Talking Green

Solar Energy in the City

This is pretty cool..

Trendwatching: Eco-Bounty (and Opportunities)

Trendwatching.com just released their report on the highlights of 12 eco sub-trends that entrepreneur or marketer can take advantage today. The 12 trends is followed by sub-trends. Take eco-frugal for an example. In this economy (read: recession) customers are looking for things that are 'cheap and worthy.'

The 12 trends, via Trendwatching.com.

1. Eco-frugal
2. Eco-status
3. Eco-stories
4. Eco-sturdy
5. Eco-feeders
6. Eco-generosity
7. Eco-superior
8. Eco-embedded
9. Eco-edu
10. Eco-transient
11. Eco-vertising
12. Eco-expectations

Judging from these 12 trends, it is clearly that opportunities are out there for those willing to take a little bit risk and take it to the next level.

The full report is available here.

Energy Star Homes Volume Down in 2008; Market Penetration Up

The other day I had the privilege to sit down with Sam Rashkin, who is the National Director for Energy Star Homes with EPA.

Energy Star is a program with 60 product categories from home electronics, heating and cooling, lighting, office equipment, for commercial use and homes. Energy Star quality homes was started in 1996. 940,000 homes have been built; 6,000 builders in partnership with EPA uses the blue logo as part of the requirement.

With the housing market on the low, production was down in 2008 to 100,000 from 120,000 homes. However, market penetration increases from 12.5% to 17.5%, which is an interesting trend.

States that have big market concentration are South Central Texas, he says "Name a big city there! Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio.." Then Arizona in Phoenix area, Las Vegas, California, the Northwestern part of the country Seattle, Oregon, Midwestern state like Iowa. You'll be surprised to hear that there's a big Energy Star homes community in Columbus, Ohio. That's because there is a big builder M/I Homes that built these homes in Ohio. Wisconsin, New England states like Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York. New York market, is interesting, he says, "..Long Island requires townships to mandate Energy Star as Code for every new home." In Mid-Atlantic, the number of Energy Star communities in North Carolina is better than of DC region. (Here's my post for the only community in N. Va.)

When asked why is DC region has low penetration than other markets in the country. He smiled. He said,"the concept here is builders build it and they (buyers) will come. There's no pressure, no utility companies take charge, no leading builder, no state energy program requirements. State energy program kicks in with HERS. Raters decision are influential. None of these things is here." However, interest for the program picks up in Virginia. Back then when market was hot, people would buy anything. (It's so true!) Now, we have NVBIA partnered with EPA and some key builders also joined the program, i.e. Camberley Homes, NV Homes (recently joined the program), Miller and Smith and military housing (i.e. Ft. Belvoir). (Somehow Energy Star banner on Camberley's Stockwell Manor is no longer on display - change of heart?)

I asked him what are the differences between LEED, Earth Craft and all the other green homes certifications (about 80 of them) with Energy Star Homes. The big ones he said, one, there is an obsession to provide market with clean energy, definitive attribute of what energy efficiency is that leads to labeling and absolute clear definition of energy efficiency. No home comes can come without our label. In contrast, green program, one label is not- Energy Star. You want definition people care a lot: good school, neighborhood, lot, etc. Then you have label gold, silver, bronze, all tiers. At the end of the day, to choose a new home, it's easy to use the blue logo (Energy Star), we give them resources guidelines and third-party certification (via HERS/ RESNET).

The other green certifications more or less are based on points. There are mandatory requirements within a single program to get the points, so what is the definition of "Green?" You could have 100 or more different variations of 'green' based on points.

Two, Energy Star homes ensure that house is build with the system, it matches the equipment with the home. So consumers know that the label means efficiency. It builds home using whole home approach, a holistic approach.

Unlike other programs, builders are free to join. It doesn't cost anything. If after joining the program, they stay inactive for 12 months, program terminates. The same thing if they don't follow the brand's guidelines. Third-party verification through HERS/ RESNET is required.

Okay so far we talked about the new homes, because that's what Energy Star homes program is about.

