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The new Steelcase wood furniture manufacturing plant breaking ground now in Gaines Township, Michigan, will be the first manufacturing building of its size certified by the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program. William McDonough + Partners designed the building which is expected to reduce emissions by 70 percent over its existing facility, partly due to changing to a water-based finishing system. Steelcase is retiring the old facility’s unused emissions credits, which are valued at about $5 million. As many of you know, McDonough is in the process of revitalizing Ford Motor Company’s aging 1,212-acre Rouge Plant complex, which Bill Ford says, will soon become “a very visible testament to Ford’s commitment to environmental leadership and social responsibility.” His job is to transform this complex from a symbol of the Industrial Age – a sprawling, dirty facility – to a symbol of sustainable design. For more examples of McDonough + Partner’s recent work: [sorry this link is no longer available] Read a Detroit News article about McDonough’s re-design of the Rouge Plant complex. To learn more about LEED, read our current Feature article or visit the LEED website.
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A government appointed committee on climate change has been charged with developing a strategic plan to cut Sweden’s greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050. The group will also propose how the country should meet it Kyoto Protocol obligation to reduce emissions by two percent under 1990 levels between 2008-2012. The plan is expected to rely on energy efficiency incentives, emissions-based vehicle taxes, and wind subsidies. It may include the phase out of three greenhouse gas emissions – hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride – along with emissions trading of the other three gases. A three-year public information campaign will be used to prepare citizens for the impact of the measures. A plan to increase green taxes by five to seven percent over the next 10 years is included in the draft 2001 Swedish budget. Euros 3.6 billion (~US$3.46 billion) in taxes would be applied to the energy, transportation and agriculture sectors. It includes adjustments to green taxes currently in place as well as new measures to promote sustainable development, biological diversity, environmental monitoring and adult education. The final budget will be presented in the Fall. Source: Tax News Update
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As of January 1, 2000, individuals and businesses in North Carolina can take advantage of the most progressive renewable energy tax incentives in the country. A bill that gathers all renewable energy sources – biomass, hydroelectric, solar, daylighting and wind – into a single tax credit passed unanimously by both the House and Senate. All of these technologies qualify for a 35 percent credit, limited to the cost of installing each technology. Residential biomass, hydro, PV and wind are limited to $10,500 per system. The limit for residential solar hot water is $1400; active space heating and passive technologies, $3500. Commercial/industrial systems for all technologies is capped at $250,000. The NC Solar Energy Association Policy committee spearheaded the bill’s creation by gaining sponsorship commitments from Representatives Paul Juebke (D-Durham), Joe Hackney, (D-Chapel Hill), and Danny McComas (R-Wilmington). They worked together to craft the new tax credit bill which expanded an earlier bill that would otherwise have been subject to sunset provisions.
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In late April, President Clinton upped the ante when he issued two significant Executive Orders: Greening the Government Through Federal Fleet & Transportation Efficiency and Greening the Government Through Leadership in Environmental Management. The first order directs federal agencies to reduce petroleum consumption by improving fleet fuel efficiency and using alternative fuel vehicles and fuels. Agencies that operate 20 or more vehicles must reduce petroleum consumption by at least 20 percent by the end of fiscal year 2005, compared to 1999 levels. Agencies must use alternative fuels to meet the majority of fuel requirements established by section 303 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. The second order requires federal government agencies to incorporate environmental management systems into day-to-day decision making and long-term planning processes, including environmental accounting and lifecycle analysis. In doing so, pollution prevention, effective facility management, and sound procurement practices will enable agencies to reach the following goals: reduce toxic chemical releases by 10 percent annually, or by 50 percent by the end of 2006; phase out purchases of Class I ozone depleting substances for all non-exempted uses by the end of 2010; sustainably manage federal facility lands through environmentally sound landscaping practices. To read Clinton’s Executive […]
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During the past decade, pharmaceutical and natural products companies have been probing indigenous peoples’ knowledge to develop products from medicines to shampoos, often under the banner of “saving the rainforest.” Yet, more often than not, indigenous peoples do not receive payment in exchange for sharing their “intellectual property”. As a result, The Philippines, Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador and Costa Rica have passed intellectual property laws; Brazil,India, and Peru are considering similar laws. The Peruvian bill currently under consideration would require companies to pay a one-time licensing fee to the government for using native botanicals, and would require that .5 percent of company profits generated from their use go to a fund administered by and for indigenous groups. “That percentage is very reasonable,” says Steve King of Shaman Pharmaceuticals. “But it’s not clear what will actually go to the indigenous people.” Graham Dutfield, a researcher at Oxford University’s Working Group on Traditional Resource Rights, on the other hand believes, “Genocide has almost always been perpetrated by people acting for governments, not companies.” And once the laws are in place it can be very difficult for companies to get permits to study native flora and fauna. Since 1995, when the law was passed […]
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The Energy Policy Act mandates that by fiscal year 2000 federal buildings must use 20 percent less energy than 1985 levels. The feds beat the deadline by a year and have accrued $19 billion in savings. In addition, the Department of Energy reports they saved $2 billion in 1999 alone. The federal government is the single largest energy user in the U.S., accounting for almost two percent of total national consumption. Its annual energy bill runs at about $8 billion. The 20 percent savings translates into the energy needed to supply over 1.25 million households for a year. The departments that achieved the 20 percent reduction are: Departments of Energy, Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Justice, Transportation, NASA, Tennessee Valley Authority, and the US Postal Service. The agencies accomplished this goal through a variety of measures including purchase of Energy Star equipment, upgrading lighting and HVAC maintenance procedures. The Postal Service, for example, purchased 30,000 Energy Star exit signs resulting in $600,000 worth of savings from more efficient lighting.
