In Fighting Santa Barbara Wildfires, Concerns About Chemicals

(NYTimes, 11-15-08)

The red clouds of fire retardant dropped onto the flames near Santa Barbara, Calif., on Friday were a welcome sight for owners of the hillside homes there.

“Critical,” Bill Payne, deputy chief of aviation for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said of the retardant’s role in helping to steer the fire away from populated areas, including the exclusive enclave of Montecito. “I mean, this is almost downtown Santa Barbara we’re talking about. We’re trying to keep it away from the town. We’re trying to herd it back into the forest.”

Retardant, whether released by small planes that sweep low through smoky canyons or by DC-10s in 12,000-gallon bursts, has become an increasingly common tool for fighting wildfires. Yet while many residents praise — and even demand — the use of retardant to protect their homes and neighborhoods, the potent mix of chemicals in the most common type can leave scars of its own, hurting watersheds and the fish and other animals that live in them.

For the entire NYTimes story...

Financial Benefits of Green Building

A study by Prof John Quigley at UC Berkeley shows that investment in green building practices results in higher rents and higher market value.
The working paper, entitled "Doing Well by Doing Good: Green Office Buildings" reports the findings of a study of rents at nearly 700 green office buildings. On average, the green buildings achieved a 6% increase in effective rent and $5 million in market value over their equivalent non-green counterparts.

McDonalds on the cutting edge?

'Green Plans in Blueprints for Retailers,' 11.07.08 - outlines some of the sustainable strategies being implemented around the country by the most unlikely of sources. I've seen a few articles discussing some of these ideas, such as plastic baseboards and moldings from used diapers in a Walmart, wind turbines at a Chicago Chipotle, and waste heat recovery at a Florida pizza chain. And then there's the McDonald's with a green roof.

When McDonalds and Walmart are raising the bar for sustainable construction, best to take notice OR go the way of the dinosaur...

Green Business Opportunities

First, Paul Hawkin, Hunter and Amory Lovins were talking about green commerce in their book "Natural Capitalism" and Paul Hawkin in his book "The Ecology of Commerce". Now 10 years later, political candidates - nationally and here in California - are finally embracing the notion of sustainability AND jobs. And more books and peer reviewed papers are proving the same.

Pundits like Thomas Friedman (particularly in his latest book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded) are calling for enormous investment in clean energy and energy-efficient technologies, while environmental activists are arguing that creating green jobs can save both the economy and the planet.

So what are you waiting for? Our firm, everGREEN landscape architects, was awarded the 2006 Santa Barbara County Green Award for most sustainable, cutting-edge business. More so than our garden's featured in national publications, the Green Award has been more meaningful to other joint venture partners, prospects and clients. We encourage you and your company to do the same. Your companies survival (i.e. sustainability) may depend on it...