North Bay Business Journal

WINDSOR — KriStar Enterprises first realized it needed a third production plant a year ago when it landed a huge rush order to install a newly designed and bulky system to collect and clean rainwater flowing off the expansive parking lots of the forthcoming 49ers stadium in Santa Clara, and now the Santa Rosa-based company is rushing to get a plant in Windsor on line by early next year to supply a large Caltrans contract.

NORTH BAY – The housing slump has taken its toll on green construction and a glut of Chinese panels has dimmed the solar industry some, but local companies with water management tools say business is flowing along smoothly.

News about professional accomplishments in the North Bay

The Green Construction Panel at North Bay Business Journal’s Construction Conference 2011 on Tuesday will explore the new environmental-quality requirements at various government levels and how the construction industry is meeting the challenge.

This report highlights 46 North Bay professionals in various fields who have been leading development and implementation of environmentally sustainable technologies, such as solar electric and geothermal energy, erosion control for better stream water quality and energy-efficient construction.

Also: Napa architect Kelley completes green program; Nov. 18 meeting on air rules

SANTA ROSA – Engineering and manufacturing firm AEG Industries is responding to an uptick in the aerospace sector by doubling its staff and purchasing the building it expanded into last year.

Send Business News items to the North Bay Business Journal, Attn: Business Register, 427 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95401; fax 707-521-5292; or e-mail news@busjrnl.com.

This spotlight focuses on some of the North Bay people and companies that are creating new green technologies that are being put to work in the field daily. Know someone who should be here? Let us know. Listed alphabetically by innovator name.

The county of Sonoma Permit and Resource Management Department, or PRMD, is trying to figure out whether projects that reuse nontoxic, nonpathogenic wastewater from washing machines or single fixtures, such as showers and sinks, for underground irrigation can qualify for financing under the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program, or SCEIP, according to Bob Herr, liquid waste specialist for PRMD.

The Santa Rosa City Council voted 5-2 against a proposed Lowe’s Home Improvement store at an industrial site on Yolanda Avenue amid questions about the environmental impact of the project and the potential to hurt local business. At the Sept. 1 council hearing, several leaders of major businesses in the city advocated opposition to the proposal.

The 31 people selected here for the Business Journal’s first Who’s Who in Green Industries are widely recognized as being among the pioneers and visionaries in an industry that today includes many hundreds if not thousands of creative professionals.

SANTA ROSA — Water-quality regulators increasingly want property owners and builders to keep as much rainwater and sediment on site for as long as possible, and a longtime local manufacturer of stormwater- and erosion-management products is expanding and launching a new line of products to address the trend.