Last week Energy Circle founder Peter Troast published his list of the top 10 Big Ideas for Home Energy Efficiency in 2010, which included everything from passing the proposed Cash for Caulkers program (a trial run of which, Susan Kraemer of CleanTechnica reports, has been successful in Minnesota), to unifying BPI and RESNET approaches to create one comprehensive, nationwide gold standard standard for home energy audits.
Peter also forecasted 8 Predictions for Home Energy Efficiency in 2010, some of which, such as the proliferation of weatherization scams and shoddy retrofit work, we can only hope he's wrong about (sorry boss); and some of which, such as greater adoption of home energy monitors and energy management technology, we anticipate with relish.
We also published an energy use comparison of Xbox and Wii video game consoles, which includes some practical solutions for cutting back on the vampire power that tends to accompany those devices. A timely piece, as so many entertainment centers tend to reproduce around the holidays (and further, that we could all stand to save a couple bucks this time of year).
In other news, last week concluded the hottest decade on record: a full 0.2 degrees C warmer than the 90's, according to Treehugger. All the more reason to take those 10 big ideas for home energy efficiency to heart, and start doing what we can to cut back on our emissions.
We're always excited about high-profile public use of super energy efficient LEDs, so we were excited to hear that LEDs illuminated the ball-dropping ceremony in Times Square in New York on New Year's Eve. Now, let's be sure we don't "drop the ball" in 2010, and instead start upgrading to energy efficient lighting now. And after you do, check out this neat cartoon at Greenbang that uses the same (tear-jerkingly clever?) pun.
Earth2Tech reported that Energy Star has finally grown some teeth, as the praiseworthy but oft-maligned label declined to give approval to Korean appliance manufacturer LG for failure to comply with its energy efficiency standards. Energy Star, which is administered by the Department of Energy, has been criticized for too much leniency in its standards; so we're glad to see that it may finally be cracking down on energy hogs.
Hope you had a safe and wonderful holiday!
Add comment