From Green Right Now Reports

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22, 2010, Aaron Brothers Art & Framing is sponsoring a kids’ art contest themed Coloring Earth Green. Entries will be accepted in Aaron Brothers stores from February 28th until April 18th. Approximately $26,000 in prizes will be awarded to kids and their schools – including a Grand Prize trip to the Crayola Factory for two students and their families.

The contest is open to legal residents of Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Washington who are 5 to 12 years of age on Feb. 28, 2010.

Aaron Brothers said it will offer teachers a complimentary kit that contains “Green Thought Starters” — ideas, fun facts and “eco-easy” tips to be green and to raise awareness of the natural environment. Teachers may download or request the free teachers kit, which includes “Coloring Earth Green” art entry examples and the Green Thought Starters Kit.

To enter the Coloring Earth Green contest, artists should create artwork that focuses on the planet and the protection of the environment. To be eligible, the piece of art must be unframed on 9 inch by 12 inch paper. Artists are welcome to use any medium, including paint, crayons, markers and three-dimensional objects. Finished artwork can be entered at any Aaron Brothers store. In addition to the original artwork, each child will need to submit a completed entry form, which requires parent/guardian consent. Complete contest rules and a store locator can be found at www.aaronbrothers.com .

Each Aaron Brothers store will display its entries, and two winners will be selected from each store during a voting event April 24th and 25th. The two categories are 5-8 years old and 9-12 years old.

The winning entries from each store will be posted online for the nation to vote May 5th to May 21st. Online voting will determine the Grand Prize, Second Prize and Third Prize winners. Winners will be announced around May 28th.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and the state’s Attorney General and Agriculture commissioner, announced Tuesday that the state will challenge the EPA’s 2009 finding that greenhouse gases are endangering human health.

Texas has filed a Petition for Review of the EPA’s finding with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit , questioning the science behind the EPA’s finding and whether the agency should be allowed to regulate industries’ greenhouse gas emissions.

The move follows a similar one by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week, when the Chamber filed a petition against the EPA to stop the agency from regulating greenhouse gases. The Chamber says it favors greenhouse gas reductions, but that giving the EPA the authority to assess fines against polluters is the “wrong way” to do it.

The EPA responded to the Texas filing with this statement from Dr. Alfredo “Al” Armendariz, EPA Regional Administrator for Region 6:

“Todays action is not surprising. Texas officials have repeatedly expressed opposition to the EPA’s common sense approach to begin reducing harmful greenhouse gases. Texas, which contributes up to 35 percent of the greenhouse gases emitted by industrial sources in the United States, should be leading the way in this effort. Instead, Texas officials are attempting to slow progress with unnecessary litigation.

“EPA is confident the endangerment finding, which was issued as a result of a 2007 Supreme Court decision, will withstand legal challenge.”               

Both the Texas petition and the one filed by the U.S. Chamber express concern that regulating greenhouse gases — or in the case of the Chamber’s suit, assessing fines to violators –  will be costly for businesses.

Perry’s suit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals, specifically cites industries that depend on fossil fuels and the livestock industry.

“This legal action is being taken to protect the Texas economy and the jobs that go with it, as well as defend Texas’ freedom to continue our successful environmental strategies free from federal overreach,” Perry said in a news release.

The EPA officially deemed greenhouse gases to be a threat to human health in 2009 after the U.S. Supreme Court found that the Bush Administration’s reasons for not regulating these pollutants to be insufficient. The EPA is charged with regulating air pollution under the Clean Air Act.

Environmental Defense Fund Texas Regional Director Jim Marston said Gov. Perry’s action against the EPA represents a step backwards for Texas.

“The lawsuit filed by Governor Perry is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to ignore the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. vs. Massachusetts. Their action invokes memories of a sad time in Texas history from the ’50s, when Texas politicians sought to nullify decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. Not only is it legally unsound, it puts Texas on the side of the 1950s economy, against the clean energy economy of the future.”

Perry and his co-filers, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, criticize the EPA’s “endangerment finding” on greenhouse gases, saying that the EPA wrongly relied heavily on the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which has recently come under fire for having miscalculated or exaggerated some of the effects of global warming. For instance, a finding that the Himalayan glaciers would be gone in a few decades turned out to be based on one scientist’s estimation, and not any peer-reviewed study.

