March 16th, 2009
Earth Hour is March 28: Show Your Support in the Dark
Stumble it!
Holy Guacamole! Get ready, set, go! Earth Hour is coming to a planet near you. More than that, the GRAND FINALE is in Los Angeles (hometown of Low Impact Living). This global event will start at 8:30pm on Saturday, March 28 in Fiji and travel around the globe (the long way), time zone to time zone. It will culminate in a huge all-inclusive, finale celebration in Nokia Plaza at LA’s newest entertainment facility, L.A. LIVE in downtown Los Angeles.
So what is Earth Hour, you might ask? Earth Hour is a global event that was created by World Wildlife Fund to unite cities, businesses, schools, organizations and individuals by asking them to turn out their lights for one hour in a global call for action on climate change. It started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia with 2.2 million people participating and went global 2008 with 50 million people on all seven continents flipping the switch.
Earth Hour 2009 expects close to 1 billion people from Fiji to Figueroa to Turn Out, Take Action and Vote Earth, using their light switch as their ballot to send a clear message to our elected officials that we want them to act NOW on climate change!
WWF identified Los Angeles as a leader in addressing urban, environmental issues and chose the city as a flagship location for Earth Hour ‘09, joining Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville and San Francisco. As one of 400 cities in 74 countries participating in Earth Hour 2009, residents of Los Angeles get the chance to show the world how we can be a green role model for large cities and lead the way to a healthier planet.
But what does this mean? Vote Earth?
It’s simple: your light switch is your vote. By turning off our lights on March 28th, we are collectively sending a visual message to our elected officials that climate change is so important to us that they must make it a priority. And by signing up at earthhourUS.org, you are documenting your vote so that your voice will be heard beyond March 28th!
The Event at L.A. LIVE
The grand finale for Earth Hour 2009 happens at L.A. LIVE hosted by Mayor Antonio Villaragosa, MC’d by Billboard chart topper and Emmy-Award-winning DJ, Tony Okungbowa from the Ellen Degeneres Show, featuring elected champions of the environment and staring special musical guests the Agape Choir, the spectacular Gina Rene, singing her song, Be The Change, the official song of Earth Hour LA. And a special surprise guest to be announced shortly! Come together with your fellow Angelinos, Dine By Candlelight at L.A. LIVE restaurants and enjoy great entertainment, all while you watch Los Angeles icons all over the city go dark on the L.A. LIVE jumbo-trons! See the Capital Records building, the Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel, L.A. City Hall, the El Capitan Theater, The Getty Museum! The event is FREE and ALL are welcome! Go to http://www.earthhourus.org/losangeles for more details and prove to the rest of the world that we really do have a community here by turning off the lights together for Earth Hour LA!
We look forward to joining all of our eco-minded friends — in the dark– for Earth Hour on the 28th!
Popularity: 2% [?]
March 9th, 2009
State of Green Business 2009: Your Eco-biz and the Environment
Got a green business — or thinking about starting one — in this crazy economy? Then you’re likely busy doing a whole bunch of research on green businesses and the green market — and you’ll be happy to know that State of Green Business 2009, a FREE 62-page report, came out just last month!
Published by green business guru Joel Mackower and the editors of GreenBiz.com, State of Green Business 2009 lets you in on the 10 trends of 2008 — and the 20 indicators that “in aggregate, provide a picture of U.S. companies’ environmental achievements,” according to the authors.
The details are eye-opening — though if you’re looking for specific how-tos on making your green business successful, you’ll be disappointed. State of Green Business 2009 is less about how you can make your green business succeed and more about how green business is (or isn’t) helping the environment. The report’s muted vibe is this: “Ask not what your green business can do for you, but your green biz can do for the environment.”
That’s not to say that the report won’t be helpful at all for your green biz endeavors. After all, we need to take a good solid look at what’s happened to get a glimpse at what may be ahead. This studying the past aspect is where the report’s most helpful. State of Green Business labels each of its indicators with swim, tread, or sink icons, letting us know at a glance what’s going well and what isn’t.
