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Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The desired result is a state of society where living conditions and resources are used to continue to meet human needs without undermining the integrity and stability of the natural system. Sustainable development can be defined as development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
A green economy is an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without degrading the environment. It is closely related with ecological economics, but has a more politically applied focus. The 2011 UNEP Green Economy Report argues "that to be green, an economy must not only be efficient, but also fair. Fairness implies recognizing global and country level equity dimensions, particularly in assuring a Just Transition to an economy that is low-carbon, resource efficient, and socially inclusive."
Green building refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from planning to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. This requires close cooperation of the contractor, the architects, the engineers, and the client at all project stages. The Green Building practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. In doing so, the three dimensions of sustainability, i.e., planet, people and profit across the entire supply chain need to be considered.
Environmental technology (envirotech) or green technology (greentech), also known as clean technology (cleantech), is the application of one or more of environmental science, green chemistry, environmental monitoring and electronic devices to monitor, model and conserve the natural environment and resources, and to curb the negative impacts of human involvement. The term is also used to describe sustainable energy generation technologies such as photovoltaics, wind turbines, etc. Sustainable development is the core of environmental technologies. The term environmental technologies is also used to describe a class of electronic devices that can promote sustainable management of resources.
Ecolabels and Green Stickers are labeling systems for food and consumer products. The use of ecolabels is voluntary, whereas green stickers are mandated by law; for example, in North America major appliances and automobiles use Energy Star. They are a form of sustainability measurement directed at consumers, intended to make it easy to take environmental concerns into account when shopping. Some labels quantify pollution or energy consumption by way of index scores or units of measurement, while others assert compliance with a set of practices or minimum requirements for sustainability or reduction of harm to the environment. Many ecolabels are focused on minimising the negative ecological impacts of primary production or resource extraction in a given sector or commodity through a set of good practices that are captured in a sustainability standard. Through a verification process, usually referred to as "certification", a farm, forest, fishery, or mine can show that it complies with a standard and earn the right to sell its products as certified through the supply chain, often resulting in a consumer-facing ecolabel.
Green computing, green IT, or ICT sustainability, is the study and practice of environmentally sustainable computing or IT.
A sustainable business, or a green business, is an enterprise that has minimal negative impact or potentially a positive effect on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy—a business that strives to meet the triple bottom line. They cluster under different groupings and the whole is sometimes referred to as "green capitalism." Often, sustainable businesses have progressive environmental and human rights policies. In general, business is described as green if it matches the following four criteria:
- It incorporates principles of sustainability into each of its business decisions.
- It supplies environmentally friendly products or services that replaces demand for nongreen products and/or services.
- It is greener than traditional competition.
- It has made an enduring commitment to environmental principles in its business operations.
Corporate Knights (CK) is a media, research and financial information products company based in Toronto, Canada, focused on promoting an economic system where prices fully incorporate social, economic and ecological costs and benefits, and market participants are clearly aware of the consequences of their actions. The company calls such a system "clean capitalism". Founded in 2002, Corporate Knights has a media and research division, which includes the award-winning sustainable business magazine Corporate Knights, and a research division which produces corporate rankings, research reports and financial product ratings based on corporate sustainability performance. Its best-known rankings include the Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada and the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations. In June 2013, Corporate Knights was named "Magazine of the Year" by Canada's National Magazine Awards Foundation.
Clean technology, in short cleantech, is any process, product, or service that reduces negative environmental impacts through significant energy efficiency improvements, the sustainable use of resources, or environmental protection activities. Clean technology includes a broad range of technology related to recycling, renewable energy, information technology, green transportation, electric motors, green chemistry, lighting, grey water, and more. Environmental finance is a method by which new clean technology projects can obtain financing through the generation of carbon credits. A project that is developed with concern for climate change mitigation is also known as a carbon project.
Bright green environmentalism is an ideology based on the belief that the convergence of technological change and social innovation provides the most successful path to sustainable development.
Masdar City is a planned city project in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Its core is being built by Masdar, a subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, with the majority of seed capital provided by the Government of Abu Dhabi. Designed by the British architectural firm Foster and Partners. The city relies on solar energy and other renewable energy sources. Masdar City is being constructed 17 kilometres (11 mi) east-south-east of the city of Abu Dhabi, a five minute drive from Abu Dhabi International Airport and 40 minutes from Dubai. The city will be connected to existing urban areas via roads and light-rail. Masdar City hosts the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The city is designed to be a hub for cleantech companies. Its first tenant was the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, which has been operating in the city since it moved into its campus in September 2010.