Leaders with the global alliance of scientists, however, have defended the panel’s basic conclusion that the world is warming, pointing to Arctic ice melts and rising seas.

But Texas Attorney General Abbott says that controversies around the IPCC call into question the EPA’s greenhouse gas position.

“With billions of dollars at stake, EPA outsourced the scientific basis for its greenhouse gas regulation to a scandal-plagued international organization that cannot be considered objective or trustworthy,” Attorney General Abbott said.

According to the Texas news release,  “the International[sic] Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)… has been discredited by evidence of key scientists’ lack of objectivity, coordinated efforts to hide flaws in their research, attempts to keep contravening evidence out of IPCC reports and violation of freedom of information laws.”

The EDF defends the EPA, however, saying the agency drew on science from many sources, such as NOAA and the USDA, not just the IPCC.

“Some of the challengers have claimed that the scientific underpinning for EPA’s action is weak. In fact, EPA’s decision is based on a two hundred page synthesis of major scientific assessments by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Research Council, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautical and Space Administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the NOAA National Climatic Data Center, CNA Corporation, and others.”
(The EPA “Technical Support Document for the Findings” is available at the EPA website on climate change.)

The EDF statement also notes that the U.S. Chamber has fought the Clean Air Act before, in 1997, when the EPA moved to regulate particulate and ozone pollution.

Then, the Chamber claiming that it would harm manufacturers, farm interests, cement makers, auto manufacturers, the pulp and paper mill industry, petroleum refiners, iron and steel firms, home builders, mining interests, and power companies, the EDF said.

“Today, millions of Americans have been protected with healthier air and the science is only more compelling in documenting the harm from particulate and ozone pollution.”

In its current petition against the EPA’s regulation of greenhouse gases, the Chamber says it would favor a Congressional bill on climate change over direct government regulation.

“The right way” to regulate carbon pollution, according to the Chamber’s news release “is through bipartisan legislation that promotes new technologies, emphasizes efficiency, ensures affordable energy for families and businesses, and defends American jobs while returning our economy to prosperity. ”

The House of Representatives passed a bill to address climate change last summer, but the Senate has remained stalled on the issue for months.

A sudden cold snap creates a spike in consumption. Christmas lights are fun at the time, but they, too, keep that meter running. Kids routinely leave electronics on, even when they’re not in the room.

Advanced Metering System

Sure, you try to do all those little things that, in a perfect world, can help keep cost and environmental impact down. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world, and a big number on that electric bill each month can come as a shock to both the system and the budget.

But what if your world was just a little more perfect? What if you could log on to your computer and check consumption down to, say, a 15-minute period? What if you could figure out that your teenager is running the TV, stereo, a game player (or two) and every light in his room — all despite the fact that he’s spending the night at a friend’s house?

That’s the future of the Advanced Metering System (AMS), and that future is closer than you may think.

In Texas, electric infrastructure provider Oncor already has installed more than 700,000 of the new meters as part of its Smart Texas program, and the company plans to roll out a total of about three million by 2012. The technology feeds information directly to your electricity service provider, eliminating the need for anyone to come read the meter. Once a new website is launched in the next few months, users will be able to access reports broken down into 15-minute intervals, allowing them to chart how much energy is being consumed in their home or business.

It may not make your teen any more energy-efficient, but at least you’ll have a little more information in the fight against high bills and increased carbon footprint.

“The great thing about these meters is that they allow consumers to have, in their hands, real-time information so they can make better decisions about how they can use their electricity,” said Megan Wright, an Oncor spokesperson.

“You can see, at 3 p.m, my energy use is spiking. That’s when my kids are getting home from school. I need to talk to them about shutting the doors and not leaving the TV on while they’re doing things in their room. It allows you to have control over your electric consumption.”

How is all this being funded? By a service charge on the monthly electric bill, even for those who have yet to receive the new meter. According to an agreement with the Public Utility Commission, consumers will be levied $2.21 per month for the next 11 years to pay for equipment and installation.

(And what about all the money saved by eliminating the meter readers? According to Oncor, the reduced personnel savings were built into the surcharge.)

