·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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Read the full story in Environmental Leader.

In a classic Catch-22 scenario, rising oil prices are leading power companies to switch to cheaper, dirtier coal power, the EU Observer reports, via BusinessWeek.

Read the full story at Environmental Leader.

Toyota has promised two more hybrid models, which will mark the company’s venture into Lithium-Ion technology, PCMag reports.

Toyota’s head of R&D Masatami Takimoto said the new hybrid will be “a totally new car,” larger and will likely get a Li-ion pack in 2010.

Read the full story in Environmental Leader.

As company marketing and advertising departments are waking up to the huge commercial opportunities within the emerging ‘green’ market, it is no surprise that consumers have started to articulate that they feel ‘greenwashed.’

Today, communications is about big ideas, creativity and implicitly being generous with the truth. But this sort of marketing is getting stale and as consumers, we’re suffering from communication fatigue. Moreover, this is damaging brands, losing them both trust and loyalty. Could this be why 57% of us are more likely to believe recommendations from family or friends than advertisers in choosing products and services? This ‘fast forwarding’ of advertising by consumers represents a real challenge to the communications industry.

Read the full story in Environmental Leader.

With electricity rates rising, small businesses are increasingly looking for ways to lower their energy costs, the Wall Street Journal reports. From changing out light bulbs to CFLs to shortening delivery routes, small businesses are finding ways to keep up with their big box competitors.

Read the full story at Environmental Leader.

More than 70 percent of respondents to GreenFactor, a global “green” enterprise IT study said they “probably” or “definitely” would increase their preference for a brand’s “green” products if they were convinced of the positive impact on the environment and business. Almost 60 percent said they would expect to pay a premium for “green” products.

Read the full story at News.com.

Saving on fuel isn’t a question of conservation for the military. It’s about saving lives.

The U.S. Army is testing two prototype generators in Iraq that run on garbage, rather than diesel fuel.

The Tactical Garbage to Energy Refinery (TGER, pronounced “tiger”), was co-developed with Purdue University and deployed in May at Victory Base camp in Baghdad, where it will be tested until August.

You can read this newsletter online at http://greenerdesign.com/enewsletters/2008/greenerdesign/

Featured Story:
Design and Performance, Reconsidered
By Matthew Wheeland
With its Considered design ethos, Nike is increasingly developing and reimagining shoes in innovative ways to reduce waste and chemical use, all while maintaining the brand’s high performance standards. Lorrie Vogel, the General Manager for Nike’s Considered products, explains what makes a product Considered, and how the company has turned trash into treasure.
http://greenerdesign.com/feature/2008/06/12/design-and-performance-reconsidered

Coverage from Greener By Design 2008:

At our first-ever event last week in Virginia, experts from the world of design gathered to share their strategies, success stories and goals for the future. Our editorial team was was on the scene to cover the event, and filed these reports from the field:

Greener by Design: Setting the Stage for Innovation
http://greenerdesign.com/news/2008/06/12/greener-design-setting-stage-innovation

Greener by Design: Packaging, Strategies and Pushing Innovation Forward
http://www.greenerdesign.com/news/2008/06/13/greener-by-design-packaging-strategies

Greener by Design: Incorporating Sustainability in Companies New and Old
http://www.greenerdesign.com/news/2008/06/13/greener-design-incorporating-sustainability

Greener by Design: the View from the Field
http://www.greenerdesign.com/news/2008/06/14/greener-design-view-from-field

The Latest Green Design News:

Mazda Developing Bioplastics for Bumpers and Dashboards
http://www.greenerdesign.com/news/2008/06/17/mazda-developing-bioplastics-bumpers-and-dashboards

Monadnock Paper Outlines Sustainable Design, Printing
http://www.greenerdesign.com/news/2008/06/11/monadnock-sustainable-design-printing

GM, GE and Ford Join DOE to Advance PHEVs
http://www.greenerdesign.com/news/2008/06/16/gm-ge-and-ford-join-doe-advance-phevs

Waterless Washing Machine on the Horizon
http://www.greenerdesign.com/news/2008/06/12/waterless-washing-machine-horizon

