World Green

California-based kWh Power is tackling phantom energy loss by introducing the Plugwise system in the United States. Developed by Dutch company Plugwise in 2006, this system allows you to monitor, track, and control unnecessary energy use throughout your home or office. The system consists of “Circles” which are plugged into standard wall outlets to measure [...]

Anyone familiar with JRR Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of The Rings’ knows that the homes of hobbits are something special. But these tiny abodes aren’t just for little people anymore — a Maine family has brought the concept of the hobbit hole to life with their line of Wooden Wonders. Built for work and play, these [...]

Japanese home and business owners with solar power installations sold 2,150 GWh of electricity back to their power utilities last year, a huge 50 percent increase over the amount sold back to the grid in 2010.  The sellers collectively made a nice $1.2 billion off their surplus electricity.

The Japanese government has a feed-in-tariff scheme that requires the utilities to purchase the extra power which was small beans compared to the average 884,000 GWh of electricity that those utilities sell to customers per year.

The government is set to introduce even more subsidies for domestic renewable energy power developers. The new scheme will include electricity from solar, wind, small hydroelectric, biomass and geothermal plants, but only solar panel owners with systems of 10 kW or less will still be able to sell their excess power.

via Reuters

 

Read the rest of Beautiful French Prefab House by Djuric Tardio is Made Entirely of Sustainable Finnish Larch Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: "sustainable architecture", antony france, antony paris, Architecture, djuric tardio, Eco Architecture, eco building, eco design, eco homes, eco housing, eco wood, finnish larch, finnish wood, french architecture, french [...]

Read the rest of 7 Cozy Tipis and Yurts That Make You Feel Right at Home Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: Colorado Yurt Company, DIY, eco design, green design, green teepees, green tents, native americans, off-grid, permanent housing, plumbing, sustainable design, teepees, temporary housing, tents, tipis, UV windows, yurts

Read the rest of “Outside In House” by Takeshi Hosaka Brings Nature Inside with Lush Garden Floors Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: "sustainable architecture", Architecture, Eco Architecture, eco design, eco homes, family homes, green architecture, green design, green homes, Homes, Japan, japanese architecture, outside in house, sustainable design, Sustainable Homes, Takeshi [...]

Read the rest of Super Low-Cost Mima Prefab Homes are Modeled After Minimalist Japanese Architecture Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: Architecture, Daylighting, eco design, glazing, green design, japanese architecture, MiMA, Mima prefab home, modular design, portugal, post and beam, prefab design, prefabricated homes, sustainable design

by Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan.

Photo: plastic_batFor my mother, sweet vindication came as an early Christmas gift this year on page 59 of a lifestyle magazine. This particular magazine, which specializes in snappy home décor, delicious cookery, and other ways to make your life more fabulous than your neighbors', ran a spread on stylish new ways to wrap presents. There, nestled between the hand-stamped parcel paper and the wrapping designed by local artisans, this anonymous magazine (okay, it was Sunset) featured a present swathed in newspaper. Regular old newspaper, left over from last Sunday's pile. Sure, they tucked a sprig of redwood greenery into the ribbon, but newspaper it remained.

My mom has been wrapping gifts in old newspaper for my entire life. I'll admit, this used to be a source of embarrassment for me. At the big holiday parties, one could always spot our family's contributions under the tree. They were the unshiny, unsexy packages, surrounded by boxes bedecked in fancy Christmas prints and glittery bows tied just so. Social pressure made me think that buying festive gift wrap (and don't forget the fresh tissue paper!) was a matter of extreme importance. I imagined fellow partygoers eyeing the gift pile with distaste, thinking unmentionable things (namely: How cheap).

And now, suddenly, here we have a premier lifestyle glossy lauding the humble newspaper. Mom's time has come.

It's no mystery why reusing old TV listings is now in vogue. Our culture's reigning wave of eco-hipness has met an economic recession, creating the perfect storm for upcycled gift wrap. Others are awakening to the truth Mom always knew: Gift wrap is inherently wasteful. Why not skip it in favor of paper you already have? In fact, you don't even have to use paper at all. A little creativity turns handkerchiefs, blankets, or scarves into reusable wrapping substitutes, too.

I saw the light on this a few years ago, but occasionally I'll still get suckered into buying new gift bags or tissue (usually because I'm trying not to get how-cheaped by a recipient I don't know very well). No more. This year, I challenged myself to wrap all my gifts without using a single piece of new wrapping paper or other accoutrements. Extra points for making them somewhat attractive while doing it. And I'd do it all on Christmas Eve, hanging out at my parents' place.

