Green Options » energy-efficient

Eco-Artist Creates ‘Puff’ Device to Monitor Car Emissions

Michael Ricciardi — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:04:38 +0000

Puff is attached near the exhaust pipe of your vehicle. Its color changes dynamically, visualizing the amount of pollution your car is producing. Green indicates the lowest rate of pollution, red the highest.

Modern artists have often tackled environmental and ecological issues head on, such as through incorporating litter and refuse into sculptures, while other artists (such as photo, video and film artists) have sought to document industrial waste and/or have taken strong oppositional/advocacy stances in their works.

In recent years, many artists have sought to move beyond these “reactive”, commentary, and documentary approaches and create objects and devices that serve practical purposes (if still a bit fanciful in appearance). One such artist/designer is Karolina Sobecka, whose car emissions monitoring device, ‘Puff’ , provides colorful feedback to the car owner on how “cleanly” (or efficiently) he/she is using/burning gasoline.

This author recently contacted Ms. Sobecka and asked her about this device (’Puff’) as well as her other designs, and her artistic/social/environmental goals.

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10 Ways to Reduce Your Environmental Footprint Through Food Choices

John Chappell — Wed, 06 May 2009 03:45:44 +0000

A website recently delineated a simple list of 10 ways that you can reduce your environmental footprint through changes in your food choices.

The list is fairly straightforward and involves changes that any person in any country can make to reduce their carbon footprint. Substantive facts for each item are also laid out and explained along with a brief description of how the change can affect the environment in a positive manner.

Here the list of changes you can make to your food choices to reduce your environmental footprint:

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Missouri Offers Green Tax Holiday — Apr. 19-25

Adam Williams — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:35:08 +0000

Being a Missourian, it is particularly nice to see this Midwestern, conservative state step up to the green plate at times. Recently, a Missouri tax holiday was announced for the purchase of energy-efficient home appliances.</

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported:

From April 19-25, the state is waving its 4.225 percent sales tax on washing machines, refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, water heaters, furnaces and air conditioners if the new appliance is Energy Star-certified. Nine counties and just over 50 cities also are waving their sales taxes for the week.

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Even God’s Home is Going Green

Jessop Petroski — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:30:22 +0000

Going green has reached an all time high, literally! In the movement towards a greener nation, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina has set a new standard for eco-friendly churches. The church as been recognized as an IPL green energy leader.

Pullen’s church expansion had to uphold the church’s tradition of cherishing the earth, so what better way to do so than by incorporating a green design? The desire to be “as green as can be” and still be affordable, is always a challenge faced by any homeowner or organization wanting to make ‘green’ renovations to their home. Pullen chose green design elements that allowed it to meet its goals within a healthy and comfortable structure that offers reduced maintenance and operation costs.

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Samsung’s Blue Earth Cell Phone

Carlota Bindner — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:30:32 +0000

Blackberry Storm and Apple iPhone move aside there is a new touch-screen cell phone coming out that is looking to reduce energy and material waste, the Samsung Blue Earth. Samsung has been working on its image as an eco-friendly company under their campaign “The Blue Earth Dream: Eco-living with SAMSUNG Mobile” and now they definitely have up the anty. In a press release from the 16th of February, Samsung introduced their new cell phone, Blue Earth. As a geeky mom who loves the idea of eco-friendly technology, the Blue Earth definitely has caught my eye.

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Dubai Developing World’s First Rotating, Energy-Efficient Building

Amiel Blajchman — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:51:56 +0000

Dubai has plans to build the world’s first rotating building with independently moving floors. What’s more, plans call for it to be completely energy independent. The self-powered Dynamic Tower will have revolving floors, with each one powered by wind turbines located in between the floor. This will lead to the building looking radically different every time you look at it (sort of like a constantly evolving Dali architecture).

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Pentagon to Get Over 4,000 LED Fixtures

Jerry James Stone — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 09:01:14 +0000

Cree Inc. will be fitting Wedge 5 of the Pentagon with over 4,000 LED light fixtures.The U.S. Department of Energy said that LED lighting saved the country about 8.7 trillion watt hours in 2007. This is out of the 765 trillion watt hours used for lighting in the United States.

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NComputing: The Energy-Efficient $70 PC

Ariel Schwartz — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 03:28:56 +0000

Imagine a PC unit that costs only $70 and uses as little as 1 watt of power. Sound too good to be true? Not anymore, thanks to the innovation of a California-based company called NComputing. The company creates access devices that have no CPU, memory, or moving parts. Instead, the devices connect to a central shared computer that uses NComputing’s virtualization software to share its excess processing power.

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Kangaru Eco Drive

Courtney Carlisle — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:23:46 +0000

The Kanguru Eco Drive ($80) is one of the longest lasting, inexpensive to operate external hard drives currently available according to the company.

It’s also more environmentally friendly than most. Using it’s patented Power Saving mode that has three settings - Power Down, Standby and Idle, it automatically gauges drive usage to reduce energy consumption and prolong the life of hard drive. In addition to the power saving modes, it also comes with power monitoring software to help it use 75% less power than similar hard drives.

