Walkable Communities

Hey - I just bought a house near down town Willits - never mind that it is a cool house that I am exctied to fix up and be in….never mind that I have to downsize my closets ( yes, yes - a good thing, Iv’e heard from almost everyone)

The best part is that I am finally in a neighborhood - a place where people know each other and say hello and walk to work and make time to lean on the gate ( I hope)

After years of living “up the mountain” - in a mountain suburb of our village, a beautiful place - but must drive my car back and forth every day…I am going to reduce my gas consumption, get some better quality exercise and make new friends! Check it out, everyone…maybe you are ready to make a move too…it is becoming a back to the future trend….I plan on biking to work, walking to the movies!

As for other ways to change my lifestyle - I now have a sunny garden plot, a solar hot water heater, and enough sun to put up solar panels as well!

The 70 year old single pane glass is a pain, but - I think some thick curtains ought to help next winter…

QUALITY OF LIFE

Quality of Life and true happiness…Do we know what to ask for - do we know when we have it? Quality of Life can be found in the simplest of jobs, the most humble of homes. it is about happiness, satisfaction, a sense of inner peace, and perhaps a job well done. I am taking more time lately to check these values. I find that my “hurry-up” and “do-more” lifestyle has been unpleasing for awhile! I even think I am being held hostage by my job, my business - a thing that I started with all excitement and potential. So, every day we get to open our eyes to the world we created and the world we will create that day….here is a great story that illustrates the point…enjoy your work, your family, your lover, your friends!

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a
reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired.
During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in
their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went
into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an
assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some
expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot
chocolate. When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor
said: ‘Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving
behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only
the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.
The cup that you’re drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot
chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even
hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not
the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups… And then you began
eyeing each other’s cups. Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your
job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to
hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the
quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we
fail to enjoy the hot chocolate.

The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the
best of everything that they have.
Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly…

And enjoy your hot chocolate

The Amazing & Vanishing Honeybee

Why do we sing their life song now? The ancients worshiped the bee, sang songs to them, made beautiful and complex gold jewelery in their image. Who are we to allow them to disappear without making songs to their magnificence?

Yes, friends - as many have now pointed out - not only honey lovers - but almond lovers, cheese lovers - your foods are at stake here, in fact - perhaps your own very life is too! The bees brings us agriculture as we know it. They also may bee a significator of the collapse of our ecosystem in these times - an early victim of the complex immune destroying lifestyle we have come to accept and yet (almost) be oblivious of.

What can we do to save the bees?

And why do we care? Just a few facts-

*Honeybees are the only insects that produce food for humans. What a gift! What have we done for them?

*Just a single hive contains approximately 40-45,000 bees! They live as if they are cells of one organism, very socially sophisticated…we humans could learn something from their high degree of cooperation, sharing and dancing communications!

*During honey production periods, a bee’s life span is about 6 weeks. In the winter, they live longer because they don’t get worn out by flying.

*Honeybees visit about 2 million flowers to make one pound of honey. They also bring in their weight in pollen if they find it!

*A bee travels an average of 1600 round trips in order to produce one ounce of honey; up to 6 miles per trip. To produce 2 pounds of honey, bees travel a distance equal to 4 times around the earth. Next time you wrap that spoonful of golden honey around to save everry drop, be reminded of how much loving work and air time created that honey!

*Bees fly an average of 13-15 mph. Maybe we can learn from them how to move at a rate of speed that brings rewards and health.

*Bees from the same hive visit about 225,000 flowers per day. One single bee usually visits between 50-1000 flowers a day, but can visit up to several thousand.

*Queens will lay almost 2000 eggs a day at a rate of 5 or 6 a minute. Between 175,000-200,000 eggs are laid per year.

*About 8 pounds of honey is eaten by bees to produce 1 pound of beeswax.

