Virginia Tech for the Lumenhaus! Among the 17 great solar-powered prefab homes that were participating in the contest, showing that completely self-sustaining shelters can easily become a reality, the American project was the winner.
The 17 houses were probed, prodded, and evaluated on their form, function and innovation. The winner needed to pass a total of ten different contests including: Architecture, Engineering and Construction, Solar Systems, Electrical Energy Balance, Comfort Conditions and Appliances, Communication and Social Awareness, Industrialization and Market Viability, Innovation and Sustainability.
Over one thousand students took part in this architectural design-build competition which challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive to boot.
The competition pretends to demonstrate that the projects presented are much more than solar homes, they are fully integrated systems completely compatible to comfort, health and aesthetic, avoiding the harmful impact of fossil fuels dependence or the destruction of natural resources.
The Solar Decathlon is a competition organized by the U.S. Department of Energy in which universities from across the globe meet to design and build an energetically self-sufficient house that runs only on solar energy, is connected to a power grid, and incorporates technologies that maximize its energy efficiency.
Via: Inhabitat | Solar Decathlon
‘How does your carbon performance compare?’ This is the question which welcomes the reader of the 350 Index Results Report 2010, a publication that introduces the new FTSE CDP Carbon Strategy Index Series.
The FTSE Group (FTSE) announced last week, jointly with the Carbon Disclosure Project and ENDS Carbon, the launch of two UK indices; the FTSE CDP Carbon Strategy All-Share Index and the FTSE CDP Carbon Strategy 350 Index. Both indices have been designed in response to growing awareness of the significant potential impact of climate change on investment returns.
The FTSE CDP Carbon Strategy 350 Index assesses how Britain’s largest companies are dealing with climate change. It compares them on cutting carbon emissions, making their products more energy-efficient and setting the most ambitious reduction targets. On the top of this new index there is Unilever, with a final Carbon Scorecard result of 2.49, followed by BT Group (2.44), Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (2.43), Rolls-Royce Group (2.40) and Centrica (2.38).
The index describes Unilever’s track record on cutting emissions as "superb". The company aims to have cut its emissions by 25% by 2012. The multinational has also improved its carbon intensity by 20% –amount of carbon emissions per pound sterling of turnover– over the last three years, and by 40% since 1995.
There is no bus in the world as famous as London’s. Since the 1960s the UK’s capital has been going its own way by designing its own vehicle specially for the city use rather than using the bus manufacturers’ standard products used elsewhere. But now, London’s classic double decker buses are joining the new trend in green transport by turning to hybrid diesel-electric its engines.
This measure is a part of the Mayor of London’s plan to power the city’s transport infrastructure by increasing reliance on energy efficient vehicles. 2007 was the first year in which Transport for London, the British agency responsible for public transportation, introduced for the first time a hybrid bus in the city, across route 141. Since then, several buses have entered service in the city as part of a trial run. If all goes according to plan the New Bus for London, which is based on the much-famous Routemaster, is predicted to enter service in 2012.
Using the latest green technology, the bus willl use 15 percent less fuel relative to existing hybrid buses, and it will be 40 percent more efficient than conventional diesel double decks, as well as it will be much quieter on the streets.
The pioneering design is a result of a colaboration between Foster + Partners, Aston Martin and Capoco Design. The new bus makes use of lightweight materials, featuring wooden floors, reconstituted leather upholstery, and a glazed roof that incorporates solar cells to generate energy and filter heat and daylight, offering panoramic views to its users.
In case you took the title of this post literally, let us clarify that the double decker’s classic red color remains.
Via: Inhabitat
In an interview with Grist, Republican Brian Baird explains his ideas of how psychology should be taken more into account when dealing with climate change. Baird has a PhD in clinical psychology, and argues that “to change the way Americans use energy we need to better understand how they make decisions”.
Last year he introduced a bill to create a program to study how behavioral sciences can be applied to energy policy. It was passed, but hasn’t been paid much attention. Besides, most political opponents argued that it was a way of mind control, and that people only take economics into account when using energy, somewhat contradictory.
Baird tells us to remember some of the recent economic theories which show us that human behavior is often irrational. So, you may be well aware that it’s cheaper to use less light, but there’s a psychological factor that affects your behavior. If we were completely rational, we wouldn’t be destroying our planet. That’s why it’s important to understand what is behind our actions.
The Solar Decathlon is a competition organized yearly by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, since 2002. Teams of college and university students can participate by designing and building solar powered houses. The goal is to help reduce the cost of such homes and advance solar technology.
The winner team of the 2009 version of the competition was the Technische Universitat Damstadt of Germany, which designed a two-story house almost entirely covered in solar PV panels. It generates twice the energy it needs. Construction costs were more than $650,000. The team got the highest score possible, 150, on the net metering contest, which evaluated the constructions’ ability to generate all the energy needed and more.
The houses were exhibited in October last year, on the National Mall in Washington DC.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is developing a program to foster energy efficiency in data centers. Starting in June, data centers will be able to apply for Energy Star certification. Operators will first have to go through an online test, and depending on their score, be evaluated by the EPA.
With information technology (IT) growing as much as it is nowadays, data centers are all over the place, and consume impressive amounts of energy. That’s why the EPA’s initiative is most necessary. Data centers will have a way to measure their energy efficiency and show it to others. Besides, the environment is becoming an increasingly important concern for society, so this could work as a marketing strategy for companies.