While Oncor’s project is one of the largest around, it is only part of a larger movement toward more manageable energy.

In the Houston area, CenterPoint Energy is working with GE Digital Energy to provide similar service. Southern California Edison is implementing the new technology in portions of 15 counties. Pennsylvania Power & Light has already outfitted more than a million customers in the Philadelphia area. In Canada, Toronto Hydro has transitioned more than 600,000 customers to smart meters.

Meanwhile, General Electric is expanding its smart metering efforts into China. GE is working with the city of Yangzhou, beginning with building a 100,000 square-foot lab to serve as a grid demonstration center.

As often happens, progress comes with a price, and not just the one being added to your electric bill.

Earlier this month, the Maine Public Utilities Commission approved Central Maine Power Company’s proposal to spend $190 million (about half of that coming from a Department of Energy grant) to convert about 600,000 residences to advanced metering. The move immediately drew cries from union officials protesting the elimination of more than 100 jobs, but the PUC ignored the objections, citing overall cost savings.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is looking at getting into the game in a different way. The software giant’s  Hohm application is designed to help users assess usage without having a smart meter. The process requires the cooperation of the local utility, however, or users will have to enter their own data.

Once installed, an Advanced Metering System will be able to communicate with in-home devices (display monitors, smart thermostats) to provide access to your usage information. Oncor currently is creating a Web portal where users will be able to view their information on a “day after” basis.

In addition to the Web portal, customers will be able to employ an in-home display monitor, a wireless device that communicates with the AMS. The monitor also can convert that usage to a dollar amount to allow you to see how much you are spending at a given time. (The in-home monitor can be purchased through your retail electric provider or a retail specialty store.)

The AMS also should allow the power company to know almost immediately if an outage has occurred at a home or business, speeding response time. The technology may even help identify  issues before they turn into outages.

Oncor Smart Texas Program

As part of the educational process, Oncor created the Smart Texas Mobile Experience Center, a 53-foot trailer filled with interactive videos and live demonstrations. The trailer visits local fairs, festivals and the like, in addition to making stops at Walmart, Home Depot and Lowe’s parking lots.

“We’ve had a lot of people react very favorably about it,” Wright said. “They come, they ask questions, they really want to know what they can do to use these meters to the best of their ability.”

“Right now, you’re constantly hearing about the ‘green’ movement. People are really concerned and wanting to be a part of it.”

(Coming soon: Another, smarter tool to help them do just that.)

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by Green Right Now Network

The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) and the Environmental Defense Fund, with the support of The Meadows Foundation have developed the Texas Green Jobs Guidebook.

The project highlights that in an emerging green energy economy, green means dollars. There are more than 200 green jobs listed in the guidebook, as well as specific training and education opportunities across Texas, and the list is expected to grow. Green is not a short term trend, but a fundamental shift in political, corporate, and personal decision making, according to those advocating for green jobs.

In Texas, $6 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 set aside for energy and weatherization programs is expected to fuel the green  job market. New bills awaiting review in Congress, such as the existing Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, pending in the U.S. Senate, could further that job growth.

“Texas is the energy capital of America,” said Kate Robertson, author of the Texas Green Jobs Guidebook and an energy efficiency specialist for the Environmental Defense Fund. When most people think of energy opportunities in Texas they think of oil, but that is rapidly changing.  Texas is the number one producer of wind energy in the country, providing opportunities all around the state, especially in West Texas where most wind farms are located. In Austin, solar energy is a fast-growing jobs sector.

From green construction to energy conservation, the green job market is vast, and the jobs listed in the guidebook reflect that, encompassing these areas:

• Clean Energy
• Solar Power
• Wind Power
• Geothermal Power
• Biogas
• Biomass
• Hydrogen Power
• Hydroelectric Power
• Green Building
• Transportation
• Waste Management
• Water Resources
• Conservation and Planning
• Environmental Research and Monitoring
• Advocacy

Also, while many green jobs are relatively new, they typically have strong local ties and cannot be outsourced overseas, providing some job security.

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network

GM announced today that its new lineup of heavy-duty diesel pickups will run on B20 biodiesel, which is a blend of 20-percent biodiesel and 80-percent conventional diesel that produces lower carbon dioxide emissions.

