March 30, 2007

ECO-DESIGN & GREEN BUILDING

Malaysia to Make Rainwater Collection Mandatory for Big Roofs
Source: enn.com

Malaysia plans to require many buildings throughout the country with large roofs to install gutters and tanks so that they can harvest rainwater. Under the plan, the harvested water would be used for washing cars, flushing toilets, watering plants, while saving treated water for drinking, cooking and showering. Malaysian authorities say consumers waste too much water and that supplies in the country's main city, Kuala Lumpur, are expected to run short within the next decade. The new rules would apply to bigger buildings such as university campuses and factories. It was not clear from the reports when the new rules, being drawn up by the Housing and Local Government Ministry, would go into effect.

Hybrid Truck Unveiled by Kenworth
Source: treehugger.com

Kenworth Truck Company recently introduced a hybrid-electric truck, called the Kenworth T270 Class 6. In a recent press release, Mike Dozier, Kenworth chief engineer, said: “During steady driving conditions above 30 mph, the T270 hybrid operates like a standard diesel vehicle with all power coming from the engine. Below 30 mph, it uses a combination of diesel and electricity. The system automatically switches between the two modes of operation and is seamless to the driver.” Kenworth will have limited production of medium duty hybrid trucks for municipal fleets and utility companies this year with full-scale production expected to follow in 2008. The goal for the T270 hybrid is to improve fuel economy by 30% in start-and-stop applications, such as utility trucks and pick-up and delivery. The Kenworth hybrid uses braking events to generate and store electricity. The process is called regenerative braking.

RENEWABLE ENERGY & THE ENVIRONMENT

Source: news.yahoo.com
Concern over global warming has more U.S. college students looking into careers in alternative energy, leading U.S. universities to add new courses on clean energy technologies and the environment. Venture capital cash is fueling new companies and jobs developing alternative energies like nanotech solar cells and biofuels generated by enzymes and termites. Venture capital for energy and environmental technology in several regions of the world in 2006 nearly doubled from a year earlier to $1.28 billion.
Jit Bhattacharya, co-chairman of the new Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative and an MBA student, said students want good jobs in clean-tech companies but they also want something more: to help move the energy industry to renewable fuels and less dependence on oil.

Paris Embraces Plan to Become City of Bikes
Source: www.envirolink.org

On July 15, the day after Bastille Day, Parisians will wake up to discover thousands of low-cost rental bikes at hundreds of high-tech bicycle stations scattered throughout the city, an ambitious program to cut traffic, reduce pollution, improve parking and enhance the city's image as a greener, quieter, more relaxed place. By the end of the year, organizers and city officials say, there should be 20,600 bikes at 1,450 stations, or about one station every 250 yards across the entire city. The Cyclocity concept evolved from utopian "bike-sharing" ideas that were tried in Europe in the 1960s and '70s, usually modeled on Amsterdam's famous "white bicycle" plan, in which idealistic hippies repaired scores of bicycles, painted them white, and left them on the streets for anyone to use for free. But in the end, the bikes were stolen and became too beat-up to ride. A number of U.S. cities, including Portland, Ore., have also experimented with community-use bicycle programs.

NATURAL PRODUCTS & ORGANIC /
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

U.S. Congress Creates Organic Foods Subcommittee
Source: www.organic-and-wellness-news.com
The Organic Trade Association (OTA) praised a significant step taken toward the creation of a new Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture as part of the U.S. House of Representative’s Agriculture Committee in the 110th Congress. Democrats have designated Representative Dennis Cardoza (D-CA) to chair the new subcommittee. Jurisdiction of the subcommittee will include fruits and vegetables, honey and bees, marketing and promotion orders, plant pesticides, quarantine, adulteration of seeds, insect pests, and organic agriculture. The $15 billion organic industry is the fastest growing sector of U.S. agriculture, representing 2.5 percent of the food and beverages sold in the United States, and a growing consumer demand for organic products.

USDA Announces Funding For Energy Grants
Source: attra.ncat.org

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the availability of $176.5 million in loan guarantees and $11.4 million in grants to support investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements by agricultural producers and small businesses. The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency loan and grant program provides loan guarantees and grants to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for the purchase and installation of renewable energy systems or for energy efficiency improvements.

