See on Scoop.it – Green & Sustainable News
A state agency will begin requiring information from thousands of owners and operators of commercial buildings in the Inland area…
“Along with the typical financial and transaction disclosures during a lease or sale, building owners will soon need to provide the latest 12 months of energy-use information using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s online ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.”
See on www.pe.com
See on Scoop.it – Green Energy Technologies & Development
The new energy facility will reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent and save the university an estimated $300 million over the next 35 years.
See on www.stanforddaily.com
See on Scoop.it – Green Energy Technologies & Development
The technology is the brainchild of founder Danielle Fong, who initially wanted to use compressed air to power scooters, but has since turned her attention to a larger order of storage: grid-scale.
While compressed air storage isn’t a new invention, by any means, Fong’s innovations greatly improved the efficiency of this type of system, which has been hampered by efficiency losses of up to 50%. Fong’s improved version uses a mist of water sprayed into the air storage tanks, which acts to absorb and store the heat generated from the compression (and release it on expansion), allowing the LightSail system to achieve a 90% thermodynamic efficiency in the process, and a 70% overall round-trip efficiency.
See on www.treehugger.com
See on Scoop.it – Green Energy Technologies & Development
Engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have developed a thermal energy storage system that will work as a viable alternative to current methods used for storing energy collected from solar panels.
“Our work demonstrates that concrete is comparable to the packed-bed thermocline system in terms of energy efficiency,” Selvam says. “But the real benefit of the concrete layers is that they do not cost a lot to produce compared to other media, and they have the unique ability to conduct and store heat without damaging tanks. This factor alone will increase production and decrease operating expenses for concentrated solar power plants.”
See on www.rdmag.com
See on Scoop.it – Green & Sustainable News
US building owners are scaling back the pace of energy-efficiency upgrades, according to the latest Global Sustainability Perspective report from Jones Lang LaSalle.
“Owners favor less expensive projects such as lighting retrofits and temperature controls, rather than HVAC upgrades that would save more energy but be less visible to tenants, says Dan Probst, chairman of energy and sustainability services at Jones Lang LaSalle.”
See on www.environmentalleader.com
See on Scoop.it – Green & Sustainable News
How far has the sustainable development movement come?
“Andy Gowder: There has been a remarkable change in public consciousness and expectations over the last two to five years with regard to sustainability.”
“Margaret Cafarelli: We are doing a better job of educating people about sustainability, and it’s becoming more a part of people’s vernacular. “
“Judi Schweitzer: In California, the state’s Green Building Standards Code [CALGreen], which came out in 2010, is a significant step forward. There is also the California Public Utilities Commission’s Long Term Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan, which has the goal that all new residential construction in California will be zero net energy by 2020 and all new commercial construction will be zero net energy by 2030.”
See on urbanland.uli.org
See on Scoop.it – Twitter & Social Media
You post pictures of your cat, your holiday photos and updates about your daily life on Facebook. Do you really want your boss to see them?
“The survey showed a distinct generational gap in how young workers and older workers felt about befriending their bosses on the social-media site.”
See on www.theglobeandmail.com
See on Scoop.it – Twitter & Social Media
People who use social-media websites such as Facebook and LinkedIn may have their information harvested by companies that collect, analyze or sell consumer data, a group of U.S. lawmakers said today.
“Posting to Facebook should not also mean putting personal information into the hands of data reapers seeking to profit from details of consumers’ personal lives,” Markey said in an e-mail. “Users of social media want to share with friends, not enable the sale of their personal information to data miners.”
See on www.bloomberg.com
See on Scoop.it – Green Building Design – Architecture & Engineering
Digging geothermal wells can be expensive and difficult, and the systems have been slow to catch on in New York City, but the benefits may eventually outweigh the costs.
“Advocates for geothermal energy say that the path of destruction cut by Hurricane Sandy, which unearthed fuel tanks, ravaged cooling towers and battered air-conditioners, has already persuaded some building owners to switch to geothermal systems that use underground pipes to harness the earth’s energy for heating and cooling buildings. “
“Installing a geothermal system can significantly reduce a building’s carbon footprint, and over the last decade, the number of geothermal heat pump systems in the city has grown steadily. More geothermal systems are installed in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania than anywhere else in the United States. “
See on www.nytimes.com
See on Scoop.it – Green Building Operations – Systems & Controls, Maintenance & Commissioning
Energy Management System controls direct gas-fired heaters. – Cambridge Engineering, Inc.
“The Cambridge Wi-Fi Energy Management System saves energy and is an ideal temperature control system for warehouse energy retrofits and industrial LEED/green building projects. Intelligent night setback recovery, flexible 7-day programming, 365-day scheduling, summer ventilation mode and remote computer monitoring on a web-based EMS portal saves energy and operating costs.”
See on news.thomasnet.com
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