green building

A look at how the environmental performance of America’s largest public companies stacks up

Source: NewsWeek

NewsWeek cut through the green chatter and compare the actual environmental footprints, management (policies, programs, initiatives, controversies), and reporting practices of big companies. NewWeek teamed up with two leading research organizations to create the most comprehensive rankings available. View our full methodology.

About Justin Ragusa

I am an Eco-Entrepreneur, author, and webmaster of PeoplePlanetProfitBlog.com I love living green and try to incorporate all I do in this industry. Let me know if you have any questions, I’ll show you how to make a rewarding and profitable career in the Energy Industry… just contact me.

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NYC Building Offers Clean Energy Education

Energy developer Beautiful Earth Group recently opened the New York Center for Sustainable Energy (NYCSE) at Pier 1 in Brooklyn Bridge Park. NYCSE is New York City’s first educational center to be completely net-zero and off grid, with a sustainable, modular design. It runs entirely on green energy and collects its own water supply. Besides providing information to visitors, it also provides power for the daily operations of Brooklyn Bridge Park by collecting and storing solar energy, which is used to power the park’s security and maintenance systems.

The Brooklyn location is NYSCE’s prototype location, and they hope to expand to have centers in other boroughs as well. Architecture and design firm Gensler helped develop the center, converting Brooklyn Bridge Park’s EV charging station, which was made from recycled shipping containers, into a modular series of classrooms and exhibit space. Many of the building materials were salvaged or repurposed, such as the Center’s benches, which are made from old wooden beams that washed up along the park’s shoreline.

Image via NYSCE

The mission of NYCSE is said to be to provide information and education for the public about clean energy, conducting tours and programs for students, and lectures and seminars for adults, and workshops for teachers and corporate sustainability executives.

In addition to this, NYCSE is also active in promoting electric vehicles and EV charging stations throughout New York City.

Holcim Awards Recognize Top Eco Projects

Can people-focused designs also make better use of our natural resources? The Holcim International Award says “yes,” and for the third year in a row put its money where its mouth is, handing out $300,000 in prizes to a variety of projects from across the U.S. and Canada at it North American awards ceremony this year in Washington, D.C.

The Holcim Gold Award went to the regional food-gathering nodes and logistics network Arctic Food Network, in Iqaluit, in the far-north Canadian territory Nunavut. This network helps to secure mobility between scattered Inuit communities, allows for improved distribution of local foods and serves as a series of bases for the reinforcement of traditional hunting practices. The infrastructure project by Lateral Office/InfraNet Lab based in Toronto and Princeton, N.J., is also said to establish new foundations for a sustainable, more independent economy. It took the top prize of $100,000.

image via Arctic Food Network/Holcim Foundation

The Holcim Silver Award went to a design for a two-level net zero energy certified school building to be constructed on multiple campuses throughout Los Angeles. This project uses “off-the shelf” components and modular panels to create a pre-fabricated system that features a double-layered façade for solar, acoustic, and environmental control that achieves a climate-responsive solution for each site. The project was applauded by the jury for its thoroughly developed and comprehensively presented design, led by architects at Swift Lee Office, which “manages the integration of a coherent technical and structural concept, yet retains spatial and conceptual simplicity.”

The Holcim Bronze Award went to Julie Snow Architects of Minneapolis for a border control station on the U.S. frontier to Canada at Van Buren, Maine. The approach meets “a range of stringent regulations for safety, operation and durability” while creating what the judges termed a “highly aesthetic structure” marking the national frontier. A net zero net energy profile – a challenge in Maine’s harsh climate, as well as in this remote location, especially considering the facility’s demand for energy 24 hours a day – was achieved through a combination of ground source heating and cooling, a solar wall to temper outside ventilation air, a ground-coupled heat pump, peaking biodiesel boilers, LED lights and lighting control systems to reduce fossil fuel consumption.

Other projects received acknowlegdments from among the total of 1600 entries received. More information is available online.

