Green Building Blog - Jetson Green

Air Breeze Off-Grid Wind Turbine Improves Upon Popular Air-X

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 ...

Cool Green Tech at West Coast Green

I really enjoyed West Coast Green.  After spending several hours helping with the Innovation Pipeline, promoting the conference through our website, and flying down to participate as a second-year media sponsor, I'm certainly happy I was able to hang out on the exhibit floor and view the Harbinger house.  I met some very nice people and left with the feeling that the best and brightest are hard at work trying to market products that can help everyone live healthy, sustainable, and comfortable lives.  Although you may have seen a few of these companies previously, they all caught my eye.  They're all very cool. 

Putting Parking Lots to Good Use

University of California, San Diego is in the process of installing Solar Trees by Envision Solar on the roofs of two of its parking garages.  The Solar Trees are designed to provide clean energy for the campus, shade for vehicle parking, and future infrastructure for electrical vehicles.  Each Solar Tree at UCSD will generate more than 17,000 hours of clean energy per year, which is enough to power more than four single-family homes.  In aggregate, with two parking garages topped with Solar Trees, you can imagine the power they're generating. 

Broadstar On Track to Sell 70 Turbines

When Maria Surma Manka brought us news of Broadstar Wind Systems last June from Windpower 2008, our interest was stoked, especially considering the fact that Broadstar was claiming that their AeroCam turbine could achieve $1 per watt installed.  Well, the company is still beta testing the AeroCam turbine, but demand is crazy and they're "on track" to install more than 70 turbines.  J.C. Penny Co. plans to install AeroCam turbines on their distribution facility in Reno, Nevada by November this year.  Plus, 15 companies have contracted to test the turbines and 12 more are in talks. 

Swedish Energy Ball Changes Look and Feel of Small Wind Tech

This technology by Swedish company HomeEnergy has taken the web by storm over the past couple days.  The Energy Ball is an aberration in a small wind market that seems to be dominated by vertical axis, helical, miniature, and three-blade designs.  It takes the shape of a puffed up flounder -- with an orb of six blades and a fin to guide the orb towards the wind.  The Energy Ball is, of course, meant for small scale, decentralized energy generation.  As shown below, you could place it in the urban setting or plant several poles for multiple corporate installations. 

Rainwater Collection Gaining Huge Mainstream Momentum

There's kind of an edgy, underground movement of conscious homeowners and environmentalists that are finding creative ways to capture water and reuse it for their needs.  BusinessWeek's Malia Wollan just wrote an article called "Rainwater collectors work to ease shortages," and she talks about the popularity of the movement.  In the article, Wollan mentions a website called HarvestH20, which has seen an increasing number of visitors seeking information and advice on rainwater collection and reclamation. 

Solar Cell Tree Charger, A Home Gadget Worth Buying

We don't really talk about small gadgetry and knickknacks on this website, but this solar cell tree charger by Vivien Muller is, I think, kind of different.  You can use it to recharge your cellphone, camera, or whatever, because it has 54 tiny photovoltaic panels and an internal battery that stores energy during the day.  The modular parts are connected and can be rotated infinitely creating a different tree for your favorite sunny spot at home. 

Parans Fiber Optic Skylights Bring Natural Light to Dark Spaces

The interesting thing about fiber optic lighting is that it creates the ability to put natural light in places where there is none.  Generally, here's how it works.  Using a building-mounted panel with computer-controlled, sun-tracking lenses, natural light is channeled through optical fibers to luminaires that diffuse the light (see diagram below).  Since early 2008, HUVCO Daylighting Solutions has been offering a fiber optic lighting system like this, or the Parans System, which was developed in Sweden.  Although light only travels about 60 feet through optical cables, the ability to direct light in this manner is quite interesting. 

EnergyPeak Standing Seam Roof BIPV Provides Quick Payback

We keep hearing about thin film solar innovation and building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), but it may be hard to image how this technology will play a part in the future of our buildings.  But I think CENTRIA Services Group has a product that could certainly change that: EnergyPeak.  They've combined the flexibility of laminate photovoltaics (LPV) with strong, durable standing seam roof panels to create a rooftop solar option with a fast payback.  I mean, just look at the diagram and check out its immediately recognizable benefits:

RoofRay Your Building's Solar Potential

I just noticed this RoofRay mashup that uses Google Maps and various other information to help you calculate the solar potential of your building.  It's pretty interesting, actually.  You can find your building, trace the potential solar roof area, adjust the calculations based on your estimate of orientation and angle, and then see what you have.  After that, you start entering in your electricity usage information and the company you purchase electricity from (watch out though because they didn't have Rocky Mountain Power's information and may not have your information yet).  After that, you cruise along where they start to provide you with an estimate of the system's cost, rebates, and potential savings, etc.