People, Projects, and Programs

Fifteen Schools Dropped from ACUPCC for Noncompliance

For the first time, the American College & Univer-sity Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) has dropped signatories to its voluntary sustain-ability initiative. The group’s steering committee removed 15 institutions from its online network and online progress reporting system because they have not met any of their deadlines since signing onto the plan several years ago, according to Anthony Cortese, president of Boston-based Second Nature, ACUPCC’s lead supporting organization.

Institutions removed were Birmingham-Southern College (AL), Charles R. Drew University of Medi-cine & Science (Willowbrook, CA), Chicago State University, College of the Sequoias (Visalia, CA), Crafton Hills College (Yucaipa, CA), Hiwassee Col-lege (Madisonville, TN), Interdenominational Theo-logical Center (Atlanta), North Central Michigan College (Petoskey, MI), Palo Verde College (Blythe, CA), Salem Community College (Carneys Point, NJ), San Bernardino Community College District (CA), San Bernardino Valley College (CA), Spring-field Technical Community College (MA), The University of the Arts (Philadelphia), and Webster University (Webster Groves, MO), according to ACUPCC Program Director Toni Nelson. The insti-tutions had “a variety of reasons” for their inactivity, she says. However, not all of the schools will remain off the list. Interdenominational Theological, which has a new president, has since re-signed the commit-ment. “I expect the same will happen with several of the other schools,” Nelson says.

According to Cortese, all 15 schools missed the first three initial reporting requirements: an implemen-tation profile due within two months of their start date, a greenhouse gas emissions inventory due within one year of their start date, and a climate action plan due within two years of their start date. The Presidents’ Climate Commitment was launched in December 2006 and has grown from 12 initial signees to 674 as of late August this year, representing

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5.8 million students or approximately one-third of the nation’s total post-secondary student population.

Google Enters Green Energy Business

Google is officially in the green energy business. The communications giant’s power subsidiary, Google Energy, recently signed a 20-year purchasing agree-ment with Miami-based NextEra Energy Inc., the nation’s biggest wind power producer. As of August 1, 2010, Google began buying 114 megawatts of Iowa wind farm-produced energy. Financial terms were not announced. According to Google Energy Vice President of Operations Urs Hoelzle, Google Energy will sell the power on the regional spot mar-ket, where utilities and electricity retailers go to buy power when demand spikes and they have a short-fall. Google will use the revenue from spot market sales to buy renewable energy certificates (RECs), which will offset its greenhouse gas emissions. But there’s an extra environmental bonus: taking all of that nature-produced power off the market will force producers to develop and build additional energy capacity for other customers. And with the long-term purchase of renewable energy at a predeter-mined price, “we’re partially protecting ourselves against future increases in power prices,” Hoelzle says. “This is a case where buying green makes busi-ness sense.”

Consumer Confidence in Green Products Drops

Consumer confidence in green products has dropped back to its mid-2009 recession level, according to the latest quarterly update from the Green Confi-dence Index (GCI). According to Amy Hebard, chief research officer at Syracuse, NY-based marketing firm Earthsense LLC, one of GCI’s three sponsors, the Index now registers at 101.4, which is close to the 100.0 baseline established in July 2009, but far below the 106.5 reached in April 2010. The decline is believed to be the result of a lagging economy, which

MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC. • VOL. 3 NO. 5 • OCTOBER 2010 • DOI: 10.1089/sus.2010.9751 SUSTAINABILITY 259

According to Google Energy, taking all of that nature-produced power off the market will force producers to develop and build additional energy capacity for other customers.

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has people more cautious about spending money. Environmentally friendly items routinely cost more than their nongreen counterparts. However, the Index shows modest signs of progress, indicat-ing that more Americans are satisfied with product information and younger adults are increasing their green purchases. “We consistently see a pent-up de-mand for more green products,” Hebard says. “As the economy improves, and people’s financial stability increases, the trend can only be up. Clearly, we’re not there yet.”

