Green Options

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Nine ‘outstanding’ programs from around the world have been chosen as winners at the first ever Sustainable Cities Awards. According to sponsors, the Urban Land Institute and the Financial Times, the awards honour worldwide examples of initiatives that showcase new ideas and perspectives for best practice in sustainable land use. Each of the winners is incorporating initiatives that are making significant contributions in highlighting the concept of sustainability in real estate.

I can’t help but be a little confused by these awards though. On the one hand, they showcase some truly inspiring projects from around the world. On the other, it seems a little suspicious that at least two of the winners are projects with high-level involvement from companies represented on the awards panel. There is also a heavy emphasis on large-scale American projects, with at least seven of the nine winners coming from the U.S. Is this simply an indication of where the main centre’s of sustainability excellence really are, or did the panel gloss over worthy candidates from elsewhere?

Here’s the full list of winners:

The Cascade Land Conservancy for the ‘Cascade Agenda,’ a 100 year visioning exercise aimed at preserving more than 1.3 million acres of forest and farmland by using market-based tools to encourage sustainable growth across the Puget Sound region of Washington State.

What do Tom Szaky, CEO and Co-Founder of TerraCycle, and Priya Haji, CEO and Co-Founder of World of Good, have in common?

No, not just that they have been featured on our site, they are both past recipients of the Social Venture Networks’ Innovation Award.

Now it’s that time again.

Social Venture Network (SVN), the country’s leading network of socially responsible entrepreneurs, announced today that it is now accepting applications for the 2nd Annual SVN Innovation Awards. The Innovation Awards program supports the “next generation” of socially responsible business and nonprofit leaders by providing them access to the people and resources to help develop their ideas into successful enterprises.

The Social Venture Network is a highly selective network of over 500 leaders in socially responsible business. Founded in 1987, its members share “a commitment to building a just and sustainable world through business”. The groups focus is on networking; working together, creating business and professional partnerships and new socially responsible organizations.

The winners of this year’s AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Ten Green Buildings were announced this week, and there certainly are some very attractive buildings among the lot. Some of these buildings are certified, or in the process of becoming certified, to high LEED standards, in addition to their COTE Top Ten recognition.

But while I’m excited by some of the design presented in this year’s lineup, there are some troubling aspects of the roster as a whole that struck me almost immediately.

Thanks to the promise that it offers of bringing an efficient diesel sedan back into the North American market, the Mercedes-Benz E320 BLUETEC was awarded the 2007 World Green Car honors last week at the New York International Auto Show.

Mercedes is billing the E320 BLUETEC as the "cleanest diesel vehicle in the world." Engineers incorporated a modular design concept which uses a series of components, such as an oxidation catalytic converter and [...]

The first few months of a new year often involves an evaluation of what happened the year before. Award ceremonies and "best of" rankings make headlines to recognize leaders across all industries, and green (or sustainable, or environmentally friendly) is a category that is appearing more and more.

SustainLane has ranked the top 50 sustainable cities of 2006, and also has named the top 5 Cleantech cities in the US.

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Let's see, we have the Bloggies, the Webbies, and now, the Globies? That's right — introducing the first ever global warming Globie Awards from the non-profit organization, Environmental Defense.

For this year there are five categories with four nominees each. For "Best Performance by a State or Local Official" you might be tempted to select Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger or Mayor Greg Nickels of Seattle. In the category of "Best Performance

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