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California Group Seeks Sustainability Awards Entries

Janet — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:01:06 +0000

Are you a California business, government or organization that is particularly proud of your sustainability efforts? Would you like to tell the world about those efforts?

Well, the California Sustainability Alliance can help.

The University of California system won one of the CSA

The organization, which brings together key stakeholders to overcome barriers to sustainability in areas like climate action, smart growth , renewable energy, water-use efficiency, and waste and transportation management, is accepting nominations for its second Sustainability Showcase Awards. The Awards recognize successful sustainable policies, programs, practices and technologies implemented by leading organizations in five categories:
• Commercial Building Organizations
• Multi-Family Housing Organizations
• Local Governments
• Water Agencies and
• Sellers of Other Products or Services.

Winners in each category will be honored at the California Sustainability Alliance Showcase Awards Luncheon to be held in February 2010 and will be featured in showcases on the Alliance’s website. Of the five winning organizations, the organization that best exemplifies a comprehensive adoption of sustainability policies and practices in all aspects of its business and operations will be announced as the Grand Prize winner at the awards luncheon and featured in a video documentary highlighting its successes.

Nominations will be accepted until Midnight, October 30, 2009. Winners will be announced on December 1, 2009. The entry form is online at http://sustainca.org/showcase/showcase2009.

The Alliance held its first Sustainability Showcase awards ceremony at a luncheon held on February 10, 2009. Secretary Rosario Marin, former Treasurer of the United States and then Secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency in California, delivered the keynote address and presented awards to the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, Thomas Properties Group and the University of California.

The Inland Empire Utilities Agency was recognized for innovation in integrated resource management, exemplified through a diverse portfolio of best-in-class projects and initiatives that range from green buildings, energy efficient water and wastewater systems and operations, and renewable energy, to fully integrated management of the region’s water, energy and biosolids resources.

Thomas Properties Group, which partnered with the State and Consumer Services Agency to make the California Environmental Protection Agency headquarters building one of the greenest in the country, was recognized for its leadership in greening California’s real estate and in integrating sustainable design and operations into all aspects of its products, services and investments.

The University of California was recognized for excellence in environmental leadership and the best example of a customer-initiated partnership through which students, employees and campus administrators are successfully collaborating to address climate change, clean energy, green buildings, sustainable transportation, environmental purchasing and waste reduction on all of the University’s 10 campuses.

Farmers’ Market Contest Winners Announced

Janet — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:21:47 +0000

Farmers’ markets are sprouting up like, well, weeds in urban areas across the country. Some are wildly successful. Some never really get off the ground.
Local Harvest, a website representing small farms, notes that there are two million farms in the U.S, about 80 percent of them small, often family-owned, farms. The website also has a listing of small farms and farmers’ markets by zip code.
Local food fans point out that buying produce from community farmers’ markets offers much more than health benefits. “Tomatoes that are grown in California and shipped to Georgia are picked green,” says Barbara Petit, president of Georgia Organics, an organization dedicated to the promotion of locally grown food. “They are chemically ripened, and they are put on trucks that burn tons of gasoline to get them to us. From an economic standpoint, it doesn’t make sense. From a taste standpoint, well, I don’t know anyone who would argue that a tomato bought in a chain grocery store tastes remotely like one grown on a farm 20 miles down the road.”
What is it that makes some farmers’ markets succeed while others struggle? Good magazine, The Architect’s Newspaper, The Urban & Environmental Policy Institute, CO Architects and The Los Angeles Good Food Network asked “designers, architects, farmers, chefs, vendors, and farmers’ market shoppers to think about how good design can improve upon the modern farmers’ market experience.”
The charge: Design a new venue, product, distribution method, or marketing mechanism that increases both financial returns to farmers and access to healthy foods for consumers of all scales—from the home cook to food service chefs. Innovations should help small family farmers bring good food to market and/or provide consumers access to good food. The contest was specific to Los Angeles, but the winning entries are adaptable to virtually any urban area. Winners were announced on Sept. 3.
Mia Lehrer, Astrid Diehl and Zhihang Luo with Los Angeles-based Mia Lehrer and Associates turned in the winning entry – the Farm on Wheels, which uses electric vehicles to disperse fresh vegetables and fruits to underserved areas. Runners up included an urban farming center that incorporates production, distribution, processing and education; an “Urban Field Farm Stop” that uses the city’s mass transit network to distribute fresh food; and a hydroponic farm that harvests San Francisco’s storied fog to produce fresh produce.
A group of architects, urban planners, journalists, city leaders, chefs, and farmers judged the entries.

