Being a vagabond is great and all, but I also believe in community and sustainability! How could I accomplish all parts of my equation at once? I mean, isn’t community and sustainability accomplished successfully by living in one location with a group of people, following models of communal or group living, farming and running co-ops? And isn’t tramping around comprised of moving from one place to another quite often, rarely being somewhere long enough to build community or become part of an already established one, coupled with spending way too much time in cars, busses, trains, or airplanes and chain supermarkets to be sustainable? Read the rest of this entry »
A new Danish project model paves the way for more environmental friendly cities. The model was formed in cooperation between residents, organisations and companies with the Danish Technological Institute, Copenhagen Energy and Miljøpunkt Østerbro as the initiators. It all took place during the recently completed environmental project 2100.nu, and the results were so noteworthy that the project form is now to be spread to the entire capital. The savings potentials are enormous.
December 22, 2011 at 12:43 am · Filed under Green Tech
Green credits are not incentive enough to completely quell the energy consumption required by many a cloud computing company. Even the adoption of smart grid technology is not having rapidly enough to quell the amount of energy usage which will continue to expand in server farms throughout the country. As a result, there –of necessity–need to be a number of innovations which will help until things like solar and wind become a more feasible replacement for what currently exists.
Your home is your castle and protection from the outside elements. After all that is how shelter started . Pragmatic but all in all though one might think of a home for cosmetics , or as in investment in these days of relative low interest mortgages which allow many to afford homes , and even vacation properties that they might never of been afford previously. Still no matter where you live or reside , you want to stay snug as a rug in a bug . Weatherstripping allows this , with energy savings and reduced energy uses overall.
Yet few houses , homes and apartments demand totally full and comprehensive total weatherstripping in total. Yet no doubt over time you , your family or property will no doubt require some.
On top of that even installed – say simple caulking around windows require maintenance and upkeep on a regular , planned and ongoing basis. Every few years new weather stripping as well as caulk are necessary to replace what has worn away and now leaks. This happens over time and use , as well as settling and movement of the house as the ground surface shifts itself. It may be normal spring unfreezing ground shift or it just be may regular settling of soil after wet seasons.
Yet once properly sealed , a house may just have too little or basically inadequate air flow to carry moisture away or enough oxygen to take full advantage of modern new fuel efficient furnaces. Therefore to maintain and enhance stated furnace efficiency levels ventilators as well as heat exchangers must are often recommended to be installed and in place to take full and complete advantage of natural air currents. Alternatively extra air flow exhaust can be created by the strategic placement of electrical ventilating fans. It should be noted and driven home that intentional ventilation of this type and sort has a big time major advantage and advantages over the accidentally randomly created air currents that just drift across odd cracks and crannies. You have better control of how much air gets in and to where.
While it is true that ventilation itself removes airborne moisture, other measures are often necessary to cure a home of air leaks. Yet the real villains should be placed in perspective. For example if one lived in Toronto Canada humidity is an issue – humidity air in via cracks. There is a good level of moisture in the air due to water moisture drifting into the air from the Great Lakes especially Lake Ontario. Yet if one is in the Canadian prairies in the dead of winter , with a continental climate its exceptionally dry . Air in Winnipeg is said to be drier than the Sahara Desert during the cold – 50 January winter time periods.
On top of that due to deforestation and the building of parking lots basements that were never wet at all – seem to have much more of seeping water and resultant humidity in home basements than ever used to be the case. Large concrete covered or asphalt covered shopping lot parking lots seem to be among the worst offenders. Its as simple as that.
Finding an alternative source of energy is the need of the hour. Scientists have been engaged with the unenviable task of searching for a viable source that does not eat into our fast dwindling resources. Given the combined forces of resource depletion and environmental damage that’s caused by non-renewable energy sources, there can be little doubt about the urgency of the situation.
One source that’s being suggested, due to the fact that it would not seem to leave any appreciable carbon footprints on our overtly polluted atmosphere, is algae biofuel. Read the rest of this entry »
Recycling, energy conservation and preserving the environment are just some of the many ways you can live a green lifestyle. Extending that lifestyle to the car you drive is a no-brainer, especially when there are plenty of vehicles on the mainstream consumer market with proven green bonafides. Most of the vehicles on this list are relatively affordable save for the Tesla Roadster. Teing green might not be easy, but choosing your next green ride should be. Read the rest of this entry »
December 10, 2011 at 3:23 pm · Filed under Green Tech
Designers and architects are putting a lot of effort into environmentally friendly design. Much of this is motivated by cost-cutting measures, or a desire for good publicity, but there are other benefits to be had from eco-friendly offices too. Environmentally friendly offices tend to be healthier, and more enjoyable for the workers that spend their nine-to-five days in them.
