Turning the Ship - Blog Comments

by: Peter Wray

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 10:49:21 +0000

Alternative Energy production is required now one technology for tranforming Energy Input Material (commonly known as other peoples waste) is the HTCW Technology from Germany. 100.000Tons of EIM (Waste) can be reclcled into approx 25MW of electricity or approx. 400.000Litres of clean Diesel.

by: Robin Chase

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 10:16:00 +0000

I smiled when I read the introductory paragraphs that point out the enormous energy consumption and CO2 emission contribution of buildings relative to…transportation. I have been making exactly the opposite arguments to garner attention toward addressing transportation issues. I.e. Driving our cars is our single largest personal contribution to CO2 emissions — 20% of US emissions. Our residential electric bill, the result of many uses, contributes 15% of our CO2 emissions. So when I make this pitch, I say how big a difference we can make by driving less — no additional investment or installation needed! Do it today! My comment boils down to a reminder to myself, that as we go forward, we need to make sure to not subtly undermine other efforts. And, that there are so many ways we can and will address the issue of climate change and energy sustainability.

by: Rebecca Owens

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 15:44:44 +0000

Brandon, I am glad that I finally made time to read this piece. While much of it is information I have reviewed before, your summary will be a useful tool in my armory as I work on our company’s financial leadership to recognize the benefits of high performance buildings from both project and internal operations perspectives. Thanks again for introducing yourself at the roundtable, and I hope that you were able to visit the USGBC’s local chapter, the New England Green Roundtable, at their new green building resource center, NEXUS. For others interested in Boston’s initiatives, I recommend a tour of NEXUS, which is at 38 Chauncy St, Boston, MA–or at least perusing http://www.nexusboston.com. There’s a lot to start planning for before the GreenBuild Conference comes to Boston in 2008!

by: George A Duke

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 12:43:58 +0000

Alas,the adherent to the much ridiculed conservative elements of science. This calls to remembrance the “Huckle berry’s Finn” of Mark Twain’s, from the Green hills of Africa,and the last words of my father,Dr Walter Russel. I hope i can help.

by: Reid Lifset

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 21:27:00 +0000

There are indeed other networks and other examples of industrial symbiosis and by-product synergy. The most prominent is, of course, the network that you mentioned, the National Industrial Symbiosis Program in the UK . There is a network in Canada, the Canadian Eco-Industrial Network and a North American network, The Eco-Industrial Development Council (EIDC). The EIDC is in the process of affiliating with the International Society for Industrial Ecology. For specific examples from around the world, see the special feature on industrial symbiosis in the most recent issue of the Journal of Industrial Ecology. (The articles are available for free download.)

by: Reid Lifset

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 14:22:30 +0000

Hi Georjean, thanks for your comment: I think that cooperation in the supply chain will occur when consumers demand it, when other stakeholders in society pressure key actors or when businesses see significant strategic cost advantages from doing so. I’m less sanguine about the power of good intentions. When activist groups push high profile retailers or consumer products companies, these businesses in turn make demands on their suppliers. The company lawyers and business managers can be catalytic in this process — finding ways to realize business value from such cooperation, but if consumer demand, strategic imperatives or government mandates (or threats of such mandates) don’t define the larger context, the cooperation will not survive competitive pressures. One of the best discussions of the framework conditions for greening of business is the work by Forest Reinhardt at the Harvard Business School. See his book: Reinhardt, F. L. Down to Earth: Applying Business Principles to Environmental Management. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2000. Or, for the article version, Reinhardt, F. 1999. Market failure and the environmental policies of firms: Economic rationales for “beyond compliance” behavior. Journal of Industrial Ecology 3(1): 9-21. http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/108819899569368 Another account that conveys the complex mix of cooperation and compulsion involved in greening the supply chain is a case study of how Motorola got its supply to adopt eco-design. Rock, M. T., D. P. Angel, and P. L. Lim. 2006. Impact of firm-based environmental standards on subsidiaries and their suppliers: Evidence from motorola-penang. Journal of Industrial Ecology 10(1-2): 257-278. http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/108819806775545484

