Builders "Go Green" To Sell Homes

The push for environmentally friendly construction comes as the housing industry remains mired in a deep and protracted slump, with single-family housing starts off more than a third from 2005 and widely expected to keep sliding this year.

To stand out from the crowd, big home builders are going green for the first time or are expanding their existing programs — a departure from previous practice, when environmentally friendly building was mainly limited to a niche of smaller builders.

But results so far are mixed: some developments report increased traffic but no pickup in sales. Other builders say sales are on the upswing but it is too early to tell whether it is at a faster pace than their comparable, non-green developments. And the higher cost of green construction is proving a hurdle for some companies.

Westar to Invest In Renewable Energy

Westar Energy plans to put off building additional coal-fired power plants in favor of energy efficiency programs, investing in renewable energy and improving the environmental performance of existing coal plants.

As part of its long-term plan, Westar also said it would enhance its transmission network, extend the life of its existing nuclear plant and improve the reliability of its service.

The report comes in the light of growing opposition to coal-fired power plant projects across the country, including Texas, Kansas and North Carolina.

Three Ways To Be More Energy Efficient

If you want to become more energy efficient, here are three ways to help accomplish your goal:

3) Reach for the stars – the ENERGY STARs, that is. ENERGY STAR qualified products can cut related electricity costs by up to 30 percent. More than 50 categories of products are now labeled with this government “seal of approval” for energy efficiency. In addition to electronics and lighting (see tip numbers 8 and 5), they also include appliances, HVAC systems, windows, and more (see www.energystar.gov for a complete rundown).

2) Don’t waste money and energy heating and cooling the great outdoors, either! Make sure you have the proper amount of insulation for your climate, and seal leaks around doors and windows to cut your heating and cooling bills by up to 20 percent. With home energy costs estimated at $2,200 for the average U.S. household in 2008, and just over half of that going for heating and cooling, those savings can amount to about $225. Added benefit: Eliminate drafts and hot and cold spots for greater indoor comfort.

1) Slow down and save! Each 5 miles per hour you drive over 60 mph costs you about 20 cents more per gallon of gasoline. And aggressive driving habits – speeding, rapid acceleration and braking – can lower gas mileage by a whopping 33 percent at highway speeds and 5 percent around town. But driving sensibly can save up to 200 gallons of gasoline per year at highway speeds, or about $600 per car and about $1,200 per household with gasoline prices at $3/gallon. Added benefit: Avoiding up to 4,000 pounds of CO2 per car/8,000 per household.

Highmark Inc. top lists of Green IT users

Highmark Inc. of Harrisburg, Pa., has been named the number one green IT user by Computerworld, which surveyed more than 80 companies to find the top 12 green IT users and vendors.

With the help of experts from The Green Grid, Forrester Research and Base Partners, Computerworld crafted a survey looking for which companies are doing the most in reducing energy and implementing technology to cut energy and carbon emissions.

The top companies were chosen from the 86 responses to queries about energy and carbon goals, employee encouragement, purchasing practices, incentives, recycling, HVAC, data center layout, increase in energy efficiency, renewable energy and reduction of energy used.

Wal-Mart Pledges $500 For Energy Center

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which has embraced conservation measures as a way to cut costs at its giant stores, has announced that it will provide $500,000 over five years to support programs at the Energy Efficiency Center at University of California Davis and one of its executives will serve on the center's board.

The center, established in 2006 with a $1 million grant from the California Clean Energy Fund, is intended to help speed energy-saving products and techniques into the broad marketplace. The company's local energy-efficiency efforts include a new type of cooling system at its West Sacramento store.

U.S. Utilities focus on Energy Efficiency

U.S. utilities are focusing on energy efficiency to lessen the need to build new power plants while they await what they see as inevitable carbon regulation, executives said at the four-day CERA conference in Houston that ended on Friday.

Uncertainty over the form and cost of regulation of carbon dioxide emissions has many utility executive hedging their bets on new power plants while consumer conservation programs are viewed as a safe way to give consumers more tools to control energy consumption in the face of rising costs.

Data centers take the LEED

Highmark Inc.'s new 28,000-square-foot data center in Harrisburg, Pa., isn't just energy-efficient, it was also one of the first to attain the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building certification, issued by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

For businesses that want the cachet of going green, LEED is the ultimate status symbol. While attaining the certification is a laudable goal, not all of the recommendations make sense for buildings that house data centers, and getting the certification can be a reach -- especially when retrofitting existing data centers.

