The Green Market:
Critcs argue that the phrase"Green Luxury" is a contradiction in terms- that you can't buy luxury goods and promote the environment at the same time. To which there's only one response: Why not?
Company reps were proudly emphasizing that their new terminal was remarkably eco-friendly. A young woman from their PR firm showed me its green roof- covered with grass to keep the building warm in winter and cool in summer- and the talked up the fact that the terminal requires almost no electricity for lighting during the daytime, collects 98 percent of the rainwater that falls on it for use in washing planes, and is mostly powered by solar panels and a wind turbine.
Impressive, but not the only reality. After all, this attractive smartly designed building is dedicated to promoting one of the least eco-friendly means of transportation on the planet: private jets, one of which I and a handful of other visitors would board that night to return to Manhattan. Is it legitimately "green" to harness so much sophisticated technology in the service of something so anti-environmental?
Truth is, green luxury has benefits that its critics don't appreciate. Many of its business practices-like, say Tiffany, refusing to use endangered coral in its jewelry- are unquestionably good. And by displaying their consumption so consipicuously, affluent purchasers serve as thought leaders, promoting the sex appeal of environmentalism. It is likely that technology first developed for green luxury items- a hybrid engine, for example- will eventually filter down to more mass-market models. Because they're buying such technology first, and at a premium, green luxury consumers are subsidizing the development of green technologies for widespread adoption later. That may not make them angels- but does it really make them evil?
Excerpted from Worth Magazine, by Richard Bradley 3/11
Empire State Building's Windows Technology Now Being Sold for Commercial Use
Serious Materials' energy efficiency technology for windows, used in the high-profile retrofitting of the Empire State Building , is now being sold for commercial properties. The iWindow is a thin material frame containing the company's own Serious Glass, which is installed on the inside of existing windows. This then improves the thermal performance of single pane aluminum systems. The company says that by warming glass temperatures in the winter and cooling glass in the summer, the iWindow can help building owners change temperature set-points, reducing heating and air conditioning costs.
Its product is available in a range of solar heat gain measurements, so it can be customized to a building's location and orientation relative to the sun. Fine-tuning the amount of solar heat that gets into the building helps to further increase thermal efficiency. The manufacturer says an iWindow can be put in place in 20 minutes, without replacing the existing glass or altering the exterior appearance, making the product ideal for renovations of historic projects. Installation is priced at a fraction of the cost of full window replacements, the company says.
Environmental Leader 3/7/2011
The Firefly: A Revolutionary- and Disruptive- Approach to Electrifying Africa
Cell phones have revolutionized life around the globe, but in many rural parts of the developing world, people have to travel to centralized locations that have electricity to recharge them, and thus maintain connection with the outside world, with markets, with family. This is understandably inconvenient; one Kenyan woman profiled by the Times had to walk two miles to catch a three hour ride just to drop off her phone to be recharged and then had to repeat the journey three days later to pick it up when it was ready. Furthermore, she, like far too many others in the developing world, did not have good options to light her home when darkness fell. She lit her home with kerosene lamps, but they were dangerous, smokey, and their light quality made studying difficult.
The Firefly presents a disruptive entry point to a holy grail of economies around the globe, developing or developed; affordable, decentralized, renewable electricity.
Once a business forms that is able to deliver on the need, it tends to take off; it gathers momentum, improves its performance, and ultimately enters mainstream markets- upending leading companies. The Firefly is proof that disruption is finally happening in renewable energy.
Excerpt from Josh Suskewicz- Innosight
Building Sustainability in Hard Times
The triple bottom line concept for sustainability- addressing economic, environmental, and social business effects, is becoming well established in corporate boardrooms. This is particularly evident in the case for companies with sensitive environmental, safety, and social footprints, where related operating costs are substantial, and failure to perform can impede an otherwise expanding license to operate. The good news is that sustainability IT projects have strong business cases and that these can even be more compelling in a tough economy.
Responsible companies maintain daily environmental, health, and safety compliance in an efficient, routine manner. This proactive approach, often assisted by IT solutions, is far more cost-effective than allowing many non-compliance problems to occur and necessitates corrective actions. There are many examples of cost savings tied to a systematic sustainability governance approach.
-Campbell Soup at the Napoleon, Ohio facility reports having shortened EPA inspection times from days to less than one hour at their 65 acre food manufacturing site.
-Volvo reduced water usage by 10 million gallons a year, along with air emissions and the associated costs.
In these cases and others, IT solutions play an important role in weaving compliance into daily operations, helping to achieve cost savings as compared to manual or ad-hoc approaches.
Excerpt from an IHS White Paper by David Cox, PE and Neal Rosen
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