ReCircle: OLED Lighting, Problems with LEED and Energy Star, Ed Markey on Energy Monitoring, and More!

We're in good company: eMonitor picks up some noteworthy press.

Martin LaMonica of CNET and Preston Koerner of Jetson Green both took a doubletake of the PowerHouse Dynamics eMonitor, which is available now at Energy Circle. It is, indeed, the next gen whole house energy monitor.

Toshiba halts mass-market production of incandescent light bulbs.

This Wednesday Toshiba, one of Japan's largest lighting manufacturers, announced it will stop making incandescent bulbs to focus on the vastly more efficient LEDs. Cheers to Toshiba for a bold, bright move.

AT&T releases a smart charger to fight vampire power.

It seems like since the beginning of time we've discussed energy vampires and potential solutions (like the BITS smart strip). AT&T has just released a long overdue, common sense phone charger called the AT&T Zero charger that cuts electricity when the phone isn't plugged in. Very smart. (From Earth2Tech)

Ed Markey launches a bill to let consumers view their energy consumption data.

Markey, co-sponsor of the House climate and clean energy bill, is introducing legislation that would compel utilities to give individuals access to real-time energy consumption data while protecting consumer privacy at the same time. (From GreenTech Media)

Survey says: Building green, saving energy is important. LEED certification? Not so much.

A recent survey of more than 1,600 green builders revealed that energy efficiency is now the top priority for new and existing buildings, while the LEED standard may be becoming less important. (From Jetson Green)

Buying new refrigerators, but keeping the old ones...

A new report highlights a growing trend among American consumers to replace their old energy-guzzling refrigerators with newer, more efficient models. The problem? Many homeowners are simply taking that old fridge and plugging it in somewhere else in the house. (From Green Inc.)

Time for Energy Star to evolve?

A new report hightlights some interesting facts about the Department of Energy's Energy Star label for energy efficient products: women think it's more important than men, older folks more than younger folks; and nearly everyone seems to agree it's time for an upgrade in the labeling system. (From Treehugger)

Philips releases classy, classy Mirrorwall OLED lighting system.

OLED (organic light-emitting diode) lighting is among the most energy efficient lighting available, and its properties allow for some extremely creative applications. Here's one. (From Inhabitat)