Over the last eight years, green construction has created 2.4 million jobs and contributed $173 billion to the US economy. It is estimated that in the next four years, despite an unstable economy, both numbers will more than triple, according to a new study from the U.S. Green Building Council and Booz Allen Hamilton.

The study reports that green building will support 7.9 million U.S. jobs, adding $554 billion into the American economy, including $396 billion in wages.

“The study demonstrates that investing in green buildings contributes significantly to our nation’s wealth while creating jobs in a range of occupations, from carpenters to cost estimators,” said Gary Rahl, Officer, Global Government Market, Booz Allen Hamilton.

The report was released this week at USGBC’s annual GreenBuild International Conference & Expo. “Our goal is for the phrase ‘green building’ to become obsolete, by making all building and retrofits green – and transforming every job in our industry into a green job,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chairman of USGBC in a statement. “This study validates the work that the 25,000 people gathered here at Greenbuild, and every member of our movement, do every day.”

The report factored in everyone involved in green construction from the design architects, to the laborers, and even the truck drivers that deliver the materials.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

PHOENIX — When the Greenbuild Expo 2009 landed in Phoenix Nov. 9 with 30,000 participants, the circus came to town for Mick Dalrymple. He runs the a.k.a. Green Eco-Friendly Building Center, the Phoenix area’s first store of its kind.

Phoenix Convention Center

Dalrymple also sits on the national board of the U.S. Green Building Council, the organizer of Greenbuild Expo and International Conference, which this year (its eighth) has packed 1,800 exhibitors into the recently expanded Phoenix Convention Center.

An electrical engineer, former Hollywood filmmaker and graduate of the Thunderbird School of Global Management, Dalrymple first came to green building as a way out of an oil-based U.S. national security policy. He would give talks on how green building could lead to energy independence, and when people complained they couldn’t find where to buy these mysterious carbon-neutral products, he opened a store.

Dalrymple has enthusiasm and some concern for the abundant new green technologies and materials on hand.

Just as former Vice President Al Gore cautioned the green builders at an opening celebration Wednesday night, Dalrymple warned against “greenwashing” – selling something as green that isn’t.

“The business has become more mainstream and a lot of the traditional channels are starting to be populated with ‘light’ green materials. They may be better, but nowhere near what is possible, or they may use toxins or child labor to produce it,” Dalrymple said, noting that the maze of certifications in the industry sometimes can lead to more, rather than less confusion. He also mentions the small percentage of recycled materials in some so-called recycled products: “Why not recycle more? I want to see more things recycled—pecan shells or pistachio shells—stuff people normally think of as waste. Why is it waste?”

Dalrymple also has some idea of where the wild things are at the jam-packed Greenbuild Expo 2009.

• LED residential lighting
  

“I’ve been waiting five years for the next step in LED. I think this will be the year of the LED. I have a background in film and I just love lights,” Dalrymple said.

Cree's Indoor Recessed Light

He may be right. LEDs (light-emitting diodes), traditionally the light on your clock radio—use less energy, live eons longer, dosn’t emit heat, work with a dimmer switch and don’t contain the mercury of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Until now, LED fixtures have been too expensive and didn’t look “warm” enough for household use. New technology has improved the products and brought the price down. The life of an LED can be 50,000 hours (or more than 5 years if you left it on around the clock).

Cree LED Lighting, a growing green company based in North Carolina, is working to improve the quality and price of LEDs. Cree offers “Cree True White Technology,” to deliver warm color and very high efficiency. Its LR6 LED uses 12 watts to deliver the equivalent of a 65watt incandescent. LR6 and other fixtures can be retrofitted into existing recessed lighting hook-ups, last about 12 years in homes and cost under $100.

RAB Lighting’s outdoor LPack, made for over garage doors and pathway lighting, uses about 13 Watts to light the equivalent of a 55 watt  incandescent for 50,000 hours; at $140, it comes in a cool aluminum housing that looks sort of like an over-sized Blackberry.

• Composite Flooring.

“Shredded bamboo is now made into flooring that has patterns and looks fabulous. And the popularity of cork flooring is growing, almost replacing bamboo,” Dalrymple said.

A fast-growing grass, bamboo is a renewable resource, but for optimal environmental imprint, it shouldn’t be harvested before 5.5 years and should come from the hardy moso species. Ask questions when shopping.  Some manufacturers use formaldehyde for bonding—but they don’t have to.

Teragren Flooring doesn’t use formaldehyde and offers an array of Floorscore-certified  (a third-party certification by Scientific Certification Systems) bamboo flooring; this year Teregren sells water and bacteria-resistant countertops, in addition to flooring.

