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Tops in Green

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has listed its top 25 members of its Green Power Partnership, with Pepsi leading the way.

EPA Green Power Partners help drive the development of additional green power resources nationwide. Combined, these purchases amount to 6.2 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, which is more than 60% of the green power commitments made by all EPA Green Power Partners. 

The companies are: Wells Fargo & Co., Whole Foods Market, Pepsi Bottling Group, U.S. Air Force, Johnson & Johnson, U.S. EPA, Kohl’s Department Stores, Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, Starbucks, DuPont Company, U.S. Department of Energy, PepsiAmericas Inc., Vail Resorts, Cisco Systems Inc., HSBC North America, Staples, The World Bank Group, The University of Pennsylvania, IBM Corp., Mohawk Fine Papers, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, NatureWorks, and Sprint Nextel. For more information, see www.epa.gov

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California issues environmental awards

 SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The State of California issued the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership awards for notable, voluntary measures to conserve resources, protect and enhance the environment, and promote public-private partnerships. The winners in Sustainable Practices and Facilities are:

• Chartwell School – Monterey County;
• Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. – Los Angeles County;
• Adobe Systems Inc. and Cushman and Wakefield, Inc. – Santa Clara;
• Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants – Statewide; abd
• Los Angeles Community College District –Los Angeles County.

For more information, see www.calepa.ca.gov/Awards/GEELA/2007/WinnerSummry.pdf

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EPA recognizes landfill methane partners

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized the accomplishments of numerous landfill methane partners that are generating renewable energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Methane, a primary component of landfill gas, is a greenhouse gas more than 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

EPA’s Projects of the Year are:

• Greentree High Btu Landfill Gas Project, Kersey, Pa. – One of the largest landfill gas projects in the country, the landfill gas is upgraded to natural gas quality and used in clean-burning power generation equipment to generate renewable power.
• Iris Glen Landfill Gas to Energy Project, Johnson City, Tenn. – An engine and boiler use landfill gas to supply 100,000 pounds per hour of steam, 7.5 megawatts of electricity, and chilled water to a Veterans Administration hospital, university buildings, and a large civic center.
• Southeastern Chester County Refuse Authority (SECCRA), Chester County, Pa. – This project uses on a number of innovative approaches, including joining a regional transmission organization to sell green power.

Industry Partner: Ameresco, Framingham, Mass. – Showing leadership with 13 operational projects and nine more under construction, Ameresco provides long-term environmental and economic solutions for landfills and the communities they serve.

Energy Partner: Alameda Power & Telecom and the City of Palo Alto, Watsonville, Calif. – These two community-based utilities actively pursued landfill gas opportunities in their own backyard. Tapping an initial 3.2 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy, with an additional 15 MW from local landfills under development, helps them meet renewable energy goals and provide green power to a record number of green power customers.

Community Partner: Greater Lebanon Refuse Authority (GLRA), Lebanon, Pa. – Working with PPL Renewable Energy, GLRA created and built a renewable energy education facility for local, national, and international visitors.

Endorser: CIFAL-Atlanta – Bringing together local government officials and solid waste experts from around the world, CIFAL-Atlanta co-hosted the Greening Solid Waste Practices workshop in September 2007.

EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program is a voluntary assistance and partnership program that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by supporting landfill gas energy project development. For more information, see www.epa.gov/lmop/res/2007_awards.htm

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Blowing in the wind

 WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in partnership with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), has selected the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC) of Anchorage, Alaska, as the winner of the 2007 Wind Cooperative of the Year Award. 

This annual award, in its seventh year, recognizes AVEC for leadership, demonstrated success and innovation in its wind power program.  AVEC provides electricity service to 53 small, native villages in rural Alaska and is specifically using wind power to reduce its dependence on diesel power.  In collaboration with the wind industry, DOE aims to develop and bring online an increased number of clean, domestic, and advanced wind energy technologies to help meet the rapidly growing demand for energy. For more information, see www.doe.gov/news/6010.htm

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ULI gives Awards for Excellence

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ten outstanding developments from North America have been selected as winners of the Urban Land Institute's (ULI) Awards for Excellence: The Americas competition.

ULI’s Awards for Excellence recognize the full development process of a project, not just its architecture or design. The criteria for the awards include leadership, contribution to the community, innovations, public/private partnership, environmental protection and enhancement, response to societal needs, and financial success.

