APRIL 2008 NEWSLETTER ARTICLE

AmeriGREEN Strategies Becomes a Reality
Introducing a new company specifically dedicated to offering certified third-party verification of "green" claims

The sustainability movement has grown dramatically within the construction industry over the past several years and is now reaching into many non-related industries, such as transportation, packaging and even banking. TV game shows are going green and so are newspapers, retailers, airlines and even the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.

But we still lack any standardized method to both qualify and quantify what is indeed green and how green is it. At a recent regional meeting of the Environmental Protection Agency, an official observed: “Everything can be considered green, because we have no standards to measure it.”

In response, Green Tree Partners, working in conjunction with a board of advisors, has formed AmeriGREEN Strategies, a new company specifically dedicated to offering certified third-party verification of green claims. This new consulting company will also assist both government and private sector companies with developing, implementing and documenting green operating standards; and AmeriGREEN is also providing a verified brokerage service for carbon offset credits.

Few people realize that there are a number of really well-defined standards already in existence by reputable international organizations such as ISO, ASTM and NIST. What is lacking, however, is independent verification of compliance and that’s where AmeriGREEN fits in. After long discussions, we have settled on utilizing Sarbanes-Oxley auditing protocols to verify compliance and advertised claims.

While current Green Tree Partners staff members have the credentials and expertise to select and apply standards, Allen Archer has joined the company as Chief Forensic Auditor. Mr. Archer holds a bachelor's degree from Muskingum College in Accounting and a master's degree from Ohio University in Financial Management. He also has more than four years of direct hands-on experience with Sarbanes-Oxley auditing procedures.

"Even in today's ultra high tech society, there is still no replacement for the on-site, one-on-one auditing process, " Archer explained. "Anyone can send a product or chemical compound to a lab to be analyzed, but the lab has no real verification as to where the sample came from. They will simply analyze what they received and issue a report. In our process, if a company claims recycled content, we want to personally examine original invoices from suppliers and transportation bills of lading to verify how much material was purchased and where it came from. We're not reinventing the wheel here, simply applying old proven standards to a new environment."

George Stuart, a former Florida State Senator, is also assisting the new company in seeking assignments from local, State and Federal Government bodies and assisting corporations to adopt their own green standards.

"Florida is lagging behind in offering meaningful incentives associated with adopting green standards and one of the obstacles seems to be compliance verification. We've solved that problem and we can now teach them how to measure and monitor conformity," Stuart said.

The new company has already attracted two new clients. It will be assisting First Green Bank, a financial institution expected to open late this year. The innovative financial institution will offer low-interest loans to homes and businesses that adopt green building and operating standards. AmeriGREEN will assess, verify and monitor those standards.

The company is also assisting the Florida Affordable Housing Coalition to develop a green exhibition and educational track for its annual convention, which will be held in Orlando later this year.

Although we have only been promoting the company on a limited basis, the reaction has been enthusiastic and overwhelmingly positive. For more information, visit our web site: www.amerigreenstrategies.com.

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