The Memorial Union at ASU’s Tempe campus was damaged by fire last November and as part of the clean up they are going to do some renovations with a focus on sustainability. This is exciting news, I can’t wait to see what it looks like when the construction is finished next Fall.

“We had to repair the fire damage. Why not use the opportunity to upgrade the building as well?” she said.

ASU spokeswoman Leah Hardesty added that many of the University’s efforts will focus on sustainability.

The University will be going for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification in commercial interiors, she said.

LEED certification is given to buildings that have achieved high degrees of sustainability in terms of construction that recycles and reuses materials and buildings that make use of energy-efficient designs and appliances, among other factors.

The new dining facility is tentatively named the Starlight Terrace and Eco-Fresh Café, Lowe said.

The restaurant will make use of local organic foods and environmentally friendly practices such as recycling.

“We’re still mostly conceptualizing on the Starlight Terrace,” Hardesty said. “But we do know it will be entirely sustainable.”

[ASU Webdevil]

AzSustainably’s founder and your loyal blogger, James Towner, was recently quoted in a great story in the Phoenix Business Journal. Although the wording of one of his paraphrased statements was a bit skewed (they made it sound like he was supporting the use of food crops in biofuel as opposed to his intended point of stressing the need for waste-veggie oil bio to decrease the demand on food crops) they covered the topic well and discussed some important points. Hopefully the points James brought up as far as various ways restaurants (and any businesses or individuals) can conserve will be well received and will encourage businesses to be more mindful and know that there are options that can be beneficial financially, of benefit to their image, as well as good for the environment. Thanks, James! Nice work.

Click here to read the article: “From fat to fuel” from the Phoenix Business Journal

Al Gore updated his famous slide show and presented it recently at TED, this new one is quite a bit shorter. I thought it was an interesting view, check it out.

Very interesting article over at the guardian.co.uk about the global food price crisis and how one of the factors causing it is the switch from food crops to biofuel crops.

tens of thousands of farmers have switched from food to fuel production to reduce US dependence on foreign oil. Spurred by generous subsidies and an EU commitment to increase the use of biofuels to counter climate change, at least 8m hectares (20m acres) of maize, wheat, soya and other crops which once provided animal feed and food have been taken out of production in the US.

In addition, large areas of Brazil, Argentina, Canada and eastern Europe are diverting sugar cane, palm oil and soybean crops to biofuels. The result, exacerbated by energy price rises, speculation and shortages because of severe weather, has been big increases of all global food commodity prices.

Cameroon At least 24 people killed and 1,600 people arrested in February. Taxes slashed on food imports and public sector wages increased by 15%.

Indonesia 10,000 demonstrated outside the presidential palace in Jakarta after soya bean prices rose more than 50% in a month and more than 125% over the past year.

Egypt Seven people have died in fights or of exhaustion queuing for subsidised bread. Dairy products are up 20%, oil 40%.

Burkina Faso Riots in three towns after the government promised to control the price of food but failed.

Guinea Five anti-government riots over cost of living in past 18 months.

Pakistan Thousands of troops have been deployed to guard trucks carrying wheat and flour. [Read More]

Here’s some alternative biofuels to consider; these Arizona groups make biodiesel from waste vegetable oil.

AZ BioDiesel

Amereco BioFuels Corp

Desert BioFuels

Dynomite BioFuels Co-Op

Grecycle

Related Post: Biowar I: Why Battles over Food and Fuel Lead to World Hunger

This building is in my own back yard, and within walking distance of my house. It’s great to see that the water company that serves Maricopa is making an effort to be more sustainable.

The new Global Water Center is the first LEED certified utility facility in Pinal County. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is the national benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-efficiency green buildings. LEED promotes environmentally conscious building by recognizing six key categories:

• sustainable sites
• energy and atmosphere
• water efficiency
• indoor environmental quality
• materials and resources
• innovation in design

More on Global Water’s Resource Center

“The Global Water Center uses a high percentage of recycled water, recycled building materials, and takes advantage of natural light and high-efficiency heating and AC, so it uses only two thirds of the electricity and one sixth the water of an average comparable traditionally constructed commercial structure. We are extremely proud of this achievement and are committed to taking a leadership role in green practices.” says Trevor Hill, President & CEO of Global Water Resources.

Press Release