IBM Unveils New Data Center Designs to Spread Green IT
http://www.greenerdesign.com/news/2008/06/11/ibm-unveils-new-data-center-designs

Toyota Drives Fuel Cell Hybrid Design
http://www.greenerdesign.com/news/2008/06/10/toyota-drives-fuel-cell-hybrid-design

SoftLayer Shrinks Packaging for Servers
http://www.greenerdesign.com/news/2008/06/09/softlayer-shrinks-packaging

Nike, Steelcase, Clorox and Herman Miller Leading Charge on Sustainable Design
http://www.greenerdesign.com/news/2008/05/30/nike-steelcase-clorox-and-herman-miller-leading-charge-sustainable-design

A full-color, graphic version of this newsletter is available online at:
http://greenerbuildings.com/enewsletters/2008/greenerbuildings/index.html

Making a Slice of a Building Green
By Jonathan Bardelline
http://greenerbuildings.com/feature/2008/06/19/making-a-building-slice-green
With LEED for Commercial Interiors, tenants of non-green buildings can still
improve their working environment and use LEED certification to achieve their
sustainability goals.

State of California Creates Green Buildings Database
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/06/06/california-green-buildings
The State of California has created an interactive, web-based database of green
buildings operated by the state.

U.S. House Pledges Billions for Green Schools
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/06/09/us-house-pledges-billions-green-schools
The 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act will
retrofit and build green schools to be more energy efficient and provide a
healthier environment for students. The legislation will now move to the Senate
but the White House may veto the bill because of the price tag.

Timberland Builds Green Mall Shops
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/06/05/timberland-builds-green-mall-shops
Two Timberland stores are the first mall locations in Massachusetts and New
Hampshire to earn LEED certification.

Duke Plans $100M Investment in Solar Energy
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/06/10/duke-plans-100m-investment-solar-energy
Duke asked the North Carolina Utilities Commission to approve a program that
will install solar energy panels on up to 850 schools, factories, stores and
homes throughout the state.

UC Davis Issues Challenge to Build a Better Air Conditioner
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/06/11/uc-davis-issues-challenge
The university’s Western Cooling Challenge is seeking air conditioning units
designed to operate in the western US climate and use less energy.

N.Y. Marriott Unveils Microturbine Farm
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/06/10/ny-marriott-unveils-microturbine-farm
The New York Marriott Downtown unveiled a microturbine farm that it says will
help conserve energy and cut costs at the 500-room hotel. Two PureComfort
systems from UTC Power will generate waste heat that can be used for space
heating, hot water and air conditioning.

Green Office Lease Unveiled for Canadian Companies
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/06/17/canadian-green-office-lease
A variation of the National Standard Office Lease, industry association
REALpac’s new Green Office Lease aims to promote sustainability principles for
landlords and tenants to achieve energy, water and resource conservation.

Dial Debuts ‘Green Assurance Program’ for Cleaning Products
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/06/12/dial-debuts-green-assurance-program-cleaning-products
The Dial Corp. unveiled a program to promote green cleaning products geared
toward healthcare facility managers. The products will meet or exceed various
green cleaning criteria, such as formulas that are biodegradable, hypoallergenic
or non-irritating.

Energy Costs Go Up as Use Goes Down
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/06/12/energy-costs-go-up-use-goes-down
A survey of facility managers finds that the overall cost to operate buildings
has gone up over the last few years while the amount of energy being used by
those buildings has decreased.

State of California’s Green Building Directory
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/06/06/california-green-buildings
The California Department of General Services has developed a directory of
state-run buildings that have received or applied for LEED certification, or are
undergoing energy efficiency retrofits.

Compilation of articles, video, and blog entries from Popular Mechanics about energy-efficient driving and alternative fuel vehicles. Includes features on new technologies, test drives of new vehicles, analysis, tips, and related material.

News and features about alternative automotive fuels such as ethanol, natural gas, hydrogen, electric, and biodiesel. Includes reports, case studies, classroom materials, and interactive features such as “How Does Your Car Stack Up?” that considers carbon dioxide output and fuel costs.

Via Librarian’s Internet Index.