The announcement was made at the National Biodiesel Conference in Grapevine, Texas.

GM said its new Duramax 6.6L turbo diesel engine has been substantially revised to include B20 capability, as well as meet strict new emissions standards effective this year. The Duramax will power the redesigned 2011 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy-duty pickups, as well as the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans. Chevrolet plans to unveil the 2011 Silverado heavy-duty trucks at the Chicago Auto Show on Feb. 10.

“B20 capability in our new heavy-duty trucks is the latest addition to a growing number of alternate fuel options offered by General Motors,” Mike Robinson, GM’s vice president of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy, said in a statement. “We are seeking different paths to fuel solutions in order to maximize efficiency, reduce emissions and minimize the dependence on petroleum.”

GM says it has with more than 4 million FlexFuel vehicles on the road today capable of running on E85 ethanol. Like ethanol, biodiesel is a domestically produced, renewable fuel made primarily of plant matter – mostly soybean oil.

Estimates by National Biodiesel Board indicate about 700 million gallons of the fuel were produced in 2008 – up from about 500,000 gallons in 1999. Market fluctuations caused production to decrease in 2009, but it is expected to rise with more mandates and the availability of approved vehicles, such as the 2011 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy-duty trucks.

To make the Duramax 6.6L and its fuel system compatible with B20, GM said it upgraded some seals and gasket materials to withstand the ester content of biodiesel and included an upgraded fuel filter that includes a coalescing element. It improves the separation of water that may be present in the fuel, because biodiesel can attract and absorb water. Also, additional heating of the fuel circuit was added to reduce the chance of fuel gelling or waxing that could plug filters.

The Duramax 6.6L’s diesel particulate regeneration system features a downstream injector that supplies fuel for the regeneration process. This greatly reduces potential oil dilution, important with using biodiesel. Downstream injection saves fuel and works better with B20 than in-cylinder post injection.

Much as a forest fire clears the land and leaves behind essential nutrients to enrich a new generation of growth, the devastation of the travel and meetings industry caused by a global economic collapse has left a few seedlings. One of them is the nascent green meeting industry, which has more than gotten a foothold. In many respects, green meetings are fast becoming the only kind of meetings.

The Addison Conference Centre in Texas features large windows to let in light, yet overhangs help block out mid-day heat. (Photo: The Town of Addison)

This new reality is driven in part by the needs of cash-strapped corporations and associations to trim costs and eliminate waste – an approach that’s central to the green meeting industry. And as large corporations increasingly measure the carbon footprints of all their activities – travel to meetings and conferences is getting more  scrutiny.

But the green meeting industry suffers the same identity issues facing any adolescent. For one, the terms “green meeting” and “sustainable meeting” can have different meanings to different people. That’s why the industry is moving to release a new standard in the coming weeks – a set of requirements that will finally get everyone in the event-planning industry on the same page. At least, that is the hope.

That standard, and its underlying components, will be the key topic of discussion when the Green Meeting Industry Council holds its 2010 Sustainable Meetings Conference in Denver from Feb. 9-11. The council, formed in 2003, has seen a recent surge in membership, jumping from 135 members in 2008 to more than 500 members in 17 countries today. 

“The number of planners and companies planning green meetings has been increasing every year for the last few years,” said Tamara Kennedy-Hill, executive director of the GMIC. “According to meeting industry surveys, about 51 percent of meeting planners – corporate and association – say that they’re planning or expect to plan a green meeting.

“So we’re seeing that the awareness is increasing but the actual practice of ‘what does that mean’ – the definition has been changing each year and creating confusion in the marketplace. People will say they are planning a green meeting and they’ll think that means just recycling or cutting back on bottled water usage – and those are elements – but the sophistication of what that really means as the integration into their events has really shifted, and that’s why there’s been such a push for standards.”

With support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the new standard is being drafted by the Convention Industry Council’s Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX) and will be voted on by the venerable standards-setting agency ASTM International.

The standard will focus on nine sectors within the planning process:

• Accommodations
• Audio/Visual and Production
• Communications and Marketing
• Destinations
• Exhibits
• Food and Beverage
• Meeting Venue
• On-Site Offices
• Transportation

“It will be a way for planners to go through and get a strong checklist for facilities and comparing them to each other,” Kennedy-Hill said. “It’s really going to help define what it means to have a green meeting because there will be a benchmark comparison.”

