Rezachek & Associates'
Energy & Environmental Resources

Sustainable Development - Page 4

National Council for Sustainable Development A National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) is a mechanism for furthering the implementation of sustainability as expressed in Agenda 21, the plan of action agreed to by national governments at the Earth Summit held in Rio in 1992. The NCSD concept legitimizes the role of civil society as a partner with government in making policy for implementation of the sustainable development agenda and to move it from agenda to action.

Nautilus Institute for Security & Sustainable Development Asia-Pacific regional news reports, policy studies, and reference resources are available here from the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development, a nonprofit policy development think-tank addressing international security, environmental protection, and sustainable development.

Oikos: Green Building Source If you want to make that new construction or remodeling project energy efficient and environmentally responsible, you have come to the right place. Here at Oikos you'll find information on green building products and materials along with techniques for sustainable design and construction.

Permaculture Research Institute Permaculture, a copyright word, is owned as a common copyright by the Permaculture Institutes and their graduates. The word is derived from the Latin permanens, to remain to the end, to persist throughout, to continue; and from the Latin cultura, cultivation of land and the intellect. Now generalized to mean all cultures. Further, Permaculture is the study and implementation of; the design of enduring, functional, sustainable and integrated systems that support human settlements and natural ecosystems.

Quality Building Council The Quality Building Council of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) includes builders, remodelers, contractors, architects, engineers, tradespeople, activists, and planners. Since 1983 the QBC has been exploring innovative, cost effective, energy and resource efficient building technologies, and helping it's members create and manage more productive and efficient businesses.

Renewable Energy and Sustainable Energy WWW Links

Renewable Energy and Sustainable Energy Systems in Canada The Canadian Renewable Energy and Sustainable Energy Internet Site! You can find information here to help you produce and/or use energy in the most intelligent and environmentally-friendly ways possible.

Residential Environmental Design Resources dedicated to the advancement of green architecture, focusing on Residential Environmental Design, and how both relate to architects, designers, contractors, and homeowners.

Resource Renewal Institute (RRI) The Resource Renewal Institute (RRI) promotes Green Plans as the path to a sustainable environment and economy. Green Plans are dynamic programs by which all elements of society agree on long-term environmental goals and take responsibility for achieving them.

Revisiting Carrying Capacity: Area-Based Indicators of Sustainability Conventional wisdom suggests that because of technology and trade, human carrying capacity is infinitely expandable and therefore virtually irrelevant to demography and development planning. By contrast, this article argues that ecological carrying capacity remains the fundamental basis for demographic accounting. A fundamental question for ecological economics is whether remaining stocks of natural capital are adequate to sustain the anticipated load of the human economy into the next century. Since mainstream (neoclassical) models are blind to ecological structure and function, they cannot even properly address this question. The present article therefore assesses the capital stocks, physical flows, and corresponding ecosystems areas required to support the economy using "ecological footprint" analysis.

Second Nature - Education for Sustainability Second Nature is a nonprofit organization working to help colleges and universities expand their efforts to make environmentally sustainable and just action a foundation of learning and practice. Education for Sustainability (EFS) is a lifelong learning process that leads to an informed and involved citizenry having the creative problem-solving skills, scientific and social literacy, and commitment to engage in responsible individual and cooperative actions. Second Nature focuses on colleges and universities because they educate our future teachers, leaders, managers, policymakers and other professionals.

SEEDs of Victory In several states in the Midwest, a seed is not just what we plant to make things grow. SEED also stands for "Sustainable Energy for Economic Development," the name for coalitions of renewable energy supporters working together to promote clean, sustainable energy.

$mart Growth Network The $mart Growth Network is a growing coalition of developers, planners, government officials, lending institutions, community development organizations, architects, environmentalists and community activists all stakeholders in the development process. By building coalitions and partnerships, developing information and analytical tools and programs and establishing dialogues among development stakeholders, the Smart Growth Network hopes to encourage more environmentally and fiscally responsible land use, growth and development.

Straw Bale Construction Web Information Straw Bale construction has over 100 years experience in America. Recently many new efficient homes have been built with bales of straw. This page brings some of the net available information together for educational purposes.

Sundial Resources found in these pages include information about the Hawaiian Islands in the field of energy efficient building design, computer shareware for energy and lighting design, recent professional papers relating to architecture and energy issues, and links to web sites around the planet where related topics may be explored.

Stockholm Environmental Institute/International Institute for Environmental Technology and Management Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) was established by the Swedish Parliament in 1989 as an independent Foundation for the purpose of carrying out global and regional environmental research. The Institute is governed by an international board, and has four main centers: the headquarters in Stockholm, Boston (USA) , York (UK) and Tallinn (Estonia) . A professional staff of sixty works with an international network of scientists, project advisors and field staff in projects throughout the world. The Institute is active in international initiatives on environment and development issues and, for example, made substantive contributions to the preparatory work of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), including the action plan Agenda 21.

Sustainable Agriculture A commitment to farmers, to sustainable practices and to sharing information. Sustainable agriculture is a growing concern for NCAT, with programs ranging from operating a national toll-free telephone line, to helping train county Extension agents in sustainable agriculture, to coordinating a program designed to place articles on sustainable agriculture in popular periodicals and scientific journals.

Sustainable Agriculture at The University of Maine Many factors have convinced the agriculture community to seek new approaches to the production of food and fiber. Among these factors are increasing input costs, pesticide resistance, ground water contamination, soil erosion, decreasing soil fertility, and the demand for chemical free food. The University of Maine offers academic, research, and extension programs in Sustainable Agriculture (SAG) in order to address the principles and practices of environmentally sound, profitable farming.

Sustainable Architecture and Building Design (SABD) Architecture and building design play a significant role in moving towards a sustainable energy system since buildings is the major energy consumer in a community. The energy efficiency goal in this research will be more effective and long-reaching if sustainable (energy) development is being considered inside its context. Information about Sustainable Architecture and Building Design (SABD) is provided here to encourage building designers to achieve environmentally friendly architecture and buildings.

Sustainable Architecture: Eco Design and Landscaping This is an archive of information about sustainable architecture: ecological planning, design, integrated architecture and landscaping for tropical, sub-tropical or temperate climates. Most of these resources are available at libraries or as government publications, etc.

Sustainable Building Sourcebook Chock full of information, references, and sources for those interested in pursuing attractive, resource efficient, low environmental impact homes.