There has been an enormous growth in national and state-level voluntary campus sustainability programs in the U.S. in recent years. These programs not only help universities and colleges institutionalize sustainability principles into everyday processes and actions, but also create a common knowledge pool of resources and best practices that enable these institutions to build strong sustainable communities.
Educating employees about energy efficiency,conservation, recycling, waste reduction and other similar measures benefit not only the companies that institute them, but also the organization’s employees, but also the communities in which they operate.
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.
Stephen Hinton, provides a compilation of professionals that will see growth as the US economy goes green. He predicts that those in STEM professions (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) will experience the most job security.
The Missouri Economic Research and Information Center recently conducted a survey of state businesses, the Green Jobs Report that found that nearly five percent of the state’s total employment, or more than 130,000 job positions, are now part of the green economy sectors. These numbers are also expected to rapidly grow as soon as the general economy begins to recover.
Robert A. Peck, Commissioner of Public Buildings at the U.S. General Services Association (GSA), presented a keynote presentation at Ecobuild America this week entitled GSA: Green Pioneer – Green Proving Ground. Peck presented his vision for the GSA as a leader in green building technology and discussed how the 5.5 billion dollar appropriation from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) will impact the GSA’s work.
The Journal of Marketing Management is making a call for papers re-visiting Green/Ethical Marketing practices facing the contemporary markets for publication in March 2012.
Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is rapidly spreading around the world. The global adoption of urban farming is primarily being driven by the dire poverty of much of the world’s urban poor and is becoming an increasingly vital part of the world’s urban food supply. In rich developed cities around the world an urban farming movement is also taking root, partly because of environmental concerns and the adoption of a local food ethic, but also to help address the persistent hunger that still exists in urban areas in industrialized countries.
Venture capitalists invested $4.8 billion in 637 deals in the third quarter of 2009, according to the MoneyTree™ Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), based on data provided by Thomson Reuters . Quarterly investment activity increased 17 percent in terms of dollars, but fell 3 percent in number of deals compared to the second quarter of 2009 when $4.1 billion was invested in 657 deals. The increase in dollars invested was driven by several large rounds in the Clean Technology sector, one of which is the ninth largest deal since 1995. The Life Sciences sector (biotechnology and medical device industries combined) also had a solid quarter relative to other industry sectors, leaving Software as the third highest investment sector, a notable decline in industry ranking.
