This is Silicon Valley so therefore 'green business' means entrepreneurs doing startup companies.
The Environmental Business Cluster (EBC) is a nonprofit technology commercialization center created to assist early stage for-profit companies developing products or services that will have a positive impact on the environment. The Environmental Business Cluster was created to minimize the costs associated with starting a business, improve the chances for success and increase the linkages between emerging companies and established businesses, universities and professionals in the field.
The EBC and the City of San Jose are establishing the first facility in the United States to focus on the design and development of alternative fuels and hybrid commercial vehicles that meet homeland security needs. The Electronic Transportation Development Center (ETDC) will be a place where established and early-stage companies will focus on the design, development, commercialization, and prototype manufacturing of alternate fuel and hybrid electric and gas commercial vehicles that also meet homeland security needs.
Appropedia is the site for collaborative solutions in sustainability, poverty reduction and international development through the use of appropriate technology and the sharing of project information. Appropedia is an open site for stakeholders to come together to find, create and improve scalable and adaptable solutions.
Sharing knowledge to build rich, sustainable lives.
Their site contains the 'Carbon Library' which is publications related to Carbon Markets, Green House Gass emissions, corporate GHG inventories, cap and trade, and more. There is a small wiki going over some aspects of the carbon trade. This appears to be a new site and they promise that "soon" they will invite industry leaders to start blogging.
An office products industry where human and ecological health are the sole byproducts of operation. Provides a full selection of sustainable office products at great prices.
This is an online store providing a full range of office supplies, where they have verified each one as to 'green' qualities. This means recycled paper -- biodegradable cups -- products made from recycled content -- electronics which are energy star compliant. However not all is perfect in that I notice some of their electronics are labeled from the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition as 'failing'.
Roots of Change (ROC) is a collaborative of diverse leaders and institutions unified in common pursuit of achieving a sustainable food system in California by 2030. ROC is an emerging alliance; its purpose and beliefs will continue to evolve as the community of allies grows.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to educate the public about our need to engage in new economic practices — as consumers, businesses, and communities — that are environmentally sustainable and socially just. These principles are embodied in the Green Economy.
They appear to have plans to build a physical location containing green retail, office space for nonprofits and socially responsible companies, event space, affordable housing for teachers, and an eco-gym that will help power the building, among other features.
One of the first groups in Marin to pioneer sustainability, with a legacy of educating the town council, supporting the community, providing services to the town, and conducting educational events since 1999. Through our work, we’ve come to realize that sustainability is not just an end goal, but also an approach to decision making.
Natural Investments is a national portfolio management firm, with offices in Paonia, Colorado, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, and in Windsor and San Luis Obispo, California. We're an innovative, client-focused company, with a high level of personal attention and individualized service. We combine our progressive passion with fiscal prudence, and through our affiliations with Charles Schwab & Co, First Affirmative Financial Network, and the Social Investment Forum, provide our clients with strong research and solid administration.
Geämi protects the products of a wide variety of companies of which, many are among the most innovative and recognizable names in their respective industries. From small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, our customers rely on Geämi to deliver product protection and value. They sell a number of packaging products with a sustainable sourcing, recyclebility, etc.
Dominican University of California's Green MBA program is an accredited, on site graduate program in the San Francisco Bay Area. Graduates receive a Master of Business Administration degree in Sustainable Enterprise. Students have a choice of two-year full-time and three-year part-time structures. In the Green MBA, we seek solutions that promote financial viability, ecological sustainability, and social justice. We use a dynamic, project-oriented learning approach to integrate the development of entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial skills with the building of critical thinking and leadership capacities.
Started by Google and Intel in 2007, the Climate Savers Computing Initiative is a nonprofit group of eco-conscious consumers, businesses and conservation organizations. The Initiative was started in the spirit of WWF’s Climate Savers program which has mobilized over a dozen companies since 1999 to cut carbon dioxide emissions, demonstrating that reducing emissions is good business. Our goal is to promote development, deployment and adoption of smart technologies that can both improve the efficiency of a computer’s power delivery and reduce the energy consumed when the computer is in an inactive state.
Grey water is perfectly reusable in certain ways. There are known standards and known practices that allow the use of grey water in a way that is safe. By using grey water you lessen water use, and extend the water supply so that more people can drink. Nature reuses water endlessly but somehow we humans don't seem to have caught on to this pattern, and instead our supposedly advanced modern society throws away massive quantities of water causing us to overly stretch the water supply available to us.
Grey water is the reuse of water used in showers, dishwashing, clothes washing, flushed down the toilet, etc. There is obviously a concern about spreading disease through grey water, and that means grey water must be carefully treated and used for the right things.
