Archive for the ‘Sustainability’ Category
CONSIDER THE TARDIGRADE
Hemispheres Magazine
Consider the Tardigrade
By Tiffany Meyers, January 2011
The fast-growing field of biomimicry encourages innovators to look to nature-in all its wonder and weirdness-for solutions to our trickiest problems.
ONE AFTERNOON IN Grand Rapids, Michigan, Dayna Baumeister stands in a room full of Herman Miller employees, next to a trunk filled with seashells, feathers and other natural miscellany, and hands a sea cucumber to Carolyn Maalouf, a blindfolded R&D engineer. Don’t guess what the object is, Baumeister says. Guess what it does. Maalouf takes a shot. Well, it’s spiky, she says. Maybe it needs those spikes to ward off predators?
Another blindfolded colleague, meanwhile, is holding a swatch of sharkskin. With some guidance, he eventually deduces, correctly, from the smooth surface that his object is designed to move fast.
That they stumble through the exercise is pretty much the point. By eliminating sight—the sense that would instantly provide the “right” answer—the exercise succeeds in what Baumeister calls “quieting our cleverness.” This is crucial. Baumeister is the cofounder of The Biomimicry Guild, a group that promotes the increasingly popular notion that many of the best solutions to problems facing humanity can already be found in nature. “Biomimicry represents a paradigm shift away from the belief that we humans are the cleverest and most perfectly evolved,” says Baumeister. “When people believe that humans are the cleverest species, they might say, Why would I bother trying to learn from nature?”
IT’S A SWAMP THING
Metropolis Magazine
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 11:00 am
An IV drip of espresso would have stimulated the brain less than an afternoon at CUSP, the two-day innovation conference—created and hosted by design firm smbolic—that flipped Chicago’s lid last week.
Swampman kicked it off. Covered in head-to-foot, craft-store moss, former priest Mike Ivers took the stage, complaining of deadlines: “I’m swamped!” he shouted, shedding peat. Ivers, now President of Goodcity, a capacity-building organization for NPOs, proposed his perspective on swamps—or the social, economic and personal problems we’re trying to design ourselves out of. To find our way out of the bog, we have to get lost in it first. “Let us shift the paradigm of life’s swamps, and see them as adventures—frightening and scary, but always exhilarating!”
Halleluiah. Conferrers then dove into the “gumbo mud” and morass of Broken Systems like health care, food distribution, manufacturing and education.
GREEN UP YOUR OFFICE
Entrepreneur Magazine
Making your office greener is easier than you think:
Take these 5 steps to clean up your act
By Tiffany Meyers, March 2009
Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins, and office buildings are guilty. They binge on more electricity than any other type of commercial building, representing about 25 percent of the sector’s total electricity consumption. The natural gas they guzzle accounts for almost 14 percent of consumption in nonresidential buildings. But if you take a few simple steps toward a more sustainable office, you’ll see payback in many shades of green—from money saved to increased employee morale and retention.
1. COOL IT According to the most recent statistics from the Center for Sustainable Systems, space cooling accounts for 11 percent of total electricity consumption in commercial buildings. If you’re in a mild climate, ask your landlord to consider adding an economizer, which conditions by bringing in outside air—not by using refrigerant—when it’s cooler outside than in. For optimal wintertime savings, experts recommend setting thermostats to 68 degrees during work hours and 55 degrees after hours. Stay on track with a programmable thermostat. HVAC maintenance matters, too: You and your landlord should seal leaky ducts, change filters and have your contractor come out to do annual tuneups.
2. SCREEN SAVE Don’t let the save in screensaver fool you: Computers and monitors are energy hogs, which means they drain cash, too. Turning computers off after work and enabling power management and sleep-mode features can slash both energy use and the cost associated with these power-thirsty machines. And since peripherals continue to draw power even when equipment is idle, invest in “smart” power strips, like the ones available at wattstopper.com.
