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Japan Takes the Lead

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Half the world's PV systems are in Japan, where it's considered a fashion statement, a status symbol, and the "cool" thing to do.

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The Proliferation of LEED

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At this year's Greenbuild conference, Canada, Mexico and China announced major green building initiatives, and two new versions of LEED were launched.

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Energy Efficiency Takes Root at Habitat for Humanity

Can low-income builders afford the luxury of building green? That question is being tested at some Habitat for Humanity affiliates. The most common green building approach used in Habitat homes – many of which are three bedroom, one bath dwellings built for under $50,000 – is to meet Energy Star ratings. That’s the U.S. EPA’s standard that increases efficiency 20-30% by installing efficient appliances, lighting, super-insulation and by tightly sealing the building envelope. Affiliates also seek ways to boost indoor air quality by reducing or eliminating products that offgas volatile organic chemicals (VOCs). Call this a “light green” approach. “We want energy efficiency to be our standard model, not an upgrade,” says Nevil Eastwood, director of construction and environmental resources at Habitat for Humanity International in Americas, Georgia.Each of the 1700 U.S. Habitat affiliates controls its own building practices, and some want to go further. “We’re open to that,” says Eastwood. “But we’re building homes for people who earn about 30% of the median income for the area, so that doesn’t leave much wiggle room.”To get to “medium green,” says Kevin Sullivan, advocacy director for Habitat’s New York City affiliate in Brooklyn, the group considers practices that are good for […]

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CSR Survey: Are We Making Progress?

Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, just released the results of surveys conducted at the European Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility (Maastricht, November 7-9) and the BSR Annual Conference (New York City, November 9-12).Covering themes ranging from the competitive advantages of implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR), to the impact of governments and markets on company integration of CSR, top-line findings from the nearly 400 completed surveys in Europe and the U.S. include:* CSR is not yet being widely or deeply integrated into core business functions with only 10% of respondents asserting that current integration is adequate.* Senior executives and line managers hold substantially different views regarding the degree to which CSR is successfully implemented in their organizations.* Financial markets are widely seen as offering inadequate incentives for companies to adopt CSR practices.* Government solutions that encourage CSR implementation, though more broadly supported in Europe than the U.S., still face significant resistance in both places.* Three-quarters of respondents expect that there will be legally-mandated accountability measures over the next few years, especially in areas like reporting.While the results reveal real deficits in the delivery and practice of CSR, respondents hold a very strong and ‘bullish’ […]

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