Page 9 - Green Builder Nov-Dec 2020 Issue

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Green Building NEWS

The Latest on Sustainability and Renewable Energy
Panic or

Practicality?

Increasing numbers of
companies large and

small are getting the
word out about their
commitment to the

environment.
ORE PUBLICLY TRADED
corporations are taking
action to improve the
M environment. They also want
people to know about it. According to a
study by the Governance & Accountability
Institute (G&A), 65 percent of the
companies included in the Russell 1000
published sustainability reports in 2019,
up from 60 percent in 2018. The finding
marked the eighth straight year of increase,
(Electric) city by the bay. In an effort to cut carbon emissions, San Francisco will implement a ban on the institute notes.
the use of natural gas in all new residential and commercial buildings starting next summer. Most large companies are now on the
CREDIT:BOGDAN MIGULSKI§FLICKR green bandwagon. Researchers found that
San Francisco Bids 90 percent of the largest 500 companies in
the index published sustainability reports in
2019, an increase from 86 percent in 2018.
Goodbye to Natural Gas The smaller 500 companies publishing
reports rose from 34 percent in 2018 to 39
percent over those years, according to G&A.
The Russell 1000 generally mimics the
The city’s ban will require electric appliances in all new better-known S&P 500 Index because most
construction as of 2021. of the same corporations appear on each
list. “While sustainability reporting by [mid-
HE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO is banning natural gas in new buildings, meaning that stoves, furnaces and smaller-sized] public companies has
and water heaters must all be electric powered. The ban takes effect in June 2021. lagged behind that of [larger] companies,
According to a report in InsideClimate News, San Francisco becomes the latest addition to a our research shows that reporting by
T list of municipalities — most of them in California — that are attempting to tackle the climate smaller companies is accelerating,” says
crisis by shrinking the massive climate footprint of their buildings. G&A co-founder Louis Coppola. GB
Residential and commercial buildings account for more than 40 percent of San Francisco’s total
greenhouse gas emissions, with the burning of natural gas responsible for most of that, according to
city supervisor Rafael Mandelman. The gas itself, methane, is a climate super-pollutant capable of warming
the planet 87 times faster than CO2 when leaked into the atmosphere, he notes.
Natural gas is also responsible for nearly 40 percent of the country’s total annual carbon emissions, or
619 million metric tons of CO2, according to the Energy Information Administration. Green leader. Electronics giant LG is
San Francisco’s ban is a big deal, according to Amanda Myers, a senior policy analyst for clean energy among corporations that publish
think tank Energy Innovation. If cities in California continue to rely on gas to heat new buildings through sustainability reports to demonstrate
the next decade, Myers says, it will become increasingly difficult — if not impossible — for the state to commitment to environmental
meet its binding climate target of reaching carbon neutrality by 2045. responsibility. CREDIT: MIKE MOZART§FLICKR

www.greenbuildermedia.com November/December 2020 GREEN BUILDER 7

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