With so much heated rhetoric in Congress about Health Care, I don’t think the White House will take up any additional major undertakings for a long time, especially global warming. It just is not smart political move.

However, it seems major issues such as Climate Control and Global Warming would need to be taken up by a non-partisan committee or commission, made up of 5 Senators from each party, a la the Base Closing Commission set up in the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act in the late 1980s. Read more…

According to a recent study, Toyota and BMW use their economic, environmental and social resources more efficiently than other worldwide automakers, with US manufacturers still lagging behind.

The study, from Belfast’s Queen’s University Management School, the Euromed Management School Marseille and Berlin’s Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment , measures the sustainable performance of worldwide auto manufacturers from 1999 to 2007, comparing resource use efficiency of production for factors such as emissions, work accidents, waste generation and water use.

In an interesting formula, they created a new, yet vague term, sustainable value, as the basis of their metrics. Read more…

The US EPA estimates that as much as 30% of the energy consumed in office buildings is wasted. This suggests a significant opportunity for energy use reduction, cost savings, and the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions through cost-effective energy efficiency opportunities. With the tremendous amount of existing office and warehouse space currently available, is LEED Certification for existing buildings going to be the next phase in growth for the construction industry?

According to some studies, existing buildings represent only 4 percent of LEED certified square footage, but they account for 20 percent of LEED registered square feet. This trend should lead the way for a complete retrofit and revitalization of existing buildings, whether it be office, warehouse, retail or other space. Read more…

In one of my previous posts, I had mentioned the five steps to starting a Go Green program at any office. One of the first steps is choosing a Green Team Leader. In future posts, I will cover each of the other steps in more detail.

In order to find the right candidate, what type of attributes should you look for?

Depending on the size of your organization, these are the traits and characteristics of the ideal Green Team Leader. Read more…

The US Environmental Protection Agency announced that greenhouse gases are a danger to public health and welfare in a decision that should eventually lead to new emissions regulations.

The so-called “endangerment finding” announced today by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is crucial in moving forward on new emission standards for cars, while potentially opening up large emitters such as power plants, crude-oil refineries and chemical plants to limits on their output of carbon dioxide and other gases. Read more…

At a recent panel discussion at which I was a part of, questions seemed to keep popping up about how to get employees on board for a “go green” initiative.

Some of the human resource directors in the audience expressed how there were certain departments, or individuals within particular departments, that were not on board with the program. Others expressed how they have 90%-100% participation and commitment at their work. How was such a wide degree of participation possible?

Now, I have already mentioned how to start a “go green” program at work, which you can read at this link.

The consensus among the panelists was that the “carrot and stick” method was the best approach, by far. Greening a business takes time and patience. Like I had mentioned previously, baby steps work best. Read more…