Hi Ted, does a retail or other business interested in space at the mall have to adopt and follow LEED standards? What qualifies a business in the mall to be "eco-friendly"?

I happened across this blog post. If you work downtown, next Weds - 4/18 - there is a talk being put on by David Baum - founder of The Green Exchange. Its free. 12:15pm-1pm. 224 S Michigan Ave - its in a room off the lobby square.

I think the Green Exchange will be great. I hope they can get enough business in there to sustain the mall, let alone sustain the world.

Hi Paul,

The developers and contractors follow LEED standards when constructing or renovating structures for commercial or residential use.

In order to be eco-friendly, the businesses contained in such a mall generally represent businesses that have implemented sustainable practices. For example, they recycle to cut down on waste, or use post-consumer recycled products in their packaging; sell organic products such as food, or clothing made from organic cotton or recycled fibers, furniture from renewable resources such as bamboo, the list goes on and on. Just a few examples of eco-friendly businesses.

FYI - here is more info on the lunchtime lecture series. Next week is Earth Week.

http://www.architecture.org/programs.html

The momentum is growing for elevation of awareness of green homes for sale nationally and globally.

http://www.ListedGreen.com is continuing to grow with the demand for developers of green projects to "get the word out", about their energy efficient communities that are currently or soon to be announced.

Listed Green has also been asked to present itself at AltBuild 2007 Expo in Santa Monica on May 18th and 19th 2007.

Listed Green is excited to be part of this 4th annual event. Like-minded folks can now offer green homes for sale for only $20 per month and green home builders can do the same.

We look forward to getting the word out, as we're sure the green, sustainable housing marketplace is ready for us.

This Green Exchange concept has real merit and hopefully it will be successful so that other cities try to emulate it.

More and more start-ups are environmentally friendly in their practices now, so why not group them together so that consumers who support these initiatives have malls of their own to buy products and services in? Makes sense to me.

The green movement is certainly one of the top trends in business. I don't think there are enough people that are willing to pay a price premium for environmentally friendly goods, as most people buy for self interest. Al Gore has done an incredible job of changing the world view of thousands, so I hope this mall is successful. I don't think that companies can be very successful at differentiating their product on "green" alone, because in a free market self interest prevails. In my opinion it will take government regulations to make a major difference.

Thanks Jason and David, for your input. This is great info and I'm sure Daily Fix readers will be interested in finding out more about green architecture.

By the way, architect William McDonough has been cited for his work in this area; he has also written extensively on the subject. Interested readers can go to his web site: http://www.mcdonough.com for more information about cradle to cradle systems.

I would shop in a green mall if the average prices seem reasonable compared to other retail establishments.

Hi Charles,

It's always nice when companies choose to take certain initiatives because it's the right thing to do. There are many government regulations in place already, and they're not always followed.

Green products, whether sourced from sustainable sources, organic or recycled sometimes do carry a premium price tag. Yet, many consumers have shown a willingness to pay them. Witness the success of Whole Foods, for example.

Perhaps you're right; green alone might not be the only or most persuasive differentiator for businesses. But, when coupled with outstanding customer service and/or a giving back to the community or environmental causes, it can and is a potent force in the marketplace.

Green construction is a hot business, here and globally. My old college roommate is an expert in this area, so I'll get him to weigh in if we wants to.

As for the tenants, that's lovely as long as the definition of "green" means more than just being carbon neutral. Green better mean cash, too, or the owners will find "less green and more GREEN" tenants to help pay the bills. All things being equal, green (or RED, for that matter) will win -- but at a premium price or a lower performance, the consumer here or elsewhere will kick them to the curb pretty quickly.

Good luck to them!

Ted's post was an introction to LEED standards for me. Then I opened up an email from my town's mailing list earlier today to find that our mid-sized town of 30,000 is hosting a forum in early May called: “LEED”ing to a Greener Future: A Forum on Greener Buildings and Homes.

So Stephen, David and all -- I guess you are right. Clearly this is an initiative that is gaining momentum.

