Plenty happened last week before we all fell into our Tryptophan-based stupors (which, btw, we discovered to be a myth - gasp!). Here at Energy Circle we wrote about how you can put timers to good use over the holiday season, the multi-dimensional beauty of LED holiday lighting, the promise of the proposed Home Star or Cash for Caulkers program and why shopping at Energy Circle is so much better than shopping at the mall.Don Albinger of Johnson Controls (the company that some have called "the IBM of green building") gave GreenTech Media a run-down of what's hot in green building these days. The message? Efficiency is hot. "Of course, customers looking at ways to cut power bills should always think about reducing consumption before putting up solar panels."
Ontario, our favorite Canadian province (Peggy lives there), discussed the possibility of going the path of California in regards to TV energy efficiency standards. Under California's new rules, TVs smaller than 58 inches will become 33 percent more efficient by 2011 and 49 percent more efficient by 2013.
A new report from the U.S. Geological Survey (pdf) revealed that the U.S. uses less water than it did a generation ago - great news considering that we're running pretty low as a world. According to Greenbiz, we were using less in 2005 than in the peak years between 1975 and 1980 - a commendable achievement, considering the U.S. population grew about 30% in the same time frame. Check out our post on The Low Flow House if you're curious about how you can do better.
The Mother Nature Network reported that historic apartment buildings in Harlem are undergoing retrofits for energy efficiency - creating affordable, sustainable, low energy housing. Sounds like a win, win, win to us. Now, if only the building owners could find a way to trot their innovations and good sense around the globe to show people just how easy it is..
The White House formally announced that President Obama will be attending the COP15 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in an effort to demonstrate the administration's commitment to battling climate change. While we recently lamented decreased expectations for the Copenhagen Conference (and because President Obama, in the absence of Congressional leadership on the climate front, has limited powers to make substantive commitments during his attendance), we'll be waiting with bated breath to see what arises from one of the most anticipated world summits in recent memory.
Meanwhile, in Tennessee, the town of Gatlinburg made a commitment to convert all of their holiday lighting to LEDs - and believe you me, that's no small french fry. I've been there, and there is a lot of lighting in that Smoky Mountain tourist town, which expects? has?.... will be?.. saving $52,000 in electricity costs in the process. We're always excited to see cities undergoing LED transformations, and can only hope that we'll see an Appalachian domino effect... to that... effect. And we encourage you, mayor or no mayor may you be, to take on your own personal LED retrofit this holiday season, as our store recently added a stunning line of LED holiday lights.
Shari Shapiro, author of the Green Building Law blog, appeared on MSNBC discussing the funds allocated for "green" stimulus projects in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. So far, only $1.5 billion has been spent - out of a total of $119 billion set aside. Shapiro breaks down what has been spent so far: $34.7 million on energy efficiency and renewable energy, $333.4 million on green buildings, and $824 million on public transportation. So what's the hold-up on the rest of the funds? Shapiro notes that, of course, you wouldn't pay a contractor up front for the total cost of a building - so some of the money will naturally take a while to be spent. Still, these figures show us that so far we've only felt a trickle of the total effects of the stimulus on green building and energy efficiency.
Shari Shapiro, author of the Green Building Law blog, appeared on MSNBC discussing the funds allocated for "green" stimulus projects in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. So far, only $1.5 billion has been spent - out of a total of $119 billion set aside. Shapiro breaks down what has been spent so far: $34.7 million on energy efficiency and renewable energy, $333.4 million on green buildings, and $824 million on public transportation. So what's the hold-up on the rest of the funds? Shapiro notes that, of course, you wouldn't pay a contractor up front for the total cost of a building - so some of the money will naturally take a while to be spent. Still, these figures show us that so far we've only felt a trickle of the total effects of the stimulus on green building and energy efficiency.
It was announced that the Tapei 101 tower in Taiwan, which from 2004 to 2007 was the world's tallest building, will be undergoing a green retrofit. The Tapei Financial Center Corporation, owners of the building, will be focusing on heating, cooling and ventilation systems in a bold effort to turn the tower into the world's tallest green building.
The WSJ picked up on something we've been saying for a long time now: that low-tech, low-cost measures are the most effective means to combat climate change and break our addiction to fossil fuels, especially compared to more oft-touted (and dare we say... sexy?) high-tech, high-price means such as mass conversion to plug-in hybrid electric cars, wind and solar power.
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