Beegin to keep a hive of bees. For one thing, it will slow you down to bee in their presence. They hum a mysterious and ancient song, and draw you into watching their daily activities at the hive entrance. Their flight arrivals and departures are way more interesting than anything at the airport! Besides, you may bee helping to save these precious and social creatures. My hives are deep in the rural mountains of Mendocino County. As far as I know, there is no commercial agricultural spraying done anywhere nearby ( They fly up to 5 miles to find nectar) and no weird cell phone towers, or other concentrated electromagnetic pollution to cause their immediate distress. I am hoping that a colony collapse and mite-resistant strain of bees can develop in our area. Check out your local beekeeping group!! I started one as it appeared that we needed to get together. Turns out that almost 40 people in our sparsely populated area keep bees or want to have bees!

There have been a few good movies lately - coming around to educate us and interest us in bees…including the newest - The Vanishing Bees. See a fabulous trailer at their website - http://www.vanishingbees.com/

You can even play games about bees… learn about how to keep bees, or enjoy using local honey in special ways. Bee kind to our pollinators, they are our benefactors in so many ways.

Green Business Conference - Coop America sponsored

Grow a greener business at Green Business Conference™ in Chicago!

There is still time to reserve your seat at the Green Business Conference, May 14-15, and if you register now you’ll receive a 30% discount! In just 2 weeks we will gather to share our business experiences and get the answers we need to grow our green businesses! Dozens of speakers join us to explore the enterprising side of green with workshops and keynotes on green marketing, sourcing, scaling up, financing and reducing your carbon footprint!

Go to http://www.coopamerica.org/cabn/newsletter/announcements/200804/index.cfm#3

Water footprint - forget carbon, we are in dire need of understanding this one!

Every item we consume or use has a

Water footprint

Because our modern urban lives are the result of a century of infrastructure - bringing us our electricity and heat with a touch of a switch, water on tap for the taking, we have lost touch with the actual footprint of our resource use. Conservation is a great concept - but what is the quantification of every move we make, every change we take? How can we make ethical choices in this regard? Turns out there are some siimple rules - always recycle is one of them!

The hidden water consumption in our daily commodities far outweighs the water we actually take from the tap.

People use lots of water for drinking, cooking and washing, but even more for producing things such as food, paper, cotton clothes, etc. The water footprint of an individual, business or nation is defined as the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual, business or nation.

The water footprint of a nation shows the total volume of water that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the inhabitants of the nation. Since not all goods consumed in one particular country are produced in that country, the water footprint consists of two parts: use of domestic water resources and use of water outside the borders of the country. The water footprint includes both the water withdrawn from surface and groundwater and the use of soil water (in agricultural production).

Some facts and figures

• The production of one kilogram of beef requires 16 thousand litres of water.
• To produce one cup of coffee we need 140 litres of water.
• The water footprint of China is about 700 cubic meter per year per capita. Only about 7% of the Chinese water footprint falls outside China.
• Japan with a footprint of 1150 cubic meter per year per capita, has about 65% of its total water footprint outside the borders of the country.
• The USA water footprint is 2500 cubic meter per year per capita

Forget carbon: you should be checking your water footprint
By Amol Rajan
Monday, 21 April 2008

Ethical shopping just got harder - but the latest attempt to help
conscientious consumers calculate their impact on the environment
could do more to preserve scarce resources than all its predecessors.

The concept of water footprints - or “virtual water” - will tell
consumers the amount of precious H2O that has been used in the
manufacture of products they buy. As with carbon footprints, a
“virtual water” figure will indicate the extent to which a particular
product has cost the earth. And, as with carbon footprints, the
message is clear: less is better.

A new website run by the University of Twente in the Netherlands,
waterfootprint.org, gives ethically minded consumers a chance to work
out the hidden implications of their shopping habits. Common
including groceries, clothes, stationery and electrical
goods are evaluated according to a water footprint calculator. In
each case, the water footprint covers both the manufacture and
transport of the goods.

The results are striking. An apple weighing 100g has a water
footprint of 70 litres, while a 125ml cup of coffee has a water
footprint twice that size, 140 litres. But the water used in
producing wheat or meat is much greater. A single kilogram of barley
has a water footprint of 1,300 litres, while the industrial
production of a kilogram of beef amasses a water footprint of 15,500
litres.

