Green Building & Manufacturing Articles
ASHRAE Conference focusing on sustainable seminars
In order to equip engineers with the knowledge to stop energy loss in buildings, a full-day professional development seminar called "Energy Management in New and Existing Buildings: A Sustainable Activity", will be held in conjunction with the ASHRAE Learning Institute at the 2010 Winter Conference.
The seminar is an expansion of the popular short course on energy management guided by Technical Committee 7.6 and weaves together energy management principles of the ASHRAE Handbook, ENERGY STAR guidelines, and the practical experience of successful energy managers.
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Southwest Airlines Debuts 'Green Plane' With Environmentally Friendly Interior Materials
DALLAS, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- (WORLD-WIRE)Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) today announced at its annual Media Day a "green plane," an innovative idea that marries efficiency, environmentally responsible products, Customer comfort, and reduced waste and weight. This plane, a Boeing 737-700, will serve as a test environment for new environmentally responsible materials and Customer comfort products.
It is a flying testament to the airline's philosophy that environmental decisions make good business sense. All of the initiatives being tested on this Green Plane, when combined, will equate to a weight savings of almost five pounds per seat, thus saving fuel and reducing emissions, along with adding recyclable elements to the cabin interior and reducing waste.
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California appears poised to be first to ban power-guzzling big-screen TVs
Reporting from Sacramento - The influential lobby group Consumer Electronics Assn. is fighting what appears to be a losing battle to dissuade California regulators from passing the nation's first ban on energy-hungry big-screen televisions.
On Tuesday, executives and consultants for the Arlington, Va., trade group asked members of the California Energy Commission to instead let consumers use their wallets to decide whether they want to buy the most energy-saving new models of liquid-crystal display and plasma high-definition TVs.
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Fossil Fuel Production Up Despite Recession
World production of fossil fuels--oil, coal, and natural gas--increased 2.9 percent in 2008 to reach 27.4 million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe) per day, the highest ever recorded. In the first half of 2008, producers strained to meet global demand, but by year's end the global recession left the market swamped by excess supply, causing oil prices to fall to from $144 per barrel in July to $34 per barrel in December.
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Sustainable Architecture: Setting Sail In An Ecological 'Earthship'
ScienceDaily (Oct. 16, 2009) - Could sustainable architecture address pollution, climate change and resource depletion by helping us build self-sufficient, off-grid, housing from "waste", including vehicle tires and metal drinks containers? That's the question researchers at the University of South Australia address in a new paper appearing in the International Journal of Sustainable Design.
A common method of responding to unsustainable housing is to design an energy-efficient home using "natural building" methods, Freney points out. He adds that Reynolds has already demonstrated that essentially free building materials resulted in greater financial independence for the owner-occupiers of his houses and when he added off-the-grid power and water systems he found that it was possible to reduce his utilities bills to practically zero.
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Florida's high-speed-rail pitch has stiff competition
Florida officials like their chances of winning billions of federal dollars for a high-speed train, but almost every contender from California to Georgia insists its rail pitch is the best.
Actually, the proposals are far from equal. Some applicants bring money, land or potential passengers. Others offer little more than what they think to be a great idea.
The Federal Railroad Administration is checking out the plans right now, sifting through 45 requests from 24 states seeking a total of $50 billion. An additional 214 applications from 34 states are asking for $7billion for planning and smaller projects.
The official word out of FRA offers little insight into what the agency really wants.
"Our selections will be merit-based," said an e-mail from Administrator Joseph C. Szabo, "and will reflect President Obama's vision to remake America's transportation landscape."
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Sustaining green tide in building a concern
Ever since he was on the campaign trail, President Barack Obama has touted "green buildings" as a way of cleaning the environment, creating business opportunities, cutting energy consumption and reviving the moribund job market.
Since taking office, Obama has earmarked $5.5 billion to greenify federal buildings throughout the country, $5 billion to weatherize homes owned by low-income families and $3.2 billion to retrofit homes and commercial buildings, as well as other funds for solar paneling, water conservation and, well, you get the picture.
The latest initiative is slated to be launched tomorrow, when Vice President Joe Biden unveils a report on "Recovery through Retrofit," a new set of proposals aimed at jump-starting the economy through renovating homes and offices with energy-saving technologies and devices.
With unemployment at postwar highs and construction firms still laying off workers, skeptics might ask where all the money has gone.
"Green jobs continue to be a tiny part of the economy," said Michael Berwick, an employment specialist for the Santa Monica-based Milken Institute. "The solar industry, like the wind industry, has not taken off, even with the government subsidies. It could in the future, but not yet."
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EPA Halts Largest Mountaintop Mining Project in Appalachia
WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday put the brakes on the largest mountaintop coal mining operation ever permitted in the Appalachian region, the first time in 37 years that the agency has used its power to hold up an already authorized project.
The EPA told the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that it was taking the unusual step because of the magnitude of potential environmental damage, including the burial of more than seven miles of streams. The Corps issues permits, but the EPA has the power to veto those permits. The EPA has never before rescinded a previously issued permit.
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