Sustainable Flooring's shower cork

Cork flooring isn’t exactly new – Frank Lloyd Wright used it in his 1936 masterpiece Fallingwater with good reason.  It’s a natural insulator, is silent and reduces jostling of the joints and spine when you walk on it. The best cork comes from the Mediterranean. A softer version grows in China, but the durable stuff is firm and a by-product of the wine-cork industry in Portugal and Italy.

Both Expanko and Sustainable Flooring show gorgeous samples of Mediterranean cork tile and mosaic cork tile. Expanko provided the new floors when Fallingwater was restored.

With flooring, comes the danger that what adheres it may be manufactured with formaldehyde and other toxins. A new product from Smith & Fong Plyboo, SoyBond, is formaldehyde-free, made from soybeans for use with bamboo. Plyboo also makes a line of nontoxic plywood.

• Certification and label help.

With the mainstreaming of green building, new green labels abound at Greenbuild Expo — and at every home improvement store. But which ones mean anything? Dalrymple says keep in mind that a third-party rating, like Green Seal for paints, cleaners and other products, is likely to be more dependable than the “green this or green that” labels created in the marketing departments of home improvement companies. A growing legion of online help is available to sift out the scientific from the marketing messages.

Ecolabelling is a tool for anyone. It’s a nonprofit that tries to compile data on every green label in the world and tells you what the label is worth.

The so-called “Amazon.com of green building products,” Buildingease helps designers, contractors and others search for certified green products. Click on “3″ to find legitimate third-party green product ratings. It’s a one-stop portal for researching, rating and buying green building products at the lowest price.

Mick Dalyrmple, owner a.k.a. Green

The newest entry in online aid is GreenKonnect, a search engine built for the green building industry. The Beta version bowed at Greenbuild Expo.  Watch for the actual launch. Utilizing a database of LEED-certified building projects and green products used in LEED buildings, site organizers hope to become a first stop for architects, engineers and contractors planning projects for LEED certification or other types. It will be free to everyone at first. Later, manufacturers will pay, based on product sales.

Thousand of products and so little time. A solid two day’s of looking is on display at Greenbuild Expo. For detailed listings, visit the Greenbuild website.

Then, if you plan to transition into a green home, start small, says Dalrymple. “Buy a few low energy bulbs. See how you like it. Pretty soon you’ll be opening a green products store and wondering: why did I do that?”

(Kate Nolan writes about the environment and health in Phoenix. She worked formerly as areporter for The Arizona Republic; managing editor at Phoenix New Times and editor at Playboy.)

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Watch out San Francisco, you’re not the only city striving to put electric cars on the road. Today, you’ll be joined by Elk Horn, Iowa, where Coulomb Technologies is installing EV charging stations.

The Danish Windmill in Elk Horn (Photo: DanishWindmill.com)

After a ribbon-cutting today, four ChargePoint stations will be available for public use in the small city between Des Moines and Omaha, thanks to support from Iron Eagle Technologies, the Danish Windmill, AmericInn Motels and the Elk Horn Service Station. Coulomb’s distributor Carbon Day Automotive also joined this group effort to bring clean renewable energy to Elk Horn.

The stations will be the first of many envisioned for the I-80 corridor through Iowa and Nebraska. They are the first installed in Iowa, and the first between Chicago and Denver, helping add to a network that aims to span the country – which helps answer the question “Why Iowa?”

Another way of looking at it, according to President and CEO of Iron Eagle Technologies (IET), Mike Howard, is to ask “Why Not Iowa?”

“Although it’s not well known, the first successful electric vehicle was actually invented in Iowa by William Morrison.  We’ve come a long way since then, and Iron Eagle Technologies is committed to putting the EV focus back in the heartland,” he said.

IET, a testing company that consults, evaluates and helps develop clean energy, including EV vehicles, wind and solar energy, provided the impetus for bringing the stations to the southwest corner of Iowa. The company’s “World EVAL” program will be testing and certifying electric vehicles and EV components.

The new ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations will be open to all drivers of plug-in vehicles. The networked repowering stations provide authentication, management and real-time control using web-based portals that drivers and fleet managers can use. For more info on how the Chargepoint system works see the Coulomb website  Drivers can also find a listing of stations at the website.

The ribbon cutting ceremony, at the town’s iconic (and fittingly green) Danish Windmill, will be a celebration of possibilities with officials speaking about the need to put EV infrastructure in place for future transportation and EV manufacturers offering rides in EV vehicles.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Gucci Group said it plans to implement an industry-leading paper policy.

From Green Right Now Reports

Luxury brand Gucci Group said today it is joining forces with Rainforest Action Network and will eliminate all paper made from Indonesian rainforests and plantations and by controversial suppliers such as  Asia Pulp and Paper. The company said this is a first step in its plan to implement an industry-leading paper policy.