Green meetings make use of sustainable products, such as biodegradable cups.

And once the standard is finalized, it will fall to the non-profit Green Meeting Industry Council to help put them into practice. “What we’re focusing on is making sure that once these standards get launched, they’re getting used in the marketplace,” Kennedy-Hill said.

To that end, GMIC’s upcoming conference will not only cover the concepts outlined in the green meeting standard, it will implement them within the event. For example, to reduce paper for the event, the bios of the speakers are not listed in the program but rather uploaded to social media sites in advance.  Denver was selected to host the event because its Colorado Convention Center has a lengthy list of green features and is located in a pedestrian-friendly area.

All of this activity comes amid a growing shift in the corporate environment, where meeting planners are now asking frequent questions about green practices.

Rob Bourestom, who manages the Addison Conference Centre and Addison Theatre Centre in Addison, Texas, said he’s seen requests for sustainable meeting practices increase significantly in the last year and a half. The center, which hosts about 650 events per year, has responded by seeking out more green vendors and caterers (especially those that offer local and organic choices); adding wi-fi so attendees can distribute documents electronically and adding energy-saving lighting and low-water plumbing fixtures.

“That’s really required to host someone like the U.S. Green Building Council,” he said, recalling a USGBC event at the North Texas facility just north of Dallas.

Addison’s conference center, like many newer styled meeting facilities, features large exterior windows to let in natural light, but with overhangs that block the heat from the mid-day sun.  The adjoining theater has been adding LED stage lighting, which is vastly more energy efficient than the previous lights.

It’s not just city centers that have moved to attract the greener-thinking convocations. Major hotel chains are beginning to offer more options for meetings, such as washable linens in place of paper tablecloths, pitchers of water to replace the bottled variety and “back of the house” changes such as food waste recycling that lower the carbon footprint of events.

Marriott, among others, is facilitating greener gatherings by presenting planners with a menu of alternative actions so they craft an event within their own eco-comfort zone. “A lot of big companies have meeting planners that bid out conferences,” said spokeswoman Stephanie Hampton. “We’ve seen more and more of those meeting planners asking about our environmental initiatives.”

Kennedy-Hill says many corporations now have sustainability reporting requirements or they are part of carbon disclosure projects, so they have to track all their areas of impact.  “And first they are looking internally, if they produce widgets or whatever they are looking to reduce their emissions, but then they also are looking at their business travel. They’re starting to look and measure and asking more questions about green hotels and business travel expectations because they’re going to have to put that into their own sustainability report.”

None of this would be happening if the economics didn’t work. But event planners are usually able to identify cost savings that make holding a green meeting a lower-cost or, at worst, a break-even proposition.

“For the most part it’s cost saving, especially for the planner side,” said Kennedy-Hill. “Different things you’re doing are costs savings. You’re looking at technology and innovation to enhance your event. There are trade-offs in some areas. You might spend a bit more on organic food choices, but you saved on your printing costs because you’re not having a big program and you saved on your mailing costs.”

Facilities see an upside as well, from not only the ability to attract groups looking to hold a green event, but also from energy savings. In Orlando, the Orange County Convention Center, the nation’s second largest, has rolled out a wide range of green initiatives. In one project , new low-wattage LED lights from Albeo Technologies replaced aging 400-watt metal halide fixtures that cut 325 watts of power per fixture. The combined energy and maintenance savings achieved a  payback in less than one year, and the installation is estimated to eliminate more than 1,400,000 lbs of carbon over its life.

“This needs to be part of your business model,” said Kennedy-Hill. “Green meetings – sustainable meetings – should be an integration of looking at  where can you minimize your impacts, how can you reduce overall and how does that save you money. It has to be connected.  It doesn’t make sense to do something that’s going to put you out of business.”

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network

PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay’s 25-year-old Casa Grande, Ariz., facility today became the nation’s first food manufacturing site to be awarded LEED Existing Building Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED is the nation’s preeminent program for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

To achieve LEED EB Certification, the company’s Casa Grande sustainability strategy included implementing a number of green design and construction features, water reduction technologies and practices, as well as improved waste management. The facility has reduced its energy consumption by nearly 20 percent since 2006 by installing a heat recovery system that preheats cooking oil on the production line, skylights to supplement lighting systems in office areas and high efficiency ovens.