Poultry, meanwhile, has a smaller water footprint than red meat:
producing a kilogram of chicken meat leaves a comparably much smaller
water footprint of 3,900 litres.

Academics behind the “virtual water” calculations have also created a
worldwide league table for the water footprint of different
countries. The US is the biggest offender, with a water footprint of
close to 2,500 cubic metres per year per capita, while Italy is a
close second. Britain’s water footprint is relatively modest at 1,245
cubic metres per year per capita.

The calculations are fiendishly complicated. But if they prove
popular, calculations of water footprints could do much more to help
minimise the environmental impact of consumption than other, similar
schemes.

Over the past year in particular, controversy has surrounded the idea
of “food miles”, as mounting evidence throws doubt on the idea that
locally produced food is better for the environment. Research
suggests that many products freighted in from halfway across the
globe can leave smaller carbon footprints than carbon intensive
production methods closer to home.

Yet for consumers keen to minimise their water wastage, there remains
a single, simple mantra to live by: always recycle.

A cotton shirt, for example, has a water footprint of 2,700 litres,
tallying up the water evaporated in irrigating and growing the
cotton, as well as the water needed to wash away fertilisers.
Recycling such products, and thereby minimising fresh production,
could make the earth’s water resources go much, much further.

“Our research shows that most people aren’t aware of how much water
they use,” a spokesperson from the Consumer Council for Water said
yesterday.

Though it covers more than two-thirds of the earth’s surface, water
has never been more precious. An influential UN report published in
2003 predicted severe water shortages would affect 4 billion people
by 2050, adding that 40 per cent of the world’s population did not
have access to adequate sanitation facilities.

Counting the cost

*Slice of white bread: 40 litres

*Burger: 2,400 litres

*Kilogram of cheddar: 5,000 litres

*Cotton shirt: 2,700 litres

*Pint of beer: 160 litres

*125ml glass of wine: 120 litres

*Pint of milk: 1,760 litres

–

NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C., section 107, some
material is provided without permission from the copyright owner,
only for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research
under the “fair use” provisions of federal copyright laws. These
materials may not be distributed further, except for “fair use,”
without permission of the copyright owner. For more information go
to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

~~
(PS- I borrowed much of this article from the independant and the water footprint website - I feel that this information is so important that we should all pass it on! - annieb)

NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C., section 107, some
material is provided without permission from the copyright owner,
only for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research
under the “fair use” provisions of federal copyright laws. These
materials may not be distributed further, except for “fair use,”
without permission of the copyright owner. For more information go
to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

The Collaboration Framework - A Sustainable Group Process

In our town’s relocalization group, we discovered that there was a very important element of process missing for some folks, especially the women. The group began powerfully - formed around an urgent need to prepare for “Powerdown” and Peak Oil. Primary attention was given to doing an inventory of our energy needs, matched by projects to forward solarization, local food production & sustainable lifestyle. This emphasis was not clearly matched by an equivalent valuation of the overall vision, attention to quality of leadership, relationship, communication as equals, the need for bringing in all players, all members of the group “as they were”. The leadership was mostly left brained males who had a linear view of our needs and met this with old fashioned hierarchical leadership. The emerging values of a partnership model of process were rarely introduced except occasionally by myself, several other vocal women or an occassional muffled voice from the back of the room.

This need for different leadership and process was never formally addressed in the larger group. However - the slow attrition of our community’s most powerful and intelligent women led me to realize that something was wrong - very wrong! I made an informal survey after one “event” involving a confrontation between a strong alpha male and an equally strong female. There was almost universal agreement along gender lines - the women felt that “abusive behavior” had occurred, yet the men all saw nothing wrong with what had happened! After this situation repeated itself another time, we called a women’s council. The concerns that I had been vocalizing was indeed shared by many others, and indeed - we then agreed that if we are to create a paradigm shift - a different and new future based on sustainable relationships and true leadership with grass roots governance - a system very different than what we have today - we would have to explore the nature of power, and define what is women’s power, and add it to the mix of current power models. Was it different than what the dominant culture recognizes as power, as leadership, as a way to create lasting working groups and manifest action and change? We agreed that a model of acceptance of people “where they are” is at the root of this new way of being together.

