• Biomimicry could provide "fresh solutions" post-Sandy
  Biomimicry principles could offer "fresh architectural solutions" for coastal areas susceptible to flooding, according to this piece. "The notion is that the next generation of waterfront designs could draw inspiration from the intricate ways that plants and animals have adapted to their situations over hundreds of millions of years," Sarah Amandolare writes. "Nature is a dynamic entity, and we should be trying to design our buildings, our landscape and our cities to recognize that," said Thomas Knittel, a biomimicry specialist at architecture firm HOK. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/Green blog (1/4)      

• Energy upgrades at Boston housing complex win LEED Platinum
  Castle Square Apartments in Boston is a four-tower complex that has been awarded LEED Platinum certification after 192 residential units underwent a "Deep Energy Retrofit" that is expected to reduce energy use by hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. The retrofit, which cost more than $8 million, included a five-inch super-insulated shell, an insulated reflective roof, high-efficiency windows and air sealing. EarthTechling.com (1/6)      

• Neb. agency issues environmental report for Keystone XL project
  TransCanada's proposed new route for its Keystone XL pipeline steers clear of environmentally sensitive areas in Nebraska, according to a report from Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. The report now heads to the office of Gov. Dave Heineman for review. A separate review of the project is being performed by the U.S. State Department, which is expected to release a draft environmental review. Rigzone/Dow Jones Newswires (1/4)      

• Indian companies get a taste for eco-marketing
  India's companies are starting to realize the importance of environmentalism, but many see it more as a marketing strategy than as a value system to guide their real-world behavior, writes management professor Deepak Halan. "[T]he whole issue gets discredited when we hear of companies that treat sustainable growth as a marketing gimmick," he writes. Business Standard (India) (1/7)      

• Climate battle is more important than ever, Prince Charles says
  Britain's Prince Charles is soon to become a grandfather, and he says that's driven home for him the urgency of tackling climate change. Without swift action, today's generations risk passing off a "totally poisoned chalice," the prince said. BusinessGreen (U.K.) (1/7)      

• Democrats vow to save clean-energy funding from sequestration
  Democrats in Congress are promising to preserve funding for clean-energy research in a sequestration deal due in March. "There is bloated government spending that must be cut, but this is not the place for it, not when the sustainability of our people and our planet is at stake," said Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif. The Hill/E2 Wire blog (1/6)      

Top five news stories selected by SmartBrief on Sustainability readers in the past week.

• 2012's best green innovations (Lifehack.org)

• It's time to redefine "corporate sustainability" (GreenBiz.com)

• Experts share 10 sustainable design forecasts in 2013 (Inhabitat)

• 9 executives discuss the top CSR stories of 2012 (GreenBiz.com)

• Congress OKs extension of wind-energy tax incentive (The Washington Post)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

We don't really, in a sensible way, want to hand on an increasingly dysfunctional world to our grandchildren." --Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, as quoted in BusinessGreen