Now that the last wassail has faded, I'm reporting back that Operation No-Wrap Christmas was a great success. Yes, there were some setbacks, but all told, I don't know why I haven't been doing this all along.

The biggest hurdle was arranging my offering to the extended family grab bag -- a hand-curated selection of homemade jams. (You want in on this easy, sticky gift for next year? Get started here.) The answer: Repurposing materials from other gifts. I began with a festive, green aluminum tub from a gift box my parents had received the week before. I crumpled up some newspaper -- so hot right now -- to help the jams sit at the top of the tub. I covered that with green crimped packing paper swiped from a package of chocolate treats I got from my boyfriend's grandma in the mail. Into this nest went the jams, artfully arranged of course, and topped with a Styrofoam sheet that also came with the chocolates. (What, you'd rather I just throw that crap straight into the trash?) It almost looked like the basket was covered in snow, if you squinted.

I just needed some kind of bag to hold it all together. My parents don't truck in garbage bags (they reuse grocery bags instead), and I vetoed a Target bag on the grounds that it actually deserved a "How cheap." To the rescue: an old, clear bag from the dry cleaner's. I wrapped it around my tub and tied it off with a red ribbon saved from last year's loot. Perfect.

Most of the other gifts were almost too easy, as Mom sports a collection of gently used gift bags, tissue, ribbons, and bows several decades in the making. Having access to this bounty, it was a simple matter to choose old materials and cushion my gifts with tissue paper that hadn't yet disintegrated. There were even plenty of Christmas-themed bags in the pot, so I could steer clear of the one proclaiming "Congratulations, Class of 2000!" this time around. She's not the only one: I've even heard tell of people actually ironing pieces of used wrapping paper and saving them to wrap once more. Hey, why not?

But I had to do more. Something more creative. In trolling around for ideas, I came across the following suggestions for alterna-wrapping: aprons, yogurt containers, decorated glass jars, maps, sheets of music, old posters (finally! My adolescent-era Bush poster finds new life!), and of course, newspaper. Oh, and pillowcases -- I dug around until I found the pillowcase I'd made it art class in second grade, the one with the purple parrot on it, and filled it with still more of that green, crinkly packing paper. Then I carefully arranged my dad's gifts inside it, adding more crinkles to cover it up, and tied it shut with some curling ribbon we had lying around.

The final product? Awful. A shapeless, lumpy mess. It looked less like a present than like a sack of doll heads. But it didn't matter in the least to my father, for whom gift-wrapping ranks at about 78,956th in his list of things worth caring about. The pillowcase concealed his presents until Christmas morning, anyway, and he liked them just the same.

After the present frenzy, all the gift bags were carefully gathered and placed back in the collection for next year, all the newspaper recycled, and the pillowcase folded and put back in the linen drawer. But don't be surprised if you see that purple parrot featured in a lifestyle magazine next December -- this family has always been ahead of its time.

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by Chris Keenan

Many citizens of the United States have begun to accept the concept of human caused climate change, resource depletion, as well as the imperative nature of acting on this knowledge. This has led many to make personal lifestyle changes - from bundling trips, making sustainable purchases such as solar garage doors, and even building green and efficient homes - but as a nation, we lag behind many other nations in our collective efforts to be green.

France has made many national changes and introduced a number of successful initiatives that have really "greened" the country.From resource shops that take pretty much anything and either repair them or recycle them, to increased public transportation, France is taking environmental stewardship seriously. The French have recently committed to the increased protection of the forests surrounding Paris, as well as supporting a 300 percent increase in green roofs in the city. The implementation of these plans will greatly improve the efficiency of the city, making it a much greener and more sustainable place to live.

Flat rooftops make the perfect environment for a green rooftop garden. These gardens provide a number of benefits and their design and functionality has continued to be improved over the years. One of the biggest perks of the rooftop garden, or green roof, is the insulating quality it adds to the building.

Not only does a green roof help to keep the temperature of the building more stable year round, making it easier to heat and cool, but it also helps to block out noise. This can be a big problem in the city and this just adds to the attractiveness of the idea. Green roofs also improve drainage problems associated with excess water as the plants and their root systems effectively soak up a great deal of water. We also know that plants help to absorb carbon dioxide, reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in our environment.

There are many cities that have landscapes comprised of flat rooftops just waiting to be greened. Cities around the world should take note of the initiatives put forth by the French in their efforts to be more green. Green roofs are a viable solution to many cities and by adding them to more acres of barren rooftops will improve energy efficiency, reduce noise pollution, and even help to clean the toxins out of our environment. For space that is rarely, if ever used, this is quite the beneficial addition.