Ted, I wrote an article on green building for The Business Journal back in February. That was my introduction to LEED and the entire concept of "green" building. Industry experts I interviewed claimed that the difference in doing things "green" didn't cost that much more, and often came out the same.

http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2007/02/26/focus1.html

I think the idea is great and long overdue. But, like everything else, society needed a tipping point, and I believe that came with Al Gore's film and the Academy Award for it. Now, it's a subject being covered more frequently. Hurray!

This is great. I'm surprised this concept didn't spring up in California yet.

Do you know if there are any similar projects under consideration or in development?

Thanks for posting your comments and adding to the conversation, Stephen, Ann, Elaine and Brion. Yes, this movement is gaining momentum. Organizations are being formed around the country to push more environmentally friendly building practices. This will be more than a fad if we reorient our thinking and push our efforts in the direction of using renewable resources in construction and adding more energy efficient, less wasteful features to our buildings.

Great article, Elaine. It brings community awareness to a new level. Brion: you might want to contact your municipal and state representatives to find out what is being done in your city and state. Ann: with towns like yours holding forums on this issue, and participation from local homeowners, business owners and contractors, everyone can find out the steps they can take to do their share toward sustainability.

These grassroots efforts really count. Thanks, all.

Having spent years in the natural products industry, environmental issues and sustainability are of great interest to me. To show you how the Green Movement in building has gained momentum, This Old House is currently airing a project where a Texas homeowner has renovated an older craftsman style home with new green products while substantially lowering energy use and costs associated with air conditioning for most of the year.

What's exciting here is that older homes and commercial buildings can be restored with sustainable building materials and many more energy efficient features. Retrofitting is as important as new construction in my view. When consumers become informed, and do just a few things to help the environment, the overall impact is a large and positive one.

I am excited with this post and the conversation. Ted's posts are always ones to watchout for!

Internet can help establish eco business models. Traditional and rural India uses environmentally friendly products. For eg. in Dharmasthala and other parts of South Kanara dist.,and Udupi districts of Karnataka 'veeryo' and 'donne' are native plates and small cups. Such items can be developed further, its aesthetic qualities improved and mass produced through a cottage industry for consumption on a large scale. There is a business scope for this. Tapping in to production of established eco friendly products and strengthening of the eco movement will help our society and Mother Earth.

Sunil,

Many thanks for the kind words. I appreciate your enthusiasm. Your comments prove that people can implement ideas on a large scale through establishing regional and national associations as well as small, local grassroots efforts. What is going on in your country and ours, as well as across the rest of the world is encouraging.

If we all do our part, bit by bit, we can launch whole new industries to employ people (to your point), and manufacture, sell and generate revenues from socially responsible products that help us all out. That's a win-win proposition, isn't it?

I am really impressed my the site Marketing Prof. I am doig my Ph.D in understanding he customer awareness and their willing ness to pay a premium on the green products in India . The study is in reference to the Automoble Market which has a lot of impact on the mother earth.
I would request you to ad my name in your mailing list if att al there is a possibility.
I look forward for a cleaner world than today for our future generation

I think this is a GREAT idea, we're an eco-friendly clothing company and would definitely consider opening shop at a "Green" mall!!

Great idea!

Outstanding. I would absolutely shop there and a yes to all of the questions you asked at the end of your post.

Thanks for bringing this project to our attention and let us hope there will be many more like it.

I think this idea is similar to the sort of new urbanism style communities we have seen develop in recent years. Here is a sort of definition from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_urbanism

It is based on sound human wants and needs so I think it will succeed. I think people want a walkable community, green space, beauty, not to mention places to eat and shop without having to drive to 5 different places to do errands.

They want (no, need) safe open spaces for their children to play with.

This all sounds very liberal and idealistic and that is how I probably sound a lot but really, when you think about it, these ideas are conservative.

When I think of the perfect community, I think of the corner store where you know the proprietor. I think of walkable, safe communities where children can play. I think of people walking to the store, stopping on the way to chat with a friend. I think of the way things were, I think, though I think we *can* do it better now. We should first acknowledge we lost it. We sort of blew it as a society and and a culture.

No, I never want to go back to the era of the "Feminine Mystique" of the trapped housewife with no options. I never want to go back to era when companies could dump into the air and water with abandon. But I do think that this society threw out the baby with the bath water.