Category: News

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is launching a new technical assistance program to help state capital cities design more sustainable communities. Greening America’s Capitals will assist state capitals, selected through a competitive application process, develop a vision of distinctive, environmentally friendly neighborhoods that incorporate innovative green building and green infrastructure. This program is a new project of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities between EPA, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). 

“EPA is excited to work with our partners at HUD and DOT to offer this new design assistance to capital cities,” said Lisa Heinzerling, associate administrator for EPA’s Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation.  “The selected cities will offer sustainable development models for their states and for many communities around the country.” 

EPA will provide design assistance to up to four cities per year to help them use sustainable designs to develop neighborhoods with multiple social, economic, and environmental benefits.  With funding from EPA, these design teams will assist the city staff in developing project strategies to accelerate sustainable development in priority neighborhoods and create sustainability models for other cities to follow. The projects also could be used as testing grounds for larger, city-wide actions, such as changes to local codes and regulations to better support sustainable growth and green building.

Capital cities are invited to submit letters of interest to EPA by July 9, 2010. Letters of interest will be evaluated based on how well the proposed project describes the challenge, potential impact, and political and public support. A small group of applicants will be asked to participate in a follow-up call to further evaluate how well the applicant meets the criteria. Final selection will be made by early fall 2010. 

More information on the program and application process: http://epa.gov/smartgrowth/greencapitals.htm

When it comes to fast ways to make a big dent in both your greenhouse gas emissions as well as your energy bill, PC power management is one of the easiest actions your company can make. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most overlooked practices: Forrester recently released a study that found only 13 percent of companies have implemented organization wide power management.

PC power management at its most simple level is activating and managing the sleep settings on your fleet of desktops, laptops and monitors (some power management tools can also be used on other electronics, but for simplicity’s sake we’ll focus solely on computers).

If your firm hasn’t yet started a PC power management project, or if you have and haven’t yet seen big savings, then the following 10 tips, in no particular order, will get you on the right track.

1. Screen savers are not power management.

2. PC power management can save you big money.

3. Installing a power management system can be free.

4. PC power management starts saving money right away.

5. There are many different vendors, but the tools are all similar.

6. PC power management is a “set it and forget it” project.

7. Power management works without disturbing end users.

8. Start small, then move big.

9. Executive support is critical to successful PC power management.

10. You can do it yourself, but there’s a catch.

Click here to read the GreenBiz Article.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Request for Information (RFI) on Tuesday, June 8, 2010 inviting interested parties to submit comments that will help to develop a National Energy Rating Program for Homes. This rating program will offer consumers easy-to-understand, reliable information about the energy performance of existing homes, and help them identify cost-effective energy efficiency investments for their homes.

Even though home energy retrofits are good investments that save families money, consumers often do not have the straightforward information on a home’s energy use that they need to decide whether to retrofit their homes and what investments make the most sense. This national program will enable consumers to access additional information about their home’s energy use. It will facilitate a new level of investment in home energy efficiency by developing a consistent way of measuring a home’s energy performance and a clear method for conveying information to consumers. Greater investment in home energy retrofits will create jobs, save homeowners money on their energy bills, help avoid emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants, and improve energy security. The program is meant to complement existing home retrofit efforts, such as Home Performance with ENERGY STAR, weatherization, and other state and local energy efficiency initiatives.

Full story

Published December 20, 2007 04:11 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The light bulb Thomas Edison invented 125 years ago is getting more than a make-over. The government is pulling the plug on it.

The landmark energy bill President George W. Bush signed into law on Wednesday will require lighting to use up to 30 percent less energy, which will basically phase out the traditional light bulb because it won’t be able to meet the new efficiency standards.

Almost 90 percent of the energy used by today’s incandescent bulbs produces heat and only 10 percent goes to giving off light.

Ready to replace them are more energy-efficient fluorescent and halogen bulbs, which cost more (about $8 for a package of 6), but last up to 10 times longer and save consumers money on their electric bills.

