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CRedit 360 Partnership
Sustainable Moments of 2011
Did You Know?
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We are beginning 2012 with great news... 

Did you miss anything last year?  Join us on a look back at 2011. Happy new year.  

 -- The Great Forest team  

 

CRedit360Great Forest Partners with CRedit360 to offer access to sophisticated data platform 

   

LEED Gold for 2325 Dulles Corner Blvd in Herndon, VAGreat Forest is partnering with premier sustainability software provider CRedit360 to offer clients access to the same robust platform used by Fortune 500 companies to harness their corporate social responsibility data.   

 

The new tools will expand Great Forest's own metrics system with additional features that will especially benefit clients with large real estate portfolios or complex supply chains.

 

Clients can continue to rely on Great Forest to manage, analyze and interpret the data and access updated reports and information online anytime, anywhere. The web-based system requires no software installations. 

 

"With the CRedit 360 system and Great Forest's metrics, clients can respond quickly to the growing demand for sustainability reporting, whether they are a small business or a large nationwide company," says Great Forest sustainability consultant Nate Kimball. "We can manage their data on the platform most suited to their needs." 

 

To learn more about the new platform or the Great Forest sustainability metrics, email [email protected]

 

MomentsSustainable Moments of 2011 

  

As we settle into the new year, here is a look back at the some of the developments, regulations, lessons and news from the last year that made us all a little greener.  

   

January

2011 was the year of benchmarking. Regulations in cities across the country began to require buildings to be benchmarked while a global sustainability trends report released early in the year pointed to the increasing importance of sustainability reporting and data management. Great Forest entered the twitterverse.  

 

February

Great Forest launched a free benchmarking helpline to answer questions from building owners and clear misconceptions about new regulations. If you still have questions about benchmarking or other sustainability issues, you can always ask Great Forest's nationwide network of consultants.  

 

March

Does your recycling rate really reflect your recycling efforts?  Great Forest's director of recycling services explained the numbers game behind recycling for readers of Environmental Leader.   

 

APRIL

Earth Day - a giant cardboard sculpture was constructed in the lobby of a New Jersey office building to make a big statement about recycling.  Built over ten hours using hundreds of cafeteria trays that were discarded instead of recycled, the ceiling-high tower generated a lot of talk about waste and recycling. Great Forest stages events like this, as well as small-scale educational sessions, for clients throughout the year.    

 

MAY

Great Forest presented data to over 100 industry and local government representatives, haulers and facilities managers in Virginia. The information showed that effective waste and recycling management could dramatically lower waste costs by as much as 50%.  See a summary of the case studies here. 

 

JUNE

How do you increase overall building efficiency? Great Forest's director of sustainability explained that one way is to build sustainability through tenants by conducting individual tenant sustainability reviews. 

  

JULY

As part of our ongoing research into sustainability services, facilities and products, Great Forest visited Next Level for Recycling, one of a handful of facilities that specializes in recycling electronics. Look out for more field trip reports and other research results on our Sustainability 101 page

 

AUGUST 

To take advantage of valuable NYSERDA Existing Building and Flex-Tech funding, New York buildings began planning energy audits and retro-commissioning way ahead of the 2013 deadline.  If you have not started, there's still time.   

 

SEPTEMBER 

Great Forest struck gold twice in the nation's top LEED city. Refresh your memory and learn why you should use LEED as the starting point for greater sustainability.  

 

OCTOBER

The Great Forest team brought back ten simple lessons from Greenbuild in Toronto and shared their unique approach to activating green thinking and behavior in Get The Message With Big Green Statements.  

 

NOVEMBER

Sustainability 101 was launched to compile Great Forest's sustainability knowledge archive into one easy-to-access resource.  America Recycle's Day provided us with more opportunity to get the word out at various events across the country.    

 

DECEMBER  

$4 billion investment in energy upgrades to public and private buildings was announced. (Read more below) 

 

Did You Know...$4 Billion Was Recently Allocated to Upgrade Efficiency of Existing Buildings?

 

As part of the Better Buildings Challenge
President Obama and former president Clinton recently announced $4 billion in public and private funding for energy upgrades to existing buildings such as office, industrial, school, federal, and municipal buildings.
 
"Upgrading the energy efficiency of America's buildings is one of the fastest, easiest, and cheapest ways to save money, cut down on harmful pollution, and create good jobs right now," the President explained.
 
The Better Buildings Challenge was announced earlier this year to motivate buildings to become 20% more efficient by 2020. By way of Presidential Memorandum, Obama committed $2 billion in public funding for upgrades to federal buildings. This commitment was met by $2 billion in private sector funding through a collaborative with the Clinton Global Initiative.
 
Each year, buildings consume 39% of total U.S. energy usage and 68% of total U.S. electricity. Taking steps to cut buildings' energy use - like those that have already been initiated in cities like New York - could make a huge dent in our nation's emissions. Every dollar put into upgrading a building's energy efficiency saves money for the life of the building in energy costs.

 

Have a question?  Ask a Great Forest expert.