sustainability

Cisco is harnessing a new power in the fight against global climate change: a potent mix of hometown pride and rivalry.

Two major announcements came out of its Sustainable Cities session with officials from San Francisco and Amsterdam yesterday. First, the tech giant is partnering with San Francisco to develop a joint vision for a Sustainable 21st Century San Francisco. Second, Amsterdam is launching its own version of Cisco's San Francisco Urban EcoMap.

With the EcoMap, the two tech-savvy cities will share and compare their data — everything from recycling rates to energy use — and they will work together to find ways to reduce their carbon footprints.

Already, the EcoMap comparison should be enough to make San Francisco's notoriously competitive Mayor Gavin Newsom cringe.

Sustainability seems to be the buzz word of 2009: sustainable homes, sustainable living, sustainable products, sustainable companies.

But when it comes to corporations, what does it mean to be sustainable?

Do companies have a responsibility to minimize environmental impacts and help solve the climate crisis? And how do you separate those companies that are truly sustainable from those that simply claim to be?

B Corporation, a project of the 501(c) 3 non-profit B Labs, hopes to answer those questions.

What would happen if the same six people won the Oscars every year?

Three things: 1) The Oscars would get so boring that no one would pay attention; 2) the awards would lose credibility; and 3) a lot of very talented people would go unrecognized.

That what’s happening in regard to our national and international heroes of sustainability – the many people who day in and day out demonstrate uncommon persistence in the face of virtual anonymity.

Late last month, Andreas Troge, the head of Germany's federal environmental agency, made a bold statement: He told people to stop eating so much meat—not on behalf of their cholesterol count, but on behalf of the planet.

Troge suggested in an interview with Germany’s Berliner Zeitung that Germans should stick with the "European tradition of the 'Sunday roast'" and reorient their consumption patterns to imitate those of Mediterranean countries—"more fish and vegetables"—to reduce their contribution to global warming.

The suggestion was stunning coming from a high government official, particularly in a country with a meat-heavy diet.

Eating less beef has long been fashionable among food cognoscenti, but now it's going to be in vogue for another reason – beef production is a massive driver of global warming through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the two weeks since Troge spoke up, officials in Australia and Cincinnati, Ohio, have been emboldened to publicly discuss the need for planet-conscious diets with less meat.

Covering the green build environment over the last eight years has been a journey filled with surprises, not the least of which was the quick integration of green building principles to the mainstream build environment.

When the U.S. Green Building Council launched the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system in 2000, it was hard to imagine that green building principles would become integral to popular culture and a driving force in the real estate market within a decade. Back then, just the mention of “green” caused developers to shudder.

Today, green homes sell quicker and at higher prices than conventional homes. Green office space commands above-market rents, because it consumes up to 50% less energy and provides a healthier work environment that improves worker productivity.

Now, all major corporations—even Wal-Mart—have adopted sustainable building standards, considered “best practices” by industry professionals. Even in a dismal real estate market, demand for green buildings continues to grow.