Questions about Green/Sustainable Machines

Although I'm probably jinxing it just by mentioning it, winter in the Midwestern U.S. should be ending in April, and few green shoots and buds should be just about to emerge. For the past couple of years, one of these has been our "green/sustainable machine" cover article, which is set to appear in the April 2012 issue of Control Design. So, if you or anyone you know might have some expert commentary or end user examples, I would love to hear about them. The main questions I'm trying to cover are below. Please e-mail me at [email protected] or call (620) 625-1125 or (847) 404-6658 to set up an interview in the next few weeks.

1. How are machine builders being affected by sustainability and green manufacturing needs of manufacturers and retailers?
2. Are they incorporating sustainability into their machine designing/building strategies?
3. Are they designing greener machines and production processes that go beyond being more efficient and saving energy to conserving raw materials?
4. Are they helping manufacturers and other end users come up with greener and more sustainable end products?
5. How can other builders learn about and implement sustainable practices?
6. Do you have any case studies about how builders, integrators and manufacturers are implementing green/sustainable machines and production processes?
7. Do they have any useful experiences or advice for others about how to do it too?
8. How is green/sustainable machine building likely to evolve in the future?