BOSTON—The Mohawk Group is shaving weeks off the environmental product specification process for Leadership in Energy and environmental Design (LEED) with its new LEED PLUS Calculator. It was unveiled at the 2008 U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Greenbuild International Conference and Expo (Greenbuild) November 19 to 21 in Boston.

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Mohawk Group Makes LEED Process Easier with LEED PLUS Calculator

Filed under: Polit-eco , Climate Change , Plants and Wildlife Look , there’s no reason to sugarcoat the fact that the Arctic ice cap is melting at an unprecedented rate , it’s pretty disturbing yet it’s virtually unstoppable. I think almost everybody is a little freaked out by the idea that earth is rocketing out of the cozy, predictable ice age that we’ve all grown pretty accustomed to — and into a strange, unpredictable future. Still, according to the EU, there are some things to look forward to as the ice sheets decline. For one, shipping routes can slice through the region formerly know as the arctic ice cap, creating way shorter routes from the Atlantic to the Pacific. That’s kind of a nice thing, because until the Skysail has fully caught on, ships are a huge source of carbon emissions. Also, for those of you who like to rally against foreign oil, the EU is licking its chops over the completely untapped oil reserves hiding out under the ice — as is the US . The same thing goes for Arctic fishing. Since we’ve already wrecked many of the world’s most productive fisheries , the fishing industry desperately needs some kind of unspoiled waters. So, there you go, not exactly optimistic, but there it is. Thanks for looking at the bright side, EU . I guess . Melting Arctic Ice Cap has a Silver Lining, Sort of originally appeared on Green Daily on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds .   Read  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Linking Blogs  |  Comments

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Melting Arctic Ice Cap has a Silver Lining, Sort of

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Melting Arctic Ice Cap has a Silver Lining, Sort of

Filed under: Activism , Plants and Wildlife Sure, T. Boone Pickens gets a lot attention these days for his plan to ween America off of foreign oil, build ginormous wind farms, and all that jazz — but this week it’s Mrs. Pickens’ turn to make headlines. Not to be outdone, Madeleine Pickens has come up with an eco-friendly plan of her own. On Tuesday, she announced that she will purchase one million acres to serve as a giant sanctuary for America’s famous wild horse population. According to federal Bureau of Land Management, the wild horse population in the western states is hovering at about 33,000, approximately 6,000 more than the bureau’s target number. The rapidly expanding population had caused the bureau to consider euthanizing thousands of the mustangs to prevent overgrazing of the range and protect native species. When Pickens heard this, she sprung into action, and the bureau readily agreed. I’m pretty sure nobody at the bureau was too psyched about having to euthanize thousands of animals that are symbolic of the American West, or the firestorm of bad press that would follow. Horses currently residing in the bureau’s holding facilities will be sterilized, and then send to live on Madeline’s refuge, once she’s acquired the property. According to Pickens “we will never turn an animal down… this is our national heritage, and it needs to be preserved.” Awesome . [via Ecorazzi ] Wild Horse Refuge: The Other Pickens’ Plan originally appeared on Green Daily on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds .   Permalink  |  Email this  |  Linking Blogs  |  Comments

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Wild Horse Refuge: The Other Pickens’ Plan

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Wild Horse Refuge: The Other Pickens’ Plan

ATLANTA—As ASHRAE, USGBC and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) move forward in developing the nation’s first standard for high-performance, green commercial buildings, membership on the committee developing the standard is being reconstituted. Proposed Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, will provide minimum requirements for the design of high-performance new commercial buildings and major renovation projects, addressing energy efficiency, a building’s impact on the atmosphere, sustainable sites, water use efficiency, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality.

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ASHRAE Opens Green Building Standard Committee to New Membership

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ASHRAE Opens Green Building Standard Committee to New Membership

LAGRANGE, GA.—Milliken Hospitality announced that all of its carpet collections—broadloom and modular—are now certified to the NSF/ANSI 140-2007 Sustainable Carpet Assessment Standard. All collections also achieved carbon neutral certification from the Leonardo Academy without purchased credits.