The nearly 188,000-square foot building, which sits on 202 acres of land, now features water efficient landscaping with native plants.  And water saving technologies in the manufacturing line have helped decrease the site’s usage by 17 percent since 2006.

The site also won Innovations Credits from the USGBC for its Zero Landfill recycling program. As of September 2009, more than 99 percent of the facility’s wastes were diverted from landfills.

Plano, Texas-based Frito-Lay said projects still in the works eventually will reduce water and electricity consumption by 90 percenr, natural gas use by 80 percent, and dramatically lower overall greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing facility once the installation process is completed in 2010.

AT&T headquarters in Dallas

From Green Right Now Reports

AT&T today announced it has appointed John Schinter as the company’s first director of energy. Schinter, who has 25 years’ experience in environmental sustainability and integrated energy services, will oversee AT&T’s company-wide energy management efforts across all energy-consuming business units and will drive comprehensive programs to reduce energy consumption and direct AT&T’s energy purchasing strategies.

“We know that responsible energy management and improved efficiencies can positively impact both the environment and our bottom line,” Mark Schleyer, senior vice president of corporate real estate for AT&T Operations, Inc., said in a statement. “Through the appointment of John Schinter, we are reorganizing the way AT&T optimizes our energy use, while maintaining — and improving — the quality, reliability and competitiveness of our services.”

Schinter, who will join AT&T’s Corporate Real Estate Property Management team, will help accelerate the Dallas-based company’s efforts to manage company-wide, fixed-energy consumption, including data centers, central office equipment and AT&T facilities.

AT&T said it has already taken a number of steps to reduce energy consumption over the past year. These include:

• Establishing an Energy Council comprised of key executives from every AT&T business unit that directly consumes energy in its operations or that designs, develops or specifies energy-consuming equipment.
• Setting a goal to reduce electricity usage intensity (relative to data growth on the AT&T network) by 15 percent compared to 2008 levels.
• Installing 1E’s NightWatchman energy-saving software on 310,000 AT&T desktop computers. The company estimates this will save an estimated 135 million kWh of electricity and 123,941 tons of carbon emissions per year, according to 1E. This is equivalent to the electricity required to power 14,892 homes.
• Exploring alternative energy sources, such as using wind power for 10 percent of the electricity for  AT&T’s facilities in Austin, Texas. AT&T also installed a 1 megawatt solar power system on its facility in San Ramon, Calif. The 3,700 solar panels will generate more than 1.6 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year and reduce the building’s normal power consumption by more than 4,300 kilowatt hours per day.

Prior to joining AT&T, Schinter worked with several Fortune 500 companies to reduce their energy consumption. Most recently, he served as the President of Global Energy and Sustainability for Jones Lang & LaSalle (JLL) Global Commercial Real Estate Services, where he directed award-winning energy efficiency programs for several well-known companies. Schinter previously worked with Exelon, where he led a major expansion of downtown Chicago’s cooling system, and at Duke Energy, where he crafted energy solutions for some of the world’s largest companies.

From Green Right Now Reports

Star Market at Chestnut Hill in Newton, Mass., recently became the first grocery store in the nation to receive US Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Partnership platinum store award. The advanced refrigeration technology in the new store, which is part of the Shaw’s line of supermarkets, significantly reduces its impact on climate change and the stratospheric ozone layer by cutting the use of refrigerants by 85 percent compared with the typical supermarket.

Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, called the store’s efforts “wicked cool.”

“This store shows that smart design and advanced technologies help us right now to better protect our climate, the ozone layer, and our health,” McCarthy said in a statement.

The GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership is an EPA cooperative alliance with the supermarket industry to promote advanced technologies, strategies, and practices that reduce refrigerant charges and emissions of ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases.

GreenChill partners emit about 50 percent less emissions than the industry average, and have pledged to continually lower them as part of the program. EPA estimates that if every supermarket in the nation joined GreenChill and reduced emissions to the current GreenChill average, the U.S. would prevent 22 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and 240 tons of ozone-depleting substances annually, and save $108 million in refrigerant costs each year. GreenChill has 46 partners, with more than 6,500 retail food stores in 47 states.

