“Green building [in America] has become big business,” declares a recent issue of The Economist magazine. “A study by the National Association of Home Builders found that some 90 percent of home-builders are now using green ideas. In 2005, the study found a 20 percent increase in the number of new homes that were environmentally responsible: water-efficient, energy-efficient, built of nature-friendly materials. [In 2006] the figures were up another 30 percent.”
At its core, green building uses less energy, thereby cutting down on the greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing mightily to the global warming of the planet. And so, many areas of the United States are now jumping on the green-building bandwagon.
This includes Columbia, the capital city of South Carolina. “Green Is Good for Business” was the name of a recent conference sponsored by the city and its Climate Protection Action Committee (CPAC) to encourage not only green building but also a voluntary green certification program for businesses that the city is developing.
(Columbia City Council established CPAC—a committee of volunteers looking at ways to cut municipal greenhouse gases—after Columbia Mayor Robert D. Coble signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in October 2006. Signers pledge to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, thereby ameliorating global warming. More than 500 mayors across the country have signed.)
The purpose of the Green Business Program, according to Columbia officials, is to recognize and encourage businesses that operate in an environmentally friendly manner—sort of a “green business report card.” The green business standards will apply to a range of industries and may even include hospitals.
The benefits to being recognized as a Green Business Member, city officials say, are numerous:
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“Cost savings: Implementing the program’s waste reduction and water and energy conservation measures can save you money.
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Market exposure: Businesses with a green ethic can use this distinction to achieve a marketing edge over the competition.
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Healthy work environment: Implementing many of the program standards will create a safer, healthier working environment.
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Increased productivity: Caring about employees’ well-being can improve morale and increase productivity.”
At the Conference
More than 200 businesspeople and environmentalists attended the “Green is Good for Business” Conference. They heard that the CPAC plan that is currently being implemented by the city is expected to result in lower energy bills, better transportation choices, air quality improvements, preservation of green space, energy conservation, and new energy technologies, such as hydrogen fuel cells.
Two steps that the city already has taken were on display: LED traffic signals (more than 200 of the city’s 272 incandescent traffic lights have already been converted to LED signals, which use 89 percent less electricity) and LED Christmas lights, which will illuminate two main city streets. These Yule lights last longer than conventional lighting, can use up to 90 percent less electricity, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, city officials say.
More than two dozen companies and environmental groups also displayed their green wares at the conference, including environmentally friendly packaging manufactured by Hartsville, S.C.-based Sonoco Products Company, and organic beer, brewed by Anheuser-Busch.
The conference heard from U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who announced that he is signing onto the McCain-Lieberman cap-and-trade bill that would mandate domestic, economy-wide reductions in carbon emissions, similar to a scheme already established in Europe.
“The idea of transitioning away from fossil fuels to alternate energy sources just makes sense,” Graham said. From a national security point of view, he added, the United States will be much stronger if it is not dependent on fossil fuels like oil, much of which comes from the unstable Middle East.
Graham told the crowd he sees a “huge opportunity” in the next Congress to address climate change, because he believes most Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have not-so-different views on global warming. To the relief of environmentalists, there will also be a new occupant in the White House in 2009, when the next Congress reconvenes.
What Businesses Are Doing
The green movement is catching on in South Carolina, panels of business executives, architects, government officials, and engineers told the conference attendees. The state now has more than 300 LEED-accredited professionals (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a green building rating system for construction). The state also counts more than 125 members in the ranks of the U.S. Green Building Council, a coalition of building professionals advocating sustainable design.
The state’s first LEED-certified commercial building was built in 2003 by Cox & Dinkins, a Columbia, South Carolina-based engineering and surveying firm. The firm’s president, Gene Dinkins, told the conference that his company decided on constructing a green headquarters building because it was the environmentally right thing to do. “We did that because we wanted to make a statement,” he said.
Cox & Dinkins spent about $1 million to construct its green headquarters, about 3 percent more than would have been spent on a conventional building. But the company recovered its costs within the first three years, Dinkins said.
In the meantime, the 11,672-square-foot building saves hugely on energy costs (the company doubled its space, but its utility bill went up only 22 percent) and has social benefits, too, with employees seeming to take fewer sick days and enjoying the people-friendly lighting, loads of natural sunlight, windows with embedded blinds (which, therefore, never get dusty), replacement fresh air via a special heating and air conditioning system, and numerous green plants with their own watering system.
Spartanburg-based Milliken & Co., the textile and chemicals manufacturing company, made a commitment to the environment back in 1990, according to Cassidy Carlisle, the company’s environmental director. Since then, he said, the company has decreased the amount of material sent to solid-waste landfills from 20 million pounds to 20,000 pounds. The company has also achieved a 48 percent reduction in water use.
“Everything we do is with sustainability in mind,” Carlisle said.
Waste Management, Inc., the Houston-based waste and environmental services company, is considering using two South Carolina landfills to turn methane gas into usable energy, said Paul Pabor, a company vice president. One of the landfill methane gas-to-energy facilities that the company already operates in Wellford, S.C., provides 60 percent of the total energy needed by the nearby BMW plant in Greer.
“Companies are finding they can do these things, and rather than costing money, it saves money,” he said.
Then there is Bowater, the Greenville, South Carolina-based producer of coated and specialty papers and newsprint. Bowater’s Dale Herendeen told the conference about his company’s Clean Air Works (CAW) campaign that not only helps the environment but which, “to our amazement, has become a huge public relations success.”
Among the CAW initiatives are
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a “No Idling” policy for employees that outlaws vehicles in the Bowater parking lot that have their engines idling. If the vehicle is idling but empty, the keys are yanked out and taken to the office, where employees must go to retrieve the keys;
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special incentives for carpoolers, including special parking slots; and
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a program encouraging employees to refuel their vehicles’ fuel tanks after 6 p.m., when the gas fumes are less harmful to the environment.