Reprinted with permission from Sustainablog

by Wendy Gordon

Thanks to President George W. Bush and his positively brilliant idea to sign into law in 2007 a federal energy bill establishing energy-efficiency standards for light bulbs, inventiveness in the lighting sector has been unleashed, and manufacturers are on fire with excitement about all the new products they're bringing to market this year. (The standards go into effect in January.)

All of this has me beaming and it's made this year's gift-giving a whole lot easier: Light bulbs for everyone!

I'm kidding, right?

Actually, I'm quite serious, and given all the great new lighting options -- including halogen incandescents that look and work as well as the ones you're used to, only 30 percent more efficiently; CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lights) that give good light quickly; and LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes) that now cast light "omni-directionally" -- I'm positively aglow thinking about just how personal these gifts can be.

Lights are the new throw pillows, and the inner interior decorator in you is going to love browsing among all the options. Time was, we'd buy bulbs based on how much light we needed (60 watts, say, or 100). But now it's really all about the quality of the light, as well as its suitability with the colors in the room and the way it gets distributed. (Did someone say feng shui?)

True, confronting all the choices out there can be intimidating, what with considering everything from brightness, warmth, and energy-efficiency to lifespan and EnergyStar standards. But we'll figure it all out eventually, just as we've learned to operate those TV remotes. (Okay, maybe that's not the best example.)

It's going to take some time, admits Konstantinos Papamichael, a director of the California Lighting Technology Center at the University of California, Davis. Speaking with Bob Tedeschi, author of The Pragmatist column in the New York Times, Papamichael suggested that we'll need to do some experimenting "with different light versions" to really appreciate what's available. Having neither the time nor the inclination to do a lot of comparison-shopping, I'm thankful that Tedeschi tested a whole bunch of new bulbs in his home and reported the results in a recent column. EnergySaver.gov is also a terrific resource, as are the information displays at the Home Depot and Lowe's stores, where many of the new bulbs are sold.

It's also worth printing out NRDC's Lightbulb Guide and sticking it in your wallet. It decodes the new "Lighting Facts" label we'll soon be seeing on all light bulb packages. Take it along so that you can choose the best bulbs for your task, whether it's chopping vegetables in your peach-toned kitchen, working long hours at a slick glass desk, or shining some light on a cluttered back hallway.

Anyway, back to the gifts. Here's my list so far:

1. The EcoSmart LED: For my husband, who spends endless hours in the kitchen but like me detests having to climb the ladder to change the bulbs on the ceiling, I am getting the EcoSmart 75-watt-equivalent dimmable LED. The light is soft and diffuse-perfect for reading the paper at the breakfast table. (True, paying $30 for a light bulb will take some getting used to, but I remind myself that LEDs have a very long life -- 25,000 hours, as compared with 6,600 for an equivalent CFL, or 1,000 for an incandescent -- so it could well be 2025 before either of us has to mount that ladder.)
2. GE's $10 Bright: Another good light for the kitchen, especially the food-prep areas, is GE's $10 Bright From the Start Energy Smart CFL, a 75-watt-equivalent in soft white. It has a halogen component that lights up immediately while the fluorescent component is kicking in.
3. Home Depot's Eco-Smart CFL: For my sons, a niece, and a couple of nephews, all of whom work long hours at a desk, I'm thinking of Home Depot's three-way EcoSmart Soft White CFL. EcoSmart also offers an omni-directional LED that casts a nice sharp light for reading. (A definite possibility for the business grad student as well.)
4. EcoSmart G25: For a niece who works in retail and needs to look good on the floor, I'm deciding between the EcoSmart G25, a 40-watt-equivalent, globe-type CFL in soft white ($10 for two), and a standard halogen bulb. Halogens throw off light on the warmer end of the color spectrum and in all directions, qualities that work well in warm-hued bathroom settings.
5. Philips Ambient LED: I've found just the right light for my Dad, who likes to read in his recliner, and my two oldest nephews, whose kids love bedtime stories: the new Philips Ambient LED 75-watt-equivalent, now only $24.95.
6. Sylvania SuperSaver: My brother and sister-in-law entertain endlessly, so they'll get halogen lights for the dining room -- either the Sylvania SuperSaver ($7 for four) or the Philips EcoVantage ($3 for two). Both are 100-watt-equivalents and dimmable.
7. LED headlamps: Working my way down my list, it hits me: What about my school-aged nephews? If I give them each a light bulb, I'll surely soar to the top of their worst-ever-gift-giver lists. But what about LED headlamps? They can read in bed after the lights have been turned out and play spy games under the stars. They'll love them.

So that's it, my holiday gift list. Illuminating, don't you think?

