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May 23, 2008 Hot News, Cool Trends in Design for Sustainability SLM Home | Design News & Ideas | Connections | Events | About

Sharp Leapfrogs Competitors in Fuel Cell Race Days after rival Toshiba touted plans to bring direct methanol fuel cells to market in products next year, Sharp says it has made a major breakthrough in the budding green technology. Read more... Also This Week... Kraft Boasts World's Largest LEED-Gold Distribution Center Kraft has netted a LEED Gold green-building certification for its 800,000-square-foot distribution center near Chicago - the largest such facility to earn the rating so far. Read more... Office Depot Earns LEED for Chain of Green Stores Office Depot has gotten a thumbs-up from the U.S. Green Building Council on plans for a string of green retail locations under the new LEED Portfolio Program for multiple buildings. Read more... Toyota Nudges Dealerships Toward LEED Certification A Texas Toyota dealership has become the first car dealership to receive LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Toyota expects four more dealerships to earn LEED certification this summer. Read more... Port of Los Angeles Rolls Out Super-Heavy-Duty Electric Truck The Port of Los Angeles has unveiled a new zero-emissions electric drayage truck that can pull a 60,000-pound cargo container at top speeds of 40 miles per hour. In addition to its environmental benefits, the new truck costs less to operate. Read more... Dell to Make Computers 25% More Energy Efficient by 2010 Dell has announced plans for an aggressive product-redesign program aimed at making its desktop and laptop computers 25% more energy efficient within three years. Read more... Wal-Mart Canada Bans PVC from Lightbulb Packaging Wal-Mart Canada has announced plans to phase out all PVC plastic packaging from the compact fluorescent lightbulbs it sells, switching to recycled-content cardboard instead. Read more... More Greener Design News & Tools... We want to hear from you! Post your comments or questions below any SLM news story and we'll feature the best of them here. (Note: You must be a registered SLM user to post. Not yet signed up? Click here!) Forward to a Friend! Time Is Running Out! Sustainable Brands '08 is about meeting people, digging in to just-out-of-the-field market research, and hearing about product product design and brand communication strategies that are already resulting in revenue growth and brand value at leading companies big and small. Have you reserved your seat yet? Download the conference agenda here (PDF), and register today! Solution Providers The Economics of LEED for Existing Buildings There are many low-cost and no-cost design upgrades to boost the environmental performance of existing buildings, as this whitepaper shows. According to a survey of buildings that have earned the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification for existing buildings (LEED-EB), the average cost of implementing LEED-EB is only about $2.43 per square foot. (Leonardo Academy) Download now (PDF)... Innovations Review 2008 Introducing 20 innovations that showcase the new business as usual. This first-annual report from the Environmental Defense Fund highlights game-changing best practices that can influence nearly every functional area within a company, from real estate, operations, and manufacturing to fleet management, human resources, and finance. Case studies include green-product design at Nike, energy-efficiency upgrades at Johnson & Johnson, and fleet optimization at UPS. Download now (PDF)...

Sustainable Life Media is home for business professionals looking to build new value and competitive advantage by innovating more sustainable processes, practices and products. We bring you top stories related to the what, who and how of environmental and social innovation, and help you connect with thought leaders, peers, partners and solutions providers that can help you quickly reach your goals. This work is licensed under a CreativeCommons License. Copyright Sustainable Life Media Inc. 2008

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