In the not so distant past, greenwashing was a real problem. Companies left and right were making green claims; some were valid, some not-so-much. But from what I saw at last week’s Greenbuild, the greenwash ship has sailed. Companies get it now. And that’s a good thing, both for the industry and for consumers. Joel Makower actually showed up at the show “Searching for Greenwash at Greenbuild” this year. But he was more than happy to report he was wrong.

 I knew we were off to a good start at the show when I didn’t see any green (the color) booths this year. Companies are realizing that plastering your trade show booth with images of Mother Earth does not make you green.  This could be a result of the industry maturing or an improving economy. Rob Watson of Greener World Media was in attendance. This is his FIFTEENTH Greenbuild, so you can imagine the changes he has seen over the years. Based on his comparison to last year’s show, it seems the green building industry is alive and kickin’ this year, based on this comment, “While the atmosphere in Boston last year was one of fear and uncertainty, I would characterize the feeling in Phoenix as one of focus and ferment.”

There were also many exciting things to see in the building industry. Kate Nolan of Green Right Now reported on “Trend watching at the Greenbuild Expo in Phoenix.” She mentions GreenKonnect (which I am sad to say I missed!), noting “The newest entry in online aid is GreenKonnect, a search engine built for the green building industry. The Beta version bowed at Greenbuild Expo.” A quick search on the Beta site leaves me looking forward to the official launch.

All in all, Greenbuild was a jam-packed three days full of all things (green) building, complete with a few messages from Al Gore. As you can image, he too had an anti-greenwash message. And now, I’ll leave you with some food for thought from Mr. Gore. “We as Americans have the capacity to do what we put our minds to. We have the ability to solve this crisis. We can do it.”

Well, we made it! We’re in Phoenix for Greenbuild 2009, and we’ve already seen some exciting new companies and products on the show floor. Plus we shot some great videos for our clients, CALMAC and IES. Here is a video of our first day at the show:

We’ve got two days packed full of meetings and additional video shoots with Serious Materials and YKK AP, and somewhere in there we will head over to see Al Gore deliver the Keynote and Opening Celebration tomorrow night with Sheryl Crow. (And just in case you aren’t here in AZ, you can check out live streams on Greenbuild’s website.)

We are looking forward to meeting green building professionals sharing their visions for the future of the industry, as well as the editors and bloggers who write about it along the way. Melissa Hincha-Ownby of Mother Nature Network has already blogged about the event. Lloyd Alter of Treehugger is here, too. Along with 24,000 registered attendees, according to the records when the show floor opened at 5:30 this evening.

Check back here daily for a round-up of news and views from the show. Next week, we will do a show wrap up. And we’ll be Tweeting live from #Greenbuild09 the rest of the week – follow @catrionaharris, @mariegoltara and @toryk for your green building fix this week.

It is no secret that I’m an avid University of Florida (UF) Gator fan and proud alumna. In fact, around this time of year (*cough* football season) some might call me borderline obsessive. So when I came across UF’s venture to create the first parking garage in the country to earn USGBC LEED Platinum credits – the most esteemed certification category – I immediately knew the topic of my next post.

In 2001, UF adopted plans to have all major building projects eligible for LEED certification and the parking facility is the school’s latest effort to improve its green rating, but this is no  ordinary parking garage. In fact, when one looks at the exterior of the building, one would never suspect it to hold parking spaces, feature office and retail space or changing rooms and showers. The facility expands its eco-friendly offering by providing more parking per square foot, alternative transportation options, wetland protection, low energy lighting and insulated windows. Additionally, the structure maintains HVAC systems, efficient storm water drainage, and a high impact-recycling program all while promoting a green education program to deliver the sustainable messaging.

UF’s green initiative does not stop there, however.  In 2007, the university joined the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment and began collaborating with a organization known as The Neutral Gator – setting the goal of being completely carbon neutral by 2025.  This year, UF has even made the commitment to become the first carbon neutral athletic program. Currently home to the first and only Platinum LEED-certified athletic facility in the nation, UF added two energy-efficient LED video boards at the north and south end zones at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium – talk about creating a new, exciting green element to Tebow’s touchdowns!

