(Nan’s Note: We’re on the right track, which I am grateful for. It’s not perfect, but at least New Mexico is doing something.)
Gov. Bill Richardson has painted a target on New Mexico’s coal-fired power plants, saying they provide a major source of electricity for homes and businesses in the state but pump far too much pollution into the air.
Richardson called out the coal plants during his State of the State speech before the Legislature on Tuesday, but his administration says they’re not the only polluters the governor is after.
Find out what else he has in mind at the Santa Fe New Mexican.
Look at a map of coal plants in New Mexico.
(Nan’s Note: Wow! I love Apple, and I love the Smart Grid, and now they may get married so you can control your home energy! It’s just a patent, but very do-able and very necessary in my eyes. Sign me up!)
By Matthew Wheeland
Can Apple do for energy efficiency what it did for smartphones?
Although the tech world is abuzz with the much-hyped and much-prophesied Apple (”iSlate?”) Tablet, which people expect to be released later this month.
But the website Patently Apple has uncovered a patent filed by the company that suggests Steve Jobs may be looking to move into greener pastures: Home energy management.
The “Smart Home Energy Management System,” as Patently Apple calls it, covers a number of areas, including……
Read about this cool gadget at Greener Computing.
(Nan’s Note: Yeah! This sounds great to me! This shows, too, that ‘green’ is not just about energy. It’s about decentralizing and supporting your neighbors. Technology is great, but we are so global, we forget we have a local world. That is where our sustainable efforts should begin – at home.)
By Leanne Tobias
What’s in store for green buildings and green business in 2010? Here are my predictions for the year’s emerging trends.
Retrofits – The mainstreaming of LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (LEED-EBOM) — which requires compliance with EPA’s Energy Star program — gives property owners…
Energy Efficiency – As in 2009, operating cost efficiency remains an imperative for…
Alternative Energy – The use of the 30 percent investment tax credit for alternative energy should…
Localism/Regionalism – I’m also seeing reports that community or regional brands (as opposed to national or multi-national chains) are the hottest…
Greener Agriculture and Cityscapes – Localism/regionalism, when applied to the food chain, translates into…
Read the ends to those sentences at Greenbiz.com, and check out these books:
(Nan’s Note: If real estate investors are wising up to energy efficiency as a means to create profits, then homeowners should also see the savings in and value of an efficient home. Not only will those homes be more attractive to buyers, savings will increase as energy prices rise – rest assured they will! – and homeowners can do their part for the planet by cutting emissions. This may be legally binding in the future, as new building codes require efficiency, as they do here in Taos now. There is NO reason to NOT incorporate efficiency into your home! It is win/win!)
By GreenerBuildings Staff
Proven, existing efficiency technologies — in everything from lighting to climate control and more — can unlock the untapped reserves of efficiency gains buried in many real estate holdings, according to a new report.
Those gains would be a boon to real estate investors’ bottom lines — both direct property owners like large pension funds and smaller investors who primarily hold real estate securities — even as they make our buildings far less power-hungry and a big part of America’s efforts to combat climate change.
Read more about the report, “Energy Efficiency in Real Estate Portfolios: Opportunities for Investors,” at GreenBiz.com.
(Nan’s Note: No comment! Sheesh! Once again, consumers have their heads in the sand and want to take no responsibility for their energy use. Granite countertops win out over energy efficient improvements, even though it has been proven time and time again that energy efficiency is a better investment. Do I need to mention it is also better for the planet? Ok. That was a comment. Rant over. Read on.)
By Cory Vanderpool
If someone were to give you $10,000 for home improvements, how would you spend it? Would you pick ways to make your house look better or choose upgrades that would make your home more energy efficient?
If you are leaning towards beauty over efficiency, you’re in the majority.
…snip…
A startling 31 percent (of The Shelton Group’s Energy Pulse survey) said that it would take an increase of more than $129 a month on their utility bill before they would consider investing in energy efficient renovations.
Find more survey results at Triple Pundit.
(Nan’s Note: I have had a ‘wait-n-see’ attitude about Copenahagen. It’s hard to keep up with the news, since it continues to rapidly change. So this is a hopeful proposal from Joe Biden that came out last week – create jobs with bigger renewable energy tax breaks for manufacturers! My favorite part, remodeling junkie that I am, is a tax credit for homeowners to retrofit their homes for energy efficiency! Congress needs to pass this, of course, so make your voices heard! Thank you!)
By Zachary Shahan
In the midst of the Copenhagen negotiations last week, the White House announced a proposal to give a huge increase in tax breaks to manufacturers who produce wind, solar, geothermal, or other clean energy technologies. The goal of the tax breaks is to stimulate more job growth and promote clean energy technology more in the US.
With clean energy technology poised to become the third largest sales sector in the world, Obama and Biden realize that they must stimulate this field in the US a bit more to get the jobs that go with that growth.
Read more about this proposal at Clean Technica, one of my favorite sites for renewable energy news!
By Stephanie Simon
GOLDEN, Colo.—It takes a certain ruthlessness to create the greenest office building in the nation.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a unit of the U.S. Department of Energy, is midway through construction of a $64 million project that lays claim to that title. The architects and engineers have spent hundreds of hours calculating the energy use of every aspect of the building, from the elevator to the exit signs. They have tweaked the design again and again with the aim of getting the 218,000-square-foot building to perform at net zero—meaning it will consume so little energy that it won’t need to draw a single electron from the grid.
Finish this fascinating article from The Wall Street Journal.
By Carinna Storrs
NEW YORK—Overlooking the city of Stuttgart in southern Germany, a four-story modern glass house stands like a beacon of environmental sustainability. Built in 2000, it was the first in a series of buildings that are “triple-zero,” a concept developed by German architect and engineer Werner Sobek, which signifies that the building is energy self-sufficient (zero energy consumed), produces zero emissions, and is made entirely of recyclable materials (zero waste).
Check. This. Out. Scientific American. Wow.
(Nan’s Note: A zero-energy house is built with fewer materials than a standard home and produces as much energy as it uses over the course of a year. This is an amazing, doable goal to shoot for, and I’d like to see more homes built this way. My only complaint with the home in this article is the size. Although it is green-built, at almost 4,000 square feet, it still uses more resources than a home of 2,000 square feet, or smaller. Having grown up in a large house, where half of the space was rarely used, and naturally being resourceful and frugal, I am a compact-home advocate. Other than this home’s size drawback, I am all for zero-energy design!)
By Laura Snider
SpringLeaf community will be 100 percent sun-powered
Local developer Ron Monahan stood outside the first of 12 homes he and his business partner plan to build in a new north Boulder subdivision and talked about his vision: “We’re bringing this to the masses.”
“This” is a zero-energy home. It’s a house built with less lumber and more insulation; with recycled countertops and bamboo cabinets; with a geothermal system and a 10-kilowatt solar array. And it’s built in what will become the first zero-energy neighborhood in Boulder, and likely, one of the first in the country.
Read the entire article at The Daily Camera.