Ecological design or ecodesign is an approach to designing products and services that gives special consideration to the environmental impacts of a product over its entire lifecycle. Sim Van der Ryn and Stuart Cowan define it as "any form of design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itself with living processes." Ecological design can also be defined as the process of integrating environmental considerations into design and development with the aim of reducing environmental impacts of products through their life cycle.
Planet Forward, a project of The George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs, is an online public forum where experts, engaged citizens and students weigh in on energy, climate and sustainability. The most inventive and creative ideas are featured online.
Andrew L. Shapiro has been an influential voice on environmental innovation in business for a decade. He has built a career, and a pioneering advisory group, GreenOrder, around the idea that sustainability can be a critical driver of profitable growth.
Fred Maas is the Founder and CEO of Pacific EcoCompanies LLC, which specializes in investments in and development of sustainable buildings, communities and clean technologies. Also a San Diego resident, Maas works in the San Diego political, business and non-profit communities. Fred Maas graduated from Hobart College in 1979 where he majored in Political Science. Later, he graduated cum laude from Syracuse University College of Law in 1982. For over 30 years, Fred Maas has participated in national, state and local politics, and worked for prominent political figures such as, John McCain, Bob Dole, Jack Kemp, Pete du Pont, Richard Lugar and Mitch Daniels.
Environmentally sustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability and also aimed at improving the health and comfortability of occupants in a building. Sustainable design seeks to reduce negative impacts on the environment, the health and well-being of building occupants, thereby improving building performance. The basic objectives of sustainability are to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources, minimize waste, and create healthy, productive environments.
A sustainability organization is (1) an organized group of people that aims to advance sustainability and/or (2) those actions of organizing something sustainably. Unlike many business organizations, sustainability organizations are not limited to implementing sustainability strategies which provide them with economic and cultural benefits attained through environmental responsibility. For sustainability organizations, sustainability can also be an end in itself without further justifications.
Sustainability marketing myopia is a term used in sustainability marketing referring to a distortion stemming from the overlooking of socio-environmental attributes of a sustainable product or service at the expenses of customer benefits and values. Sustainability marketing is oriented towards the whole community, its social goals and the protection of the environment. It requires the engagement of national and local governments, organisations and population as well as the necessary capital. The idea of sustainability marketing myopia is rooted into conventional marketing myopia theory, as well as green marketing myopia.
Kevin Surace is an American technology innovator, speaker, Broadway & Streaming producer and entrepreneur. He is the CTO of Appvance, creator of an AI-based software QA platform. He was Inc. Magazine’s 2009 entrepreneur of the Year. He is known as the inventor of QuietRock Soundproof Drywall
eMotorWerks, an Enel Group Company, is an electric vehicle infrastructure company, based in San Carlos, California. eMotorWerks was founded in 2010 by Val Miftakhov, who was also its CEO until it merged with Enel X. eMotorWerks was acquired by Enel through its EnerNOC, and is part of the Enel X group.
References
- ↑ Inc. Staff (November 2006). "The Converts - Green 50 - Sustainable Businesses". Inc. Retrieved 2006-11-01.
- ↑ Gregor, Alison (2006-10-08). "A Dollars-and-Cents Man With a Green Philosophy". The New York Times . Retrieved 2006-10-08.
- ↑ "Cleantech Group and LRN Announce Merger of Cleantech Group and GreenOrder". 2 October 2012.
- ↑ "Cleantech Group and LRN Announce Merger of Cleantech Group and GreenOrder". 2 October 2012.
- ↑ Neves, Antonio. "Out-Greening the Competition". MSN. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2012-11-05.
- ↑ Rapier, Robert. "U.S. Electric Vehicle Sales Soared In 2016". Forbes. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
- ↑ "World Future Energy Summit 2011 Concludes with Record Attendee Levels". EnergyTrend.
- ↑ MacMillan, Douglas. "The Issue: Immelt's Unpopular Idea". Business Week. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
- ↑ General Electric. "The Ecomagination Product Review Process". GE Blogs. Archived from the original on 2010-12-04. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
