Hope of Breeze light

What could be sweeter than hanging out on your porch or balcony, under a cute little light delivering illumination powered by the breeze! As featured in TreeHugger.

IKEA Aktiv pre-fab house

You too can own this hot little 745 square foot pre-fab bungalow, furnished with energy efficient appliances. It will only run you $86,000! It’s hip, green and  on my Fancy wish list. Want to go inside? Check out the Yahoo! slideshow.  By Ideabox

War and Peace Purse

Now this is an awesome two-for! From leather bound tome, to upcycled book plus bag by AlteredDecadence.

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Want to learn about climate change? Want to know what people are doing about it? Cast your vote for the 2011 Climate Change TV video award!

People from around the world have submitted videos on climate change and its impact — pondering the future and presenting solutions for what can be done to mitigate its effects.

The videos are all under 3 minutes — short and to the point. And, the winner will receive $5,000.

Voting closes September 16. So, select your favorites and let us know who you’ve chosen and why!

Behind the Green Scene favorite videos so far…

Best educational video: Can Africa’s Farmers Cope with Climate Change

Best music video / Most entertaining video: Can You Change Your Lifestyle

Most compelling visual representation: Where is the Water?

Check out the entire selection at  Climate Change TV.

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In a press release issued today, Gov. Jerry Brown announced two appointments of interest to California environmental development, policy and legislation.

Kristin Stauffacher has been appointed deputy director of legislation at the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal EPA), a position which does not require Senate confirmation. The compensation is $103,560.

The charge of the Cal EPA Legislative Affairs Office is

to provide the Administration with suggested improvements and reforms to existing environmental law; to provide expert advice to the Administration on policy, program, and fiscal implications of pending legislation; and to provide constituent services to members of the Legislature and Governor’s Office.

About Kristin Stauffacher

• 41, of Sacramento, Democrat
• Formerly served as legislative director for State Senator Joe Simitian since 2008.
• Was legislative director for State Senator Michael Machado from 2001 to 2008.
• Served as a consultant for the State Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife from 1997 to 2000.
• Was a scientific aide for the California Department of Fish and Game from 1996 to 1997.

Reed Sato has been appointed chief counsel for the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), a position which does not require Senate confirmation. The compensation is $139,200.

The charge of the DTSC is

to protect California’s people and environment from harmful effects of toxic substances by restoring contaminated properties… (including brownfields), identifying and promoting safer ingredients in consumer products, and ensuring stewardship through enforcement, regulation and pollution prevention.

About Reed Sato

• 58, of Granite Bay, Democrat
• Formerly served as director of enforcement at the State Water Resources Control Board since 2006.
• Was deputy attorney general for the California Department of Justice from 1994 to 2006.
• Was a partner for Washburn Briscoe McCarthy from 1992 to 1994.

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Solyndra was the great green hope for the U.S. renewable energy industry. What happened to one of the most well-funded startups and who will be the next great hope?

From $1 billion in investments, $527 million in federal Energy Department-approved loans, visits from President Obama and Gov. Schwarzenneger and great expectations of green jobs…

…to bankruptcy, closure and the loss of more than 1,000 jobs… in the span of six years!

Why did Solyndra, the biggest player among U.S. solar panel makers fail?

The answer depends on who you ask.

Competitors say it was faulty design choices and bad bets on solar panel innovation.

Energy analysts say it was avoiding the use of silicon, which was expensive when Solyndra began manufacturing, but cheap enough for the entire market by the time it closed its doors.

The Energy Department is saying what U.S. energy experts have been saying about China’s renewable energy efforts for more than a year. The Chinese government has been able to pump a multitude more of investments its solar companies. It doesn’t help that they are also capable of ramping up manufacturing at the turn of a hat.

Solyndra says… it just couldn’t compete with China.

Who will step up as the next champion of solar in the U.S.?

That’s hard to say given that Solyndra wasn’t the only solar panel manufacturer to fail in the past year.  The combined factors above have made life and operations tough for other solar companies as well.  For more, check out the New York Time’s assessment of the bankruptcy of Solyndra.

And, find out why some think the failure of Solyndra may not be such a bad thing.

Fast Company: Why It’s Not A Bad Thing For Solar Power That Solyndra Went Bankrupt

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There have been murmurs about the correlation between stress caused by a poor economy and increasing violence in our communities — but what about climate change and violence?