While most data center managers associate going green with energy efficiency, LEED certifications are much more about overall impact on the environment and social responsibility. For example, having a recycling program is mandatory to attain LEED.

'Going Green' big at Builder's conference

The drive toward "green" residential construction takes center stage this week at the world's largest light construction conference and trade show. The National Association of Home Builders will announce national green building standards and a green builder designation at the International Builders Show in Orlando, Fla.

Both represent "what seems to be the future of home building," said Calli Schmidt of the NAHB. The national effort is growing out of individual states' green building initiatives in recent years. That includes Michigan, where Grand Rapids builders helped drive a statewide set of green building guidelines in recent years, said Schmidt.

Ameren Illinois Utilities propose Energy Efficiency plan

The Ameren Illinois Utilities have filed an energy efficiency plan with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) designed to help customers save money by reducing their natural gas usage.

Customers will be given a variety of options from which to cut their energy costs. For example, the plan proposes incentives for residential customers to install high-efficiency furnaces, automatic programmable thermostats, water heater and hot water pipe insulation, wall insulation and low-emissivity double-pane windows.

There also will be programs for low-income customers and incentives for apartment building owners and commercial customers that will help them improve energy efficiency.

Data Center University Includes Green Courses

Heading into its third year, Data Center University offers more than 45 online courses, including classes on energy efficiency and green IT practices. Data Center University was launched by American Power Conversion in 2006 and offers a course catalog running the gamut of power and cooling basics to blade server integration.

Optimizing data centers has become an important issue for companies that are looking to save money, lessen their impact on the environment, or both. Recent studies have show businesses are migrating to, or want to switch to, greener computing practices for various. Not only does cutting power and cooling costs at data centers save money, but it also cuts the amount of energy consumed.

Many of Data Center University's courses have environmental, and economical impacts. Introductory, intermediate and advanced classes look at different levels of power and cooling. Other classes teach how to establish energy-efficiency benchmarks and environmental monitoring. The University also offers an Associate Certification test that covers knowledge of all aspects of data centers

Europe outpaces US in energy efficiency

Across Europe, countries are experimenting with policies to encourage homeowners, renters and landlords to make buildings more energy-efficient. They've been prodded by the European Union, which as part of its effort to fight climate change has set an ambitious goal to cut energy consumption in buildings 11% by 2020.

In the U.S., some companies such as Citigroup Inc. and a handful of states such as California have launched efforts to improve energy efficiency in buildings. But in general, the U.S. has been slower to devise policies to address the problem. The EU, meanwhile, has mandated that member states renew their building codes every five years and create standards to calculate the energy efficiency of buildings.

Another measure calls for all buildings to submit a report card, or "energy certificate," which can be shown to prospective buyers or renters. The hope is that grading buildings on their energy efficiency will spur landlords and owners to undertake renovations.

'Renewable' Label wrong For Nuclear

Last year, the South Carolina Senate approved a bill that would classify a host of energies -- solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, hydrogen -- as "renewable." But the bill was amended to also include nuclear power, which does not make sense because uranium fuel comes from a finite source just like oil and coal does.

The House this week voted 114-0 to remove nuclear energy from the list of renewable resources and returned the bill to its original intent.

The classification of nuclear as "renewable" is more than just senseless. It diverts attention from the original intent of the Energy Efficiency Act, which was to promote South Carolina's emerging, homegrown energy economy. Furthermore, allowing power companies to boost their "renewable" power ratings with nuclear-generated power creates loopholes for future energy production standards and discourages serious investments in real energy conservation.

New energy Law Increases Opportunities For Businesses

New energy efficiency requirements will spur sales of many next-generation products -- from light emitting diodes to cutting edge biofuels -- to help America go greener.

Suppliers of components for fuel-efficient cars will be big winners as automakers scramble to meet a 40% increase in average fuel efficiency by 2020. They'll snap up diesel engines from BorgWarner, IHI Corp. and Honeywell's Garrett. And batteries for hybrids from Johnson Controls and Panasonic. Hitachi, TRW and others will see more orders for electronic and mechanical components.

Lighting manufacturers can also expect their order books to fill up fast. New efficiency regulations for lighting will effectively KO incandescent bulbs by the middle of the next decade. Lighting firms such as Osram Sylvania and Philips can expect huge demand for light emitting diodes, compact fluorescents and pinpoint halogens. Among smaller firms likely to benefit: Element Labs, an LED expert. And Orion Energy Services, a leading player in efficient fluorescents.

