The Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce and the City of Santa Monica are proud to announce this year’s Sustainable Quality Award (SQA) winners. Dean Kubani, Manager of the City’s Environmental Programs Division, commented that “This was a very diverse and highly accomplished group of applicants. Our hope is that we can promote a business climate where all businesses achieve the level of commitment to sustainability that these award winners exemplify.”  The voluntary activities these businesses have undertaken result in cleaner air and water, less waste, reduced traffic and pollution, improved quality of life for residents and workers, and a strong and viable local economy. 

Winners will be honored at the Sustainable Quality Awards Luncheon. This year’s luncheon will include a keynote address by Gay Browne, CEO and Founder, Greenopia: The Urban Dweller’s Guide to Green Living.  Peter Kreitler and Alexandra Paul, co-hosts of Earth Talk Today, will Emcee. 

The Sustainable Quality Awards Luncheon will be held on Monday, May 12th from 11:30am-1:30pm at the Sheraton Delfina Hotel in Santa Monica. Pre-paid tickets are $50 for Chamber members and $55 for non-members until May 12th. Please reserve tickets by calling 310.393.9825.  Tickets can also be purchased at www.smchamber.com/events. 

This year we are pleased to announce four SQA grand prize winners and six winners in the Excellence Category.  The 2008 SQA Winners are:  

DUVIVIER architects - SQA Grand Prize

DUVIVIER architects provides a full range of design services, including architectural design of buildings, urban design, neighborhood revitalization and ecological mapping.  Their projects incorporate strategies such as passive solar, energy efficiency, water retention and recycling, and use of non-toxic and recycled building materials. Their projects are designed to be at least LEED certifiable.  2 of 5 houses under construction development will be LEED Platinum. One project, currently under construction, is 48% more energy efficient than Title 24! They operate a green office, including waste reduction practices and an eco-friendly procurement policy. They recognize sustainable design as a way to grow the local green collar job market and are helping to develop a local skill set around sustainability and green design. They produce the Santa Monica and Ballona Watershed Green Map.

Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel - SQA Grand Prize

Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the heart of Santa Monica Beach.  They emphasize energy, water efficiency and waste reduction throughout the facility.  They use only low VOC (volatile organic compound) paint and spirits for our paint supplies and they separate kitchen food waste for composting. They offer incentives for employees who utilize carpooling and public transportation and shop locally at the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market. The company’s award-winning Good Neighbor policy has helped numerous causes through contributions from Loews Hotels and its caring employees.  They raised over $200,000 in less than seven months for the Modest Needs Foundation. Their employees also donated more than 500 hours of volunteer time in 2007. They are an active member of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce and many other community organizations.

Morley Builders - SQA Grand Prize

Morley Builders is one of the largest construction and engineering firms in Southern California.  They built many LA landmarks, including The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and the Santa Monica Main Library.  Morley Builders constructs many LEED buildings, and recycles up to 92% of the construction and demolition waste they generate.  They run a green office, including a paperless accounting and payroll system and an eco-friendly procurement policy.  Employees can work flexible hours to avoid travelling during peak hours.  Full-time staff receive a comprehensive medical benefits package, stock bonus plan and 401K program. Morley Builders is also a pillar of the Santa Monica community, giving thousands of dollars each year to local charitable organizations, and paying for employees to do volunteer work.

The Lobster - SQA Grand Prize

The Lobster’s menu features classic American Seafood that is sustainably certified caught or farm raised. Their most recent accomplishment is installing a 9KW solar panel system via Solar Santa Monica’s program. The Lobster makes use of natural sunlight in the dining area which looks over Santa Monica Bay and the bar area integrates LED spotlights. They regularly stock two Green Seal certified chemicals. Staff receives financial incentives to commute using alternative transportation. Metro bus passes are obtained in bulk quantities, so staff can purchase passes at a discount. The space now occupied by The Lobster was vacant from 1986 through 1997. They invested approximately $1.8 million in the location in 1997 and opened for business as The Lobster in 1999, revitalizing the entrance to the Santa Monica Pier. The restaurant has achieved landmark status and attracts many out of town visitors which help boosts local economy and neighboring businesses.