A wealth of monthly meetings were jointly planned and led, with some even being collaboratively created from the group present - right on the spot. There was also a retreat which unfolded many core values, and this following workshop on collaboration resulted after over a year’s work on leadership and governance.

Exploration of the Collaboration Framework
- Women’s Council, Willits, April 2008

This workshop is an exploration of a way in which groups of people can function in a cooperative, non-hierarchal way. We hope you will be inspired to add your thoughts as we explore it.
Core Values & Qualities that support the framework
· Value each other’s talents, gifts and resources: Everyone is special and has something to offer.
· Let go of personal attachment in favor of group outcome
· Honor all voices: Provide opportunities for all to be heard; honor all voices including non-verbal cues, our own inner voices; Offer acknowledgement; Safety to express a contrary point of view; Patience to make room for those who are clearly expressing themselves.

· Respect process: Trust how each will be informed by it.

· Encourage a high level of awareness of self and others
· High level of respectful communication: conscious speaking and deep listening; heart to heart connection
· Synergistic (From the Greek word synergo) working together; a mutually advantageous conjunction or compatibility of distinct elements; refers to the phenomenon in which two or more discrete influences or agents acting together create an effect greater than that predicted.

. Time together - take the time to deepen understandings, to be creatively together in this way.

~~~~
Here are two examples of collaborative
processes that work within the framework:

Raise the Flag Model: Someone has an idea, presents, and becomes part of the group effort to manifest it. The flag raiser lets it go if there is no energy around the idea.

Potluck Model: The group comes together and everyone forms the idea and is part of the manifestation process

You are invited to offer comments and notes for further organic expansion of the Collaborative Framework processes, concepts and qualities as we discuss and practice them for our mutual & sustainable future. Read one of Riane Eisler’s books to get you started…The Power of Partnership is a good one!

“If the many millions of concerned citizens and ‘cultural creatives’ would read this book (The Power of Partnership) and act on its step-by-step approach to personal development, the USA could see a new flowering of communities and effective democracy. Eisler is a brilliant role model as a global citizen - and as one of the pre-eminent minds of our time. “

Hazel Henderson,
author of Beyond Globalization

RETIREMENT v.s. LIFESTYLE - for BOOMERS ONLY!

It is time to ask ourselves….What is our beloved work? I am talking about beloved work at an enjoyable pace that offers time for some community service, time for family and friends…
An enjoyable pace of new and interesting work, or something we have “always wanted to do” can substitute for the fast - disappearing retirement we were promised so blithely those many years ago.

<> Who knew when we were 20 that in order to retire someday that we should get a “County Job” or a Corporate Job with a safe ( haha) Pension Plan? Now it is clear that the silver threads among the gold are not made of the real stuff. The pending recession is on everyone’s lips, in all media and I for one - a small business owner who is seeing a very real concerning downturn - will seemingly never “retire” to the front porch, or the back garden - unless it is to grow my own “local food”.

How did so many of us screw this up? Was it a screw up? We became entrepreneaurs and uniquely created new visions, jobs and businesses from the changes that the ’70’s and the booming ’80’s wrought on our world. Seems likely that we would have done that - and we did. Now things are changing - fast. I am repositioning my imported costumes with reusable, reclaimed fabric organic bags, and finding some commercial interest in my obsession with replacing personal plastic water bottles, but only time will tell if any of it is a pipedream or a real opportunity…not wanting to make a fortune, just find a right livelihood that gives me pleasure as well as a simple living. What next? I’ll let you know!! I think I’ll go out and plant some peas…

<>Anyway - Happy Earth Day! That is a comforting and stable date we all have each year, now isn’t it? I am still working for the future of our 7th Generation, how about you?

PS - Since I wrote this post - I found a great new site - about recreating yourself in later life…very cool!    http://www.rebootyou.com/index.php

in celebration of the earth

This is an incredible poem in celebration of the earth - appropriate for earth day! I love Rafael’s poetry!!!

If We Do Not Speak

If we do not speak to praise the Earth,
it is best we keep silent.

Praise air