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Milliken Carpets Now Certified to NSF/ANSI 140-2007 Standard

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Milliken Carpets Now Certified to NSF/ANSI 140-2007 Standard

Filed under: Local , Shopping Guide , Activism Vermont’s Burlington Free Press highlighted Holly Rae Taylor a.k.a. the “Compost Maven” this week in their paper. Taylor is, without a doubt, the most committed composter I have hear of. Not only does she bring home table scraps from eating out but she also saves her scraps while traveling and dumps them into her home bin upon returning. She composts just about anything from meat to leather shoes. In order to detour rodents, she uses her self designed composters . Armed with a master’s degree in botany, Taylor worked ata composting company before starting her own online business, Waste Free Living . Her company sells hand-selected items that are earth friendly and practical. There are items to help you with waste and preservation like her composters and canning supplies . But there are also fun items like Hot Chicks cloth napkins and brightly colored Bamboo Lacquerware Bowls . Taylor and her company strive to be waste free which means rethinking every thing that comes in and goes out. She throws out a whopping four bags of trash a year. Wow. Holly Rae Taylor and her (Nearly) Waste Free Life originally appeared on Green Daily on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:24:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds .   Permalink  |  Email this  |  Linking Blogs  |  Comments


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Holly Rae Taylor and her (Nearly) Waste Free Life

Filed under: Kids and Parenting , Movies, TV and Books , Polit-eco , Activism , Plants and Wildlife Yesterday was the official DVD/Blu-ray release of Disney/Pixar’s acclaimed hit WALL-E . If you’ve seen the film then you already know that one of the major themes concerns the care of our planet and what will come from our society of want and waste- but in a fun way. It’s kind of ironic that while the film concerns matters of the environment that most store tie-ins associated with it consist of nothing more than random pieces of junk. Not so for Target. Target has a special code on their DVDs and Blu-ray sets that you can enter online to receive a free tree seedling that will be delivered to your home (quantities limited; no rain checks). Plants play a pivotal role in the film (and, of course, our survival). Does that need a spoiler alert? I don’t think so. You knew plants were important, right? The promotion by Target is a clever one, but wouldn’t it have made more sense for it to occur during a warmer time of year- say around Arbor Day? Either way, we applaud the spirit of the promotion (and the movie) and hope that some of those seedlings make it through December. WALL-E and Target are for the Trees originally appeared on Green Daily on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:04:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds .   Permalink  |  Email this  |  Linking Blogs  |  Comments


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WALL-E and Target are for the Trees

Filed under: Celebrities , Activism , Plants and Wildlife
Click on the image to see the full, NSFW and disturbingly bloody ad.
Things are grim lately in the PETA offices. They have that grisly Cooking Mama parody to attack turkey eaters. Lindsay Lohan was assaulted with a flour bomb because she is a “Fur Hag”. And that was just the tip of the (melting) iceberg. The new PETA ad starring Christine Dolce, aka MySpace star ” ForBiddeN ” is flat out gory. Besides a big heap of cleavage, the main elements are: blood, gore and a very disturbing skinned rabbit that I’m going to guess is fake. It is fake, right? The ad is bad enough, but on the PETA2 site they also posted a “making of the ad” video which has PETA’s usual light (not) touch. Think footage of animals being skinned alive, to the jarring soundtrack of Nine Inch Nails, interspersed with Christine in a super low-cut, blood smeared, bustier. Still want to see it? You can watch it here . Or, you can wipe the images from your brain with a visit to the Shiba Inu Puppie Cam ! Puppies! PETA Ad Goes Into ForBiddeN Territory originally appeared on Green Daily on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:29:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds .   Permalink  |  Email this  |  Linking Blogs  |  Comments


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PETA Ad Goes Into ForBiddeN Territory

LOS ANGELES—The California Integrated Waste Management Board has chosen Bentley Prince Street, Inc. as the recipient of the 2008 CalRecycle Sustainable Business Award. The award is the highest honor from the Board’s annual Waste Reduction Awards Program, and honors a business that has taken extraordinary measures to reduce waste.

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Bentley Prince Street Receives Sustainable Business Award

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Bentley Prince Street Receives Sustainable Business Award

BOSTON—LEED 2009, the long-awaited update to the internationally recognized LEED green building certification program, has passed member ballot, and will be introduced in 2009 as the next major evolution of the existing LEED rating systems for commercial buildings. It includes a series of major technical advancements focused on improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, and addressing other environmental and human health outcomes. LEED 2009 will also incorporate highly anticipated regional credits, extra points that have been identified as priorities within a project’s given environmental zone. LEED has also undergone a scientifically grounded re-weighting of credits, changing allocation of points among LEED credits to reflect climate change and energy efficiency as urgent priorities.


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LEED 2009 Passes Member Ballot, Includes Major Technical Advancements