The 2008 Awards for Excellence winners (developers in parentheses) are:Adidas Village, Portland, Oregon (adidas-Salomon North America; Winkler Development Corporation) Adidas’s strategic decision to relocate from its suburban headquarters to a downtown campus, converging with Winkler Development’s redevelopment of an 11-acre former hospital site, has brought 800 employees downtown; provided its new neighborhood with revitalization, playing fields, and other recreational amenities; and has established a new corporate image and branding.

• Army Residential Communities Initiative, U.S.A.-wide (U.S. Department of the Army) Faced with a $7 billion funding deficit to upgrade substandard housing and to build new housing at military bases, the Army developed the Residential Communities Initiative in 1998 to privatize housing on it bases. Land is leased to LLCs and existing housing stock is conveyed to the LLC, which then becomes responsible for upgrading, new construction, and management, and which collects rent from the individual soldiers' housing allowances. In this fashion, the Army has privatized 78,789 units at 36 bases with a 12:1 private to public funding ratio, enhancing the quality of life for soldiers and their families.
• Atelier/505, Boston (The Druker Company, Ltd.) A partnership of a developer, the city, and two arts institutions has transformed a contaminated, irregular 1.16-acre lot in an underinvested neighborhood in Boston's South End to a mixed-use block that is returning life to surrounding streets. The for-profit, 103-unit condominium and street-level retail core paid for the shell construction of a 51,019-square-foot performing arts complex for the not-for-profit beneficiary organizations and for the public.
• Canada’s National Ballet School/Radio City, Toronto, Canada (Context Development, Inc.) In a creative partnership—among Canada's National Ballet School, the city, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and a local developer—multiple easements, transfers of development rights, and complex ownership structures have allowed the rehabilitation and re-use of heritage buildings; construction of new residential, academic, and performance facilities for one of the premier ballet schools in the world; public urban spaces; and 414 residential units in 18 townhouses and two residential towers of 25 and 30 stories.
• Clipper Mill, Baltimore, Md. (Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse) A 17.5-acre mid-town site that once housed a major contributor to Baltimore's industrial economy has been transformed into a mixed-use complex of artisan space, offices, and residences. Next to a light-rail transit stop, and adjacent to an extensive hiking trail network that the developer enhanced along its adjoining portions, Clipper Mill restored the historical characteristics of the property and introduced present-day sustainability features.
• Eleven 80, Newark, New Jersey (Cogswell Realty Group) The first addition to downtown Newark's housing stock in more than 40 years. Eleven 80 transforms a dilapidated—almost to the point of irreparability— 75-year-old 30-story office building to a 316-unit condo building with high-end amenities. Eleven 80, along with the developer's adjacent National Newark Building, fulfills a part of the developer's vision for the city's revitalization; evidence of which is Eleven 80's attraction of former Manhattan residents.
• General Motors Renaissance Center, Detroit (Hines) Automaker General Motors consolidated its seven suburban office locations and committed the giant corporation to downtown Detroit by repurposing the 1970s-era multi-story complex into its world headquarters, returning 10,000 employees to downtown, turning around a reminder of Detroit's declining years, reintegrating the complex to the city fabric, and inviting the public to the riverfront with green spaces and promenades.
• Medinah Temple-Tree Studios, Chicago (Friedman Properties, Ltd.) What could have become another block of non-descript high rises by right is now an oasis of immaculately restored landmark buildings around a central landscaped court yard. The historic Medinah Temple complex now houses a Bloomingdale's home furnishings store and the former Tree Studios carry on as retail spaces and studios for artists and artisans.
• Overture Center for the Arts, Madison, Wisc. (Overture Development Corp.) The Overture Center brings to one location— an entire city block just a block away from the state capitol building—seven performing arts companies, four visual arts organizations, and a new museum. Their common operations and shared spaces create an economy of scale, saving the public from supporting far-flung organizations, and adds to the critical mass of downtown activity. Though it was underwritten primarily by one benefactor, the W. Jerome Frautschi family, Overture Center's planning, design, and operations is a replicable model for arts districts everywhere.
• Solara, Poway, Calif. (Community Housing Works) Solara is California's first affordable housing project designed to be fully independent of the power grid. In practice, its photovoltaic panels provide 90% of electrical needs to 56 units of rental multi-family apartments in two-story wood buildings and a small community center. Located on 2.5 ground-leased acres adjacent to a floodway that has a recreational relationship to the development, Solara overcame a myriad of entitlement, financing, technical, and community challenges to become a fully-leased community of households committed to a green program.