that fills the bellow of the lung
& feeds our heart’s blood;
that carries light,
the smell of flowers & the seas,
the songs of birds & the wind’s howl;
that conspires with distance
to make the mountains blue.

Praise fire
that lights the day & warms the night;
that cooks our food & gives motion to our wills;
that is the heart of Earth, this fragment of a star;
that burns & purifies for good or ill.

Praise water
that makes the rivers & the seas;
that gives substance to the clouds & us;
that makes green the forests & the fields;
that swells the fruit & wombs our birth.

Praise earth
that is the ground, the mountain, & the stones;
that holds the forests & roots our sustenance;
that is the garden & the desert sand;
that builds our bones & salts the seas, the blood;
that is our home & place.

If we do not speak in praise of the Earth,
if we do not sing in celebration of life,
it is best we keep silent.

© Rafael Jesús González 2005

<>Si No Hablamos

Si no hablamos para alabar a la Tierra,
es mejor que guardemos silencio.

Loa al aire
que llena el fuelle del pulmón
y alimenta la sangre del corazón;
que lleva la luz,
el olor de las flores y los mares,
los cantos de las aves y el aullido del viento;
que conspira con la distancia
para hacer azul el monte

Loa al fuego
que alumbra el día y calienta la noche,
cuece nuestro alimento y da ímpetu a nuestra voluntad;
que es el corazón de la Tierra, este fragmento de lucero;
que quema y purifica por bien o por mal.

Loa al agua
que hace a los ríos y a los mares;
que da sustancia a la nube y a nosotros;
que hace verde a los bosques y los campos;
que hincha al fruto y envientra nuestro nacer.

Loa a la tierra
que es el suelo, la montaña, y las piedras;
que lleva los bosques y arraiga nuestro sustento,
que es el jardín y la arena del desierto;
que nos forma los huesos y sala los mares, la sangre;
que es nuestro hogar y sitio.

Si no hablamos en alabanza a la Tierra,
si no cantamos en celebración de la vida,
es mejor que guardemos silencio.

© Rafael Jesús González 2005

About Peak Oil and Gender

About Peak Oil and Gender …..

There has been much good written about ways of re-creating our society in a partnership model, as different from the dominator continuum . Riane Eisler is the originator of this paradigm, and she is modeling this in her own lifework. Neither she or I am proposing that women and men model separate types of behavior exclusively – but, if you have the chance to participate in women’s groups and note their leadership style, you will also note that there is a great deal to be emulated for our society and governance as a whole.

Spirituality has become the word of the hour. But what is spirituality? What does being spiritual mean? For me, as for many others, spirituality means feeling at one with that which we call the divine. But when I think of the divine I… think of our own most evolved qualities: our profound human capacity for empathy, for love, our striving for justice, our hunger for beauty, our yearning to create. I think being spiritual means being ethical and, in the true sense of the word, moral.”
-Riane Eisler

Why not take the conversation about spirituality and gender balance one step further …if you dare!

I am happy to say that recently the WELL (Willits Economic LocaLization) group in Willits voted to make gender a priority in our governance documents. This is significant in the Peak Oil movement which is predominately lead by men and whose opinion leaders are also almost exclusively white, male and over 40. This is understandable, since the science and information that guides this trend comes from oil geology, climate theorists and geologists, most of whom have worked in the hallowed halls of industry and academia for decades to get their “take” on the situation. I am not debating their qualifications to get us the undeniable information and facts.

However, my concern is the present lack of numbers of women and youth as speakers and presenters of this information. And, further - the lack of balance between the much heralded intellectual/action oriented skills and the relational/nurturance skills that will also be very much required under duress or conditions of change as imagined in most peak oil scenarios. This very thing could doom us to failure of future – we are not hearing the voice of balance – not only gender, but the component I choose to call divine feminine. Yes, I am jumping into a discussion of spirit and values here.

The Divine Feminine movement is about re-establishing values that our cultural paradigm (shall we say it - patriarchy ) considers “feminine,” and has rendered insignificant and of less value. The qualities of relationship building, caring and nurturing are among them. I would add the value of cooperation instead of competition is on my list – although we can argue that it is hardly a gender issue. The important point is that we always create the future using the tools of the present, and the process is the end result. This, guided by the values of nurture and cooperation - we will create a future climate of kindness, compassion, justice and fairness. Peace and wholeness might prevail for ourselves and our children. It might mean and end to war and environmental disaster. It would mean the end of a climate of power over and domination, as the partnership model would be valued as preeminent.

