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This year’s top 10 green building projects selected by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) range from a 950-square-foot renovated cabin to a 125,000-square-foot office building, and include government, private, non-profit examples of exemplary building design. The design competition evaluates projects based on performance, aesthetics, community connection, and stewardship of the natural environment. According to the AIA, the award and the range of submissions it attracts demonstrate the market transformation underway in the U.S. and around the world. There is increasing recognition of the benefits of sustainable design to people, the environment, and to the bottom line. Examples of winning buildings: Edificio Malecon, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaArchitects: HOKBuilt on a reclaimed brownfield site, this 125,000-square-foot office building is designed as a long narrow slab to minimize solar gain. The broad north side which is the primary solar exposure, is shaped to track the sun and is fully shaded to eliminate direct solar gain during peak cooling months. A Green Roof keeps the roof cool and manages stormwater runoff. Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities, Ankeny, IowaArchitects: RDG Bussard DikisThis 13,000-square-foot training facility doubles was designed and constructed on a modest budget. It uses 48 percent less energy than an equivalent conventional building […]
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Labor is waking up to the power of its $7 trillion in worker pension funds and has formed a new alliance, the Heartland Labor Capital Network, to tap that power.
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"Values don't slow VanCity down. Rather, they give us a national and international profile few regionally based companies enjoy," says Dave Mowat, VanCity CEO, Canada's largest credit union.
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What role does the recycling industry play in the U.S. economy? Is it significant or not worth the effort? The U.S. EPA through a cooperative agreement with the National Recycling Coalition, recently released the first comprehensive nationwide study on this topic, the U.S. Recycling Economic Information Study. It clearly:* Shows the investment community that recycling is a viable, established industry with a proven track record. * Identifies business opportunities for entrepreneurs based on emerging commodity areas and industry sectors. * Provides recycling and reuse advocates and government agencies with information to build support for the industry. The study examined economic data from 26 different types of reuse and recycling businesses, from local thrift stores to major paper recycling companies. The U.S. recycling industry consists of over 56,000 businesses that gross some $236 billion in annual revenue. The industry employs over 1.1 million people with a payroll of $37 billion.As a driver of economic activity, the recycling industry compares favorably to other key industries, such as automobile manufacturing and mining. Recycling far outpaces the waste management industry because it adds value to materials. The industry contributes significantly to job creation and generally pays above the average national wage. Investing in local […]
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This is a busy year for shareholder resolutions according to a report released by the Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC) and the Social Investment Forum (SIF), “Towards a Shared Agenda: Emerging Corporate Governance and Social Issue Trends for the 2002 Proxy Season and 2001 Issues Review.” More than half (428) of the 712 shareholder resolutions filed thus far in 2002 focus on corporate governance issues a la Enron. Corporations seem to be more willing to negotiate and take action on resolutions this year due to heightened investor concern regarding disclosure and accounting. 32 proposals relate to auditing and another 35 relate to the independence of directors on key committees. 15 proposals ask companies to strengthen the link between executive compensation and performance, and/ or measures of corporate social responsibility. 261 resolutions address corporate responsibility; companies’ involvement in climate change is the fastest-growing category (18 resolutions this year, 7 last year). The campaign to persuade companies to improve, monitor, or report on their global labor practices is another high-profile proxy battle, with 45 global labor standards proposals filed. A key area to watch: how will investors and managements respond to the 31 proposals filed by U.S. labor union pension funds asking […]
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The new U.S. Organic Standards go into effect this October 21st. From that day on, agricultural products (production and handling facilities) can only be labeled “organic” in the U.S. if they meet national certification standards. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) accredited certifying agents are now posted on the USDA website – a major milestone toward full implementation of national organic standards.The USDA will oversee and enforce the entry of only qualified organic food products into the United States, thus providing shoppers with the assurance that all organic food products sold in the United States meet stringent standards. Four certification agencies from outside the United States are among those accredited by USDA.The new national organic standards will allow four different labeling options based on the percentage of organic ingredients in a product. 100 percent organic Organic (contains at least 95 percent organic ingredients by weight, excluding water and salt) Made with organic (contains between 70 to 95 percent organic ingredients) Products with less than 70 percent organic ingredients will list the organic items in the ingredient panel.The sample cereal boxes to the right illustrate the four labeling categories. From left: cereal with 100 percent organic ingredients; cereal with 95-100 percent organic […]
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By Rona Fried, Ph.D.Steel, often thought of as the symbol of the Industrial Revolution, now carries a recycling symbol. More than half the steel produced today is made from scrap. Paper mills are moving from the forest to the cities, as they hone in on the source of abundant feedstocks – scrap paper. In New Jersey, a state with little forest cover or iron ore, 13 paper mills run only on waste paper and eight steel mills manufacture steel largely from scrap. Why is this? Natural resources are increasingly scarce and thus more expensive; waste is plentiful and increasingly, abundant. The blueprint for how business is conducted is shifting from Industrial Age operating assumptions of “take, make and throw away” to fit the situation society faces today. It makes sense to use scare natural resources sparingly, and keep them circulating in the system. Society, in its instinctual desire to survive, is tightening the screws on companies that refuse to play by the new rules. The authors of Interface Inc.’s 1997 Sustainability Report say, “We believe institutions that continuously violate these [natural] principles will suffer economically. The walls of the funnel will continue to impose themselves in the form of environmentally […]
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Visions of growth have to be smart and clean, instead of dumb and dirty, exhorts Murray Hogarth in this month's Ecos Insight Column.
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Business Partners for Development Tri-Sector Partnering is a new management tool that harnesses the strengths of the private sector, civil society and government.
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After Steve Strong, president of Solar Design Associates, showed IBEW Local 332’s building committee and the membership how quickly solar is expanding in Europe and Japan, and in the U.S., the membership voted overwhelmingly to install PV on their building. The IBEW sees the importance of distributed on-site electricity generation using renewable energy sources, and the jobs associated with them as an important part of their future. Their new headquarters building in San Jose, California now features the largest commercial solar power installation west of the Mississippi. Designated as a Green Building model by the City of San Jose, the PV system generates 55 kilowatts of power, enough to provide for 70-80 percent of the building’s total electrical needs. The use of PV cuts the facility’s utility bill in half and sends power back to the utility grid. The building is located in the heart of Silicon Valley, home to high tech businesses, R & D labs, microchip manufacturers and biotech facilities. IBEW conducts tours of the building to architects, engineers, contractors, students and others interested in learning how to use solar energy in new or renovated commercial buildings. Most importantly, IBEW members installed the solar arrays themselves as part […]
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