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2006 National Green Power Award Winners Announced

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) have awarded the 2006 Green Power Leadership Awards, recognizing leading national green power purchasers and suppliers. EPA and DOE presented awards for green power purchasing to 22 organizations that have demonstrated leadership by voluntarily purchasing green power or creating innovative supply options for consumers. CRS presented six awards to organizations and individuals that have shown outstanding leadership in building and shaping the market for renewable energy. Purchaser Awards – the highest honors went to: Partner of the Year — Aspen Skiing Company — HSBC-North America — Johnson & Johnson — Starbucks — Whole Foods Market On Site Generation: — Chena Hot Springs Resort — San Diego Unified School District — County of Butte Government Center (Calif.) Green Power Purchase: — Coldwater Creek — Commonwealth of Pennsylvania — IBM — PrAna — Staples, Inc. — Stonyfield Farm — The Holland, Inc. — The Tower Companies — Vail Resorts — WhiteWave Foods Company Suppliers – The highest honors went to: — New Green Power Program: Silicon Valley Power, City of Santa Clara, Calif. — Renewable Energy Technology Supplier: Community Energy — Green Power […]

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Hybrid Solar: Coming Soon?

Hybrid technologies are the new kid on the block. In addition to hybrid cars, emerging technologies combine hydrogen with wind, and solar with lighting. 25% of the electricity used in the U.S. powers indoor lights, and inefficient ones at that. Three quarters of the electricity drawn by incandescent lights is completely wasted, and worse than that, the heat they reflect increases the need to cool buildings by 10%. A hybrid solar lighting (HSL) project, with the potential to vastly increase lighting efficiencies, is on track to enter commercialization in early 2007. Developed by the federal Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), HSL technology places 4-foot wide mirrored dish solar collectors on the roof that track the sun with the help of a GPS receiver. The collector focuses the sunlight onto 127 optical fibers, which act as flexible light pipes to deliver the electricity to indoor light fixtures. Each collector powers about eight hybrid light fixtures, which spread the light in all directions through diffusion rods, illuminating about 1,000 square feet.What makes it a hybrid? HSL control systems continually monitor that amount of natural light that’s available and switch between artificial and natural light as needed. On cloudy days, and in the […]

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2006 Top Green Building Products

Each year, BuildingGreen, Inc., selects the most innovative green building products, an increasingly complex task considering the surge of new products coming to market in the booming green building industry. BuildingGreen is one of the pioneers in the field, producing the much respected Environmental Building News newsletter and GreenSpec directory. “The range of product types showing exemplary innovation is amazing,” says co-editor Alex Wilson. Three of the top ten products this year primarily save energy, two products save water, three are made from recycled waste and one is a system to salvage material. One product was chosen because it turns ordinary concrete into one of the best flooring options for commercial buildings. Another winner provides renewable energy credits, an excellent way for building owners to support renewable energy. “Most of the Top-10 products this year have multiple environmental attributes,” he says.BuildingGreen’s Top-10 product selections are drawn primarily from new additions to the company’s GreenSpec product directory, which now includes over 2,100 products. More than 250 product listings are new to the GreenSpec database this year. “New products seem to be appearing at an ever-faster pace,” says Wilson. Some of the winners are new to the market. “In some cases, we […]

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