This discussion has a spiritual element, actually – its very center, and I believe this is the true key to bringing the Balance back. Our cultural role model is a Masculine God (and His Son or prophets – all male) How can we worship within a mythology that has no female element to it – even though almost all life on this planet comes out of the female? The spiritual future we would create requires bringing back into balance the male and female faces of God,

placing the Sacred Feminine alongside the Divine Masculine that has ruled alone for over 4000 years. Perhaps the newfound interest in the Mary Magdalene mystery is due to this need for balance. What if the message of Christianity has been sidelined for these years, and really was meant to come from the wisdom of a woman and man – in balance? To quote the famous Bahai leader, Abdul-Baha, “We believe the world of humanity is possessed of two wings: the male and the female. So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength, the bird will not fly.”

The Divine Feminine movement is about partnership, not just among genders, but within society, institutions and governments, for all peoples. It’s potential is the peaceful future of justice, love and relationship we all crave. How can we bring it into action? Start by ending the denial of such a thing. We can grow from there.

“Human Evolution is now at a crossroads. Stripped to its essentials, the central human task is how to organize society to promote the survival of our species and the development of our unique potentials. A partnership society offers us a viable alternative.“

Riane Eisler
The Chalice and The Blade <>
<>- Wishing you the best of our alternative future <>…Ann Brigit Waters Weller

Retail Stores are using LEED for Greening Up!

The new face of retail by Debra Atlas

                                                                        - Sustainable Industries 4.8.08

---

The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) newest rating system—set to launch in 2008—could have significant impacts on the retail building market.Since 1998, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards have transformed the design, construction and operation of high performance sustainable buildings. The LEED for Retail program offers certification opportunities for retail spaces that are either new construction (NC) projects or commercial interior (CI) projects.LEED for Retail-NC encompasses new and newly renovated standalone buildings while the LEED for Retail-CI classification allows tenants of shopping centers, malls or other adjoined space to certify a face-lift or build-out of their retail space. The system’s evolution. A consensus-driven organization, USGBC realized from member feedback that credits for LEED-CI certification didn’t fit retailers’ varied needs, prompting the organization to launch the LEED for Retail pilot program.

While office buildings have long-term employees, fairly consistent water usage, and office-specific lighting, the energy and resource use in retail spaces are typically irregular: Customer traffic and water use varies, and some spaces, such as restaurants and grocers, often use refrigeration or other high-energy equipment. In particular, the lighting needs of retail—vastly different from offices—are critical for business.

In developing the LEED for Retail-NC rating, UCGBS recognized that equipment with high energy consumption unique to restaurants and grocery stores, including commercial kitchen equipment, refrigeration units, commercial dishwashers and washing machines—even the ventilation and hoods above a cooking area— needed to be incorporated in the rating system. Unique to retail, the components (which contribute to “process energy loads”) hadn’t been considered in any LEED rating before.

Similarly, retail stores pose a challenge in terms of what falls under the certification’s purview and what doesn’t. “If you took the roof off and turned the building upside down, whatever didn’t fall out is part of the certification,” says Ralph DiNola, principle at Portland–based consulting firm Green Building Services, which USGBC contracted to help manage the LEED for Retail pilot program. More than 80 project teams joined the pilot in 2007 to create and test the new ratings.

What’s in store? LEED for Retail’s new standards are important, as are their consequences. Companies utilizing the standards will impact the manufacturers of the products they stock. Sustainable Industries reports on the impact large retailers such as Coldwater Creek (Nasdaq: CWTR) are having on the marketplace. Read more