What’s hot? In 2008, clean tech investments got twice the investments they did in 2007, among other good news. What’s not? Greenhouse gas emissions are still going up, though Obama might turn this sad trend around in the coming years.
But if you’re a green business owner or owner-to-be, what you’re interested in is probably less what happened last year as what will happen this year and the next. Unfortunately, the report’s rather low on conclusions. Makower takes the easy way out, ending his introduction to the report with a serious of yes-no questions:
“Are we moving far enough, fast enough? Does the ever-growing green activity in the business world represent a true transformation, one capable of adequately addressing pressing issues like climate change, air quality, the loss of species, and the looming water crisis? Or is it merely nibbling at the edges of the problems?”
These pressing questions are answered only with a vague statement: “Reasonable minds can justifiably argue both sides. The coming year will be a critical one for the future of green business and, by extension, the future of the planet.” Makower’s bloggy summary of the report’s highlights offers an even vaguer “We find ourselves in uncharted waters” — though Makower does say he fears “Optimistic as I am most days, I fear that the answer tends more toward the latter” of the options in his series of questions.
Read the full report to find out how the State of Green Business is today, on everything from employee telecommuting to packaging intensity. If that’s not enough, watch the videos from the State of Green Business Forum, an event held in conjunction with the debut of the report, to hear green business experts elaborate on these pressing eco issues. Best of luck with your eco-entrepreneurial endeavors!
Popularity: 2% [?]
March 3rd, 2009
EPA Announces Top 10 Cities for Energy Star Buildings
Many people think of energy-efficient appliances when they hear Energy Star, but they also rate buildings. The EPA today is announcing the top 10 US cities with the most Energy Star-rated commercial buildings.
Why is this important? Well energy use in commercial buildings and plants accounts for nearly half of the total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 50 percent of energy consumption nationwide. In 2008 alone, more than 3,300 commercial buildings and manufacturing plants earned the Energy Star rating for excellent energy performance. These energy-efficient buildings saved more than $1.1 billion in energy costs and reduced more than 7 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2008, which is a savings equal to the emissions from electricity use of more than 1 million homes for a year.
The Top 10 cities announced today are, not surprisingly, led by two California cities– Los Angeles at number 1 and San Francisco at number 2. Los Angeles weighs in with around 250 Energy Star buildings, and San Francisco has around 200. Quite surprisingly Houston, Texas is number 3, with 150 buildings. (They prove once again, Don’t Mess with Texas.) Also on the list are Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, and Washington DC. You can see the full list of the Top 10 and learn more about their green buildings here.
What makes a building an Energy Star building? To qualify for EPA’s ENERGY STAR, a building or manufacturing plant must score in the top 25 percent using EPA’s National Energy Performance Rating System. Buildings can be rated on an energy performance on a scale of 1-100 relative to similar buildings nationwide using the EPA’s Portfolio Manager tool. Buildings that earn a rating of 75 or greater may qualify for the Energy Star designation. Buildings are rated on such factors size, location, number of occupants, number of PCs, heating and cooling systems, etc. You can learn more about the Energy Star building system here.
Popularity: 3% [?]
February 9th, 2009
Top 10 EcoPrinciples for Communities
Written by Keith Rockmael, courtesy of GreenBuildingElements.com
With the economy in turmoil, a real estate prices dropping, green communities and green building will become more important. It’s easy to see how broken our current community model is in terms of the urban sprawl; the average American commute continues to grow longer. Between 1969 and 2001, the number of vehicle miles traveled for commuting jumped from 4,180 to 5,720.
The Sierra Club notes that today’s average American driver spends what amounts to 55 eight hour workdays behind the wheel every year. Gas won’t stay at the current level so we need to look at developing more sustainable communities.
San Francisco area architect Michelle Kaufmann and Kelly Melia-Teevan came up with a top 10 (sorry Letterman) EcoPrinciples for Communities.
1. Smart Design
Some architects play God; instead of working with nature they go against it. Building orientation remains a big, no cost key, as well as designing to use less, and to collaborate with the landscape.
