Green Building Blog - Jetson Green

Five Suggestions for Businesses Confronted with Green Fatigue and Green Noise

You may have noticed an article by Alex Williams in the NY Times yesterday entitled "The Era of Green Noise."  The article hits on some trends we're seeing, especially in the green lifestyle area, with people worn out by the green barrage of choices and information.  Green advertising and/or pitches might get a roll of the eyes, or worse, some backlash.  People may just repel and fight against the message.  So businesses are starting to get concerned about the proper way to move forward given this "green fatigue" from the "green noise."

I've been thinking about this and have a few suggestions for businesses that want to keep a quality connection to their customers. 

Alberici Converts Old Plant into Modern Green HQ

[2:16]  As a global construction-services company in St. Louis, Missouri, Alberici sought to lead the transformation of the design and construction industry by renovating a 485-foot-long manufacturing plant into its new Class-A corporate headquarters.  The desire to convey resource efficiency, integrated design, and corporate responsibility prompted Alberici to achieve substantial resource and cost savings by combining various strategies, including:

[Video] Drivers of Green Building in Today's Market

Make sure to check out this short little interview with Kavita Gupta, Director of Business Development for Perkins + Will, an architectural firm with a solid reputation for designing cutting edge green projects. Ms. Gupta talks about some of the drivers of green buildings, many of which are listed below. Green buildings:

Deconstruction Grows in Popularity, Spawns New Businesses

In her Teardown Diary, Wall Street Journal columnist Nancy Keates forgoes the common practice of demolition and instead opts for "unbuilding."  Usually referred to as deconstruction, unbuilding is when you disassemble an old structure piece by piece and salvage the usable parts.  Ms. Keates found that the deconstruction of her home will cost about $4,000 more than straight demolition, but costs can vary project to project.

Nau Examines the Pros and Cons of LEED

Nau is a budding clothing products company that is committed to sustainability and social awareness in various facets of its business.  They build very cool stores (pictured above) and build them green.  I noticed their website has some info on LEED certification, and just had to use their conversation as a partial vehicle to continue to discuss the green building certification system.  Here's what they said: 

Green MBS and REITs, Solar's 90% Potential, Walmart on Sustainability, + Emissions Reductions [WIR]

• Industry waits for green MBS.  Wow!
• Green construction red-hot with VCs. 
• Green REITs could get long-term gains.
• Green construction fastest and cheapest way to cut emissions.
• Homes in 'green' subdivision sell fast in San Jose.
• Low-cost fixes to make your home more green.
• Walmart making green strides, but "We are not green."
• Solar company wants to power 90% of grid and cars.

*WIR = Week in Review; a Saturday showcase of excellent links.

Nissan's $100 M HQ Goes Green, *Snubs* LEED

It's a story that I'm seeing more and more, although I'm not too sure we're seeing a good thing.  Nissan USA spends $100 M to build a brand new office building and plans for LEED Silver certification, but in the end, they decide to spend certification cash on the wetland "rather than have a plaque on the wall."#  Certification gets dropped, but we should ask ourselves a serious question:  Is LEED certification merely about the plaque?  Is that the only benefit we see from LEED?  Spending money to get a plaque?

Financial Benefits of Green, LEED "Certifiable", + Developing Brownfields [WIR]

• Cashing in on pollution, turning brownfields green.
• LEED Certified versus LEED Certifi-able.
• Green features grow in popularity in home design.
• San Francisco contemplates tougher green building laws.
• 11 Green Companies | 10 Polluting Companies.
• More developers see the financial benefits of eco-friendly building.
• Green car wash stuck in controversy over wind turbine.
• Payback thoughts on the price of going green.

*WIR = Week in Review; a Saturday showcase of excellent links.

Green Building Emerges as Bright Spot in Troubled Market

In the tradition of the Worldwatch Institute's State of the World annual summary, Greener World Media producers of GreenBiz.com (among other websites), last month released their first annual State of Green Business 2008 Report.  Joel Makower and his team of editors examined multiple categories in the green business arena from alternative energy vehicles to toxic emissions to determine the true state of green progress.  Although the report provides a mixed review, green building was identified as one of the more tangible signs of forward progress.  This is especially important given the downturn in the construction economy.

According to the report, the “green [building] market, [expanding] for years, began soaring in 2007, as several marquee projects opened their doors and some big-time initiatives were born.”

The Green Building Revolution, a Book Giveaway

I really hate to do this, but I'm giving away a new, autographed copy of a book that I really like.  You know the drill:  leave a comment, and after 48 hours, I'll pick a winner based on the number of your comment.*  This book is particularly hard to let go, because I keep referring back to it for different pieces of information.  It's called The Green Building Revolution by Jerry Yudelson.  Yudelson is a serious expert in the industry and maintains an information-rich website at www.greenbuildconsult.com -- plug it into the feed, you'll be happy you did.  The book itself is loaded up with information, but it's not a chore to read.  It's accessible on the one hand and super thorough on the other.  Seems hard to do, but Yudelson finds a way to deliver the straight facts without leaving you lost.  Particularly, I was engrossed by three chapters:  the business case for green buildings, the costs of green buildings, and the future of green buildings.  He delivers a compelling case for green buildings and our future, and it's not just about the money. 

*Open commenting ends at the end of the day on Saturday, midnight MST.  Say anything you want, but if you're shy or don't know what to say, tell us where you're from.  Ex: Salt Lake City, Utah in the green house.  Offer only available in the U.S. for shipping reasons.  Shipping is on me.  I will email you for a mailing address and after shipping it, the winner will be announced in the comments.