Aug 4, 2013 - Green building continues to dominate home construction in Albuquerque, accounting for three out of every four homes built within the city limits during the first six months of the year.
Permits were issued for 367 detached, single-family homes that were to be green certified, or 74 percent of the total of 492 homes permitted, according to city records. The pace of green homebuilding improved modestly from the first half of 2012, when 336 or 68 percent of the 497 total home permits were green.
Nationwide, an estimated 22 percent to 25 percent of residential construction, including multifamily projects, is expected to be green certified this year, according to McGraw-Hill Construction’s 2013 Dodge Construction Green Outlook report. The estimate is based on value of green construction, not number of permits. read more>>>
August 6, 2013 - In collaboration with the Department of Energy and Sandia National Laboratory, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has completed an extensive revision and update to the Energy Storage Handbook (released in 2003), published by Sandia National Laboratory.
The newly revised Electricity Storage Handbook is a how-to guide for utility and rural cooperative engineers, planners, and decision makers to plan and implement energy storage projects, providing the latest developments in technologies and tools. The guide includes a comprehensive database of the cost of current storage systems in a wide variety of electric utility and customer services, along with interconnection schematics. A list of significant past and present energy storage projects is provided for a practical perspective. read more>>>
02 August 2013 - The government has used out-of-date solar PV cost data in its analysis of carbon targets for new properties in the 2013 Building Regulations according to the Solar Trade Association (STA) and Renewable Energy Association (REA)
The Solar Trade Association (STA) and Renewable Energy Association (REA) have both expressed their disappointment over the government’s watering down of carbon targets for new properties in the 2013 Building Regulations following the government’s decision to introduce only minimal increases to carbon targets. The targets are even lower even than the relatively weak proposals contained in the original consultation. read more>>>
COMMUNITIES in East Dunbartonshire are set to benefit from a new drive to improve the economic well-being of the area.
07/08/2013 - East Dunbartonshire Council has teamed up with the Central Scotland Green Network (CSGN), Europe's largest green space project, to try and transform areas so that the environment adds value to the economy.
The council has signed up to the CSGN's Local Authority Concordat, to help deliver the CSGN vision and highlight the fundamental role local authorities have to play in helping to achieve the network's aims.
Keith Geddes, chairman of the Central Scotland Green Network Partnership Board, said: "In order to achieve the CSGN aims of delivering a high quality green network that will meet the Scottish Government's environmental, social and economic objectives, we need to share resources, best practice and new thinking." read more>>>
August 7, 2013 - The Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has published a report on the land use requirements of solar power plants based on actual land-use practices from existing solar facilities in order to provide real data for proper comparisons and informed decisions.
Data was gathered from 72 percent of the solar power plants installed or under construction in the United States. read more>>>
August 7, 2013 - Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts now outrank California, Arizona and New Mexico in the amount of money each ray of sunlight can generate for homeowners, according to the Geostellar Solar Index, a new scientific and economic analysis of rooftop solar. The quarterly index shows the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states offer the highest Internal Rate of Return on residential solar energy, with profits as high as 24 percent per year over the 25-year life of the solar array.
Surprisingly, California, Arizona and New Jersey, 2012's top three solar states by installed capacity, are not among the top five states in the index. read more>>>
7 August 2013 - It’s a heavy, hot, July evening in Washington, D.C.
Ominous storm clouds, bloated with rain, hang oppressively low and there’s an eerie green glow around the corners of everything. Lakiya Culley has just gotten home from work and her three boys Kamari, Christopher and Carl — aged two to seven — are trying to play basketball in the living room without getting into trouble and now and then circling nonchalantly around the kitchen counter, eying the yet uncut chocolate cake. read more>>>
20 August 2013 - The ACT government plans to bring another 650MW of renewable energy generation to its region following the successful completion of the second round of its solar auction.
The auction, which resulted in wins for China’s Zhenfa Solar with a 13MW plant, and for Australia’s Elementus Energy with a 7MW plant, means it’s hard to disagree with Simon Corbell’s boast that Canberra is the solar capital of the country.
Three of the five utility-scale solar arrays currently confirmed in Australia are based in Canberra. Apart from Zhenfa and Elementus, there is also the 20MW Royalla project, which won the first auction round. One other, the 10MW Greenough River plant in WA, has been completed, and the 155MW plant to be built by AGL Energy under the old solar flagships program will not be completed until late 2015. read more>>>
08/20/13 - Germany just broke its monthly solar generation record by clocking over 5.1 terawatt hours (TWh) in July, according to data from the EEX Transparency Platform. The accomplishment proves once again that a lack of sunshine is no obstacle to scaling up solar energy – and if the Teutons can produce record amounts of solar power under grey skies, then the potential for countries with sunnier weather and more land mass (like the United States) is limitless.
Germany also produces a massive amount of wind energy – and its 5.1 TWh of solar generation in July actually beat the 5 TWh of electricity generated by wind turbines in January of this year. The July solar record is 42 percent higher than at this point last year. To put Germany’s solar production in comparison, the U.S. only generated 0.764 TWh of solar thermal and photovoltaic (PV) electricity in May 2013. read more>>>
Aug. 20, 2013 - Being green isn’t always easy, and it certainly isn’t free.
But several years ago, RUSH Construction Inc., made a commitment that “green” was going to be a company focus.
They did small things like using recyclable paper in company copiers, switching out to LED lighting when possible and upgrading company vehicles to hybrids in some cases while making sure others were as fuel-efficient as possible.
Then there are the bigger efforts, such as getting some key personnel special training in green construction techniques. read more>>>
Alternate power usually mentions to any assembly of non-traditional fuel causes that do not burn fossil fuels or use up any natural resources that will outcome in damage or harm to the natural natural natural environment. In other words "Alternative power" is a cleaner and greener power.
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Yup, and more! I was installing or on job sites where installed the prototypes that we had started here some 40plus years ago, till, the now climate change deniers types, the special interests blocked the development of another possible huge growth industry, we used to do that often as others grew in envie. The excuses then can't be used now, like fossil fuels are cheap and even clean and there's a never ending supply, even though it takes millions of years to produce and extremely short time to use. Right about the same time was the start of our exporting our innovative and experienced trades to those who envied, getting products no cheaper but huge bottom lines for all the special interests!!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, fossil fuels aren't going away anytime soon, some can actually be considered green if used in other ways and for what. It's how fast we can get to cleaner sources, we should have already been there and with innovations only now being found, to minimize the need for as well as how they are extracted and more, they are not and infinite source supply, there's only this planet!!
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