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS & INVESTING strong>

Banks Get Ahead by Funding Sustainability Projects
Source: GreenBiz.com

Banks that integrate environmental, social and governance concerns into their business strategy and seek out those opportunities make their businesses more valuable, according to a new report by the International Finance Corporation. The IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, issued "Banking on Sustainability," providing practical examples of 14 financial institutions in 12 countries that have taken concrete steps to integrate sustainability into their policies, practices, products, and services.  In a 2005 IFC survey, 86 percent of 120 financial institutions interviewed reported positive changes as a result of steps they had taken to integrate social and environmental issues in their business. The report shows how 14 financial institutions developed innovative financial products to expand their business into areas related to social and environmental sustainability and how their businesses were positively impacted by doing so.

S&P Tracks Sustainability with a New Global Index
Source: SocialFunds.com

Recently, Standard and Poor’s (S&P) announced the launch of its Global Thematic Index Series. The Series is composed of three indices: the S&P Global Clean Energy Index, the S&P Global Water Index and the S&P Global Infrastructure Index. This new index series joins S&P’s well-known family of indices that include the S&P 500 and the S&P Global 1200. The S&P 500 has $1.26 trillion invested and $4.45 trillion benchmarked.

- The S&P Global Thematic Index Series consists of publicly listed companies from around the world. The series steers away from traditional geographical and industry classifications, looking to diversify company selection by following specific criteria for each index. Pure representation to each investment theme, high liquidity and tradability were named by Dash as the three most important criteria for inclusion on the new index series.

- The S&P Global Clean Energy Index measures the performance of 30 companies that focus on clean energy production, clean energy technology, and energy equipment. The Clean Energy Index excludes companies for which their involvement with clean energy is a small part of their overall business.

- The S&P Global Water Index gauges 50 companies: 25 water utilities and infrastructure companies and 25 water equipment and material companies.

- The S&P Global Infrastructure Index measures the performance of 75 companies that run utilities, pipelines, airports, ports and highways.

S&P is not alone in tracking the markets of clean energy, water and infrastructure. Another global sustainability benchmark is the WilderHill Clean Energy Global Innovation Index, which was launched in 2006 by New Energy Finance in a partnership with Wildershares. The KLD Global Climate 100SM Index and Ardour Global Indices are other well-known indexes that follow clean energy. The Palisade Water Index, published by the American Stock Exchange, follows the global water industry. The Macquarie Global Infrastructure Index series, produced by FTSE, tracks companies in the infrastructure industry.  On a broader level, in 1999 the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes became the first indexes to track the global performance of companies that focus on sustainability. These indexes look at companies across 58 sectors.

INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE & ALTERNATIVE HEALTHCARE

Transcendental Meditation Can Help Combat Congestive Heart Failure
Source: sciencedaily.com

According to a first-of-its-kind randomized study conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, a widely practiced, stress-reducing meditation technique can significantly reduce the severity of congestive heart failure. The study appears in the Winter 2007 issue of Ethnicity & Disease. Researchers from Penn evaluated 23 African American men and women, average age 64, who were recently hospitalized with New York Heart Association class II or III congestive heart failure. Participants were randomized to either the Transcendental Meditation® (TM) technique or health education, in addition to standard medical treatment. Researchers measured changes in heart function with a six-minute walk test, and measures for quality of life, depression, and re-hospitalizations. Changes in outcomes from baseline to three and six months after treatment were analyzed. According to the research, the TM group significantly improved on the six-minute walk test after both three and six months of TM practice compared to the control group. The TM group also showed improvement in quality of life measurements, depression, and had fewer re-hospitalizations. According to the study, TM most likely improves heart failure by reducing sympathetic nervous system activation associated with stress that is known to contribute to the failing heart.

Practicing Tai Chi Boosts Immune System in Older Adults
Source: www.innovations-report.coTai chi chih, the Westernized version of the 2,000-year-old Chinese martial art characterized by slow movement and meditation, significantly boosts the immune systems of older adults against the virus that leads to the painful, blistery rash known as shingles, according to a new UCLA study. A 25-week study, which involved a group of 112 adults ranging in age from 59 to 86, showed that practicing tai chi chih alone boosted immunity to a level comparable to having received the standard vaccine against the shingles-causing varicella zoster virus. When tai chi chih was combined with the vaccine, immunity reached a level normally seen in middle age. The report appears in the April issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Courtesy of Grace Communications, Inc.
Editor: Alexandra Friedman

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