Farm on Wheels took top honors in the competition.

10 Greenest Colleges impact community resources

Judith — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:07:31 +0000

Richard W. Lariviere, President of University of Oregon, where treadmill workouts are converted to energy.

Treehugger just published their list of 10 greenest college campuses. While colleges bring prestige and the students generate income for the local community, they also use tremendous amounts of energy, water and landfill capacity. Colleges that pursue green practices demonstrate stewardship, become better partners with the community, and are more attractive to students.

The colleges identified by Treehugger vary from private to public institutions with populations from a few hundred to 39,000. The institutions are located on both coasts and in the middle of the country. When looking at their green practices it is obvious that the commitment must come from both the college and students.

These colleges go beyond LEED buildings and a recycling program. Just a few highlights from the article demonstrate how a green campus is good for the town. Energy use is reduced, money comes to local farmers and food producers, tons of waste are diverted from landfills, water usage is reduced and town people have opportunities to be educated about everything from recycling to climate change.

My favorite energy savings is the University of Oregon Eugene program that returns energy to the grid every time someone takes a turn on the treadmill.

Tufts University 10,000 students compost about 1 ton of food daily diverting approximately 62% of waste from landfills.

Every week all students at Warren Wilson College donate a few hours a week working on campus or community projects that support the philosophy, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

University of New Hampshire is the first college to run off of landfill gas, which covers 85% of needs and they buy food from 54 local farms thereby supporting local farmers.

The students at Middlebury College put their money where their mouth is. Students encouraged the college to set a goal to be carbon neutral by 2016 and the 2008 graduating class gifted the college $93,000 for future green projects.

The 1.9 megawatt solar array under construction and the wind credits that cover 10% of energy use will help the University of Colorado Boulder to reach their goal to reduce emissions 20% between 2005 and 2011.

Over 120 million gallons of water are saved annually as a result of Stanford University updating showerheads and faucets.

The University of Washington purchases 100% of their energy from renewable sources, and has an alternative, hybrid and electric fleet of over 300 vehicles as well as an electric bike share program.

Yale University cut emissions by 11%. Yale has attracted forward-looking green leaders, and invested in zipcars, fuel cells, and sustainability seminars.

The tiny College of the Atlantic students walks its talk serving local and organic food in the cafeteria. Dorms come with composting toilets, ultra-high insulation and heat comes from a wood burning pellet boiler.

Are green practices at your college saving resources?

Sustainable City rankings

Judith — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:03:55 +0000

To learn how your city compares to other cities your size check out Smarter Cities , a project of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The mission of Smarter Cities is to nudge cities towards friendly competition about sustainability. The website has a wealth of information about best practices and ideas cities are employing to become greener. You can even take a quiz to see how city smart you are about urban rehabilitation, sprawl, green space, green building, renewable energy, energy conservation, water, transportation, food, recycling and air.

Cities fall into three population categories, small cities with populations from 50,000 to 99,999 people (408 cities), medium cities with populations from 100,000 to 249,999 (178 cities) and large cities with populations of 250,000 and over (67 cities).

The rankings here are especially useful because they explain the criteria used and the method of scoring: air quality, energy production and conservation, environmental standards and participation, green building, green space, recycling, transportation, standard of living, and water quality and conservation.

Cities are rated for each criterion and the 15 top ranked cities for all categories are highlighted in each group. Seattle, Washington is the top large city. Madison, Wisconsin is the top medium city. Bellingham, Washington is the top small city.

In addition, there is ranking for each criterion. For example, in the small city category Bellingham has the cumulative top ranking and individual top ranking in air quality and green space. Mountain View, California, is ranked highest for transportation, energy production and conservation, and water quality. Petaluma, California is ranked top in standard of living. Beaverton, Oregon is rated highest for green building. Fayetteville, Arkansas is ranked top for environmental standards and participation. Mission Viejo, California is ranked highest for recycling.

You can add your city if it is not already included in the database.