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Study Confirms Corporate America's Trend Toward Sustainability, Green Building

A new study, “The Greening of Corporate America SmartMarket(TM) Report”, examines corporate America’s opinions on sustainability and green building. The landmark study, and the sixth in a series, reveals that not only are most U.S. corporate leaders interested in sustainability, but the majority are also examining proactive ways to make sustainability a consistent part of their companies’ missions. 18% of leaders surveyed are in the upper, or market transformational, stages, with 15% viewing sustainability as a competitive advantage and 3% actually driving their entire businesses through this value-driven lens. Over the next three years, more companies see themselves as entering this top tier, with nearly a third of the sample aiming to be market leaders in sustainability. Almost 60% of the top decision-makers in America’s most important corporations are seeing the value in sustainability concepts now, with that number expected to increase dramatically to 88% in just three years. “Today’s corporate leaders are already very conscious of using green practices when considering new facilities, and they expect green building to have an increasing impact in the future,” said Brad Haeberle, director of Marketing, Siemens Building Technologies, Inc., “Moreover, they believe that green building is in their company’s best interests, not […]

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China Goes on Climate Defensive

China, which could outpace the U.S. this year as the world’s greatest greenhouse gas emitter, says it opposes emissions caps and objects to much of the draft of the latest UN climate change report. China plans fast industrialisation for decades to come and says the government, “With uncertainties about climate change, there should not be premature or over-zealous setting of overall global carbon emissions caps.” The country doesn’t dispute the gravity of global warming – a recent official assessment noted that intensified droughts and floods, unpredictable weather and rising sea levels could threaten long-term development. Indeed, this week China sent 1000 firefighters to battle a forest fire across a 3 km (1.9 mile) area in its remote northeastern mountains. The State Forestry Administration said in January that China could face an “extremely serious” threat from forest fires this year because of global warming and the El Nino effect. Still, The Global Times, a newspaper run by the ruling Communist Party, accused Western politicians last week of using “climate terrorism” to undermine China’s quest for prosperity. China has been working hard to soften and change the wording of the soon-to-be released final UN climate change report. China’s climate change assessment recommends […]

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Breakthrough Agreement Announced with Appliance Industry on Efficiency

Major home appliance manufacturers, their trade organization, and a nationwide coalition of energy and water efficiency supporters announced an historic agreement today that will establish new mandatory federal energy and water efficiency standards, recommendations for new ENERGY STAR levels, and manufacturer tax credits for the production of super-efficient clothes washers, dishwashers, refrigerators, and dehumidifiers. The agreement, which seeks legislation for appliance efficiency standards and tax credits, represents significant energy and water savings for U.S. consumers. According to an analysis conducted for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which supported the negotiations, the agreement will result in a savings of up to 3.3 quadrillion btus (quads) of energy and nearly 11 million acre feet (3.6 trillion gallons) of water over about 30 years – enough to meet the needs of about 44 million people for one year. Consumers will save up to $14.7 billion in cumulative utility bill reductions. The agreement, when combined with additional appliance efficiency standards for refrigerators and clothes washers, could increase total 30-year savings to nearly 15 quads of energy and 68 million acre feet of water. The specific efficiency levels for refrigerators and clothes washers will be determined by DOE and will depend on cost-benefit and […]

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