The $90 million building called ” Cleantech One ” will offer about 404,000 sq ft of office space that could house up to 50 green businesses when it is completed by December 2011.

The building will incorporate green features such as solar systems, rainwater harvesting, sky gardens and green architecture, said JTC at a briefing on Monday.

‘If the solutions we implement are successful, we will replicate this throughout the rest of the Cleantech Park and share it with the rest of Singapore and the region,’ said JTC director [Aerospace, Marine and Cleantech cluster] Tang Wai Yee.

JTC launched a design competition for the building last December and local architecture firm Surbana International Consultants emerged the winner from 31 entries.

JTC said Surbana’s entry won for its highly compact design and ecological features, it said.

source: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_507968.html

Selling green products is a process that began to gain momentum in the last four years for Bill Snider, owner of an Ace Hardware store. Offering green products is part of a plan Snider has to gain an edge on larger businesses like OSH, Home Depot and Wal-Mart.

Ace Hardware is a business cooperative that allows owners like Snider to customize their businesses to meet the needs of customers. Such freedom has allowed Snider to re-engineer his hardware store into a pioneering green business within the emerging trend known as the green economic revolution.

He decided to house green products after gauging customers’ needs and asking for feedback on what products they’d like to see in his store.

Snider says. “I get to listen to what customers want and part of what they want is to learn about new products. And the new products customers are increasingly buying are things that work with the environment.”

One such example is a biodegradable garbage bag that sells for about $5 compared to a non-biodegradable bag that sells for about $3. Four years ago Snider bought a large inventory of the biodegradable bags, convinced that customers would “get it.” They didn’t. He had to put the bags on sale for $1 each just to get rid of them. But over the last year, the biodegradable bags have begun to sell, even at the original price.

Snider sees the path for growing a green business as an educational process. Often customers come to him seeking a green products he doesn’t have, like Dr. Earth organic gardening products. He’d never heard of it before, but customers started to request it. He took the cue and decided to stock the product. The products are found in a center aisle display and Snider has found they generate increased sales and new customer inflow to the store.

At other times, it’s Snider who’s educating his customers. “Compact florescent light bulbs save money and energy compared to the regular light bulbs, but they cost more. So a year ago I put a display right by the cash register and had the cashier offer every customer an opportunity to buy a bulb at no risk; money back guarantee. Now I have them displayed back in the lighting section because customers are educated on the environmental and cost benefits of CFLs and are coming into my store specifically to buy them.”

CFLs are also an example of how the learning process flows from Snider’s store “upstream” to suppliers and other impacted institutions. “The untold story on CFLs is the mercury vapor in the bulb,” says Susan Marconi, marketing director at Snider’s store. “Disposal of these bulbs requires special handling and shipping so they don’t break. And they should be disposed of at a hazardous waste facility. We’re telling bulb suppliers and the local government that there needs to be a process for disposing CFLs that’s cost-effective and convenient for customers.”

Another part of the educational process is labeling. “There are no rules established by government that really helps the customer figure out which product is truly green compared to those merely labeled green,” Marconi says. “We spend a lot of time reading labels and keeping our staff educated on what they say and don’t say.”

In addition, Snider and Marconi try all of the green products before they decide whether to add them to their inventory. “Some work and some don’t,” Marconi says. “Our customers want performance first and they want to achieve this performance in a green manner.” One particular product they tested–an organic cleaning product made from lemons and oranges with a high concentration of citric acid. They found the product worked on wood and linoleum but scarred granite and tile counter tops. Instead, they decided to carry a lesser-known plant-based cleaning product called Natrics with no petrochemicals that’s very effective, biodegradable and safe to use on all surfaces.

What are the lessons entrepreneurs can learn from Snider’s experiences? Here are a few that will apply to your business:

1. Educational marketing. A sea change in customer procurement is underway. Price and performance are still core buying parameters, but customers want green educational services as well. Some need help figuring which are green products. Others already know they want to buy a particular green solution and are looking for a “green store.” An educational marketing strategy that fulfills the informational needs of the customer is a growth path toward increased sales.
2. Competitive advantage. An educational marketing strategy that engages and educates customers creates strong customer loyalties to a supplier’s brand. Establishing a portfolio of such brands that big box retailers don’t stock or discount creates a lasting competitive advantage.
3. Learning is the ultimate competitive advantage. Going green is a grassroots phenomenon. Customers working with innovators like Snider and Marconi are shaping the green economic revolution. Going green is a process of listening and learning that engages customers, work associates and suppliers. The playing field is wide open with no dominant competitors. It’s a huge opportunity for risk-taking entrepreneurs to figure out products, services and new business processes at the grassroots level. Today’s grassroots green business holds the potential to become tomorrow’s national IPO.

Practices, products, organic food, recyclable packaging, the green list is never ending. More than ever businesses are claiming to go green, to the point where society needs a term to describe consumers being misled by a company regarding their environmental practices. The term ” greenwashing ” was claimed to have originated from a NY suburban environmentalist named Jay Westerveld in 1986, although the actual practice originated somewhere in the 60s alongside the emerging environmentalist movement.

