LEED to Certify Entire Communities, Cities Building Green, February 7, 2017 The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is attempting to take LEED to a whole new scale as it launches two new certification programs: LEED for Cities and LEED for Communities. Built on the newly released Arc platform (see New Tech Startup, Arc Skoru, to Support … Read more
Jordan Cohen, ERS, for Zondits It is now easier than ever to find out how the energy efficiency of your large NYC multifamily building compares to similar buildings. Using the Urban Green Council’s (UGC’s) Metered New York database, you can search for your building address to see its ENERGY STAR score, energy and water usage, … Read more
Ethan Forauer, ERS, and Gita Subramony, ERS, for Zondits The new presidential administration is proposing sweeping changes to energy and environmental policy. During the presidential debates, the candidates did not devote much time to explaining their policy positions and ideas regarding climate change and energy. However, the stance of the new administration has been made clear … Read more
Employment in the Energy Efficiency and Renewables Sectors Track Upward Energy Manager Today, January 25, 2017 The numbers are in and the results are clear: Energy efficiency is a growing source of employment. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) released its second annual analysis on employment in the energy industry. The 2017 U.S. … Read more
BP’s Energy Outlook: Between Forecasting and Advocacy The Energy Collective, January 30, 2017 BP’s new Energy Outlook predicts ever-growing demand for oil and gas, and rising emissions that would take the world well beyond 2°C of warming. According to Greg Muttitt, Senior Advisor at NGO Oil Change International, previous Outlooks do not provide much confidence in BP’s projections, but … Read more
5 Trends for the Smart Energy Home of the Future Greentech Media, January 9, 2017 While “smart home” could probably describe the offerings over half of the thousands of exhibitors spread out across the acres of CES floor space, this section was filled with many companies that are using home wireless networks, connected devices, and … Read more
States, Power Companies Lead in Cutting Carbon; Election Not Slowing Expected 2017 Progress EDF, January 10, 2017 2016 was a big year for progress in the U.S. power sector. Renewable energy sources provided 16.9 percent of the country’s electricity in the first half of 2016, up from 13.7 percent for all of 2015. The country’s first offshore wind farm opened … Read more
Jeff Perkins, ERS, for Zondits Zondits started with a “soft launch” 3 years ago this month. We chose a soft launch, putting the site up in hidden mode but populating it on a daily basis, to give ourselves time to test the concept. We chose a curated portal rather than a blog for two reasons: … Read more
Katie Robinson, ERS, for Zondits The Girl Scouts of Northern California teamed up with Stanford University to create Girls Learning Environment and Energy (GLEE), a program that teaches energy conservation and environmental leadership through four- or five-week courses with Girl Scout troops. Right now they offer two GLEE courses: Home Energy, which focuses on ways … Read more
High times: Vertical farming is on the rise — but can it save the planet? Salon, September 25, 2016 Farming as we know it is failing. Mom-and-pop operations are struggling to survive and Big Ag cares far more about its bottom line than about your health, or the health of the planet. Ecologists, anti-GMO activists, even … Read more