·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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Read the full post from the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Buildings & Grounds blog.

Given all the recent discussion on this blog about agriculture, horticulture, and sustainability, it seems fitting to recommend a little film that is touring the country right now: Fresh, a movie about sustainable agriculture. The movie stars people like Joel Salatin, who has become something of a farmer-celebrity since his appearance in The Omnivore’s Dilemma; Will Allen, an urban farmer from Milwaukee who recently won a MacArthur Foundation fellowship; and John E. Ikerd, a professor emeritus of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri at Columbia.

Read the full story in Interior Design.

In an attempt to alleviate what can be an arduous evaluation process, the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association is introducing Level, a LEED-like third-party certification program for the contract furniture market.

BIFMA is billing their furniture sustainability standard as the first fully transparent, multi-attribute furniture sustainability standard addressing material utilization, energy and atmosphere impacts, human ecosystem health, and social responsibility.

Under the program, manufacturers’ products will be evaluated by third-party certifiers, NSF International and Scientific Certification Systems are the first bodies to be recognized for Level by BIFMA, in order to meet the commercial furniture industry trade association’s e3 sustainability standard.

Read the full story in The Scientist.

The key to fighting the ravages of termites and other insect pests could lie in the ubiquitous glucose molecule, tweaked to weaken insect immune systems, say researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The scientists have shown that the glucose relative, D-δ-gluconolactone (GDL), can disrupt the activity of a termite protein crucial for sensing and killing invading microbes, making the pests susceptible to pathogenic bacteria or fungi that routinely buffet them, they report in this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Pharmaceuticals Outscore Other Sectors in New Climate Scorecard
By ClimateBiz Staff
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/06/05/pharmaceuticals-outscore-other-sectors-new-climate-scorecard
The pharmaceutical industry has emerged as a leader in measuring and reporting
its carbon footprint compared to 13 other sectors, according to the latest
Climate Counts Scorecard released today. AstraZeneca and J&J lead the pack,
while Amgen and Wyeth are the sector’s biggest laggards.

U.S. DOE Earmarks $256M in Stimulus Funds for Industrial and IT Energy Efficiency
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/06/02/us-doe-earmarks-256m-stimulus-grants-industrial-and-it-energy-efficiency
The U.S. Department of Energy is providing $256 million in Recovery Act funds to
support projects to curb consumption in energy intensive manufacturing and IT
industries.

Virtual Meeting Technologies Take Center Stage in AT&T Event
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/06/04/telepresence-center-stage-att
By conducting a semi-annual meeting completely virtually, AT&T saved over
$100,000 and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 62 metric tonnes, while a research
survey finds that over one-third of business flights may switch to telepresence
meetings.

Kodak’s New Green Goals: More Energy Star, Less Water Use
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/06/04/kodak-green-goals
Kodak today released its latest set of three-year sustainability goals, which
include making 100 percent of its eligible products Energy Star-certified and
tracking and reducing its global water use.

Climate Corps Program Cuts Business Costs and Improves Efficiency
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/06/02/climate-corps-program
The Environmental Defense Fund has announced its 2nd annual Climate Corps
program, which will pair 26 Masters of Business Administration students with 23
firms to identify ways to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs.

Several Studies Say Conscious Consumers Willing to Pay More for Green
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/06/03/surveys-consumers-pay-green
A handful of new surveys point to the increased willingness to pay more — or
earn less — for consumer products or environmentally friendly workplaces, but
in which America?

No Climate Change Fix Without New Land Use, Farming Policies
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/06/04/climate-change-fix-needs-land-use-ag-policies
A Worldwatch Institute report cautions against developing a climate change
mitigation strategy without including agricultural and land use policies.

Dell’s Renewable Power Sourcing Climbs to 26 Percent
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/06/03/dells-renewable-power-sourcing
New partnerships with utilities in the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and
Norway have boosted Dell’s worldwide renewable energy power sourcing to 26
percent, the company said.

Report Shows How the S&P 500 Would Fare Financially Under Cap-and-Trade
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/06/03/sp-500-under-cap-and-trade
A new report looks at what financial risks companies in the S&P 500 would face
under a cap-and-trade program that requires the purchase of carbon emissions
credits. While most would be unaffected, some industries, especially utilities,
would face costs much higher than their earnings.

