
Source: U.S. Department of StateThis issue of eJournal USA delves into what those familiar with the history of the environmental movement in the United States might see as a surprising trend — the way U.S. corporations in recent years have embraced environmentally friendly ways of doing business. What prompts a corporation to “go green”?
Via Docuticker.
Greener Fuels, Greener Vehicles: A State Resource Guide
Source: National Governors AssociationThis best practices State Resource Guide discusses the many alternative transportation fuels and vehicle technologies available in the marketplace today—ethanol, biodiesel, natural gas, electricity, hybrid electric vehicles, and others—as well as the fuels and technologies of tomorrow, such as hydrogen, hydrogen fuel cells, coal-to-liquids, diesel vehicles, and plug-in electric hybrids.
This guide provides a brief overview of the economic and environmental implications of an oil-dependent transportation sector. In addition, it reviews alternative fuels and vehicle technologies in use today, describes innovations coming in the future, and explains their associated benefits and limitations. It also touches on approaches to addressing vehicle fuel use, an important aspect of the overall discussion, and looks at state policy tools to encourage greener transportation, such as financial incentives, rules and mandates, purchasing power, and research and demonstration. Finally, the guide provides an overview of the core barriers to wider consumption of alternative fuels and vehicles, along with examples of state policies designed to overcome the following roadblocks to their adoption: lack of alternative fuels in the marketplace, limited fuel distribution system, and inadequate supply of alternative vehicles.
By better understanding alternative fuels, vehicles, infrastructure, and technologies, governors can take collective action—tailored to their states’ unique industrial resources, geography, and economic and demographic composition—to help the United States reduce its reliance on petroleum, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and secure a clean energy future.
+ Full Document (PDF; 741 KB)
Read the full story at News.com.
An MIT spinoff with Ethernet co-inventor Bob Metcalfe on its board has landed seed money to bring the cost of solar power to the much-pursued level of $1 per watt.
Called 1366 Technologies, the company raised $12.4 million from North Bridge Venture Partners and Polaris Venture Partners, where Metcalfe is partner, to build a pilot solar cell plant in Lexington, Mass., co-founder Ely Sachs said on Wednesday.
Today’s awards will help small businesses develop new technologies in five areas: nanotechnology and pollution prevention, biodiesel and ethanol biofuels, solid and hazardous waste, air pollution control, and homeland security. Each company will receive $70,000 for Phase I or “proof of concept” awards. If Phase I is successful, the companies can apply for Phase II awards to commercialize their technology. EPA will be accepting submissions for the next year’s Phase I SBIR awards until May 21, 2008.
More information on the 25 companies selected and their projects