Caltech-Led Team Awarded $122 Million for Solar Project

A multidisciplinary team of scientists has been awarded $122 million to establish an Energy Inno-vation Hub aimed at developing new ways to gen-erate fuels directly from sunlight. The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), to be led by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, will “bring together leading researchers in an ambitious effort aimed at simulating nature’s photosynthetic appa-ratus for practical energy production,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman says. Funding will be spread over five years, with JCAP initially receiving $22 million. The long-term goal for the project is to develop the integrated solar energy-to-chemical fuel conversion system to a point where it can be commercialized. “The Energy Innovation Hubs have enormous potential to advance transfor-mative breakthroughs,” Poneman explains. “Finding a cost-effective way to produce fuels as plants do—combining sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide—would be a game changer, reducing our dependence on oil and enhancing energy security.” The center will be housed in the Jorgensen Laboratory building on the Caltech campus. Other participating institu-tions include the SLAC National Accelerator Labo-ratory, Stanford University; University of California at Berkeley; UC Santa Barbara; UC Irvine; and UC San Diego.

EPA, UWM Pursue Creation of Green Infrastructure

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is work-ing with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) to develop new uses and regulations for “green infrastructure”— the type of landscaping, vegetation, and materials that help manage storm water and reduce flooding. According to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, the effort began after torrential rainfall led to flash floods in the Milwaukee area in late July 2010. The EPA-UWM agreement is intended to focus on broad areas of water treatment, conservation, and reuse-technology sectors that are “crucial to Milwaukee’s ambition to establish itself

as a center of water-related research, engineering, and technology,” Jackson states. She notes that green infrastructure manages storm water not as waste water, but as a valued resource. For example, dur-ing the summer, much of Milwaukee sustained flooding due to widespread paving, which gives storm water fewer places to soak into the ground. Such areas gather contaminants and sediments before discharging into nearby waterways, where they can increase flooding and pollution. “Not all contaminants flow from a pipe,” Jackson says. In contrast, areas that allow for natural seep-age, such as specific parking lots at UWM, repre-sent green infrastructure at work and are “ideal examples of what we’d like to do with this project.”

China Shutters 2,000 Factories To Save Energy, Reduce Pollution

China’s government has ordered the closure of more than 2,000 steel and cement mills and other facto-ries as an attempt to reduce waste and improve the nation’s beleaguered environment. The energy-ineffi-cient facilities produce steel, coke, aluminum, paper, and other materials throughout China, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Tech-nology. The country is attempting to reduce overall energy consumption by 20 percent by the end of this year in accordance with its five-year plan to improve energy efficiency. China is the world’s biggest steel producer and a major producer of other industrial materials, and its newest facilities are equipped with the latest technology. But there are thousands of small, outdated paper mills and other businesses that local authorities have been reluctant to close for the sake of jobs and tax revenue. According to the World Bank, Chinese industries use 20 to 100 percent more energy per unit of output than their U.S., Japanese, and European counterparts. Chinese officials say their energy use is 3.4 times the world average.

More Schools Use Green Efforts To Attract Students

Colleges and universities nationwide are increasing-ly using their green efforts as a way of attracting stu-dents who are serious about environmental issues. According to Mark Orlowski, executive director of the Sustainable Endowments Institute in Cambridge, MA, all types of schools—large, small, public, and private—are incorporating a sustainability mes-sage during the admissions and student orientation processes. In 2009, just over one-fourth of schools stressed their envirofriendliness to draw students. A year later, that total has jumped to almost 70 per-cent, according to SEI’s annual College Sustainability Report Card. Some institutions, such as Green Moun-tain College in Poultney, VT, are ahead of the game, having spread the green message for years. Others,

“Finding a cost-effective way to

produce fuels as plants do—

combining sunlight, water, and carbon

dioxide—would be a game changer,

reducing our dependence on oil

and enhancing energy security.”

