Leonardo Academy Inc. is a nonprofit organization working on energy and environmental issues. Its Cleaner and Greener Program is focused on putting the competitive market to work for the environment. You can download their newsletter on green power which provides information on the costs, benefits, and issues affecting choices among different types of green energy. [sorry this link is no longer available]
Two active members of the group, New Mexico Friends of the Natural Step, were instrumental in getting the Santa Fe City Council to set up a Sustainable Santa Fe Task Force that will ultimately include five city departments and representatives from the environmental and business communities. The New Mexico Friends of The Natural Step has also published a three-year strategic plan for the state, available upon request, and is working hard on community sustainability issues. They are also collaborating with the city of Santa Fe on a construction waste re-use center. For more information contact Bruce David. There are regional working groups around the country. To get involved contact: tns@naturalstep.org [sorry this link is no longer available]
Visit the European Foundation Centre’s online Funders Directory. They produce a number of directories which list funders and their program interests, a European Grants Index, a guide to Environmental Funding in Europe. http://www.fundersonline.org [sorry this link is no longer available]
General Motors is collaborating in the World Resources Institute’s “Safe Climate, Sound Business” initiative – a partnership with British Petroleum and Monsanto based on the premise that “Leadership and commitment to action are necessary now to address the climate challenge.” The partners commit to measure emissions from their operations, develop new technologies to control them, educate employees, customers, and suppliers about climate-change issues, include “global climate considerations” in new investment decisions and encourage the government to eliminate fossil-fuel subsidies. When a Detroit News headline proclaimed “Global warming is real, GM says,” the automaker responded by toning down the wording of its message and calling the article “inaccurate.” GM’s response states, “there is enough cause for concern to take moderate cost actions to reduce global greenhouse-gas emissions and the risk from potential change.” Source: Calstart News
A variety of environmental businesses are leasing space at the Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center in Minneapolis, MN., which is in the process of being built. The 64,000 square foot office and manufacturing center is located on a former brownfield, and is a project of The Green Institute. The center will be a model green building with 100 percent daylighting, ground source heat pumps, a wind and solar energy system, and a 4800 square foot rooftop garden. At least 10 percent of the materials come from salvaged sources. The Green Institute mission is to create self-sufficient models of economic development with a focus on the emerging green business sector. Green Institute: 612-874-1148
College faculty have launched a nationwide campaign to persuade TIAA-CREF, the nation’s largest private pension system, to begin “positive investing” with their retirement funds. They are calling on the group to invest $150-300 million in assets from the Social Choice Account, a socially responsible fund, in companies and other financial institutions that are models of social and environmental responsibility. The Campaign was launched after an unsuccessful attempt to persuade TIAA-CREF, the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund, to try positive investing. In 1989, faculty successfully lobbied the group to create the Social Choice Account, now the largest socially responsible fund in the U.S. The account, which screens for tobacco, alcohol, nuclear, military, environmental, and Northern Ireland concerns, has posted returns comparable to those of TIAA-CREF’s standard stock fund. The Campaign now asks that 5-10% of Social Choice Account assets be invested in progressive companies. These might include companies that have exemplary records on employee relations, care for the environment, honesty with consumers, and contributions to local communities. Funds can also be allocated to community development banks. The investment would help such companies thrive, argue Campaign organizers, and enable them to serve as models of corporate responsibility for others […]
A new EPA website is devoted to Community-Based Environmental Protection. It promotes sustainable ecosystems and communities through an array of tools, resources, case studies, and links to other sites. One tool is the Green Communities Assistance Kit, designed to help community stakeholders conduct “do-it-yourself, integrated community planning.” [sorry this link is no longer available]
Thanks to a $14 million renovation, the Sheraton Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia will be at the forefront of environmental design in the hospitality market. Set to open by the end of this year, the 192-room hotel will occupy part of the 72-year old, 17-story mixed use Rittenhouse Regency building. The hotel is making indoor air quality (IAQ) one of its hallmarks. Its ventilation system will provide filtered outside air to occupied rooms 24 hours a day. Smoking will be prohibited throughout the hotel. Materials were selected with IAQ in mind, including paint and carpeting. Furniture is made from certified wood and only water-based glues are used. The bed sheets and curtains are made from organic cotton. At the center of the six-story atrium will be 60-foot bamboo trees. Bamboo was chosen because they take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen at a 35 percent higher rate than most other plants. “When a person is having breakfast in the atrium, the high amount of oxygen makes it feel like a ski mountain,” says Barry Dimson, president of EcoSmart Properties, one of developers. Lobby flooring is also made from bamboo. Dimson says because they were able to market these features, the hotel […]
Germantown, Wisconsin officials are looking for a developer for a conservation subdivision deserving of national recognition. The Conservation Fund offered assistance in the project design and will promote it as a model for protecting water quality in the Great Lakes region. “I hope it will change the way we do business,” says village planner Sig Strautmanis, “convincing us to use smaller lots and protect more open space.” Financial incentives are available – sewer-service area calculations will be based on total site size even though much of it will be preserved. The Conservation Fund has a two-year, $275,000 grant from the Great Lakes Protection Fund to set up conservation subdivisions in three Great Lakes communities. Two projects are already underway in Huron, Ohio and Niles, Michigan. The Conservation Fund’s sustainable community efforts: [sorry this link is no longer available] Source: GreenClips
Sun Power Electric, the world’s first all-solar electric utility, and Green Mountain Energy will cooperatively develop solar energy infrastructure in Pennsylvania. The first plant, to be built and owned by Sun Power, will be a 50kW plant near Philadelphia. Green Mountain Energy will purchase its output. It is expected to begin production this spring. As more customers sign on for renewable electricity products, they will build more capacity. The goal is to establish the largest network of solar plants in the eastern United States.
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