Earlier this week, Green Wavelength LLC, a bio-inspired clean energy startup, unveiled their 19-foot, prototype, small wind turbine to crowds at The Perfect Pitch 2009 entrepreneur conference. Called XBee, the turbine – unlike any that you’ve probably ever seen – was designed with inspiration from the movement of bumblebees, hummingbirds, and dragonflies.
Stormwater design and control is a huge aspect of green building, especially with LEED credits provided for reducing impervious cover, increasing on-site filtration, and reducing pollution from stormwater runoff and eliminating contaminants. We've mentioned a company previously makes recycled content pavers, Vast Pavers, but I thought I would also mention another company that's been making news in the industry, Xeripave. Xeripave makes permeable pavers in various colors that have a flow through rate of up to 1.5 gallons per second per square foot. Watch how the paver works:
This week, Envision Solar announced the completion of a 130 kW installation of Solar Trees — a Solar Grove — at Dell's headquarters in Round Rock, Texas. General contractor McBride Electric partnered with Envision Solar, who teamed up with BP Solar and Weitz Company to design and build the Dell Solar Grove. The Solar Grove provides shade for roughly 50 parking spaces and provides clean energy, too.
This morning the final results of the Solar Decathlon were announced. As expected, Technische Universität Darmstadt, aka Team Germany, took first prize. This is Team Germany’s second straight victory. In the net metering contest, the team gained almost thirteen more points than the next closest team, Illinois, which solidified the victory. Although the Popular Choice award will be released later this weekend, the competition is officially over. Make sure to check out all 20 Solar Decathlon homes from 2009 — they’re beautiful and inspirational. Here are the results (updated with Popular Choice later):
In a few hours, the U.S. Department of Energy will announce final results of the Solar Decathlon at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Solar Decathlon is a competition of 20 teams of college and university students to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. There are 10 subjective and objective contests in these categories: architecture, market viability, engineering, lighting design, communications, comfort zone, hot water, appliances, home entertainment, and net metering. At this time, the engineering and net metering contests are the only scores that have not been released. Is the suspense getting to you yet?
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