The Challenge is designed to help a school benchmark and better understand how big its carbon footprint is, how it compares to other schools and how much carbon is produced for each student it educates.

Zerofootprint, a leading organization in the global fight against climate change, announced the launch of the Challenge at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting in September.

The Zerofootprint Challenge will work collaboratively with school districts to provide students with easy-to-use software and social networking tools to measure carbon footprint information, provoke competition and discover a new culture of energy use. “Measurement and benchmarking are critical to any endeavor that seeks to create meaningful change,” said Dr. Ron Dembo, founder and CEO of Zerofootprint. “Our goal is to make it easy, fun and meaningful for kids to tackle climate change and discover new ways to reduce their energy consumption. What is unique is our use of clear metrics for all phases of the program.”

According to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, buildings represent 40% of the world’s environmental footprint. By targeting reduction efforts at schools, students around the world can take climate change into their own hands and make a real and meaningful difference to the global environmental footprint.

“As governments take action to make meaningful reductions in carbon emissions under their jurisdiction, they will naturally look to all public buildings for participation, including schools,” said Jill Buck, founder of Go Green Initiative. “What I appreciate most about the Zerofootprint Challenge is that it brings sophisticated carbon measurement software tools within easy grasp of any school. Any school can benefit from this program, and I hope every school will.”

When a school joins the Zerofootprint Challenge, it gains access to an easy-to-use online application that helps determine its current footprint and enables direct comparisons with other schools. In an active online forum, students can view results and share experiences on their progress. Teachers are provided with links to curriculum-based lesson plans and activities provided by Zerofootprint partners – organizations that are highly active in education for sustainable development.

Rick Hay, a teacher at Maurice Cody Public School in Toronto, has already committed to reducing his school’s footprint. “I’m excited about working with my school’s EcoTeam this year to reduce our carbon footprint. The Zerofootprint Challenge program, with its kid-friendly graphs and comparison charts, will help motivate us to reach a carbon impact goal of 120 kg per student, down from 155 kg.”

“Green Teams” organized by a teacher or principal at each school, will take charge of the Challenge by measuring their footprint via (the past year’s) heating, electricity and water bills. Once students set the baseline for last year’s emissions, the school challenges another school to join the competition in a “Race to Reduce.”

“The Zerofootprint Challenge will help schools on their path to EcoSchool’s platinum level certification by engaging students in a collective effort to reduce their environmental impact,” said Richard Christie, program coordinator of EcoSchools Toronto and early adopter of the Zerofootprint Challenge.

For tips and tricks to reduce your footprint, Zerofootprint has partnered with sponsors, including TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, and partners, including Eco Schools Toronto, Eco Schools USA, Go Green Initiative, Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, The Climate Project Canada, EarthCARE and the Climate Change Connection, where students can access resources and research methods to reduce their impact.

Zerofootprint Challenge on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/zerochallenge

For more information, or to sign up for Zerofootprint Challenge, please visit: www.zerofootprintfoundation.org

About the Zerofootprint Foundation

The Zerofootprint Challenge is spearheaded by the Zerofootprint Foundation, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to apply technology, design and risk management to the massive reduction of our global environmental impact.

WASHINGTON – Oregon State Forester Marvin Brown has been elected Chair of the independent board of directors for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative^® (SFI^®) Inc., which is solely responsible for the non-profit SFI forest certification program. Other changes include new members representing conservation and labor organizations.

SFI Inc.’s 18-member board represents environmental, social and economic sectors equally so it can meet the many needs of forests and communities. Current board members include representatives of environmental, professional and academic groups, independent loggers, family forest landowners, public officials, labor and the forest products sector.

Brown became involved with the SFI program in 1995 when he was State Forester in Missouri and was invited to join the first SFI External Review Panel, an independent panel of external experts who offer diverse perspectives and expertise. “The SFI program has matured into a standard that is improving practices on the ground across North America,” he said. “It provides system rigor and expands requirements, especially around wildlife and biodiversity.”

Christopher A. (Chris) Wood, President and CEO of Trout Unlimited (TU), joins the board’s environmental chamber, and William V. (Bill) Street Jr., Director of the Woodworkers Department for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, represents labor as a member of the social chamber.

“The SFI program has enormous potential,” Wood said. “At TU, we appreciate the role of all forest certification standards, and their impact on conservation. We will work with anyone as long as they are doing good things for fish, water and wildlife.”

“The SFI program recognizes that workers’ rights are human rights,” said Street, also the first North American to be elected Chairman of the international Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC). ”This means workers in SFI-certified forests have access to the highest standards for labor protection in the United States. I look forward to helping keep the SFI standard strong, and to finding ways to tackle issues such as conversion of forest lands to non-forest uses.”

SFI Inc. is a registered charitable organization responsible for the largest single forest certification standard in the world. The SFI program works with a wide array of partners to promote responsible forest management in North America and responsible fiber sourcing worldwide. Almost 200 million acres/80 million hectares are certified to the SFI forest standard in the United States and Canada. The standard is based on 14 core principles that promote sustainable forest management, including measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk, and Forests with Exceptional Conservation Value.

“As a state forester, Marvin Brown understands the immense value forest certification delivers for forests and communities across North America,” SFI President and CEO Kathy Abusow said. “He brings extensive experience in forest policymaking at the state, national and international levels, and he has worked closely with the SFI program – providing advice and meeting standard requirements on the ground.”

Brown said state foresters especially appreciate the SFI program’s willingness to complement and build on government policy, going beyond North America’s comprehensive forest laws. “In Oregon, for example, we don’t have to pay for the many improvements resulting from the work of SFI program participants, but our forests and our communities benefit a great deal,” he said.