Rainforest Action Network officials said they are pleased to sign up the famous luxury house in its ongoing effort to protect Indonesian and other endangered forests. Since the beginning of Fall 2009, RAN has been urging the fashion world to more closely examine their paper supply chains and to sever any connection with paper suppliers like Asia Pulp and Paper who are actively destroying Indonesia’s rainforests.

“The Gucci Group’s actions and commitments confirm its place as an industry leader,” Lafcadio Cortesi, RAN’s Forest Campaign Director, said in a statement. “This move sets a bar for others in fashion and retail and demonstrates the foresight our society needs for our children and grandchildren to have standing rainforests and a stable climate.”

The Gucci Group’s move commits some of fashion’s most famous brands, including Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Balenciaga to perhaps the luxury industry’s strongest paper policy. With its new policy, the Gucci Group has pledged to reduce the amount of paper it uses, eliminate fiber from high conservation value forests, and only to purchase recycled products or those certified by the Forest Stewardship Council by December 2010. With this policy, they are ensuring that all paper categories used by the group, from copy paper to shopping bags, do not come from endangered forests such as those in Indonesia.

Gucci Group’s new policy puts them at the front of a growing list of major companies, including Tiffany & Co., H&M Group, Staples and Unisource who acting to clean their supply chains of rainforest paper and severing relationships with companies who continue to destroy rainforests in Indonesia or elsewhere.

“Standing rainforests are not a luxury, they’re a necessity if the world wants to stop climate change,” Mimma Viglezio, Executive VP Global Communications at the Group, said in a statement. “Our actions are lowering our own carbon footprint, but we hope that they will also raise awareness inside the fashion industry that it’s possible for our industry to make a difference for rainforests and for the climate.”

Worldwide, the degradation and destruction of tropical rainforests is responsible for 20 percent of all annual greenhouse emissions. The carbon emissions resulting from Indonesia’s rapid deforestation account for around eight percent of global emissions — more than the combined emissions from all the cars, planes, trucks, buses and trains in United States. This huge carbon footprint from forest destruction has made non-industrialized Indonesia the third-largest global greenhouse gas emitter, behind only the U.S. and China.

Roof-mounted solar panels on Hall's Warehouse in South Plainfield New Jersey. (Photo: Business Wire)

By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now

The latest generation of workers in clean technology jobs aren’t all engineers, tech experts and scientists. They aren’t all in Silicon Valley – some are from Detroit or Gary, Ind.

They may come from community colleges or be fresh out of high school.

Even with the aching economy, venture capital is flowing to clean technologies at a rate rivaling biotech and software investments. The Federal government is pushing for smarter, sustainable and alternative forms of power, transportation and energy efficiency.

Around the world – in Europe, India, Japan and, especially, China – clean technology is a growing job market.

Unlike the high-tech bubble in California, these industries are spread out. Along with the financial analysts and system designers, there are jobs for laborers with new skills – biofuel boiler operators, insulation workers for green buildings or solar energy system installers.

Those are some details from a recently released study of jobs in clean technology industries. Clean Edge, a research and publishing company focused on the clean-tech sector since 2000, looked for the first time at the various jobs associated with these fields, as well as the top areas in the country where the jobs are emerging.

“This is a dispersed revolution, not concentrated in one place, like Silicon Valley during the dot.com boom,” said Ron Pernick, an author of the report and co-founder/managing director of Clean Edge.  “It’s in dozens of nodes and places all over the globe. And it’s not just one type of profession, but with all levels of education” and a significant range of jobs.

Wind power has more than 400,000 direct and indirect jobs around the globe.

Clean energy jobs are growing faster than other job sectors, according to Pew research cited in the report. In the solar photo-voltaic field alone, there are more than 200,000 jobs (direct and indirect) worldwide. The wind power area, Clean Edge reports, has more than 400,000 direct and indirect jobs around the globe.

What is clean tech? Companies that in some way use or produce renewable materials and energy sources, reduce use of natural resources (or improve efficiency), and limit or stop pollution and toxic waste, the report said.

Among the 36 jobs sampled:

• A boiler operator in a biofuel/biomaterial company could receive (with some years of related experience) a median annual salary of $61,000 with either a high school or associate’s degree.
• A building maintenance engineer for a “green” building (also with mid-level experience) might be looking at a median pay level of $43,300, again with a high school or associate’s degree.
• At higher levels, in entry-level jobs that call for a bachelor’s degree, a solar energy system designer ‘s median pay is $42,600, while a smart-grid software engineer’s median  income is $65,500.

(The job/salary information was determined both by Clean Edge and PayScale, a compensation data publisher. A national median means that half of those doing each job are paid more than the median, and half are paid less.)