Being Water has developed a series of products that properly filter and enable reuse of grey water. Their systems meet the safety standards of many places in the U.S. Their systems plug into household plumbing and it has the overall shape and look of a hot water heater.
Architects / Designers / Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR) works for peace, environmental protection, ecological building, social justice, and the development of healthy communities. We believe that design practitioners have a significant role to play in the well-being of our communities.
Nationally, ADPSR is currently engaged in three primary initiatives: 1) a Prison Alternatives Campaign, 2) annual Lewis Mumford Awards program, and 3) New Village Press. There are presently four ADPSR chapters in the United States: New York, Chicago, Northern California and Southern California. ARCPeace is ADPSR's international affiliate.
The Ecological Building Network is a 501(c)3 non-profit entity in San Rafael, California. We are a growing and international association of builders, engineers, architects, academics and developers committed to promoting intelligent building methods and materials for a sustainable future.
The current (and primary) project of EBNet is the development of modernized earthen building standards so as to promote and develop the most environmentally and culturally-friendly building system of all.
Provides education and resources to transform the residential design, development and construction industries to profitably deliver energy efficient and environmentally responsible buildings and communities.
A small contingent of building professionals representing the United States, Canada, and Sweden, gathered in Pine Island, Minnesota in early 1982 to develop criteria for the construction of buildings that were more energy efficient. These forward thinking pioneers created the Energy Efficient Building Association.
A non-profit community of leaders working to make green buildings available to everyone within a generation. USGBC is dedicated to expanding green building practices and education, and its LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System™.
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is a voluntary, consensus-based national rating system for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. LEED addresses all building types and emphasizes state-of-the-art strategies in five areas: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials and resources selection, and indoor environmental quality.
Built Green Colorado is one of oldest and largest green home building programs in the nation. A voluntary industry-driven program of the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver offered to builders across the state, the purpose of Built Green Colorado is to encourage home builders to use technologies, products and practices that result in homes that are better built and better for the environment.
A nonprofit Florida corporation dedicated to improving the built environment. Their mission is "to provide a statewide green building program that defines, promotes, and encourages sustainable efforts with environmental and economic benefits."
FGBC was conceived and founded in the belief that green building programs will be most successful if there are clear and meaningful principles on which "green" qualification and marketing are based.
Green Key Real Estate’s agents are green building professionals and Eco-Brokers®. We help buyers make smart decisions when choosing a healthy and environmentally friendly home. And, we guide sellers in marketing the green, or greenable aspects of their property.
Their service appears to be advice on attributes of a green home, and assistance with locating building contractors who can greenify a home. For sellers they have expertise in marketing the green or greenable aspects of a home. They can advise sellers on doing 'green' preparations for selling a home.
The Green Building Alliance is a non-profit organization that advances economic prosperity and human well being in Western Pennsylvania by driving market demand for green buildings and green building products. In its 15th year, GBA has been a national pioneer, and continues to lead change in our region as the core green building catalysts – a desire for environmentally sound materials and minimal impact, healthy indoor environments and financial payoff in reduced energy, water and other operating costs – cascades across every aspect of the built environment, from offices, retail stores and other commercial spaces to schools, hospitals, and homes.
Provides objective high quality information about buildings combining physics, systems design concepts, and awareness of sustainability to promote durable, healthy and economical buildings.
Natural Home magazine is the authority on green lifestyle and design. Since 1999, Natural Home has given eco-conscious homeowners the information they need to live in nurturing, healthy homes. With an up-to-date outlook on current trends in green building and wholesome living, Natural Home remains inspirational to dwellers who want to live wisely and live well.
Specializes in the design and construction of fine had-crafted masonry homes. The masonry systems used include rammed earth, adobe, pressed earth block, etc.
Hosts a wide range of information about sustainable architecture and natural building. The reason for building greener homes is really quite important. We need to live more lightly on the earth, because the degradation of our environment is compromising not only our survival, but the survival of most other living beings on the planet. We can no longer ignore the impact we have on the earth's ecosystems. The way we live, the choices we make in providing for our needs, will have an enormous influence on the quality of life of those who will follow us. Now is the time to take responsibility for the consequences of our life styles!
They have information regarding natural building techniques, including Cob, Rammed Earth, Poured Earth, Earthbag, Strawbale, Cordwood, Timber Frame, Bamboo, Earthship, Papercrete, Lightweight Concrete, Stone, and manufactured systems.