It’s no wonder that green business has become so popular when over half of the baby boomer population – some 40 million – are environmentally conscience consumers. Therefore greening your business can be an all around profitable endeavor from a marketing standpoint as well as a cost savings standpoint. The danger is when it comes to advertising a practice or an approach as green which isn’t reflected in the day to day operations. It’s simply fraudulent or better known as …greenwashing.

The Think Green Alliance aims to provide a safeguard against ” greenwashing, ” which is common in the marketplace today when so few standards and regulations exist for determining whether a company is truly environmentally friendly and if so, just how environmentally friendly they are. The criteria for membership, established by Cybernomics, are simple but telling.

Think Green Alliance members (1) must show tangibly that they have incorporated green principles into their business plan, (2) must have a concrete, measurable, and step-by-step approach to integration of these principles, and (3) must be committed to a continuous cycle of improvement.

Think Green Alliance members span multiple industry verticals and therefore lend a multidisciplinary approach to companies looking to start adopting green principles into their business plan and operations, as well as provide a benchmark to companies who have already embarked upon a green plan.

Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, announced on Thursday that it would cut some 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain by the end of 2015 — the equivalent of removing more than 3.8 million cars from the road for a year.

The company plans to achieve that goal by focusing on popular product categories with the highest embedded carbon—milk, bread, meat, clothing—and by pressing its suppliers to rethink how they source, manufacture, package and transport those goods. Essentially, suppliers are being asked to examine the carbon lifecycle of their products, from the raw materials used in manufacturing all the way through to the recycling phase.

Wal-Mart’s sustainability executives will work with suppliers to help them figure out what measures to take. Any costs related to making products more energy-efficient—redesigning packaging or using a different fertilizer—will be the responsibility of each supplier, not of Wal-Mart.

Jim Stanway, who oversees Wal-Mart’s supplier initiatives involving energy, said in an interview on Thursday that suppliers would be willing to spend money if “it’s an investment where everybody’s sure it makes the supplier more profitable. ”

And while the initiative may be good for the environment, it may also be good for Wal-Mart. Driving costs out of the supply chain could result in savings for Wal-Mart that can be passed along to consumers — enabling the company to uphold its reputation as a destination for rock-bottom prices.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/business/energy-environment/26walmart.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1268186609-n5LWxx39/l5Tqd8O7ptGLg

1. More Work, Less Energy
For many people, a computer is the central tool at work. Optimizing the energy settings for computers and other devices can be more than a modest energy saver. Set computers to energy-saving settings and make sure to shut them down when you leave for the day ( “standby” settings will continue to draw power even when not in use ). By plugging hardware into a power strip with an on/off switch [or a smart power strip], the whole desktop setup can be turned off at once [make sure to power down inkjet printers before killing the power—they need to seal their cartridges]. Printers, scanners, and other peripherals that are only used occasionally can be unplugged until they’re needed. And of course, turn off lights in spaces that are unoccupied.

2. Digitize
It does seem a bit strange that in the “digital age” we still consume enormous amounts of mashed up, bleached tree pulp, most of which gets used once or twice and then tossed or recycled [“downcycled,” as McDonough and Braungart would call it]. The greenest paper is no paper at all, so keep things digital and dematerialized whenever possible. The more you do online, the less you need paper. Keep files on computers instead of in file cabinets [this also makes it easier to make offsite backup copies or take them with you when you move to a new office]. Review documents onscreen rather than printing them out. Send emails instead of paper letters. New software like Greenprint helps eliminate blank pages from documents before printing and can also convert to PDF for paperless document sharing.

3. Don’t Be a Paper Pusher
When buying printer paper, look for recycled paper with a high percentage of post-consumer content and the minimum of chlorine bleaching. Even recycled paper gobbles up a great deal of energy, water, and chemical resources in its processing [toxic pulp slurry is the paper recycling industry’s dirty secret]. When using the real stuff, print on both sides of the page when appropriate and use misprints as notepaper. Try to choose printers and photocopiers that do double-sided printing. If your office ships packages, reuse boxes and use shredded waste paper as packing material.

4. Greening the Commute
American workers spend an average of 47 hours per year commuting through rush hour traffic. This adds up to 3.7 billion hours and 23 billion gallons of gas wasted in traffic each year. We can ease some of this strain by carpooling, taking public transit, biking, walking, or a creative combination thereof. If there’s no good way to phase out your car, consider getting a hybrid, electric vehicle, motorcycle, scooter, or using a car sharing service like Flexcar or Zipcar. See How to Green Your Car for more depth on the subject. Some employers are even giving a bonus to bike and carpool commuters and special perks to hybrid drivers. For those who think bike riding is for kids and tattooed couriers, consider a high-tech folding bike or an electrically assisted one (see below for more).

5. Green Sleeves
You might be amazed how sharp work clothes from thrift stores can look. If you buy new, get clothes made with organic or recycled fibers. Avoid clothes that need to be dry cleaned, and if they so demand it, seek out your local “green” dry cleaner. See How to Go Green: Wardrobe for more tactics on greening those work duds.

