Appraisal Podcasts

Saving the Earth Inside the Office

Larry Laque, an executive with Silver Spring-based Discovery Communications, felt something amiss last year as his company began gearing up to announce a 24-hour television channel devoted to an all-green lifestyle. Discovery would be preaching environmental awareness around the clock on its Planet Green network, but Laque thought the company was not doing all it could do to recycle, conserve energy and pollute less.

Follow this link for the full article on how they made the transformation.

Building Green - Graphic

Follow the link above to a full size image of this graphic. It shows various components of a building that have a green flavor. 

The World’s Endangered Lakes : Running Dry

You need not go to the Middle East, North Africa or Southeast Asia, where there are already reported water shortages, to understand the value and scarcity of the life-giving liquid. Just look in America’s own back yard. The American Southwest has been in a protracted drought for nearly a decade, with sinking water levels in lakes and rivers and decreasing snowpack in the mountains. And now a prominent scientist from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, says that Lake Mead, which supplies water to 22 million people throughout the region, could be bone dry in just 13 years.

For the complete story, follow this link.

Kite Power Could Finally Pull Global Shipping to the Green Side

Parasailing may no longer be just for your Caribbean vacation. This month, a commercial cargo ship will become the first to go into service employing a large parafoil lashed to its bow to provide a cheaper—and cleaner—way across the waves.

If the 459-ft. vessel, built and operated by the Bremen-based Beluga Group, demonstrates the practicality of its SkySails system, the global shipping industry might have a new way to mitigate its environmental impact—for every single vessel—as the world’s biggest contributor to greenhouse gases.

For the complete article jump to this link 

Green Lodging News ~ Lodging’s Leading Environmental News Source

Finding energy efficient schools, supermarkets, offices, and other facilities throughout the country has become even easier for Americans interested in being green. Now they can find the Energy Star not only where they live but where they work, shop, play and learn. The number of commercial buildings and manufacturing plants to earn the Energy Star for superior energy efficiency is up by more than 25 percent in the past year, and the amount of carbon dioxide emissions reduced has reached an all-time high of more than 25 billion pounds.

For the full story follow this link.

Los Angeles Times : Green building trends

To review a the latest happenings in green building (as observed at the International Builder’s Show in Orlando, Fla.), follow this link.

Americas 50 Greenest Cities

Want to see a model for successful and rapid environmental action? Don’t look to the federal government—check out your own town. Here is a list of the 50 communities that are leading the way. Does yours make the cut?

The top 5 include:

1. Portland
2. San Francisco
3. Boston
4. Oakland
5. Eugene

The complete list can be found here.