For more information, see www.uli.org/

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London offers low-carbon awards

LONDON – Low carbon projects, professionals and pioneers were rewarded last night at the first annual Low Carbon Performance Awards.

Launched by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), in association with E.ON, one of the UK's leading electricity and gas companies, the awards aim to reward low carbon performance not promise.

The event celebrated the achievements of participants of the 100 Days of Carbon Clean Up campaign. Over 700 organizations signed up to the campaign - making a real contribution to reducing the amount of carbon emitted from the workplace.

London's Natural History Museum won Best Carbon Saving Campaign, whileBest Carbon Saving Programwent to Bolton Wanderers Football Club. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency proved that it is possible to roll out a campaign over 512 sites - winning Best Multi-site Campaign.

The Low Carbon Performance Awards also rewarded the work of CIBSE's register of Low Carbon Consultants, with Faber Maunsell taking Low Carbon New Build of the Year and the title of Low Carbon Consultant of the Year going to registered consultant Michael Clarke. The LCC scheme provides the market with a supply of professionals whose competence in low carbon design and operation has been tested and is registered, and there are currently more than 700 consultants on the register.

The final award of the night honored key industry figure Bill Bordass with a Low Carbon Pioneeraward. Bill has worked on energy benchmarks and case studies in the UK and post-occupancy surveys including the Probe series. He is also technical director of the Usable Buildings Trust - a non-profit organization dedicated to improving building performance by the better use of feedback. For more information, see www.cibse.org/index.cfm?go=news.view&item=26

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Supermarkets lead

QUNICY, Mass. – The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, LLC, which includes Stop & Shop stores in New England, New York, and New Jersey, and Giant Food stores in the Mid-Atlantic, has been recognized as an Energy Star Leader, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Stop & Shop is the only company in New England to earn the Leaders recognition in 2007, and Stop & Shop and Giant are the only supermarket chains in the country earning this recognition. For more information, see yosemite.epa.gov

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Harlem awarded for Smart Growth

NEW YORK – Harlem’s cultural and economic renaissance also includes environmentally sensitive development. This sensitivity has been acknowledged by the presentation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2007 award for Smart Growth Achievement in the category of equitable development. The prestigious national award honors Harlem’s environmentally focused community development that increased affordable housing options, revitalized business areas, and expanded job training opportunities.

Harlem has become a national example of equitable and sustainable development. The borough of Manhattan developed a cooperative strategy to expand the housing and commercial options for central Harlem. The Abyssinian Neighborhood Project area was once marked by vacant lots and abandoned buildings. With help from public and private partners, including the Abyssinian Baptist Church and the Office of the Manhattan Borough President, the Abyssinian Development Corporation (ADC) launched a community development initiative.

Using a comprehensive program that linked education, job training, and cultural enhancement, ADC built 200 affordable housing units, with an additional 200 planned, and 15,000 sq.ft. of commercial space for five local businesses. The project also increased access to public transit, created new green space, and minimized stormwater runoff by reusing paved surfaces.

At the same time, the project addressed the social and economic needs of the community. ADC established an award-winning Head Start educational institution, constructed a state-of-the-art educational facility, and helped to create and support five block associations and a neighborhood leadership group. Additionally, ADC has implemented Youthbuild, a workforce development program that has provided on-the-job construction trade training for 40 teens and young adults.

Neighborhood revitalization achieved multiple positive environmental outcomes by building near available infrastructure; cleaning up abandoned buildings and vacant lots; and creating new green space. Developing in areas that were previously developed and not in currently undeveloped areas, minimizes the impact of stormwater runoff by reusing existing paved surfaces when compared to greenfield development. Residents now have better access to biking and walking routes and public transit.

The other winners of the 2007 National Awards for Smart Growth Achievement went to the Housing Authority of Portland, Ore.; the Seattle Housing Authority; the state of Vermont; and the town of Barnstable, Mass. For more details, see www.epa.gov/smartgrowth

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