6. Work From Home
Instant messaging, video conferencing, and other innovative workflow tools make effective telecommuting a reality. If you can telecommute, hold phone conferences, take online classes, or otherwise work from home, give it a try. It’ll save you the time you would have spent on the trip as well as sparing the air. As a bonus, you get to work in your pajamas. Telecommuting works for 44 million Americans (not to mention the TreeHugger staff). Also, consider the possibility of working four ten-hour days instead of five eight-hour days (a consolidated workweek), cutting the energy and time spent on commuting by 20% and giving you some lovely three-day weekends.

7. Use Green Materials
Some paper use can’t be avoided, so use recycled paper and envelopes that have been processed and colored using eco-friendly methods. Pens and pencils can also be made of recycled materials, and refillable pens and markers are preferable to disposable ones. Use biodegradable soaps and recycled paper or cloth towels in the bathroom and kitchen, and provide biodegradable cleaners for the custodial staff. Buy in bulk so that shipping and packaging waste are reduced, and reuse the shipping boxes. Recycling printer cartridges is often free, and recycled replacements are cheaper than new ones.

8. Redesign the Workspace
Greening the space in which you work has almost limitless possibilities. Start with good furniture, good lighting, and good air. Furniture can be manufactured from recycled materials as well as recyclable. Herman-Miller and Steelcase are two groundbreaking companies that have adopted the Cradle-to-Cradle protocol for many of their office chairs. Incandescent bulbs can be replaced with compact fluorescents and there is an ever-growing selection of high-end LED desk lamps that use miniscule amounts of energy (see How to Green Your Lighting). Not only is natural daylight a free source of lighting for the office, it has been proven to improve worker productivity and satisfaction (as well as boost sales in retail settings). Workspace air quality is also crucial. Good ventilation and low-VOC paints and materials (such as furniture and carpet) will keep employees healthy (look for How to Green Your Furniture coming soon).

9. Lunch Time
Bringing lunch to work in reusable containers is likely the greenest (and healthiest) way to eat at work. Getting delivery and takeout almost inevitably ends with a miniature mountain of packaging waste. But if you do order delivery, join coworkers in placing a large order (more efficient than many separate ones). Also, bring in a reusable plate, utensils, and napkins. If you do go out for lunch, try biking or walking instead of driving.

10. Get Others in on the Act
Share these tips with your colleagues. Ask your boss to purchase carbon offsets for corporate travel by car and plane. Arrange an office carpool or group bike commute. Trade shifts and job duties so that you can work four long days instead of five short ones. Ask the office manager to get fair trade coffee for the break room and make sure everyone has a small recycling bin so that recycling is just as easy as throwing paper away. Ask everyone to bring in a mug or glass from home and keep some handy for visitors so that you reduce or eliminate use of paper cups.

With a global conversation centered on the planet’s health and its declining natural resources, going green is the biggest trend to hit today’s marketplace.

Organizations, governments and individuals all are striving to be some shade of green and are more environmentally conscious than ever.

Companies are recognizing real bottom-line benefits exist to going green. They are taking steps to integrate environmental and social responsibility into daily business practices.

Blogs and Web sites are popping up all over the world, with a focus on businesses that produce environmentally friendly products and services.

Consumers are accessing information on the environmental practices of companies to find out how “green” they and their products really are.

Increasing numbers of people are making purchasing and employment decisions based on how ecofriendly a company is, and rewarding businesses that have a commitment to sustainability.

A recent study done by Yankel ovich, a consumer research company, found that 80 percent of recent college graduates are looking for a job with a positive effect on the environment, and 30 percent of U.S. workers would prefer to work for an environmentally responsible company.

The Boston Consulting Group also surveyed 9,000 consumers in North America, Europe and East Asia and found that more shoppers deliberately sought and bought green products in 2008 than the year before – despite the economic downturn.

The group’s report, “Capturing the Green Advantage for Consumer Companies,” stated that 75 percent of consumers surveyed said it’s important or very important for companies to provide information on their environmental effects, and 66 percent said companies routinely should offer green products.

These and numerous other polls show that green business es have a distinct and growing advantage.

The green marketplace is full of smaller, younger companies that have found success through innovation. These green upstarts are competing with global organizations.

Incorporating sustainability into the values of your organization and communicating your efforts with the public is one way to ensure long-term competitiveness. The reality is that green means change in terms of how we consume, do business, work and approach innovation.

Some businesses are incredibly resistant to change and falsely believe that incorporating more sustainable business practices will be expensive and time consuming. While some products might cost more initially, they could save a tremendous amount of money in the long run.

From an economic standpoint, rising material and energy costs are pressing companies to streamline operations, eliminate waste and reduce energy consumption as much as possible. These changes also benefit the environment.

Ultimately, if companies don’t change their habits to accommodate the changing demands of consumers, they will be left behind by quicker, smarter competition.

Today, numerous resources are available to help businesses become more sustainable. The Thurston Green Business Program is a local recognition program for businesses with environmentally friendly practices.

Participating businesses receive designation stickers to display, and outstanding efforts are recognized with annual awards.