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April 27, 2007

ECO-DESIGN & GREEN BUILDING

Home Depot Announces Eco-Labeling Program
Source: GreenBiz.com

Home Depot recently announced a new program to highlight environmentally friendly products on its shelves. Home Depot has labeled more than 2,500 Eco Options products already, including all-natural insect repellents, compact fluorescent lightbulbs, cellulose insulation, front-load washing machines, and certified sustainable forestry products. By 2009, Home Depot expects the Eco Options label to grow to 6,000 products. As part of the Eco Options launch, Home Depot gave away 1 million compact fluorescent lightbulbs at its stores on Earth Day, April 22.

Hands-Free Parking
Source: buildinggreen.com

The AutoMotion Parking System creates a fully automated parking garage. Park your car at the door and swipe your credit card, and the machine transfers your car onto a lift on tracks that shuttles it into an available slot. AutoMotion touts the benefits of avoided human contact (reducing risk of damage or theft) and of increased parking capacity—twice as many cars can be filed away in a typical garage space. The biggest benefit, however, may be the health and energy advantages of not driving cars into buildings. When cars crawl through traditional parking garages, they burn gas and spew fumes that have to be exhausted. Effectively exhausting the fumes requires high-power fans running continuously. If the garage isn’t perfectly isolated from the occupied spaces above, or if mechanical equipment and ductwork is leaky, those fumes can pollute the indoor air. The company claims to have over 90 successful installations, mostly in Europe, and more recently in New York City. It plans to roll out availability nationwide during 2007 and 2008.

RENEWABLE ENERGY & THE ENVIRONMENT

Top Ten U.S. Cities Ranked by Use of Renewable Energy

Source: RenewableEnergyAccess.com
A newly released study conducted by SustainLane Government concludes that Oakland, California, generates the highest percentage of renewable energy out of all U.S. cities, producing 5 percent more energy than any other city surveyed. Leading the nation with 17 percent of its electricity produced by sources such as solar, wind and geothermal, most renewable energy generation in the city comes from commercial and residential photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Top Ten U.S. Cities Ranked by Use of Renewable Energy:

1. Oakland, CA; 17%
2. Sacramento/San Francisco/San Jose, CA; 12%
3. Portland, OR; 10%
4. Boston, MA; 8.6%
5. San Diego, CA; 8%
6. Austin, TX; 6%
7. Los Angeles, CA 5%
8. Minneapolis, MN 5%
9. Seattle, WA; 3.5%
10. Chicago, IL; 3%

*Source: SustainLane U.S. City Rankings data 2006/2007

Four of the top five cities in the report are located in California. California cities rank higher in general because of the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which set minimal requirements in 2002 for utility purchases of renewable energy for the state's electric grid. The RPS requires a 20 percent renewable energy total for the state's utilities by 2020. The more renewable energy a city generates, the better equipped it will be for costly environmental regulations in the future.

Sewers to Help Heat 2010 Olympic Village

Source: sustainablebusiness.com

In an effort to make the 2010 Winter Olympics as environmentally friendly as possible, the city of Vancouver is turning to its sewers to help heat the athletes' village. Officials, trying to develop a sustainable energy system to heat the buildings, decided to use heat from the sewers after community opposition meant a proposed biomass system, which would have used fuels such as wood chips, could not be built in time. Geothermal systems use heat exchangers to extract heat from the soil, and the sewer-heat system uses exchangers to extract the otherwise waste heat from the city's sewage. The heat can then be used to warm up buildings and provide hot water. Natural gas will be used as a supplemental energy source on exceptionally cold days. There are two similar sewer-heat recovery systems in operation in Norway and one in Japan, but Vancouver's would be the first in North America. It is scheduled to be completed in 2009.

NATURAL PRODUCTS & ORGANIC /
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Allergen Labeling likely for Alcoholic Beverages
Source: naturalfoodsmerchandiser.com

Though many consumers might not be aware of it, fish, dairy and egg products are often used to process wine, and would likely be required to be labeled as potential allergens, in compliance with a 2004 congressional ruling. George Hacker, director of the alcohol policies project at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), said the burden should be on winemakers to find out how much of those processing agents are present in their final products and label allergens accordingly. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is still considering public comment and hashing out details of the labeling requirements. CSPI has also supported a separate rule, currently being considered by the TTB, requiring more specific information on alcohol labels, including all ingredients, calorie content, alcohol content, serving size and a statement about what constitutes moderate drinking.

