Newsletter // GreenerBuildings News :: March 5, 2009

This week's newsletter reports on how Indiana's Purdue University is "breaking away" from the pack by instituting comprehensive energy efficiency training for local workers.

Purdue's leaders must have read Dr. David Goldstein's book "Saving Energy and Growing Jobs" (available on Amazon.com). Dr. Goldstein, a MacArthur Award recipient, co-director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Energy Program, personal mentor and dear friend, wrote this comprehensive treatise on how energy efficiency goes far beyond personal virtue into national virtue by being one of the most effective macroeconomic investments that can be made. Goldstein cites numerous real-world examples, including California's success at creating a cumulative net economic benefit to the state of $50 billion and 1.5 million new jobs created due to the state's integrated energy efficiency policies.

That investing in energy efficiency programs creates far more jobs than investing in conventional supply options is no secret to energy economist, John "Skip" Laitner of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). Dr. Laitner has written numerous reports demonstrating that investments in energy efficiency creates nearly twice as many jobs per dollar invested in oil, gas or coal.

Drunk on its success in implementing a comprehensive environmental sustainability program, Brown-Forman took the unusual step of pre-releasing its impressive numbers on reducing energy and water consumption around the company. As more such information becomes available, my guess is that consumers will increasingly base purchase decisions as much on corporate behavior as product performance. It appears that this type of thinking is part of the comprehensive green strategy being promoted by Marriott's "Queen of Green," Kathleen Matthews, in an interview with Marc Gunther.

Research I did almost 20 years ago at NRDC indicated that one of the principal values of energy efficiency programs to electric utilities was the reduced forecast uncertainty in energy planning. It appears that the hospitality industry has also begun to realize this as illustrated in a new report by Ernst & Young where saving energy and water acts both as a profit center in good times and a hedge against runaway costs in down times

One can only hope that a positive version of the "Perfect Storm" is brewing with regards to the transition to a green economy. As detailed in an excerpt of the State of Green Business 2009 report, students of all stripes are demanding a forward-looking education that prepares them for the green economy. If it doesn't get bogged down in politics-as-usual, President Obama's stimulus program will support green training and investments in the green economy to the tune of a few hundred billion dollars. A billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you're talking real money!

But all is not rosy on the way to greening the economy and Leslie Guevarra's piece on green job hunting is a must-read for anyone jumping into the deep green sea.

Rob Watson
Executive Editor

With the declining economy, continuing credit market turmoil and rapid deterioration in property markets -- real estate investors might assume that green building is done for, or at least on hold. But reports of green’s demise are greatly exaggerated, according to a recent white paper from the research team for RREEF Alternative Investments, the global alternative investment management business of Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management division.

Bringing green products to the mainstream requires a focus on aligning environmental innovation with affordability. But how are successful companies designing greener products with little or no price premium? Join us at Greener By Design 2009 to see who’s evolving, who’s thriving, and how they’re producing products that aren’t just greener, but better — and more affordable.