A recent article in Newsweek, “Obama’s Big Green Mess,” describes what can happen when contractors are “unfamiliar with the nuances of specialized weatherization work.” The fact is, installing furnaces that exhaust poisonous fumes, putting in water heaters that can explode and blowing toxic asbestos
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energy costs
The solar thermal market has been showing steady growth, but I predict the U.S. industry is on the path for record growth on par with the solar photovoltaic industry. Let me explain why.
Based on the 2010 solar markets trends report, the solar thermal market is not showing fast growth. It
At first blush, the economics of energy efficiency seem straightforward.
A business installs lighting controls or some other improvement. The business then sees its energy costs drop. From the savings, the business repays the investment over weeks, months or years, and then turns a profit on the
The Empire State Building in New York City has been awarded LEED Gold certification following a two-year retrofit that is expected to cut energy use in the landmark building by 38 percent by 2013.
Two years ago, the owners of the 102-story building began renovations they say will cut energy costs by
Lt. Governor Becky Skillman this week announced that funds are being made available to the public and private sectors to help pay for conversion of fleet vehicles to alternative fuels.
The Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) program opened on Tuesday (September 6) and applications will be
The UK-based bank Barclays has launched a £100 million fund ($163 million) to help farmers finance renewable energy projects on their land after a survey found growing interest among farm owners in installing such projects to offset energy costs and generate new income.
As a forester, I have always believed that smart, common sense initiatives to conserve our lands and waters go hand-in-hand with growing our economy and creating jobs. Under President Obama's leadership, the health of our natural treasures and the communities and economies that they support has
Not sure if you’ve heard, but it’s summer here in Vancouver. By “summer”, I mean ‘it’s-been-mostly-terrible-weather-but-after-two-months-of-rain-and-cloud-we’re-finally-seeing-the-sun’. We’re not bitter…I swear. Ok, that’s a lie. We’re totally bitter about it. But, it’s out of our control, West-Coasters,
Why do so many energy insiders insist that home energy automation will fail? Many whom I respect say the typical householder will never take the time to fiddle with smart gadgets that reduce energy costs.
Their skepticism, however, just elicits a verbal shrug
I’m a transplant to New Orleans, and when you live some place like New Orleans, being a transplant matters. This is a town where people ask where you went to school, and they mean high school. A huge portion of the population lives on the block where they grew up, often in the very same house. People in
A short while ago we discussed the European Union’s Energy Efficiency Plan and its goal to achieve a 20% improvement in its energy savings by the year 2020. Click here for a refresher on that. Basically, we found out that the initially instituted plan wasn’t totally working out as the European Commission had
One of the most under-discussed and under-valued aspects of green building law is regulatory enforcement. Most of the discussion among experts, myself included, tends to analyze new laws and new incentives as they develop. Frequently, these new legislative and regulatory initiatives pay little attention
The energy cost in the Caribbean is the highest in the Western Hemisphere and amongst the highest in the world. The cost of energy in various islands range from as low as US$0.20/kwh to as high as US$0.37/kWh. Because the area is big in the tourism industry all year round, the Caribbean
If you have been paying even the slightest attention to the algae industry, you probably have heard of companies like Solazyme or Synthetic Genomics, the big names that are making big public strides in the field. Algasol Renewables, on the other hand, is one name in the industry that you have probably never heard