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If your company is a technology based energy start-up, poised for strong growth and less than 24 months from market entry, it may be a candidate for a new incubator formed through a strategic alliance between the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The incubator is open to a variety of energy conservation and renewable energy companies, from technology-based spin-offs and fledgling start-ups to research-based companies. ATI is a program of the IC2 Institute of The University of Texas at Austin, known for providing start-up companies with the strategic, financial and management services they need to get off the ground. It has graduated 50 companies since 1989, five of which have gone public. NREL brings its extensive relationships to the table – international institutions, venture capital, multi-lateral lending institutions and national, state and local governments. NREL plans to start similar incubator alliances around the country. Last year, Texas passed the most progressive electric utility restructuring law in the nation which mandates 2000 megawatts of new renewable energy generation by 2009. This makes Texas a very attractive market for renewable energy. “As we have seen with information and communications technologies, we believe the rewards are potentially […]
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40 Brazilian companies from industries such as furniture, packaging, printing, and flooring have signed on to the Brazilian Buyers’ Group of Certified Timber. The group will purchase wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), according to Friends of the Earth, the non-profit responsible for organizing the group. Its goal is to slow illegal logging, which now accounts for 80 percent of deforestation in Brazil, by not buying this wood. In Europe, competition is heating up between the environmental non-profit-backed FSC and timber industry-backed Pan-European Forest Certification (PEFC) agency. Nine million hectares (34,740 square miles) are FSC certified in Sweden. PEFC is about to certify its first three national programs in Finland, Norway and Sweden, in what could amount to 25-30 million hectares (96,500 to 115,800 square miles) by year end. EU NGOs questions whether PEFC certification provides meaningful improvement in forest management. “They are trying to give the image of a credible label of sustainable forestry, but are really just labeling the status quo,” says Ellen von Zitzewitz of the World Wide Fund for Nature. She notes that adequate certification cannot occur at the speed at which at which PEFC certification is progressing. PEFC wants to certify 25 million […]
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As the seasonal ritual of spraying, weed killing, fertilizing and gardening gets underway, a group of 26 professional landscapers formed the first U.S. organic landscapers’ association, the Long Island Organic Horticultural Association. “We are going to change the market,” says Neil Lewis, executive director of the Long Island Neighborhood Network, the group that initiated the effort. The Network is also working to make Long Island the home of the first organic golf courses. It won a lawsuit last year which mandates that all new public golf courses in Suffolk County (the eastern half of Long Island) must consider organic methods in their plans. In Westhampton, Long Island, Jeff Frank of the Lyceum teaches organic methods to landscapers. “We are the only school in the country teaching these methods, which is the saddest thing I could tell you.” Part of his curriculum focuses on long term management; using organic methods initially costs more, but in the long run they cut expenses and restore landscapes to greater natural health. Organic landscaping is backed by numerous environmental and breast cancer organizations on Long Island. The Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition hands out “I am Fed Naturally,” pink flags for homeowners to proudly display […]
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First Home Depot agreed to stop sourcing wood from endangered forests, and was followed by Wickes and HomeBase, other major home improvement retailers. Now, the focus has moved to home builders, which consume 72 percent of U.S. lumber to build 1.2 million homes annually. As March closed, Centex Homes and Kaufman & Broad, two of the nations largest homebuilders, agreed to eliminate wood from endangered forests, phase in certified wood, implement wood-use efficiency measures in new home construction, and identify non-wood alternatives. The two companies combined build over 40,000 new homes each year. Centex Homes nets $5 billion in annual sales and has constructed 400 developments. The average new home uses well over 16,000 board feet of lumber. Most new homes contain dozens of wood components that originate in the world’s last remaining old growth forests: Cedar planks and shingles; Douglas Fir lumber; Hemlock molding and trim; Lauan hollow-core doors, plywood and paneling; Mahogany exterior doors. In a letter to Rainforest Action Network, the leader of the grassroots coalition behind this effort, Andrew Hannigan, Centex President, wrote, “As an industry leader committed to saving the world’s endangered forests, Centex Homes will, by the end of 2002, eliminate from our product […]
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