In the 2009 Green Building Market & Impact Report published November 4 by GreenerBuildings.com, it was stated that despite losses faced by most segments of the construction marketplace over the past year, green building activity managed to sustain an impressive growth. Read the full story

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, a company which once consumed close to a megawatt of electricity, is now a generator of 100,000 watts of electricity a year, thanks to its recent installation of a 572-panel solar array on the roof of its Waterbury distribution center. Read the full story

Nau, an eco-friendly retailer of high-end outdoor clothing has softly launched Changing Room, a layaway plan for the internet age. Changing Room enables customers to pay half of an item’s full retail price on the spot, while completing  the remainder of the purchase after 30 days. This is not necessarily a sustainable practice but it appears to be an innovative way to reach new markets and that is why we thought it was worth highlighting. Read the full story

OMG, I have no time this week! Looks like we’ll have to blaze through an abbrev.’d ed. of WSF!

G.R., G.S., K! Read the full story

Kids these days! What do they know? What with their RSS feeds, carbon credits, nanotechnologies—who understands any of that? We, the tycoons of yesteryear, the proprietors of good ol’ Small Business USA, the gas-guzzlin’ folksy types who still think we control the world, sure don’t get it. And why should we? It’s not like attitudes are changing or the rest of the world matters, no sir! We have our old money and our clunkers and those always be secure! The economy’s booming right now! We control Washington! We’re not in complete denial! Read the full story

Our friends at Triple Pundit have posted a thought-provoking article about the erosion of the environmentalist language we use. Do words like “sustainable” or “green” impart any significance or are they merely the PR-friendly, self-congratulating currency we pass around to mask a lack of real understanding or change? This is the question William Brent, the piece’s author, forces us to think about. He writes,

“I’m not sure the term ‘Green’ does more than add another cool-sounding, but largely meaningless term to the existing lexicon of self-indulgence.” Read the full story

Before we begin this week’s edition of WSF, I must apologize for being gone last Friday and missing the chance to direct you semi-snidely to some interesting green business links. I suppose in light of that absence I should change the name of this feature to Sometimes-Weekly-but-Don’t-Freak-Out-If-I-Miss-an-Episode Sustainability Facts, but SWDFOIIMESF just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

But let’s move on, because this week, it’s all about the future. Now’s the time to start planning ahead, figuring out what needs to change and cutting your losses. Who needs the past (or the present for that matter) when there’s electric cars, solar-powered cruises, and lots of money in the future? Wait, what’s that? There won’t be any meat or water in the future? Maybe this future things isn’t all it’s cracked up to be! Find out what the hype is all about in this week’s Weekly Sustainability Facts! Read the full story

The Waxman-Markey bill was narrowly passed in the House late last month with a vote of 219-212, and is still under consideration in The Senate. The bill, which is titled ‘The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) aims to create jobs, increase domestic use of renewable energy and end American dependency on foreign oil. Read the full story

Joule Biotechnologies, a startup in—you guessed it—Cambridge, Massachusetts, unveiled the details of its recently-discovered biofuel manufacturing process yesterday. The group claims that it is possible to engineer microorganisms in a photobioreactor that can convert water and carbon dioxide into usable fuel by harnessing the sun’s energy. What sets this plan apart from other fuel alternatives, such as ethanol, is the relatively small space, energy input, and time it requires. Read the full story

The Chicago Tribune reports Wal-Mart is set to unveil its new program to create a sustainability index of sorts for green products. The goal of the project is to simplify the varied environmental labels on merchandise into a rating system similar to the Nutrition Information markers on the back of food packages. Detractors argue that this initiative is mostly an image booster for the retail giant and that Walmart’s growth has a major negative impact on the environment. This sustainability index is the latest step in Wal-Mart’s four-years-long campaign to appeal to green interest groups. Former practices the chain has adopted in the past include reducing trucks’ carbon emissions and powering stores with solar panels. Read the full story