260 SUSTAINABILITY MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC. • VOL. 3 NO. 5 • OCTOBER 2010 • DOI: 10.1089/sus.2010.9751

Upfront

Daniel Poneman

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such as Colorado State University in Fort Collins, are pointing to current efforts, such as the school’s new solar power plant—the largest in the nation, according to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education in Denver. But in the end, it’s the students’ dedication to the cause that matters most, Green Mountain Dean of Enrollment Management Sandra Bartholomew says. “What we’re going after,” she notes, “are people who embrace the values of honoring the planet.”

Recycled Modular Classrooms Give New Look to Middle School

Middle school students in Salinas, CA, started the new school year in something old—classrooms made primarily of recycled materials. Bolsa Knolls Middle School now has six Gen7 modular class-rooms featuring a large number of recycled and re-cyclable materials, low- and zero-VOC interiors, and ecofriendly insulation in the roof and within each classroom’s walls. In addition, “smart” lighting with natural daylight harvesting, and energy-efficient mechanical and electrical systems, ensure that each classroom exceeds California Title 24 Energy Code by more than 30 percent, according to Tony Sarich, vice president of operations for Manteca, CA-based American Modular Systems Inc., manufacturer of Gen7. The units were completed in two months and exceed the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) criteria for learning environments that are healthy, comfortable, resource-efficient, and easy to maintain. As such, they are the nation’s first modular classrooms to receive CHPS verification for a new school on an existing campus, Sarich says.

The developer notes that it’s not hard to get moti-vated about green schools; their students typically enjoy 20 percent higher test scores, fewer absences, lower healthcare costs, and higher teacher retention. They’re also low maintenance and save school dis-tricts up to $100,000 per year in direct cost savings, and long-term savings of more than 30 percent, Sar-ich adds. Eight additional Gen7 buildings and a boys and girls restroom facility are planned for the cam-pus in late fall 2010 and will be ready for use when the students return from winter break, he says.

Hybrid Cars Continue To Capture Automakers’ Attention

Auto manufacturers are continuing to view all-elec-tric or hybrid vehicles as a market of the future, with Ford, Volkswagen, and Honda all announcing plans to enter or expand their presence in the alternative fuel market. This fall, Ford is launching a three-year campaign aimed at environmentally conscious driv-ers, with the Dearborn, MI-based carmaker focus-ing on redesigned versions of consumer favorites.

The Explorer is slimming down to a four-cylinder model for the first time, while a technology-heavy Fiesta takes to the road, hoping to attract the young-er crowd. Mainstays like the Mustang and the Taurus will also get emission-friendly makeovers. Mean-while, Honda plans to roll out plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles to expand its low-emission car line-up, with the first expected to reach the U.S. market in 2012, according to Honda Motor Co. Chief Executive and President Takanobu Ito. And Volkswagen AG is aiming to develop a series of new hybrid and electric vehicles that it hopes will make up 3 percent of its total global sales by 2018. “I’m deeply convinced that Volkswagen will play a key role in the electrification of vehicles,” CEO Martin Winterkorn says.

Ohio DOT To Test Living Sound Wall along Interstate

No one knows if it will work as planned, but Ohio’s Department of Transportation (ODOT) is going ahead with plans to install a 400-foot-long green sound wall along one side of Interstate 70 near Columbus. According to ODOT spokesperson Scott Varner, the noise wall, made from vegetation instead of concrete, will initially consist of 70-pound bags stacked atop one another that will sprout plants and grass over the next two years. “It’s like a Chia (Pet) wall,” Varner says. “We’re basically filling bags with dirt and seed, watering it and watching it grow up and out.” Like the novelty plant on the windowsill, it will take some care in the beginning, and ongo-ing maintenance. The hope is that the 12-foot-high structure will muffle road noise while also cleaning the air; it will also look more natural than a con-crete barrier. But the project faces a lot of unan-swered questions: building a sound wall of dirt and plants, as opposed to concrete, wood, or Plexiglas,


It’s not hard to get motivated about green schools; their students typically enjoy 20 percent higher test scores, fewer absences, lower healthcare costs, and higher teacher retention.