Heating Efficiency Bill Up For Action

MONTPELIER, Vt.—A legislative committee Tuesday approved another bid to set up an energy efficiency utility aimed at cutting use of heating fuels, and lawmakers hope they've made enough changes from last year's version to avoid another veto by Gov. Jim Douglas.

The measure, approved by the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee, would set up a new program to promote and manage efficiency efforts aimed at buildings. Supporters cited estimates that Vermonters could cut $300 million off the more than $800 million per year they spend now to heat homes, businesses and other buildings.

Green Companies Target China

AUSTRALIAN businesses offering green building products and services can take advantage of China's burgeoning construction sector, export agency Austrade says.

With China expected to have half the world's building construction between now and 2020, its energy consumption is set to spiral.

Austrade's country manager for China, Peter Osborne, said Chinese authorities had established environmentally friendly building plans and policies.

Survey Finds Investors Are Interested In Green Investing

Investing in the environment is rich soil to till, reports a survey released by Allianz Global Investors. Almost half of those surveyed said that in the next year they are likely to invest in a company or fund that is proactive on environmental issues.

The survey of over 1,000 adults on the environment and investing was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media for Allianz.

Seventy-one percent of investors surveyed said that environmental technology was a "buy" and the most desirable sector to invest in. Fifty-four percent of those surveyed listed investing in the environment as an "important focus" for their future investments.

Students Tackle Global Warming Through Game

Four groups of students finished the college’s National Symposium on Global Warming with the Climate Change Game, working as corporations, governments and individuals to affect climate change and reduce carbon emission from their respective organizations.

"It puts people in charge of the global climate,” said Medard Gabel, a consultant with Big Picture, Small World, which designed the climate game and helps educate students and corporate offices on the subject matter. “It’s about changes we need to make as a society to deal with the climate change. There are things we can do as governments, corporations, organizations and as individuals.”

Each group was given a set of strategies released by international scientists on what people could do to help alleviate the problem in their respective areas, such as raising fuel efficiency standards. From all 17 corporations, governments and organizations listed, the groups chose to represent, the Chinese government, U.S. government, Chinese individuals and Wal-Mart.

With students within the groups working against each other as “change-makers” and “keepers of the status quo,” the game wasn’t entirely easy, especially when the goal was a 200 billion ton reduction of carbon. Students also tried to outdo each other, funding certain programs and making deals or merely bribing two students representing the media outlets for preferential treatment.

PUC eases rules of energy efficiency program

California regulators Thursday lowered the bar for an energy-efficiency program to allow utilities to earn about $89 million in customer-funded incentives for achieving as little as 65% of the power savings goals laid out for them. The California Public Utilities Commission also ruled that utilities could keep such incentives awarded to them even if a subsequent audit showed that the companies did not achieve the savings they reported.

Under that plan, utilities that achieved 65% of energy- efficiency goals collectively would have been penalized $142 million. Incentives would accrue after the companies reached 85% of the goals.

The energy-efficiency program "allows utilities to earn real money on an annual basis for their progress in meeting the state's energy-efficiency goals without having to worry that they'll have to give those monies back," he said. "This will significantly strengthen the motivation the utilities have to aggressively pursue energy efficiency."

Motel 6 Becoming More Energy Efficient

Motel 6 has signed on to participate in the Honeywell Cool Control Plus program, which is designed to help drastically reduce Motel 6’s environmental footprint. Working on behalf of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Honeywell will install energy-saving retrofits in a total of 7,530 rooms in the 66 Motel 6 properties located within PG&E’s service area in northern and central California.

Motel 6 has independently installed the Telkonet SmartEnergy (formerly Smart Systems) occupancy sensors and thermostats in 49 properties in California, and teaming with PG&E and Honeywell will bring the total number of rooms with retrofits to 13,440.

Wal-Mart May Become The Leader In Energy Conservation

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which launched a broad environmental push in late 2005, wants to expand that focus to other issues including energy prices, international trade and U.S. health care costs.

Chief Executive Lee Scott outlined plans in a speech Wednesday to push for more energy-saving products for Wal-Mart shoppers, work with other retailers on social and environmental standards for the foreign companies they buy from, and trim prescription and health records costs at home.

The world's largest retailer may even someday install windmills or solar panels at its stores that would allow shoppers to charge electric vehicles, and it is talking with automakers about a possible role in the hybrid and electric car market.