By promoting sustainable practices, UF joins a vast number of other institutions around the nation that are striving to become eco-friendly. Other universities that hold LEED certification include: the University of Colorado at Bolder with all new buildings LEED Certified, Harvard University with 17 LEED-certified buildings and New York University with all new construction and renovations meeting Sliver LEED standards. You can find additional schools meeting green standards by checking out the Sierra Clubs Third Annual Cool Schools List found here, http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200909/coolschools/allrankings.aspx#

Clearly, green is not only a trend but a call to action, forcing institutions that educate tomorrow’s leaders to take a long, in-depth look at its carbon footprint. UF is the latest university to make headlines with its high profile, sustainable project. And, being no stranger to cheering on the Gators, I am proud to say – way to go for the LEED.

Given the short week, Vantage Points is taking the week off as far as new posts are concerned. Stealing a page (and a title) from our friends in the TV and radio businesses, we are digging into the archives for some of our favorite undiscovered  posts:

Rebuilding the way we look at Green Building: Most people assume green building is expensive. An interesting post about a recent study published by Good Energies, a global energy efficiency and renewable energy investment company, shows some surprising conclusions about green building costs…

Millionaire Cat – Marketing Promotion Hits the Litter Box: Channel surfing last night, I came across Meow Mix Think Like a Cat Game Showwhich purported to be the first game show in which “catestants” (I did not make that one up) and their owners compete as a team for $1 million….

A Global PR Perspective: Differences in China and the United States: High tech companies are eager to enter the Chinese market for its endless opportunities, and successful PR will help them to engage the local markets….

It begins with energy…: Green building in particular is thriving in America right now.  Michael Kanellos of Greentech Media said it best yesterday, “For green building companies, the good times have just begun.”…. 

We hope you enjoy these posts and will be back with fresh ones next week. Have a great holiday weekend and stay cool!

Good news came out of the economy last week.  Yes, you read that correctly – GOOD news.  According to The Pew Charitable Trusts, clean energy jobs grew nearly two and a half times faster than overall jobs in the U.S. between 1998 and 2007.  The jobs weren’t in one or two states – they spanned all 50 states, with the majority in California and Texas, and the total number is 770,000.  That is good news, but those numbers are from before we took a dive into this recession…

Here comes the so what…

The same report states that they believe the nation is poised to significantly continue expansion of those same clean energy jobs.  The report states, “looking forward, the clean energy economy has tremendous potential for growth, as investments continue to flow from both the government and private sector and federal and state policy makers increasingly push for reforms that will both spur economic renewal and sustain the environment.”  They don’t point to hard numbers, but they say it is expected.  I know, that may not seem like news given all of the incentives and bills being passed by the current administration, but it is news.  It is a third party validating the claims we read about every day.

There are many next steps to help this growth even more, but I tend to agree with Marc Gunther, one great next step is to pass a Cap and Trade program.  Cap and Trade would set a limit on carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel and offer financial incentives for doing so.  Many renewable energy companies would be able to sell more product because they would reduce emissions for the end user – and thus, some experts predict would create more jobs.  Time will tell.

Earth Day has come and gone, but at Vantage we definitely made the most of the special day. In fact, we started celebrating a week early and how else, but with a party! Actually, 2 parties in 2 cities. On Thursday, April 16 we brought together about 200 business, government and media folks for the Vantage Communications Bi-coastal Earth Day event. Offices in both San Francisco and Orlando celebrated Earth Day with networking, food and giveaways – with all proceeds benefiting the United States Green Building Council.

In San Francisco, at a special one night opening of the Autodesk Gallery, Vantage gathered with influential green individuals to network and share insights. The evening also featured a panel with speakers from the USGBC-NCC, San Francisco’s Green Building, Forbes Magazine, Autodesk, and Serious Materials who discussed “Sustainable Innovation in a Recession.” In case you missed the live streaming of the event, you can watch it here:

Vantage Communications Earth Day Panel

The Orlando green community gathered at the local Taste Restaurant, where a good time was had by all with drinks, savory appetizers and giveaways from local businesses and green companies. An evening of networking included guests from the local USGBC, Green Cities and CoLab Orlando.

For all who joined us, we hope the evening was as fun and meaningful for you as it was for us in making it happen. You also can see photos from the evening here.

Update: Thanks to everyone who participated and viewed our speaker panel discussing “Sustainable Innovation in a Recession” via our Live Stream and at our San Francisco Earth Day event on April 16, 2009 .  We will be posting videos of the panel discussion here on Vantage Points. So please bookmark and check back.

