Nov 9, 2006

Green program launched

Palo Alto chamber encourages eco-friendly commerce

By Kristina Peterson

Claudette Earl and Adam Reinick from IDEO, headquartered in Palo Alto, tell Ben Hammett, right, about their designs used by different companies all over the world. IDEO showed off their innovative, environmentally friendly designs at the Chamber of Commerce Palo Alto Business Goes Green event held at Stanford University on Wednesday.


At Lockheed Martin's Palo Alto campus, the engineering company's recyclables are often a tight squeeze for the blue bin. Titanium stands, aluminum tubing from spacecraft, air-handler motors and batteries the size of suitcases number among the materials the company sends back for reuse.

"We recycle nearly 75 percent of materials we use," said Frank Rocha, the solid waste manager known as "Mr. Recycling" to his colleagues.

About 200 people from 70 city businesses gathered Wednesday to launch "Palo Alto Business Goes Green," an initiative planned by the Chamber of Commerce that urges city businesses to become green-certified.

At a "green expo," local companies already focused on energy efficiency shared their tips with interested onlookers, while representatives from the city's utilities department passed out free compact fluorescent light bulbs.

"They use one-quarter of the energy of a regular (incandescent) bulb," said Brian Ward, program manager of the Palo Alto Green renewable energy program. "This is just a no-brainer. If everyone used these, we could get rid of a nuclear power plant."

Adam Reineck, an industrial designer at IDEO, said his business has installed deskside recycling bins, uses special valves on commodes to reduce wasted water and works with local startups to design eco-friendly products like flexible solar panels.

"We try to get everyone to shut down their computer on Fridays," Reineck said. IDEO also composts around 100 pounds of food each week in a collaboration with Whole Foods Market.

In the keynote address, Stanford professor Stephen Schneider reassured businesses that making environmental changes does not entail ignoring the bottom line. "Being greener means being smarter and more efficient, which is exactly what high-tech business is about," Schneider said. California's energy-efficiency measures save the state $4 billion each year, he said.

Schneider emphasized the need for mandatory performance standards proven effective through research and for cooperation between business and government groups, at both local and international levels.

"After yesterday, that is very likely in the U.S.," he said, referring to election results in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

Chamber president and CEO Sandra Lonnquist encouraged businesses to sign up for the Santa Clara County Green Business Program in which businesses can become green-certified after complying with a set of environmental regulations and selecting several "above and beyond" conservation measures. Fourteen city businesses including Palo Alto Hardware, Park Avenue Motors, and Gunn High School have already received their certification.