"Was it a conscious decision or a momentary lapse of reason? How did progress take priority over humankind? Could harnessing the world’s energy that allowed our ascent now be the ledge pan of our down fall?" These are the questions addressed in the PBS ongoing series e2. The most recent episodes, narrated by Morgan Freeman, focus on energy. They look at transportation infrastructure, the auto industry, fuels and renewable fuels, alternative
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For all our technological advances, our buildings remain incredibly dumb constructions. Automobiles have multiple onboard computers that help maximize their performance and improve efficiency and coordinate the various systems. But the average house has very little, if any, control to aid in its operation despite the wide range of conditions (from below freezing winter nights to scorching summer days) they are forced to deal with. Even large, complex buildings operate with
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Sustainability is making its way into mainstream periodicals. It seems like almost every magazine in the past year has featured a "green" issue, some credible, some not. My friend just gave me the green issue of a magazine targeted at the marketing industry. So it’s no surprise that Edutopia, an education magazine for teachers and administrators published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, used sustainability as a theme for their
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Green technologies make good sense to most of us, but incomplete or uncoordinated implementation can lead to circumstances where green technologies are not able to provide the full benefits that they can. In some instances, regulatory requirements can even lead to making green technologies counterproductive.
Waterless urinals present one striking example of how regulations and green technology are not yet working together. In some municipalities, waterless urinals have not been allowed by building
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Last night, Thursday, October 18th, at the National Design Awards Gala in New York City was the announcement of the Peoples Design Awards. As part of National Design Week, Copper-Hewitt supports an annual competition where people nominate great design.
Voting has been open to the public online since mid September. As it is too late to cast your vote, it isn’t too late to congratulate the winner and find
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If you follow politics in Chicago at all, you’ve probably heard that Mayor Richard M. Daley has been using his lock on political power to try and make the Second City a more sustainable one. Daley established the city’s Department of Environment in 1992, and in the intervening years, has made some big steps toward making the city look greener (by planting thousands of trees in median planters along streets) and build greener
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When the US Green Building Council’s LEED® rating system became the standard for green building in the US a few years ago, it provided a way for builders and homeowners alike to have an immediate and measurable impact on the environment. Though certified buildings are increasingly common in commercial design, few platinum-certified homes exist in the US. Now, one of the most environmentally-friendly homes in California will be open to the public.
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Z-Squared is an example of an office building whose net energy consumption is zero. In addition to being a zero energy building, it is also a zero carbon building. "It’s one of the first commercial buildings in the United States to be designed to a ‘Z2′ energy efficiency goal; that is, net zero energy, zero carbon emissions."
The building owner, Integrated Design Associates, Inc. (IDeAs), is a San Jose CA based
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This Friday is the opening day of the 3rd Solar Decathlon Exhibition. The exhibition takes place on the National Mall in Washington DC from October 12th to 20th. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the competition invites 20 teams from colleges and universities across the United States, Germany, Spain, and Canada to participate. The objective is to "design, build, and operate
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Can a 10,000 square foot house really be green? Is a hybrid GMC Yukon SUV an oxymoron? At what point does the alleged greenness of something go from truly being green to mere greenwashing?
The environmental bandwagon is getting crowded as more and more people recognize the benefits and importance of going green. Sometimes it is out of a genuine sense of commitment to green principles. But
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