NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EVENT

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 8-10:45 a.m., Napa Valley Marriott, Napa

Best Places to Work 2008 Awards Reception

September 25, 2008, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Doubletree Hotel, Rohnert Park

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Green News: Sustainability explored by businesses, green experts

Rohnert Park’s budding eco-friendly community, Sonoma Mountain Village, was again the backdrop on May 2 for the third-annual Sustainability Enterprise Conference, which was bigger and greener than ever. The event was a sellout with more than 350 attendees, and organizers praised the comprehensiveness and enthusiasm of the group.

“The conference generated extraordinary excitement. Participants, many of whom came from major North Bay enterprises, were thoroughly engaged in learning and dialogue about practical sustainability concepts and tools,” said John Stayton, co-founder and director of the Green MBA program at Dominican University and panel moderator.

The event included workshops for large and small businesses, networking, business booths, a panel discussion and a keynote speech, “Creating Business Value Though Sustainability: The Wal-Mart Journey,” by Pic Walker of Blu Skye Consulting.

“I think the motivation behind this green movement is people shifting away from the idea that it would be something nice to do, to thinking this is something we have to do,” said Craig Nelson, executive vice president of staffing for the Nelson Family of Companies, who also spoke on a panel during the conference.

The panel included three businesses in different stages of greening their companies, including Nelson, the Sonoma County Water Agency and La Tortilla Factory of Santa Rosa. “It is our goal to provide carbon-free water to our residents by 2015, and we are on the right track, but everyone has a role to play,” said panel speaker Grant Davis, assistant general manager for the water agency. “It is our moral imperative to do this, and we intend to do this.”

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WaccoBB.net, a sustainability-based online forum, was one of many participants in the conference, sharing plans to create a comprehensive Internet sustainable community. The company began with just 30 members in 1999 and has since reached more than 7,000 people who contribute an average 100 posts a day.

The site hosts announcements, discussion forums and other commercial services, but founder and moderator Barry Chertov said the scope will soon be upgraded to include more of a MySpace-type community. “We are getting ready to go through a lot of growth,” he said. “It’s the community newspaper for the green progressive, both for commercial and non-commercial. But we like to think of it as our space rather than MySpace. It is really about the community.”

Members can join for free but are encouraged to sign up for $2 a month. The forum includes lists of events, commercial resources for green businesses and topic discussions. Members receive daily digests depending on their interests.

The new features could include a business directory with customer testimonials and new features to member profiles, such as photos and places to leave comments.

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Locally grown green business and conference participant iReuse is also in the midst of expanding its services and geographic coverage. Founders started the business with a focus on helping companies recycle their excess office materials, offering either to sell the items on their behalf or donate them to local nonprofits.

New this year, the company rolled out a consulting service, giving customers a road to making their business more sustainable. Contracts can last as little as six months or over the duration of many years and include tracking, goal-setting and measurements of success.

Clients – including PG&E, Charles Schwab and Autodesk – have used the services, and if all goes as planned, iReuse hopes to expand into southern California. Sales Manager Carter Coleman also said the company hopes to implement partnerships to help “cast a larger net” in the market.

A few of more than a hundred nonprofits that have benefitted from the company so far include: Marin Services for Women, Forgotten Felines, Center Point and the United Cancer Research Society.

For more information, visit www

.ireuse.com or call 415-924-9977.

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SPG Solar Inc. of Novato has signed a contract with Green Living Ideas to be the sponsor of the site’s online Solar Energy/Photovoltaic education center. The section will include articles, tips, podcasts and resources concerning solar energy and photovoltaic systems.

For details, visit www.greenlivingideas

.com or call 877-548-4733 ext. 200.

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The California Energy Commission on April 23 approved new standards for the California Energy Code that will increase efficiency standards for new homes and commercial buildings by up to 20 percent over 2007 standards.

Set to take effect next year, key new provisions include requirements for home ventilation systems that bring in fresh air without wasting heat, more use of insulated and reflective “cool roofs” on homes and commercial buildings and skylights in warehouses as small as 8,000 square feet rather than 25,000 square feet in the previous version. For details, visit www.energy.ca.gov/title24/2008standards.

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Submit items for this column to D. Ashley Verrill at 707-579-2900 ext. 215, averrill@busjrnl.com or fax 707-579-8475. Staff Writer Jeff Quackenbush contributed to this column.

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