Photo by Dean Jarvey/flickr/Creative Commons

Reprinted with permission from CSRwire

We don't often hear about solar water heating, but it's taking off around the world.

Unlike solar PV, which convert solar radiation into electricity, solar thermal collectors use the sun's energy to heat water, indoor space, or both.

Guess which country leads on solar water installations? Yes, China has nearly two-thirds of the world total, with an estimated 1.8 billion square feet at the end of 2010.

That's the equivalent of 118,000 thermal megawatts of capacity, enough to supply 112 million Chinese households with hot water.

With some 5,000 Chinese companies manufacturing these devices, this relatively simple low-cost technology has leapfrogged into villages that don't yet have electricity.

For as little as $200, villagers can install a rooftop solar collector and take their first hot shower. The technology is sweeping China like wildfire, already approaching market saturation in some communities.

Beijing's goal is to reach 300 million square meters of rooftop solar water heating capacity across the country by 2020, a goal it is likely to exceed.

Other developing countries such as India and Brazil may also soon see millions of households turning to this inexpensive water heating technology.

In Europe, where energy costs are relatively high, rooftop solar water heaters are also spreading fast. In Austria, 15 percent of all households now rely on them for hot water. Germany is also forging ahead. Some 2 million Germans have rooftop solar systems. Roughly 30 percent of the installed solar thermal capacity in these two countries consists of "solar combi-systems" that are engineered to heat both water and space.

The U.S. rooftop solar water heating industry has historically concentrated on a niche market -- selling and marketing more than 9 million square meters of solar water heaters for swimming pools between 1995 and 2005. Given this base, the industry was poised to mass-market residential solar water and space heating systems when federal tax credits were introduced in 2006. Led by Hawaii, California, and Florida, annual U.S. installations of these systems have more than tripled since 2005.

Despite the recent growth in US installations, the country ranks 36th in installed capacity relative to its population, with just 0.01 square meters installed per person.

Cyprus leads the world in solar water heater area on a per capita basis, with 0.79 square meters per person. Israel ranks second with 0.56 square meters per person.

Inspired by the rapid adoption of rooftop water and space heaters in Europe in recent years, the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) established an ambitious goal of one square meter of rooftop collector for every European by 2020. Over the long term, they estimate solar thermal has the potential to meet most of the region's low-temperature heating needs.

Numerous policies promoting renewable energy use for water and space heating exist around the world. Some governments have gone a step further, passing laws requiring solar water heaters in new construction.

For a quarter-century, Israel was the only country to have a national mandate for solar hot water in buildings. Then in 2006, Spain began requiring that solar collectors be installed on all new or renovated buildings. Portugal followed quickly with its own mandate. In the US, Hawaii now requires all new single-family homes have them.

For more data and information on the rapid growth of renewable energy worldwide, see World on the Edge by Lester Brown.

Website: www.earth-policy.org

Photo by gmourits/flickr/Creative Commons

Reprinted with permission from SustainableBusiness.com

It turns out that a green, energy efficient home built with sustainable materials is “most wanted,” according to a Yahoo! Real Estate survey of 1,500 current and aspiring homeowners.  Homeowners prefer a green home (50%) over a custom home (38%), water view (38%), suburb (31%), or living on the beach (27%).  Yahoo! found that homeowners [...]

Sauvie Island prefab. Green building is on the rise. Staying warm and saving energy in winter. Home blends comfort, beauty, sustainability. A different kind of container store. High design, low cost home. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for updates, article summaries, newsworthy links, and other site news. Also, check out the latest green jobs in [...]

This video showcases the pH Living Sanctuary, a factory-built home in Quakertown, Pennsylvania.  The healthy home has been certified by Building Biologists to the IBE Healthy Home Standard, according to California-based pH Living, and has been checked for VOCs, energy efficiency, formaldehyde, mold, electromagnetic fields (EMF’s), communications frequency pollution reductions, and radiation. PH Living is [...]

by Jess Zimmerman.

Yes, yes, we should all bring our own mugs when we go to Starbucks. But failing that, wouldn't it be nice if we could eliminate plastic waste from the equation by leaving off the lid? Designer Peter Herman's Compleat cups have a clever folded design that provides cup and lid in one, giving you one less thing to throw away. When they go into production, which will happen at some as-yet-undetermined future time, the cups will hopefully be waterproofed with cellulose-based plastic, making them 100 percent compostable.

