The Green Brownfields Initiative (GBI) brings together public and private sectors to transform inactive industrial sites and other brownfield properties into productive green space for the people of the Greater Houston-Galveston region.

The GBI Stakeholders Advisory Committee has reviewed the list of potential brownfield sites that were identified from the comprehensive GIS database. The potential sites will be ranked based upon the following criteria: ecological uplift potential, size, importance of the site to local conservation leaders, and the potential for partial development and public access. The task force will select one or more of those sites for a pilot project depending on the cost and input from our stakeholders.

The Council's afforestation project, responsible for tens of thousands of acres reforested in the Mississippi River 100-year floodplane, is emerging as a high value climate change sequestration opportunity. “Of all the options for responding to climate change, forest-related mitigation measures are, in the short to medium term, among the most practicable and cost-effective," according to a new report. Read the report at this address

Chicago Public Radio recently interviewed US BCSD's Andy Mangan on By-Product Synergy for their show Worldview. The interview is part of a week long series titled "The World's Waste" and aired Tuesday, October 7, 2008.

To hear the interview, click here.

From 5 to 14 October, US BCSD representatives will be attending the world's largest and most diverse conservation event will be taking place in Barcelona. It's the World Conservation Forum and Congress organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a conservation network that brings together 83 states, 110 government agencies, more than 800 NGOs and 10,000 researchers/scientists in a rare worldwide partnership.

Together with other partners such as the US Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) , WBCSD will launch the “Buy, Sell, Trade, (Partner and Advocate)!” game – a role-playing exercise that aims to demonstrate the benefits of making ‘deals' that make economic sense because ecosystems are conserved, and the services that they ecosystems deliver – like food, freshwater, climate regulation – are properly valued. As an active participant of the WBCSD working group, the US BCSD has collaborated with the design and testing of the game. It was recently presented by David Carroll of US BCSD’S member organization LaFarge at their Summer Members Meeting and the US BCSD is excited to participate in the unveiling of the game at the World Conservation Forum as well.

Powerful business leaders from all over the United States toured Holcim’s Devil’s Slide Cement Plant to see how waste from other industries is used in cement ¾ preserving raw materials and creating less waste. They saw how the company converts industrial waste such as diapers, tires, and unrecyclable plastic into an alternative fuel to fire their cement kiln while saving nearly a million dollars a year.

The tour was part of the United States Business Council for Sustainable Development’s meeting in Salt Lake City ¾ bringing the best minds in business together to share ideas on how sustainable or “green” business practices are not only good for the planet, they are good for a company’s bottom line. Joining the group were news crews from CBS, Fox, and NBC. Watch the report at this address.

With the UN reporting that over 50 % of the population is now living in urban centers, sustainability efforts are focusing sharply on cities worldwide. Ethisphere, a quarterly dedicated to promoting ethical business leadership, published an article in their September edition entitled "Global Sustainability Centers: The 20 Cities of 2020".

Using a very comprehensive rating system and enlisting experts such as our very own Executive Director, Andy Mangan, they outline the sustainability plans and policies of some of the most notable sustainability centers in the world. Read the article at this address. 

Recycling and Waste Management News and Information outllined the partnership between UK-based International Synergies and the US Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD). The article highlights the goal of the partnership to share resources and expertise on By-product Synergy.

To read the article, click here .

BPS can offer true business opportunities beyond cost-reduction if wastes are viewed not as wastes, but as raw materials for other industries. The US BCSD and MIT post-doctoral researcher Elsa Olivetti collaborated to publish By-product Synergy Networks, Driving Innovation through Waste Reduction and Carbon Mitigation for the Clean Technology Conference 2008. The report details how the “synergies reduce waste, promote the efficient use of natural resources, and create a legally protected forum in which companies can explore reuse opportunities.” Download the report.

Reforesting the Mississippi River valley for high dollar carbon credits could lead landowners to partner with large greenhouse gas emitters in the coming years, according to a new business model developed by a cross-disciplinary team of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sustainability Lab.

The S-Lab team worked with US BCSD to re-examine the Business Council’s 15-year-old afforestation initiative in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, which has helped reforest more than 100,000 acres. The program initially relied on marketing to the timber and pulp industries, but with those industries less engaged, the MIT team redesigned the project based on the potential for marketing carbon sequestration credits.

Read more about afforestation or download the complete report (Members Only).

The first-ever state level BCSD has been established with the formation of the Ohio BCSD, a partner of the US BCSD. The organization will head the launch of an Ohio By-Product Synergy program, led by Executive Director Mike Long. The Center for Resilience at Ohio State University has been working with the US BCSD and other groups in Ohio to implement the BPS program. Joseph Fiksel, Executive Director of the Center for Resilience at, and several OSU faculty at the Center for Resilience have developed the Eco-Flow™ tool to evaluate business opportunities and assess the benefits provided by a BPS network.

The Business-to-Business Workshop on By-product Synergy Opportunities was held on April 29, 2008 in Columbus, Ohio as the inaugural meeting of the Ohio BCSD. The Workshop was attended by 50 people, representing companies across Ohio as well government agencies, non-profits, and other interested parties. The speaker for the event was Kimberly Gibson, Deputy Director for Energy and Transportation, Ohio Department of Development, who spoke on “Collaborating for Success in Ohio – the Importance of Industrial Innovation”. The purpose of the workshop was to share information about by-product synergy initiatives in Ohio and elsewhere, and to lay the foundation for Ohio businesses to collaborate in expanding the practice of BPS.

Learn more at the Center for Resilience Website

The WBCSD has published a Case Study on the US BCSD By-Product Synergy Program as part of the Collaborative Action for Energy Regional Network Case Study Series.

The series of cases studies focuses on the experiences of WBCSD Regional Network partners and member companies in working together with government authorities and local organizations to overcome obstacles to reducing energy intensity in their regions.

Download the Case Study or Visit the WBCSD Website.

Econsense, a partner organization of the WBCSD, has launched a Climate Policy Map. The Climate Policy Map includes a Map Creator to create maps on climate policy by combining multifaceted information on climate policy with data of energy supply and socioeconomic factors for 14 countries and regions of the world, Fact Sheets that summarize information on climate policy regarding a country or a specific issue, and information related to the Legal Basis of national climate policies. For more information and to use the online tool visit www.climate-policy-map.com.