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has never been tested. Cold weather or salty runoff from the Interstate could ruin the vegetation, and excessive rain could cause the whole wall to erode onto the roadway. It’s not a cheap experiment, either. The price tag comes to almost $4 million per mile, almost three times as much as a traditional concrete sound wall of the same size and length. In theory, the wall could last for 75 years; or, it could be done after the first Ohio winter. “At this point, it’s more of a research project than a construction project,” Var-ner says.

Prince Charles Urges Citizens To Live SustainablyPrince Charles has launched a new initiative designed to encourage British citizens to “do more of the everyday little things” needed to live a sustain-able lifestyle. The 61-year-old heir to the throne says that too often, people view “becoming more sustain-able” as a threat to their quality of life or a risk to the economy. But the Prince insists that small, simple measures can be taken that would make the journey fun and more positive. The initiative, “Start,” operat-ing under the slogan, “Let’s start something good,” urges citizens to do one thing that makes an envi-ronmental difference. Charles himself recycles bath water to use on the garden and turns old curtain fab-ric into fashionable bags. He plans to host a garden party in the fall to unveil other green ideas to friends. “Looking after our small, fragile, and stressed planet is not about doom and gloom, sitting in the dark, or not having nice things,” Charles says. “It is perfectly possible that taking action ... can actually help to cre-ate more attractive communities, enhanced health, more worthwhile lives, jobs, and security. And that it is possible to have fun on the way.”

Los Angeles Considers Solar Feed-in TariffA coalition of business, environmental, and non-profit organizations led by the Los Angeles Business Council (LABC) has launched a campaign to create a 600-megawatt solar feed-in tariff program for the city. According to LABC President Mary Leslie, the program, the nation’s largest, would enable residents and businesses to install solar panels on their prop-erty and sell excess power back to the electrical grid, thus helping the city meet renewable energy goals. Approximately 3 percent of the city’s energy needs could be met and more than 11,000 local green jobs generated by the program, Leslie says.

The project is based on a recent study by the Uni-versity of California at Los Angeles Luskin Center for Innovation, which concluded that a feed-in tar-iff in Los Angeles could produce energy at a lower cost than the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s other potential sources over a 10-year period, while also providing program participants

Prince Charles himself recycles

bath water to use on the garden and

turns old curtain fabric into

fashionable bags.


Upfront

with a 5 to 7 percent return on their investment. “Los Angeles is uniquely positioned to create one of the world’s most cost-effective and ambitious feed-in tariff programs because of our abundant year-round sunshine, the large prevalence of rooftop space, and the ability of local business to use tax credits to cover approximately 40 percent of the cost of install-ing solar panels,” says Luskin Center Director J.R. DeShazo, the study’s lead author. The project has been successful elsewhere: Since 2004, Germany has used a nationwide feed-in tariff program to create the world’s largest solar market, despite the country’s marginal sunlight. That program has helped to create more than 100,000 jobs in six years, DeShazo notes.

Poland, Sweden Are Kings of Wind Energy Market in EuropeDemand for wind energy in Europe will turn Poland and Sweden into windmill-based powerhouses, according to a report by London-based research firm Frost & Sullivan. The company’s report, “Invest-ment Opportunities in the Wind Energy Sector in Europe,” indicates that Poland will continue to be the largest wind energy market in Central and East-ern Europe for at least the next several years, while Sweden has the highest potential market growth in Western Europe. Poland’s market has doubled ev-ery year since 2005 due to a growing wind turbine manufacturing presence on the continent. Sweden, on the other hand, has the land and the natural resource—wind—that can result in major market growth through 2020, perhaps one day surpassing Poland, according to Frost & Sullivan. The coun-try’s installed wind capacity has already doubled since 2007, although the number of ongoing projects in the nation just went into double digits in 2009. Poland, meanwhile, has set high standards for itself: by 2020, it hopes to have increased its wind energy output by 10 times its current levels.

