This time around the infrastructure is in place to support the growth of this promising industry. This momentum has created a new threshold of cost effectiveness, and a new design logic that supports making all new southerly-sloped roofs into free energy collectors.
October 2009 Archives
SAB Magazine has a nice write up of the LEED Gold centre for the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority. Follow the link for some gorgeous shots of the building:
The 1,600 sq.m office and conservation centre has cut the need for potable water by 70%, and passive heating, high-efficiency boilers, and heat recovery ventilators have reduced energy use by 42%. The building has become a destination to learn about LEED construction, and best practices in water conservation and on-site septic treatment.
I toured this building last fall and was taken with its beauty, and its water conscious design which captures rainwater from the roof and encircles the building with a stream of water leading to a constructed wetland.
350.org’s International Day of Climate Action was a roaring success. I highly recommend that you go visit their home page for beautiful, inspiring photos from actions all around the world.
Come out to Parliament Hill tomorrow for the International Day of Climate Action:
On October 24 – International Day of Climate Action – millions of us in virtually every country on earth will stand in solidarity for a sustainable future. Canada is responding with a movement that rustled in the grassroots, became a whisper on the wind, and has grown to a chant nationwide: FILL THE HILL!
This Saturday: 4000 events, 170 countries to send the message that we need to take action on climate change:
Dear friends,
For 20 years the world has managed to do very little about the greatest problem it’s ever faced. In five days time, you can help change that—and if you step up you’re going to have a lot of company!
It looks like the International Day of Climate Action this Saturday October 24th will be the single most widespread day of political action the planet has ever seen—we’re closing in on 170 nations, and more than 4000 rallies and events.
There’s almost certainly an event happening near you—if you’re not sure what, this link will let you find out quickly and easily:
People in all those cities and towns all around the world will be saying the same thing: science tells us that we can’t have more than 350 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere if we want a planet like the one we were born onto. That sounds complicated, but it isn’t—350 is the bottom line for the earth.
The Green Inc. Blog has an interesting profile of ToughStuff, a small start-up in Africa working on distributing personal solar panels for powering such things as cell phones and small lights:
For decades, governments and non-governmental organizations have been trying to bring electricity to the world’s poorest and most isolated regions through million-dollar donations and large-scale projects.
A small start-up company, headquartered in the Republic of Mauritius off the southeastern coast of Africa, is pursuing what it considers a different tack: a market-based approach, employing local villagers, selling rudimentary solar panels and focusing on small-scale, personal electricity use.
John Kerry, Democratic senator of Massachusetts, and Lindsay Graham, Republican senator of South Carolina and staunch ally of John McCain, join forces in this op-ed contribution to the New York Times:
… we refuse to accept the argument that the United States cannot lead the world in addressing global climate change. We are also convinced that we have found both a framework for climate legislation to pass Congress and the blueprint for a clean-energy future that will revitalize our economy, protect current jobs and create new ones, safeguard our national security and reduce pollution.
Our partnership represents a fresh attempt to find consensus that adheres to our core principles and leads to both a climate change solution and energy independence. It begins now, not months from now — with a road to 60 votes in the Senate.
(Via Climate Progress.)
Good news from Climate Progress:
Energy efficiency alone could cheaply—and often profitably—provide two-thirds the necessary greenhouse gas reductions to reduce carbon emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050—a level based on the science-driven conclusion that the risks of dangerous climate impacts rise sharply as planetary warming exceeds 2°C from preindustrial levels. The American Clean Energy and Security Act, H.R. 2454—which passed the House and is now pending in the Senate—recognizes and invests in the economic benefits of energy efficiency.
The bill would provide up to $65 billion in allowances from 2012 to 2020 for state and local government energy efficiency programs … The state and local programs in ACES would create up to 137,000 jobs in 2015 from energy efficiency investments that year. It would save consumers up to $63 billion on their electricity bills from 2012-2020, while reducing enough greenhouse gas pollution during this period to equal taking 26.5 million cars off the road.
Steven Chu shares this useful chart breaking down the energy use of residential and commercial building in the US. Buildings are responsible for about 40 percent of the total energy used in the US every year. It is interesting to note that heating dominates residential buildings’ energy use while lighting dominates commercial buildings’ energy use.
(Via Jetson Green.)
The Sustainable Architecture and Building Magazine, or SAB Magazine for short, has posted some short profiles of their 2009 SAB Award winning green buildings on their website:
The SAB Awards recognize excellence in the design and execution of new and renovated Canadian buildings and interiors of all types based on criteria of sustainable design, architectural excellence and technical innovation. The jury of the 2009 SAB Canadian Green Building Awards has recognized six buildings from Quebec, Ontario and BC that point the way to the future of sustainable building in Canada.
Jetson Green has some beautiful photos of the 20 Solar Decathlon homes in Washington DC:
In a few hours, the U.S. Department of Energy will announce final results of the Solar Decathlon at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Solar Decathlon is a competition of 20 teams of college and university students to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house.
From Habitat for Humanity
Let’s stand up on World Habitat Day and let it be known that affordable, adequate housing should be a priority everywhere—in our communities, in our towns, in our country, in our world.
The United Nations has designated the first Monday each October as World Habitat Day.
This year on Oct. 5 in Washington, D.C. and around the world, please join Habitat for Humanity in support of this global observance as we come together and declare that the lack of decent, affordable housing is unacceptable.
Oryzatech has designed compressed straw bales from rice straw which can be easily stacked on a foundation wall to build a strong, well-insulated, fire resistant house. Check it out: Oryzatech stacking blocks.
(Via Jetson Green.)