This buying guide features articles on fuel-efficient cars, alternative fuels and new technologies (such as biodiesel, electric, and compressed natural gas), hybrid vehicles, improving gas mileage (covering “hypermilers,” who try to beat the EPA average fuel economy ratings), and oil and gas prices. From Edmunds, producers of consumer automotive information.
URL: http://www.edmunds.com/fueleconomy/

Via Docuticker.

Coming Clean and Cleaning Up: Is Voluntary Disclosure a Signal of Effective Self-Policing? (PDF; 396 KB)
Source: Harvard Business School Working Papers

As regulators increasingly embrace cooperative approaches to governance, voluntary public-private partnerships and self-regulation programs have proliferated. However, because few have been subjected to robust evaluation, little is known about whether these innovative approaches are achieving their objectives and enhancing regulatory effectiveness. In the context of a federal government program that encourages companies to voluntarily self-police and self-disclose regulatory violations, we examine how participation affects the behaviors of regulators and regulated facilities. We find that on average, facilities that committed to self-police experienced a decline in abnormal events resulting in toxic pollution, and that regulators reduced their scrutiny over self-policing facilities. Upon closer examination, we find strong evidence of these effects among facilities with clean past compliance records, but find no such evidence of among facilities with more problematic compliance histories. These findings support the theoretical promise of meaningful self-policing practices and suggest that voluntary disclosure can serve as a reliable signal of future compliance-but only among a subset of facilities.

Read the full post at MyDeco.

More than 3.4 million of us in the UK work from home, raising productivity by avoiding chattering colleagues and reducing carbon emissions by removing the need for the daily commute. And now the government is offering home-workers a way to become even greener – and less tax-squeezed. Use your Enhanced Capital Allowances and you will be allowed to offset 100% of the cost of energy-saving equipment.

Read the full post at Checkthemarkets.com.

Fairchild Semiconductor‘s (NYSE: FCS) highly integrated Green FPS power switch, the FSFR2100, received a silver medal for being one of the best IC solutions for energy conservation. This Green Apps contest showcases the unique and powerful contributions of semiconductor solutions for energy conservation. 600 engineers voted on the potential “green impact“ of solutions entered in the contest by semiconductor manufacturers.

Take the quiz at the Hartford Courant web site.

Read the full post at Inhabitat.

Imagine being able to collect the energy of every person walking up and down the stairs from the Spinnaker Tower viewing platform in Portsmouth, UK. That is the proposal being put forward by David Webb, from the British consultancy of Scott Wilson. His hope is to install miniature “heel-strike” generators underneath the stairs that would capture the power generated by a person as they walk down the tower. His ultimate goal is to install them in every rail station, shopping center and even in your shoes!

Read the full post at CarFever.

Four UK-based students spent their Sunday traveling from one end of Britain to the other by traveling only via a solar powered car.

Read the full story in Building Design & Construction.

Everyone’s talking about “going green” but the cost of the investment has, up to now, been difficult to justify. Energy savings aside, what are the financial benefits of using environmentally sustainable materials and technology in construction? Professor John Quigley at the University of California, Berkeley – Haas School of Business is conducting the first systematic analysis of environmentally-sustainable construction and its economic impact on the real estate market.

In the working paper, Doing Well by Doing Good? Green Office Buildings, Quigley and coauthors Piet Eichholtz and Nils Kok of Maastricht University, Netherlands, determined that investments in proven green building practices lead to sizable increases in a property’s market value and effective rent, or the average per square foot rent paid. Green certified buildings produced an 8.5 percent increase in effective rent. The additional annual rent for going green amounts to almost $309,000, based on the average size building. Likewise, the incremental value of a green structure is an estimated $5.1 million more than an ordinary building. The study did not calculate the incremental cost of investing in green building practices.

Read the full story in the Boston Globe.

Hospital and nursing home building projects would have to be environmentally friendly to win crucial state approval under sweeping regulations proposed yesterday by Massachusetts health authorities.

This U.S. EPA site is designed for truck owners seeking information about loans and grants for eligible clean diesel projects under the National Clean Diesel Campaign.