Even at entry level, a high school grad or someone with an associate’s degree would need to have some specialized training for the tech jobs. On Clean Edge’s job listings, “those energy efficiency jobs, and solar installation jobs, all of these jobs, at the end of the day, on the manufacturing side, on the installation jobs, they are technical jobs,” Pernick said.

While it is true the San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose metropolitan area is still number one in the study’s clean-tech job activity list Detroit/Ann Arbor, Mich. is 14^th on the list of 15.

“Detroit is a great example, and they’re having a difficult time as you know,” said Pernick. In Wixom, Mich., a former Ford plant closed in 2007 is a 320-acre facility that has been purchased by Xtreme Power (wind and solar power systems) and Clairvoyant Energy (solar panel manufacturing). They are planning to reopen the plant in 2011 and could potentially employ thousands, the report said.

In West Branch, Iowa, a hydraulic pump maker laid off 130 workers in 2003. Now wind turbines are being built by 130 employees there, and more hires are planned. In Newton, Iowa, an old Maytag plant for home appliances had laid off 1,800 people in 2007. Now, TPI Composites are making wind turbine blades there and have hired 325 people since 2008, the report says. They are aiming at 500 employees by 2020.

And it’s not just new companies on the clean-tech bandwagon: Big firms such as Siemens have 5,500 working in their wind-business division, and BP has more than 2,200 solar employees.

Of all the clean-tech businesses in the world, four are in the U.S., three are in China and three in the European Union, the report said.. The largest is Vestas Wind Systems in Denmark, with 21,100 employees.

Pressure for more efficient sources of industry coincides with large numbers of retiring employees. The result, according to Pernick, can be found in the example of California’s Pacific Gas & Electric. PG&E “is a company reinventing itself. . . . They need to build out their energy intelligence and clean energy integration because of other forces. But as they’re facing a huge shift in their existing labor pool, they are going to hire people trained in those new arenas.”

But will Americans who don’t like the idea of public funding for new ventures object to stimulus money for clean tech businesses?

“The government has a history of highly subsidized and deregulated energy sources. Coal, nuclear, oil – they’re all highly subsidy-dependent and regulatory dependent. Time has changed, they don’t create a lot of jobs in those industries (non-renewable), they are not providing energy independence,” Pernick said.

That said, Clean Edge’s report offers five models for publicly financing clean-tech jobs.  Some have interesting precedents in American history. The Green Bank (officially the Clean Energy Development Administration) proposal is moving through the U.S. House and Senate and receiving bipartisan support. The bank could fund lots of renewable energy, energy efficiency and pollution reducing businesses and leverage lots of private investment as well. In the 19^th century, the report says, the government supported private enterprise – the building out of America’s railroads.

Another blast from the past for clean tech support could be a form of “Victory Bonds,” similar to the War Bonds sold to support World War II efforts, the study said. The World Bank and a Scandinavian bank helped raise more than $350 million for “green bonds” in 2008.

Another public-financing idea is the production of more Federal bonds that offer bondholders a tax credit (to some extent) in lieu of interest payments. The report also speaks about Federal loan guarantees and city-administered loan funds — where homeowners could borrow money to be more energy efficient (solar energy cells on their roofs, for example), then repay the loans over a long time via property taxes or utility bills.

Clean-tech companies and financing options are spread across the country, so there will be competition. However, “there are so many players . . . you can try to put together a great package to attract a company (in New York, for example) and they just may end up in Texas or Colorado or Oregon. There’s no way to divine who’s going to get the deal.

“The good news is they (cities) have a chance to get it, and the bad is that there’s a lot of competition,” Pernick said.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Before the recession put a stranglehold on most every investment, clean technology was hot. Nearly 80 percent of all the venture capital spent in 2008 went to clean, green investments. The industries slumped for much of 2009, but now investors are returning to clean industries.

Regular Americans are curious about these clean tech companies, too, and they’re asking their financial advisers about them, according to one survey.

What is clean tech? It refers to technologies made without generating significant pollution, which produce products that can replace non-renewable energy sources, like oil, and make us more energy-efficient. Think solar cells and wind-generated power, hybrid or electric cars, green buildings, desalinated water and a “smart grid” that will help businesses and home owners to connect with new sources of power, like wind farms and giant desert photovoltaic installations

To give it an extra push, the government’s stimulus package has set aside about  $100 billion for clean, green products and industries. With that boost, venture capital is starting to flow again.

Considering clean-tech investing? We asked some of the best minds in the business to offer tips, advice and bits of wisdom:

Dallas Kachan Cleantech Group

What parts of clean tech are rebounding?

“The earliest sectors to rebound are tied to energy-efficiency and smart grids. The technologies are well understood and simple, quick and easy to deploy. Energy efficiency technologies are the low-hanging fruit,” said Dallas Kachan, managing director of Cleantech Group.  “By becoming more efficient we negate the need for more (energy) generation. . . there is a broad realization that over the last year you get high returns to pursue energy efficiency.”