There are so many different industry buzzwords that have come about lately that it is very difficult to ignore them. Whether you’re talking about “cloud computing” or “grid computing” or even “smart grid technology” there are literally hundreds of company cropping up trying to market their wares to the various enterprises who may be in need of such products. Some of these technologies may take a while for rapid adoption, while others will make it to the masses rather rapidly. In the case of smart grid adoption, I suggest that the former will be more indicative than the latter. Read the rest of this entry »
November 21, 2011 at 10:12 pm · Filed under Green Tech
Hybrid vehicles seem like a great idea because they use both an electric engine and a gas engine. Gas powered cars pollute the air when they go above or below their optimum fuel efficiency speed (generally 60 mph). Hybrids, on the other hand, have electric engines to make up for some of that polluting inefficiency; when a hybrid is idling or traveling at a low speeds, its electric engine runs while its gas powered one does not. Read the rest of this entry »
Windows are a mixed blessing. No doubt they are great for admitting light and making your home – be it condo , house , apartment bright and cheery while admitting light, providing a view of the out-of-doors as well as collecting some solar energy during day light daytime hours they are not good – indeed horrible – insulators against nighttime heat losses. In fact , in the heating and windows trades it is both well known and held as a truism that single pane glass acts as a heat exchanger to the outdoors – allowing about 10 times as much heat loss per a square foot area than an insulated wall would.
A penny invested in installing and upgrading insulation materials in any building is it your home or office building – your property or an investment group of properties is many KW of electrical power, volumes of fossil fuels saved. Here are some things to consider before you go shopping at your local building equipment store to help you choose the type of insulation materials that you do the renovations and upgrades with. Read the rest of this entry »
Unless you have a need of a special material or materials, select insulation and insulating materials based on its cost per net square foot for a given R-value. As an example suppose that you want to upgrade your home’s energy insulation to both save you heating fuel costs and reduce your carbon footprint. Suppose you want to upgrade the values to an R-value of 19. You would or could then price out one kind of insulation that has a calculated and labeled R-value of 3.2 per inch of thickness and costs merely 7 cents per square foot at the 1-inch thickness. Another type, for this calculation exercise, has an R-value of 3.7 per inch of thickness yet costs 8 cents per square foot. Which is the better overall buy?Read the rest of this entry »
October 28, 2011 at 3:35 am · Filed under Green Tech
United States companies like Solyndra have been put into the hot seat of late because of failed policies by the federal government. Much of the criticism of the event comes due to the fact that the company’s loan was pushed through by many in the executive branch. The unfortunate issue was a combination of market trends in solar energy pricing issues, the U.S. government
October 27, 2011 at 9:43 am · Filed under Green Tech
To some it may seem like a complete oxymoron, after all how can thoughtless opulence and spending possibly feature positively in the same sentence as eco friendly? For a start the wealthy elite are rapidly realising how important it is to be more eco friendly, how this can save them money, and how it benefits their image to the rest of the world. Termed eco-hyperluxury, this is a new spate of design where architects, designers and home owners take luxury living to an environmentally friendly level. We take a look at a few of the things that the world’s richest spend their money on in order to be more environmentally responsible. Read the rest of this entry »
October 24, 2011 at 8:13 am · Filed under Green Tech
Several companies produce commercial environmentally safe cleaning products, but these tend to be much more expensive than traditional chemical detergents and cleansers. Fortunately, there are ways to have a spotless home while saving money. With ingredients you may already have in your home, you can replicate the cleaning power of chemical agents with none of the risk to your family and the environment. Baking soda is an incredibly versatile cleaner and can tackle many tough projects around your house. A natural odor dissolving agent, baking soda can freshen upholstery, garbage bins, closets and more. Baking soda sprinkled on a damp sponge safely cleans walls and counter tops, removing even tough stains like crayon and grease. Clean plastic baby toys safely and effectively by immersing them in a solution of four tablespoons of baking soda mixed with one quart of water. Add a cup of baking soda to a load of laundry to brighten clothes and give your linens a fluffy feel.
Add-on solar systems are another possibility as an auxiliary source of heating energy. Air heaters, to provide at least a portion of the needed winter space heat, built along south facing walls can be constructed of relatively inexpensive materials Solar water heaters can take much of the load off of conventional water heaters – on a year round – winter , summer , fall, springtime basis.Read the rest of this entry »
If homeowners are going to escape the tyranny of higher and higher oil costs, they will definitely need to cut back on energy use while at them same time them moving congruently to natural energy sources: wood, sun, wind and earth. For most of us however no doubt you can well bet that there are still going to bills and expenses to pay.
With winter soon approaching as responsible green consumers we should be doing all we can to decrease our energy use and usages and save fossil fuels for the next generations and indeed the world. Here are some additional heating tips and energy conservation measures that you can easily employ you don’t have to live in northern Canada or Manitoba with its 40 below zero January winter temperature climates to reduce your energy waste by following these tips and procedures.
For most homeowners and property owners, investing in equipment to produce all the heat and power needed is somewhat less than practical. Most of us in 2011 need to put priorities on limited energy and fuel dollars – especially to shepherd our fossil fuel usages. The wisest course of action is to invest first in materials, systems and equipment which will give us the greatest rate of return. This is basic logic when it comes to raw savings. In most homes and properties, in this era, space heating and domestic water heating demand attention first and foremost. Or so it seems. Let us do the analysis and workup.
Decrease Fossil Fuel Wattage - Upgrade the Insulation in Your Home
When it comes to saving energy and power units in home settings you would think that with all the light and lighting emanating from our homes that electrical fossil fuel driven, nuclear and hydroelectric power would be a great energy waste and cost in our homes. Yet it’s a case of the squeaky wheel (or well lit one) getting the attention.
Fully 95 % of energy from old light bulbs is wasted as heat - heat your tea
