A well-crafted green lease provides an opportunity to improve landlord/tenant collaboration on sustainability issues, leading to increased building performance, including energy efficiency. Green commercial leases provide incentives to reduce energy use and water, and increase recycling and the use of sustainable materials. A green lease detailing the sustainable use of a building by landlord and tenant is critical to the performance of a green building.
Culture and Local Governance / Culture et Gouvernance Locale is now accepting manuscript submissions for its ‘Culture and Sustainable Communities’ special issue to be published in September 2010. Papers are invited across a broad range of theory and practice of cultural sustainability planning within the municipal context. Potential themes include, but are not limited to, case studies of municipalities that incorporate culture within sustainability planning, new strategic approaches and frameworks of incorporating culture within sustainability initiatives, theoretical examinations and adaptation of cultural considerations within the sustainability paradigm, and the interplay between diversity and sustainability in municipal cultural plans. Culture and Local Governance is a peer-reviewed open access online journal publishing original work, both theoretical and empirical, on the relation between culture and local governance. This special issue takes as a foundational understanding that culture is by nature diverse and evolving, and intercultural realities and relationships must be incorporated as integral to any understanding of culture and sustainability in contemporary cities and communities. These varied, distributed efforts reflect a quickly emerging field of inquiry and practice, which this special issue hopes to reflect.
Presentation proposals are now being accepted for the 2010 Lean and Green Summit that will be held July 12 – 13, 2010 in Savannah, GA. Proposals are invited in the areas of Governance and Management, Operations and Facilities, Design and Process Innovation, Human Resources and Corporate Culture, Marketing and Communications, and Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement. The Summit aims to bring together the passions and knowledge of advocates of operational excellence who see the implications lean principles have in sustainability, as well as environmental advocates who wish to move industry toward sustainability and want to learn how lean operations can contribute to that goal. Senior level executives in diverse industries who have first-hand experience with instituting lean and green processes should consider presenting at this Summit. They will make 30 minute presentations about real life case studies of implementing lean and green principles in one of the six areas listed above. Each presentation will be followed by interactive discussion and Q&A session in order to expand the information flow and idea generation in the group.
As an increasing number of contractors seek LEED and other third-party green building certifications, the complex set of documents used to manage construction projects must adapt to reflect the challenges and risks inherent in green building. Risks include the use of new materials and design techniques, uncertainty around the performance of the building upon completion and the ability to actually achieve a third-party certification. Both the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Association of General Contractors publish form contracts to demonstrate how to draft contracts that adequately address these risks.
Looking for a way to transition your career into the new green economy? Need to boost your resume in a tough job market? Achieving the LEED Green Associate (LEED GA) credential allows you to market your knowledge of green building to potential employers. This first level of LEED professional credentialing is designed for professionals who want to demonstrate green building expertise in non-technical fields of practice, and to demonstrate basic knowledge of green design, construction, and operations.
Industrial Ecology is the practice of making industrial systems operate more like natural systems. This involves less wastage and associated benefits in terms of profitability and environmental improvement. However, in order for these systems to work it is essential that those indstries involve are capable of beneficial interaction. This article asks whether, given the required interaction options, retrofitting of industrial ecology priniciples to exisiting industry has potential.
Will Kirksey, SVP of Worrell Water Technologies, is passionate about finding practical, ecological solutions to the increasingly urgent water issues in the US. I spoke with him at The New Green Economy Conference in Washington, D.C., just before he facilitated a session targeted at forming policy recommendations on sustainable water reuse. Worrell Water’s water reuse system, the Living Machine, was picked as one of the ‘coolest green products’ at Greenbuild, 2009. Will recently authored the white paper, Sustainable Water Infrastructure for the 21st Century.
Veterans, eligible dependents, and reservists can seek up to $2,000 reimbursement for the cost of any LEED Professional Exams administered by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). Those interested in applying and learning more about the program and related certification benefits should view the VA’s pamphlet on licenses and certifications.
Beginning February 1, 2010, an estimated 82,000 construction sites must comply with the EPA’s new regulation governing construction site discharge. The new regulation outlines stricter measures to reduce water pollution and the EPA expects compliance with the rule to reduce the amount of sediment and other pollutants discharged from construction sites by 4 billion pounds per year.
