Categories
Heating

Seeking Alternatives To Heating Oil

After monitoring news and blogs related to unusual heating systems since January 2006, the administrators of Alternative-Heating.com, a non-profit Web site, recently noticed a sharp increase in the interest for alternative heating methods. This interest was apparently fueled in part by the steep rise in heating oil prices. Today, the Web site staff are pleased to announce the creation of a sharing platform that will enable users to exchange ideas and discuss the best ways to use alternative solutions and products to heat their homes and businesses.

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Categories
Energy Star

Energy Efficient Homes Pay Off for the Environment

New York ENERGY STAR Labeled Homes Program exceeds 10K homes

New York residents and builders have significantly reduced the state’s overall energy use and greenhouse gas emissions over the last six years simply by investing in homes that have earned the ENERGY STAR(R) Label.

Since 2001, more than 10,800 New York ENERGY STAR Labeled Homes have been built in New York, saving nearly 14 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and 603 billion BTUs of fossil fuel to date. The collective energy savings from these homes means that more than 44,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide is kept out of the atmosphere every year; the same as taking nearly 9,000 cars off the road for a year.

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Categories
Travel

Travelling Green

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Almost on a daily basis I receive press releases about a new green hotel that has opened up somewhere in the US. The hospitality industry has a large role to play in the green movement. The J.D. Power and Associates 2007 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study shows that nearly 75 percent of all hotel guests are aware and willingly participate in environmentally friendly programs where they are staying.

The survey explains that, “In response to growing concern about global warming and conservation issues, being environmentally responsible has become a top trend in the hotel industry, with properties initiating various “green” programs, such as changing linens and towels only on request and using water-saving bathroom faucets and toilets.”

So next time your travelling check and see if there are any green hotels or bed & breakfasts in the area. One place where you can find a list of green hotels is at the following website: http://www.greenhotels.com/members.htm

Categories
Building Design Green Building

The Cost of Green Building

Today I came across 2 bits of news concerning the green building industry that I thought I would share with you. The first was an interview on E&E TV that I watched this morning, on which two women decided to build green homes. The homes were installed with solar panels and now instead of paying large monthly utility bills, they receive a rebate from the utility companies every month. For the full interview go to following site: http://www.eenews.net/tv/2007/08/30/

The second news release that I found interesting was about a report on the lowering cost of green building. According to the Geneva-based World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), costs for going green may be overestimated by over 300 percent. The findings are disclosed in a new report titled “Energy Efficiency in Buildings: Business Realities and Opportunities,” which illustrates that in a global survey of 1,400 people, the cost of going green was estimated at 17 percent above conventional construction.
In truth, however, costs for green products, materials, and practices have come down tremendously in the past few years, bringing the cost of moving into the sustainable arena to just five percent above the cost of conventional construction.
Why the misperception? Most likely green is still perceived as the costlier option due to the fact that the providers of green goods and services haven’t done enough to market themselves as cost-saving options. Right now, the general perception of going green is that it’s an environmental issue, and that embracing the green movement is good for corporate relations. But the manufacturers of green and sustainable products will generate an amazing amount of momentum if they go straight for what the building community wants—a message that speaks to the bottom line.