Brown, whose term began March 10, is a member of the board’s social chamber. Robert A. (Bob) Luoto, who represents independent professional loggers and the American Loggers Council on the board, becomes vice-chair.

Abusow thanked departing board members John Faraci, Chairman & CEO, International Paper Company; Norm. L. Christensen Jr., Professor of Ecology and Past Dean, Nicholas School of Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University; and R. Thomas Buffenbarger, International President, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, for their service.

About SFI Inc.

SFI Inc. is an independent 501(c) (3) non-profit charitable organization, and is solely responsible for maintaining, overseeing and improving the internationally recognized Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) program (www.sfiprogram.org). Across North America, close to 200 million acres/80 million hectaresare certified to the SFI forest management standard, making it the largest single standard in the world. SFI chain-of-custody certification tells buyers how much certified, responsibly sourced and/or recycled content is in a product. The SFI program’s unique fiber sourcing requirements promote responsible forest management on all suppliers’ lands. SFI Inc. is governed by a three-chamber board of directors representing environmental, social and economic sectors equally.

Homes will become even more efficient in the next 10 years.

Earth Advantage Institute, a green building certification resource and educational organization that has certified more than 11,000 homes, has taken a look forward at green building expectations for the next decade.

“Since 2000, despite two wars and a serious economic slowdown, the United States has made significant progress in sustainable construction,” said Sean Penrith, executive director, Earth Advantage Institute. “We’ve come from a point where the perception of green building involved remote off-the-grid homes to a point where the National Association of Homebuilders now has a green building standard in place and the federal government has invested $4 billion of its stimulus money in energy efficiency for its buildings nationwide. The next 10 years will accelerate these trends.”

Based on trends tracked over the past 5 years, Earth Advantage Institute staff has compiled a list of 8 predictions that provide a glimpse of American homes and the home industry over the next decade.

1. Newly built homes will use one third the energy that they do today. Progressive builders are already going far beyond the current standards to build “net-zero” homes that produce at least as much energy as they consume over one year. The techniques used in building these high performance, super-insulated “passive homes” will filter down to the mainstream rapidly as homebuyers see how easy it is to create energy efficient and even furnace-free homes using readily available materials and emerging technology.
2. Buying decisions will be based on better information about the “life cycle” impact of products. New studies are underway on the total environmental cost of building materials, from raw materials collection to manufacture, installation and eventual disposal or recycling. Homebuyers will also see data on durability and maintenance of those materials. Earth Advantage Institute recently completed a lifecycle analysis of residential building materials and practices for the state of Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality.
3. The rising cost of clean water will drive most people to stop using it to water lawns and flush toilets. Many homes will use graywater (domestic wastewater from any source except toilet and garbage) and rainwater for these purposes. Many states, including Texas and the Southwestern and West Coast states, have passed legislation authorizing the use of graywater by households for yard irrigation. Arizona, for example, allows up to 400 gallons per day of graywater use on lawns and gardens.
4. Lenders will demand energy efficient buildings because they are more stable investments. Sustainable homes are built durably to protect the homes from moisture, excessive heat and cold, and airborne toxins –  all of which can cause unhealthy conditions for occupants or decomposition of building materials. Equally important, efficient homes cost less to operate, so occupants have more cash available to pay rents and mortgages.
5. Communities will become denser, making better use of pedestrian walkways, bicycle paths and mass transit. The 2010 New Partners for Smart Growth conference documented the growing preference among today’s young people and today’s older citizens to live in denser, more convenient urban environments offering easy access to cultural activities, dining, entertainment and green space.
6. In the future, not just buildings will be certified, but neighborhoods and entire cities will be certified. This verification work will not only cover eco-friendly structures and materials, but will ensure that unique bio-regional conditions, water conservation, green space preservation, access to public transportation, and ongoing resident sustainability education are addressed.
7. All buildings will have baseline energy scores based on home design and the physical properties of the house. Home owners will have a better idea of where they stand with regard to energy efficiency and will understand how to upgrade their homes cost-effectively. Buyers will know more about energy performance when they shop for a home. The U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency will create a voluntary national energy scoring system for homes by October of this year.
8. All homeowners will know significantly more about their energy and water use and their energy habits. The use of stand-alone or online home energy displays will enable them to monitor consumption in real time. Consumers will know how many times they opened their refrigerator door, when the hairdryer was used, how many gallons of water their teenager used during their shower, and the approximate dollar cost of each activity.

About Earth Advantage

Earth Advantage Institute works with the building and design industry to implement sustainable building practices. Its nonprofit mission is to create an immediate, practical and cost-effective path to sustainability and carbon reduction in the built environment. The organization achieves its objectives through a range of innovative certification, education and technical services programs. More information is available at www.earthadvantage.org.

The Forest Stewardship Council was established in 1993 as a response to concerns over global deforestation.

The FSC stamp

Today, FSC provides internationally recognized standard-setting, trademark assurance and accreditation services to companies, organizations, and communities interested in responsible forestry.

A product bearing the FSC seal originates from a well-managed forest. To ensure that the forest management meets the FSC principles and criteria, independent certifying bodies inspect the forests. They not only inspect the management plans, but also perform onsite audits, ensuring that FSC’s principles and criteria are being complied with.

The entire Chain of Custody (CoC) is monitored, from forest to end product. Every firm in the chain is inspected to ensure that the FSC certified timber is not being exchanged for other, non-certified sources. This ensures the consumer that a purchase of FSC certified timber is indeed coming from a responsibly managed forest. The input and output flows of FSC timber must also match.

To find an FSC-certified manufacturer or distributor, check the FSC products database at www.fsc-info.org.