Best Green School Innovators For 2011 Ranked by the U.S. Green Buildings Council

The U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools has released its first ever Best of Green Schools 2011 list, recognizing school administrators and government leaders in 10 categories for their efforts to create sustainable learning environments.

The cafeteria in Lake Mills Middle School. Photo from miron-constructionnews.com.

Recipient schools and regions from across America – from the elementary to the university level – were recognized for a variety of sustainable, cost-cutting measures, including energy conservation, record numbers of LEED certified buildings, and collaborative platforms and policies to green U.S. school infrastructures.

Lake Mills Middle School (Lake Mills, Wis.) was recognized for the “School” category for being the first public school in the nation to achieve a LEED Platinum certification.

The middle school features a geothermal heating and cooling system, which contributes to the school saving $85,000 annually in energy costs, said the Green Building Council.

The school’s use of a geothermal system benefits the city as well. By using a geothermal system, the school has shifted its energy usage from gas to electric, and because the city owns its own electric company, the energy dollars stay within the city.

Moving up to the category of “Higher Ed Innovator,” the University of Texas at Dallas received recognition for its new LEED Platinum student services building.

Click to read more ...

U.S. Cities Increasing Use of Clean Energy Technologies Despite Lagging Economy

Despite current difficulties in the national economy, most cities surveyed in a new report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said that they have been expanding their clean energy technologies and would continue to grow them over the next five years.

Image courtesy of Earth Infrastructure Ltd.

Cities in the Northeast and South are expecting some of the fastest growth, but nearly all of the 396 cities that participated in the survey are expecting to be “deploying more clean technology in five years than they do currently,” said the report.

The top three most promising choices for energy saving clean technologies by mayors were:

• LED/efficient lighting technologies. The substantial majority of cities (85 percent) already deploy LED lighting, with plans to increase their use in the future.
• Approximately 68 percent of cities reported using energy saving building technologies, such as solar technologies; energy-efficient appliances; and pumps.
• Hybrid vehicles were found by about 40 percent of the cities surveyed as a favorable way of saving energy and carbon emissions.

Click to read more ...

Mayors in U.S. Central States Receive Honors for Implementing Green Sustainability Practices

U.S. Department of Energy partnering with the University of Houston to research wind power technology. Photo courtesy of cleantechnica.com.

In working to make the U.S. a more sustainably green country, the way that seems to be producing the most visible and effective results is by doing it at the city level.

In recognition, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Walmart jointly honor two cities every year – both large and small, with populations over and under 100,000 – for their green sustainability achievements.

This year’s newly announced honors go to Houston, Texas and Evanston, Ill. with both receiving the 2011 Mayors’ Climate Protection Award.

Houston received its award because of achievements in both the public and private sector, largely through working with the city’s green office challenge, which works in conjunction with the city’s energy efficiency incentive program and municipal energy efficiency program.

These programs also incorporate free technology, software training, environmental, and energy efficiency consulting from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

There are currently about 330 private companies that have already taken part in the challenge. As part of this green challenge, the city offers eligible businesses and building owners the ability to apply for funding to make permanent energy efficiency improvements to reduce utility expenses and greenhouse gases.

Click to read more ...

UK Community Group Spreading Outreaching: Donating Unused Paints To More In Need

It’s always a great feeling when you can donate things you don’t need anymore and make a difference in the lives of others. Community RePaint is helping people do this in the UK and is now expanding too!

Photo courtesy of dexknows.com.

Community RePaint is a non-profit network that collects unused paints from individuals, groups, and companies, and then donates them to those in need such as individuals with economic hardships, community organizations, charities, and public establishments (i.e. schools, hospitals, nursing homes, etc.).

Community RePaint has now launched a new chapter in Cambridgeshire, adding to its current network of over 50 community-based chapters, including locations in Cornwall, Belfast, and Inverness.

It’s the first new chapter in the network this year. The Cambridgeshire chapter will collect residents’ unwanted paints through six household waste recycling centers run in partnership with the Cambridgeshire County Council and Donarbon, a waste management company.

The Cambridgeshire chapter will then distribute the paints to local charities, community groups, and people in need, according to Nikki DiGiovanni, the chapter’s program manager, who said, “We already have a waiting list of people wanting paint – from schools to play groups, to people who are unemployed and just want to do up their house.”

Click to read more ...

Californians Vote Down Prop. 23, Saving the State’s Upcoming Global Warming Law

Despite scare tactics from oil and chemical companies, by an overwhelming margin on Election Day the people of California voted against Proposition 23, also called the “California Jobs Initiative,” which would have killed the state’s global warming law scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2012.

Now secure, California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, more commonly known as AB 32, will require California’s State Air Resource Board to design and implement measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to their 1990 levels in the next eight years (by 2020).

They don’t know what the 1990 levels are yet, so the law has given the board the job of evaluating “the best available scientific, technological, and economic information on greenhouse gas emissions to determine the 1990 levels.”

Click to read more ...