... "Now, with both systems in place, there are about five months in the year when he only pays 10 dollars for electricity from a conventional power plant ... " ...Via Scienceline: Solar thermal energy
Philadelphia is a city of row houses ... unfortunately many are in blighted condition and when they are town down the newly created "end units" are poorly insulated. Cleaning up the blighted homes causes the other homeowners to have basically little or no insulation on a large surface of their home.
"In the interest of creating local green jobs, the city hopes to find a local manufacturer." " ... product consists of layers of insulating foam (for thermal protection), high-density foam (to absorb impact), fabric (to prevent penetration of sharp objects), and a latex-stucco finish. ... produce it in 2-by-4-foot panels that will be affixed to a wall with a foaming adhesive."
" ... Philadelphia University's help was enlisted after the city determined that existing exterior-wrap products were too expensive and not sufficiently durable."
Via: Philadelphia University LINK
The U.S. Geothermal Energy Technology, Finance and Development Workshop will be held June 3rd, 2009 in Seattle, Washington.
Geothermal is becoming more popular as a renewable source of clean energy ... LINK
" ... U.S. Geothermal Energy Association is a trade association composed of U.S. companies who support the expanded use of geothermal energy and are developing geothermal Resources worldwide for electrical power generation and direct-heat uses."
" ... GEA advocates for public policies that will promote the development and utilization of geothermal Resources, provides a forum for the industry to discuss issues and problems, encourages research and development to improve geothermal technologies, presents industry views to governmental organizations, provides assistance for the export of geothermal goods and services, compiles "
Via: U.S. Geothermal Energy Association LINK
Southern California Edison collaborates with BrightSource Energy to add 1,300 megawatts of solar thermal power capacity to its renewable energy portfolio. BrightSource brings the solar thermal technology to the project, which leverages thousands of mirrors that concentrate sunlight onto a boiler that produces high temperature steam. ...
... "The first of these solar power plants, sized at 100 megawatts and located in Ivanpah, Calif., could be operating in early 2013 and is expected to produce 286,000 megawatt-hours of renewable electricity per year. BrightSource will build and place in commercial operation each of its plants as quickly as permitting and infrastructure allow. The full 1,300 megawatts of projects will produce 3.7 billion kilowatt-hours of clean energy and avoid more than two million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually – the equivalent of removing more than 335,000 cars from the road. " ...Via Southern California Edison: World’s Largest Solar Deal
" ... uniquely interactive format and high caliber of participants, ECO:nomics debuted last year as the premier forum for CEOs and entrepreneurs driving growth at the intersection of business and the environment...."
Snippets of the Program ... "... Green People - What do consumers want, and what will they pay for it? ... Power Play - What will keep the lights on: nuclear energy or "clean coal"? ... Fresh Juice - Can wind and solar grow big enough to matter? ... The Future of Coal ... The Future of Biofuels ... The Future of Solar ..."
Via: eco-nomics LINK
In addition to Federal tax credits, grants, loans, etc ... many states and or local utilities offer programs to help homeowners get into solar, wind or geothermal energy.
" ... Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency is an ongoing project of the North Carolina Solar Center and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) funded by the U.S. Department of Energy."
" IREC's mission is to accelerate the use of renewable energy sources and technologies in and through state and local government and community activities...."
>>> Federal Programs LINK
>>> State Programs LINK
Via: DESIRE LINK
Waste heat recovery is the process of taking the heat from a heat emitting piece of equipment, like a computer, and using it for heating something else - rather than just dissipating it to the environment ... and potentially saving the cost of air conditioning.
"... waste heat recovery, an energy efficiency technique that languishes in obscurity despite its potentially huge environmental benefits. ... in a move that will save money and cut carbon emissions, the University of Notre Dame in Indiana has begun housing some of its computer servers in the nearby “Arizona Desert Dome,” a conservatory for cacti and other desert plants.
"Computer servers create a lot of waste heat ... keeping them cool is a major cost ... for data centers. ... Housing servers in the desert dome, where air currents can carry away their waste heat, is expected to save the university about $100,000 in cooling costs. Meanwhile, the city will save some of the $70,000 it spends each year to keep the conservatory warm. ..."
"Recycled waste heat presents one of the biggest, cheapest opportunities for slashing our carbon budget. ..."
Via: TerraPass Link
... "EGS plants create their own reservoir by continuously pumping water through hot dry rock. While this is a more complex undertaking, EGS is the key to unlocking geothermal's massive potential. " ...Via Motley Fool: Geothermal
Using more sustainable or recyclable materials is one of the next stet PC and laptop makers can do to help make 
their products more friendly ...
"Fujitsu plans to demonstrate a laptop PC with a case manufactured from wood ... The laptop, which is only a prototype, uses cedar wood for the case and also makes use of bio-plastics for parts. ..."
" ... laptop PC carries the names of Fujitsu and Monacca, a Japanese design team that specialises in wooden products ..."
