Solyndra just released new details of their proprietary solar technology printed with a copper, indium, gallium, and selenium (CIGS) mixture on glass tubes.  Solyndra also announced over $1.2 billion in orders and a successful installation using the cylindrical solar tubes on the roof of their corporate headquarters.  With the glass tube design and easy installation, the company expects to provide commercial customers with higher electricity output per rooftop and significantly reduced installation costs.

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Pardon the interruption, but this is for a good cause.  In mid-November, I’ll be on a panel at Greenbuild called "Green Blogs and the Built Environment" with industry leading bloggers from The Green Workplace, Treehugger, Green Buildings NYC, and Building Green TV.  The general idea of the panel is to discuss how the environmental movement is using blogs to collect information, share ideas, and collaborate in new ways.  In preparation for the panel, we’ve developed a very short survey to ask you how blogging impacts the built environment.  It’ll take no time really, but the information is seriously helpful and we’ll discuss the results during the panel.  Thanks in advance for you time and we’ll see you in Boston!!

[+] Green Blogs and Environment Survey

If you’ve heard of the popular Skystream 3.7 by Southwest Windpower, then you’re probably familiar with their smaller wind turbine called Air-X.  Air-X was introduced in ~2001 and flew off shelves, selling over 100,000 units.  Building on the success of Air-X, Southwest Windpower recently released Air Breeze, its next iteration of the successful small wind generator.  I first noticed an ad for Air Breeze in Natural Home Magazine last September and have since seen news of it popping up everywhere.  Air Breeze was engineered to be quieter, more efficient, and more effective at lower wind speeds …

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• Buildings inspired by nature. 
• Bailout additions support solar, wind, and plug-in hybrids.
• William McDonough: the King of Green Architecture.
• Energy efficiency and emissions of UK buildings exposed.
• Google issues Clean Energy 2030 proposal.
• Consumers given various incentives to go green. 
• Green retrofits more than pay for themselves. 
• Minimizing legal risks for green building.

Blogs worth reading: WebEcoist and EcoRenovator.

This home is the first LEED Platinum certified home in the Sacramento area.  Located in Folsom, this "Home of the Future" is the product of a collaboration between BP Solar, OCR Solar & Roofing, R.J. Walter Homes, and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.  Working together, the focus of the home was to design it using state-of-the-art energy efficient materials.  It has dual pane windows, solar-assisted hot water and space heating, LED lighting, energy efficient appliances, and advanced framing and insulation. 

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