Acterra Award for Sustainability:
Applied Materials, Inc.
Numi Organic Tea

Environmental Project:
Los Altos School District’s Living Classroom Program
City of San Jose's Environmental Procurement Policy
Recology's Artist in Residence Program

Environmental Enterprise:
GreenWaste Recovery, Inc.
Satellite Telework Centers

Sustainable Built Environment:
Humane Society Silicon Valley Animal Community Center
Metro Lighting: 2240 San Pablo Avenue

These fictional program examples are provided to help applicants determine the most appropriate category for their program. Applicants are not expected to incorporate all the actions described in these examples.

Note: In any given category the judging committee may elect to give multiple awards based on company size (e.g. one Large Company and one Small Company award). We have included fictional program examples differentiated by company size in the Sustainability category to provide an example of such a scenario.

Acterra Award for Sustainability

Small Company

GGreen Threads, Inc. makes fashionable organic cotton clothing using only natural dyes. The company ensures that their cotton suppliers and seamstresses are paid a living wage. Deliveries to their outlet stores are made in reusable packaging and the stores produce one quarter of the waste of a typical clothing store. Store employees are all shareholders in the company and turnover is very low, with many employees having worked at the company for over ten years. A commute and transportation program provides free transit passes, bike lockers and showers. All of the landscaping at the company's headquarters is comprised of native plant species. From shrubs in the median strips to oak trees in the courtyards, the native plantings not only reduce water consumption (no sprinklers required), they provide habitat for birds and other small animals.

Medium Company

GreenHouses Architecture firm is passionate about designing green homes and buildings, but their commitment to sustainability in their own offices is arguably more impressive. In an industry that normally uses significant amounts of virgin paper, they display all their plans to clients and city planning offices digitally, only printing hardcopies on 100% recycled paper when absolutely necessary. All of their Bay Area offices are housed in buildings that they remodeled to be highly energy and water efficient, thereby using 70% less energy than the average firm of comparable size and 40% less water. The offices are also furnished with sustainably made furniture and they employ green cleaning and maintenance companies to service them. They carefully chose each office location to be transit accessible for their employees and clients and provide a free shuttle to the nearby train stop. While they have minimized their greenhouse gas emissions through efficiency measures, they also purchase carbon offsets to counterbalance the remaining emissions generated. They provide ongoing free programs to the public on green building practices, and employees are given paid time off to participate in monthly Habitat for Humanity company workdays, or to volunteer for a community service program of their choice.

Large Company

Edgeware Systems, a leading computer software company, has achieved triple bottom line success by incorporating environmental and social equity directives into its daily business operations. The company is ISO 14001 certified and has implemented a well-organized environmental management system. It has performed numerous self-audits to identify where to conserve resources resulting in the reduction of waste generated annually by 20 tons. The company is aggressively implementing new processes and technologies in its data centers, thus far reducing energy usage by 40% with the goal of 50% reduction. Company headquarters are LEED Gold Certified. A multitude of flexible work programs and commute alternatives are offered to employees, including teleworking, flextime, compressed workweeks, part-time hours, and job-sharing. The company regularly surveys its diverse workforce to gauge and improve employee satisfaction, and has been consistently ranked as a Best Place to Work due to its high priority on work-life balance. The company has been carbon neutral since 2005, offsetting emissions from it daily business operations by supporting Native American-owned and operated wind farms. Philanthropic efforts are largely focused on the surrounding low-income community through educational programming, volunteer service, and numerous grant programs.

Environmental Innovation

Hydrogen Systems, Inc. has developed a fuel cell system that can meet all the energy needs of a home. An average home will save 50% on their energy costs, making the payback period for the system only 2 years! The only emission produced by the system is water vapor, saving 160 thousand pounds of greenhouse gases per household per year. This is the first company to develop a fuel cell that can meet all the energy needs of a house and make it economical. The company has already sold over 1 million units and is one of the fastest growing energy companies.

Environmental Project

AB Industries reduced its energy consumption by nearly 50% through its comprehensive program to maximize the energy efficiency of its operations. An energy assessment was first completed on all facilities revealing that the old HVAC system was oversized, so a smaller and more efficient model was installed. Variable drive motors replaced older inefficient models on industrial equipment, and centrally run software that controls computer monitor power down was installed to ensure consistent application of energy saving modes. Lighting retrofits included upgrading to the most efficient lighting, replacing magnetic with electronic ballasts and installing occupancy sensors and LED exit signs. Windows were either replaced with double-paned low-e models or had reflective surfaces applied. Shading devices were installed on south and west facing facades, and skylights now provide a significant portion of the daytime lighting in the warehouse. Once these energy conservation measures were complete, AB Industries' power requirements were minimized enough that they could install a smaller, economical photovoltaic system which was purchased using money saved on energy bills.

Sustainable Built Environment

Silicon Valley Retreat & Conference Center's dramatic and comprehensive green building and energy efficiency techniques includes strawbale construction, a 3,400 square foot green roof, passive solar heating, passive and active cooling using an earth sheltered basement and solar chimney, a PV electric generation system, solar hot water for their commercial kitchen, stormwater management for irrigation, and a native plant landscaping plan. As a result, the Center sees annual savings of 30% on electricity, 40% on natural gas, 20% on domestic water use, and 80% on landscape irrigation water use. The Center's location was selected due to its close proximity to a train station and commuter/city bus stops. The Center regularly gives tours to educate architects, landscape designers, students, and nonprofit groups on green building techniques.