More details can be found here: Celebrating Earth Day – Vantage Style

Live streaming video by Ustream

Did you know that if you drink one beer after work, then throw it in the recycling bin – that one aluminum can saves enough energy to watch television for three hours? It is amazing how much of a difference we can make together if each person began cleaning up their environmental habits. With Earth Day just around the corner, the Vantage Team is celebrating the changes we’ve made to help Mother Earth, and hosting bi-coastal networking events tomorrow to do so.

Both the San Francisco event – sponsored by Autodesk – and the Orlando event will feature giveaways and collect voluntary donations to benefit the Northern California and Central Florida chapters of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), respectively.

The San Francisco event will also feature a speaker panel discussing “Sustainable Innovation in a Recession,” with panelists from the USGBC-NCC, San Francisco’s Green Building Program, Forbes Magazine, Autodesk, and Serious Materials.In case you can’t make it, the panel will be streamed live right here on this blog starting at approximately7:00 pm Pacific/10:00 pm Eastern – so check back! Please tell your friends and use the buttons below to share and tweet.

So whether you’re on the East Coast or West Coast, we hope you can join us! For full details, or to RSVP, check out the following links –

San Francisco

http://earthdaysanfrancisco.eventbrite.com/

Orlando

http://earthdayorlando.eventbrite.com/

There is no way around it.   This is more than likely the worst economic climate you have lived through.   But Monday, I was inspired by a small Pennsylvania town that gave me great hope for green jobs and what it can do for America.

I was with our client, Serious Materials, and Governor Edward Rendell in a suburb of Pittsburgh – Vandergrift, Pennsylvania.   We were there to re-open a windows plant that had been closed by its previous owners and where the workers have been hired back to begin producing energy-efficient windows.

I’m not here to plug my client.   What I am here to do is to share with you the way the economy has hit in American towns across the nation, and how their spirit and determination to make a change is a great lesson for us all.   I have been working on this event for weeks and have been taken aback by the stories I’ve heard.   But as I was driving in from Pittsburgh it really hit home.

The thing that really struck me was when one of the rehired employees, Robin Scott, took the podium and talked about the green movement.  He said, “This is more than just a job to me.  It’s also doing our small part in this tiny corner of America to move this country forward, I’m not a Treehugger by any means, but even I know we have to change.  We can’t leave the world the way it is now.  So if we can get this green movement going here in Vandergrift, then that is what I wanna see!”

It doesn’t matter how or why these people became a part of the green movement, the only thing that matters is that they now embrace it.  Being green is no longer a California thing or a hippie thing, it is just the right thing to do for ourselves and the many generations that will follow us.

There has been some debate over the effectiveness of green jobs. But I’ve seen first hand the difference and the positive influence green jobs can have on our country,  on our small towns and on our environment.  Ultimately, I was inspired by the people and their drive to make a positive change. The people in Vandergrift have given me a gift – the gift of perspective.   One I will take with me for the rest of my life.

If you were watching the State of the Union last night, you no doubt heard President Obama’s strong message of America leading the development of cleantech. He encouraged America to “lead again” – meaning we should keep clean jobs here in America and not ship them outside of our borders. He said we will put “Americans to work making our homes and buildings more efficient so that we can save billions of dollars on our energy bills.”

Green building in particular is thriving in America right now. Michael Kanellos of Greentech Media said it best yesterday, “For green building companies, the good times have just begun.”  Everyday there are announcements of new products, new customers and yes, even new green collar jobs. A press release came across my desk this morning, with the headline “Green Building is the Economy’s Bright Spot.”  One of our clients, Serious Materials recently announced the creation of green jobs.  If you work solely in green building, it may even be hard to admit there is a major recession going on right now.

Green jobs aren’t the only things that can change our economic challenges. The economic stimulus bill that passed last week will play a large role in saving energy and money for Americans. As part of the plan, you and I can get tax breaks for installing energy efficient windows, doors and appliances.  If there was ever a time for upgrades, now is that time.

I for one was encouraged by the President last night, especially when he spoke about how “now is the time to act boldly and wisely – to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity.”  Part of that new foundation includes  investment in green energy and building. It is a great feeling to hear the promise of energy-efficiency and savings making an impact on the mainstream society. It’s true, there is hope.