As Greenbuild approaches, the companies and organizations with a stake in the green building movement are going into overdrive.

They're stepping up efforts in addition to preparing for the industry's largest annual international conference, which is in Toronto this year. GreenBiz.com will provide coverage from the conference as well as news highlights, like this summary of recent green building developments.

Walgreens' 100th Solar Power System

Walgreens has installed its 100th rooftop solar energy system, making good on a 5-year-old pledge to have solar power at 100 stores and distribution centers by the close of 2011. The company says it may exceed that goal: If installation plans continue apace, there could be as many as 130 solar arrays within the chain by year's end,

GreenBiz first wrote about Walgreens' solar initiative in 2006. Since then, the company has steadily increased its work to ease environmental impacts. Other efforts include energy efficiency measures, recycling and packaging reduction initiatives and, more recently, a project to install charging stations for electric vehicles at 800 stores by the end of this year.

Walgreens celebrated the completion of its 100th solar power project last week. The installation is on a store in Mason, Ohio, and the state is home to 53 Walgreens solar power sites.

IKEA Plugs In Its 12th Solar Rooftop

IKEA officially flipped the switch today on its 12th solar power project in the U.S. -- a 451-kilowatt array made from 2,002 panels and spanning 57,000 square feet at a store in West Covina, Calif.

The system is expected to produce 651,800 kWh of electricity annually. That's roughly equivalent to enough power for 55 homes for a year and has the effect of avoiding 495 tons of carbon dioxide over the same period.

The West Covina installation is the ninth U.S. solar project IKEA has completed in 2011. Plans for eight others are underway in the country. IKEA also has installed four solar water heating systems at stores in the U.S. Articles on IKEA's goals for renewable energy in California, for 2011 and in the United Kingdom are here, here and here.

Schneider Electric Brings a Micro Smart Grid to the Solar Decathlon

The Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C., which we featured in an article last week, not only showcases student efforts to build the most cost-effective and energy-efficient solar homes, it's also intended to illustrate how a smart, connected community works.

Schneider Electric teamed with utility company Pepco and engineering firm M.C. Dean to provide the micro-grid for the temporary solar village. The village's "energy balance" is detailed on the website for the competition. The information includes how much power has been generated, how much if any excess gets fed to the utility and the community's carbon impact. The biennial decathlon, which is conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy, concludes Monday.

Next Page: The world's first double LEED-Platinum museum.