" ... In 2002 it began working ... to produce a bio-plastic and the result of that project can now be seen on Japanese computer store shelves. Fujitsu's Biblo NX95 laptop has a 30 percent bio-plastic case"
Via: PCAdvisor.com Link
Radnor Township (Delaware Country, Pa) recently opened their new Middle School. It was designed from the ground up to be environmentally friendly as well as to provide a healthy environment for the students and staff.
Some of the energy saving features include: " ... Geothermal heating and cooling, ...'green roof' with plants that absorb storm-water, keep the building cool, and give off oxygen, Waterless urinals and motion-activated sinks, Motion sensors that adjust / turn off classroom lights reducing electrical load..."
" ... is the only green-roof school in Delaware County [PA] ... . is eligible to receive LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council ..."
Via: PhiladelphiaSustainabilityAwards.com Link
Continue reading "Radnor (Delaware County, PA) Schools Go Green" »
Friends Select, an independent Quaker school in center city Philadelphia, Pa, is constructing a thermal energy system,.
Drilling holes " ... 1,500 feet below the sidewalk ... in search of energy savings."
" ... will use the ambient temperature of the ground, about 50 degrees, to heat and cool the Quaker-run office complex."
" ... costing $1.3 million, ... will help eliminate the center's emissions of greenhouse gases and cut its energy costs by an estimated 46 percent. The payback period: six to eight years."
Freied Select has other "green" application ... " ... a green makeover that includes solar panels, a vegetated roof, and rainwater holding tanks to flush the toilets."Via: www.philly.com Link
Here is an interesting idea ... harness the body heat from commuters to warm a building. instead of radiating into the air ... an interesting idea in Sweden uses that heat to heat a new nearby office building.
>>> Read on for more.
" ... heat from hundreds of thousands ... will be used to heat a new office building..."
"...body heat would warm up water that in turn would be pumped through pipes .. ". "... old technology, but used in a new way. ... expects the system to bring down heating costs in the building by up to 20 percent. "
I" ... system is not expected to be complicated or very costly,..."
Via: Physorg.Com Link
Continue reading "Sweden's "People Powered Heating" System for Buildings" »
What can be accomplished in a Green Building??
Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, takes a careful look ...
>>> Their Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies is detailed below ...
"... was conceived as a demonstration project, ... designed to be a building that would teach. Lessons embodied in its technology and design choices are intended to reinforce those taught in its classrooms. ... "
"...Efforts to research the AJLC's evolution are well underway, providing ongoing opportunities to educate a variety of audiences, including Oberlin College students, regional kindergarten through high school students, other university students and faculty, architecture and design professionals, and lay audiences."
"With over 150 environmental sensors installed throughout the building and landscape, the AJLC's data monitoring and display system provides a unique opportunity to visualize in real-time the flows of energy and cycling of matter that are necessary to support the built environment. ... premise of this work is that real-time feedback on ecological performance increases awareness, ... feedback of this type may be a necessary prerequisite for facilitating a more sustainable relationship among humans, technology and the natural world."
Some building details ...
| "Heating, Cooling & Air Quality - ... both active and passive systems, ...provides a comfortable working environment ... Active systems use mechanical equipment to extract and move heat, while passive systems do so with a minimum of mechanical devices." |
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| "Landscape - ... landscape features a variety of constructed ecosystems that simulate native Northern Ohio ecosystems and incorporate cultigens that produce food for humans." |
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| "Living Machine & Water Use - ... is an ecologically engineered system that combines elements of conventional wastewater technology with the purification processes of wetland ecosystems to treat and recycle the building's wastewater for reuse in the toilets and landscape." |
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| "Weather Conditions - A weather station ... monitoring real-time conditions and trends for a variety of environmental variables." |
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| " | Materials - Materials ... elected to enhance its sustainability and were evaluated based on criteria that required less energy inputs, encouraged local production and distribution, and supported creative economic structures." |
Via: Oberlin.edu Link
There's energy in them rocks!
Thermal (heat) energy in deep rock can be used to generate steam that in turn can be used to generate electricity.
>>> And best of all it is virtually unlimited .... as long as the earth has a molten core.
Currently GEOTHERMAL is the 3rd largerst source of renewable energy in the United States
"There are three geothermal power plant technologies being used to convert hydrothermal fluids to electricity. ...dry steam, flash and binary cycle. The type of conversion used depends on the state of the fluid (whether steam or water) and its temperature. "
"The Earth's magma and hot dry rock will provide cheap, clean, and almost unlimited energy as soon as we develop the technology to use them. In the meantime, because they're so abundant, moderate-temperature sites running binary-cycle power plants will be the most common electricity producers."
"Before geothermal electricity can be considered a key element of the U.S. energy infrastructure, it must become cost-competitive with traditional forms of energy. The U.S. Department of Energy is working with the geothermal industry to achieve $0.03 to $0.05 per kilowatt-hour. We believe the result will be about 15,000 megawatts of new capacity within the next decade."
Via: US Department of Energy, Geothermal Technologies Program Link
