ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University spin-off Novomer unveiled its first product this week, a renewable polymer that degrades completely and is derived from renewable carbon-based feedstocks.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Pratt & Whitney has created a jet engine that uses less fuel and emits less carbon dioxide and nitrogen-oxide at a time when rising jet fuel prices are crippling the aviation industry.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency doled out its 2008 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Tuesday. Dow AgroSciences, Batelle, Nalco Co., SIGNa Chemistry and Profs. Robert Maleczka, Jr., and Milton Smith III received a nod.

CHICAGO, Ill. -- Italian communications agency Brandit and the School and Art Institute of Chicago have launched Elogico, an initiative that will explore and promote sustainable design approaches.

HIROSHIMA, -- The automaker has joined Hiroshima University and Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology for the "Mazda Bioplastic Project."

With its Considered design ethos, Nike is increasingly developing and reimagining shoes in innovative ways to reduce waste and chemical use, all while maintaining the brand's high performance standards. Lorrie Vogel, the General Manager for Nike's Considered products, explains what makes a product Considered, and how the company has turned trash into treasure.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- At Greener World Media's Greener by Design Conference in Alexandria, Va., this week, the opening sessions focused on just what makes a brand green, and how companies can harness the power of innovation.

Early successes in improving its environmental performance led chemical giant DuPont toward a more ambitious mission to incorporate sustainability into its design processes in order to offer products that deliver benefits for its customers and the planet.

LEEDS, UNITED KINGDOM -- Researchers at the University of Leeds have invented a technology that uses plastic chips to clean clothes, eliminating nearly all water and energy used by a conventional washing machine.

ARMONK, N.Y. -- With three additions to its Project Big Green line of data center solutions, IBM has expanded the range of its green IT solutions to include larger, more portable and higher-density modular computing centers.

Although businesses of all sizes have often viewed design solely through the lends of its ROI, incorporating the principles of lean and/or green design can make rapid improvements in productivity and significant reductions in waste, and can be the wedge that shifts a complex system toward sustainability.

TOKYO, -- Toyota has designed a fuel cell hybrid vehicle that can drive more than 500 miles on electricity and hydrogen alone, more than twice the distance of the automaker’s first generation fuel cell model.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Nike, Clorox, Steelcase and Herman Miller have infused sustainability into their design processes in ways that have led to innovative products that offer value to consumers. Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) used the companies as case studies in a new report aimed at educating businesses about processes that can be used to drive sustainable design.

The launch earlier this year of the Eco-Patent Commons marked a big step forward in information-sharing among greentech companies; despite its significant promise, the Commons needs some small improvements to truly become a powerful building block for innovation.

Building Information Modeling, coupled with an array of alternative energy and green building technologies, is quickly changing how construction and renovations happen, and bringing high performance buildings to a new level.