Furthers the practice of straw building by exchanging current information and practical experience, promoting and conducting research and testing, and making that body of knowledge available to working professionals and the public at large.
Provides consulting services to architects, contractors and homeowners wanting to incorporate rammed earth into a green building program. David Easton is a leading innovator of forming and delivery technologies for the construction of rammed earth walls.
From its inception in 1975, Living Systems Sustainable Architecture (LSSA), has been committed to the creation of thoughtfully conceived, quality homes that are aesthetically pleasing, healthy to live in, environmentally sound, and resource and energy efficient.
Recognizing that buildings consume half of all energy in the U.S. and are, therefore, responsible for nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions, LSSA's mission is to further the sustainability of life by addressing the design, construction, operation and future of our built environment for generations to come.
Michael Frerking began Living Systems Sustainable Architecture (LSSA) 33 years ago after experiencing the devastation caused by clear cutting in the Pacific northwest. Dedicated from the beginning to the "green" practice of energy and resource efficiency, Michael has become one of the leading proponents of green construction for passive solar heating and cooling.
Earthship n. 1. passive solar home made of natural and recycled materials 2. thermal mass construction for temperature stabilization. 3. renewable energy & integrated water systems make the Earthship an off-grid home with little to no utility bills.
Biotecture n. 1. the profession of designing buildings and environments with consideration for their sustainability. 2. A combination of biology and architecture.
Offers training courses in natural construction techniques, and writes publications related to Cob building techniques. Cob building uses hands and feet to form lumps of earth mixed with sand and straw, a sensory and aesthetic experience similar to sculpting with clay. Cob is easy to learn and inexpensive to build. Because there are no forms, ramming, cement or rectilinear bricks, cob lends itself to organic shapes: curved walls, arches and niches. Earth homes are cool in summer, warm in winter. Cob's resistance to rain and cold makes it ideally suited to cold climates like the Pacific Northwest, and to desert conditions.
Cal-Earth is at the cutting edge of Earth Art and Ceramic Architecture technologies today. Founded and directed by the internationally renowned architect and author Nader Khalili in 1986, it's scope spans technical innovations published by NASA for lunar base construction, to design and development of housing for the world's homeless for the United Nations.
Cal-Earth is a non-profit foundation dedicated to research and education of the public in environmentally oriented arts and architecture. It's philosophy is based on the equilibrium of the natural elements of earth, water, air, and fire, and their Unity at the service of the arts and humanity.
The Development Center for Appropriate Technology works to enhance the health of the planet and our communities by promoting a shift to sustainable construction and development through leadership, strategic relationships, and education. We envision a world where communities thrive and are built in harmony with nature, because people understand the consequences of their choices and make decisions for their own and the Earth's benefit. Human life and nature are intimately connected and we must care for nature as we care for ourselves. We value the potential to evolve sustainable, life-enhancing human systems and built environments that are fully integrated with nature.
"We provide free online video, how to information, and products to help consumers transform their houses from being energy hogs, into healthy, resilient, and energy efficient homes. We also work with institutions, communities, and businesses to educate and promote resource conservation and sustainable principles."
The Zero Energy Building Award seeks the best building in the Northeast (USA) that produces as much power as it needs to heat, cool, illuminate and provide other functions required by occupants over the course of a year. The goal of the competition is to honor a building that offers great comfort and amenities with little impact on the environment.
Zero-energy buildings – buildings that produce as much energy as they consume – represent the cutting edge of environmentally responsible construction. These buildings, which require state-of-the-art energy-efficient construction and renewable energy systems such as solar and wind, are challenging to design and build but can offer comfort and amenities while reducing the building’s impact on the environment.
The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) is the Northeast’s leading organization of professionals working in sustainable energy, whole-systems thinking and green technologies. NESEA advances the adoption and practical application of sustainable, low carbon energy practices. NESEA accomplishes this through a number of ongoing programs and annual events. NESEA is a proud chapter of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES).
AskNature, the online inspiration source for the biomimicry community. Think of it as your home habitat—whether you're a biologist who wants to share what you know about an amazing organism, or a designer, architect, engineer, or chemist looking for planet-friendly solutions. AskNature is where biology and design cross-pollinate, so bio-inspired breakthroughs can be born.
Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a design discipline that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies, e.g., a solar cell inspired by a leaf. The core idea is that Nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with: energy, food production, climate control, non-toxic chemistry, transportation, packaging, and a whole lot more.
Environmentally sensitive options for your life. Answers to your questions, covering topics on the most effective composting toilets, chemical-free water treatment systems, solar water heaters, air purifiers, non-toxic products, and other things you can do immediately to minimize your footprint on the earth.
