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Did You Know...?
There is a mass of trash twice the size of the continental United States floating in a vortex between California and Japan known as the Pacific Trash Vortex. Like a toilet bowl that never flushes, it's filled with plastic debris from man made items. So much so that from the first time it was studied until now, it has grown from the size of the state of Texas to twice the size of the continental United States!
Source: 5gyres.org, Care 2
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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.
Read the 2009 World's Worst Polluted Places report: 12 Cases of Cleanup and Success.
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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. Services include: - Environmental Assessments
- Waste and Recycling Consulting
- Waste Brokering
- Energy Services
- ISO 14001 & 9001
- LEED Consulting
- Sustainability Advisory Services
What gets measured gets managed -- Try the Great Forest Sustainability Metrics now.
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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Looking Ahead to a New Decade: Greetings from Great Forest's New COO
It's been three months since I assumed the COO position here at Great Forest and in that time, I have already had the pleasure of meeting many of Great Forest's clients and friends, some of whom I have already known for years. I have plans for more trips out in the field so if I have not introduced myself to you personally yet, I will soon. Of course, I am available to answer any of your questions via email or phone. My door is always open.
The past decade has brought geometric development in technology, growth of the world community and significant attention to environmental issues. I predict that the new decade will magnify the world's attention to sustainability and the long term value of being green, especially if what's happening in NYC (see below) is any indication.
As we begin 2010, I would like to wish everybody, on behalf of Richard Fuller and the Great Forest staff, a very happy and successful New Year.
-- Drew Masters
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In Depth: NYC Leaps into Bold Green Future
This
new year started with New York City taking the lead in sustainability
by passing a number of laws that will require buildings of all types to attain
certain sustainability and energy benchmarks over the next 15 years. Other cities around the country and the world will undoubtedly copy
these laws verbatim soon. Here's a brief rundown to keep you up to date on what this will mean for you:
The NYC Bicycle Access law, which went into effect in mid-December, provides a process for tenants to work with landlords to accommodate secure access and storage of bicycles for employees who ride their bicycles to work.
In late December, the New York City Council passed a package of four bills known as the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan.
The NYC Energy Conservation Code: This law changes the threshold for compliance with the NY State Energy Code for new construction and for renovation of buildings within NYC. The previous 50% rule has essentially been eliminated, which will result in a much higher level of compliance with the State Energy Code.
Benchmarking: This law requires that essentially all buildings of 50,000 square feet or larger must benchmark energy and water usage through the EPA's Portfolio Manager Tool. This will result in an Energy Star rating for the building that will be available to the public through city records.
Lighting and Submetering: This law requires that all major tenants be submetered for their energy consumption whenever a renovation occurs or by 2025. There is also a requirement that lighting be upgraded to the current energy code based on certain triggers or by 2025 as well.
Audits and Retro-Commissioning: This law requires that owners perform an energy audit and retro-commissioning of mechanical equipment every ten years. This requirement may be waived if the building is Energy Star or LEED certified.
Check the Resources page on Great Forest's Website for additional regulatory information.
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The Great Forest Office Composting Story
 Great Forest has been composting in our offices for as long as our staff can remember. When our office was located at 2 Park Avenue, we brought our organic scraps to the LESEC (Lower East Side Ecology Center) drop off point at Union Square Farmers Market. Since our move to Harlem in 2006, we have continued collecting organic scraps and bringing them to nearby farmers markets and local community gardens.
Just this month we met with Celia Moultrie, the president of the Unity Park Community Garden at 128th Street, and were given a key to the garden. Each week we bring a small amount of coffee grounds, apple cores, orange peels and other organic waste from our office to the garden where it is mixed with landscaping waste and decomposes to create nutrient rich compost which gardeners can use on their plots.
Composting reduces the amount of organic waste that is put in landfills, contributing to methane emissions, a greenhouse gas.
Celia also offered Great Forest a plot of ground to garden come spring. We're excited to be involved in this local Community Garden and will keep you posted on our waste reduction and gardening efforts.
Want to compost at your office? Contact us to learn how you can.
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EPA Energy Star National Building Competition
EPA presents the ENERGY STAR National Building Competition, the first coast-to-coast contest to save energy and fight global warming in commercial buildings.
ENERGY STAR partners are invited to nominate one or more of the facilities they own or manage from across the United States. Approximately a dozen contest participants will be selected by EPA and will "work off the waste" through improvements in energy efficiency with help from EPA's ENERGY STAR program. The building that reduces its energy use the most on a percentage basis will be recognized by EPA as the winner.
For more information, or to apply for your building to compete, go to www.energystar.gov/BuildingContest. Applications must be submitted by Feb. 12, 2010.
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 GREAT FOREST Q&A
Q: Our office has old furniture and computers we no longer need. Rather than throw them away, we'd like to donate them somewhere; can Great Forest help?
 A: If you have office furniture, supplies or equipment that can be reused rather than disposed of, check the Donation Assistance page on the Great Forest website. It lists resources for donating items to schools, nonprofits and other businesses in the NYC area.
For more help, contact your Great Forest representative with as much information as possible about your items, photos (if available), and your timeline. If your office is moving, consider starting the donation process several weeks before your move; it is often difficult to coordinate donations on very short notice.
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