Many retail locations have large pieces of casework or furniture that aren’t exactly part of the building—they’re not built in or bolted down. Such features are not currently considered in the rating system, which DiNola says is an oversight. On the whole, however, the new LEED for Retail rating systems make it easier for retailers to renovate and achieve LEED certification requirements, says DiNola’s colleague, Nina Tallinger.

Inside the program LEED for Retail covers a wide spectrum of projects, accommodating any size building. Pilot program projects include quick-serve restaurants, large-format retailers, big stand-alone stores, small retail stores, banks—even a spa. They’re in both urban and rural areas across the United States and in Canada.

Like the other LEED ratings, LEED for Retail is scored on a point system, requiring rigorous documentation from conception, through the design and construction phase, to the finished building. Top-rated projects achieving Platinum certification can earn up to 70 points, while Certified-level projects must earn at least 26.

Parking and site access to public transportation are key elements of LEED for Retail. LEED offers credits when retailers provide preferred parking for employees, and offer incentives to employees that ride public transportation to work or that book time in a car sharing program for work-related driving. There are also credits available for retailers that provide preferred parking for low-emitting and/or fuel-efficient vehicles. While some retailers worry about pushing people farther from their entrances, a few retailers, including Wild Oats (now owned by Whole Foods Markets), PCC Natural Markets, and Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) have all designated preferred parking spots for customers with alternative-fuel vehicles.

Pilot program participants also recognized the need to educate in-house sales teams on the LEED for Retail guidelines. Since many companies continue working with contractors with whom they have long-standing relationships; therefore, educating such partners about LEED standards, practices and requirements is vital for a project’s success. For example, San Francisco–based design firm Gensler worked with REI’s existing contractor to educate them on LEED.

As with other LEED certifications, cost can be a serious concern. While most retail-oriented developers can find cost-effective materials and see a quick payback on efficiency investments, undergoing LEED certification can add significant costs to a project. Registering a LEED project costs $450 for USGBC members and $600 for non-members.

The USGBC application fee for LEED certification is $1,750 for up to 50,000 square feet. Fees for large buildings (up to 50,000 square feet) are $0.035 per-square-foot. Smaller retail projects, or developers with numerous locations, can find the process pricey and LEED documentation difficult to justify on a cost basis.

To that end, USGBC is also testing out a volume certification program aimed at retail brands with a growing real estate footprint. The volume certification program allows companies to submit their prototype to a design review, verify the suitable execution of three projects for every 50 locations included in the program, and call all locations certified at the end of the process. While the final fees haven’t been determined, current participants pony up $45,000 just to enroll. However, for companies with 50 to 100 buildings, the program can bring per-building costs within a developer’s budget.

It also fits in with chain retailers’ business strategy, DiNola says.

“It’s serial repetition of the prototype,” he says. “It’s the whole idea behind a consistent brand. Customers will get the same product every time, everywhere they go.” If a company can green its prototype, it can streamline the reduction of its real estate’s overall carbon footprint.

Why stock green building principles? Why would developers or retailers put themselves through such a rigorous and intensive process? Where’s the payoff? The benefits start with the savings. Read more

Research shows a direct correlation between time and money spent by customers and increased levels of natural light through bigger windows, skylights or products such as Solatubes. Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) has reported higher sales in stores with increased natural daylight. In addition, many LEED projects qualify for a variety of financial incentives from state and local governments, including rebates from utilities, city rebates on investment costs, expedited permitting, state and federal tax credits and even federal grant programs.

