The Winners Book
A look at the best of the best as 43 outstanding projects collected 62 awards in 17 categories. The 2008 Awards recognized store and shop designs, pop–up stores, and individual store fixtures, visual presentations, and special installations, as well as 10 special recognition awards for green awareness.

Plant Talk
Green and Exotic: LEED Issues of the Origins of Wood
In greening a project, designers sometimes must weigh sustainability against aesthetics as they spec materials. For wood, the geographic location of the species used plays a role in LEED certification. The most widely recognized benchmark for measuring green building, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a rating system for awarding points toward certification. To support indigenous resources or the local economy and to reduce transportation–related environmental impacts, the system awards points for the use of “regional materials.”

Executive Insights
Economic Stimulus for the Retail Environments Industry
The recently passed Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 is designed to inject $152 billion into the U.S. economy, including two incentives that retail environments businesses may take advantage of immediately. First, small business expensing has been increased. Second, bonus depreciation is back!