If you haven't noticed, the big news today is Microsoft Hohm, a free online beta application that's rumored to launch sometime next week. Microsoft Hohm will be a web-based service that takes information about your energy use -- not just electricity -- and examines it to provide recommendations to save money and energy. Here's what you can do:
Transportation is inextricably linked with (green) buildings. And for a number of reasons -- peak oil, national security, price gouging, and concern for the environment -- the current oil-based transportation system is dying. Its death started with hybrids, and to a certain extent, continued with natural gas vehicles. With the advent of electrical vehicles, we will all witness the slow, prolonged, and painful death of oil-based transportation. Tonight Dateline NBC gave us a glimpse of the next generation of transportation in Tesla Motors. The future of electrical cars is bright, but let's be clear: it's complicated, too.
The urban space station is a project taking aim at local environmental health, one building at a time. Described by the designers as "parasite architecture," the semi-permanent structure sits atop any roof as it filters air, grows food, and re-uses organic waste for inhabitants.
[Video - 2:19] Noted green building expert Jerry Yudelson explains how the Obama administration will impact green buildings. In short, according to Mr. Yudelson, the Obama administration will make green buildings a permanent part of the economic, cultural, and financial landscape. Every new, large federal building will be LEED certified, and at least 25 (if not 35) states will mandate green certification for all new buildings. We'll see green measures for hundreds of local, state, and federal buildings, and a lot of money will be going into this area. And because of this, people will gravitate towards the green building industry -- we'll see green jobs and a boom of sorts.
We have four DVDs of this movie to randomly giveaway to commenters below, so if you'd like to win one, make sure to say something before midnight on Friday, January 16, 2009.*
Finally! A full-length feature for all us green building junkies! The Greening of Southie is an award-winning film that documents the journey of a green condo building from the idea of a legacy Boston developer all the way to the jungles of Bolivia, from the steel mills of New England to LEED Gold certification. The Macallen Building Condominiums, a sexy piece of contemporary architecture on the border of Boston and South Boston, was completed in 2007 by a committed team of builders. They submitted their process to scrutiny via the cameras of budding filmmakers Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis of Wicked Delicate Films.
Jay Leno's all about the green tech, I mean, his garage is running on wind and solar, and it powers approximately two-thirds of the place. So recently, he just put up this video demonstrating a new technology for rooftop wind applications. The Mag-Wind turbine is made by Enviro Energies and both Jay Leno and Ed Begley Jr. have their own versions on order. Naturally, Leno was excited to point out that his turbine will be bigger than Begley's, but in addition to that, you'll get an idea from the video how interesting the technology actually is. It's built using magnetic levitation technology that reduces friction, noise, vibration, and energy loss. Some other interesting aspects of the Mag-Wind System include:
IBM is becoming gradually more involved in the world of clean tech, so it's not surprising that their third annual "IBM Next Five in Five" includes a mention of solar power. The list includes five innovations that will change the way people work, live, and play over the next five years. Accordingly, IBM thinks energy saving solar technology will be built into asphalt, paint, and windows. Basically, with the advent of thin-film solar cells and advances in technology, everything everywhere will have solar cells and harvest energy. And the technology to do so will be affordable, too.
Starting this Wednesday, the USGBC's Greenbuild International Conference and Expo will convene and I'm geeked to take some time to fly out and participate. The USGBC and LEED, I believe, should take a lot of credit for creating new opportunities in this exciting green building movement in which we all participate. At the same time, though, I try not to forget that many of our neighbors, friends, or family may not have an idea as to what's growing into a watershed moment in building, design, and construction. To get an idea of how far this movement has evolved, the USGBC just released eight, short videos in a series called 15 Years, 15 Stories. The video highlights various leaders and their collective perspective over fifteen years of working with the USGBC.
Kevin Rose sat down with Al Gore in a collaboration between Digg Dialogg and Current to talk about various crowd-sourced issues and topics. Other than some of the questions about marijuana, ManBearPig, and Futurama, I found the interview pretty interesting. Gore was impressively adroit, astute even, in his responses, showing a deep understanding of environmental issues and how they're all interconnected. I've listed the questions below, in case you're looking to hear Mr. Gore talk about a certain topic of interest. It's a short, twenty-six minute video, so make sure to give it a view and enjoy.
Back in March, we mentioned the Silicon Valley NextHouse prefab, which was designed on the inside by Sally Kuchar. If you weren't able to tour the home, no worries because Kohler sponsored several videos with Sally and the homeowners. The 2,400 sf Dwell Home: Silicon Valley was designed to accommodate natural light, solar orientation, seasonal shading from vegetation, and prevailing wind movement, and also to contribute to passive heating and cooling. It's an incredible prefab home. In the above video, Sally explains some of the green materials they used, such as cork tiles, reclaimed limestone, FSC certified brazilian cherry, low-VOC paints, and earth plaster walls. Below, she talks about the kitchen and master bath design -- how about those penny tiles in the kitchen? Nice. Enjoy the videos ...