“There’s a lot of ‘free’ money out there, says Scott Shippey, director of design for Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG). Chipotle, a well-known Mexican fast-food chain that offers customers sustainably raised meats, organic ingredients, and recycled paper products, has two projects in the LEED for Retail pilot program. The company expects to break ground on its Gurney Mills, Ill., site outside of Chicago, a free-standing building that’s part of the LEED for Retail-NC program.

A Chipotle outlet in Ridgedale, Minn., a tenant finish in an existing mall, is pursuing LEED for Retail-CI. The Gurney Mills project design includes a 6-kilowatt wind turbine, which could capitalize on Lake Michigan winds to offset 7 to 10 percent of the store’s energy needs, Shippey estimates. Both locations are expected to open by the end of the third quarter of 2008.

Building green wasn’t a big struggle for Chipotle, according to Shippey. He notes Chipotle’s management team led the process, as part of the company’s goal of operating responsibly. “What would it mean to have a more sustainable vision for development?” Shippey says, “You may need to start with small steps, building up to full LEED for Retail practices. Do your best for the company and increase towards sustainability.”

Kirstin Ritchie, regional director of sustainable design for Gensler, offers a different perspective. Gensler designs numerous LEED-certified buildings, including Toyota (NYSE: TM) dealerships, several Gold-certified REI stores, and the anticipated “Live in L.A.” facility, adjacent to the Los Angeles Convention Center. “If you want to influence green design, you have to do it at the prototype stage,” Richie says. “If you don’t get it in at that point in time, trying to modify the specs … is very difficult. When we’re working in prototype, we really try to push the envelope on green features before it goes to roll-out.”

REI’s award-winning retail store in Boulder, Colo.

Several companies have adopted this approach, and the last few years have seen a batch of prototype stores pursuing LEED certification: Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) and Toyota. A nationally known retail cooperative providing quality outdoor clothing and gear, REI received Chain Store Age’s 2007 Retail Store of the Year award; it’s Boulder, Colo., store—a prototype to test green design and building concepts—is the first-ever winner in the Environmental Sustainability award category.

As for many retailers, the feel of an REI store is critical for communicating the brand’s image. How do LEED-driven changes to store design, lighting and materials affect the customer experience?

For REI, lighting was a key issue. As a clothing retailer, the company is concerned with color rendering and product visibility. But that’s not all: “Lighting for this nature-oriented store is key,” says Ted Jacobs, director of design at Gensler. With custom-designed lighting, Solatubes and light monitors that automatically adjust lighting, REI’s 44,000-square-foot store has “blurred the lines between daylight inside and out,” he says.

REI’s Portland, Ore., store received a LEED-Gold certification in 2004. Later this year, the co-op anticipates earning a LEED-Silver rating for its Boulder retail store and plans to open a second prototype store in Texas. Looking to the future Ritchie says a growing number of progressive shopping center developers, designing for urban and suburban areas, will make it easy for tenants to get LEED certified or pursue greener retail strategies, from energy-efficient design to low-emitting paints and finishes. In part, she says, demand will help drive the market; brokers see LEED as an attractive benefit for retail leasing.

“Retailers are curious, watching their competition to see what they do in terms of sustainability and LEED certification,” says Tallinger. USGBC expects both LEED for Retail ratings to be completed in 2008—with LEED for Retail-NC projected to “go live” by August, and LEED for Retail-CI by November.

For retailers unsure about taking that first step, Justin Doak, manager of the LEED for Retail program, says the program is a great way to introduce companies to the LEED certification process and learn more about the costs and benefits of green building practices.

For those already incorporating LEED design principles into their business decisions, LEED for Retail is a practical next step. Whil the pilot program is closed to new participants, companies eager to get involved can register under current LEED programs, but certify under the LEED for Retail standard once it’s released for the regular market.

More information:
This article appeared as part of the “2008 Green Real Estate Guide,” a digital supplement to the April 2008 issue of the magazine. Download Sustainable Industries “2008 Green Real Estate Guide” for more information about LEED for Retail as well as complete listings of LEED-certified commercial and retail spaces on the West Coast.

Find the LEED for Retail Checklist and the LEED for Retail Policy Manual at www.usgbc.org.