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The country hopes to spur job growth and boost its economy by pumping funds into a range of efforts, from making bike tracks to turning garbage into energy.

For the first time, PepsiCo has been able to compare year-by-year water, electricity and fuel use for its entire operations.

An interesting adaptive reuse project is underway over in Montclair, New Jersey. Designed by Sionas Architecture and built by Jack Finn & Company for owner Cadbury Properties , GreenWorks on Grove will convert the site of a former gas station into a three-unit speculative commercial retail building at 100 Grove Street in suburban Montclair. The project is applying for a Silver rating under USGBC’s LEED for Core and Shell system; tenants who choose to build their spaces out under LEED for Commercial Interiors will find each outfitted with individual electricity submeters, which should allow for a true implementation of green leases across the board. The building is located less than a half mile from the direct New Jersey Transit train to Midtown and will offer tenants access to bicycle racks and changing rooms. Other green core and shell features include high-performance glass, insulation, and HVAC systems, as well as building-integrated photovoltaics (supplying up to 20 percent of the development’s power) and native landscaping. Renée Realty serves as the project’s leasing agent. Thanks to Joel Patenaude of Cadbury for the great tip!

• GreenWorks on Grove (Renée Realty)

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Amy Spatrisano’s business cuts across all other industries. If you're in business, you're in the meeting industry, she says. And now is the time to reevaluate how you do meetings.

Coffee could power your car as well as your brain according to researchers writing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

As the 111th Congress gets under way this week, the key task will be developing a fast-track economic stimulus program — ideally one that emphasizes sustainability, says Leanne Tobias.

In 2008, the No. 1 trend among chefs was local produce, according to the “What’s Hot” survey released by the National Restaurant Association. The study found that 89 percent of fine-dining operators serve locally sourced items, and 9 in 10 believe demand for locally sourced items will grow in their segment in the future. Some 70 [...]

The Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council recently released its final report which suggests two scenarios to cut the state’s GHG emissions by up to 90 percent by 2050, the Associated Press reports (via Yahoo! Finance). In the first scenario, Iowa would adopt a plan for a 50 percent emissions reduction by 2050, with interim goals of [...]

China may soon have the world’s biggest photovoltaic project, Raymond James analyst Wayne Andrews told AP (via Forbes). China Technology Development Group Corp. and Qinghai New Energy Group are planning to build a 30-megawatt on-grid solar power station in Qaidam Basin of northwestern China. The project has a long-term target of 1 gigawatt of capacity, which [...]

As the financial crisis continues, most people think of the job cuts and profit losses, but the global environment may be one of the biggest losers in the current economic downturn, Newsweek reports. Low prices for oil has made it relatively more expensive to invest in green energy, but not for dirty coal - which accounts [...]

Grand Canyon Visitors Center will soon be powered by the sun. The center is expected to install a 18-kilowatt system in late spring, which will provide about 30 percent of the facility’s electricity, the Associated Press reports (via Kold.com). The solar system is expected to save the National Park Service about $2,500 a year and is [...]

Just last summer, high fuel prices were helping to drive consideration of hybrids. But as the prices of fuel tumble to about $2 a gallon, so is American’s appetite for hybrid cars, the Financial Times reports. Last November, U.S. hybrid petro-electric sales dropped 53 percent from the previous year, compared with a 37 percent decline overall, [...]

BMW beat out Nissan Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. in the race to deliver a fully alternative-fuel vehicle to drivers. The German automakers will lease new all-electric Mini Coopers in Southern California and New York and New Jersey by March 2009,  Bloomberg reports. Drivers will be paying triple the cost of the gasoline-powered model, however - [...]

As the economy takes a nosedive, the reality or the risk of running short of money will prove to be real incentives for consumers and businesses to find efficiencies, AdWeek reports. Businesses will look for efficiencies from energy or its expenses, as bit by bit “smaller” will come to mean “better.” In the auto industry, for [...]

Computer manufacturer Lenovo announced that its ThinkVision monitors already meet or exceed the EPA’s Energy Star 5.0 criteria, which will be completely finalized in March ‘09 and go into effect in October. Many of the new monitors use 30 to 60 percent less energy than previous ThinkVision models. Criteria for computers was released in mid-November and will [...]

2008 was the third most expensive year for the insurance industry due to catastrophe damage, which insurers say is attributed to climate change. Munich Re, one of the world’s biggest insurers, cited weather-related catastrophes as reasons for $200 billion in losses during the year, compared with $82 billion in 2007. There were 50 percent more insured losses [...]

A Massachusetts firm says its new device called the Vegawatt can help restaurants save money by converting used vegetable oil from fryers into fuel to produce electricity and hot water.

The world's cheapest car might be available with micro-hybrid technology, which cuts fuel use when vehicles idle.

The 10 states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, plus Pennsylvania, will follow in California's footsteps to develop the standard to reduce transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions.

It’s always great to see sustainable design intersect with projects that improve the fabric of our communities. Accordingly, we were happy to see that, in cooperation with its development partner the Dermot Company , the Lower Eastside Girls Club filed plans with the Department of Buildings back in mid-December for a 12-story, 90,000-square-foot mixed-use building that will rise at the corner of Avenue D and East Seventh and Eighth Streets. Designed by Cutsogeorge Tooman & Allen Architects , the project will seek a LEED Gold rating from USGBC and include a number of green design features ranging from building-integrated photovoltaics to both extensive and intensive green roofs and terraces. 72 residential units will top out the remaining 8 stories, while the development will also include 2 commercial units.

The first 4 floors of the building will house space for the Girls Club, which offers a variety of free educational opportunities and career training to New York City girls and their families. The building will also house the Girls Club’s Sweet Things Baking Company and Community Cafe (a social entrepreneurial venture), and girls will grow and cultivate herbs and other spices for the cafe using the green roofs and an accompanying science and environmental education center. Other spaces within the Center will include a technology center, planetarium, fair trade gift shop and book store, a farmers’ market, and health and wellness center. No further details on the project seem readily available but, as always, we’ll follow up on this important Lower East Side construction effort.

• ‘09 to Bring Green Apartments to Avenue D (NYO)
• Lower Eastside Girls Club (CT&A)
• Capital Campaign (LEGC)

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