ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA — Warren Wilson College, the only college or university in North Carolina with a LEED Gold Certified Building, now has a second Gold building on its campus.

The Village South residence hall, part of a two-building, 80-bed community that opened in August 2006, becomes the first dormitory in the state to achieve LEED certification. LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the rating system of the U.S. Green Building Council that sets standards for the “design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.”

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Eco Zen Boutique, a socially conscious, green fashion boutique announced the opening of its new online store at ecozenboutique.com. The eco-friendly shopping site offers eco chic clothing, organic cosmetics, recycled handbags, earth friendly jewelry and green gifts and goodies at competitive prices. In addition, Eco Zen Boutique is offsetting its carbon footprint through Carbonfund.org, one of the country’s leading carbon offset organizations.

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TOKYO — Sanyo and Germany’s Volkswagen AG will develop lithium-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles as global automakers race to develop more environmentally friendly technology.

Japanese electronics maker Sanyo Electric Co. said Wednesday it will invest 80 billion yen ($769 million) to expand production by 2015 of such batteries, with plans to start mass producing them in a Japanese plant by next year, making 15,000 to 20,000 batteries a year.

The deal with Volkswagen, announced Wednesday, follows a 2006 agreement between Sanyo and Volkswagen agreed to work together in nickel metal hydride batteries, now used in most gas-electric hybrids like Toyota’s Prius.

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