Mac and PC compatible, the USB 2.0 drive is 3.5″ and comes in a variety of storage capacities.

Mark Your Spot without Leaving a Trace: Bushnell BackTrack GPS

Courtney Carlisle — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:16:10 +0000

One of the hardest things about camping is leaving everything the way you found it. Well, Bushnell is trying to make one part of that as simple as possible with the Bushnell BackTrack GPS Navigation System that lets you digitally mark your starting location and find your way back without leaving a trail of bread crumbs to follow.

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EcoTraveler: Alisal Guest Ranch

Courtney Carlisle — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:30:36 +0000

In Solvang, California nestled among old oaks and the sycamore grove, is the Alisal Guest Ranch, a working dude ranch opened to the public in 1946 for a little outdoor R&R. This historic property has played host to celebrities, presidents and local fans for decades. John F. Kennedy and Jackie Onassis even spent their honeymoon at the ranch, which backs up to the well-known Reagan property.

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Energy Star Ratings: Greenwashing or Double Standards?

Derek Markham — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:11:32 +0000

You did your homework and bought an energy-efficient refrigerator.

It has the Energy Star rating, so you’re thinking that you might save some money on the electric bill and help to green your house by purchasing it.

You might be wrong.

In the October issue of Consumer Reports, “Save Energy, Save Money“, an article entitled “Energy Star has lost some luster” has stirred up some controversy. Consumer Reports rated one refrigerator as using 60% more electricity than the Energy Star label stated, and one, the LG LMX25981ST French-door fridge, as using more than double the energy on the label.

It turns out that according to the Department of Energy (DOE) procedures for testing, the refrigerator’s ice machine should be turned off during the test. Turning off the ice maker on some models, like the one tested, also turns off the cooling to the ice-making compartment.

Who buys a refrigerator with an ice-maker and then shuts it off?

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Eco-EEEvolution in Desktop Computers from Asus

Courtney Carlisle — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:21:06 +0000

The highly anticipated Eee Box from Asus launched last month, giving gadget geeks one more eco-alternative for their computing needs, whether for business or pleasure. Slimmer than a paperback novel, the Eee box mounts onto the back of any VESA LCD display to save space.

Not only is this nifty little set up space saving, but according to the company, it’s time saving as well. They claim that it takes only 7 seconds from booting up to getting online.

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Travel Green - The Kimpton’s Hotel Palomar

Courtney Carlisle — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:25:16 +0000

Not only is the new Kimpton hotel in Los Angeles exceptionally stylish, but it’s also very eco-chic from the in-room recycling to the locally and organic sourced ingredients at the restaurant.

Immediately upon arriving, I was greeted by lovely hotel staff serving complimentary local organic wines at the Kimpton’s standard happy hour in the very comfortable lobby.

Kimpton hotels recently received the California Environmental Protection Agency’s highest ecological honor, the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award, which is given to businesses that focus on preserving the state’s resources.

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Strip it! APC’s Power-Saving Surge Protector

Courtney Carlisle — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:09:35 +0000

The APC Essential SurgeArrest promises guaranteed protection from power surges and electrical spikes. Their new Master-Controlled outlets are designed to help conserve energy and save money from “ghost drain” when your computer system is plugged in but not in use.

I decided to check it out and see if I could really save or see a difference since I usually forget to turn off my power cord and conserve energy that way. The verdict: if you have one computer attached to one printer and/or don’t mind the inconvenience of having to turn on the master computer every time you want to print wirelessly, it’s a great find.

I actually thinks it’s the perfect solution for TV/DVD/TIVO systems. Plug your (energy efficient) LCD into the “Master Control” outlet and when it’s on; so is the DVD player or TIVO - whatever you plug into the following outlets will turn on only when the Master is on. When the Master is off, the outlets automatically cut power to idle equipment to conserve electricity.

The claim is that one strip can help you save up to $25 per year and it comes with a Lifetime Warranty for your connected equipment. Available for $35 (you’ll make that up in a year and a half) at Office Depot.

1 Million Electric Cars on Spain’s Roads by 2014

Joshua S Hill — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:33:40 +0000

Once again boosting their reputation as a country intent on helping the environment, Spain has announced that they intend to put 1 million electric cars on their roads by 2014. This will be part of the Zapatero government’s plan to reduce their use of energy and increase the countries overall energy efficiency.

Spain’s minister of industry, business and tourism Miguel Sebastian said Tuesday that the plan should gain approval from Spain’s Council of Ministers on Friday, and should then be carried out this year and on through to 2011.

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US Army Works to Cut its Carbon “Bootprint”… ba da bum!

Joshua S Hill — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:39:40 +0000

In what is just another example in a long stream of such, the US Army is beginning to realize that it is not only good for publicity, but essentially cheaper, to turn their operations green… er. Going green was never solely about making some cheap points on the PR board; it has, from the start, been a cheaper option across the board.

The Army had begun pushing for environmental sustainability in all of their bases, starting with Fort Bragg in North Carolina. And they’re thinking it through as well; not only are they thinking about the current footprint (I’m not going to say it), they’re thinking about the future as well. Since 2001, each village set up within Fort Bragg for training purposes has been made up of shipping containers, reducing the cost from $400,000 to $25,000, and keeping the shipping containers out of the solid waste stream.