GREEN CITIES
Entrepreneur Magazine
Where it’s Greener: As sustainability becomes more important, these cities are setting the standard.
By Tiffany Meyers
Cities across the U.S. have at last realized the need to take action against global warming. Implementing some of the most innovative, far-ranging environmental programs and plans for residents and, in particular, business owners, the 10 cities featured here have earned themselves a rightful place on Entrepreneur’s sustainability map.
Seattle
Population: 594,210
LEED -Certified* Buildings: 46
More Than 800: Number of mayors who’ve pledged to meet or beat Kyoto Protocol targets since 2005, when Seattle’s mayor, Greg Nickels, launched the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement
For Entrepreneurs: Ecotuesday: Eco-minded businesspeople meet on the fourth Tuesday of every month (ecotuesday.com).
Portland, Oregon
Population: 550,396
LEED -Certified Buildings: 47
Likes Bikes: Portland was the first major U.S. city to earn a Platinum rating from the League of American Bicyclists.
Succession Planning: With a $149,000 Coleman Foundation grant, The University of Portland teaches sustainable entrepreneurship, cultivating the next generation of ecologically responsible businesspeople.
San Francisco
Population: 764,976
LEED -Certified Buildings: 23
Solar-Incentive Program: The nation’s largest, providing up to $6,000 for residential installations and up to $10,000 for businesses.
For Entrepreneurs: Clean-Tech Open: Entrepreneurs pitch their clean-tech business ideas here, competing to win a ”Start-Up in a Box” prize package of $50,000 and donated business services (cleantechopen.com).
Minneapolis
Population: 377,392
LEED -Certified Buildings: 2
Goal Set: Reduce CO2 emissions from city operations 12 percent by 2012 and 20 percent by 2020.
Green Consulting Services: are available to entrepreneurs at The Green Institute.
Los Angeles
Population: 3,834,340
LEED-Certified Buildings: 24
By 2010, 20 percent of Los Angeles’ energy is expected to come from renewable resources.
For Entrepreneurs: Leaders of Green Economy: They’re waiting to meet you at Los Angeles’ annual Opportunity Green Conference.
Chicago
Population: 2,836,658
LEED-Certified Buildings: 48 (More Than Any Other North American City)
New Take On Futures Trading: The Chicago Climate Exchange Is North America’s Only Voluntary, Legally Binding Cap And Trade Program To Reduce Co2–The Future, Indeed.
For Entrepreneurs: The Green Exchange: At its launch this year, this renovated factory aims to be the epicenter of green commerce, housing more than 100 green businesses (greenexchange.com).
Boston
Population: 599,351
LEED -Certified Buildings: 21
Bellyaching: Heard from taxi stands across town when Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced that city cabs will be required to be fully hybrid by 2015.
For Entrepreneurs: Net Impact Boston: Boston professionals join forces to promote social responsibility in their communities and businesses (netimpactboston.org).
New York City
Population: 8,274,527
LEED -Certified Buildings: 21
Goals Set: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 30 percent by 2030, plant 1 million trees, clean up “brownfields,” upgrade the city’s energy infrastructure for efficiency.
For Entrepreneurs: Known as E2, the New York chapter members of Environmental Entrepreneurs serve as the “voice of business” on the environment, advocating for green legislation.
Philadelphia
Population: 1,449,634
LEED -Certified Buildings: 9
Greenlight: Philadelphia was the first large U.S. city to replace traffic signals with LEDs, in 1999.
For Entrepreneurs: The City’s Sustainable Business Network brings together green entrepreneurs committed to a socially, environmentally and financially sustainable economy.
Austin, Texas
Population: 743,074
LEED -Certified Buildings: 18
Goals Set: Power city facilities with renewable energy by 2012 and require new single-family homes to be net-zero-energy capable by 2015. SEEN, the Solar Energy Entrepreneurs Network, lets green entrepreneurs exchange ideas about solar innovation.
Interested in green cities?
Check out more of my findings on the topic.
