When does a trend become the new status quo?  2009 will have to be considered a major turning point for the green building industry.  Fresh off the news that the iconic Sears Tower (soon to be renamed Willis Tower) is set to undergo a $350 million dollar green retrofit; just reported is the Empire State Building’s similar self improvement mission.  Much of the Empire State Building’s concern is curbing greenhouse gas emissions and saving on energy cost as they will be placing insulated windows throughout the building.  Out of the $120 million project, $13.2 has been allotted for investment in green technology, which they expect to be paid off in savings over the next four years.

Why so much attention to sustainability?  The simple answer is that tenants are using their dollars as votes for or against the direction these landmarks are pursuing.  Take this quote from an Associated Press article written by Chris Kahn:

Many high-profile tenants won’t even consider moving into a property without the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, said Allan Skodowski with Transwestern management group. They may not even know what the certification means, he said, but they demand it nonetheless.

“They say ‘We want LEED,’” Skodowski said, “and that’s it.”

Social and political pressure to improve our infrastructure is working.  Whether through conferences of like-minded people, design/idea competitions or government initiatives, the world is responding to a very real problem.   The greening of the Empire State Building and Sears Tower are incredibly significant ideas that will spur further greening of high profile buildings.  To answer the question I posed at the beginning:  I believe a trend becomes tradition only when people, business and government are all on the same page.  The green building movement may have just crossed that threshold.

To read the Associated Press article on the Empire State Building click here.

The saying “Necessity is the mother of invention” has never been more relevant.  The world is facing environmental degradation on one side and economic collapse on the other.  Fortunately, one can counter with the adage of “crisis is another word for opportunity” still holds true.  The Buckminster Fuller Challenge is an annual contest for harvesting big ideas and strategies that aim to solve a pressing global problem.  These strategies are systematic means of changing the world which take into consideration the complexity of such a large task.  First place winners receive a cash prize of $100,000.00 to support the on-going development and implementation of their winning solution.  The first two contests have shown just how wide the scope of focus has been.

The ”Idea Index” is a catalog of the entries submitted to the contest in its first two years.  Here you can see what issues the contestants thought to be most pressing and how they would solve them.  The 2008 winner, John Todd, focused on restoring the overly strip mined areas of Appalachia in a piece named:  Comprehensive Design for a Carbon Neutral World: The Challenge of Appalachia.  Todd suggested a four stage process that took account of all angles, including land purchasing and funding to create a better design for producing energy (namely replacing coal power with wind power in Appalachia).  This year saw 33 contestants make it to the final round of judging.  The winner was the student team from MIT’s Media Lab with their entry titled:  Sustainable Personal Mobility and Mobility on Demand Systems.  The winning entry was much more than futuristic cars and transportation systems.  A 2009 juror stated:  “Sustainable Personal Mobility isn’t just about the design of these lightweight, highly efficient, electric vehicles, it also about inserting that technological innovation into the social and cultural environment and designing an intuitive system within which they function.”  To view a detailed list of entries and submitters, the Buckminster Fuller Challenge website has created the Idea Index.  Here is where one can go to see what problems people see around them and what strategies they would utilize to solve the conflict.

Buckminster Fuller will always be known as one of the greatest visionaries and forward thinking people who have changed the world.  This challenge series will keep his spirit alive as others attempt to tackle the troubles of the world.  We’ll keep you posted with any updates for further Buckminster Fuller Challenges.

 Visit the official Buckminster Fuller Challenger site:  http://challenge.bfi.org/home

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) established the New York Energy $mart Focus on Colleges and Universities to identify technical assistance and financial incentives for public and private institutions to accomplish a triple bottom line.

Many higher education institutions have set energy and environmental objectives, but the NYSERDA Focus on Colleges and Universities offers these institutions a program that bridges financial incentives and reduced energy cost measures with the institution’s environmental goals.

Funding from NYSERDA for the Focus on Colleges and Universities program is available for qualified campus improvements, such as new construction, renovations, and equipment upgrades.  The funding may come from city, state, federal, or non-governmental sources.

Higher education institutions that are interested in identifying energy savings opportunities, prioritizing buildings, developing an Energy Efficiency Action Plan, and locating financial incentives for new energy-efficient equipment and equipment replacement projects can contact HigherEd@nyserda.org or 1.866.330.7317.

Biomass feedstocks include wood chips, grasses, residual corn stalks and sugar cane bagasse.

Funding for building the plant included grants from the State of New York, The New York Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York State Power Authority (NYPA), as well as several universities.  Construction completed in December 2008.

Assemblywoman RoAnn Destito (D/WF-Rome) says “This innovative collaboration between the private and public sectors has led to more jobs for this community, and we can look forward to more economic development opportunities…”

For more on this story, click here, and learn more about Mascoma Corporation and their plans at www.mascoma.com.

The NYPD has currently paid $1.1 million for the 40 new test vehicles which run on combination gas-electric engines.  Previously, the NYPD implemented other hybrid sedans and SUVs for parking enforcement and duty captains.  The 2009 Nissan hybrids will test green cars on beat patrol.

The 2009 Nissan Altima hybrid gained approval from the NYPD for the added inches of rear leg room as well.  You can find the article on the New York Post here.

In July 2008, Al Gore challenged the U.S. to generate 100% of the electricity we need using clean, renewable, sustainable sources within 10 years. “When you connect the dots,” he said, “it turns out that the real solutions to the climate crisis are the very same measures needed to renew our economy and escape the trap of ever-rising energy prices.” Gore connected the dots to the crises we face and drew a picture of nonsustainability. We could meet the “Gore Challenge” via the deployment of 250 gigawatts of wind generation capacity and 50 gigawatts of solar, and it would cost approximately $911 billion. But is “clean, renewable, and sustainable” energy really necessary?

[http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/feb2009/db2009024_215385.htm]