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November 21, 2013
The U.S. Green Building Council announced the fourth major update to LEED, its third-party green building certification program. LEED stands for “Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design” and uses a point system to rate buildings, both new constructions and retrofits. The new version was announced yesterday at the Greenbuild conference, held in Philadelphia.
LEED v4 aims to set higher standards for green buildings and streamline the certification process. The newest version is intended to address the sometimes contradicting criticisms of LEED, a topic addressed at a Greenbuild session.
New emphasis on building performance management will also help the long-term success of LEED certified projects. Building owners will be encouraged to better maintain their buildings, that investments in green tech really leads to the energy savings and other benefits its intended to provide.
To help projects reach a higher standard of sustainability, LEED v4 also introduces new “impact categories,” which are climate change, human health, water resource, biodiversity, green economy, community and natural resources. Another highlight of LEED v4 is new adaptations for types of buildings not previously included such as data centers, warehouses and distribution centers, hospitality, existing schools, existing retail and mid-rise residential projects.
Read more at Treehugger.
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November 21, 2013
The EPA has issued a set of draft criteria to help federal government identify and buy greener and safer products. The draft guidelines, which will be subject to a 90-day comment period once they’re published in the Federal Register, propose a process to make it easier for federal purchasers to determine which products are sustainable and which ones are not. Federal agencies are mandated to ensure that 95 percent of their purchases are sustainable.
The guidelines for standards and ecolabels would not be applied to products directly. And they are not designed to discontinue or diminish the purchase of products that conform to government standards and ecolabels, the EPA says. The guidelines are not a one-size-fits-all-approach. To address difference among sectors, the EPA has proposed a more flexible approach that would, for example, institute a baseline and leadership guideline.
The guidelines, developed by the EPA, General Services Administration and other agencies, could also indirectly impact the consumer by spurring the private sector to use and demand safer and greener products.
Read more at Environmental Leader.
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November 21, 2013
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has issued a warning about the dangers posed by nitrous oxide, the so-called “laughing gas”. In a report presented at global climate talks, UNEP says the chemical is now the biggest threat to the ozone layer.
Nitrous oxide is one of several greenhouse agents which are dubbed “Cinderella” gases, because their contribution passes unnoticed. N2O exists naturally in the atmosphere but agriculture is by far the biggest human source, producing two-thirds of emissions. Researchers now say that it has emerged as the single biggest threat to the ozone layer since chlorofluorocarbons and other damaging gases were restricted by the Montreal Protocol signed in 1987.
The famous “hole” over Antarctica has started to recover as a result of the phasing out of the hair sprays and refrigerants that contained these substances. But according to this new report, if no action is taken, levels of nitrous oxide could increase by 83% from 2005 to 2050.
Read more at BBC News and at UNEP News Centre
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November 20, 2013
Coca-Cola, Ford, Nike and five other major consumer brand companies along with World Wildlife Fund have formed the Bioplastic Feedstock Alliance (BFA) to support the development of plastics made from plant material and build a more sustainable future for the bioplastics industry. Danone, H.J. Heinz, Nestle, Procter & Gamble and Unilever are the other founding BFA members.
The organizations say BFA’s primary focus will be on guiding the responsible selection and harvesting of feedstocks ? such as sugar cane, corn, bulrush and switchgrass ? used to make plastics from agricultural materials.
As companies increasingly turn to sustainable materials, the demand for bioplastic is growing.
Read more at Environmental Leader.
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November 19, 2013
A recycling facility will soon open in New York City ? the city’s first large, state-of-the-are plant for recycling.
The Sims Municipal recycling Facility will process discarded metals, plastic and glass, while saving the city some of the money it currently spends shipping garbage out of the state. Metal, glass, and plastic from the city’s five boroughs will be shipped via marine transportation to the facility at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal. This will displace about 150,000 annual truck trips, according to the Sims Municipal Recycling Facility website. The development of the recycling facility was part of the Mayor’s PlaNYC2030 initiative to address waste management in the city.
New York City expanded its plastics recycling, beginning last April, as part of the city’s Solid Waste Management Plan. The city’s recycling now includes all rigid plastics, including items such as toys, hangers, shampoo bottles, coffee cups and food containers.
The recycling expansion is expected to result in no more than 50,000 addition tons of waste a year no longer ending up in landfills.
Read more at Environmental Leader.
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November 19, 2013
The frequent occurrence of extreme weather conditions in China has caused an average of more than 2,000 deaths and up to 200 billion yuan ($32.8 billion) of direct economic loss every year since the 1990s, according to Beijing’s latest report on the nation’s climate change strategies. The report, released during the on-going United Nations Warsaw climate talks, outlines Beijing’s efforts to reduce human and economic losses from the impacts of climate change until 2020.
“Facing that urgency, we will deliver our promises in addressing climate threats,” said the head of China’s delegation, Xie Zhenhua, at a seminar in Warsaw on Monday. He said China is considering a roadmap to address climate threats until 2030 and a leading group of Chinese experts has finished a report. “We are still discussing the roadmap and report,” said Xie, who is also the vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission.
Xie explained China’s continued efforts during the Warsaw conference, which aims to make all parties deliver on promises made at previous UN conventions and push forward international efforts to tackle climate threats.
Read more at Eco-Business.
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November 12, 2013
Despite concerns that it has weakened its commitment, Korea remains determined to fight global warming by pushing through carbon reduction projects at home and boosting international cooperation, the nation’s ambassador for climate change said. Shin Boo-nam, a top environmental expert at the Foreign Ministry, envisions a big leap forward in the country’s environmental activities in the coming years as it follows through on existing emission pledges and carbon-cutting programs.
“The Park Geun-hye government, too, sees sustainable development as a national goal and is looking into how to go about it, in which green growth is a key tool along with support for other developing countries,” Shin said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald.
Reflecting the government’s newly affirmed resolve is a recently re-launched commission on green growth, Shin said. Albeit with a smaller workforce, role and level of power under the prime minister, the organization would embrace a bottom-up approach given expanded contribution by scholars and civic groups.
“I think this would usher an era of green growth 2.0,” the ambassador said. “In this administration, we will build a new green growth model with greater grassroots participation, compared with its predecessor’s top-down approach.”
Read more at Eco-Business.
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November 1, 2013
Fully biodegradable plates implanted with organic seeds in Columbia to provide food after use, a social media website to promote car-sharing in Vietnam, certified cocoa for specialty markets, and affordable biodegradable sanitary pads made from banana waste are just some of the 34 winners of the 2013 SEED Awards, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced on Thursday. The awards identify and support innovative social and environmental start-up enterprises, which can tackle key sustainable development challenges at community level, in developing and emerging economies.
Reflecting the growing need to encourage climate-smart enterprises at the grassroots level, a further 10 SEED Low Carbon Awards are being made to social and environmental enterprises that focus on mitigation and adaptation to climate change. These awards are funded mainly by the International Climate Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
All the 2013 SEED winners were honored at the high-level International Awards Ceremony at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya on the day of a special SEED Symposium “Green Entrepreneurship: Local Solutions that Make a Difference” taking place in the framework of the Global South-South Development Expo. The award winners will receive from SEED a package of individually tailored support for their businesses, access to other supporting institutions and technical assistance, and a financial contribution of US$5,000.
Read more at Eco-Business.
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