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Cal Poly Pomona Turns Recycling into a Dream Effort

The California State Polytechnic University at Pomona has become the first college in the nation to offer a “Dream Machine” to better educate students about recycling. The school, in conjunction with PepsiCo and Houston-based Waste Management Inc., recently installed three Dream Machine recycling kiosks that give students a bonus lesson about the benefits of giving their cans and plastic bottles a second shot at usefulness. According to Cal Poly Pomona Director of Foundation Services Brett Roth, each unit has a wireless Internet connection that allows consumers to learn more about recycling, accumulate points for rewards, and keep track of their recycling activities. The large blue machines, similar in size and shape to a Red Box DVD rental, have a touch-screen display, a scanner, and designated slots for bottles and cans. Cal Poly Pomona’s goal is to recycle 20,000 bottles and cans by December 2010, Roth says. The university does not profit from the machines, but for every bottle or can recycled, PepsiCo makes a donation to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, a national program offering free, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business manage-ment to post‐9/11 veterans with disabilities, according to Jeremy Cage, PepsiCo’s head of the Dream Machine recycling initiative in Purchase, NY.

Animal Bedding Joins Compost Pile at Emory University

Move over, discarded food and natural waste—there’s a new product for the compost pile: animal bedding. Students at Emory University in Atlanta now col-lect the wood waste used by the school’s laboratory rats and mice and send it back to Mother Nature. According to Emory Recycling Manager Deena Keeler, the university first considered composting the creatures’ noninfectious bedding materials—as opposed to traditional burning, then burial in landfills—in mid 2009. But it wasn’t until the end of the year that the school actually found a facility that would take the product. Greenco Environmen-tal, about 90 miles away in Barnesville, in late 2009 became the state’s only certified solid waste handling facility. The company already handles Emory’s food composting. Emory officials call the program “a breakthrough,” noting that 68 tons of animal bedding have been diverted from landfills between Novem-ber 2009 and April 2010. The practice also provides a cost savings in waste disposal for the university and helps achieve part of its sustainability goal: An over-all reduction of the institution’s total waste stream by 65 percent, including 95 percent diversion of animal bedding from landfill, by 2015.

Elon University Hopes To Turn Drivers into “Zimriders”

Elon University in Elon, NC, and San Francisco-based Zimride Inc. have launched a private network for carpooling in an effort to reduce campus traffic and parking congestion. All university students, fac-ulty, and staff can now access the free Elon Zimride system at www.zimride.com/elon or through Face-book to share commutes or arrange one-time rides. According to Elon Sustainability Coordinator Elaine Durr, “Zimriders” can view profiles for common networks, interests, and friends before deciding to share a ride. The partnership also marks a signifi-cant step in improving campus sustainability while helping professors, staff members, and students save money on daily commutes or on longer one-time trips, Durr explains. Zimride, the nation’s largest online social ride-share community with more than 350,000 users, has already implemented private ride-share communities for several of the nation’s leading universities and companies, including Stanford, the University of California at Los Angeles, the Univer-sity of Michigan, Cornell University, Wal-Mart, and CIGNA.

GE and Portland Plan EcoDistrictsIn an effort to turn recession-battered Portland, OR, into a starting point for green-economy businesses, city officials and General Electric Co. have entered a partnership that calls for retrofitting drafty build-ings with energy-saving technologies and helping local start-ups sell their clean-technology products abroad. GE will also help the Rose City develop five EcoDistrict pilot projects that would manage their own energy, water, waste, and other systems. Over the next few years, the districts would handle any-thing from managing runoff in city streets to weath-erizing homes. GE engineers will offer the districts technological advice. The goal, according to Lisa Abuaf, a senior project manager with the Portland Development Commission, is to turn Portland into “an icon of sustainability.” At the same time, any projects implemented must be replicable somewhere else. According to GE Public-Private Partnership Coordinator Kevin Decker, GE plans to use Port-land as a model for sustainable development deals with other U.S. cities, locations the company sees as growing markets for plug-in electric vehicle stations, building energy-monitoring systems, and other “ecomagination” products.

