Expert Q&As

Donna Hinds founded Branché, one of the first-ever environmentally-friendly clothing lines. It proved to be a huge success, selling to more than 800 specialty boutiques, as well as Nordstrom department stores. During her constant travels to support the line, she found that she no longer had the time to style her hair each morning. She remembered her mother's old pillow slip, and created a silk charmeuse pillow cover for her own use. Not only did the sleek cover protect her hair from creasing or breaking, but she discovered that it was great for her skin. She decided to expand her business, and experimented with different types of high-quality silk until she finally found the perfect one to create the Branché Silk Charmeuse Pillow Cover and Branchè Bell de Nuit Eye Masque-both unique because silk naturally contains 18 amino acids and copper to help fight the signs of aging and is a sustainable fabric.

> Read More

• Sustainability | Leave a comment

Vivian Wang is a Schwarz Legal Fellow and a member of the Litigation Team at Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in New York. Prior to joining NRDC, she clerked for Judge Leonard Sand on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She is a graduate of Columbia University, Oxford University, and Columbia Law School.

While working with NRDC to remove a potentially toxic bee pesticide from the market, Wang learned about the importance of bees to our ecosystem and was inspired to become a beeekper. After beekeeping in New York City was legalized in April, she helped install three hives of honeybees on NRDC's office rooftop in Chelsea. Since then, NRDC bees have been buzzing around Chelsea, pollinating the flowers and trees in neighboring green roofs and nearby parks. You can learn more about what NRDC is doing to help bees at beesafe.org.

> Read More

• Environment | Leave a comment

CM Real Estate Development (CMRED) is a rehab and redevelopment company based in Chicago that focuses on redeveloping high-quality, single-family homes and bungalows in Chicago's western suburbs while maintaining a strong commitment to green standards and environmentally-sound construction practices. CMRED's renovations preserve historic features like wood work and wood doors while modernizing the homes with green features, such as low flow plumbing, energy efficient appliances and HVAC systems. The company reuses building materials and utilizes local recyclers that recycle up to 95% of the waste generated during reconstruction. The homes are priced affordably with selling prices in the low-to-mid $100,000's.

Chris McAuliffe is a speaker for the U.S. Green Building Council-Illinois and an expert on green development, environmentally friendly construction, and local, state, and federal tax incentives for green homes. We spoke to Chris as he was finishing a green rehab on a vintage brick bungalow that is slated to be the first National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Green-Certified rehab in Illinois. The rehab was financed by Green Choice Bank, the Midwest's first community bank dedicated to a more sustainable world with values that enhance environmental, social, and financial well-being.

> Read More

• Green Building | Leave a comment

Bazzeo was founded in 2007 by Ana Sternberg and her husband, Iko Aviv, in response to a growing demand for contemporary sustainable cabinetry manufactured in the U.S. Bazzeo was looking to provide the same quality and design as European manufacturers, but also lower the lead times with a manufacturing facility in New Jersey. We talked with Ana Sternberg about where the company is heading.

> Read More

• Sustainability | Leave a comment

Sybil Taylor is communications director at Steam Whistle Brewing, Canada's most sustainable brewery. A marketing veteran, she began her career in the industry in 1987. In 2000, Taylor became Steam Whistle Brewing's first employee, filling the role of director of marketing for the brewery's first three years, during which she launched its iconic brand and helped to shape its unique market position. She then switched gears, transferring her focus to communications, developing one of the most active and interesting websites in the beer industry, and bringing record media attention to her brand. Taylor also became the steward of Steam Whistle's environmental initiatives, for which the company has received much public recognition and numerous awards. She is proud that many of the founding principles and programs she established in the early years are still driving the marketing for one of Canada’s best brewing success stories.

> Read More

• Sustainability | Leave a comment

Elliot Kracko is the CEO of Gamma, a nearly $200 million curtain-wall company that specializes in everything from banks to high-rises. He started in the industry in 1970 by buying a small glass shop, and gradually worked his way up by building larger and larger structures and expanding his business. Kracko eventually partnered with Glassalum, and was made CEO in 1987. He retired in 2002, but was brought back to head Gamma in 2007, and increased its revenues from about $30 million annually, to just shy of $200 million in just a few years, despite hard economic times for the industry. Here he answers a few questions about Gamma, and talks about the secrets to his success.