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Green IT Leader Surprise: Kaiser Permanente

The top ranking green IT organization of 2011 isn’t a computer company, it’s a national healthcare provider. So says Computerworld in its latest Top 12 List of Green-IT Organizations, which has Kaiser Permanente sitting at the top of the heap in the “Users” division. Companies were judged on a variety of green IT practices including reduced waste, carbon dioxide emissions and energy use.

Kaiser Permanente noted that was the only nationwide healthcare provider to make the list. One of the company’s notable achievements was at its Napa data center. By using cooling efficiency measures, electricity costs savings at the data center were $450,000, and the company also earned a $300,000 incentive from the local utility. The same data center was also awarded an Energy Star rating from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its cooling efficiency.

image via Kaiser Permanente

“A tag-team effort by Kaiser Permanente’s data center IT and facilities groups delivered a one-two punch to energy consumption in the company’s three data centers this year,” Computerworld wrote, “cutting an eye-popping 7.2 million kilowatt-hours of power from overall data center operations.”

As part of the organization’s effort to make the switch to electronic health records, the company has been able to reduce waste and decrease carbon footprints. According to company statistics, Kaiser avoided the use of 1,044 tons of paper for medical charts annually and eliminated carbon dioxide emissions by 92,000 tons by replacing face-to-face visits with virtual visits.

Despite using energy-consuming computers, Kaiser said the changes had a positive net effect: An Additional 7,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions were avoided by filling prescriptions online, and the use of toxic chemicals like silver nitrate were reduced by digitizing and archiving x-ray images and scans.

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LEED Gold Goes To University of Kentucky

The new University of Kentucky Davis Marksbury building, which officially opened this past February, was recently certified as a LEED Gold building, making it the first building at the that college to receive a LEED mark.

The Marksbury building, named for College of Engineering alumnus and lead donor Davis Marksbury, houses the UK Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments, and the departments of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering. The three-story, 45,014 square-foot building includes photovoltaic collectors on the roof, an energy recovery system that distributes the heat emitted from the supercomputer room throughout the building during the colder months and a ventilation system aimed at providing superior indoor air quality.

Image via University of Kentucky

“Receiving LEED Gold for this facility is a great success for our campus and one that we will certainly learn from and build upon as we work to integrate environmental stewardship and social well-being into all facets of the university,” said Shane Tedder, coordinator of UK’s Office of Sustainability.

The Marksbury Building is one-quarter of the UK’s “digital village” that will include high-tech research and teaching facilities.  It contains no traditional classrooms.  Instead, students and faculty use the building’s vast lab space to conduct research through unprecedented methods and new technologies. The open design encourages collaboration among UK faculty and students, as well as other institutions across a wide range of disciplines.

Become a Green Earthling Deal email subscriber by Friday, November 4 and you could win a $100 Amazon gift card courtesy of EarthTechling!

Philanthropy Goes Green In Santa Cruz

The Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County has a brand new green building to call home, the Jack and Peggy Baskin Center for Philanthropy. This 9,200-square-foot facility, designed by Mark Cavagnero Associates of San Francisco and constructed by Devcon Construction at a cost of $9.3 million (including the cost of purchase for the land), recently earned LEED Gold for its sustainable design.

Green features include a cool roof, natural daylighting, natural ventiliation, a solar photovoltaic system, FSC certified wood, recycled and/or locally sourced construction materials and low VOC adhesives and finishes throughout. The building features both operable windows and indvidual controls for heating and cooling by room, allowing individuals working and meeting in the building to stay comfortable without having to expend fuel on unoccupied areas. (The center features two large, adjoining, meeting rooms, with seating capacity for up to 60 people, and three smaller conference room that can accommodate 6-12 people each.)

image via Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County

Low-flow water features reduce water use within the building, while the use of native, drought-tolerant plants in the building’s surrounding landscape reduces water use outside. A “green screen” of climbing plants helps to provide shade for the center, helping to keep it cool during the summer, then dropping its leaves to allow in light and warmth during the winter months.

The Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County was established in 1982 as a permanent resource for local philanthropy. It helps to connect donors with nonprofit groups through grants and charitable resources, and awarded $3.9 million in 2009.

Become a Green Earthling Deal email subscriber by Friday, Nov. 4, and you could win a $100 Amazon gift card courtesy of EarthTechling!

Clean Tech News Briefs November 1, 2011

EarthTechling looks at a lot of interesting clean tech news daily as we consider what items to have our staff write about. Here are some green tech news gems we found while researching online you might consider reading more on in today’s Clean Tech News Briefs.

image via Shutterstock

Green giants. The Infrastructurist rates the tallest buildings in the world by their energy efficiency and green features. Check out their slide show to see about the greenness of buildings from Dubai to Taipei to Chicago.

Big solar projects finding homes in California. California’s Mojave Desert is the site of huge solar farm projects, reports San Jose Mercury News. Currently, the projects are generating hundreds of construction jobs, and by 2013, the desert will be the home of the largest solar thermal plant in the world.

Ups and downs of clean tech investing. The Washington Post examines the decline in federal investment into clean tech industries, and wonders if, in the face of competition, cheap natural gas, and the collapse of Solyndra, private sector investors will be willing to put more money into this market.

Looking our for sea life while harnessing wave energy. After witnessing the controversy over habitat protection faced by solar and wind projects, Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland and IBM are starting a project to determine the safest and most habitat-friendly way to develop marine energy farms, says Forbes.

Geothermal in Chile and California. Triple Pundit reports that at the Geothermal Energy Association’s 2011 Expo in San Diego, Ormat Andina, the Chilean branch of Nevada’s Ormat Technologies, was awarded exploration concessions for its five potential project sites. They also talk about the progress of geothermal energy in California.

Weighing solar options. At CleanTechnica, the costs of feed-in tariffs are weighed against solar renewable energy credits to determine which option is more financially viable for consumers, and which will help solar energy gain popularity.

Greening Commercial Buildings Is LA’s Focus

The Clinton Climate Initiative is all over energy efficient retrofits for commercial buildings these days, and its latest endeavor – with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group – is the LA Commercial Building Performance Partnership. This is an American Recovery and Reivestment Act-funded program designed to help owners of commercial properties make their buildings more energy and water efficient, saving tenants cash they can then go out and use to stimulate the local economy. The program is also part of Energy Upgrade California, a state-wide initiative focused on reducing energy consumption in existing buildings.

Villaraigosa noted, in a statement, that since commercial buildings in LA account for 57 percent of the city’s total energy consumption, it has a large built-in market for such retrofits (and is also in dire need of the quality of air and quality of life benefits expected to spring from this program). The city is a green jobs titan, and Villaraigosa said that, “Once again, Los Angeles is leading the way in finding innovative methods to promote environmental stewardship that also benefits our local economy.”

image via Pike Research

Until now, commercial building owners interested in reducing their energy bills faced challenges, such as how to identify and implement energy-saving measures and how to fund the cost of the upgrades. The LA Commercial Building Performance Partnership seeks to address both of these challenges by funding energy savings assessments (through the Recovery Act) and introducing “innovative financing options” to increase the supply of capital to fund retrofits. One financing option available through the program is called property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing, in which building owners can secure funds for energy upgrades and repay the costs through their property tax bill, payable over a period of up to 20 years.

Energy assessments covering more than 12 million square feet of commercial building space are already under way as part of the early stage pilot program of the LA Commercial Building Performance Partnership, with participating buildings ranging in size from less than 10,000 square feet to more than one million square feet and ranging from factories to high-rise offices, hotels and retail stores.

Brooks Makes Tracks Into Seattle

In good green jobs news for Seattle, Brooks Sports has announced that it will relocate its global headquarters from the suburb of Bothell to the “living building” development planned by Skanksa USA for 3400 Stone Way in the city’s Fremont neighborhood. According to Mayor Mike McGinn, this means 300 new jobs for Seattle.

