New Green Business Blog

The launch of a new blog by Greenview Fertilizer gets a bravo and a big round of applause from this blogger.

It’s great to see a company involved in the green plants business recognize the value of a blog. I like what they’re doing and wish there were people and companies in the “plants in buildings" community (houseplants or interior plants) with the courage to publish a blog.

This press release was the first news of the blog. This link captioned What is a blog? from their website explains more about their rationale for the blog. I often wonder how many people in the green plants business yet know what a blog is.

Fat Begets Nonfat

We enjoyed this story about a green economic loop. Ralph and Lisa Turner pick up used cooking oil from local restaurants. The restaurants previously paid someone to pick it up. The Turners do it for free. What do they do with the oil? They burn it to heat their greenhouse where they grow vegetables to sell to the restaurants that give them the oil. Neat!

The Meaning Of Green

We're glad this has been cleared up. Even better, how about 'Green²' meaning plants that are maintained with 'greenscaping' methods and are therefore 'green' in both senses of the word. Read on...

Excerpt: James Jao, chief executive officer of the US-based J.A.O. Design International told China Daily it is wonderful that the Chinese Government is making its people more ecologically concerned by adopting the concept of "Green Building" in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Game facility design. "Unfortunately, many people in China still have misconceptions and misinterpretations of the terminology of 'Green Building'," Jao said.

"Green Building" does not mean building with a lot of green plants, trees, or flowers. The term has a very clear parameter about it. Using recycled materials, recycled water and re-useable energy are essential features of green buildings.

Green Building News

Interior Business reports on Plants At Work (PAW) participation at the annual International Facility Management Association's (IFMA) World Workplace Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah in October.

Next stop is GreenBuild International Conference and Expo opening today in Portland, Oregon. It is produced by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Excerpt: The council has faced down critical decisions about purity versus further expansion, recently opting to deny trade associations membership for fear of pressures for what insiders call "greenwashing" -- fashioning a camouflage of eco-sensitivity without the performance.

Not Quite So Green

This story Housing project will be 'green' caught our attention with the not-so-green element sitting in the corner. Note the fake ficus.

The interior plantscaping community has a challenge on its hands to educate the other green community about the real meaning of greenscaping. There are likely many in it who think replica plants are “green”.

Excerpt: Specifically, "green" buildings use recycled materials, solar energy, geothermal heat pumps, sod roofs, renewable woods and many more technologies to cut energy costs and damage to the planet while creating healthier indoor environments.

A Green Revolution In Florida

Eco-friendly homes blossom in landscape is about the green revolution in Florida.

No, it has nothing to do with Florida’s foliage plant industry, the largest in the world. It's about green home building. There isn’t one word about inside plants, houseplants or cleaner air.

Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association (FNGLA) meet the Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC).

A Green Buzz Opportunity

Using a variety of sources, we search online public media daily for interior plantscaping business buzz. We find little. There is, however, daily buzz about green buildings and the green industry.

This article about a center for retreats in the hills above Los Gatos, CA is a good example. A forward-looking sub-irrigation supplier and interior plantscaper team should consider some green plants installed in "greenscaper" sub-irrigation for this project.

Closed system, dry soil surface sub-irrigation eliminates exposure to fungus gnat propagation and mold generation while maintaining healthier plants. It conserves water and also allows longer periods between maintenance visits resulting in fossil fuel and human resources savings.

Here is an opportunity to display sustainable greenscaping and likely get some green buzz while doing it. It would probably also lead, down the road, to some green income for both the parties involved and the business at large.

Daniel Smith & Associates (DSA), Berkeley, CA, designed the project.

Excerpt: The new green facility will act as a "teaching building," said Mulpeters, "where people can learn about our environment here and how to appreciate the larger environment around us."

When finished, it will look like a conventional building, but its structure will be anything but.

In about four weeks, tightly compacted straw bales, which are noncombustible, will be delivered to the mountain retreat and will become walls for the building. When the roof goes up, native succulents will be planted on it to keep in heat during the winter and cool air in the summer. Nontoxic paints will be used throughout, as well as recycled glass, tile and plastics in showers and bathrooms. Furniture will be made of recycled materials.

Here's a good opportunity to grow some sub-irrigated tomatoes and peppers along with the decorative plants. We've done it. It works beautifully.

Excerpt: An organic garden and compost system is planned that will be run by the UC Agricultural Center's master gardeners program to grow food for the center and its guests, and to convert food waste to soil.

Melbourne's New Convention Centre To Go Green?

The Property Council of Australia urges the Victorian Government to "go green" with the design of Melbourne's new convention centre or risk being uncompetitive against international centres.

Article excerpt: The PCA is calling for a 50 per cent reduction in energy use, storm-water recycling, and for the project to plant native gardens to improve indoor air quality, recycle all demolition material and use "approved green building materials".

