New Resolutions for Greater Efficiency, Smaller Footprints

Published January 11, 2010

Like clichés, resolutions tend to be all aspiration and no perspiration, so most people think that resolutions are a waste of time. I, on the other hand, aspire to live a cliché, simply because when actually acted upon, there is a great deal of wisdom embodied in clichés.

So, in the hope that people aren't just blowing smoke, GreenerBuildings.com is bringing you some of the green building resolutions and accomplishments some of our readers were generous enough to share with us.

Robert Pojasek brings us his resolution wishlist for business leaders. For example, he hopes that environmental health, safety and sustainability managers will broaden their focus to include the other legs of the sustainability tripod -- social and economic sustainability -- to complement their environmental focus.

Facility managers are urged to be more active in aligning their sustainability management system with their company's business strategy.

Pojasek also suggests that supply chain managers work with suppliers to bring make sustainability part of their value chain, thereby enhancing their own products' value.

Greener World Media also asked people to share with us some of their proudest accomplishments in 2009 and many companies rightfully claimed bragging rights for their year.

Brandi McManus from Schneider Electric reports that they helped their customers save nearly $500 million and reduce their carbon footprints by 7 million tons. No coal in Brandi's stocking this year! Grainger's Jeff Rehm helped his company triple the number of LEED Certified facilities it owns, making it unique among industrial distributors.

Of course, no retrospective would be complete without a forward look, so in 2010 Daniel Daggett is looking forward to implementing JohnsonDiversey's ambitious commitment to triple its carbon emissions reduction target. Michelle Mann of Adobe Systems Inc. anticipates turning some heads by installing 20 1.2 KW Windspire vertical axis wind turbines at its San Jose headquarters, each of which can generate around 2,000 kWh a year.

Green Touch Initiative Aims to Make ICT 1,000 Times Greener Computing A new coalition spearheaded by Bell Labs has set a goal to make communications networks 1,000 times more energy efficient in just five years....	Ford Introduces Next-Gen Focus, Confirms Plans for Electric Car Business Ford unveiled its next-generation Focus today at the 2010 North American International Auto Show, where the company showed off its best bet for making deeper inroads into the market for fuel-efficient -- as well as efficiently made -- compact cars....
Can China Turn Cotton Green? Design Producing "natural" cotton clothing is a huge and filthy global business that, Chinese-commissioned research shows, will be extremely difficult to clean up. ...	Kodak Chooses Clamshell Alternative For Camera Packaging Design Kodak's C-182 will be sold in Natralock packaging, an alternative to all-plastic clamshells that is made with recyclable PET plastic and paperboard. ...
Classes on What Every Good Green Exec Should Know Business What's the key to making a company's sustainability strategy work from the ground up? What are the principles of sustainable investing, what are the risks and opportunities, and how do you build a sustainable portfolio?...	Large UK Firms Making Progress on Nat'l Climate Goals, Intensive Sectors Lag Climate Although the U.K.'s 100 largest companies are making headway toward the country's climate change goals as a whole, its most carbon-intensive industries are lagging with emissions reduction targets that fall short of national goals....
Detroit's Annus Horribilis: Have Americans Stopped Loving Their Cars? Business The year 2009 was a terrible year for Detroit, the worst in three decades. Americans bought 10.4 million cars -- 21 percent fewer than in 2008 and a whopping 40 percent fewer than the 17 million or so cars and light trucks sold, on average, in the early 2000s....	CES Roundup: Smarter Thermostats, LED Bulbs, Efficient Monitors Computing LED light bulbs, smarter home-energy management devices and energy efficient monitors are among the greener items at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. ...

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New Resolutions for Greater Efficiency, Smaller Footprints