USGBC Introduces Environmental Toolkit for Legislators

State lawmakers who are developing environmen-tal policy solutions for schools in their state now have a new reference guide: a one-of-a-kind toolkit

Cal Poly has become the first college in the nation to offer a “Dream Machine” to better educate students about recycling.


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from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). According to USGBC Chief of Staff Roger Limoges, the Greening Our Schools toolkit includes a peer-reviewed legislative menu of options for advancing a green school’s agenda. The guide, part of USGBC’s 50 for 50 Green Schools Caucus Initiative, helps law-makers find successful ways to promote sustainable policy and also gives pro-environmental legislators extra fodder as they attempt to pass green legislation. “School buildings are the cornerstone of any and every community, and green school buildings are central to our nationwide commitment to improve education, maximize efficiency, and lay the strong foundations of the new green economy,” says Illinois State Representative Karen May (D-Highland Park), chairperson of 50 for 50’s National Advisory Coun-cil. To request a copy of the Greening Our Schools toolkit, contact Nathaniel Allen at [email protected].

UCLA Applied Science School Wins $7.5 Million for Sustainability

The National Science Foundation in Arlington, VA, has awarded $7.5 million to the University of California at Los Angeles Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science for renovation of its current infrastructure for use in sustainabil-ity research. According to Vijay K. Dhir, dean of UCLA Engineering, core mechanical, electrical, and plumbing infrastructure at the school’s Boelter Hall are being renovated to create four state-of-the-art collaborative labs, or “collaboratories,” for research on renewable and alternative energy production and storage, sustainable infrastructure, and environmen-tal engineering. The renovated facilities will also be used by undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers for research training, Dhir says. The renovation project began in August 2010 and is expected to be completed by 2013.

Virginia Tech’s Lumenhaus Wins Top Honors

Lumenhaus, a solar-powered home designed and built by students and faculty from Virginia Polytech-nic Institute and State University in Blacksburg took home the top prize at the Solar Decathlon Europe 2010 competition in Madrid. According to Robert Dunay, professor in the Virginia Polytechnic College of Architecture and Urban Studies and one of the faculty leaders on the project, the 17 homes entered in the decathlon were required to use solar energy as their source of electrical power. The goal was to build a home with net zero energy use. Virginia Polytech-nic’s Lumenhaus is an 800-square-foot dwelling that generates electricity using a 9-kilowatt solar photo-voltaic array, which is larger than most residential systems. In a sunny, shade-free location in almost any part of the United States, it could easily provide all the electricity used annually by most households. Excess energy can be sold back to power companies or used for other applications, such as powering an electric car. The structure’s modular design can also be easily stepped up in size. Lumenhaus placed in almost all 10 competition categories, including ty-ing for first in Architecture, placing second in Com-munication and Social Awareness, and placing third in Industrialization and Market Viability, and in Lighting. More than 130 Virginia Tech graduate and undergraduate students and faculty members took part in designing and building Lumenhaus over two years, Dunay says.

Effort Underway To Increase China’s EHS Resources

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), General Electric, and the Phylmar Group, a Los Angeles-based environmental health and safety (EHS) consultancy, have launched a train-ing program to develop more environmental health and safety talent in China. According to Mark Katchen, managing principal of the Phylmar Group and a former chair of the AIHA’s International Affairs Committee, the seven-part course, which began in July, is designed to rapidly train EHS technologists in locations where there is little EHS expertise. China currently has only 13 certified EHS industrial hygienists, making the situation the equiv-alent of an “international emergency,” Katchen says. Twenty-five employees from major multinational corporations, including Converse, Nike, ITT, and GE, completed the inaugural course in Shanghai. Other courses will be held periodically over the next year. The courses will bring current professionals up to a technologist level and may be used at some universities as credit toward a master’s degree, Katchen adds.