But the goal is not solely to save money, but also lives as well.

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McCain and Obama Differ on Energy

Joshua S Hill — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:56:33 +0000

Following on from Monday’s article from Low Impact Living, “Who’s the Greenest? Obama vs. McCain”, I’ve decided to take a bit more of an in depth look at their policies. But all of this has a little bit of a twist, because unlike most political pundits around here, I’m from Australia, and can’t vote! Sadly, because, not surprisingly, I’d vote Obama all the way peoples!

The American political season is now in full swing, and with Barack Obama finally securing the nomination for Democratic Presidential nominee, the games can really begin to heat up. One of the big topics – alongside or just underneath the economy – will be the environment, and how to best preserve it (or resurrect it after George W. Bush is finished with it).

And, not surprisingly, a lot of the end results being pitched by Senator Obama and Senator John McSame McCain are looking mighty similar. However how they want to get there are bipolar at best.

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Clean Tech Open: Start-up Competition Sponsored by Acterra, Google, Lexus

Cassie Walker — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 13:28:42 +0000

Lately, I’ve been hearing about a lot of investment going into green companies and technology, which has me wondering: Is “green” the new tech boom? GE is “doubling down” on clean tech investments. According to Cleantech Network, last year’s 4th quarter saw $600 million in venture capital investments. So, if the opportunities are ripe for budding entrepreneurs and you have a great idea, how do you get started? The 2nd annual California Clean Tech Open might just be your ticket to success.

Sponsored by Acterra: Action for a Sustainable Earth, a non-profit based in Palo Alto, the competition seeks to solicit business plans from new clean tech companies. According to Acterra, the competition serves to, “…create economic growth and environmental sustainability by sparking a clean technology cluster in California. By giving winners early-stage capital and expertise, the competition speeds clean technologies from lab to market. The goal is to foster innovative new businesses.”

The best of these new businesses will each win prize packages valued at $100,000. These “startup in a box” packages include business essentials, designed to help the winners take their ideas from the planning phase into operation. For starters, winners in each of the competition’s six categories will receive $50,000 in cash from their category’s sponsor:

Transportation, sponsored by Lexus
Smart Power, sponsored by AMD
Green Building, sponsored by Google
Air, Water and Waste, sponsored by ENVIRON Foundation
Renewables, sponsored by PG&E, SCE and SDG&E
Energy Efficiency, sponsored by PG&E, SCE and SDG&E

Winners will also receive one year of free office space, as well as a range of free services, including legal, accounting, and public relations. Additional prizes will also be awarded to all finalists.

Last year’s Open garnered 156 entries, but this year the competition is expected to be tougher, with double the number of entries received by the June 30th deadline. Winners will be announced in October.

To help you fine tune your entries, an Executive Summary Workshop will be held on June 14th at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). This event will provide information about the application requirements and judging criteria for the required three-page executive summary. It will also include an overview of the sustainability judging criteria, and some sustainability best practices.

With all of this support and incentive, what are you waiting for?

Homebuilder Lennar to Build Largest Solar Homes Development in U.S.

Preston Koerner — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 15:37:00 +0000

Today, the huge homebuilder Lennar Corporation announced a deal with Sacramento Municipality Utility District (SMUD) to build the largest solar homes development in the United States. According to the deal, Lennar will build 1,254 energy-efficient homes with solar power systems as a standard feature in 11 communities in the Sacramento area. Under SMUD's part of the deal, it will provide a maximum of $10.9 million in incentives and Lennar will receive the rebates after homes are constructed. According to my back of the envelope calculation, that's about $8,700 per home for solar. Providing solar for homeowners creates the potential to save up to 60% annually on the electric bill and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by the equivalent of 620 cars.

I started to think about this deal and asked myself, "Why Lennar Corporation?" Installing solar power on non-energy-efficient homes is like trying to capture rain in rain barrels that have holes in the bottom. It doesn't make sense. In the entire process of making a home green, installing solar is one of the last things a person should do. But I came to the realization that most likely, Lennar Corporation was able to score such a good deal with the SMUD because it has experience building green homes with solar capabilities.

Lennar has a program called SOLAR plus. Under this program, the house is built efficiently to maximize the benefits of having solar electricity generation. Some green home features include: low-E, dual-glazed windows with energy-efficient vinyl frames, 15 SEER rated central air conditioner, improved insulation (R-13/R-19 exterior walls, R-38 attic, and tight ducts), and energy-efficient lighting. The solar system is the PowerLight SunTile 2.3kW Solar Electric System, which blends, almost invisibly, into the profile of the roof. According to Lennar's website, the system is maintenance free and has a 25 year warranty.

Soon, entire subdivisions such as the Anatolia and North Douglas in Rancho Cordova, Village Greens in Natomas, and Laguna Ridge in Elk Grove will be seriously powered by solar. Homebuilders around the country should watch this project with interest. It's entirely likely that other local authorities will be looking for the right green homebuilders to work with to establish solar power incentive programs, but before you get the $$ to install solar, you better be able to build a green home.