This building, currently under development, has been enrolled in the city’s Living Building Pilot Program, which seeks to develop ultra-green buildings in line with the standards set by Seattle’s own Living Building Challenge. Toward that end, the development will consume less energy than a conventionally constructed commercial building and provide much (if not all) of its own power onsite.

image via Brooks Sports

According to Brooks Sports, the company will occupy roughly 80,000 usable square feet of the 120,000-square-foot building starting in late 2013. A critical factor for the brand, whose motto is “Run Happy,” is the fact that this new green building under developmet by Skanksa is across the street from Seattle’s popular Burke-Gilman Trail around Lake Union, a popular route for runners. The ground floor of the building will house the brand’s first ever retail concept shop.

McGinn said in a statement that this news “shows that Seattle has what it takes to attract significant new investment even in these tough economic times.” He also said Skanska’s response to the Seattle Living Building Pilot Program is evidence of regulatory reform facilitating job creation in a way that’s a win for both business and the city as a whole.

NJ Elementary Adds Green Tech to Class

New Jersey, which has seen a solar boom in recent years, now adds to the nation’s growing list of green schools with the Midtown Community Elementary School in Neptune. The school recently took top honors with LEED, securing Platinum certification from the U. S. Green Building Council.

This elementary school, designed by SSP Architectural Group and completed in 2008, also bears the distinction of  being the largest of those 25 K-5 schools certified LEED Platinum in the United States. It makes use of energy management strategies including geothermal heating/cooling, under-flow air delivery, and solar photovoltaics, reducing energy costs for the local school district.

image via Neptune Midtown Community School

None of which is lost on the school’s 700 students, as the building’s green features have been turned into teaching tools designed to enhance the educational experience. Glass doors on mechanical closets reveal the school’s energy saving systems in action, while transparent raised flooring displays the school’s cabling systems; a rooftop garden (designed with Liberty Science Center) offers 6,000 square feet of green space perfect for outdoor experiments.

In fact, all this green tech so close at hand has led to a development of a specialized curriculum for environmental studies, now in place at all Nepture District schools.

Living Sustainably On A College Campus

by Jennifer Wolfe, Planet Forward

THIS WEEK: Our friends at Second Nature have launched Campus Sustainability Day, so this week’s webisode features videos submitted to Planet Forward from audience members like YOU! We profile three schools that are working toward more sustainable college campuses.

image via Shutterstock

FROM OUR EXPERTS: See what sustainability chief Meghan Chapple-Brown has to say about what campuses can do to become sustainable.

FROM OUR NEWSDESK: Thanks to PFF Joel Goldberg for offering a little support! Check out this article he submitted about how women’s bras could be used as fuel.

FROM OUR PARTNERS: Planet Forward showcases videos from across the country, submitted by viewers like YOU. Show us what’s happening on your campus just like  Caldwell College and University of Nebraska have done!

FROM NBR: Middlebury College of Vermont knows what it means to be sustainable. The team won Planet Forward’s contest and was featured in last week’s PBS Nightly Business Report!

Editor’s note: This video content comes to us as a cross post courtesy of Planet Forward. Author credit for the post goes to Jennifer Wolfe.

Government Challenge: Reduce Buildings’ Energy

The U.S. government has issued a challenge to the private sector – reduce the amount of energy consumed in federal buildings. Called, The Net Zero Renovation Challenge and announced by the U.S. General Services Administration, the initiative aims to reduce buildings’ energy through Energy Service Performance Contracts (ESPCs).

ESPCs work when a a private-sector energy services company develops and installs energy saving systems a building. These systems can include: energy efficient lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, in addition to more efficient roofs, walls, doors and windows.  The owner of the building will then repay the energy company for the upgrades over a maximum 25-year period. After the capital is paid, the building owner enjoys energy savings for the life of the building.

image via Shutterstock

U.S. General Services Administrator, Martha Johnson said in a statement that the challenge is an extension of President Obama’s Executive Order 13514, which challenges government to lead by example in environmental, energy and economic performance.