Lumenhaus is an 800-square-foot

dwelling that generates

electricity using a 9-kilowatt solar

photovoltaic array, which is larger than

most residential systems.

Upfront

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Beauty Salons Now Think of Earth’s BeautyIncreasing numbers of beauty salons are switching to products that are friendly to the environment as well as the skin. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, salons with a green approach charge about as much for their services as traditional ones, and they tend to last as long. In addition, employees and customers have fewer concerns about chemical-ly generated odors, skin damage, and preservatives with unknown long-term effects on the body. But it’s not easy to find an earth-friendly spa or salon; stan-dards such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s organic seal are only beginning to emerge for the health and beauty industry, according to the report. Customers usually have to do their own homework about a particular salon to make sure it’s as green as it claims. Patrons are also asking more from their sustainability-minded hairstylists: Some people want their salons to recycle, use sustainable flooring and ecofriendly paints in their shops, use alternative power sources and water reclamation systems, or just use less water and power. These kinds of tweaks aren’t always obvious unless the salon points them out, the report notes. Bottom line: If you really want to know about a spa’s green credibility, ask about the responsible practices you care about.

Student Apparel Ambassadors To Promote SustainabilityMorgantown, WV-based SustainU has begun its first national campaign to promote the use of U.S.-made, ecofriendly clothing while also spreading the word about the green apparel maker’s services. According to SustainU co-founder Chris Yura, the program will rely on student ambassadors instead of traditional salespersons to visit campuses and relay informa-tion about the company’s efforts to support domes-tic job growth while decreasing ecological impacts, and provide the higher education community with a more sustainable clothing alternative. The company specializes in utilizing domestic labor and recycled fiber to create apparel targeted at the collegiate com-munity. It has already been involved in numerous sustainable promotions, from the William J. Clinton Foundation’s nationwide Take Initiative Program on Earth Day 2010, to various freshman Welcome Week orientations at the University of Alabama, University of Michigan, and University of Vermont.

The brand, launched in 2009 through West Virginia University’s Small Business Incubator program, is now licensed at 56 colleges and universities nation-wide, an unusually fast growth rate, Yura notes. It will be the mission of the 16 apparel ambassadors to increase that pace even further. “They will find ways to get their communities and campuses to look at

apparel as a way to unify around sustainability,” Yura says. “It will be their job to inform universities and to go into their communities, meet with retailers and community officials, get them onboard for clothing drives—we want it to be community-based.”

Eco Index To Gauge Impact of Clothing

The Eco Index Coalition (EIC), a group of more than 100 apparel brands and retailers, are designing the Eco Index, a software tool that can help measure the environmental impact of their clothing. In the long run, the companies hope to create an eco-value tag for clothing, to be used much like the Energy Star rating assigned to appliances. The EIC membership includes retailing giants such as Levi Strauss & Co., Nike Inc., and Target Corp., as well as outdoor-wear makers like Brooks Sports, Adidas AG, Timberland Co., REI, Columbia Sportswear Co., and Patagonia Inc. According to Michael Kobori, Levi’s vice presi-dent of social and environmental sustainability, the tool will be available “as soon as we can get every-body to agree” on how to publish and communicate it. In the works for more than three years, the tool could also help consumers compare how green prod-ucts are. This, according to Amy Roberts, vice presi-dent of government affairs for the Outdoor Industry Association, a Boulder, CO-based trade organization that has helped move the Index’s development along, would be a major benefit to retailers. Sustainability has proven to be a powerful motivator for consump-tion of everything, from Prius vehicles to ecofriendly household cleaners. It’s also been shown to be an effective way to encourage shoppers to try new products.