The Earth Policy Institute was founded May 2001 by Lester Brown and Reah Janise Kauffman to provide a vision of a sustainable future and a plan for how to get from here to there.
Business that contributes to an equitable and ecologically sustainable economy. Provides global news and networking services to help green business grow. Offers visitors a unique lens on the field as a whole, covering all sectors that impact sustainabilty: renewable energy/ efficiency, green building, green investing, and organics.
A leading website dedicated to providing avid car enthusiasts, environmentalists and everyday consumers with information about green vehicles, green energy and technologies.
An unrecognized looming crisis is the availability of fresh clean water. Water supply systems are overloaded delivering water to current populations, and in many countries the water simply is not safe. And of course our ancestors also had to deal with unsafe water supplies, it was modern water treatment with all its chemicals that enabled us to have safe clean water available just by twisting the water tap.
In any case ElementFour has developed something cool. The WaterMill is a gadget that draws water directly out of the air. As they say: "The atmosphere contains 4 to 25 grams of water vapor per cubic meter, while the WaterMill can change 10% to 40% of that to liquid. Water vapor is constantly replenished by Earth's natural cycle, so extracting water from the air can continue indefinitely without impacting local ecosystems."
Their current product is meant for home use. It mounts to the outside of a home, and provides up to 13 quarts per day of water. For the future they claim the technology can scale up to larger scale use such as irrigation systems, disaster relief, bottled water production, etc. Oooh... an obvious brand name for a future bottled water company: AirWater ..
Both of these companies have a message: One sixth of the worlds population does not have access to clean water, and this kind of product can reduce that number
Maybe so but only if the price is low enough for an indigenous poor person in a primitive rural place can afford to pay for the gadget. The WaterMill is not yet available for purchase, but the XZIEX unit is available right now for $2500. Eek. That price is affordable only by the rich in modern societies where there already is clean water (generally). Perhaps this unit could be popular in India where there are rich people and the water system isn't so clean.
They present an idea that the water in the atmosphere is naturally replenished by the natural ecosystem. This is true, the water in the atmosphere is what we call humidity. Humidity is added from water evaporation from lakes and streams, humidity becomes clouds, and humidity becomes rain. This is the natural ecosystem that ends up producing the fresh water we draw from lakes and rivers.
A question comes to mind is if a gadget like this were to become widespread what disturbance does it make to the natural ecosystem?
The atmosphere already produces the water we drink, through natural means the atmosphere produces rain which produces lakes and rivers. It behooves us to make the best use of that resource, of course. The question I'm pondering is about deploying gadgets that also draw water out of the atmosphere, in addition to the water the ecosystem naturally draws out of the atmosphere. The natural ecosystem produces from the atmosphere the water that feeds lakes and rivers, so gadgets which also produces water from the atmosphere draws water from the same source as what feeds the rivers and lakes.
Of course if there are only a few of these units in use there's nothing to worry about. What if these companies are successful and they deploy billions of these units, and deploy large scale units?
An article in the Gaurdian discusses the WaterMill with statements like ... The demand for water is off the chart. People are looking for freedom from water distribution systems that are shaky and increasingly unreliable. Yeah, there's a big business opportunity here to provide water outside the normal water distribution systems. And there are many places in the world which lack good normal water distribution systems.
Another point: For the environmentally conscious consumer, the WaterMill has an obvious appeal. Bottled water is an ecological catastrophe. In the US alone, about 30bn litres of bottled water is consumed every year at a cost of about $11bn (£7.4bn). Yeah, bottled water is a crazy product especially in countries where adequate clean safe water is available at every tap. And to think of the oil being used to produced those bottles...
There are other methods through this madness.
We can make better use of the water supply we already have. Rather than use the water once and pour it down the drain, what about greywater systems? A grey water system diverts water from being poured down the drain and uses it for irrigation. There are known safe methods and regulations about the use of grey-water.
Direct collection of rainwater is simple in many places and again can be used for many purposes. Rainwater is usually safe clean water, and can certainly obviously be used for irrigation.
An online training program offering online education about sustainability. Companies need information about being sustainable to practice social responsibility, remain competitive, or meet the needs of global markets. They provide online sustainability training and sustainability professional certifications through the Global Sustainability Institute of Technology.
The courses include:
Green Purchasing Fundamentals
Sustainability 101 & Corporate Social Responsibility Essentials
Carbon Strategies
Senior Certified Sustainability Professional Certification (SCSP)
Certified Sustainability Professional Certification (CSP)
Green Supply Chain Professional Certification (GSCP)
