Kitchen & Bath Sustainable

The United States Green Building Council has started a book club! OK, so not as flashy as Oprah’s, but far more targeted and filled with books selected to aid green professionals in growing their knowledge base and their businesses.

Called GreenWorks, the club is a joint initiative of the USGBC and Island Press, the Washington, DC-based publisher of environmentally focused books and information.

The books will be selected monthly by a panel of industry experts and will be available for purchase through the Island Press Web site, located here.

The current books on the list include: Emerald Architecture by GreenSource Magazine; The Green Building Revolution by Jerry Yudelson; Sustainable Construction, 2nd edition by Charles J. Kibert; The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and Organizations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World by Peter M. Senge and Bryan Smith, Nina Kruschwitz, Joe Laur and Sara Schley.

For more information, check out the USGBC’s announcement here.

This letter from Rick Fedrizzi, CEO of the United States Green Building Council, just came into my inbox and I thought it was well worth sharing–a little green pep talk for a long Friday afternoon. 

On a sidenote: Greenbuild’s coming up and I’ll be representing Kitchen & Bath Design News this year. It’s the first time we’re covering the show and I know it’ll be a sustainability crash course.  Are any of you headed to Boston for the event?  What are you most looking forward to?  What should I be looking forward to?  Let me know your thoughts on the letter, Greenbuild, and whatever else is going on in your neck of the woods in the comments.

Dear USGBC Constituents: In recent weeks, a wave of fear and pessimism propagated by the world financial crisis has stolen the headlines, gripped the nation, and challenged our movement. In conversation after conversation, people are asking what will happen to the green building movement if our community is plunged into a recession. And I have an answer for them. The greed that led the world economy into crisis will not defeat our commitment to good work. Fear will not dominate our agenda. And our commitment to change - even in the face of so great a challenge - will not waver. Change doesn’t wait on Washington. And it doesn’t depend on Wall Street. Change comes from within. The green building movement has been demonstrating that fact for more than 15 years. Before there was a single government green building policy, before the business community stood up and took notice, before there was a LEED - there was you. Thousands upon thousands of committed individuals dedicated to doing better by doing good. You’ve built this movement. You’re building sustainable communities. And every single one of us has a contribution to make towards pulling our country out of this crisis. We cannot lose sight of our mission. It is within reach. How? It’s time for the green building movement to deploy the expertise and capacity we’ve built in new construction to green what we’ve already got. Ninety-nine percent of achieving our mission is wrapped up in our existing homes and buildings. It will save money. It will save energy. It will help save our climate. And directly relevant to today’s economic environment, it will create good, green, local jobs. As just one example, USGBC estimates that a 100% commitment to greening existing commercial buildings alone would create more than 1.5 million new opportunities for employment for out of work Americans. In four weeks, we will meet together at Greenbuild. And when you get to Boston, we will celebrate everything that your individual commitments have accomplished so far. We’ll enjoy the fellowship of more than 20,000 friends and colleagues who share our vision for a sustainable future. And we will keep moving forward, together. I’ll see you there. With gratitude, S. Rick Fedrizzi CEO, President and Founding Chair, USGBC U.S. Green Building Council, 1800 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036

The EPA’s WaterSense program has created a new series of honors to be awarded to companies and individuals who promote wise water usage. 

The WaterSense Partner of the Year awards are being recognized for “encouraging Americans to tap into their water resources wisely over the last year,” according to the EPA. The awards will be presented at the WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition in Las Vegas, NV, the first national water-efficiency conference for an interdisciplinary audience.  

From the EPA: “EPA commends these partners for being blue ribbon winners in water efficiency,” said Benjamin H. Grumbles, EPA’s assistant administrator for water. “These water stars are helping WaterSense transform the way Americans view and value our most precious liquid asset and, as a result, we are saving more and wasting less for future generations.”   (more…)