Archive for the ‘Green Building’ Category

Next time you think about remodeling any part of your home or maybe even building your new home, Think Green first. Whether you will be putting down a new foundation or changing the Blinds in your home there is always a Green alternative. Here’s a checklist that can help jog your imagination.

• In the Bathrooms, use high performing shower heads which use 1-1.5 gallons per minute/ 60% less than traditional shower heads.
• Thinking of repainting the house? Think No-VOC Paints. VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds which are toxic.
• Keep your attic cool by installing a radiant barrier to keep the heat out.
• If you are building new or gutting rooms, remember proper Insulation is key to energy savings.
• Taking into consideration your window coverings is often overlooked, but good Blinds or room darkening curtains can help keep the heat out and keep you cooling bills down.
• Remodeling the kitchen? How about a recycling center in the kitchen making it easy and a good habit for everyone to learn. These can usually be installed right in the cabinets. And if you want to get fancy there are even Kitchen Composters out there.
• Changing your flooring? Consider engineered wood, especially ones that use recycled materials.
• Redoing the landscape? Think water conservation in your new garden. Use indigenous plants whenever possible, and consider a drip system to compliment your sprinkler system for those areas that don’t need quite that much water. Check out Xeriscaping and also remember to capture and reuse rainwater.
• Consider a Tankless Water Heater. They heat water on demand rather keeping the whole tank of water hot constantly. A lot of savings there.
• Use Solar Energy where you can, even for heating the pool.

Please leave any other suggestions in the comments…Thanks…

http://www.smithandnoble.com/sn/home.jsp

energy efficient green building

bibi

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On Monday January 21st, the World Future Energy Summit was be held in Abu Dhabi, at which time the plan for Masdar City, the greenest city on earth was unveiled.

Masdar City will be the first carbon-neutral, waste-free, car-free city.

The city will consist of six-square kilometers (2.3 sq miles), that will eventually house about 50,000 residents and 1500 businesses. They will start construction in the first quarter of 2008, and will take approximately 10 years to complete, although it’s firsts residents will be able to move in by 2009.

No Pollution, No Waste… Now how will they accomplish this you ask? Here’s a list:

• ZERO CARBON: 100 per cent of energy supplied by renewable energy – Photovoltaics, concentrated solar power, wind, waste to energy and other technologies
• ZERO WASTE: 99 per cent diversion of waste from landfill (includes waste reduction measures, re-use of waste wherever possible, recycling, composting, waste to energy)
• SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT: Zero carbon emissions from transport within the city; implementation of measures to reduce the carbon cost of journeys to the city boundaries (through facilitating and encouraging the use of public transport, vehicle sharing, supporting low emissions vehicle initiatives)
• SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS: Specifying high recycled materials content within building products; tracking and encouraging the reduction of embodied energy within materials and throughout the construction process; specifying the use of sustainable materials such as Forest Stewardship Council certified timber, bamboo and other products
• SUSTAINABLE FOOD: Retail outlets to meet targets for supplying organic food and sustainable and or fair trade products
• SUSTAINABLE WATER: Per capita water consumption to be at least 50 per cent less than the national average; all waste water to be re-used
• HABITATS AND WILDLIFE: All valuable species to be conserved or relocated with positive mitigation targets
  
• CULTURE AND HERITAGE: Architecture to integrate local values.
• EQUITY AND FAIR TRADE: Fair wages and working conditions for all workers (including construction) as defined by international labour standards
• HEALTH AND HAPPINESS: Facilities and events for every demographic group
  

Source: The Masdar Initiative

C/Net News.com: Masdar City…

abu dhabi masdar city the greenist city on earth World Future Energy Summit

bibi

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I came across a post on Ecoble.com, titled the World’s Coolest Solar Collecting Building, so I had to take a peak. Unbelievable, the building is spectacular. Take a look at the other pictures on the Ecoble.com.

Leave it to the Japanese to come up with a Solar Powered Building that not only gathers it’s power from the sun but, acts as an enormous Billboard, is an awesome architectural design, and includes a Solar Lab.

Built by Sanyo in Japan this beauty is built on a steel frame and solid trusses, with an overall length of 315m (945feet) and heights reaching 37.1m (111feet) on the ends. Earthquake resistant to a level 7 on the Japanese Scale.

But the most important point of this building is the power it can yield, solar power that is. It uses 5,046 panels made of Single-Crystal Silicon Solar Cells, capable of producing a Max load of 630Kw, that’s an annual electrical output of 530,000 KWh. This is a Fossil Fuel savings equivalent to 7,145 kerosene cans (128,610 liters) per year and a CO₂ reduction 95 t-C/year.

That’s pretty cool in itself.

ecoble.com environment Solar Ark solar power

bibi

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