Sustainable Green Development

Put simply-if going green isn’t profitable why would developers do it? The easy answer is they wouldn’t. One of the biggest fundamental flaws in the green building discussion is that green building costs more and is less profitable. Our goal is to help you design projects that are profitable AND green. Yes, you can be profitable and green at the same time, they are not mutually exclusive. Read more

Green Business Practices Initiatives & Eco Charters

Going Green for a business is considered by many business owners to be a cosmetic move, a show of corporate social responsibility with few financial benefits and an increase in spending with little ROI. A recent survey - the 2008 SHRM Green Workplace Survey released by the Society for Human Resource Management offers current statistics to disprove this. According to the results of the survey, only 50% of the surveyed organizations had a formal or informal policy or a green business guide regulating their Environmental Policies.

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LEED certification program pros & cons for green services & consulting firms.

To LEED or not to LEED

One of the biggest debates in the green building movement seems to be whether to pursue LEED certification. LEED certification by the US Green Building Council in theory is a great program, however it does have some shortcomings. A few thoughts on both sides of the debate: Read more

What is an ‘eco life’?

The simple definition of ‘ecolife‘ is living a life where you are aware of your impact on the planet. A life where you make choices to reduce your impacts and support companies/products/people that do likewise. Obviously that is not a perfect definition but that’s my humble opinion at 7:24am on a Saturday morning the day before my daughter’s third birthday.

When my daughter, Kaya, is my age the planet is going to probably look a lot different. It sure looks different than when I was a kid. Growing up, you could eat snow, go in the ocean after a rain, and ski until May. I remember one of my fondest memories was sitting outside of my grandmother’s house in the rain and tasting the rain as it fell from the sky. I was 5. Can you imagine that now? Read more

Measuring Sustainability

As an eco-consultant, I am often asked by clients about how companies connect sustainability and green business initiatives to show that these measures result in real financial advantage. It is an obvious concern for any business focused on the bottom line. For a business, every action must have a proportionate change in its net profits and the impact of putting green business practices in place should be no different. In fact, ‘profit’ is one of the 3 principles of sustainability and plays an important role in whether or not more companies would get into the ‘green business club’.

But it is a complex question because, for one, the immediate effect of green business practices can be an increase in costs, albeit a marginal one if at all. Secondly, green business tips abound on the Internet and through green business guides and following them leads to more than one benefit in different areas. It is a task melding those benefits into a cohesive form. Read more

What ‘Green’ elements do homebuyers want?

Real estate development is and always has been one of the most profitable businesses globally – there is only so much earth to build upon and with world population growing daily, demand and supply used to be enough to take care of profits. But unmitigated construction and lack of environmentally friendly real estate are a potent combination leading to reduced natural resources. The current need of environmentally friendly home building and green development have never been more paramount.

Gerald Hines, Chairman of Hines, a privately held real estate firm with locations nation wide, says, “Green Development is good for business. Tenants, owners, purchasers and brokers are all becoming more sophisticated and are realizing the financial and social benefits of green product”. This may seem contrary to the popular view on green building development, that it costs more and cuts into a developer’s profits. But with awareness and demand for environmentally friendly real estate growing, it will once again be the forces of demand and supply that ensure profits for a builder. Read more

Living green in the real world

Learning to live green is a process. You don’t simply wake up one morning and you’re Ed Begley Jr. Even he wasn’t Ed Begley Jr. the environmentalist for 20 years. Living green is a process in which you take small, incremental steps everyday to leave less of an impact on our world. It means conserving water, energy, and using the power of your dollar wisely, etc.

The areas you can make daily changes are: Read more

What is LEED?

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is an organization dedicated to sustainable building practices. USGBC created a national rating system for developing high-quality and sustainable buildings known as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). LEED committees develop their rating systems through a consensus-based process. Each Committee is a diverse sample of experts who are representative of all professions in the building and construction industry. Read more