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How to get to work and such. Always a perplexing problem. European Union (EU) wide reductions of GHG (greenhouse gas emissions) are under scrutiny by many critics as the progress and actual results seem to fall short of the goals set by the EU this year. Recent reports affirm that the EU will not achieve the reduction of transport emissions by 60% between 1990 and 2050 through technology alone. An interesting take on the subject is revealed by a recent study authored by the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF), which has quantified emissions savings of cycling compared with other modes of transport. Even taking into account the production, maintenance and fuel [food] related to bicycle use, emissions from cycling were over 10 times lower than those stemming from the passenger car.

Just in time for our readers' last minute Christmas Shopping, our friends from IzzitGreen have come up with five great eco-friendly Holiday gifts. As an additional eco-incentive 50% of the proceeds earned for any purchase of the Get to Know Nature bag will go directly to the Get to Know organization and help support their mission to keep the National Parks of the U.S. and Canada vibrant. Enjoy! Get to Know NatureBag The NatureBag is packed full of fun activities designed to support Get to Know's main mission to connect kids with the great outdoors. The all-weather activity booklet and other accessories encourage exploration and natural awareness through lead experiential activities. Pack up all the eco-friendly tools made from recycled materials into the unique fair trade, organic cotton shoulder bag and away you go! Last year the Get to Know NatureBag received the Gold Medal Award from Parent’s Choice as an eco-friendly and socially sound choice. http://www.gettoknow.ca/store/naturebagGrowBottles Everything you need to grow fresh herbs and gain the culinary respect (or envy) of your friends is packaged into these beautiful recycled GrowBottles, and they're made completely with sourced and re-purposed materials. With a little water and love the GrowBottles can continue to produce year after year with your own seeds or one of the refill kits. Thanks to brilliant design and the power of hydroponics, growing fresh herbs indoors has never been so easy. Available in Oregano, Chives, Basil, Parsley and Mint certified organic seed varieties.

by Vivian Nelson Melle

The gorgeous holiday feast has been planned, but what will you serve your meal on? The holidays are a great time for families and friends to come together and enjoy conversation and good times and your dinnerware can actually spark some great conversations about being eco-conscious.

Here are some great eco-friendly dinnerware choices for those who are avid environmentalists or those just venturing into the world of green living.

1. Traditional Place Setting

There's something so elegant about a traditional place setting, especially one with familial significance. Having Grandma's China grace the holiday table brings an element of comfort that disposable ware will never acquire. The one question becomes how to clean the dishes. If you have an older dishwasher than hand washing is the way to go. Enlist the help of guests and you'll make memories while cleaning up after the big meal. If you have children than your little helper can earn a piece of holiday dessert. Newer dishwashers actually use less water and soap so the the electricity is the only thing you are looking at. To spend time with loved ones, we can let it slide especially after keeping disposable ware off the table.

2. Compostable Dinnerware

There are so many varieties of compostable dinnerware it can become overwhelming. There are those made from corn, fallen leaves, palm leaves and even sugarcane. These are a good choice for those not wanting to deal with dishes after cooking up a holiday meal, but who also realize the hardship of disposable plates on Mother Earth. They are sturdy and hold up well to hearty and even juicy meals. There is still some question regarding how quickly they compost, but they do indeed break down over time. Those with a more fibrous appearance seem to break down more readily and also seem the most interesting in appearance.

3. Chinet Classic White

If you are on a budget and just can't fathom washing the dishes, Chinet Classic White is still on the green spectrum. The company uses 100 percent pre-consumer recycled material. Chinet also suggests their Classic White line actually can help gardens grow when thrown into your home's garden compost bin. Obviously not as green as your traditional dinnerware, these items are a good choice for the person who stills holds an unhealthy addiction with styrofoam dinnerware. Chinet is a way to painlessly wean the average household off of traditional disposable dinnerware.

Reprinted with permission from Green Living Ideas

by Joshua S Hill

Imagine coming home from a long day at work on a summers' day. You left that morning and ensured the blinds were down so you didn't come home to a roasting-oven. You walk in the door and the sun is down outside, but inside, there's a warm gentle light.

Welcome to a house with the Liteon Eco Leaf blind installed.

Replacing traditional blinds the Eco Leaf includes solar cells made into the fabric that recharge during the day while doing the job a blind is designed for; blocking out the sun. Come darkness outside though, the Eco Leaf emits ambient light, using energy it stored during the day and creating a stylish corner of your house.

There's even a little corner on the blind which tells you the current room temperature, and can even allow you to check the weather and time, using E Ink.

Designed by Lim Wan Xuan & Tang Xueling Jane of XentiQ Pte Ltd, a production company.

Based around the idea of a tree leaf the blind allows ambient light to seem into the room during the day, but also gathers energy using photovoltaic cells that are built into the fabric. During the night leaf-shaped OLEDs light up the room.

Reprinted with permission from Green Building Elements