Green Building News of the Day

There are two types of coffee lovers in the world: commercial café frequenters and coffee connoisseurs. If you fall into the latter category, or simply appreciate the alluring aroma of an excellent cup of Joe, this unique opportunity will surely get you percolating. Peet’s Coffee is offering a sweepstakes that will award three grand-prize winners an all-expenses-paid trip to Brazil with a guest, to get a true behind-the-scenes coffee experience at a working coffee estate. Bi-weekly prizes, including a Peet’s Tasting Journal or Peet’s Tumbler, will also be awarded beginning on January 23.

Read the rest of A Contest is Brewing: Win a Trip To Brazil!

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Post tags: Brazil, brazil giveaway, brazilian coffee, coffee contest, eco coffee, free trip to brazil, monte alegre, peet's coffee, peets brazilian coffee, peets sweepstake, sustainable coffee

Read the rest of 7 Ways Super Bowl XLVI is Going Green!

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Post tags: "wind power", 7 ways the superbowl is going green, composting, eco superbowl, football, green super bowl, green superbowl, indianapolis, news, nfl, recycling, Sports, super bowl, superbowl, superbowl 2012, superbowl going green, superbowl recycling, superbowl xlvi, sustainable superbowl

What if generating solar energy at home required little more than mixing some grass clippings with inexpensive chemicals? That’s exactly what MIT researcher Andreas Mershin has found to be the case. The scientist says creating a solar cell could be as easy as mixing any green organic material (grass clippings, agricultural waste) with a bag of custom chemicals and painting the mixture on a roof. Once the efficiency of Mershin’s system is improved, this type of solar technology could make cheap energy available in rural places and developing countries where people don’t have access to affordable energy. Read on to see a video of Mershin’s findings.

Read the rest of MIT Researchers Find a Way To Make Solar Panels from Grass Clippings

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Post tags: "clean energy", "solar energy", Andreas Mershin, biophotovoltaic, biophotovoltaics, green tech, massachusetts institute of technology, MIT, photovoltaic, renewable energy, Solar Power, solar power gro grass clippings, Technology

Completed by interior designers Burdifilek for oil specialists Ta-Ze, the original black floating frame highlight of olive oils as precious objects. The environment is a clean, modern and tranquil space which evokes at once the history of the brand and the purity of the product.

The impressive floor to ceiling glass facade showcases products on a simple hanging display system. A welcoming arch of sand-blasted dark solid pine lifts the viewer’s eye toward the illuminated signage, and draws them into the store. The customer steps out of the busy concourse corridor and into an elegant clean space where they are surrounded by beautiful and gracefully merchandised products. Light green walls are subtly layered with an olive branch vinyl deco. On the foreground, matte black powder-coated frames effortlessly float, showcasing the olive-oil, olives and vinegars.

Clear glass cabinets double as storage space and feature wall. The cabinets hold premium olive oil and are located at the back of the store, inviting the customer to explore the entire depth of the space. Two marble countertops serve as a display and a tasting bar, allowing the customer to experience the brand while a sales consultant details the product’s quality and unique characteristics.

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation apologized yesterday for cutting of funding to Planned Parenthood, promising to continue funding the group. On Tuesday, Susan G. Komen cut of funding for about 19 Planned Parenthood clinics, a move that many believed was prompted by pressure from anti-abortion groups. The news sparked an immediate backlash on Twitter and an outpouring of private donations to Planned Parenthood, including $250,000 donations from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and oil tycoon Lee Fikes.

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Post tags: abortion, anti-abortion, breast cancer, Michael Bloomberg, Planned Parenthood, Susan G. Komen for the cure

Read the rest of Amazing Cathedral Made From 55,000 LEDs Rises at Belgium’s Festival of Lights

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Post tags: belgium light festival, cathedral made from LEDs, cathedral of lights, eco design, ghent festival, green design, LED bulbs, LED Cathedral, light festival ghent, Luminarie Cagna, Luminarie Cagna cathedral, Luminarie Cagna LED, luminarie de cagna, luminarie de cagna cathedral, luminarie de cagna dome, luminarie de cagna lights, second Festival of Lights

There are few things we love more than making use of what would have ended up in a landfill.  Mariclaro picks up the materials that they use for their ultra-durable carry-alls when they’ve already been used up by cars, bikes, and boats. When they aren’t worthy of the road or sea anymore, pieces get revamped into these awesome bags, made from 99% recycled materials.  Click ahead to check out their laptop sleeves, briefcases, messenger bags, and more!

