Off-grid Oregon community (USA)

Behind the manned gate of the Three Rivers Recreation Area lie 4,000 acres of property and 450 homes, but not a single phone or power line.

Residents in this subdivision of full- and part-time homeowners are entirely off the electrical and telephone grid, proud of it and wanting it to stay that way. They rely on solar power to provide houses with electricity.

Most people in the neighborhood have the same kinds of appliances and devices that people in an urban area would have.

Source: http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12796

Green Daycare (UK)

Meanwhile Gardens by Constructive Individuals

• green roof
• timber surfaces
• south window and skylights
• super insulated walls and roof of cellulose fibre insulation
• rain and grey water recycling system to run the toilets

Suffolk, The eco-house (UK)

Clinton Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program

Wow! Look what you can do when you're no longer in office. Have I mentioned how much I like this Clinton fellow...

Toronto is among 15 cities (Bangkok, Berlin, Chicago, Houston, Johannesburg, Karachi, London, Melbourne, Mexico City, New York, Rome, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Tokyo) that will be cutting carbon emissions through a project spearheaded and funded by former U.S. president Bill Clinton's foundation.
"The big difference in Toronto comes from the fact that our biggest single contributor of the greenhouse gases is heating and cooling our old buildings. It's about 60 % of Toronto's contribution." Miller told CTV

Source: http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20070516/clinton_green_070516/20070516/?hub=TorontoHome

Clinton's Foundation:

75%

of emissions come from cities

50%

of cities’ emissions are generated by buildings

40

global cities partnering with CCI to fight climate change

Strawbale Mobile Home

What a lovely idea and given the popularity of the 'modular' home trend... timely.

First mobile home in the world (in East Yorkshire, England) made from straw. A cosy, one bedroom straw cabin with renewable electricity, solar hot water and a host of environmentally friendly features.

ecoAUTO Rebate Program and Car list

OK... not a building product but most of us drive and it's money back!!!...

As part of the Government of Canada’s plan to protect the environment, the ecoAUTO Rebate Program encourages Canadians to buy fuel-efficient vehicles. How? It offers rebates from $1000 to $2000, to people who, beginning March 20, 2007, buy or enter a long-term lease (12 months or more) for a fuel-efficient vehicle.

Source: http://www.ec.gc.ca/EnviroZine/english/issues/72/any_questions_e.cfm?Issues=May2007

1st Zero-carbon and Zero-waste City

How cool is this (although the picture makes it look rather dank and dingy)! And when can I move to one in Canada? lol

Source: http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/05/09/norman-fosters-green-desert-utopia-in-dubai/

World Sustainable Building (SB) Conference 2008

World Sustainable Building (SB) Conference series, which is held every 3 years, is the peak gathering of the world’s leading technical experts and researchers on sustainable built environments.

September 21 - 25, 2008
Melbourne, Australia

The event provides the opportunity for the world’s leading technical experts and researchers to advance their knowledge by focusing on technical developments and case studies; 17 countries showcased projects to over 1,800 delegates at the 2005 conference (Tokyo, Japan)

Source: http://www.cmhc.ca/en/inpr/enews/enews_001.cfm

Canadian Solar Buildings Conference

32^nd Annual Conference of the Solar Energy Society of Canada is held jointly with the 2^nd Conference of the newly formed Solar Buildings Research Network that brings together top researchers from 10 Canadian Universities to develop the solar-optimized building of the 21^st century.

June 10 – June 14 , 2007
Calgary TELUS Convention Centre

Source: http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/evca/evca_002.cfm?event=561&fr=1176490091656

CDN Architect

Measures of Sustainability site:

• Embodied Energy
• Operating Energy
• Exergy
• Durability
• Externalities
• Ecological Footprint
• Eco-Labeling
• Life Cycle Assessment

Greener Carpeting Choices

Carpeting is not a very 'green' thing to do not just because of the air quality issued caused by off-gassing but also for it's high embodied energy and the garbage created when thrown out. But... if you really have to use carpeting:

• Tandus - recycled content
  
• Shaw - EcoWorx backing
  
• Interface - Cool Carpet (offsets ghg emissions)
  
• Milliken (harvets local landfill methane for energy)
  
• Mohawk - Encycle (polyvinylchloride free)
  

Source: Eco-structure Magazine MARCH / APRIL 2007 issue - Correspondence

Ray Anderson (CEO of Interface) on Sustainability from YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcRDUIbT4gw

Zero Carbon House in Scotland

The Zero Carbon House is a low energy demonstration project to show how renewable energy can create a unique living experience on a remote island in a severe climate. A holistic approach has been taken to eliminating household carbon emissions that would normally result from heating and powering the home, running the family car and growing and transporting food.

