Water, Water Everywhere

According to National Geographic, 97% of the earth's water is saltwater.  And 2% is locked into polar ice caps and glaciers.  That leaves just 1% for about 7 billion people to share.  Water is our most vital resource, and its value is appreciating.  Look at your water utility bills over the past few years.  Columbus Ohio, a heartland city with a river running through it, has had annual rate increases in water, sewer and stormwater ranging from 4.7% to 15% over the past 10 years.

Even more investment is needed to preserve what we have and to unlock additional water for the world.  More public funding of R&D for solar desalinization and other energy-efficient, clean water production technologies.  More private investment in water-conserving fixtures, appliances, commercial HVAC equipment and industrial process improvements.  Stricter enforcement of anti-pollution and anti-contamination regulations for our waterways and underground aquifers.  We can't afford to wait until water eclipses oil as our number one resource crisis.

New General Mills Plant Sets Efficiency Standards

The principles used in this new General Mills plant can be applied to existing facilities also.  US manufacturing facilities and operations can significantly reduce energy, water and solid waste with competitive payback schedules through basic sustainability best practices and upgrades.  Your plant doesn't have to be 160,000 square feet, like this one, or even LEED Gold eligible to start saving.  Small to mid-size businesses have a great deal to gain from an energy/water/waste assessment.

Fly the Friendly Green Skies

Flight is getting greener.  The Houston Business Journal reports that United Airlines flight 1403 from Houston to Chicago on November 7 was the first US commercial passenger flight to use biofuel.  Honeywell Green Jet Fuel from UOP, a Honeywell company, is refined from algae, animal byproducts and camelina, a plant that does not compete with food crops.  The resulting bio-oil is then blended 50/50 with conventional jet fuel.

The biofuel mix offers higher energy density that should improve passenger miles per gallon -- the national airline average is 43.13 passenger mpg.  Even more important, the Green Jet Fuel generates 60 to 85% less greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum-based jet fuel.  By comparison conventional jet fuel produces 23.9 lbs. of CO2 per gallon burned, automobile gasoline 19.6 lbs. and Green Jet Fuel just 3.6 to 9.6 lbs.

Even the hottest jet engines can use the new biofuel without modification.  The US Navy is using Green Jet Fuel in its F/A-18 Green Hornet supersonic jet equipped with afterburners.  Not to be outdone, the Air Force now powers its Thunderbirds performance aerobatics team with it, too.

Look for wider adoption as jet fuel prices continue to rise, and "Powered by Biofuel" decals on private and commercial jets.

Orange You Glad Tires Use Less Petroleum

Car & Drivermagazine reports on new high-performance tires that use 80% less petroleum oil than conventional tires.  Tire manufacturer Yokohama offers two radically different tires made with natural rubber and orange oil high in limonene:  their GT-Class racing tires, designed for the track, and the dB Super E-spec, designed for hybrids and other fuel efficient vehicles.

I’m an amateur car guy, and I wouldn’t have guessed these two tire models would have anything in common.  Here’s why the natural orange oil improves performance for both.  The viscosity of the tread compound made with orange oil varies with temperature more than tread made with fossil oil.  So at highway speeds and below, viscosity is high, which results in low rolling resistance, yielding improved mileage.  Great for everyday driving and maybe it saves a pit stop in a longer race.  Under the heat of acceleration, braking and cornering, the tread viscosity drops, making the tires “stickier”, increasing grip.  Great for racing and better for everyday driving, too. 

The new Yokohama tires feature additional environmental benefits.  The radial belts in the Super E-spec daily driver tires are made of rayon, derived from plant cellulose, rather than petroleum-based nylon.  And natural rubber is a renewable resource. The cost premium is about $20 per tire for the E-specs – for $80 your mileage increases about 2%, yielding a three year payback, your handling improves, and you reduce fossil fuel use.

New App Brings the Art and Craft of Letterpress to Your iPad

Lots of buzz about LetterMpress for the Apple iPad developed by my graphic designer brother, John Bonadies.  The app replicates traditional letterpress printing in a hands-on iPad experience.  Users select vintage wood type and art images, mix ink colors, select paper and hand-crank the virtual letterpress to produce graphic designs.  If you'd like to learn more, see video demonstrations or shop for it, here are some useful links:

PRWeb news release with video

prMAC news release

LetterMpress Web site - more information and videos

Buy It On the App Store

Older Buildings Can Deliver Higher Performance

Existing commercial buildings offer the most opportunity for energy and water savings, and for reducing the total environmental impact of our built environment.  Existing buildings represent 95% of the market in any year.  Certainly new buildings should be green, but we can't rely on new construction to upgrade our stock in any reasonable time frame.

I recently toured the renovated headquarters of Messer Construction, a well-respected regional commercial builder headquartered in Cincinnati and operating in surrounding states.  Messer's single-story building is over 30 years old and houses about 75 employees. 

A five-person team of Messer employees implemented the US Green Building Council's LEED Existing Buildings Operations & Maintenance process to upgrade systems and educate their associates on the benefits of new behaviors.

Some of the cost-effective changes:

• New high-efficiency, low-mercury fluorescent lighting on occupancy sensors and timers


• CO2 sensors for existing ventilation systems deliver fresh air as needed


• Low-flow aerators on lavatory sinks and low-flow flush valves on existing fixtures


• Recommissioning rooftop HVAC units brought them up to spec performance.  This is almost always a fast-payback strategy.


• Stepped up recycling efforts with employee engagement


• Green cleaning and maintenance procedures

The results?

• 17% less electricity use


• 48% less gas


• 56% less water


• 70% of all waste is recycled now

These accomplishments translate into savings of about $36,000 per year and delivered a 15 month payback. You don't need to build new or invest a lot to go green.  Look at your own facility operating costs and imagine how much you could be saving in less than two years.  Get started today.

Talking Trash

Landfills are a controversial issue in every community in which they are sited.  No one wants to live near a landfill.  Few people support their expansion, and only grudgingly accept the need.  So why do we recycle less than half of what we could?  Why isn’t recycling universally available for homes and businesses?  Maybe recycling is too expensive or too much trouble.  Or maybe we think it all goes to the landfill anyway, so why bother.  In the spirit of the season, bah humbug!

Recycling costs less and returns more

It costs about $50 a ton to have solid waste disposed of in a landfill.  Recycling a ton of materials otherwise destined for a landfill costs $30, or 40% less.  Waste haulers are increasing their profits by sorting and selling recyclables.  Prices fluctuate, but over time it is a profitable business.  In Cincinnati, my home town, the municipal trash hauling contract covers expenses; the profits flow from recycling.

Using recycled materials uses less energy

Even when you include the energy required to collect recyclables and ship them to manufacturers, energy savings are dramatic:

• Using recycled aluminum cans uses 95% less energy than new inputs


• Recycling plastic bottles uses 90% less


• Copper: 85%


• Steel: 70%


• Paper: 60%


• Glass: 33%

It’s too much trouble to separate recyclables

Mixed-stream recycling processes require no separation at curbside. Recycling containers filled with a mix of materials are separated by employed people and optical scanning technology as they travel on conveyors at the material recycling facility at 95% accuracy.

Sending less to landfills produces jobs, investment in plant and equipment, lower costs for manufacturers, enhanced profits for all in the supply chain, and higher value land use.  Next blog I’ll suggest several concrete actions you can take to support solid waste reduction and recycling at home and at work.