As the Denver Zoo prepares to open its latest addition, a 10 acre exhibit dedicated to the Asian Tropics, they have incorporated a number of eco-conscious features. As part of the new construction, the entire complex is striving for LEED certification, the first large animal exhibit facility in the nation to be certified as such. In [...]
Archive for the ‘Conservation’ Category
Denver Zoo Lays Claim to Greenest in Country
May 24th, 2012 
Eric Wilson Natural Capitalism: Chapter 2 – Reinventing the Wheels
May 22nd, 2012 Eric Wilson A few years back I started reading Natural Capitalism. I wrote a post about the first chapter and vowed to come back to the book “soon.” Geologically speaking, it’s been the blink of an eye. In human terms, a wee bit longer. The book isn’t inordinately long, but after coming back to it after many months, I [...]
Itron: A Global Leader in Smart Meters
May 21st, 2012 John Basalla For today’s company spotlight, I wanted to look at smart meters. Smart meters have been in use since 2006 in the United States and have gained wide penetration in some areas and caused backlashes in others. In the near future many utilities will be switching their customers over to this technology. So what exactly are [...]
Five Friday Facts: The New World Trade Center
May 18th, 2012 Justin Manger The following facts come from a pamphlet sent to me by a relative who visited the construction site and memorial pool at the World Trade Center in New York City. The 1 World Trade Center (WTC) building is expected to reach it full height soon, whereupon its 408-foot (124 m) radio antenna will be installed [...]
Study: Selective Logging Could Help Mitigate Ecological Impact
May 17th, 2012 Chris DeArmond Despite pressure from governments and environmental groups, illegal logging and deforestation are facts of life in many developing countries around the world. However, according to a study led by University of Florida professor Jack Putz, selective logging could potentially address these issues. Selective logging, as the name suggests, is not a perfect solution. In a [...]
Posted in Conservation, Economics, Sustainability 
Tags: Chris DeArmond, Conservation, Florida, Forests 
No Comments »Five Friday Facts: Colleges Saving Energy
May 11th, 2012 Eric Wilson A recent three week competition wrapped up among colleges that saved a bit of money, water, and energy. The 2012 Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN) had approximately one-quarter of a million students participating at 150 colleges and universities across the country. Today’s Five Friday Facts tallies the total savings from their efforts: 1,739,046 kilowatt-hours of electricity [...]
Posted in Conservation, Eric Wilson, Five Friday Facts Tags: Carbon Dioxide, Energy, Water Conservation No Comments »Five Friday Facts: U.S. Navy as Energy Innovator
May 4th, 2012 Justin Manger Here is an interesting time line from a pamphlet from the Esri Federal GIS Conference on the Navy’s evolution with energy, including last year’s large purchase of biofuels. 1774: USS Alfred, Navy’s first battleship, powered by wind and sails. 1955: USS Nautilus, first nuclear submarine 2009: First Navy aircraft engine tested on biofuel blend 2010: [...]
Axion: Turning Bottles into Bridges
May 2nd, 2012 Justin Manger Using a technique developed at Rutgers Universtity, Axion International from New Providence, N.J. is building small bridges from recycled plastic bottles. Aside from reusing the bottles, the company says the I-beams, rail ties, and other structural building products it makes are rust and corrosion proof, cost competitive, and won’t become food for termites. Take their [...]
Posted in Business, Conservation, Green Building, Green Products, Justin Manger, News, Recylcing, Sustainability, Transportation Tags: Green Product No Comments »REDD+: Beyond Carbon Credits; REDD＋:炭素クレジットを超えた利益を目指して
April 24th, 2012 Guest Author This post was written by Akane Hanai, a UN Volunteer working in Viet Nam on the UN-REDD Programme as a Programme Specialist with a Master of Arts in Environmental and Resource Policy from George Washington University. It’s been almost eight months since I got involved in the UN-REDD programme in Viet Nam. For my first post, [...]
Posted in Conservation, Guest Authors, News, Op-Ed, Policy, Sustainability Tags: Akane Hanai, Carbon Dioxide, Environment No Comments »FFF: Green Peace Study on Server Farms
April 20th, 2012 Justin Manger Mobile internet services based in the “cloud” are a part of daily life and continue to proliferate. Given the huge amounts of energy needed to power the data centers that are the backbone of our online life, Greenpeace recently released a “How Green Is Your Cloud” study comparing which internet companies are the most environmentally [...]
