“It ain’t easy goin’ green,” Kermit the Frog would say about the latest green building techniques detailed in the International Code Council’s 700 National Green Building Standard. But it’s easier than he might think. The National Association of Home Builders has developed a website (NAHBgreen) for homebuyers interested in green building to explain the concepts of what makes a home legitimately “green,” said Kevin Morrow, senior program manager of Green Building Programs for NAHB. Homebuyers go green primarily to save money on their utility bills. What is a “green home”: The home is positioned to take advantage of heat and light from the sun. Natural site features are preserved and protected when possible. Energy efficiency is important: appliances, insulation, doors, windows, heating and air-conditioning, and design work together for energy conservation and reduced utility bills. Water heaters, toilets, faucets and drought-tolerant plants conserve water inside and out. [Read this article]
‘Green’ Homeownership About Lifestyle As Much As Build Standards
Date: 10/24/2011 | Source: Tulsa World 
FedEx Packs Green Roof The Size Of Three Football Fields Into O’Hare International Airport
Date: 10/24/2011 | Source: Triple Pundit
A little green roof can do a lot of good, and FedEx is about to find out how much good an enormous 175,000 square foot green roof can do. The company recently opened a new package sorting center at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, and it is sporting a green roof the size of three football fields. If the new green roof at O’Hare is successful, it could be used as the model for many more installations across the country. The company cites general findings that green roofs can result in a direct savings to the building in two ways: they reduce annual heating and cooling costs by about 35 percent, and they can also last up to 50 years, more than double the average lifespan of a conventional roof. Green roofs can also help reduce infrastructure costs by helping to reduce stormwater runoff, and they can provide a public health benefit by helping to reduce local air pollution. In a new twist, the company also expects the roof to help reduce airport noise, which could provide an additional public health benefit. [Read this article]
Personal Eco-Concierges Ease Transition To Green
Date: 10/24/2011 | Source: The New York Times
They will run your errands by bicycle, recommend a spa that gives vegan manicures or buy organic clothes for you and your dog. They will even book you a dream vacation and buy the appropriate carbon offsets. Green living is just so much easier when you have your own personal environmental concierge. “The problem with going green is that people think it takes so much work, so much effort, so much conscious decision-making,” said Letitia Burrell, president of Eco-Concierge NYC, a year-old business in Manhattan that tries to make it easy for people to rid their homes of toxins, hire sustainable-cuisine chefs and find organic dry cleaners. It is a niche business, but a clever one. At least a half-dozen services of this type have sprung up around the country in recent years, both to help time-starved consumers manage their lives and to assuage the guilt of those who worry that they are letting the planet down. Personal concierge services originated in hotels but made the leap to people’s homes in the last decade or so. [Read this article]
Fish-Friendly Turbine Making A Splash In Water Power
Date: 10/24/2011 | Source: Department Of Energy
A revolutionary new turbine technology for hydropower plants is one step closer to its first commercial deployment. The Alden Fish-Friendly Turbine could change the game for hydropower generation in the United States, and it is likely to have significant export potential. Scientists and engineers at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Alden Laboratories, and their partners have designed a new turbine that reduces fish passage injury and mortality, while effectively maintaining power production. Hydropower already provides nearly 7 percent of the nation’s electricity, and it holds tremendous potential for expansion. Yet that promise comes with the unique challenge of developing water as a renewable energy resource in a way that minimizes disruption to sensitive ecosystems and mitigates impacts to fish and other aquatic wildlife. Some hydropower projects have created issues for migratory fish, such as blocked passages and turbine-induced mortality. [Read this article]
Using Facebook To Plug In The Power Of Energy Efficiency
Date: 10/21/2011 | Source: GreenBiz.com
The Natural Resources Defense Council has joined forces with Facebook and Opower to launch a landmark initiative designed to kick energy efficiency up a notch. Seizing upon the potential for social networking to influence people’s energy use and behavior, the organizations are working together to launch an application designed to empower people to consume energy more efficiently – in other words, enjoy same level of comfort at lower costs. The application will be available early next year. The initial set of features will allow consumers to compare energy use to similar homes, and compare energy use among friends. People will be able to benchmark their home energy use against a national database of millions of homes, and they’ll be able to invite friends to compare their energy use against their own, show how energy-efficient they are, and share tips on how to improve. [Read this article]
The Cheapest, Cleanest Energy In America: Where You’ll Find It
Date: 10/21/2011 | Source: Forbes
Nearly four decades after California earned its spurs as an energy efficiency powerhouse, Massachusetts has been named the most energy efficient U.S. state for 2011 according to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), an energy policy outfit based in Washington D.C. The ACEEE released the results of its 5th annual “State Energy Efficiency Scorecard,” which ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia for energy-efficiency in buildings, transportation and industry. The Scorecard ranks each state on the strength of its energy-efficiency policies and the results those policies deliver. Massachusetts’ ascendance is primarily attributed to the impact of the “Green Communities Act,” which has galvanized significant investments in energy efficiency since 2008. Following Massachusetts and California, New York ranked as the nation’s third most energy-efficient state, up one spot from the previous year. One of the biggest movers was Maryland, which climbed from 16th place in 2010 to 10th place in 2011. [Read this article]
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