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11 December 2009
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Sustainable Living
Here is some local news from around the nation that we can all smile about! :)
via [sustainableindustries.com] by Dana Sagona
- Officials in Santa Monica are proposing new green building requirements that could make the city one of the strictest places to build single family homes in the nation. One regulation is aimed at improving insulation in low-rise residential buildings to increase energy efficiency.
- On the other end of the spectrum (and the country), opposition from building owners in New York City have caused Mayor Bloomberg to drop his plan that would have called for all buildings of 50,000 square feet or more to undergo audits to determine which renovations would make them more energy efficient, and for owners to then pay for many of those changes.
- Washington state may have received $59.5 million in federal stimulus money to make energy efficient improvements on low-income homes in the state, but state officials have spent just $1.8 million of that allocation. Officials say they still plan to meet their target of weatherizing 2,400 homes by the end of March.
- Homeowners who want to install solar panels are facing opposition from their local Homeowners Association. A resident of Camarillo, Calif., for example, is suing the Spanish Hills Homeowners Association under the Solar Rights Act, which protects a consumers’ right to install solar energy technology.
- Based on the design of the power converters that GE (NYSE:GE) manufactures for its fleet of more than 12,000 1.5-megawatt wind turbines, GE has developed a 600 kW solar inverter. The solar inverter includes grid-friendly features to deliver performance in large-scale solar installations similar to conventional power plants.
- AT&T has formed a sustainability advisory council which will be comprised of staff and third parties. The council was formed to help AT&T improve its metrics, methodologies and technology used toward improving sustainability of its operations, products and services.
- ForestEthics’ annual Naughty/Nice list, which rates retailers in the catalog and direct mail industry, has been released. The companies were evaluated according to four criteria, such as whether or not endangered forests are cut to produce the company’s catalogs.
A recent effort from startups is under way to move liquid cooling from the computer enthusiast realm into the commercial data center industry. What’s the lure? Big energy savings. But is that enough to get IT managers to roll up their sleeves and get their hands wet?
