The rise of green construction is creating a new niche for insurers. And they’re scrambling to fill the mushrooming demand.

“Businesses are increasingly looking at more environmentally friendly ways to operate, and insurers want to play a role in that,” said David Snyder, vice president and assistant general counsel at the American Insurance Association, which represents 350 insurers globally. “Competitive pressures are forcing insurers to offer more and more of these options.”

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Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear says his state is developing an incentive package aimed at bringing an electric car plant to the Bluegrass State.

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BrightSource Energy’s experience in large-scale solar projects is paying off — earning the company a place at the front of a long line of those looking to build utility-scale projects in the Western desert.

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A fabric company in South Florida is making hotel chains’ moves toward sustainability a key segment of its business.

The South Florida Business Journal reports that Valley Forge Fabrics of Pompano Beach — already a supplier of polyester fabric for drapes, bedspreads and upholstery to such companies as Starwood, Marriott and Disney — has made a new commitment to recycling. With its FRESH, or fabrics redefining environmental standards for hospitality, line, Valley Forge is aiming for 100 percent post-consumer material in the fabric.

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Peet’s Coffee & Tea has reached Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for its latest coffee roasting plant.

It’s an unusual rating from the U.S. Green Building Council for a manufacturing plant, though it’s becoming more common for office buildings, the San Francisco Business Times reports. Gold is the second-highest rating from USGBC.

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A Santa Fe., N.M., company hopes to parlay experience providing more environmentally-friendly concrete to a development in nearby Albuquerque into strength throughout the West.

Thomas Tulk and Michael Baron, partners at newly-formed Aircrete LLC, expect to invest $21 million to build the first autoclaved aerated concrete block factory in the interior U.S., New Mexico Business Weekly reports. The factory located at Albuquerque’s Mesa del Sol development will supply concrete blocks for nearby construction at first. Beyond that, though, the partners have big plans.

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Gates Foundation goes for green campus

Construction has begun in the heart of Seattle on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s massive campus, a 900,000-square-foot project expected to be one of the largest energy-efficient office complexes in the state of Washington.

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A San Francisco payroll tax credit for cleantech businesses hasn’t exactly attracted a crowd.

The San Francisco Business Times reports only two cleantech companies have received the city tax credit eliminating a 1.5 percent city payroll tax put in place in January 2006. The anemic response is the result of too-narrow requirements to get the credit, Jennifer Matz of the city’s Office of Workforce and Economic Development tells the Business Times.

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A San Francisco office building could be a sign of things to go. With competition stiff from newer buildings routinely seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design status, the owners 100 Pine St. in San Francisco have revamped their building to earn “existing building” certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

“The team’s accomplishment with 100 Pine was the equivalent of converting a gas-guzzling SUV into a hybrid while driving 55 mph along the highway,” Wes Powell of building leasing agent Jones Lange LaSalle told the San Francisco Business Times.

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With widespread distribution of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles on the horizon, Northern California utility Pacific Gas & Electric is gearing up its grid.

But officials at the utility say they’re in good near-term shape for the introduction of such vehicles as the Chevy Volt and Toyota Prius plug-in. And they’re happy that car owners will be able to plug their cars into standard electrical outlets.

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