A yet-to-be-published Property Council paper claims Pittsburgh's David L. Lawrence Convention Centre in the US attracted 35 per cent more conventions in its first year by using "green" as a marketing feature.

Perhaps interior plantscaping companies will catch on to the potential benefits of using "green" as a marketing benefit. Going "green" means more than just installng plants, it also means "green" maintenance. We find little evidence of that when exploring interior plantscaper websites.

6th Avenue Going Green - Big Time!

Ground was broken today for Bank of America's new building at One Bryant Park on 6th avenue between 42nd and 43rd streets in New York City.

Upon completion, Bank of America Tower will be the world's most environmentally responsible high-rise office building and the first to strive for the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum designation. The project incorporates innovative, high-performance technologies to use dramatically less energy, consume less potable water and provide a healthy and productive indoor environment that prioritizes natural light and fresh air.

This is how the site looks now.

This is how the new building will look. Animated website. Click on top menu "Projects", "Featured projects", "One Bryant Park" for five pages of project presentation.

Here are renderings and a quicktime animation on the Durst Organization website.

This is yet another exciting opportunity to showcase greenscaper technology.

Caesar And Son Go Green

Cesar Pelli and his son Rafael are designing a green building with green roofs for the University of Illinois. We wonder if the interior will feature some greenscaping.

"Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls,"

This looks like an interesting book. Scroll down.

Click to enlarge. This house in downtown San Diego was ahead of its time with its living wall. Do you recognize the "house plant"?

A Green Gardener Room

This seems like a good opportunity to demonstrate green interior plantscaping.

Article Quote: It's designed as three buildings connected by breezeways. There would be exhibit space, classrooms, a multipurpose auditorium, administrative offices and features like the "Green Gardener Room," with information and advice from staff members on gardening.

Building A Green Business Future

CNN says green buildings are in.

Question: Can a green building have interior plants, along with splash and dash watering? We think not, but you already knew that.

A Green, Green Building

The new Genzyme HQ building (with 18 indoor gardens) in Cambridge, MA has generated much publicity. A recent PAW newsletter linked to this article with a video clip worth viewing. Check it out. How would you like to work in an environment like this?

A Green Fish Story

Okay, it doesn't have anything to do with inside plants but we couldn't resist posting this.

Get green if you're not already.

Green Glossary

Here’s a follow up to yesterday’s post about green business. We believe that new business will find you if you speak to the market in the market's terms rather than yours.

This PDF file green glossary is from the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA). Here’s a less complete HTML version at Antron-Invista.

We believe it’s better to communicate you’re familiar with the term ALCA – Abridged Life Cycle Assessment than that you’re a member.

Know every meaning and nuance of the word sustainable, sound green and be green.

What Color Green Are You?

Have you noticed the dual meaning of “green business”? Not so fast if you think it’s only about crops, plants and horticulture. The “environmental” movement has clearly co-opted the term. We monitored news articles on “green business” for a month. Seventy seven percent of them were about environmental green rather than horticultural green.

We believe for those who grasp the true meaning of green in present day society, the definition change is a gain not a loss.

Read this Metropolis Magazine article about Mayor Daley’s Green Crusade and it will all make more sense.

Notice the lead photo of Chicago’s City Hall, the country’s first rooftop garden on a municipal building. There are green roofs sprouting all over the country. We also noted this paragraph about the mayor. What’s this about clean air? That sounds familiar.

I like to say he’s a janitor with a vision,” says Barry Burton, a zoo horticulturalist from Detroit who came to Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development in 1998 (he is now assistant to the mayor for landscaping initiatives). “It starts with him noticing the trees are all gone and having them replanted. Suddenly life springs up, and there are cafés and people where there were none before. Then it becomes, let’s not just make it attractive but a healthier place. Trees reduce the heat-island effect and clean the air. Landscaping is labor intensive, so we provide a lot of jobs. That has turned into a model of economic development based on green technologies, attracting renewable-energy companies, and creating a sustainable landscaping industry.

If you’re an interior plantscape contractor, are you part of the sustainable landscaping industry and competing for this green business?

Our question whether you’re in business or at home is are you practicing “green plant care”. Uh, what’s that? It means using technology that conserves and follows sustainable principles. Sub-irrigation does just that. Poke and pour top watering doesn’t.

Plants stay healthier and live longer with sub-irrigation. Water usage is reduced to just the amount the plants consume. There’s no wasteful run-off. The soil surface stays dry at all times, reducing exposure to toxic molds and annoying fungus gnats.

Old fashioned poke and pour top watering is the antithesis of sustainable plant care. The use of digital foot-candle light meters, soil probes and sub-irrigation technology clearly identifies those practicing modern 21st century inside plant care.

We who fit the definition of both the old and new green businesses can be "green squared". Shrewd inside plant marketers practice green squared principles and sell their benefits to customers and prospects.

Shrewd houseplant caretakers also practice the green squared principles and share their benefits with friends and relatives.