The bulbs also aren’t as hot to the touch, as most of the energy they consume is turned into light.

When the 4 billion light sockets in the United States eventually make the switch-over, the efficiency standards will lower household utility bills by more than $18 billion a year.

“Consumers will save money in their pockets,” said Randy Moorhead, vice president for government affairs at Philips Electronics, a major bulb maker.

The efficient bulbs will also save enough electricity to have powered all the homes in Texas last year, and they will prevent 100 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions at power plants, according to the Alliance to Save Energy.

“We’re committed to money-saving, energy-saving products (that) help save the planet,” bulb maker Sylvania said in a statement.

The incandescent bulb won’t become a collector’s item right away, however.

The higher efficiency requirements under the new energy law kick in for the 100-watt bulb beginning in 2012, followed by the 75-watt bulb a year later and then 40- and 60-watt bulbs will be phased out in 2014.

Australia, Ireland and other countries are already getting rid of the incandescent bulb.

About two dozen categories of light bulbs are exempt from the U.S. law’s efficiency requirements, including oven and refrigerator bulbs, candelabra lamps, plant lights, replacement traffic signal bulbs and the summer necessity — the yellow bulb that doesn’t attract insects.

Yesterday at the Lightfair International tradeshow in Las Vegas, Royal Philips Electronics unveiled its breakthrough EnduraLED light bulb. This bulb will be the world’s first LED replacement for the 60 watt incandescent light bulb, which represents about half of all domestic incandescent light bulbs sold on the market.

The EnduraLED lamp will use only 12 watts, last 25 times longer, and deliver up to eighty percent savings on energy costs and avoided maintenance costs. However, the new bulb will produce a light level of 806 lumens, similar to the 60 watt incandescent. To achieve this efficiency, it uses an innovative design and a new technology known as remote phosphor technology, developed by Philips researchers in The Netherlands.

Every year in the United States, 425 million 60 watt incandescent lamps are sold, half of all lamp purchases. If these were all to be replaced by the new EnduraLED light bulbs, Philips estimates the potential saving of 32.6 terawatt-hours of electricity in one year. This would be equivalent to power the lights of 16.7 million US households, 14.4 percent of the total number of households in the county. Environmentally, it has the potential to eliminate the generation of carbon emissions by 5.3 millions metric tons per year.

The new LED bulb is a marked improvement over the last big lighting breakthrough, the compact fluorescent bulb (CFL). The CFL is actually much more efficient than the incandescent but is not without its flaws. CFLs contain trace particles of mercury which can provide a health hazard during disposal or if broken. They are not capable of operating by a motion sensor, and they are not dimmable. On the other hand, the EnduraLED is dimmable and can operate with a motion sensor. Even more, they do not contain mercury.

The standard 60 watt incandescent bulb has a life of 1,000 hours. CFL bulbs of the same wattage have a life of 8,000 hours. The EnduraLED bulb has an amazingly long life of 25,000 hours. According to calculations, over the lifespan of the new LED bulb, replacing the incandescent bulb would amount to $120 per lamp.

In an interview with ENN, CEO of Philips Lighting North America, Ed Crawford, stated that LED technology will replace all incandescent bulbs. The process is already beginning, and will accelerate once US legislation requiring the use of more energy efficient lighting begins in 2012. Presently, Philips has a 40 watt equivalent LED bulb on the market, and the 60 watt equivalent will be available by the end of this year, well ahead of the government legislation. The will put Philips ahead of the curve and position them well as the world leader in lighting technology.

Mr. Crawford also believes new LED technology will usher in a brand new era for lighting. With most lights, people simply flick on the switch, the light comes on, and that’s the end. On the other hand, LED lights are programmable by color, quality, and temperature. New research in organic light emitting diode (OLED) will allow the ability to create lighting effects in the home. LED lighting is the future, and Philips’ EnduraLED takes a strong step in that direction. 

For more information: http://www.newsinfusion.com/philips/

New CAFE standards announced recently by President Obama could potentially decrease fuel efficiency in fleet vehicles if regulators are not careful, according to a report in Fleet Owner.