First, data centers will have to enter specific information online. According to this data, they will be scored on a scale of 1-100. What will be evaluated is the power unit efficiency (PUE), which represents the total power used by the data center, divided by the amount of power that reaches the IT equipment.
A higher score means a more efficient operation. Data centers need to achieve over 75 points to be eligible for obtaining Energy Star. Those who do get the necessary score, are then audited by the EPA, and may get the sought certification.
VIA: Ecogeek
One of the most inspiring books I’ve read lately is Michael Braungart and William McDonough’s “Cradle-to-Cradle, Remaking the way we make things”. The authors claim that today’s popular green strategies of using energy efficiently and reducing waste are not enough. They argue that most proposed solutions to environmental problems fall short in addressing what they consider to be systemic design flaws.
Our society’s design model is one of cradle-to-grave, in which products are designed to become obsolete in short periods of time and end up being trash no one wants to handle. What we need to do is change this paradigm. We need to imitate nature’s cycles, in which there is no waste, because all things are re-used infinitely and what may be dump to me is a nutrient for someone else.
McDonough and Braungart present the fantastic example of buildings that instead of contaminating, using up water, and making people feel sick, are sources of health, clean air, and energy. How is this possible? By “remaking the way we make things”. By letting go of the antagonism between industry and nature, and integrating them.
The new paradigm is one of cradle-to-cradle design, which “can transform the making and consumption of things into a regenerative force”. Materials circulate in closed-loop cycles, providing nutrients for either nature or industry.
Today, many products include toxic chemicals among their components. One example I found rather funny in the book is that if I had some friends over to lunch, I shouldn’t have to tell them “this food is free of lithium”. I shouldn’t reduce lithium to the least amount possible, but rather dangerous components shouldn’t even come close to my poor friends’ lunch.
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Energy efficiency is the relationship between the amount of energy consumed and the products and services obtained. It can be improved by the use of technology, legislation and education.
A program of energy efficiency should include the following issues: power consumption for residential, commercial and industrial sectors, efficient machines, cogeneration, sustainable architecture, and transportation. It should also include appropriate legislation; because for example, low energy prices cause an artificial increase in demand. Finally, education at schools, universities and companies is crucial; we must all be involved in this subject. Energy efficiency should be part of the long term energy planning.
Countries with low energy resources have the highest levels of energy efficiency in order to reduce imports, examples are Japan, Denmark and Chile.
Chile installed the Energy Efficiency Program (PPEE) in 2005. PPEE includes an educational program for primary schools, replacement of electric engines in the industrial sector, efficient lighting in the residential, commercial and public buildings; and studies of cogeneration for the power system.
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In February 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed by the Congress, and signed into law by President Barack Obama. Its main goal is to spur economic activity and growth, creating and saving jobs. Recovery funds are around $787 billion. The Act also took into account the environment as a means of creating jobs and strengthening the economy.
Today we will analyze the case of the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), which was awarded $16.8 billion for its programs and projects.
The funds are being allocated into either energy efficiency projects or renewable energy ones.
We’ll start with energy efficiency. There are several projects in this area.
1) Solid-state lighting
$37 million have been awarded to more than 15 projects. Some of them will research,
others will manufacture, and develop this type of lighting which includes LEDs (light-emitting diodes) and OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes). This solid-state lighting system has the “potential to be 10 times more energy-efficient than traditional incandescent lighting”, according to the EERE. Besides, lighting consumes around 24% of the electricity generated in the US.
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Though renewable energy technologies are being greatly developed, not many people are able to adopt them yet, given their still expensive cost. That’s why governments play a key role in helping both green technology developers, and people interested in improving their energy efficiency.
The Australian Green Loans program is a bright idea to make green technology more affordable. Also, by fostering demand, production is being fostered, which will eventually lower sale prices.
The program started in July 2009, and will run until 2013. It works in Australia, for Australian citizens or residents, and for homes that have been occupied for at least 12 months.
How does it work? First, you need to ask for a home sustainability assessment, and report. The government offers this for free. Before six months, and according to the suggestions made in the report, you can request the green loan to one of the government’s associated financial institutions. The loans are up to $10,000, which are to be returned in up to four years, without paying any interests.
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Some cities wait for legislation to be passed before starting to evolve to a more sustainable way of functioning. And some others lead the way, and I dare say they will even be an inspiration for those future laws I keenly await for.
One of the latter is Malmo, a city located in the south of Sweden, with a population of about 280,000 people. Malmo has set itself the target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 25% between 2008 and 2012. By 2030, the city plans to run entirely on renewable energies. To achieve this, different measures are being applied.
To start with, sustainable transport is being promoted. Public transportation is being fostered, as well as car-pooling, a more eco-friendly way of driving, and more sustainable cars and buses. Regarding buses, these are connected to traffic lights, so as to get green lights faster than cars, and they have separate lanes. 42% of them run on biogas created from the city’s waste.
Eco-driving is taught to municipal employees; it is also offered in several driving schools, and it has been spread to some of the largest truck companies.
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US president Barack Obama’s visit to China is proving to be worth its carbon footprint… Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao have already established a deal to share information on renewable energy. Now they’ve announced some great plans on clean energy initiatives.
Their plan focuses mainly on clean energy. The idea is that the implementation of clean energy will be studied and fostered, and that emissions will be hopefully reduced thanks to natural gas and the development of carbon capture technology.
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