Kachan’s company is among the most widely read sources of trade news, daily business and developments in the clean technology arena.

So far, solar deals and biofuels have gotten the lion’s share of clean tech investments. Some predict now that energy-efficient technologies will be the next hot commodities.

Are these industries solid?

“These technologies are ready for prime time. They weren’t ready 30 years ago. The timing wasn’t right in the ‘70s. They are no longer considered “alternative” technologies,” said Ron Pernick, co-founder of Clean Edge, a major market research and publishing firm focused on clean technologies since 2000. Clean Edge guides companies, investors and even governments with information about “trends, opportunities and challenges.”

“Globally, biofuels, wind and solar were a $116 billion industry last year,” Pernick said. The predictions for those three sectors? “They will be more than $300 billion in a decade.”

Now, big businesses are stepping into the clean-tech arena, Pernick said. Reports say that General Electric has sunk billions of dollars into wind power, and Applied Materials has put money into solar power.  Xerox, Kimberly-Clark and Walmart  are all putting substantial money into clean tech.

How quickly will these clean tech businesses grow?

Michael Kanellos Greentech Media

“Don’t expect a quick payoff,” said Michael Kanellos, editor-in-chief of Greentech Media, a leading online-media company. He suggested lowering your sky-high expectations. “Software companies can take off like a rocket because consumers can download applications for free and good ones travel by word of mouth. Twitter went from a few users to millions.

“But most green-tech applications – like energy-efficient appliances or solar panels – have to be manufactured. That costs money, which slows adoption,” he said.

In other words, “If Google had to go on your roof, install a bunch of glass plates and charge you $20,000 before you even started searching, you’d switch to Yahoo,” Kanellos said.

What about green mutual funds?

There may be safety in numbers, and clean/green mutual funds could provide extra comfort for mom-and-pop investors. Morningstar provides its members with research and analysis of the market, including tracking of 23 actively managed (and 15 exchange-traded) funds that are considered “green.”

“Somebody who wants to invest in green mutual funds should be aware of the various types of funds out there that are marketed as ‘green,’ said David Kathman, a Chicago-based analyst of mutual funds for Morningstar. A fund that consists of many start-ups is a riskier bet than one with a broader mix.

“Another group is ‘best of breed’ green funds, he said. “These look much more like regular core mutual funds in that they typically own well-known stocks, but within each sector they look for stocks with the best green profiles and environmental records,” Kathman said.

If you’re thinking about a mutual fund, study the prospectus for their “green” criteria or sustainability goals and the areas of green industry where they focus.

Like any other investment, looking for solid cash flows, stimulus money and diversified portfolios are important. A solid track record is as important with “clean” mutual funds as it is with any other fund.

Don’t just think American. Think globally

“Clean tech is not just an American phenomenon. There are very important deals and commercialization in . . . China and the Middle East,” said Clean Tech’s Kachan.

The clean-tech field also is making strong headway in South Korea, Japan, the European Union and India. “Governments around the world . . . are looking to create jobs, be energy-independent, meet stringent requirements for carbon and other emissions, said Clean Edge’s Pernick. “Governments are taking this seriously.”

In the third quarter of this year, Europe received much more clean-tech financing than America.

China is the world’s third largest economy, and they are aggressively looking for cleaner, more efficient energy. One report points out that China has doubled its ability to use wind-generated power over the past four years.

The Cobb County Water System in Marietta, Ga., and Kohler, maker of water faucets and other plumbing supplies, have won government recognition for their water-conserving ways.

The EPA named them among its “WaterSense” Partners of the Year. The program highlights the many ways in which organizations can advocate for saving water:

• Cobb County water officials teamed up with Kohler, Lowe’s Home Improvement stores and others, to promote Georgia’s tax holiday for WaterSense products. WaterSense products include such things as water sensors for sprinkler systems to stop needless watering; low-flow shower heads and faucets, and toilets that use less water.

• Kohler, of Kohler, Wisc., was named “Manufacturer of the Year” for earning the WaterSense label for 40 percent of the faucets it produces and 25 percent of its toilets. Like the EPA’s EnergyStar program that recognizes light bulbs and appliances that go easy on electricity, the WaterSense program labels products so consumers can select those that conserve water.

• Lowe’s was named Retailer of the Year by the program for training more than 200,000 employees to promote WaterSense products and  increasing the percentage of WaterSense labeled products in its inventory.

The EPA estimates that its 1,000-plus WaterSense partners helped Americans save more than 9.3 billion gallons of water in 2008.

The James City Service Authority in Williamsburg, Va., also was recognized for promoting water conservation, and Brian Vinchesi of Mooresvile, N.C., was named “Irrigation Partner of the Year.”

