GreenTalk Radio host Sean Daily talks to Stephanie Thornton of the EPA about their WaterSense program. Much like the EnergyStar program, WaterSense seeks to help Americans to save water and protect the environment by creating product efficiency standards that manufacturers must meet in order to receive the WaterSense certification label on their products.

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BrightTALK is hosting a five-day green business summit this week, featuring several free webcasts on green building.  The webcasts run from April 21 to 24.  Each day features a different topic related to green business:

• Tuesday, April 21 - Water Management
• Wednesday, April 22 - Green Building
• Thursday, April 23 - Green IT
• Friday, April 24 - Green Marketing

Some of the highlighted speakers include:

• Peter Williams, CTO of IBM Big Green Innovations - “Water and Information Management” at the Water Management Summit
• Barry Hooper, San Francisco Private Sector Green Building Program - “Building & Operating Green in 2009 - Challenges and Successes in SF” at the Green Building Summit
• Pat Tiernan, Executive Director of Climate Savers Computing Initiative - “The IT Power Problem, simple actions to improve your business” at the Green IT Summit
• Joel Makower, Chairman and Executive Editor of Greener World Media - “Save the Buyosphere! Selling Green in the Age of More, More, MORE” at the Green Marketing Summit

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With all the attention on energy efficiency in buildings and where all that energy comes from (renewable sources or coal-fired electric plants), there is one resource that seems to be ignored - water.  And the really scary part is that although we can generate more energy from various sources, the water that is on the planet and in the atmosphere is all we have to work with - and we know it.

You may be thinking that there is plenty of water around, but when you get down to the science of the amount that is readily available for human consumption, the picture changes.

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Is your home healthy?  Residents in Calgary, Alberta, are getting answers to that question from the Healthy Homes Calgary program offered by Clean Calgary Association.

The new residential service provides free home visits to Calgarians who are interested in “creating a healthy living environment, while reducing the home’s eco-footprint.”  A staff member or trained volunteer shares tools and information city residents need to improve indoor air quality, energy and water efficiency, waste reduction and more.

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Hope-Despair, a painting by Feroza Unvala

2008 - what a year! As we get ready to draw the curtains on one of the most unsettling economic years in history, we the writers of the Inspired Economist are still wondering… was this year one that has left our battered economy begging for inspiration? Or have the sustainable events of 2008 spearheaded the initiation of what we believe is truly an Inspired Economy?

2008 was about the $700 billion bailout. Foreclosures. The plummeting stock market. As the year came to a close, the nation’s economic turmoil battled with the presidential election. But it was also a time when new businesses were born into what appears to be an unprecedented sustainability boom. When energy, economy and environment have taken on a new and inter-dependent definition.

As we position our economy to take off on this inspiring eve of the Obama generation, let’s reflect on the change that has come into play this year……

The First Quarter

The first quarter of the year saw the idea of social entrepreneuring take flight beyond the borders of America.

Cover of Jeffery Sach’s book Common Wealth

It was also the time when the Center for Resource Solutions launched the Environmental Tracking Network of North America – North America’s first network organization for renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions tracking systems and registries.

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WaterSense has jumped onto the internet “widget” bandwagon, and recently released a widget that provides a jump to the WaterSense website, which includes tips and facts about water efficiency. The widgets provided by WaterSense are intended to be seasonal and up-to-date, encouraging webmasters and website owners to add environmental content to their website or Myspace page. The website intends to update and change its content on a monthly  basis.

Information provided by WaterSense on their website includes:

• Fixing water leaks at home;
• Reducing water use in the shower;
• Using water-efficient toilets; and
• How to water your lawn efficiently.

Image: Water Tap via Flickr’s Media Commons

Australia has been suffering through a drought for the last several years. Since 2003, most of Australia has been experiencing the most severe drought conditions on record. And Australia is the driest populated continent, which further exacerbates water issues there. So it’s not surprising that a super-efficient shower would come from Australia.

According to the Quench Showers brochure, “If we focus on Australia’s water position we are at crisis point. Being aware of this is a start, but more importantly, we all need to understand the crisis and take immediate action if we are going to influence change. Without changing the way we consume and manage our water usage in our day-to-day activity, this crisis will become a widespread catastrophe!”

So how does the Quench shower save so much water and energy?