Taxi! Taxi! - Excellence in Stewardship of the Environment and Economic Development

Taxi! Taxi! is the first taxi company in Los Angeles County to incorporate hybrid cars into their fleet.  This innovative move has paid off in gas savings and customer satisfaction.  The company saves over $77,000 a year in fuel costs by driving hybrids instead of conventional sedans.  They also print their marketing materials, including 250,000 business cards annually, on 100% post consumer content recycled paper.  Their paperless dispatch system reduces costs and associated natural resources such as trees, energy and water. Many of their purchases, ranging from office supplies to fleet vehicles, are purchased locally.

Border Grill - Excellence in Stewardship of the Environment

The Border Grill, featuring authentic Mexican cuisine, is a women-owned restaurant of celebrity chefs, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger.  Their environmental stewardship includes purchasing only locally grown ingredients, including certified organic rice, beans and avocados and fair-trade coffee. In efforts to reduce the use of plastic bottles, they purchased a water purification system that provides chilled sparkling and still water and serve in reusable glass bottles and / or jugs. 

Hartnell - Excellence in Stewardship of the Environment

Hartnell is a design studio/ salon specializing in elegant bridal and evening gowns with an environmental edge in business operations. Regular incandescent light fixtures have been replaced with energy efficient bulbs and beverage bottles are reused for mixing dyes. Left over fabrics from high end gowns are reused in many ways; either sewn into quilts to raise monies for charity, donated to local fashion design schools or collected by local organization, reDiscover, to reuse in classrooms and programs.

Jesse Bornstein - Architecture Excellence in Stewardship of the Environment

Jesse Bornstein Architecture has been a leader in environmental design since 1989.  Their “Green on 19” project in Santa Monica is the first market-rate multi-family green-build project on the Westside of Los Angeles.  They strive to make all their projects as environmentally sound as possible. More than 60% of construction and demolition waste generated by their projects is diverted from landfill through recycling and reuse of materials.  Their office landscaping demonstrates drought-tolerant xeriscaping, including a mixture of native species that resist pest infestation.

Rustic Canyon - Excellence in Stewardship of the Environment

Rustic Canyon’s commitment to Sustainability began with renovating the space to an upscale restaurant and wine bar in 2006 using eco-friendly materials such as low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints and sustainable bamboo flooring, and installing a water-free urinal.  Their commitment to protecting the natural environment extends to local organic produce from Farmers Markets and only biodegradable to-go containers made from corn-based plastics and unbleached paper.  Rustic Canyon successfully attains a 90% waste diversion by minimizes recycling cans, plastic, glass, cardboard and mixed paper as well as all of their food waste. 

Salesforce.com - Excellence in Social Responsibility

Salesforce.com provides on-demand customer relationship management (CRM) systems by delivering innovative technology making it easy to share and manage business information. They encourage employees to take four hours paid volunteer time each month.  Salesforce.com has a concept called “1/1/1” model, developed by their President/CEO, whereby the company contributes 1% of profits, 1% equity, and 1% of employee hours back to the communities it serves. Recently, and additional “1%” was added to include the concept of “One with the Earth”.

M3house - Pioneer Award

M3house is an innovative developer of sustainable and affordable housing. They receive the Pioneer Award for their cutting edge prototype model called M3house which is a sustainable, affordable, factory built home made from recycled, reclaimed and reused materials. The M3house mission is to introduce a zero-energy home by designing to take advantage of natural resources such as solar, thermo mass and cross ventilation.

MTV Networks - Honorable Mention for Stewardship of the Environment

MTV Networks is recognized for their efforts in greening all their facilities and operations including comprehensive recycling programs, integrating post-consumer content recycled office products and innovative measures such as carbon neutral carpet cleaning.

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Two of the Sustainable Quality Award Grand Prize Winners and four of the Excellence Winners participated in the Sustainable Works Business Greening Program. The Business Greening Program is a FREE service for businesses located in Santa Monica and provides the SQA with several strong candidates each year.  Please contact Susy Holyhead, Director of the Business Greening Program, at 310.458.8716 x2 for more information.

Southern California Edison and The Gas Company are the Presenting Sponsors of the 2008 SQA.  Southern California Edison has a significant commitment to energy efficiency and works closely with the city, the chamber and community on energy programs. Southern California Edison is the nation’s leading provider of electricity generated from renewable sources- solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and small hydro.  The Gas Company has been delivering clean, safe and reliable natural gas to its customers for more than 140 years.  It is the nation’s largest natural gas distribution utility. They help people save energy at their homes and businesses, invest in new technologies, and support organizations dedicated to the environment.

http://www.smgov.net/news/releases/archive/2008/epwm20080508.htm