Companies Show Little Awareness of Climate Change Risks, Report Finds
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/06/03/companies-climate-change-risks
More than two-thirds of S&P 500 companies fail to even mention risks presented
by global warming in their annual reports, while just 5 percent lay out a
strategy for mitigating those risks, according to a study by investor group
Ceres, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Center for Energy and
Environmental Security.

Why the Ethanol Debate Isn’t Helping Anyone
By Noam Ross
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2009/06/03/why-ethanol-debate-isnt-helping-anyone
Another ugly battle is raging in the ethanol wars. Sadly, while everyone is
arguing over whether ethanol is bad, no one is talking about how to make it
better. The worst impacts of ethanol occur far from Iowa or Washington in the
forests that are burned down to respond to demands for cropland.

Intuit Helps Small Business Capture a ‘Green Snapshot’
By Joel Makower
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2009/06/07/intuit-green-snapshot
Can the company that tamed financial accounting do the same for carbon
accounting?

Can a Company Really Care?
By Marc Gunther
http://greenbiz.com/blog/2009/06/04/can-a-company-care
There is no shortage of companies that are driven by an ethic of service,
whether to their employees, their customers or the planet, but even though
caring is good for business, in times like these it can be a challenge to care.

Sustainability Means Economy First, then Environment
By Yossi Sheffi
http://greenbiz.com/blog/2009/06/03/sustainability-economy-first
The director of MIT’s Engineering Systems Division and Center for Transportation
and Logistics explores how the economic crisis pushes matters of environmental
sustainability to the back burner — and how it doesn’t.

Climate Change Pros: Male, Well-Paid and Secure
By Tilde Herrera
http://greenbiz.com/blog/2009/06/03/climate-change-pros-male-well-paid-secure
Professionals in climate change-related fields are more likely to be male,
highly educated, well-paid and not worried about losing their jobs, according to
a new survey.

Aveda, Cradle to Cradle, and a Paradigm Shift in Cosmetics
By Marc Gunther
http://www.greenbiz.com/podcast/2009/05/12/aveda-paradigm-shift-cosmetics
Marc Gunther talks with Dominique Conseil, the president of cosmetics company
Aveda, about the first-ever Cradle to Cradle certification for personal care
products, how innovations in packaging can shift markets, and why he’s found no
tensions between the company’s environmental and economic goals.

Water Energy and Climate: A Contribution from the Business Community
http://www.greenbiz.com/resources/resource/contribution-business-community
This report discusses how businesses can manage risk in regard to water, energy,
and other critical resources that affect climate change.

Reclaiming Transparency in a Changing Climate
http://www.greenbiz.com/resources/resource/ceres-reclaiming-transparency
This report from Ceres, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Center for Energy
and Environmental Security looks at how many — or how few — companies are
reporting climate-related risks in their annual reports, and breaks down
reporting on a sector-by-sector basis.

Read the full story in Building Design & Construction.

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities has announced that the city of Toronto has passed a new green roof by-law with overwhelming support yesterday. The green roof by-law consists of a green roof construction standard and a mandatory requirement for green roofs on all classes of new buildings. The by-law requires up to 50% green roof coverage on multi-unit residential dwellings over six stories, schools, non-profit housing, and commercial and industrial buildings. Larger residential projects require greater green roof coverage, ranging anywhere from 20-50% of the roof area.

Read the full story at SustainableBusiness.com.

Innovations in food production and land use that are ready to be scaled-up today could reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to roughly 25% of global fossil fuel emissions and present the best opportunity to remove greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, according to a new report by the Worldwatch Institute and Ecoagriculture Partners.

Read the full post at OhMyGov!

Using iron “seeding” to set off massive plankton growth in the ocean to slow climate change; creating artificial volcanic eruptions to release cooling sulfur into the atmosphere; increasing the solar reflectivity of clouds by adding sea-salt particles; building a giant space mirror to stop ice from melting in Greenland. These may sound like concepts straight out of a George Lucas film, but they are real ideas being proposed by scientists as part of the “geoengineering” movement — a school of thought based upon the idea that humans can engineer ourselves out of global warming on a massive scale.

Via Docuticker.

Safety of Shredded Tires in Playgrounds Under Question
Source: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is having second thoughts about the safety of shredded tires as fill in playgrounds, according to agency documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). EPA admits that it does not know the extent of childhood exposure from ingestion or inhalation of an array of toxic chemicals found within tires.