> Read More

• Green Building | Leave a comment

As one of the largest private owners of distribution space in the country, Heller Industrial Parks, Inc. boasts an inventory of over 16 million square feet of space nationwide, including 12 million square feet in the heavily traveled Northeast Corridor of Central and Northern New Jersey, where the company has been actively greening its portfolio. This includes a $2.7 million, 564-kilowatt system at 16-20 Executive Ave in Edison; and a $23 million, 4.5-megawatts system at 1 Industrial Rd in South Brunswick. Heller began considering solar power when the federal government gave a 30% rebate on installations. Over the next five years, it plans to install 35 megawatts in systems on 45 of its buildings. Heller also recently retrofitted 4 million square feet of its buildings in New Jersey with energy-efficient T8 fluorescent lighting, and has plans to retrofit its entire portfolio, located in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Chicago, Indianapolis, Louisville, and throughout Pennsylvania. We spoke to Heller Industrial Parks, Inc. President Jeff Milanaik about the fact that the company's New Jersey properties are at the forefront of its greening initiative.

> Read More

• Green Building | Leave a comment

Avi Avidan has led Avidan Management, a family-owned real estate company, through one of its biggest endeavors: a large-scale renewable energy project. Over the past few months, Avidan Management has completed the largest rooftop-mounted solar panel system in the U.S., installing 17,745 solar panels on one of the firm's facilities in Edison, N J-an array that measures 656,225 square feet, or about 17 acres. The project not only refocuses attention on environmental business practices, but provides numerous benefits to Avidan Management and its tenants. Avi Avidan discusses how Avidan Management made this achievement possible.

> Read More

• Green Technology | Leave a comment

Established in Boston in 1874, Shepley Bulfinch is a national design practice providing the education, healthcare, science, corporate and public markets with architecture, planning and interior design. Its diverse practice includes offices in Boston and Phoenix, AZ, together employing 130 architects, planners, interior designers, and supporting professionals. We spoke to Shepley Bulfinch Principal Chris Nieto about the firm's recent work with adaptive reuse.

Nieto, who co-founded merzproject architecture with partner Joe Herzog as a Phoenix design start-up in 2004, became a principal at Shepley Bulfinch following its merger with merzproject in 2009. He was recently selected as one of this year's Forty Under 40 by the Phoenix Business Journal.

> Read More

• Green Building | Leave a comment

With 12 seasons of professional football with the Buffalo Bills (including four Super Bowls), and Hall of Fame recognition under his belt, Thurman Thomas has moved from the football field to the entrepreneurial field. After his retirement in 2001, Thomas established himself in the business world by starting the Thurman Thomas Global Energy Group and Legends Energy in Buffalo, New York, the city that made him famous.

> Read More

• Green Economy | Leave a comment

When Jeffrey Schleider started Miron Properties in 2009, he had already proved himself to be a skilled professional in the real estate industry, so it was no surprise that, despite the struggling economy, Miron Properties excelled in its first year. In developing the company, Schleider stressed the importance of socially and environmentally responsible business practices. Now, Miron Properties continues to demonstrate expertise and success by being one of Manhattan's leading residential real estate brokerages and green building specialists. Miron Properties is also the only brokerage that is a member of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Green Committee. With more companies and property owners joining the green trend, Schleider offers advice on easy ways to make your property more sustainable.

> Read More

• Green Building | Leave a comment

Solar Rainbow Services, founded 11 months ago in Brooklyn, NY with additional offices opening in Edison and East Rutherford, New Jersey. A solar energy provider that designs, installs, and owns solar photovoltaic systems through the Power Purchasing Agreement (PPA) structure for commercial customers of all sizes, Solar Rainbow also provides turnkey installation for customers who opt to own the system and benefit from all solar incentives. We spoke to founder and CEO Solar "Soly" Bawabeh about his company's rapidly accruing success and what sets Solar Rainbow Services apart from other solar energy providers.

> Read More

• Green Technology | Leave a comment

Newmark Energy Solutions, LLC, a Newmark company which provides cost-saving, sustainable, alternative energy solutions for commercial real estate owners globally, recently announced it has formed strategic relationships with UTC Power Corporation ("UTC"), Newmark Knight Frank, and Austin Energy Partners Solutions, LLC ("AEP") to market, deliver, maintain, and warranty the most advanced fuel cells to commercial real estate markets across the United States. CEO Paul Frischer tells why fuel cells can positively impact the commercial real estate markets.