Researchers from around the world are looking at a correlation between societal stress or ‘shocks’ caused by climate change and the potential for violence and political instability. While they are focusing their attention on seven African nations, could we benefit from watching and learning here in the U.S.?

The Climate Change and African Political Stability (CCAPS) program assembled seven experts on Africa, constitutional design and conflict management to look at the past few decades of climate change and conflict in: Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan and Zimbabwe.  Researchers focused on taking a look back at constitutional design and developing an understanding of  ”which state institutions in Africa are likely to moderate, or exacerbate, the impact of such shocks on political stability.”

It’s a fascinating exploration given U.S. federal, state and even local policy development seems to rarely take into account the impacts on communities.

How can climate change lead to violence?

According to the CCAPS report:

Temperature and rainfall changes and extreme weather events contribute to floods, droughts, and migration flows. These shocks can exacerbate tension between elements of society, including ethnic groups who compete for scarce resources, and may bolster revolutionary tendencies.

The report continues,

Increased societal stress threatens to trigger a range of violence, including protests, strikes, riots, declarations of emergencies, coups, revolutions, ethnic cleansing, massacres, and – in the worst cases – civil war and genocide.

Here is the research brief: Can Political Institutions Avert Violence from Climate Change? 

Climate change and forced immigration

For perspective on how climate change is threatening to displace whole communities and what some are doing about it, read

Could People from Kiribati be ‘Climate Refugees’?

by NPR Above the Fray Fellow, Brian Reed, who is reporting from Kiribati.

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Parks and green spaces are powerful! They are life-enhancing — providing a place to walk, play or just relax. They create space for the local habitat to reside. And, they increase property values — especially in urban areas. 

Green spaces are easy to take for granted… until they’re wiped out, and easy to appreciate when you live in a concrete-covered urban area.

The folks at California Home & Design understand their importance and want to know… What is the best public park in your neighborhood?

One of my favorite neighborhood parks is the Uptown park. Located in the Uptown section of downtown Oakland, it’s  a great place to sit, relax and people watch. Students from the Oakland School of the Arts go there to socialize and have lunch. Neighborhood residents go there to hang out and chat.

The best feature? It was built on what was formerly a brownfield site. So now, instead of a polluted piece of land, it’s an amazing little oasis in Oakland!

You have until Monday, August 8 to nominate your favorite neighborhood park.

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Vietnam welcomes an influx of  American designers, but only time will tell if they take the opportunity to help ignite the Vietnam green building scene.

Architects, builders and urban planners are apparently flocking to Vietnam to  take advantage of the rapid development the country has been priming itself for over the past few years.

According to Architectural Record,

About two dozen North American and European firms now have projects in the Southeast Asian nation, including Foster + Partners, HOK, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). And some are opening permanent offices there, according to architects working in the country.

Vietnam has catapulted from being a closed Communist society — to one that not only welcomes, but is recruiting “Western” businesses — in just a decade.

I had the opportunity to visit Hanoi in December 2010, and noticed a sizable group from one of the largest U.S.-based financial institutions staying at my hotel and touring the country.

Vietnam’s major cities have a fascinating mix of architecture from the beautiful facades of the narrow three to four-story dwellings and pagodas, to colonial-style government buildings and the more sterile structures of the 1960′s and 1970′s.

Let’s just hope these companies are looking beyond the dollar signs, taking into account the urban development lessons learned here in the states, working with the Vietnamese Green Building Council or similar organizations, and focusing on localized, sustainable development. The Vietnam green building scene could become a model for other countries that are working to spring forward from their pasts to become leaders in the future.

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CityCenter Las Vegas. It’s beautiful. It’s glitzy. It’s got bling — reminiscent of the Emerald City at the end of the yellow brick road. But, CityCenter Las Vegas’ beauty is beginning to crack.

I first visited the $9 billion CityCenter Las Vegas during its 2009 opening weekend. As the newest and first eco-friendly development, it was exciting and fascinating.

So it was astonishing to hear that the past week was bookended with two damaging announcements:

• The flagship Aria Hotel has been plagued with Legionnaires’ disease ,and
• The Harmon Hotel is in danger of collapsing during an earthquake!