Under the program, GreenChill Partner stores agree to:

• Transition to non-ozone-depleting refrigerants;
• Reduce refrigerant charges;
• Reduce both ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas refrigerant emissions; and
• Promote supermarkets’ adoption of advanced refrigeration technologies

Earlier this year, the EPA honored a handful of supermarkets for reducing their use of greenhouse gas refrigerants that deplete the Earth’s ozone layer and contribute to climate change. Awardees included  Sprouts Farmers Market, Whole Foods, and Hill Phoenix.

Sprouts Farmers Market, which owns stores across California, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas, received a New Partner Award.

New partners pledge to go above and beyond regulatory requirements by measuring and tracking refrigerant emissions that affect climate change and the Earth’s ozone layer, and then setting reduction targets for these emissions. Partners also agree to use only ozone-friendly alternatives in all new and remodeled stores.

“We look forward to a productive and mutually beneficial partnership with Sprouts Farmers Market,” Keilly Witman, GreenChill Program Manager, said in a statement. “The public wants to do business with companies that share their environmental values. By joining GreenChill, Sprouts Farmers Market is proving to consumers that they care about the Earth’s ozone layer and climate system.”

Whole Foods Market’s newest store in the North Atlantic Region, located at Legacy Place in Dedham, Mass., was recognized for its environmentally friendly design, construction, and operations with the Green Building Initiative’s (GBI) Green Globes certification and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) GreenChill certification.

For the Green Globes certification, the Dedham store was evaluated in six categories, including energy, water, resources, emissions, indoor environment and environmental management systems, and received a three out of four “Green Globes” rating. The EPA’s GreenChill certification program promotes advanced technologies, strategies, and practices that reduce refrigerant charges and emissions of ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases.

“With the combined power generated from our fuel cell and solar panels, the Dedham store is essentially able to generate almost 100 percent of its power needs on-site with clean energy resources,” Kathy Loftus, global leader of sustainable engineering, maintenance, and energy for Austin-based Whole Foods, said in a statement. “We are the first supermarket to use fuel cell technology in the state.”

By generating most of its power on-site with a fuel cell, Whole Foods’ Dedham store will prevent the release of more than 764 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere annually, the equivalent of planting more than 175 acres of trees and removing over 90 cars from the road, according to the natural foods grocer. The peak power generated from the photovoltaic (PV) solar energy system is enough to meet the store’s entire lighting power needs.

To achieve a Green Globes rating, Whole Foods used Green Globes’ online and interactive program to monitor the environmentally friendly building upgrades. A GBI-authorized third-party building science expert was engaged to review the building documents, conduct an on-site inspection and assess an official Green Globes rating.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. and upcycling firm TerraCycle today announced they will partner on a program  to enhance the sustainability performance of some of K-C’s product packaging. The new program also will create fundraising programs that benefit schools and communities nationwide.

The new program allows participants to earn funds for their selected charity of choice for every used piece of plastic packaging associated with Scott or Huggies brands that they collect. The collected plastic packaging will be upcycled into affordable, high-quality products available next year at major retailers nationwide, the companies said.

“Kimberly-Clark is already making significant strides in reducing packaging waste from its products, but this program with TerraCycle will help us do even more,” Matt Kolton, brand manager of Scott Naturals, said in a statement. “No longer will all the plastic packaging from both our Scott brand bath tissue, towels, napkins and moist wipes, and Huggies brand diapers be considered waste. Rather, it can be used as a resource in a new generation of products.

Schools, business, houses of worship and even individuals can set up a “Brigade” to collect packaging.  For each piece of packaging a Brigade participant collects, two cents is paid to a school or non-profit group of their choice.

Each of these Brigade programs is diverting product packaging waste from landfills, giving much needed funding to local communities and helping to raise consumer awareness about reusing and reducing.

A field monitor checks a gas meter for leaks. (Photo: Department of Energy)

From Green Right Now Reports

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell announced today that the first installment of $123 million in federal Recovery funds for weatherization will begin to be released Nov. 2, part of $253 million that the state will use for this purpose.