Source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/04/zero_carbon_hou.php

The IPCC report: Fighting climate change

IPCC released its third of four reports Friday May 4th. This one recommends how the world can fight climate change. This can happen, they say, but the following measures must be adopted, among others:
Source: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070501/ipcc_part3_070501/20070502/

See more at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/v/8UrOV_gi7vI

2006/7 EcoSchools Guide

EcoSchools is a (Toronto District School Board) school greening program with a very broad scope. It addresses what is taught, how we run our schools and how we design and use our schools grounds. Its central focus is supporting students and staff in caring for and protecting the environment where they spend so many hours every week. EcoSchools asks us to examine the decisions we make in our schools, inside and out — from modifying practices in our classrooms, offices, and boiler rooms to designing the school ground as a place for healthy, enriched learning.

Source: Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative http://www.trec.on.ca/

Eco-Friendly Middle School - LEED platinum certification

by Russell Boniface
Associate Editor

Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., recently opened its new sustainable middle school and is seeking to earn LEED® Platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. The three-level, U-shaped, 70,000-square-foot school renovates an existing middle school and merges it with a new wing, forming one green-designed structure. Sustainable materials are implemented throughout the exterior and interior. An open courtyard defines the building structure by integrating the campus with the local landscape. Philadelphia-based KieranTimberlake Associates worked with Sidwell to incorporate the school’s Quaker philosophy—to be stewards of the Earth—into the green design. The new school and its campus will also serve as a sustainable education tool for students.

Source: http://www.aia.org/aiarchitect/thisweek06/1027/1027d_pw_sidwell.cfm

Argington Modern Children's Furniture

Sustainable Design
Thoughtful and intelligent design is essential for sustainability. Our furniture is designed with longevity and reusability as an essential criterion. We offer adjustable seating that grows with your child, table tops that are reusable and also are adjustable, cribs that convert to toddler beds, space saving trundle beds, and storage solutions that are multifunctional and adaptable to a myriad of styles and conditions. We create designs that are crafted to be timeless and can easily be passed from one child to the next.

Source: http://www.savvymom.ca/index.php/newsletter/tor_available_now/

Great but wouldn't it be even better if the furniture was made of FSC and formaldyde free wood...

How Colleges can be Forefront of Green Movement

May 1, 2007
Elia Powers

In “Degrees That Matter: Climate Change and the University,” (MIT Press) Ann Rappaport and Sarah Hammond Creighton, both leaders of Tufts University’s Climate Initiative. The co-authors responded to questions from Inside Higher Ed about their latest project.

Q: How can you best tell if a college’s environmental promise has teeth or is just empty rhetoric?

A: We are concerned that individual high-visibility projects can be confused with a comprehensive climate action effort. We suggest a set of activities that are the basis for a credible effort. These include:

• The campus master plan includes sustainability.
• Energy management systems are in place.
• Funding for energy efficiency is provided.
• Standards are in place for new construction.
• No old lighting technology is on campus (no incandescent or T-12 lamps).
• A recycling program is in place.
• The curriculum includes robust discussion of climate change and energy.
• A program to address single-occupancy vehicle use is in place and automobile alternatives are developed and implemented.
• A baseline inventory of the institution’s greenhouse gas emissions is conducted and published. The inventory needs to be updated periodically to show progress toward an established goal. A program that’s transparent and effective will provide the numbers that document progress, not just the anecdotes.

Source: http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/05/01/climate

Kinark Sustainable Living Centre

Minden, Ontario, Canada

"Our vision is a world in which there are many opportunities to learn about sustainable development. A world where a skilled population makes informed decisions in their home, community and working lives and in their leisure activities. A world where people understand and take responsibility for the impact they have on the quality of life of other people, locally and globally."

Dubai - DIFC Lighthouse Tower

66-story office tower nicknamed ‘The Lighthouse.’ Conceptualized by Atkins Middle East, The Lighthouse strives to make low carbon commercial towers a reality in Dubai by reducing the total energy consumption up to 65% and water consumption up to 40%. The height and shape of The Lighthouse play pivotal roles in its goals for low energy consumption, allowing for the instillation of three enormous 225 KV wind turbines (29 meters in diameters), and 4,000 photovoltaic panels on the south facing façade.

Source: http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/05/01/the-lighthouse-dubais-1st-low-carbon-commercial-tower/

Arctic Ice Retreating 30 Years Ahead of Projections

The study, "Arctic Sea Ice Decline: Faster Than Forecast?" will appear Tuesday in the online edition of "Geophysical Research Letters." It was led by Julienne Stroeve of the National Snow and Ice Data Center and funded by the National Science Foundation and by NASA.

September marks the yearly minimum of sea ice in the Arctic. Newly available data sets, blending early aircraft and ship reports with more recent satellite measurements that are considered more reliable than the earlier records, show that the September ice actually declined at a rate of about 7.8 % per decade during the 1953-2006 period. The fastest rate of September retreat in any individual model was 5.4 % per decade.