Green Building

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Making energy-efficient improvements to your home can save thousands of dollars and provide a healthier indoor environment. With utility prices at an all time high, there are few homeowner who would shy away from a chance to save some money. The only problem is that retrofitting your home with solar panels or a tank-less water heater takes money–lots of it. Homeowners who lack the financing to install these upgrades often get stuck in a limbo of high bills and an inability to do anything about them.[read more]

Image via Queensland University of Technology

Slowly but surely, the technology behind solar air conditioners is starting to improve, improving our chances of cutting the carbon footprint of cooling. Paolo Corrada, a PhD science and engineering student in at the Queensland University of Technology in Queensland, Australia has designed a solar air conditioning system that cuts electricity consumption by 90 percent...[read more]

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Last year, the White House challenged the electricity industry to provide customers with electronic access to their energy data. The industry responded, and today the “Green Button” initiative is supported at varying levels by 29 utilities providing service to 27 million households. Not a bad start for a program barely six months old.At...[read more]

How, exactly, do you design the world’s least C02-emitting building? By incorporating a whole host of green features, apparently, as Shimizu Corporation has with its new headquarters building in Tokyo. The building, which officially opened yesterday, is said to emit only 38 kilograms per square meter of CO2 peryear, 62 percent less than...[read more]

Deloitte recently announced the publication of their second annual reSource study. The project explores perceptions, opportunities, and challenges around energy management of both businesses and consumers. From IDC Energy Insights' perspective, three key points emerged to underscore the importance of market education and end user...[read more]

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While society and our economy are utterly dependent on a reliable energy infrastructure, we need to now challenge ourselves to reconsider long-held assumptions on production and consumption and figure out a more sustainable long term solution.[read more]

 London is on the verge of feeling the full effect of the Olympic invasion, as the Games kick off on Friday, July 27. The organizers have been keen to emphasize the Games’sustainability credentials, so we dedided to have a look at it and see what is on offer. Our favorite initiative is a program called Active Travel Programme to...[read more]

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Thirteen percent of Americans say they follow science; 65 percent say they follow sports. Representatives of Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League and NASCAR gathered at the White House yesterday for a half-day conference on “Greening the Games.” The panelists talked about the fact that...[read more]

When the housing crisis hit, California took it on the chin. At the end of 2011, one out of every three homes in the Golden State were underwater, and on it’s own the state accounted for 26 percent of the nation’s negative equity. At first glance, the task of rebuilding the housing market and reducing the consumption of fossil fuel-...[read more]

USA, you’re not No. 1. You’re not even No. 2. No, when it comes to energy efficiency, the United States of America is a woeful ninth in a new ranking of 12 of the world’s largest economies, who together make up 78 percent of global GDP, 63 percent of energy consumption and 62 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.The United Kingdom leads...[read more]

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Last week I attended Realcomm’s first IBCON in Las Vegas. This gathering of real estate professionals, information technology and building efficiency vendors represented major stakeholders in the Smart Buildings market. The presentations and discussions at this inaugural meeting provided valuable insight into the challenges and...[read more]

Energy costs have steadily risen over the last decade and are expected to carry on doing so as consumption grows worldwide.Especially for businesses, the cost of energy is an increasingly significant issue. Indeed, a new analysis by Siemens Financial Services has found that companies have picked up the pace of their investment activities...[read more]

I read with interest today about the recent arrival of Turkish company Solimpeks to Australia.What is most interesting to me is that they have a hybrid PV panel and Solar Thermal panel which is fully integrated together; called PowerVolt and Power Therm.Having (previously) sold both products for many years and worked for manufacturers, I...[read more]

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There are three types of people in the world, the saying goes. Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened.   When it comes to the Smart Grid, this observation applies to businesses and governmental entities too.  States like California are making things happen through...[read more]

I’m drawn to “boring” ways to change energy use: things like daylighting, reducing packaging, and making company supply-chains more efficient. Without these methods to help reduce our energy demand, the “exciting” solutions like renewable energy are less valuable.And what could be more boring than painting a roof white? Turns out, it’s...[read more]