Browsing environmental news sources so you don't have to. Contact Laura Barnes (lbarnes@istc.illinois.edu) with questions, comments, and suggestions.
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Sen. Barbara Boxer, (D-Calif.), chair of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, has asked Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson to release every document related to the agency’s finding that global warming poses a danger to the public, according to a July 8 press release.
Good advice from Ted Samson, InfoWorld’s Sustainable IT blogger. Here’s an excerpt:
The prospect of disposing of old IT equipment — PCs, servers, storage gear, and the like — may very well fill your heart with dread. After all, you’re putting a lot of faith in a third party that the machines will be thoroughly wiped of confidential information, resold for a fair price, and, when applicable, properly disassembled, recycled, and disposed of. If your partners’ practices end up being sloppy — or downright criminal — you could find yourself in regulatory and PR hell as confidential data protected by HIPAA or SarBox ends up in the wrong hands or 500 of your PCs end up in a landfill or river somewhere.
A full-color, graphic version of this newsletter is available online at
http://greenerbuildings.com/enewsletters/2008/greenerbuildings/index.html
Whole Systems Green Cleaning
By Fred Klammt, McMorrow Report
http://greenerbuildings.com/feature/2008/07/17/whole-systems-green-cleaning
Most green cleaning programs focus on using less toxic cleaning chemicals. While using greener cleaning products contributes to a healthier and greener workplace environment, facilities managers can do so much more.
How the Lodging Industry Can Help the Environmental Movement
By Glenn Hasek
http://greenerbuildings.com/column/2008/07/11/lodging-help-environmental-movement
Meetings and travel companies are taking a close look at their environmental impact; although the world of lodging has also begun the process, here are seven fundamental steps to greening the industry.
Open the Floodgates: The Era of Green Building Litigation
By Shari Shapiro
http://greenerbuildings.com/column/2008/07/11/open-floodgates-the-era-green-building-litigation
Until now, there has been little, if any, active litigation related to the rash of green building regulations passed in the past few years. That changed July 3 when a new era of environmental litigation began.
Fireman’s Fund Offers Green Insurance for Homeowners
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/07/08/firemans-fund-green-insurance
Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company is offering a green insurance option to homeowners in 26 states starting this summer.
Jones Lang LaSalle Acquires Toronto Firm That Developed Green Globes
By Leslie Guevarra
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/07/11/jones-lang-lasalle-acquires-toronto-firm-that-developed-green-globes
Commercial real estate services giant Jones Lang LaSalle has acquired an environmental consulting firm best known for developing the buildings rating system Green Globes, viewed variously as an alternative, competitor or complement to the U.S. heavy-hitter Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
New List Looks at Top Green Building Design Firms
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/07/09/new-list-looks-top-green-building-design-firms
Engineering News-Record analyzed revenues from green projects to rank the top 100 design firms.
Green Buildings Take Top Awards at TOBY Awards
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/07/10/green-buildings-take-top-awards
The Time Warner Center, a renovated federal building in Tennessee, and several Canadian buildings were among the existing and new buildings taking home prizes at the recent BOMA convention.
County Green Buildings Programs Grow By Almost Fivefold
By Leslie Guevarra
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/07/14/county-green-buildings-programs-grow-by-almost-fivefold
The number of county-based green building programs in the U.S. has almost quintupled, growing from a mere eight in 2003 to 39 in just five years, according to a study by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The study, “Local Leaders in Sustainability: Green Counties,” singled out four — Alameda County, Calif., Hennepin, County, Minn., King County, Wash., and Montgomery County, Md. — for having “solid best practice examples of programs that can be viewed as models.”
Four New England States Top List of Energy-Efficient Buildings
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/01/01/four-new-england-states-top-list-energy-efficient-buildings
A new study by energy economist, author and university professor Jerry Jackson ranks the 48 contiguous states based on the use of electricity in public and private office buildings, the number of buildings in each state that exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star standard and the cost savings associated with efficient energy use.
Ontario Town’s Water Treatment Inspired by Seaweed
By Sam Bond, Edie News
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/07/07/ontario-town-looks-seaweed-water-treatment
The town of Mississauga has implemented a water treatment system that uses ozone and nanofiltration membranes to sieve lake water to make it safe for public consumption.
The Top Green Design Firms 2008
http://greenerbuildings.com/resources/resource/the-top-green-design-firms-2008
This first edition of the Top Green Design Firms, 100 companies are ranked based on their revenue from green building design projects.
Energy Budgets at Risk (EBaR): A Risk Management Approach to Energy Purchase and
Efficiency Choices
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/resources/resource/energy-budgets-risk-ebar-a-risk-management-approach-energy-purchase-and-efficienc
Energy economist and university professor Jerry Jackson has developed a framework that he says will help reduce energy costs and risk using tools created by the financial industry.
The Fifth Fuel, a special report from Forbes, highlights the business advantages of energy efficiency. Highlights include:
Read the full story at Network World.
A Microsoft executive shared techniques the company has used, including new kinds of employee incentive programs and internally created automation tools, to reduce the energy consumption of its growing data centers.
The methods he described could help other companies that use or operate data centers reduce costs, said experts who also spoke at the data-center efficiency strategy conference put on by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency in Redmond, Washington, on Tuesday.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a report that discusses the potential impacts of climate change on human health, human welfare, and communities in the U.S. The report, entitled Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems, also identifies adaptation strategies to help respond to the challenges of a changing climate and identifies near- and long-term research goals for addressing data and knowledge gaps.
