A white paper authored by Schneider Electric suggests that meeting greenhouse gas emissions targets will fail unless “Active Energy Efficiency” becomes compulsory. They define “Active Energy Efficiency” as “effecting permanent change through measurement, monitoring and control of energy (more…)

Describing a building as ‘green’ makes a lot of people cringe. The word is overused. And what does it mean exactly?

Serious efforts are underway to move away from the hype and offer a more specific analysis of a building’s energy performance. Think nutritional labels for food, except in kilowatt-hours instead of (more…)

One of the most under-discussed and under-valued aspects of green building law is regulatory enforcement.  Most of the discussion among experts, myself included, tends to analyze new laws and new incentives as they develop.  Frequently, these new legislative and regulatory initiatives pay little attention (more…)

When it comes to the green energy race, it’s not over until it’s over. Just look at the city of Denver.

For years the Mile High City was notorious for its brown cloud, a dirty layer of pollution that not only marred the city’s pristine mountain image, but also caused serious health problems. (more…)

Yesterday, the City of Kansas and the County of Wyndotte sued the General Services Administration for moving the EPA Region 7 headquarters from an older LEED building in the Kansas City central business district to a former Applebee’s headquarters in Lenexa, Kansas. The complaint is available here. (more…)

Johnson Controls is a sustainability veteran. Back in 1885 it invented the first electric room thermostat. These days it operates in 150 countries and employs 142,000 people whose main job is to create products, services and solutions to optimize energy and operational efficiencies of buildings. (more…)

In Stockholm, roughly 90 percent of the population lives within 300 meter proximity from a designated green area to allow for better quality of life, including recreation, water purification, enhanced biodiversity, ecology, and noise reduction. Stockholm’s main ambition is to be a totally fossil fuel-free city by the year 2050. (more…)

Numerous statistical figures demonstrate that in 2008, there were more than 922 international tourists, raising revenue to more than $900 billion globally. In numerous countries, the tourism industry accounts for a large percentage of the workforce. For example, in Egypt, the tourism industry workforce (more…)

The cost of living is rising and sadly, most of our salaries are staying the same. When it’s getting harder and harder to make ends meet at the end of every month, cutting spending by any means necessary is a must. But this doesn’t mean that your green credentials have to go out the window: quite the (more…)

This summer, The National Gallery in London is engaging public audiences with an 8,000 plant rendering of Van Gogh’s A Wheatfield with Cypresses (1889).

Over 25 varieties of flora are offering museum-goers sweeter, cleaner air and a setting ripe for ecological discussion as the National Gallery forwards their plan (more…)