Green Building LEEDing the Way

For the last Dadson Diaries post, I wrote about publicizing unique materials and practices. Now, I doubt that my entry sparked this conversation, but it appears that some of the top retailers and restaurant operators are choosing to make known their environmental initiatives through this article on the New York Times' website.

While the United States Green Building Council's LEED for Retail is still in the pilot program stage, that's not stopping a growing number of retail and restaurant operators from seeking either particial or full LEED certification. Good news for retailers (what with all the energy savings and good karma) and even better news for Mother Nature.

For fixture manufacturers like F.C. Dadson, this LEED certification wave has implications as well. Not only are we seeing more and more requests for green materials, but this has the potential to change the way we run our businesses, affecting everything from the suppliers we use to how we produce and deliver our products.

I guess it sort of equates to the retailers' decision to build green. Is the initial investment worth it in the long run and can we afford the upfront costs? If today's focus on the environment is any indication as to what tomorrow's retail and restaurant operators will value -and most would predict it will be, the majority of us in the supply chain will have some serious decisions to make.