PRESS RELEASE -
Ten companies and organizations, two partnerships, and three individuals today will receive 2017 Climate Leadership Awards for their accomplishments in reducing greenhouses gas emissions and addressing climate change.
The awards, now in their sixth year, are a partnership program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, and The Climate Registry. The awards are being presented this evening at the 2017 Climate Leadership Conference in Chicago.
This year’s awardees represent a wide array of industries including finance, consumer products, retail, aviation, and technology, plus federal and local government.
NEW METRICS -
Can better thinking and better health be found in green-certified buildings? New research says yes. Both indoors and out, the built environment plays a critical role in our overall health and well-being. This is especially true as about 90 percent of our time is spent indoors, and buildings have the ability to positively and negatively influence human health.
Now, a new study by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Health and the Global Environment and SUNY Upstate Medical University has found a link between green buildings and improved cognitive function.
PRESS RELEASE -
3M Canada has become the first organization in Canada to receive ISO 50001 Enterprise Level Certification as part of its ongoing commitment to sustainability, including energy management initiatives to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse emissions. This milestone achievement comes after two more 3M Canada facilities received their ISO 50001 certifications earlier this year – a manufacturing plant in Morden, Manitoba (the first ISO 50001 certification in the province) and a commercial building in Montreal, Quebec – joining four other 3M Canada facilities already certified.
PRESS RELEASE -
The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (MUFI) is debuting America’s first sustainable urban agrihood, an alternative neighborhood growth model in Detroit’s lower North End that positions agriculture as the centerpiece of a mixed-use urban development.
Totaling about three acres and nestled in a neighborhood among vacant land, occupied and abandoned homes, MUFI’s urban agrihood features a bustling two-acre urban garden, a 200-tree fruit orchard, a children’s sensory garden, and more. Annually, the urban garden provides fresh, free produce to about 2,000 households within two square miles of the farm.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Modern global nutritional problems derive from food excess as well as food shortage. Traditionally a first-world problem, obesity is now spreading to developing countries. Individual countries and companies are responding to the Sustainable Development Goal to improve nutrition. One unique employee cafeteria has sparked a huge movement to improve nutrition in Japan.
PRESS RELEASE -
Shaw Industries Group, Inc. (Shaw), alongside the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, BuildingGreen, Google, and several others, will host a national workshop series entitled
CLEANTECH -
Airbnb has formed another strategic partnership aimed at increasing the environmental benefits of home sharing: Airbnb and SolarCity, the nation’s largest solar power provider, have joined forces to connect Airbnb hosts and guests with an affordable and sustainable way to power their homes with solar energy.
PRESS RELEASE -
Energy efficiency, lower costs and spectator experience were all factors that led Ford Field to make plans for a greener future. From recycled water to LED lighting, new initiatives at the Detroit Lions stadium should make everyone a fan.
Transitioning 650 1,500 watt traditional bulbs to 264 1,400 watt LED bulbs throughout the 1,800,000 square feet building was no easy project, but director of facilities at Ford Field, Fred Reddig, tells how and why the organization is making green investments.
PRESS RELEASE -
It was 1983 when an engineer from Michigan met a Yellow-Naped parrot from Honduras. Little did Joe Azzarello know that “Otis” would be a part of the family for 33 years (and counting) and would affect not only his personal life but his career as well.
“I’ll admit I had very little environmental sensitivity before I adopted Otis,” said Joe, shaking his head.
Kohler’s resident green-building guru is well-known in the industry, but his career started out on a very different path. Joe was working as a mechanical engineer for a power company when Otis came into his life. It was while researching parrots at his local library that Joe became aware of the plight of the bird’s natural habitat.
PRESS RELEASE -
Shaw Floors announces its Life Happens with LifeGuard carpet, Floorté enhanced vinyl plank, and Tuftex area rugs along with turf tile from Shaw Contract’s The Park collection will be showcased in the Greenbuild KB Home ProjeKt demonstration home at the 2016 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Los Angeles, and will be available for in-person discovery tours for conference attendees on October 5 and October 6. The home will also be available nationwide via the online virtual tour beginning October 5.
PRESS RELEASE -
REI, the specialty outdoor co-op, has designed its new distribution center to be Net Zero Energy and is pursuing LEED Platinum—the highest level in the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) rating system. Situated in the Arizona desert, the facility is intended to be one of the world's most sustainable distribution centers. To encourage further innovation, REI is taking an unusual approach and will make the design information of this facility available to the public, so that others can advance the parameters of sustainable design.
REI is driving sustainability and efficiency at its new distribution center in several new ways:
PRESS RELEASE -
Philips Lighting (Euronext Amsterdam ticker: LIGHT), a global leader in lighting, today announced the launch of its new five-year sustainability program ‘Brighter Lives, Better World’ during the Climate Week NYC. This is the first time Philips Lighting has set sustainability goals as a standalone, listed company, building on the long legacy of Philips’ world class performance in sustainability and its EcoVision programs.
PRESS RELEASE -
Stratham, NH based outdoor lifestyle brand, Timberland, opens its first completed project in its five-year commitment to create and restore urban green spaces starting with New York City. In partnership with local nonprofit GrowNYC, Timberland and volunteers transformed a vacant lot in the Mott Haven Neighborhood of South Bronx, New York into a vibrant community garden. The restoration project came full circle with a service event that kicks off Timberland’s busy fall season of service, and also commemorates 9/11; something Timberland has done each year since September 11, 2001 when employees volunteered at a Bronx elementary school as tragedy struck.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Every day, 180,000 people move to urban areas. Urbanization is creating an urgent need for sustainable actions and solutions. At this critical time, National Geographic and United Technologies Corp. are collaborating to raise awareness of sustainable urbanization through the Urban Expeditions initiative.
Urban Expeditions will identify cutting-edge research and exploration projects that are leading the way in sustainable urbanization in three key areas:
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
William McDonough + Partners and GXN — an internal division of Danish architectural practice 3XN that works with applied architectural research in green materials and building technologies — have partnered to develop a master plan for the Agro Food Park (AFP) near Aarhus, Denmark. The project aims to create a geographic hub for agricultural innovation; AFP will incorporate the benefits of urban density with the proximity of agricultural test fields in an open campus where academic and commercial businesses can collaborate, grow and prosper.
PRESS RELEASE -
Toyota Donates $1 Million to Help Fund New Yellowstone Youth CampusCampus Will Be First Regenerative Campus of Living Buildings in a National Park
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (Aug.
PRESS RELEASE -
The famed central strip of Las Vegas has often been called the ‘brightest spot on earth’ because of its powerful neon lights. However, the city has been working to reduce its environmental footprint, with many of the neon lights being replaced by LED screens, and its hotels and casinos increasingly adopting sustainable solutions to improve their energy and water use efficiency.
Caesars Entertainment, one of the city’s largest gaming businesses, has revamped its commitment to sustainability, and aligned its targets to eight of the 17 U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The company has highlighted its “CodeGreen” environmental performance in its latest corporate sustainability report.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Two products have earned unprecedented recognition from the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Products Program, raising the bar for building materials. This week, the program awarded its first-ever Platinum-level certification and named the first homogenous flooring product to earn Gold-level certification.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
This week, SolarWindow Technologies, Inc. announced an ‘invisible’ system for transporting electricity within the company’s transparent organic coatings, which are applied in thin layers onto glass surfaces. The SolarWindow™ Intra-Connection System moves electricity generated in the coating to ‘invisible wires,’ which in turn transport electricity to the edge of the glass and connect to building electrical systems.