in his appearance at the summit, vachon talked about the false choice between economics and environmental performance. during the discussion, he made the business case for making smart investments in a sustainable future. he argued that “being sustainably responsible as a company will help you grow fiscally,” and that businesses who aren’t changing their practices will fall behind. once the dust settles on the discussion surrounding renewable energy, he predicted that ge would come out on the other side because of some of the work that ecomagination is doing now.

afterwards, our camera crew caught up with him backstage and asked him to elaborate on his comments.

through 2011, ecomagination has invested $5 billion in clean tech r&d, which has generated a staggering $106 billion in revenues for the company in return.

in this clip, chambers discusses a project in myrtle beach, south carolina where they are restoring a polluted estuary by reintroducing oysters that he says can “filter four gallons of water per hour.” in it, he claimed that 100,000 oysters could clean the water column every day.

this idea falls into the category of restoration ecology, or restoring ecosystems in a way that will benefit the natural environment. in the case of oysters, you can clean the water in an area without building costly infrastructure. if done right, the oysters will maintain themselves and don’t have to be maintained like man-made infrastructure does. programs to use oysters to clean water are being discussed in many places across the country, including the hudson-raritan estuary in new york/new jersey, wilson bay in north carolina, and a project on virginia’s coastline, among others.

in this piece, chambers makes an important point about choosing between infrastructure and ecological restoration. while infrastructure technology often has a relatively short track record, ecological changes can restore natural systems that have worked for thousands of years. in essence, you are allowing nature to complete the process that it was designed to execute, which results in drinkable water, breathable air, and fertile land for all of us.

other examples of high-profile ecological restoration projects are the efforts to restore the wetlands in louisiana to help prevent the type of flooding that was seen during hurricane katrina, replant the forests in places like the philippines, and to attempt to aid soil restoration in the red rock canyon state park in the mojave desert.

on wednesday, may 25th, hertz officially launched the washington expansion of their connect by hertz program, which was launched in new york city in 2008.  washington is the 12th city that they have launched the program in.

jack hidary, the global ev leader for hertz, envisioned the program transporting people who arrive by rail at union station, as well as people heading to reagan or dulles airport.  connecting public transportation and transportation that uses alternative energy is another vital way in which smart communities will continue to flourish, and electric vehicle sharing programs such as this one will lead the way to making washington, d.c. and other smarter, more sustainable, and better for everyone in the long run.

the washington program launched with five new electric cars, including the longer-range chevy volt, which has a hybrid motor that can switch to gas when its electric charge runs out, allowing it to travel further distances.

for more information, check out their website here.
and read this excellent blog post from solve climate: new federal legislation encouraging mass adoption of electric vehicles will only help ‘to catalyze the change that is coming,’ says hertz executive

often time, when people build homes or buildings, they neglect to take the total cost of ownership into account. people look at the sticker price of the house and forget that the actual amount of money they put into their new home is dependent on renovations they need to make to expensive systems that heat and cool their home, the amount they pay to the energy company, and how often they have to replace things like their windows. passive houses take all of these things into account so that homeowners pay a little bit more up front so that they can save money for years to come. a small investment that decreases future costs and raises the value of your new home is a no-brainer.

the passive house design technique, which is very popular in germany and several other countries in europe, emphasizes some great, green technology like an energy recovery ventilator and triple-glazed windows (see more about these in the video). habitat for humanity is starting to build passive houses across the country to lessen the back-end burden for low-income families that move in so they aren’t slammed with extra costs in the end.

if we want the amount of energy we use to be smaller, we have to start by living smarter. passive house design is a great way for all of us to start making that happen.

habitat for humanity has begun to build “passive houses” across the country in washington d.c., kentucky, and vermont to name a few. what is a passive house? check out this quick video below that explains it:

as the architect in the video, david peabody, emphasizes, “that first cost is worth it when they think of the total cost of ownership, so it’s becoming good business to do it instead of just the right thing.” habitat for humanity has begun building passive houses with just that in mind: the cost of owning a home doesn’t end when you sign the mortgage. low income families often use 40% of their income on energy costs, according to tom digiovanni, head of the passive house alliance in washington, d.c. cutting this cost can be a crucial step that helps more people own homes, as well as stay in those homes once they move in.

it’s past time that we start adopting these energy saving, cost cutting techniques in all of our buildings. and as with most of our country’s energy challenges, there’s no better place to start than at home.