Writing

Christine Ervin’s forthcoming book, Certified Green: How Unlikely Allies are Transforming Markets around the World, examines the recent explosion of voluntary market-based programs to protect the environment.

Sample topics include:

	What’s driving the trend toward voluntary governance in the U.S. and Europe? Is the trend good—or alarming?
	The special case of green product labels---from computers and carpets to salmon and shiraz.
	An even closer look at third-party certification partnerships for whole sectors of the economy including LEED® for buildings.
	How the U.S. Green Building Council became “the hottest nonprofit in the country” – a view from the CEO’s seat.
	Close encounters: when the leading edge touches mainstream markets
	The people part of market transformation – inspiring stories from the construction site to the Beltway.
	Implications for voluntary trends in a rapidly warming climate: can they deliver?

Selected Articles (see Press for media interviews)

The Living Building Challenge: How Limits Can Liberate
GreenerBuildings.com, October 2007

Communicating Climate Change: Getting Beyond the Usual Suspects
Climatebiz.com, September 2007

The Human Side of Technology: Reflections on China
GreenBiz.com, July 2007

Buildings can play a key role in combating climate change.
Report from the United Nation Environment Programme, March 2007 (contributor.)

Expert Insights: Christine Ervin interview on the future of the green building movement.
Destination Green, November 2006
"I see green building as a market, rather than an environmental movement…"

Tipping toward a Sustainable Future?
Managing Green, September 2006
"Google 'tipping point' and you’ll find countless trends said to be edging toward virus-like growth, from Apple MacMinis to India ’s economy…"

Tipping toward a sustainable future
Daily Journal of Commerce, May 26, 2006
"Renewable energy markets and climate change have the potential to transform qualify of life, but they’re accelerating in opposite directions."
Download PDF (451 kb)

Energy Independence
HPAC Engineering Guest Editorial, March 2006
"…the plan neglects U.S. leadership in tackling climate change as the ultimate driver of energy security…"
Download PDF (56 kb, 1 page)

Lessons from the Energy Crisis
Excerpt from Green Office Buildings, A Practical Guide to Development. Urban Land Institute, 2005
Download article (Word document)

Pressure on LEED: Threat or Boon?
Greenerbuildings.com, May 2005
"Having spent five years at the helm of the U.S. Green Building Council, I've been getting a lot of questions lately about new pressures being faced by the LEED green building standard."

Making the Business Case for Green Buildings
The Society for Marketing Professional Services, Marketer, April 2004
"…these bullish trend lines reflect the happy convergence of market demand and supply…"
Download a PDF of this issue (641 kb, 32 pages)

A Compelling Model of Market Transformation
Environmental Design and Construction, July 2003
"LEED is the most powerful voluntary market transformation tool I’ve encountered in the environmental arena…"
See www.edcmag.com archives

Green is Coming to a Building Near You
Johnson Controls, 2002
"…With these kinds of return in the balance, it’s easy to see why LEED for Existing Buildings is capturing significant interest in the market."
Download a PDF of this article (303 kb, 3 pages)

Drilling for untapped energy in buildings
Building and Operating Management, May 2001
"It’s a familiar story, really. Buildings consume 30 percent of our nation’s energy supply, and we could cut that by 30 to 50 percent…"
Download article (Word document)