The report discusses the challenges and potential effects of climate change, including unusual or unexpected weather, and how some individuals and communities may be disproportionately affected by climate change, including the elderly, the poor, children, and people with chronic medical conditions. However, the U.S. has well-developed public health infrastructures and environmental programs that protect our air and water, which can help minimize the impacts.
The Global Change Research Program in EPA’s Office of Research and Development led the development of this report. It is one of 21 synthesis and assessment products commissioned by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.
The peer-reviewed report is the most up-to-date synthesis and assessment of scientific literature on the impact of global change on human health, welfare and settlements in the United States. It was developed following the guidelines developed by the CCSP.
The CCSP was established in 2002 to provide the Nation with science-based knowledge to manage the risks and opportunities of change in the climate and related environmental systems. The program is responsible for coordinating and integrating the research of 13 federal agencies on climate and global change.
Information on Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=197244
The Office of Research and Development’s Global Change Research Program
http://epa.gov/ord/npd/globalresearch-intro.htm
The U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP)
http://www.climatescience.gov/
The U.S. EPA Aging Initiative, in partnership with Generations United and the Rachel Carson Council Inc., invites the public to vote for their favorite submissions for the Second Annual Rachel Carson Sense of Wonder Intergenerational Poetry, Essay and Photography Contest. A panel of judges has selected the finalists in four categories: photography, essay, poetry, or mixed media (photography and a poem or essay). Finalists were selected based on originality, creativity, use of an intergenerational team, and ability to capture a sense of wonder.
Keeseh Studio invites students and design enthusiasts to celebrate the pursuit of ecodesign through an international competition to utilize waste material.
A given manufacturing facility creates many copies of a product; therefore they create many copies of their waste material as well. Waste material can be used as raw material for other products or processes; this concept is known as upcycling.
The goal of the competition is to promote upcycling by encouraging the use of wasted materials to generate innovative designs and redefine the standards of environmental sustainability by fostering balance between conservation and development. This competition will provide a stepping stone to help educate viewers of the vast opportunities and future development of environmentally friendly processes, materials, and products.
All entries must be received digitally or by mail no later than October 1st.
3 entries will win media coverage of their product or process and one will win a cash prize of $1000.
The July 2008 Green Tip from the Union of Concerned Scientists deals with making patios greener.
Read the full story in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Buildings and Grounds blog.
Unity College, which calls itself “America’s environmental college,” is building its president a house with a small footprint and big ambitions: to earn the highest possible LEED certification and to serve as a model for sustainable homes everywhere.
The 1,900-square-foot house will have solar panels on its roof and is designed for a net-zero lifestyle—sometimes it will draw power from the electric grid, but what it draws will be balanced by power it contributes to the grid at other times. The house has significantly more insulation than traditional homes, and it is being constructed on a concrete pad that will retain heat in the winter and help keep the house cool in the summer.
Read the full story in Building Design & Construction.
Two new reports on the investment value of green buildings raise some concerns about green hype.
Read the full story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Advertisers are seeing green in hyping green, and the federal government is helping confused consumers by cracking down on false environmental claims.
Read the full story in Forbes.
Reports of Prince Charles setting up a 1 billion pound ($2 billion) “green” property fund to launch environmentally friendly towns across urban Britain, have prompted a positive reaction from a struggling property market.
Prince Charles, who is referred to in the media as the “green prince” for his interest in projects friendly to the environment, is reportedly in the process of raising cash to invest in sustainable developments, amidst what some call the sharpest decline in the housing and construction sector in Britain since World War II. (See “Taylor Wimpey Gets Whipped.”)
Read the full story in Biodiesel Magazine.
The Center of Excellence for Hazardous Material Management in Carlsbad, N.M., successfully performed what it called a “commercial-sized” harvesting experiment at its pilot-scale algae pond. The algae was extracted from 12,000 gallons of water, approximately half the contents of the pond, and its oil content was used to produce biodiesel.
Read the full story in Biodiesel Magazine.
North Carolina restaurant chain Libby Hill Seafood Inc. has struck an agreement with Patriot Biodiesel LLC in Greensboro, N.C., to supply five gallons of waste vegetable oil for every one gallon of B100 it receives in return.
Read the full story in Biodiesel Magazine.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a subcommittee hearing July 10 to discuss the renewable fuels standard (RFS) enacted in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and how the U.S. EPA plans to implement the second stage of the RFS enacted in the Energy Independence & Security Act of 2007 (RFS2).
A comprehensive study of nearly 12,000 U.S. adults conducted by Porter Novelli, a global communications agency, revealed that a small but powerful group of consumers — “Greenfluencers” — are driving trends and shaping purchasing decisions in the mass market.
Unlike their counterparts in earlier environmental movements, Greenfluencers are not third-party experts or full-time advocates with a laser-like focus on advancing a specific agenda. Rather, this new highly influential group, which amounts to roughly 4 percent of the U.S. population, is young, racially diverse and outspoken on a variety of social and political issues. And while Greenfluencers are more eco-savvy than their peers, they are still relatively mainstream in their lifestyle choices (e.g., big-box retail shoppers and heavy TV watchers). This accessibility combined with a high level of social connectivity has enabled this group to become the voice of authority on the sustainable lifestyle.
