TIDY ALTERNATIVE A view of Church Street in Bloomfield, a place with tightly packed houses, a great commute, and lower prices than Montclair and Glen Ridge. (NY Times, May 22, 2009)

The May 22 New York Times Real Estate section features an article on Bloomfield as a town that is “charming in an old-fashioned kind of way” with “a great commute” and “lower prices” than its neighboring towns. They also mention Bloomfield’s Smart Growth Award from New Jersey Future. Read more at “Living In Bloomfield, N.J.: A Starter Spot for Suburbanites”.

Patrons at a McDonald’s in Chicago, which was environmentally redesigned with tables made from recycled material.

In the Business section of the Saturday, Nov. 8, New York Times, an article entitled “Green Plans in Blueprints of Retailers” describes how stores and fast-food restaurants are building green to win customers and lower operating costs.

“You get energy savings, and you can tell customers you are greener. That’s a win-win.” 
- Neil Z. Stern, a retail consultant

This shows that our efforts to include green building guidelines in the Bloomfield Center Redevelopment Plan are being matched by retailers, and it shouldn’t be so difficult to get companies to build green in Bloomfield, since it directly benefits their bottom line. The article mentions Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Chipotle, Subway, Target, Office Depot, Staples, Best Buy, Kohl’s, and Pizza Fusion as stores going green.

The article goes on to say, “The green building boom is partly being driven by retailers’ desire to capture the attention of consumers who have become fascinated by hybrid cars, energy-saving light bulbs and wind turbines. But more important for the companies, it is a way to shave long-term operating costs at stores and restaurants, which consume copious amounts of energy and water for ovens and fryers, heaters and air conditioners, sinks and toilets.”

Wal-Mart’s “high efficiency” stores save 25-40% in energy costs. A Subway store saves 20% in electricity while selling 43% more than a store down the street. A McDonald’s uses permeable pavement to collect rainwater for irrigation, and has a green roof, skylights, LED lights, non-toxic finishes and cleaners, and low-flow toilets and waterless urinals, saving water, energy, money, and maintenance. A pizza outlet uses draft from its ovens to heat water. Wouldn’t it be great to see Bloomfield go green with some of these ideas?

We’ll feature additional posts about the details behind the town’s Paperless Council project, which was implemented by Greener Bloomfield organizer John Palomaki. We’ll also highlight Greener Bloomfield’s work in getting green building and other sustainability details into the Redevelopment Plan, which is being sent to the Planning Board for approval. Greener Bloomfield organizer Meredith Nole, an energy efficient lighting expert with Warshauer Electric and President of the Illuminating Engineers Society of New Jersey, will be working on a lighting assessment for the town’s light bulb replacements.