The EPA urges everyone to think about conserving water.

“Water shortage is a growing concern in the United States. By making just a few simple changes, you can not only save hundreds of dollars for yourself, but trillions of gallons of water and billions of dollars for the country,” says Virginia Lee of the WaterSense program.

For more information on the winners and how you can save water, see the WaterSense website.

Kimberly-Clark Professional, a division of the paper products company serving commercial and institutional facilities, said today it is launching an awareness campaign that encourages industry professionals to go beyond recycling and think about reducing what they use in the first place.

The company said the campaign called “Reduce Today, Respect Tomorrow” will be its first environmentally focused, global communications effort.

One of four global business sectors within Kimberly-Clark Corp., Kimberly-Clark Professional is among the world’s largest manufacturers of washroom products, serving office buildings, hotels, schools, health-care facilities, manufacturing plants and other public buildings.

“Our ongoing efforts to achieve outstanding environmental performance are not just our responsibility as corporate citizens, they are vital to our success as a business,” Jan Spencer, president of Global Kimberly-Clark Professional, said in a statement. “These efforts are also guided by global, company-wide objectives for improving operational performance in energy, water, waste, and environmental management systems.”

The company said that while many regard recycled fiber content as the main measure of environmental stewardship, Kimberly-Clark Professional wants to reduce environmental impact at every stage of a product’s lifecycle. K-C said that by practicing “source reduction” it can essentially prevent waste before it is ever created. If less is consumed in the first place, it often means there is less packaging waste, which further reduces the amount of waste to recycle, or send to landfills.

Kimberly-Clark Professional said it has implemented other practices to reduce the environmental impact of products, including:

• Developing unique fiber-efficient technologies, such as the patented UCTAD manufacturing process, which reduces by up to 17 percent the amount of fiber needed to make tissue, towel and wiper products versus competitive wet press technology.
• Compressing or redesigning products and packaging so that more fits into every case.
• Introducing products such as Scott Coreless Standard Roll Bath Tissue, which reduces packaging waste by nearly 55 percent, compared with standard roll bath tissue — including 100 percent core and paper wrap elimination.
• Resizing cases to optimize how they fit onto standard pallets, so truck space can be used more effectively, reducing the total number of deliveries needed to fill orders.

West Coast Green, a gathering that‘s part expo, part trade show and part thought conference, will be showcasing leading edge green projects when it opens at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco this coming weekend.

One of the largest conferences devoted to the “built environment,” the event attracts speakers with architectural, design and construction expertise from around the nation.

Visitors to the 2009 conference, Oct. 1-3, will be able to see demos of hundreds of products, as well as examples of green design, such as a large hanging garden constructed on a bamboo framework that will be suspended over the bay. The installation aims to show how green can be beautiful and useful, using vegetation to mitigate heat, sequester carbon and improve water and air quality.

The SFH40, an off-grid building for emergency use (Photo: West Coast Green.)

Another demonstration will feature a self-sustaining, off-the-grid building called the SHF40 that could be used during medical or weather emergencies or as temporary housing.

Some 300 exhibitors will be showing green and non-toxic building products; solar, wind and waste reduction technology.

But West Coast Green is also about envisioning what could be, and this year offers several “leadership summits” where participants can learn about retrofitting residential buildings, clean tech and green business opportunities – so they can go forth and pave — or, er, permeable rock path — the way in these arenas. There will also be a “design slam,” a brainstorming session among designers to help green a renovation of a Pier at Fort Mason.

Many notable sustainability experts will be speak, including keynoters:

• Bill Reed, president of the Integrative Design Collaborative based in Massachusetts and New Mexico

• Andrew Winston, founder of Ecostrategies.

• Rebecca Costa, futurist and author, The Watchman’s Rattle

• Cameron Sinclair, co-founder of Architecture for Humanity, author of Design Like You Give  Damn

• Peter Darbee, CEO of PG&E, a sponsor of the event and among the companies leaving the US Chamber of Commerce over the chamber’s opposition to climate legislation.

• Ray Anderson, chair and founder of Interface Inc.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom also will address the gathering at the opening Thursday morning. Dozens of other speakers will conduct workshops at the conference, which is in its fourth year.

Another green building conference is fast approaching. The annual GreenBuild event hosted by the US Green Building Council (which administers the LEED certification program). GreenBuild xpects to showcase up to 1,800 products at the Phoenix event Nov. 11-13.

Tesla Roadster

Environmentally-sensitive lifestyles and luxury goods would not, to many of us, seem to go together very well. People who own billion-dollar yachts, for instance, aren’t exactly worrying about their carbon footprint.

But plenty of purveyors of high-end goods hope to fight that assumption. Gathering a few steps from Central Park at Manhattan’s Rouge Tomate restaurant Tuesday, a few dozen companies argued that you can have your lush life and save the planet, too.