2. Energy Efficiency
Kind of a no brainer here. Everyone from Obama on down seems to be talking about energy efficiency. While some aspects remain somewhat pricey such as photovoltaic systems, other energy saving methods such as passive solar layouts, sealing building envelopes with super efficient insulation and glass and harnessing alternative energy sources offer not only a decent ROI but save the Earth’s resources as well.
3. Water Conservation
Here in the Bay Area we are headed for a drought. Ideas for water savings include basic ideas such as xeriscaping. Who needs a lawn anyway? Sculpting bioswales into the land, irrigating with rainwater catchment systems and paving with only pervious ground surfaces can conserve gallons without much added cost.
4. Reduce Waste
As one of the Three R’s, Kauffman suggests designing easy to access, easy to use recycling centers. How smart can it be to drive with a plastic bag of aluminum cans to the faraway recycling center? Also, she offers ideas such as integrating on-site composting, and facilitating “living machines” (engineered waste treatment system designed to process a building’s sanitary drainage on-site).
5. Healthy Environment
Everyone seems to forget this area in terms of Green Building. It won’t do much good to maintain a clean environment but have sick people living in unhealthy homes. A sustainable neighborhood will offer easy access to exercise, encourage cooking classes and establishing on-site food production instead of driving to some fast food joint for a completely unsustainable meal.
6. Diversity
Cities such as San Francisco thrive because of the richness of diversity. A sustainable community will create an assortment of residents from different backgrounds, ages and cultures. The housing will offer both market rate and affordable rate housing options.
7. Smart Location
The name says it all. Kauffman suggests building and designing for environmental, social, and economic benefits. Might builders think about building near easy access to mass transit and choosing areas near sources of quality food? Is that too progressive?
8. Respect the Land
Something that seems to have disappeared from the vocabulary – r-e-s-p-e-c-t. That’s right just like Aretha. New green communities would protect the existing landscape and ecology by adopting functional, comfortable density, minimizing site disturbance and protecting biodiversity by maintaining native ecosystem.
9. Smart Auto Strategy
As much as we’d like to rid ourselves of cars completely it just isn’t going to happen. However, we can lessen the intrusion and impact of automobiles in communities by implementing smart parking requirements, and separating parking streets from pedestrian streets and bike lanes. Constructing more narrow streets in an effort to encourage walking and biking rather than driving isn’t rocket science.
10. Shared Resources
Create more community within the community (see how that works) by introducing resource sharing (bikes, cars, tools, garden equipment, child care), establish community victory gardens, and building playgrounds, parks, athletic fields, picnic areas, etc rather than just concrete jungles.
Let the greening begin.
Popularity: 4% [?]
February 4th, 2009
Green Cars and Mean Cars: ACEEE Report
Each year the ACEEE (American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy) produces their Green Book, in which they rate the greenest and meanest cars for the year. They have just released their 2009 Green Book and there’s lot of great information on green cars and really mean cars.
They give each car a “green score” and not surprisingly the Toyota Prius is at the top of the Greenest Cars list. The Prius gets the highest score, with 53 points. Right on the Prius’ heels is the Honda Civic Hybrid with 51 points. Interestingly two non-hybrids come in 3rd and 4th position– they Toyota Yaris and the Honda Fit, respectively.
How many American auto makers’ models score in the top twelve greenest cars? Oh only three, sadly. The Ford Escape Hybrid is #5, the Ford Ranger is #10 and the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid is #12. (Do the American car companies really deserve a bailout? I guess that’s a different topic.)
Now on to the Meanest Cars. How many American cars are in this top twelve? Oh that would be EIGHT. The Hummer is still the reigning champ of all things disgusting. The GMC Yukon is the 3rd worst. The GMC Sierra and the Jeep Grand Cherokee are also shining examples of environmental destruction. The American Worst of the Worst are joined by some ridiculous European cars as well– including the Lamborghini Murcielago, the Mercedes-Benz G55, and the Maybach 57S. I like to call the Maybach the “May-blech.”
Popularity: 3% [?]