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Post tags: canada, eco friendly bags, eco-fashion, eco-friendly backpacks, Ethical Fashion, green fashion, Mariclaro, recycled air bags, recycled bags, sustainable backpacks, sustainable bags, Sustainable Fashion, sustainable style, toronto, upcycled air bags, upcycled bags

Fans who are lucky enough to attend this year’s Super Bowl XLVI in person will be able to nosh on farm-fresh organic food provided by Homegrown Concessions, a partnership between Farm Aid and Centerplate. Homegrown will be serving up organic chili to hungry fans, and best of all, Centerplate will donate $2 to Farm Aid for every bowl of chili sold at the Super Bowl!

Read the rest of Homegrown Concessions to Serve Up Organic Food at Super Bowl XLVI

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Post tags: Centerplate, Farm Aid, Fields of Agape Cooperative, Hall Farms, Hormone free food, John Mellencamp, Langeland Farm, Local Foods, organ food, small famers, Super Bowl food, Super Bowl XLVI, sustainable stadium food

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Post tags: anatomy paper sculptures, cross-section art, eco-art, filligree, green art, japanese mulberry paper art, Lisa Nilsson, paper art, quilling, recycled art, sustainable art, tissue series

Have you ever felt like the objects you own actually own you? If so, maybe you should join Joinless, the world’s first open source brand. Joinless is based on the idea that we shouldn’t allow our obsession with possessions rule us and that we can actually be happier than we’ve ever been with less stuff. We recently got the chance to talk to Joinless’ founder Ben Davis about this fascinating anti-brand, which might be the only one ever to insist that you not spend money on them.

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Post tags: Ben Davis, consumerism, eco-fashion, Ethical Fashion, green fashion, JoinLess, less is more, materialism, Sustainable Fashion, sustainable style, voluntary simplicity

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Post tags: Art, eco design, Frozen Trees, green design, green lighting, green materials, ikea, LED, light lights, LIKE Architects, Lisbon, Pedro IV Square, plastic, polypropylene, portugal, Rationall Variera, sustainable design

When many of us thirst for a chilled drink, we think back to our science lessons and recall that when water is placed in the freezer, it turns into ice. It seems a man in Chile forgot this and has been arrested for trying to steal five tons of ice from a glacier in order to sell “designer” ice cubes to local bars. Now, I’m no expert in fraud or theft, but it seems to me that it would be easier to make ice cubes the traditional way and then lie about their origin, rather than trekking up Patagonia’s Jorge Montt Glacier and hauling five tons of ice down to sell on the black market.

Read the rest of Man Arrested For Stealing a Glacier to Make “Designer” Ice Cubes

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Post tags: glacier global warming, glacier ice thief, glacier shrinking, global warming, Jorge Montt glacier, Jorge Montt glacier chile, Jorge Montt glacier ice cubes, Jorge Montt glacier ice cubes thief, Jorge Montt glacier ice theft, Jorge Montt glacier shrinking, Jorge Montt glacier thief

*This article originally appeared at our sister publication, the Green Real Estate Law Journal.

There’s quite a bit of value in LEED consulting these days; take Thornton-Tomasetti’s recent acquisition of Portland, Maine-based green building consultants Fore Solutions, for example. But a recent lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of California’s Central Division in San Diego paints a darker underbelly of the green building consulting business. For participants in the booming LEED certification market, the suit emphasizes the importance of diligently managing business risks, particularly in a doggedly soft economy.

The plaintiff in Drew George & Partners, Inc. v. Farmer et al. (Case No. 37-2011-00101909) has filed an 8-count complaint againts two of its former employees and their new green building consultancy for, among other things, unfair competition and breach of contract. DGP is a LEED consulting and commissioning firm, and the allegations in its complaint are relatively straightforward: it claims that two former employees diverted business opportunities to their new company while still in DGP’s employ.

Of particular interest, the complaint also alleges that the defendants misappropriated the plaintiff’s proprietary “LEED Scorecard:” an “approximately twenty-page document that DGP, at substantial time and expense, created in order to manage all technical aspects of LEED consulting assignments” which “consolidates the information typically included in meeting minutes and/or status reports into one project status tracking tool.” While still employed by DGP, the defendants allegedly “devised a plan to set up a competing LEED consulting firm and to rapidly acquire new business by raiding [the plaintiff's] current and prospective clients.”

The suit was filed on December 2, 2011; no additional details appear presently available but we’ll follow up if anything else of interest arises in connection with the matter. A copy of the complaint is available upon request.

Update includes tight integration with the Cisco EnergyWise facilities management platform.