Green Options » carbon_footprint

David Brower Center - Green to the bones

Keith Rockmael — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:22:53 +0000

Even in a Greencentric city like Berkeley, locals and Bay Area visitors would be Green with envy when they see the just opened David Brower Center. It feels healthy just to walk through the Green down-to-the-bones building which combines advanced technology along with simple recycled materials.

When entering for their housewarming party we had a difficult time not noticing the soaring concrete walls which made us think more dot com than gallery. The fact that in creating a building with an oh- so-feathery carbon footprint (when compared to most structures) Principal Architect, Daniel Solomon included up to 70 percent slag in those walls.

Sustainability at Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski Resort

Keith Rockmael — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:23:28 +0000

Clint Eastwood’s iconic Dirty Harry character uttered “A man’s got to know his limitations” but can say the same thing about the Green progress of a company? In the case of the smaller and less capitalized Lake Tahoe ski resort Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort we looked at skied, snowboarded, walked, and peeked around at what Green goings on here at this resort. Like all ski reports they should be concerned about their carbon footprint and global warming because with no snow they have no business.

Sierra, unlike some of the larger resorts like Heavenly, don’t have as much capital to spend on LEED certified buildings, high output photovoltaic systems or biodiesal powered snow-cats but then again they have a smaller footprint in terms of actual buildings (LEED or otherwise) or the amount of high energy snow making machines.

San Francisco Airport to Offer Green Offsets

Keith Rockmael — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 18:24:24 +0000

The saying “Up, up and away” used to bring excitement for air travelers but certainly not for travelers who wanted to reduce their carbon footprint. We have not noticed any plug in hybrid 747s buzzing through the skies yet, so what can a carbon conscious air traveler do? We know that some airlines now offer carbon offsets but they often offer no verification and it only seems to be a marketing ploy.

All the details have not been hammered out but likely beginning in the spring, travelers flying out of San Francisco International Airport (SFO) will be able to minimize the impact of their air travel (and their guilt) by buying certified carbon offsets at airport kiosks. We know what you’re thinking, those carbon offsets especially here in the U.S. just end up as subsidies to various green entrepreneurs. The difference here would be that San Francisco based 3Degrees will offer more creditability to the program. To us, the difference can be seen as 3Degrees sources VERs (Verified Emission Reductions) that they source from specific projects that result in real, quantifiable, permanent greenhouse gas emission reductions and offer credible and transparent third-party verification standards such as Gold Standard, Green-e Climate and California Climate Action Registry (CCAR)

We understand that these carbon kiosks would resemble the self service airline check-in stations where a traveler would punch in his or her destination. The machine would calculate the carbon footprint and the cost to offset the damage done by the airline flight. With the swipe of a credit card the traveler could help save the planet and receive a printed receipt listing the specific projects that the money benefits.

We don’t enjoy the restrictions, fees and hassles associated with flying but at least if this plan goes though that we can at least not feel too guilty about being jet-setters.