by: Karen Wan

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 20:46:53 +0000

Thanks for this article. Through the leadership of Mayor Richard M. Daley and the City of Chicago, a by-product synergy network, called the Waste to Profit Network was launched last fall (October 2006). This network seeks to transform the waste products of companies and other organizations into useful input for other businesses. We are adapting the by-product synergy process developed by the United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (USBCSD) to the Chicago area. The USBCSD model creates a confidential network that allows business to share information that might not normally be shared. The Chicago Waste to Profit Network also has a partnership with the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) in the United Kingdom, that has a very successful network of over 4000 companies. The Chicago model is a hybrid between the two approaches of the USBCSD and NISP, by focusing on different approaches to company engagement. The Chicago Manufacturing Center, which is part of the national Manufacturing Extension Partnership(MEP)manages the project for the City of Chicago, and acts as a connector between small and midsize enterprises and larger companies. We believe this model may have applicability for promoting and implementing the principles of industrial ecology in urban industrial regions across the United States. We’re hoping to create a large scale network in Chicago over the next several years. At this point, we have over 25 companies in our principal network, and plan to add 50 companies to our community network by the end of June. We are evaluating our program with metrics, not only on waste reduction, but also on economic development for our region, including innovation potential for the companies involved in the network. Given the focus of this article, I am curious if anyone is aware of other networks of this sort being developed in the United States. If so, what do the most successful industrial symbiosis or by-product synergy networks have in common? We would like to hear about ideas that have worked in other areas of the country, or outside of the U.S. Karen Wan Director of Sustainability and Competitiveness Chicago Manufacturing Center

by: Rick Mcbane

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 20:03:41 +0000

There are many reasons why most environmentalists are not enthusiastic about nuclear power: 1) uranium is non-renewable, and breeder reactors have yet to be proven viable as a long-term option, 2) the huge human and environmental impacts incurred during the mining and processing of uranium ore, 3) a colossal environmental footprint inherent in the masses of concrete and steel used during the construction of each reactor facility (thereby obviating much of the “carbon neutral” argument), 4) end-of-cycle products that remain hazardous for hundreds of thousands of years, and 5) the untenable human and environmental costs if/when terrorists obtain either enriched uranium or plutonium and detonate either a radiological (”dirty”) bomb and/or an improvised fission device… all of which undercut nuclear power’s “credibility” as a *sustainable* technology. Until America and other industrialized nations get serious about energy efficiency and the *total* lifecycle costs of goods and services (there are no “externalities”), arguments for nuclear power as “necessary” to combat global warming will remain a diversionary tactic to distract us from confronting our own gluttony. Personally, I prefer nuclear fusion… provided by a proven, reliable reactor located a comfortable 93 million miles my home. By the time the Sun exhausts its fuel the human race will either be extinct or will have colonized other planets.

by: Brian Kuehl

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 19:32:33 +0000

Hi Alan, Thanks for the comment! We’ll be posting an article tomorrow from Brandon Smith, COO for the Cascadia Region Green Building Council entitled “Living Buildings”. Definitely chime in on Brandon’s article tomorrow and feel free to add any information that you think is missing. It would be especially interesting to hear about any significant efforts that you are aware of either on the issue of construction waste or on financing for efficient improvements. Again, thanks for the comment! All the best, Brian Kuehl 2007 Harvard Loeb Fellow Partner, The Clark Group, LLC

by: Alan Mossman

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 19:15:46 +0000

So far so good. and what I’d like to see some comment on is sustainable construction and sustainable development. what exciting things are going on in these areas? sustainable construction ensures that the end-to-end construction process is as waste free and carbon neutral as it can be - and that building users pay as little as possible for heating/cooling (a contribution to reducing fuel poverty and reducing hydrocarbon dependency). sustainable construction will also help home owners and owners of existing commercial and office buildings reduce their enrgy costs by retrofitting more efficient heating and cooling solutions and passive energy saving devices. our existing buildings generate around 30% of all carbon emissions and no matter how efficient new buildings are they will have little effect on the overall carbon footprint unless we also upgrade existing structures. sustainable development is convivial development - we work, go to school, food shop within walking or biking distance of home and good public transport connects us to services that are further afield - university, hospital, major shopping, etc. Who is writing on this?