MGM Resorts International, the owner of the Aria Hotel, and Perini Building Company, a unit of Tutor Perini Corporation and the general contractor for the CityCenter Las Vegas development, have their hands full.

Flagship Aria Hotel has been plagued with Legionnaires’ disease. 

According to Reuters,

The hotel said water tests detected elevated levels of the Legionella bacteria in several guest rooms, but neither the hotel nor health authorities specified what water system the outbreak was associated with.

While a number of people have been sickened, it is believed that the problem has been remedied.

Gordon Absher, spokesman for MGM Resorts International, which owns the Aria, said the Aria’s water system had been superheated and chemically treated to remove the offending bacteria, which were no longer detectable.

Harmon Hotel is in danger of collapsing during an earthquake.

According to Architectural Record, Harmon Hotel, which flanks the strips entrance to CityCenter Las Vegas, is in danger of collapsing in a “code-level” earthquake.

The Harmon is at the center of an ongoing bitter lawsuit between MGM and its general contractor, Perini Building Company, a unit of Tutor Perini Corporation (Sylmar, California), over construction defects, namely improperly installed reinforcing steel inside link beams on 15 floors.

Anyone involved in building CityCenter Las Vegas can tell you there were tight deadlines and ballooning costs.

In the race to build the biggest, the best, the brightest and the most eco-friendly developments, let’s hope for a stronger focus on properly designed, built and commissioned green buildings.

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Ecostyle uniforms at McDonald’s? Yes! The food may not be any healthier, but at McDonald’s UK they will be wearing new ecofriendly uniforms.

As frivolous as it may sound, it’s not greenwashing. McDonlald’s UK is not only making a change that sounds impressive, their approach is on target. They are tackling this aspect of sustainability by starting with design.

The uniforms and materials chosen will be designed with upcycling in mind — as part of a closed-loop system. So, as uniforms age, the materials will be reprocessed and turned into new uniforms.

According to Worn Again, one of the companies behind the new uniforms,

33.4 million corporate clothing and workwear garments are sold in the UK alone each year, and

98% of corporatewear garments currently end up in landfill, equivalent to 10,000 tonnes per annum (I’m guessing this applies to the UK)

UK Centre for Remanufacturing and Reuse Report

I don’t know how many people are employed by McDonald’s UK or what the turnover rate is, but given the company’s longevity, they will be producing thousands of uniforms for a long time. If they can reduce the materials used and bring a little ecostyle to the company in the process, that’s a bonus.

The new ecostyle uniforms will be debuted at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

For more about the uniforms and the companies behind the design, including Word Again, check out Ecouterre’s “McDonald’s U.K. to Launch 100 Percent Closed-Loop Recycled Uniforms“

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EMBARQ, a program of the World Resources Institute, has released a new report on the correlation between driving, oil requirements and the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG).

The 45-page report, “The Role of Driving in Reducing GHG Emissions and Oil Consumption: Recommendations for Federal Transportation Policy,” lays out, among other things, three requirements that would lead to foreign oil-independence by 2030, and the reduction of oil consumption and GHG emissions targets, in accordance with the recent draft legislation and international climate negotiations.

Changes required for a more sustainable, healthier and less oil-dependent nation will require governmental, business sector and individual action and cooperation.

Specifically:

• Significantly improved vehicle technology
• Significantly improved fuel technology, AND
• Significant reductions in per capita vehicle miles traveled (VMT)

Among the recommendations for reducing greenhouse gases and oil requirements:

Modification of federal transportation policy

To achieve GHG emissions and oil use targets, the United States should modify federal transportation policy to prioritize investments that reduce VMT , GHG emissions, and oil consumption.

Funding transportation and land use strategies

Although the rate of technological progress, such as fuel efficiency improvements, is uncertain, these improvements are encouraged by federal incentives and standards. Similarly, the United States can ensure reductions in VMT, GHG emissions, and oil consumption by planning for and funding transportation and land use strategies that provide alternatives to driving.

Funding recommendations include the Congressional reauthorization of surface transportation funding that establishes national goals for transportation, including reducing GHG emissions and oil use, and track progress toward these goals.

Local, regional and state involvement

Transportation planning at the local, regional, and state level should incorporate strategies to reduce VMT in order to reduce GHG emissions and oil consumption.

The transportation and greenhouse gases report is accessible from the World Resources Institute.

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