Image: H2Orange.com
From Green Right Now Reports
New York University released its Climate Action Plan (CAP) today, which outlines the first steps toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2040.
The plan was developed after the university took a greenhouse gas inventory, and it outlines the projects and methods it will use to reduce or offsets its emissions.
NYU officials credited both Mayor Bloomberg’s PlanNYC Climate Challenge and the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) for initiating and helping shape its actions. The school is a signor of the ACUPCC .
LED lighting at Cary McDonalds
When Ric Richards recently acquired an aging McDonalds in Cary, N.C., he knew the place needed an overhaul. The 25-year-old store was fraying at the edges.
Richards decided to give these particular golden arches a green touch.
Once he’d decided that the building needed replacing, the decision to go eco-friendly was not difficult. Richards knew it made sense from a business standpoint – it would cut energy costs dramatically – and he figured it would resonate with the educated customers living in the Research Triangle region, especially those interested in lower-carbon living.
“I felt it was the right thing to do,’’ said the owner-operator whose green restaurant celebrated its grand opening this winter. “We all need to be more geared for sustainability as we move into the future. We need to build buildings or live at home using fewer resources.”
Walmart CEO Mike Duke annoucing carbon reduction goals
Walmart announced a plan to reduce carbon emissions across its global supply chain today, saying it intends to shave 20 million metric tons off its greenhouse gas emissions through 2015.
The reductions will come from Walmart’s own operations and from “the life cycle of the products we sell,” said Walmart CEO Mike Duke, adding that the savings would be the equivalent of taking 3.8 million greenhouse gas-emitting cars off the road for a year.
“It’s a very sizable goal, as we often do here at Walmart,” he said.
Calculated another way, the reductions represent 150 percent of Walmart’s anticipated carbon growth over the next five years.
Restaurant organizations of all sizes are hungry for greater efficiency in their operations, the survey found.
Sustainability practices that minimize the impact of restaurant operations on the environment appear to be gaining momentum as the foodservice industry finds ways to measure the return on its investment in green systems and technologies, according the results of a new benchmark survey from RSR Research.
The study, “The Better-Run Restaurant: Environmental Sustainability in Restaurant Retail 2010,” finds restaurant organizations of all sizes hungry for greater efficiency in their operations, particularly those solutions which cut energy costs, reduce wasteful packaging, and can be leveraged to “tell a green story” to diners. While the industry is still struggling to correlate top line revenue with green investments, it does recognize the bottom line benefits of cost savings from energy and waste management.
If you had the money and connections, you could build a snappy green house these days. Sink a geothermal heat pump to tap Mother Earth’s energy, slap up some solar panels, finish it out with non-toxic drywall, cork floors, denim insulation, recycled glass countertops and floors made from sunken ship decking.
Green house (Image: Axepin/dreamstime.com)
But does a green house a green home make? The answer to that is….of course not. Green builders, and those who live in green houses, soon bump up against what some land planners have known all along: It takes a village to bring green to its fullest expression.
Snowboarding, skiing and skating will be front and center when the 2010 Winter Olympics open in Vancouver tonight. But not far behind is another S-word: Sustainability. Sustainability has generated a lot of momentum, so much so that the Olympic website devotes numerous links to various aspects of the subject.
Pulse’s mobile dashboard will update every 15 minutes.
There we find out that hydrogen-fueled buses will transport people at some of the venues, several of the buildings are LEED-certified and many of the medals are made from recycled electronics. And, energy provider British Columbia Hydro has teamed with a local software company, Pulse Energy, to monitor energy usage at the games.
John Furlong, CEO of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, says these games will establish a blueprint for Olympics of the future; a benchmark for others to follow.
(The question “Do We Have To Limit Growth To Save The Planet?” was posed to sustainability expert Frances Moore Lappe by the Corporate Social Responsibility’s Talk Back Blog.)
By Frances Moore Lappé
We humans create the world according to ideas we hold. Our biggest ideas, our frames, determine what we can see and what we can’t. Ultimately, they will decide whether we can turn our beautiful planet toward life…or not.
Two frames I increasingly hear are “Because growth is killing the planet, we need no-growth;” and “We’ve hit the limits of a finite earth.”
Hmm.
“Growth” sounds pretty good to my ears, especially when I consider the opposite: shrink, shrivel, decline, decrease, die. So it’s hard to visualize excited crowds waving “No-growth NOW!” placards!
The danger in this frame goes far beyond its lack of sex appeal. The real danger is what it leaves unchallenged: the assumption that today’s economy is in fact defined by “growth” — ever-expanding abundance.
It can be a challenge to update an historic building, let alone transform it into a model of green modernity. Rattling pipes crowd walls that need new duct work; old fixtures adhere stubbornly to aging walls and facades retain character, but heating and cooling – not so much.
Still, the historic Heathman Hotel in downtown Portland has recently undergone two green upgrades, and is determined to become a model of sustainability, while sacrificing none of its landmark historic elegance.
(Photo: Heathman Hotel)
The 81-year-old Heathman, like most vintage urban hotels, has been through many nips and tucks over the decades. It got its first green redo about three years ago with the renovation of the guest bedrooms and living areas and the addition of a new heating and cooling system. The project, which won financial incentives from the Energy Trust of Oregon, and included switching to CFL light bulbs, proved enlightening: The changes trimmed energy usage by 20 to 30 percent at the 150-room hotel.
Barbara Kessler
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