Fashion models and a celebrity or two mingled with backpack-toting journalists at the event, but (no offense to the models) the sexiest guest never came in the front door: A Tesla Roadster was parked out front, inviting slack-jawed lust from passersby, right in front of a more modest would-be world-changer, the single-seat NmG from Myers Motors.

Both companies had representatives inside, as did conventional carmakers like Audi and Mercedes-Benz, whose bragging about the 20-something miles per gallon their newest models get sounded pretty underwhelming in light of the plug-ins across the room.

All the autos, though, looked like Earth-savers when compared to the dubious offerings of Greenjets, which is essentially a car-pool in the sky for those who would otherwise travel on private jets. Yes, sharing a plane with a dozen or more of your fellow upper-crusters wastes less fuel than flying solo, but a commercial flight is better still.

In other categories, displays without an obvious environmental link sometimes proved surprisingly compelling. Looking at the many jewelers in attendance, for instance, a skeptic might have rolled his eyes: Beyond donating a slice of sales to green charities, how did any of them help the world? Well, it turns out, some had a pretty good argument. Designer Alberto Parada, for instance, was passionate about the environmental impact of global gold mining (promoting a “No Dirty Gold” campaign that hopes to raise public awareness to equal the controversy over diamond mining) and was proud to say his collection exclusively used gold that had been reclaimed from discarded jewelry.

A plethora of beauty products were available for sampling at Eco-Luxe, from shea butter balms sold through Whole Foods to handmade soaps and a line whose cute packaging described it as “natural beauty for girls”.

Further up the pampering food chain were spas. All offered body treatments with exotic all-natural ingredients or low-impact aspirations, but some went further: Albany’s Complexions spa, which sounds like a much-needed oasis of calm for that politically fractious town, claims to be the state’s “first & only LEED Gold spa & salon.”

For more active recreation, the obligatory array of exercise water bottles was highlighted by one, from The Water Geeks, that did the filtering for you via a screw-in adapter — perfect for carrying around the countryside or urban jungle as you ride an enhanced bike that makes electricity from your pedal and braking action to give you an extra boost when the going gets tough.

Bonterra Wine

And what’s the high life without entertaining? In addition to Rouge Tomate’s quite popular wholesome cocktails (the cucumber one with agave nectar was particularly tasty) were organically produced wines from Bonterra and Korbel and a slew of new flavored offerings from 360 Vodka. Choco-tini, anyone? (A helpful spokesperson at the 360 booth answered a question I’d had about their packaging: Turns out the bottle is “only” 85% recycled content because a higher percentage wouldn’t be strong enough not to break.) And for planning the party to go with all that booze, a designer from Celadon & Celery cheerfully showed off a beautiful “green wall” of succulents planted in materials rescued from a demolished playground.

All in all, the event was far from the greenwashing field day skeptics might have predicted. For every instance of weird aromatherapy or sighting of an evening gown made of cork, there was an entrepreneur who was clearly sincere about making goods that are both desirable and beneficial — or at least not harmful — to the world they come from.

True, almost nothing in the room could be called a necessity. But squeezing through the crush of magazine writers and eco-advocates who mingled, a visitor sensed (and sometimes overheard) a bit of relief that this was less an exercise in easing the guilt of conspicuous consumption than a step toward convincing high-end business that many of their customers care about the long term impact of life’s little pleasures.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Newsweek has launched a ranking of the greenest companies in America and Hewlett-Packard tops the initial list. The Newsweek Green Rankings, based on companies’ environmental footprint, policies and practices, appears in the Sept. 28 issue of the magazine.

The green ranking covers America’s 500 largest publicly traded companies as measured by revenue, market capitalization and number of employees. Companies were ranked based on criteria such as each company’s greenhouse gas emissions, toxic waste emissions and use of other natural resources. Newsweek and its partners also assessed the companies’ management of environmental issues and policies, regulatory compliance and policies concerning climate change. Newsweek said the rankings also factor in the results of a reputational survey of CEOs, corporate social responsibility officers, members of the media, academics and members of key environmental groups.

