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Did You Know...?
In the U.S., buildings account for 39 percent of CO2 emissions, 40
percent of energy consumption, 13 percent of water consumption and 15 percent
of the Gross Domestic Product annually.
Source: U.S. Green Building Council
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 Great Forest Metrics Available Online
The Great Forest Sustainability Metrics will provide a snapshot of your business' sustainability in three basic areas: energy, waste & recycling and water. These simple tools allow you to:
- Define a baseline
- Set sustainability goals
- Track progress
- Communicate your goals and progress through colorful visual aids.
Give it a try here
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Great Forest Gives Back
Great Forest is a proud supporter of the nonprofit Blacksmith Institute, which works to solve life-threatening pollution problems in the world's worst polluted places. Blacksmith is currently engaged in over 40 cleanup projects in 19 countries.
THANK YOU TO ALL GREAT FOREST CLIENTS AND FRIENDS who came out for the annual Blacksmith golf benefit to putt for a good cause. We raised over $30,000 to support cleanup projects in the world's worst polluted places!
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About Great Forest
Great Forest provides sustainability consulting and project management expertise
To date Great Forest has worked with more than half of all commercial office space and hotels in Manhattan and over 1,500 buildings across the country, covering approximately 350 million sq. ft.
Contact Us
Great Forest, Inc.
2014 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10035
Ph: (212) 779-4757
Fax: (212) 779-8044
www.greatforest.com
Improve Environmental Performance, Reduce Costs
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Industry Veteran Joins Great Forest As COO to Expand Services
We have some exciting news to share. As you may know, we have been expanding our team. As of October, industry veteran Drew Masters has joined Great Forest as Chief Operating Officer.
"I am excited to be joining one of the leading sustainability consultancies in the country at this dynamic time of expansion," says Drew. "Over the next few weeks, I will be introducing myself to all of Great Forest's clients. I look forward to hearing from you as we work together to be leaner and greener."
Drew will handle day-to-day operations and oversee the expansion of the sustainability and energy services offered by Great Forest. He brings an extensive background in business management and commercial real estate along with nearly 30 years of experience.
Richard Fuller will remain Great Forest's president. He will continue to oversee Great Forest as well as Blacksmith Institute, the nonprofit he founded to solve life-threatening pollution problems in the world's worst polluted places.
"Drew will be a seminal addition to our team," Richard notes. "His presence will add value beyond his years of experience."
Join us in welcoming Drew! Also, meet another new Great Forest team member below.
-- The Great Forest Team
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Great Forest News
Great Forest Clients Help Raise Money to Clean up World's Worst Polluted Places
Thank you to all Great Forest clients and friends who came out in full force to support the nonprofit Blacksmith Institute at their annual
golf benefit on Sept. 22 at the Tuxedo Club.
We raised over $30,000
in one afternoon for cleanup projects in the world's worst polluted places! We couldn't
have done it without your help. See more photographs of the golf
benefit here. |
Overview of Existing and Emerging Legislation
 Great Forest has compiled an overview of the existing and emerging legislation affecting businesses as lawmakers push to green existing buildings.
This includes an outline of the NYC Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability's efforts, information on financing energy saving improvements with $16M from the federal stimulus package, and more.
Remember to check the resources page on the Great Forest website for regulatory updates. |
Great Forest Welcomes New Team Member
 Vijay Jesrani joins Great Forest as a sustainability consultant. He is an ISO 14001 certified auditor and will advise clients on environmental management systems. Prior to Great Forest, Vijay counseled multinational corporations on stakeholder engagement, NGO partnerships and sustainability reporting at Edelman. He holds a B.S. in Political Science from Carnegie Mellon University. |
New York Times Reports on Great Forest Client's Energy Tracking System
 Great Forest client Vornado Realty Trust, NYC's biggest commercial landlord, has come up with a way to help tenants cut energy costs.
Vornado is attaching a series of small sensors to meters in 16 buildings that provide data on energy use. Vornado says in the NYT article that this "enables tenants to track how much energy their employees are using and to deal with overuse rapidly."
The report suggests that efforts like this may spread "as the New York City Council is drafting a law that will dispatch auditors to measure large buildings' energy use, with potential fines for landlords who fail to retrofit their systems."
Landlords can also stay ahead of the curve by getting snapshots of their buildings' sustainability with the Great Forest Sustainability Metrics. This online tool tracks the use of energy, waste and recycling, water and other markers of sustainability. Try it now.
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Lessons from the Urban Green Expo - Green Leases and Rethinking Everything
Anna Dengler, Great Forest's director of sustainability came away from The Urban
Green Expo (September 22-23, 2009) with some great insights. She shares them with us here:
The Urban Green Expo was brimming with advice, from "Measure your Carbon Footprint"
to "Start Taking Action with Energy Retrofits." These are important steps toward sustainability, to be sure. However, one of the most
important ideas came from Rohit Aggarwala, director of the NYC Mayor's office of long-term planning and sustainability. In his opening keynote address he argued that green leases has arguably the most important
role in promoting energy efficiency projects. When
the efficiency incentives are in the right place, stipulated in a lease, building managers and tenants will make the necessary
changes to benefit their own bottom line as well as reduce their energy
use. All
properties in New York will likely incorporate some form of a green
lease over the next few years. Let Great Forest help your building learn about green leases and how to create one.
I think Amory Lovins, chairman and chief scientist of Rocky Mountain Institute, said it best in his closing keynote. His point was unmistakable - rethink everything. Start from your desired result and go back through the steps that will get you there by looking at ways to make efficiency changes. I believe that is at the heart of sustainability - look at things from a new perspective and find what is really important.
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Great Forest Q&A
 Q: What is a Green Lease?
A: The "green lease" is becoming more popular with building management firms who have committed to sustainability and wish to promote responsible energy and material use within their building portfolios.
Green leases typically require both the landlord and tenant to use energy and resources efficiently, regardless of the cost of energy; this usually results in lower operating costs for both parties. According to LORD Green Real Estate Strategies, a dual-incentive green lease may result in a 20%-40% reduction in energy demand for a commercial green building.
For more information, check out this detailed article from Environmental Design + Construction magazine and contact Great Forest to see how green leases can work for you.
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News Report
Kerry-Boxer Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act
On September 30, Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer introduced the Kerry-Boxer legislation to create clean energy jobs, reduce pollution, and protect American security by enhancing domestic energy production and combating global climate change.
The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act will cut carbon pollution and stimulate the economy by creating millions of jobs in the clean energy sector. This Act may have a direct impact on Great Forest clients interested in pursuing renewable energy options at their facilities through the creation of clean energy programs and green jobs initiatives.
We will keep you posted on this and other federal initiatives to stimulate the green economy and how they will impact your business.
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"One Year, One Thousand Green Supers" and "NYC Cool Roofs"
Read about two innovative ways NYC is cultivating green building upgrades.
The article reiterates that "energy savings from buildings is the
lowest-cost method of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to
the consulting firm McKinsey & Company. In addition, greener
buildings could save the New York real estate industry as much as $230
million a year in operating expenses."
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US Green Building Council Calls for Climate Change Legislation
 On September 23, the U.S. Green Building Council led a delegation of sustainable building professionals to Capitol Hill to push for climate change legislation as part of World Green Building Day. Events such as this signify the important role green buildings play in managing global climate change.
Events and high-level talks focusing on climate change are accelerating in the run-up to the climate agreement negotiations scheduled at the UN Climate Change Conference in December in Copenhagen.
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