President Obama recently announced new, tougher standards for the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards in an effort to reduce carbon emissions among U.S. automobiles. However, these standards are based on miles-per-gallon measurements, a metric that is inappropriate for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, according to the report.

While a partially loaded tractor-trailer will have a better mpg rating than one that is fully loaded, the difference does not accurately reflect the efficiency level of transporting goods, Fleet Owner reported, citing a report by the National Research Council (NRC). According to the NRC, a better metric for such vehicles is the amount of fuel consumed for every unit of payload. Otherwise, CAFE could favor half-loaded trailers that get better gas mileage, but result in less efficient transportation than a fully loaded trailer.

In order to arrive at metrics that accurately reflect energy efficiency ratings for a variety of vehicle types, The National Transportation Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) will need to develop more complex calculations that vary depending on vehicle type, according to the report. That will require segmenting the market and developing multiple duty cycles with load-specific measurements.

One possible metric for highway trucks could be ton-miles per gallon, which would incorporate how far a truck is able to transport a ton on a single gallon of fuel.

EPA’s Energy Star program is offering low- to no-cost energy-efficient cooling tips to beat the heat. A typical household spends almost 20 percent of its utility bill on cooling, and by taking steps this summer to improve energy efficiency, you can save energy, save money and help fight climate change. For example: if your central air conditioning unit is more than 12 years old, replacing it with an Energy Star model could cut your cooling costs by 30 percent. Get information about keeping cool and comfortable while saving money this season at http://www.energystar.gov

WHITE PLAINS, NY — Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. has introduced green meeting guidelines at its North American properties and plans to roll out the practices globally next year.

The hotel chain, which operates 1,000 properties around the world, unveiled the Starwood Sustainable Meeting Practices this week. The strategies are to be incorporated in all meetings and events conducted at the facilities operated Starwood and its brands.

The program involves 18 practices that are grouped into five core categories. Highlights include:

• Paperless Meeting Planning — Tools typically used in the planning process have gone digital, including sales proposals, menu selection, room list creation, and reservation cross-checking.
• Sustainable Meeting Services — When paper products are needed, materials made from recycled and recyclable content can be provided; use of eco-friendly non-paper tools such as LED signage and white board is offered; access to green transportation services is available; and recycling bins are provided for all meeting spaces.
• Sustainable Food & Beverage Practices — In addition to providing sustainable food choices for meeting menus, the hotels can use tables that do not require coverings as well as china, utensils and other tableware that are reusable. The properties are to provide alternatives to bottled water and eco-friendly containers for box lunches or other circumstances when packaging is required. Donation of leftover food also is to be arranged if requested.
• Impact Assessment Tools — Hotels are to generate a report for clients that shows the impact of their meeting on the environment.
• Socially Conscious Activities — Hotels are also to advise clients of team-building or volunteer activities that enable meeting attendees to aid the local community.

A year in the making, the program “formalizes environmental practices our hotels have been implementing and we are excited to encourage,” said Sandy Swider, Starwood’s vice president for Global Citizenship said in a statement.

Meeting and business travel has begun to recover from the flatline resulting from the recession, and according to Starwood demands for sustainable meeting solutions are on the upswing as well.

The Starwood brands include St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Westin, Le Meridien, Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton and the recently launched Aloft and Element hotels.

Last week, Travelocity made it easier for travelers to locate eco-friendly lodgings in the United Kingdom. The online travel service has partnered with the Green Tourism Business Scheme and flagged hundreds of hotels in the United Kingdom with its green leaf tag.

In all, Travelocity has listed more than 1,700 properties in its Green Hotel Directory. To qualify for the directory, lodgings must be endorsed by a leading green hotel certifying body, appear in the Rainforest Alliance’s Eco-Index of Sustainable Tourism, or demonstrate “significant strides” in at least three of the four areas of the Tourism Sustainability Council‘s criteria.

To view the article, visit GreenBiz