Sustainability Efforts Earn Accolades for NREL

Credit: NREL

The hidden jewel of the Rocky Mountain front range strikes again in support of the planet! The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado has received a few national awards for their sustainability practices. They received two Environmental Sustainability (eStar) awards and one GreenGov Presidential Award for Green Innovation. Not only is NREL researching renewable fuels and energy efficiency they are actually implementing sustainable practices on the NREL campus. I think the culmination of these sustainable practices can be found in the new Research Support Facility (see photo for a view inside the facility and their excellent use of daylighting). I took a tour of this facility last year and blogged about it in a post titled, "NREL's Research Support Facility: A Lesson in Sustainability. I was floored by all of the sustainable techniques that NREL implemented into the building design. If you are an energy efficiency or sustainability geek I strongly recommend a tour of this facility.

Kudos to NREL for receiving these awards and providing a space that will inspire others to learn about sustainability.

Boyer's Coffee: Conserving Resources, Saving Money, Doing Good

Great article on how Boyer's Coffee, a Colorado company, has implemented sustainable methods into their business to save money, reduce their energy consumption, reduce waste sent to the landfill, and enhance their recycling efforts. It's stunning to me what a business can do to reduce, reuse, and recycle and oh yes, save a ton of money with sustainable business practices. Boyer's estimated the ROI on every sustainable initiative they did - whether it was recycling cardboard delivery boxes, reducing the amount of raw material types in their coffee packaging, or finding a company to take and recycle the excess packaging waste.  Sustainable behavior is not only smart for the environment and the community you live in but is smart business. Kudos to Boyer's for taking the sustainable path. Your children, the planet, and shareholders thank you.

Energy Department Congratulates State for Weatherizing Thousands of Homes

I'm a little late on this article in Colorado Energy News, but it's worth sharing because it is incredible news. The Department of Energy (DOE) has helped weatherize 12,300 Colorado homes as of October 2011 with funds from the Recovery Act. These homes have added insulation, air-sealing, and efficient HVAC systems. Weatherizing a home helps reduce energy consumption and saves the homeowner money! Congrats to the DOE and to the homeowners who will have a more comfortable living space and more cash in their pocket.

City of Boulder Approves Incentive for Tendril

Tendril up in Boulder, CO is just one example of the creative companies that are proliferating on the Front Range. In addition to the venture capital money that Tendril has raised, the company has also benefited from a rebate incentive from the city of Boulder. This is all good news for a company that is creating numerous jobs and is helping the world manage their energy consumption with new technologies that help make the electricity grid "smarter". Keep up the good work Tendril!

A Manifesto for Sustainable Capitalism

I love this Wall Street Journal op-ed, A Manifesto for Sustainable Capitalism. Sustainability in its simplest format can be seen as the rejection of short-term thinking and an embrace of long-term thinking. With respect to capitalism, sustainability can help create greater and perpetual profits. Who doesn't want that? Yet, our system is designed today to reward short-term profits at the expense of future and sustained growth. As the op-ed states, current events have fully demonstrated the fundamental flaws with short-term thinking. It's now time to put business on a sustainable path.

Among the tips that are shared in the op-ed to help put companies on a profitable and sustainable path is the elimination of quarterly financial reporting for public companies. I've seen firsthand the radical and destructive behavior (such as mass layoffs) that occurs each quarter in order to maximize profits and keep a company's stock price artificially inflated. Then when the next quarter rolls around the same radical short-term fix begins anew. This insane pursuit of short-term profits at the expense of people's lives (and even the longevity of the company itself) is unsustainable, selfish, and prevents long-term incremental growth of a company. It is unsustainable behavior.

Sustainable business practices are nothing new. I look forward to the day when companies of all shapes and sizes begin to implement practices that will ensure their longevity. Our economy, our environment, and our communities sure could use stable, long-term planning and growth right about now. Can you make it happen at your business?

COSEIA Gets $491,000 Grant to Cut Red Tape and Costs for Solar Installations

Congrats to the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA) for getting almost half a million dollars from the Fed to devise ways to cut costs from solar module installations. This will be money well spent considering that 40% of the solar module installation costs are due to things such as permitting, design, and installation. COSEIA will also be partnering with reputable institutions such as the Rocky Mountain Institute and the American Solar Energy Society.

Up on the Rooftop: Updating HVAC Rooftop Unit Performance

For those that are interested in improving the performance of their light commercial building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system check out this upcoming webinar on December 13, 2011. Mark Cherniack, Senior Program Manager of New Buildings Institute and Kristin Heinemeier, Senior Engineer, Western Cooling Efficiency Center, University of California at Davis will present on this topic. These speakers will also provide updates in two key areas of heating and cooling performance improvement in the light commercial buildings sector: 1) advanced controls and 2) performance monitoring, including fault detection and diagnostics. It should be informative so check it out!

Breakthrough Berkeley Mist Sealant Technology: Potential to Save Americans $5B Per Year

There is a silent and deadly pocketbook killer out there - leaky ducts. According to this article, residential and commercial buildings typically lose about 25-40 percent of heating and cooling energy through leaky ducts and this equates to about $5 billion lost every year. That's a big chunk of change. Well it looks like the smart folks at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab have created a novel way to take care of this leaky duct epidemic and help the cause of energy efficiency. They've developed a "mist" that when blown into a pressurized duct system will seal the cracks and holes. Non mas leaky ducts (and empty pocketbooks). Think of this mist as a super pookie on steroids! Energy-efficiency, like scientists, may not be sexy but it's certainly cool and smart because it will save a big chunk of change in heating and cooling costs. Congrats and a big thank you to those good women and men at Lawrence Berkeley!

Colorado PUC Green Lights Xcel Contract for More Wind Power

Sweet. More renewable wind power at a cheaper rate for Xcel customers. Xcel received permission from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to purchase 200 megawatts of wind from a wind farm in Limon, Colorado. Even though Xcel will meet the state's renewable energy standards ahead of time, they still bought more wind power than necessary because the price was lower than they typically pay. The contacted price is good for 25-years.

Why Businesses See Profits in Sustainability

This article in the Economist, "Why Firms Go Green" shows that businesses are beginning to lead the way by implementing business sustainability methods. Not only will business sustainability practices help reduce the amount of natural resources consumed, but they can cut precious costs. We all know that businesses exist to create wealth, so why not increase your business' social, economic and environmental capital by implementing sustainability practices throughout the enterprise? Larger companies like Alcoa, SAP, and Unilever are baking sustainable processes in their operations. But these methods aren't just for big business, small-to-medium sized businesses and non-profits can benefit from sustainability initiatives as well. I'm glad to see the Economist pick up on the growing trend of sustainability in the business world.