Tech To Manage “Vampire Power” Awarded U.S. PatentVampires are all the rage in movies and books these days, so it was only a matter of time before someone figured out what to do with “vampire power.” Scotts-dale, AZ-based universal charger manufacturer iGo Inc. has been awarded a patent from the U.S. Patent Office for technology designed to reduce the amount of wasted standby power usually generated by lap-top charging systems. According to iGo President and Chief Executive Officer Michael D. Heil, the company’s iGo Green Technology recognizes when a device does not require power and automatically shuts itself off, thus reducing the power draw to ultra-low levels. When the device needs power again, the charger automatically turns itself back on. This process eliminates wasted vampire power by up to 85 percent, Heil says. The product is the first of its kind on the market and can potentially offer U.S. consumers $300 million a year in energy savings, Heil notes.


In the long run, the companies hope to create an eco-value tag for clothing, to be used much like the Energy Star rating assigned to appliances.

iGo Green Technology recognizes when a device does not require power and automatically shuts itself off, thus reducing the power draw to ultra-low levels.

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USGBC Extends Building Performance Partnership

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has expanded its Building Performance Partnership (BPP) program to include all current whole-building LEED-certified commercial and residential projects. Originally designed to “engage owners and managers of commercial and residential LEED-certified green buildings, optimizing the performance of buildings through data collection, analysis and action” when USGBC launched the program in summer 2009, the new version will help create a database of thousands of LEED projects that participants can use as bench-marks for green building performance.

“By providing a large and accurate data set critical to supporting the ongoing improvement of LEED and continuous optimization of LEED-certified proj-ects, BPP will ensure LEED projects deliver on their extraordinary environmental and economic poten-tial,” LEED Senior Vice President Scot Horst says. Participation of current LEED-certified buildings is voluntary, with participants receiving annual infor-mation on performance. Currently more than 120 projects are part of LEED’s Phase One, which focuses on efficient energy and water usage.

United States, Russia Sign Energy PactThe U.S. International Development (USAID) and the Russian Energy Agency (REA) have signed a Protocol of Intent to deepen collaboration on energy efficiency, smart grid technology, and clean energy. According to U. S. Energy Association Executive Director Barry Worthington, the agreement will foster partnerships with U.S. and Russian utilities, regulators, and others to share information and best practices. Potential activities will reduce energy loss in electricity systems and decrease levels of carbon emissions to help mitigate climate change. The Unit-ed States and Russia are among the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gasses per capita according to

the World Bank. Both countries also have enormous potential for energy efficiency improvements. A report by the World Bank Group estimated that realizing its full energy efficiency potential could save Russia up to $80 billion annually. “We both have a lot to gain from new cooperation,” says Jonathan Hale, USAID’s Deputy Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia. “By bringing people together, we can have a more significant impact on global issues, including promoting energy efficiency and combating climate change.”

Fresh & Easy Stores To Cut Water Usage with New Technology

Hoping to save energy and reduce operating expenses, El Segundo, CA-based Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has begun using EnviroTower water conditioning technology in one-third of its stores nationwide. According to Steve Hagen, Fresh & Easy’s director of procurement and engi-neering, EnviroTower is an alternative to traditional chemical water treatment for refrigeration and air conditioning cooling systems. Its implementation will cut the company’s water usage by almost 30 percent and energy use by 5 percent. EnviroTower reduces fresh water use through a physical water conditioning system, meaning water that is normally chemically treated and discharged to municipal sew-age is used more efficiently. By keeping the water in the system clean and reducing harmful buildup, EnviroTower also improves energy efficiency, Hagen explains.

The refrigeration and cooling systems typically account for up to 50 percent of a food retail facility’s energy use and 80 percent of the water consumption, Chief Executive Officer Paul Wickberg says. The sys-tem is the latest in a series of envirofriendly actions taken by the green food and household products chain. Others include LED lighting in external signs and freezer cases, recycling stations at every store, recycling or reuse of all display packaging, and roof-mounted solar paneling for energy.


Upfront

EnviroTower is an alternative to

traditional chemical water treatment for refrigeration and air

conditioning cooling systems. Its implementation will cut the company’s

water usage by almost 30 percent and energy use by

5 percent.

UPFRONT 3.5.indd 8 10/4/10 1:39 PM

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