Top Stories
Finding a Way to Pay for Green Makeovers.—reliability
high.
Standard lease language for commercial space in New York City
discourages landlords from making capital improvements that will save
energy. Such improvements might lower tenants' bills, but at the
landlord's cost. Sean Neill "Working with the N.R.D.C. and another
advocacy group, the Environmental Defense Fund, Mr. Neill’s firm,
called Cycle-7, is preparing to discuss with large commercial tenants
ways to revise the standard leases used in commercial real estate,
developing a way to share the costs and benefits of energy upgrades. .
. . Many landlords and environmentalists expect retrofits will become
basic to commercial leasing as the city’s new law takes effect and as
more information becomes publicly available about the energy waste in
buildings." From
The New York Times.
Verizon Wireless: We've Got An Open IP Smart
Grid Network, Too.—reliability medium.
"Verizon Wireless announced that it is partnering with Ambient
Corporation to offer customers an 'Open Smart Grid Communications
Architecture,' which they bill as 'an open communications network' for
utilities’ smart grid programs. Ambient, which builds network gear and
software based on IP will be supplying the smart grid network portion,
and the architecture will run over Verizon Wireless' 3G network." See
earth2tech.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
How to Market Green to the Wired Generation.—reliability
medium.
Relates results of research on marketing green products to
18-to-24-year-olds. "According to our research, this wireless,
hyper-connected, rather-text-than-talk age group relies on ads, product
labels and news coverage for its green product information before
performing a search on the Internet. . . . Nearly all consumers, not
just 18- to 24-year-olds, want products and services that satisfy
universal needs such as comfort, wellness and convenience. . . .
Old-fashioned advertising and well-designed packaging are critical and
should be the first steps in a green marketing program to ensure
success. Even if your target is the wired generation." From
GreenBiz blog.
A Cement Giant Tackles its CO2 Emissions.—reliability
medium.
How "Cemex, one of the world’s largest producers of building
materials, is angling to bring down its carbon dioxide emissions and
perhaps wind up with some credits it can sell." The principal change
discussed is substituting renewable fuels for coal and coke. "'It turns
out to be a sound investment when you factor in the emissions reduction
credits,' Mr. Farías said." More on specific actions. "'This is our
vision of the future,' he said. 'We’re trying to be prepared.'" From
New York Times Green Inc. blog.
Hospitality chain announces first low-carbon
restaurant.—reliability medium.
Whitbread will open its second eco-friendly budget hotel later this
year. "Next to the hotel Whitbread plans to open its first low-carbon
restaurant, a 220-cover Beefeater open grill restaurant. The site will
include ground-source heat pumps, rainwater harvesting and grey water
recycling, high-efficiency thermal insulation, low-flow showerheads,
heat-recovery, automated light controls and sun pipes for light." See
edie.net.
SC Johnson Launches Year-Long Wind Energy
Pilot Program at Headquarters.—reliability high.
"'The use of renewable energy is essential to making a difference in
the world and conducting business in a responsible way,' said Chairman
and CEO Fisk Johnson, the company's fifth generation leader. 'We hope
our use of wind energy will inspire businesses in Racine and other
cities to find new, sustainable solutions for reducing energy use.'" See
PR Newswire. [This
is just a research project with three small turbines generating an
insignificant amount of power. But why not try and get as much green
image benefit as possible?]
Government and
Regulation
Indian tribe hopes to profit from solar
energy.—reliability high.
"The 3,000 members of the Jemez Pueblo are on the verge of building
the nation's first utility-scale solar plant on tribal land, a project
that could bring in millions of dollars. . . . The project — which
would cost about $22 million, financed through government grants, loans
and tax credits — could bring in around $25 million over the next 25
years. That could help the tribe improve its antiquated drinking water
system and replace the lagoons it uses to treat wastewater." More on
various tribal renewable energy projects. See
MSNBC from AP. [The Navajo Nation
has "cleaned up" on coal and uranium (irony intended). Maybe
other nations can find a better way. Query: Can these nations qualify
to generate tradable carbon credits under the Clean Development
Mechanism? They are sovereign nations after all, and mostly quite
underdeveloped.]
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