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First let’s talk about how to improve a water heater that you already have. For less than $20, you can hit your local DIY hub/ home improvement store and buy a water heater blanket with quick and easy assembly instructions. If Internet testimonials are true, it will probably take more time to drive to the store and buy one, than it will to install it. If your water heater already has a blanket, bravo! Just keep in mind that the big sticker on the front of your water heater has some important information. You might want to tape it to the blanket for easy reference. While you’re at it, you could also consider insulating some of your pipes or ducts (see first link in this paragraph) for even more savings.

As for the yawn-factor on water heater tanks, check out my favorite Myth Busters episode from the Discovery Channel. (Please don’t try at home, duh)

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Reducing the amount of water you use is good for the environment, and good for your wallet. Better yet, you don’t have to sacrifice water pressure to do it. Check out the best water faucet aerators of 2008.

Source: MetaEfficient.com

Video Courtesy of Google Videos

Water shortages are on the rise, from Mexico to the Andes, northern China to southern India, and Spain to Pakistan. Drought, soaring populations and population densities, changing diets, and increasing living standards are all factors. Is this an issue that technology can fix?

Judging by investors’ responses, the answer seems to be yes. FourWinds will invest up to $4.7 billion in water treatment and desalinization and companies that make meters, pumps, and pipes.

BlueWater Bio is a player in the wastewater and sludge treatment arena. Their claim to fame is a treatment technology called Hybrid Bacillus Activated Sludge (HYBACS). It uses proprietary bacteria that eats waste, saving on chemicals. The high quality treatment effluent has reuse potential for commercial or industrial applications, but I wouldn’t recommend drinking it.

Monsanto’s top 20 experts have been examining how climate science will affect the company, with drought being the leading problem to solve. New drought-resistant crops are being created.

“The most advanced of these is now a drought-tolerant corn product … commercializable within several years,” said Monsanto’s head of technology strategy and development David Fischhoff . “We expect this to be the first generation of an ongoing stream.”

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Solar thermal technology provides space heating and hot water and is a frequently forgotten member of the solar family. These highly effective systems are popular in many parts of the globe, from China to Greece to Zimbabwe. They displace the use of the existing hot water heater and heating equipment, typically saving either natural gas or electricity.Solar thermal is a more mature technology than solar photovoltaic systems that produce electricity. It has been used for centuries for water heating. In fact, even Leonardo Da Vinci owned one.

When considering the installation of such a system, it is important to consider the following items.

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The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) is a collaborative effort by eight institutions in the University System of Maryland, begun in 2000. Due to its popularity and convenience, the demand for classes and services at the Shady Grove location grew quickly and necessitated the construction of a new, multi-purpose building with classrooms and services.

The SG III building is a 5 story multi-purpose educational building. It incorporates 41 classrooms (including 10 computer classrooms and 2 distance ed classrooms), 81 faculty offices, a 20,000 sq. ft. library and media center, student lounges, 2 open computer labs, a bookstore, administrative offices, and a recreation center/gym.

The building incorporates a green roof and native plantings to help control site runoff. Water conservation was a key concern for the SGIII building, and the building even earned a credit in the LEED rating system for innovation for achieving savings 44% below LEED baseline models for potable water use.

Energy conservation measures for connectivity included providing bike racks, designated car pool parking spaces, electric vehicle refueling locations, online carpool coordination, and easy access to bus and metro systems. And the building utilized high-efficiency HVAC systems and demand ventilation control so that mechanical systems only provide conditioned air where it is needed. Natural daylighting is also incorporated into the building. These measures enable the building to offer energy savings of more than 25% below the LEED baseline.

The building also makes extensive use of recycled materials, including insulation, recycled glass in the atrium, and the exterior blue panels. Other sustainable materials used in the building include wheat board and cork wall coverings, bamboo and linoleum floors, and tables made from banana fiber.

The building was able to be built in this way without incurring any additional cost by incorporating planning for green features at the outset of the project. Energy modeling, to calculate how the building would perform, and cost modeling, to predict the construction costs for different options, were both used to develop the building and evaluate the design for the most efficient and cost-effective solutions. More than 90 percent of the energy saving options proposed by the design team were able to be carried out with no cost increase to the building. "Through the use of sunscreens, improved glass, improved wall U value, improved roof U value, reduced lighting (watts per square foot) level, added daylight control in classrooms, VFD in chillers, and CO2 sensors, the design/engineering team projects a total net-energy cost savings of 29 percent."

Even though its name isn’t much, with the wide array of green features it posesses, and the manner in which it achieved these goals without any added cost, the building is going to make a name for itself.

Building Information:
Size: 192,000 sq. ft.
Location: Rockville, Maryland
Architect: Cannon Design

via: Environmental Design + Construction Magazine