Organic Baby Food a Hit with Green Parents
Source: msnbc.com

Organic food still accounts for a tiny portion of the overall baby food market, but it is definitely growing. Whole Foods Market Inc. said it has tripled the space allotted to organic baby products in the last five years. Last year, baby food institution Gerber Products Co. rebranded and broadened its organic line, while Abbott Laboratories introduced an organic version of its Similac baby formula. Organic baby food sales soared 21.6 percent to $116 million in the 52 weeks ended Feb. 24, after jumping 16.4 percent a year earlier, according to The Nielsen Company. Meanwhile, overall baby food sales rose 3.1 percent to $3.7 billion in the same period, after being essentially flat a year earlier. The data was gleaned from U.S. grocery, drug and mass market retailers, excluding Wal-Mart. Producers said adhering to the USDA regulations makes organic foods cost more but parents are willing to pay the difference.

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS & INVESTING

Amazon Launches Green E-Commerce Page
Source: environmentalleader.com

Amazon.com has quietly launched an e-commerce page  dedicated to green products. The company sent out an email to customers last week, saying the site was launched in celebration of Earth Day. It has also stepped up posts on its green blog, Green Life.
In part, the email states: “We at Amazon.com have been thinking about Earth Day and thought you might be, too. Find planet-friendly products ranging from organic groceries to energy-saving electronics, as well as thoughtful books and movies about our beautiful blue planet. Comment on your favorite environmentally friendly products and share your ideas for green living with other customers.”

GreenMoney’s Socially Responsible Investing Issue Now Online
Source: greenmoney.com
 
The award-winning 'GreenMoney Journal' has its Spring 2007 "Socially and Environmentally Responsible Investing: Transparency, Accountability, and Profitability" issue, now online at www.greenmoney.com. In the issue you'll find a variety of long-term global perspectives on the $2.3 trillion business of Socially and Environmentally Responsible Investing. The issue begins with an exclusive interview with Lisa Woll, the new CEO of the Social Investment Forum; long time SRI mutual fund manager Jack Robinson, explains Green Investing;  David Reiling of Sunrise Banks in Minnesota gives us their approach to Community Investing; researcher Michael Jantzi reports on SRI in Canada;  2006 Nobel Peace prize winner and microcredit pioneer Mohammad Yunus shares his insights.

INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE & ALTERNATIVE HEALTHCARE

UBS to Launch First Global Warming Index
Source: financialnews-us.com

The first Global Warming index is to be launched this week by UBS, allowing businesses most affected by the uncertainty of climate change to hedge their profits against it in a simple and transparent fashion. The index is based on weather derivative contracts for winter and summer traded on the CME. These “heating degree day” and “cooling degree day” contracts measure the difference between average daily temperatures and a given base in a number of cities around the world. The UBS index will initially be based on 15 US cities, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Las Vegas, because these are the ones most actively traded on the CME. However, UBS said that, as the market continued to grow, cities in other regions such as London, Tokyo and Paris were likely to be added.

A new study from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute suggests that a commonly used herbal supplement, triphala, has cancer-fighting properties that prevent or slow the growth of pancreatic cancer tumors implanted in mice. The study found that an extract of triphala, the dried and powdered fruits of three plants, caused pancreatic cancer cells to die through a process called apoptosis, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted or unneeded cells. This process often is faulty in cancer cells.
Triphala, one of the most popular herbal preparations in the world, is used for the treatment of intestinal-related disorders. It is typically taken with water and thought to promote appetite and digestion and to increase the number of red blood cells. Pancreatic cancer is the fifth-leading cause of cancer death in the United States and is one of the most aggressive cancers, with an extremely poor prognosis.

Courtesy of Grace Communications, Inc.
Editor: Alexandra Friedman

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