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Top 10 Cities With the Most ENERGY STAR Labeled Buildings in 2009
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
1. Los Angeles - 293 ENERGY STAR labeled buildings
2. Washington, DC - 204 ENERGY STAR labeled buildings
3. San Francisco, CA - 173 ENERGY STAR labeled buildings
4. Denver, CO - 136 ENERGY STAR labeled buildings
5. Chicago, Il - 134 ENERGY STAR labeled buildings
6. Houston, TX - 133 ENERGY STAR labeled buildings
7. Lakeland, FL - 120 ENERGY STAR labeled buildings
8. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX - 113 ENERGY STAR labeled buildings
9. Atlanta, GA - 102 ENERGY STAR labeled buildings
10. New York, NY - 90 ENERGY STAR labeled buildings
Source: www.energystar.com Read More >>Top 10 Cities With the Most ENERGY STAR Labeled Buildings in 2009
Benedictine Nuns Go Green with Solar Energy Powered Monastery
Monday, March 29, 2010
In Middleton, Wisconsin, Catholic nuns are going green. The Benedictine Women of Madison's Holy Wisdom Monastery have built a solar-powered monastery that received a top/platinum rating with the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program. The monastery, which is expected to reduce energy costs by 60%, earned 63 out of 69 possible points.
According to a USA Today article, the monastery's green features include:
- Photovoltaic light fixtures for the parking lot, which drains to areas of pervious concrete.
- 370 Andersen windows and doors with special glazing on the South, East and West sides of the building to limit visible light transmission.
- A geothermal heating and cooling system with 39 closed-loop wells, each 300 feet deep.
- Two vegetated roofs over the maintenance building and garage.
- Solatubes and a dramatic skylight that provide natural light.
- Four rain barrels that collect and store water for plant care and two rain gardens to minimize storm water runoff.
- Bamboo flooring in the Assembly, gathering and dining rooms and for the ceiling of the Oratory and Meditation Chapel.
Read More >>Benedictine Nuns Go Green with Solar Energy Powered Monastery
What is the Weatherization Assistance Program?
Monday, March 22, 2010
The Weatherization Assistance Program is a U.S. Department of Energy program designed to help low-income families reduce their energy bills through proper weatherization. By weatherizing their home, the home becomes more energy efficient, benefiting both the residents and the environment.
Your Tax Dollars at Work
The Weatherization Assistance Program is one of several green-oriented aspects of President Obama's 2008 Recovery Act. The Department of Energy received over $5 billion to assist low-income Americans weatherize their homes. According to U.S. Department of Energy Senior Advisor Matt Rogers, the program has four main benefits:
- The Weatherization Assistance Program creates jobs by creating new markets for weatherizing professionals
- The program puts money back in the pockets of working Americans by reducing their energy bills
- By weatherizing hundreds of thousands of homes, the Department of Energy hopes to reduce America's environmental footprint and make the United States a world leader in weatherization and energy efficiency
- The program will make the homes of Americans more livable
In a recent video address, Matt Rogers summed up the Weatherization Assistance Program by stating that the program will make America "stronger, cleaner, healthier, and wealthier by investing in energy efficiency."
Applying for Help from the Weatherization Assistance Program
According to the Department of Energy, as many as 30 million American families are eligible to receive help from the weatherization program. While eligibility varies from state to state, a few groups of individuals are automatically eligible to receive assistance, including anyone over 60, families with one or members suffering from a disability, and, in most states, families with children. For others, eligibility begins at 200% above poverty level - but again, this varies from state to state.
Creating Jobs for Weatherization Professionals
Throughout the summer of 2009, the Department of Energy announced large grants to both cities and states to help get weatherization underway. The states hope that the grants will spur job growth in weatherization by creating a weatherization market where none existed before. More recently, during a speech at the Brookings Institution, President Obama stressed green job growth again, especially stressing weatherization of businesses and homes.
For existing home renovators and general contractors, now is the ideal time to take advantage of these new markets, and become a certified weatherization worker. Because it is a relatively new field, some states are still working out certification requirements, but nearly all states have a list of the weatherizing professionals they will approve for projects funded by the Weatherization Assistance Program. Sign up for an online course or find a course through a local vocational or technical college. Showing you have weatherization training will help you get on the short list of approved weatherization professionals in your area.
Sources: Jaffe, Matthew and Travers, Karen. "Obama's Number One Job? Jobs." ABC News: December 8, 2009. ABCNews.Go.com US Department of Energy (Energy.gov). Read More >>What is the Weatherization Assistance Program?
Olympic Athletes' Villages Meet Green Building Standards
Friday, March 5, 2010
Since 1994, there have been three official pillars of the Olympics: Sport, culture and sustainability. And at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, Vancover was committed to producing a greener Olympics than any seen before.
The athletes' villages and eight of the nine new venues were built to qualify for the United States' Green Building Council's "silver" level of energy-efficient design, with some going for gold.
One example is the Richmond Oval, a speed-skating rink, which boasts a 26,000 square-meter roof built from trees that had already been killed by pine-beetle infestation, rainwater tanks for the flushing of its toilets, and a system that puts the waste heat from its refrigeration system to good use, among other smart, green design features.
No that the winter games are over, there are plans to convert the Richmond rink into a community center, as well as refit many of the other buildings.
Source: www.economist.com
Read More >>Olympic Athletes' Villages Meet Green Building Standards
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