It is no surprise that an eclectic and progressive city like San Francisco would be home to the smartest green building in the world. The newly constructed San Francisco Public Utility Commission (SFPUC), which provides retail drinking water, wastewater and green hydroelectric and solar power services to Bay Area municipalities, has raised the bar quite high for energy efficiency and sustainability. The building, which is the third largest municipal utility in California, uses 55 percent less energy and consumes 32 percent less electrical demand than the ASHRAE baseline standard. The building is a LEED Platinum candidate, which is no easy feat. LEED elements were incorporated early into the design process to create a healthier workspace, reduce environmental impact and provide the economic benefits of a more sustainable, energy-efficient building. The project’s LEED design features include wind turbines, operable windows that allow for natural ventilation, three rooftop solar platforms with 684 panels and wastewater recycling. [Read this article]

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One of the fastest-growing areas of the world economy is the green sector. Businesses involved in alternative energy, green construction, conservation, and environmental management and cleanup strive to create economic growth in environmentally friendly, sustainable ways. Green job experts say the existing skills of many workers who lost manufacturing jobs in the downturn make them prime candidates for green work. All that’s needed is some patience, retraining, and a willingness to accept the risks of a quickly evolving sector. Ezra Drissman of GreenCareersGuide.com says educated workers like engineers and architects are already in demand across green industries. “The engineers always come out ahead,” he says. “They’re in demand because their job is to find a better way of doing things.” Blue-collar workers who lost their jobs in the recession can also leverage their skills for jobs in the green industry, Drissman adds. For instance, someone with solid manufacturing skills has the basic skill set necessary to install solar panels, one of the fastest growing sectors of the green economy. [Read this article]

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Here’s some evidence that consumers in emerging markets, rather than in developed countries, may soon be driving the market for sustainable and socially responsible products: Sentiments about social causes are generally stronger in emerging nations than in mature markets, according to the 2012 Edelman goodpurpose study. In emerging markets, almost two-thirds of the consumers in countries including Brazil, China, India and the United Arab Emirates said they donated money to social causes, compared with 52% of those in the United States and Western Europe. This gap also trickled into purchasing preferences: 62% of those in the emerging economies said they buy a “purpose-infused” product at least once a month, compared with 37% in developed nations. That said, more consumers globally, regardless of their citizenship, are supporting businesses and brands that emphasize purpose along with profit, according to the Edelman study. Even in the recession-weary United States, consumers are rewarding businesses that support societal causes like human rights and improving the quality of health care. [Read this article]

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Barely two months remain before throngs of athletes and spectators crowd into London for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Along with the traditional, frantic last-minute preparations, the host city is also hustling to deliver on its pledge to make these Summer Games the greenest ever. Whether or not the British capital lives up to its pledge won’t be truly known until after the Olympics conclude. But a new progress report issued in late April suggests the London planning committee is poised to meet or to surpass most sustainability goals both for the Games and for post-Games operations at the Olympics site. According to that report, the event’s estimated footprint will be approximately 326,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, providing planners can pull off all their planned reduction activities. The greening of the London 2012 games will provide a benchmark for future events. But it’s the plans for the Olympic site after the Games that are generating the most excitement. [Read this article]

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Sustainability may be everyone’s job, but the young and hip recognize they have a big role to play as emerging leaders. “We can no longer separate sustainability and profit,” Jimmy Jia, the founder of Distributed Energy Management said during a panel at last week’s GoGreen Seattle 2012. Jia served as moderator for a panel focused on the culture shifts taking place as post-graduates find their place in the green economy. Jia is not alone; his fellow panelist, Jacqueline Gjurgevich, agreed: “The people I know starting businesses are doing so in a sustainable way and not thinking twice about it,” she said. Beyond connecting sustainability with profits, Jia noted that new business opportunities are also about bringing people together. You could easily say that building partnerships was the underlying theme of GoGreen 2012 Seattle, a full-day conference that brought together business, government and nonprofit leaders to share ideas and tools for incorporating sustainability into their organizations. To provide examples from the corporate side, CEOs from three Washington companies discussed in the keynote panel how their companies have successfully integrated sustainability into operations. [Read this article]

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