As part of the challenge, 16 energy services companies who provide ESPCs to federal agencies will present the best retrofit plans for 30 Federal buildings across the country.  The projects will be evaluated by a panel of independent experts who will look at energy savings, financial and technical innovation and applicability to other federal buildings. The winning entries will be awarded the ESPCs, as well as additional ESPCs in the future.

Twin Living Towers Planned for Milan

High-density housing has long been touted as a solution for preserving green space while allowing cities to expand. But what if the high-rise itself were the green space? That seems to be the idea behind Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) by Boeri Studio, a project designed to contribute to the regeneration of the environment and urban biodiversity without expanding the city’s physical footprint.

According to Greenlaunches, the two residential Vertical Forest towers planned for Milan, Italy, stand 110 and 76 meters (360 and 249 feet) respectively and will be home to more than 900 trees, as well as shrubs and floral plants. Comprising 10,000 square meters (32,000 square feet) of green area, these “twin towers” will help to produce humidity, absorb greenhouse gases and dust particles, and produce oxygen for the city. The project is currently in the final working plan phase, and will be constructed at a cost of $87.5 million.

image via Boeri Studio

All those plants will be irrigated, largely, using the building’s filtered and reused greywater. Additionally, wind power and photovoltaic solar energy systems will help to increase the self-sufficiency of these two towers, while the plants will help to regulate temperatures within the building, reducing demands on the building’s heating and cooling systems.

The plan is for the management and maintenance of the Vertical Forest’s vegetation to be entrusted to an agency with an office housed within the towers that will be open to the public, no doubt serving as a clearing house for information on these iconic green buildings. The developer is Hines Italia.

5 Amazing Structures Made from Plastic Bottles

1. EcoARK

The innovative and very impressive EcoARK in Taiwan is a monument to recycling. The three-story tall building, complete with an amphitheater and exhibition hall, was constructed using 1.5 million plastic bottles. Embedded solar power helps to run the building’s magnificent LED light displays at night. The Far Eastern Group, which commissioned the building, wanted to highlight the importance of reusing and recycling in a country where, according to The China Post, the plastic bottle recycling rate is only four percent.

2.Plastiki

Last year, Plastiki, the boat made from 12,500 plastic bottles, crossed the Pacific Ocean – from San Francisco to Sydney – in about four months. The boat was made from mostly recycled materials, including the plastic bottles, reclaimed aluminum irrigation pipe and hand-made PET cloth, which was used for the sail.

3. Hug It Forward

Hug It Forward does many things, but one fundamental aspect of their community empowerment focus is the bottle school. The organization works with communities in Guatemala to collect littered plastic bottles and build schools out of the waste. Not only does this program help clean up the environment, it also helps communities join together and build something with long-term positive potential. Learn more about Hug It Forward and their bottle schools here.

4. Midwest Floating Island

Midwest Floating Island uses recycled plastic bottles in their water purification systems, which are basically little islands “designed to support vegetation above the waterline and beneficial microbial habitat below,” according to the website. So, not only do these islands reuse plastic bottles, they also provide habitat and clean the water. Recently, the floating islands were used to help clean Spring Lake in Minneapolis.

5. Sustainable Communities Initiatives

Sustainable Communities Initiatives in Scotland designs and helps build greenhouses made from plastic bottles. This project has been incorporated especially in schools, because the children learn not only how to built the structure, but also the importance of reducing and reusing. But anyone can do it; you just need hundreds of plastic bottles, a little know-how and a few hours of hard work.

Editor’s Note: Earth911 partners with many industries, manufacturers and organizations to support its Recycling Directory, the largest in the nation, which is provided to consumers at no cost. The International Bottled Water Association is one of these partners. Article originally posted on Earth911.com.