Standards & Compliance Briefing: Climate Bonds, ISO 50001, Cradle to Cradle, Green Leaf

The Climate Bonds Initiative has released a prototype Climate Bond Standard – a screening tool for investors and governments to support investment in the “Low Carbon Economy.” Business opportunities that offer investment-grade returns and also address climate change can be certified as Climate Bonds. The release follows six months of development and review with industry experts such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Standard & Poor’s, Aviva Investors and KPMG. The new standard lists some currently eligible wind energy investments, with solar and other renewable energy investments to follow in the coming months.

St Marys Cement’s Bowmanville Plant in Ontario, Canada, has received North America’s first ISO 50001 certification for energy management, the company said. Since 2005, when plant managers first laid out a strategy for an integrated approach to reducing the plant’s energy consumption, the facility has saved more than 11 million kWh of energy and more than $3 million, and the company said that it expects to save more than $1 million in 2011.

A Pfizer facility in Cork, Ireland, has been certified as ISO 50001 compliant, making it the first pharmaceutical plant in the world to meet the new standard for energy management and energy performance of buildings, said InPharm.com. The Loughbeg Drug Product Plant met the standard after a facility-wide review of business operations, and the development of an energy management plan that focused on achieving the ISO 50001 standard, and Pfizer intends to expand the energy plan to include other facilities in its network.

Indian solar PV cells and modules manufacturer, Moser Baer Solar Limited (MBSL), has been awarded a Green Leaf Mark for its lead-free Max Series solar PV modules. The product was independently tested by Intertek labs and found to conform to multiple environmental regulations, including RoHS laws, WEEE, REACH and Eco Design. The company launched Green Leaf-certified solar modules in Germany, UK, France, Japan and India, and it is the first global solar PV manufacturing company to earn the certification, MBSL said.

The Ardagh Group announces Cradle to Cradle certification for two of its steel products – a baby food can and a paint can. The certification was managed by environmental assessment agency EPEA over a period of nine months of collecting data and assessing the material input, material reutilization, energy consumption, water impacts and social responsibility.

Frito-Lay’s new distribution facility in Oahu, Hawaii, has been certified LEED Gold to become the state’s first industrial “new construction” to achieve the standard. Some design and construction features of the 55000-square-foot building include rooftop parking and reserve parking for erngy-efficient vehicles, light-colored paved surfaces, energy efficient windows and skylights, and 10% onsite solar PV power generation.

The Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council (HPRC) has published a set of product and packaging design considerations for improving the recyclability of disposable plastic products. “Design Guidelines for Optimal Hospital Plastics Recycling,” based on joint research from the Cleveland Clinic, Engineered Plastics and Waste Management, takes a look at product and packaging design features that inhibit post-use recycling potential and makes design recommendations that could enhance product recyclability — for example, eliminating multiple material types used within one discrete product.

The Consumer Electronics Association has formed a new committee to advance the standardization of the Modular Communications Interface (MCI) specification. The new standard will result in Smart Grid-ready, standardized consumer products that can obtain energy data from energy system interfaces regardless of the communication technology, and therefore, will function in any service territory, anywhere in the U.S. The new MCI specification merges previously independent modular interface initiatives from the Universal Smart Network Access Port (USNAP) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).