Every year millions of pounds of tires are recycled into ground rubber, (called “tire crumb”) and placed on playgrounds to reduce injuries from falls. Both EPA and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have endorsed the use of tire crumb for years but neither agency ever investigated the potential toxicity to children from direct contact with tire ingredients, such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, mercury and a number of dangerous hydrocarbons. Despite these huge knowledge gaps, both agencies still endorse use of tire crumb, which is increasingly being marketed for backyard use.

Documents obtained by PEER under the Freedom of Information Act indicate that –

• EPA lacks the information to “assess toxicological risks of tire crumb in situations where children are exposed” but has recommended tire crumbs for public recreational use since 1991;
• Agencies are issuing contradictory advice to consumers. In June 2008, for example, the Centers for Disease Control issued an advisory for potential lead exposure from artificial turf, while weeks later, CPSC issued a press release downplaying the lead risk based on very limited testing; and
• EPA plans to conduct its first field monitoring studies but admits that these limited tests will leave many questions unanswered.

+ Read the 2008 warning memo on “Potential Risks of Tire Crumbs” from EPA Region 8 (PDF; 226 KB)
+ View the June 2008 EPA PowerPoint presentation summarizing issues (PDF; 2.1 MB)
+ See the July 2008 EPA draft talking points to answer public and press inquiries (PDF; 157 KB)
+ Look at the weaknesses and limitations in EPA’s planned testing (PDF; 43 KB)
+ Peruse PEER letter to Lisa Jackson (PDF: 10 KB)

Via Docuticker.

The economics of climate change mitigation: how to build the necessary global action in a cost-effective manner (PDF; 1.9 MB)
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Economics Department

Key step towards the emergence of a single international carbon price will most likely involve the phasing out of subsidies of fossil fuel consumption and various forms of linking between regional carbon markets, ranging from direct linking of existing emission trading systems to more indirect forms through the use of sectoral crediting mechanisms.

Via Docuticker. The BBC has also reported on the findings.

Environmental assessment of passenger transportation should include infrastructure and supply chains (PDF; 1.3 MB)
Source: Environmental Research Letters

To appropriately mitigate environmental impacts from transportation, it is necessary for decision makers to consider the life-cycle energy use and emissions. Most current decision-making relies on analysis at the tailpipe, ignoring vehicle production, infrastructure provision, and fuel production required for support. We present results of a comprehensive life-cycle energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and selected criteria air pollutant emissions inventory for automobiles, buses, trains, and airplanes in the US, including vehicles, infrastructure, fuel production, and supply chains. We find that total life-cycle energy inputs and greenhouse gas emissions contribute an additional 63% for onroad, 155% for rail, and 31% for air systems over vehicle tailpipe operation. Inventorying criteria air pollutants shows that vehicle non-operational components often dominate total emissions. Life-cycle criteria air pollutant emissions are between 1.1 and 800 times larger than vehicle operation. Ranges in passenger occupancy can easily change the relative performance of modes.

Read the full post at Fivecentnickel.com.

Installing rain barrels is an excellent way to reduce runoff, keep storm water out of the municipal system, and save money. Pure rain collected from your rooftop has few contaminants, and is perfect for a variety of outdoor uses.

The idea of harnessing rainwater has intrigued me for years now, but I’ve never gotten around to implementing it. That is, until a few weeks ago when I stumbled on a promotion for heavily discounted, professionally crafted rain barrels. I was smitten!

Read the full story in Technology Review.

A comprehensive new analysis of water use in biofuel crop production finds that jatropha, an oil-rich plant championed for its ability to grow in arid regions where food crops cannot, is the biggest water hog of them all.

Researchers from the University of Twente, in the Netherlands, report in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that jatropha requires five times as much water per unit of energy as sugarcane and corn, and nearly ten times as much as sugar beet–the most water-efficient biofuel crop, according to the same study.

Aviation and Climate Change: Aircraft Emissions Expected to Grow, but Technological and Operational Improvements and Government Policies Can Help Control Emissions.  GAO-09-554, June 8.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-554
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d09554high.pdf

Biomonitoring:  EPA Needs to Coordinate Its Research Strategy and Clarify Its Authority to Obtain Biomonitoring Data.  GAO-09-353, April 30.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-353
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d09353high.pdf