The Governor said the funding represents an unprecedented level of investment that will help to create new, “green” jobs, save money for struggling families, and stimulate local economic activity as weatherization agencies buy required material, vehicles and equipment.

“The weatherization program stimulates the economy in several ways,” Gov. Rendell said in a statement. “It saves money on energy bills for people who need it the most, and keeps those dollars circulating in local communities because families will be able to spend more on food, clothing and other necessities. It also will create new jobs in the growing ‘green’ economic development sector.”

Pennsylvania’s allocation of $253 million for weatherization from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is the fourth largest in the nation; only New York, Texas and Ohio received more. The money will be paid over three years.

Ohio technicians prepare to seal a roof prior to re-insulating an attic containing vermiculite. (Photo: Department of Energy)

In Ohio, the $266.8 million Recovery grant from the Weatherization Program is allowing the state to boost the energy efficiency of more than 32,000 homes. Adding insulation, sealing leaks and modernizing heating and air conditioning equipment will reduce energy costs for Ohio homeowners by an average of 24 percent. In general, the Weatherization Program allows for an investment of up to $6,500 per home in energy efficiency upgrades and is available to homeowners making approximately $44,000 a year for a family of four. The Department of has recognized Ohio as a leader in the weatherization program with 951 homes completed in July 2009.

Ohio allocated funds from the grant to local community agencies and other public and not-for-profit organizations. In addition, 54 independent contractors were hired to supplement existing contractors. It is estimated that by completion of the project at the end of March, 2012, 590 new positions will be created and 487 jobs retained.

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs has awarded $288 million in federal stimulus funding to 66 cities, counties, and eligible nonprofit organizations across the state to weatherize the homes of an estimated 40,000 low income Texans. Overall, the state received $326.9 in weatherization funds, the balance of which TDHCA will award in 2010.

The Recovery Act provided approximately $314 million more in funds than what Texas typically administers each year for weatherization activities. By comparison, the state annually weatherizes approximately 3,700 homes using current funding levels of approximately $13 million.

Ocean waves near Freeport, Texas (Photo: National Weather Service)

Ocean waves off the coast of Texas may soon provide the first commercial wave power in the US to generate electricity and desalinate water.

Renew Blue Inc. said today that the Texas General Land Office has granted it the first-ever state off-shore wave energy lease. The company said it will use ocean water and waves to produce desalinated water; the first 100 percent fossil-fuel-free bottled water.

Renew Blue, a wholly owned subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Independent Natural Resources Inc., is the first licensing entity of SEADOG Pump, a technology that uses ocean waves to generate electricity. The company plans to operate in the Gulf of Mexico near Freeport, Texas, to produce 3,000 gallons a day of desalinated water and will bottle and distribute it under the brand Renew Blue.

This will be a small demonstration of what SEADOG Pump technology can do in providing electricity and clean water to regions all over the world that lack fresh water and energy but have an abundance of ocean waves along their coastline.

“Texas is proud to be the initial site of this wave-powered energy innovation,” Rene Truan, deputy commissioner for professional services at the Texas General Land Office, said in a statement. “Renewable energy production on the Texas coast means renewable revenue for the school children of Texas. The SEADOG Pump is another great example of the exciting opportunities that exist and that the Texas General Land Office is working hard to take advantage of.”

Renew Blue will place an off-shore modular platform about one mile off the coast of Freeport, in roughly 25 feet of water. The company said it expects the platform, which is currently being manufactured outside of Houston, to be installed in the fourth quarter of 2009 or the first quarter of 2010.

Independent Natural Resources Inc. said it sees major advantages in the SEADOG Pump system, which is powered solely by the wave energy it harnesses. The company says electric power accounts for 40 to 50 percent of the operating costs in the desalination process, meaning the new pump system should provide significant cost savings and minimal environmental impact compared to the large-scale use of power generated by fossil fuels.

“For the past seven years the SEADOG has been fine-tuned to produce this major accomplishment as the first commercial wave power generation in the US,” Mark A. Thomas, CEO of INRI, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to showcase the SEADOG to the world as an innovative yet simple technology illustrating the ability to extract wave energy at low cost, with high levels of efficiency resulting in immeasurable benefit to humankind.”