The top 10 greenest companies in America according to the report are:

1. Hewlett-Packard Company
2. Dell Inc.
3. Johnson & Johnson
4. Intel Corporation
5. IBM
6. State Street Corporation
7. NIKE, Inc.
8. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
9. Applied Materials, Inc.
10. Starbucks Corporation

Newsweek also broke out the list by industry sector, determining the top 10 greenest companies in their respective industries. The top companies from each industry are:

• Banks & Insurance — Wells Fargo & Company
• Basic Materials — Praxair, Inc.
• Financial Services — State Street Corporation
• Food & Beverage — Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.
• General Industrials, Construction and Materials — ITT Corporation
• Health Care Equipment and  Services — Baxter International Inc.
• Industrial Goods and Services — Agilent Technologies, Inc.
• Industrial Transportation, Aerospace and Defense — United Technologies Corporation
• Media, Travel and Leisure — Starbucks Corporation
• Oil and Gas — Marathon Oil Corporation
• Personal and Household Goods, Autos and Auto Parts — NIKE, Inc.
• Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology — Johnson & Johnson
• Retail — Kohl’s Corporation
• Technology and Telecommunications — Hewlett-Packard Company
• Utilities — PG&E Corporation

Partners on the survey included environmental research experts KLD Research and Analytics, the lead partner on the project, Trucost and CorporateRegister.com.

Newsweek said it used an expert panel to appraise the Newsweek Green Ranking methodology and review the preliminary and final list. The panelists included Dan Esty, prof. of environmental law and policy, Yale University; Marjorie Kelly, senior associate at Tellus Institute and co-founder and former editor of Business Ethics Magazine;
Wood Turner, executive director of Climate Counts; David Vidal, global Corporate citizenship research director at The Conference Board; and John Steelman of The Climate Center, National Resource Defense Council.

Palm Oil, an ingredient found in most processed food, has been the subject of much environmental debate in recent years over its role in deforestation. It is commonly found in cooking oil and as an ingredient in cosmetics, soaps, detergents, and some plastics. Palm oil also has been considered for use in the production of biodiesel.

There have been many attempts to make palm oil sustainable. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was even established in 2003 to do just that. Unfortunately, six years later, there is still no system that can effectively trace palm oil beyond the processor to the plantation level. Companies that manufacture products using palm oil have little way of knowing where the controversial substance originated — which leaves the question of whether and to what degree palm oil is sustainably farmed up in the air.

This week, a press campaign run by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) and aimed at putting the best spin on the industry ran aground when Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned a magazine ad by the Malaysian boosters.

The headline of the MPOC’s magazine advertisement read: “Palm Oil: The Green Answer.”

As if that were not misleading enough, the ad made many more claims, such as:

• “Palm oil is the only product able to sustainably and efficiently meet a large portion of the world’s increasing demand for oil crop-based consumer goods, foodstuffs and biofuel … Malaysia’s forest cover is certain to be maintained.”
• “With the increased attention paid to oil crops, and oil palm in particular, a number of criticisms have been leveled at Malaysia’s palm oil industry, from accusations of rampant deforestation and unsound environmental practices to unfair treatment of farmers and indigenous people. These allegations – protectionist agendas hidden under a thin veneer of environmental concern – are based neither on scientific evidence, nor, for that matter, on fact.”
• “In addition to its green credentials, Malaysia’s palm oil industry also plays an important role in the industrialization of the country and the alleviation of poverty, especially amongst rural populations.”

The advertisement violated substantiation, truthfulness, and the environmental claims sections of the Advertising Standards Authority’s Code, according to the group’s assessment.

“Although we acknowledged that some Malaysian palm oil companies had sought certification from the RSPO [the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil], we understood that the scheme and the certification of biofuels in general was still the subject of debate,” stated the Advertising Standards Authority’s Assessment.

They report explained that “palm oil had played a role in the development of the Malaysian economy in its shift from reliance on rubber and tin mining” and it acknowledged MPOCs assertion that this created one million jobs.

But it also noted that environmental and human rights groups had legitimate complaints about palm oil producers. Friends of the Earth, for instance, contends that palm oil production creates adverse social impacts by displacing indigenous communities affected by deforestation.

Issues over housing and land rights and low wages and poor treatment of workers “compromised MPOCs claim that palm oil had a societal benefit,” the advertisers assessment stated.

The advertising regulators concluded that the magazine ad must no longer appear in its current form.

There is no such thing as sustainable palm oil, at least not yet, according to the ASA.

Malaysian leader presses palm oil’s virtues

The MPOC fired back on Wednesday, complaining that the ASA was relying on FOE’s biased environmental conclusions and arguing that palm oil, being the cheapest vegetable oil, should be available to consumers, especially the poor.

“Today, the ASA ruled that an advertorial in The Economist highlighting the economic importance and environmental sustainability of Malaysian Palm Oil should not appear in any other UK media outlets. The ruling followed a complaint by Friends of the Earth about the advertorial. By censoring our message, this relatively small group of people is blocking the entire British public’s access to a diverse range of views and information about Palm Oil,” wrote the Malaysian group’s CEO Tan Sri Datuk Dr. Yusof Basiron.

“Consumers have a right to have information about the various products and services available to them and a right to determine for themselves which they want. Consequently, we are deeply concerned that the ASA is acting as an interested party in the public debate on palm oil rather than as a neutral and objective arbiter.”