> Read More

• Green Building | Leave a comment

Kieran D. Flanagan serves as President of the New Jersey Office for Hollister Construction Services, a full-service commercial real estate general contractor and construction manager with offices in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ; Conshohocken, PA; and New York City. Flanagan is certified in Green Building Design & Construction Practices. He completed the LEED Certified PNC Bank Building in Gillette, NJ, and is currently completing two other LEED projects in New Jersey and New York.

> Read More

• LEED Certification | Leave a comment

Laura Benko founded her Feng Shui consultancy, Benko Feng Shui, 10 Years ago. She has trained and mentored with many Feng Shui masters, is a Red Ribbon Member of the International Feng Shui Guild, and is the Feng Shui Correspondent and Home Expert for the television show, Live It Up! WLNY. Benko has Feng Shui'd everything from the largest private residence in Manhattan to a trailer in the Florida Keys. She lectures around the country, contributes regularly to several home and decorating magazines and was recently featured on Martha Stewart Radio on Sirus 112 and XM 157. For more information: http://www.benkofengshui.com.

> Read More

• Education | Leave a comment

With rising gas prices and growing conflict over the oil industry, we need a solution in order to continue our fuel-dependent lifestyles. According to the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, the answer is sugarcane ethanol. Leticia Phillips, the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association's representative for North America, discusses the benefits of sugarcane ethanol and how this alternative fuel source can lead to a brighter and cleaner future.

> Read More

• Alternate Fuels | Leave a comment

Over the past 50 years, New York University's Schack Institute of Real Estate has been one of New York City's leading institutions serving the real estate and building industries. With programs in Construction Management, Real Estate, and Real Estate Development, the NYU Schack Institute sufficiently prepares students for the multifaceted real estate market. As director of the Schack Institute's Center for the Sustainable Built Environment (CSBE), Constantine Kontokosta is well aware of the rise of environmental issues in building, and is driving CSBE to further green innovation and promote sustainable practices in the real estate and construction industries. To help students start thinking green, the Institute recently held its first annual Sustainable Real Estate Development Competition.

> Read More

• Real Estate | Leave a comment

Rob Hopkins is founder of Transition Network, "an evolving exploration into the head, heart and hands of energy descent." He is considered the founder of the Transition movement, and TED: Ideas Worth Spreading called his work "a radically hopeful and community-driven approach to creating societies independent of fossil fuel." Hopkins teaches permaculture and natural building, and established the first two-year full-time permaculture course in the world, at Kinsale Further Education College in Ireland. He is author of several books, including Energy Descent Pathways and The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience. His blog has been voted one of the top green blogs in the United Kingdom, and recently Hopkins was named by The Independent newspaper as one of the U.K.'s top 100 environmentalists. Hopkins lectures and writes widely on peak oil and Transition. He lives in Devon, England, and is a keen gardener.

> Read More

• Education | Leave a comment

Steve McDougal is co-founder of 3Degrees, one of the leading providers of Renewable Energy Certificates and carbon offsets to green building professionals. Through his business and personal efforts, McDougal has made a strong commitment to sustainability. In 2005, he was awarded with the Green Power Beacon Award at the Green Power Leadership Awards Ceremony. Today, he leads the Green Power and Carbon Balancing Services group as well as educates environmental professionals on the value of Renewable Energy Certificates.

> Read More

• Sustainability | Leave a comment

Roger Doiron is founding director of Kitchen Gardeners International (KGI), a Maine-based nonprofit network of over 20,000 individuals from 100 countries who are sowing the seeds of a healthy, sustainable and food-secure world in their own backyards. In February 2008, KGI started and led a high-profile public awareness and advocacy campaign called "Eat the View" to create a kitchen garden at the White House. The successful campaign attracted over 110,000 signatures on a White House garden petition and resulted in a new "victory" garden at the White House. Doiron is also a freelance writer, photographer, videographer, and public speaker specializing in gardening, cuisine, and sustainable food systems. His work has appeared in many media outlets, including the Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Organic Gardening magazine, and Mother Earth News.

> Read More

• Sustainability | Leave a comment