On the resale market, or existing home, they do have what they called "Home Performance for Energy Star," a program that has been around for 8 years. The reason that this program is not as popular as the new homes is, I think is because it uses a different approach: it needs a utility company to sponsor it. Energy audit is conducted by participating contractors who then evaluate your home using state-of-the-art equipment and recommend comprehensive improvements that will yield the best results.

In our region, EPA started talking with Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE). No response yet from Virginia's Dominion Power (read: don't expect them to do encourage users to do anything energy efficiency related anytime soon).

Before leaving I asked him what one can do in this economy to improve home performance and reduce its utility bills. Sam suggested using some of the tools you can find on their website to start with. For example, Home Yardstick tool - it shows you your home energy use in comparison to others around the country - and then get recommendation for energy improvements. To get started you need to have your 12-mos bills, know energy sources for your home (electric, gas, etc.), and the square footage of your home.

There's also Home Advisor tool that can help you get recommendation for efficiency improvements as well. Using the tools and getting the recommendations it's like DIY energy audit without the 'auditor.'

The other option is to have attic insulation. The insulation suppose to help you reduce your utility bills dramatically. For more tips on insulating your home, read here.

If you're renters, here's the "Top 10 Tips" you can use to cut your bill.

To make your home more energy efficient, you can also use other home improvement tools from Energy Star website. Let me share this with you. When I took Eco-Broker a while back, this is one of the websites they use for reference. Its website have tons of info available. So give it a visit.

image: Energy Star

Where the Jobs Will be..

Here is a run down of the "Top 10 States" with job growth potential (the next two years) when the Stimulus package trickles down, via Recovery.Gov:

1. California 396,000
2. Texas 269,000
3. New York 215,000
4. Florida 206,000
5. Illinois 148,000
6. Pennsylvania 143,000
7. Ohio 133.000
8. Michigan 109,000
9. Georgia 106,000
10. North Carolina 105,00

You see why Gov. Crist, one of the Republican Governors, join Obama at the Townhall meeting? While a number of his peers refuse to take the stimulus money- or pretend not to - so they say. It's all about jobs.

See the rest here..(it's interactive)

O'Malley New Sustainability Initiatives

Washington Business Journal reports that Maryland Governor O'Malley pushes his new sustainable initiatives to control growth and pushing transit-oriented-development. In addition to the 6 related bills part of his "Smart, Green and Growing initiatives."

Via Office of the Governor.

The O’Malley-Brown Administration’s Smart, Green and Growing legislative agenda includes a number of smart growth initiatives, including protecting the integrity of Comprehensive Plans, modernizing the State’s Planning Visions, and developing Smart Growth Markers for state and local governments.  In addition, Governor O’Malley is proposing measures to revise and reauthorize and the Maryland Heritage Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program and reinforce the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) bill from the 2008 legislative session.

Kaid Benfield, the smart growth expert over at NRDC, has this to say about O'Malley's green initiatives:

I hope that O'Malley will look at the "smart, green and growing" package as a start, but not as an end to his personal work on these issues.  I hope he also takes a hard look at the existing smart growth programs and ramp up their implementation and enforcement, with new legislative muscle if necessary. The fact that so much development is still occurring outside the designated growth areas, many of which were pretty generously designated by their municipalities, is alarming.

NRDC: Smart Growth Fairfax

NRDC has this cool 'Picturing Smart Growth' tool to help you visualize the possibilities, which is virtually unlimited - if there's a will. It has a featured scenarios for a couple different places in the U.S. for example transforming a wasted space to a gathering space in Honolulu. Then there's this Memphis neighborhood that can be transformed into a more pedestrian friendly hood, and more.

So I play around with the tool to see what the possibilities are for our area in Fairfax. Here are clips to help you visualize the possibilities for this specific local area of Fairfax, which currently is a typical strip development.

This is what the existing site looks like: plain strip development with nothing in it.

Visualize the same development with solar roofs.

How about green roofs? Urban infill with new side street and trees. There's more to see here in Fairfax...

Take a look at your own community to see what else can locals do to help create and build sustainable communities here and across the country. Uhm, think the possibilities are endless.

'09 Trending Green

It's a few days old, but still worth reading: seven green trends to watch this year.

DC-Baltimore Green Biz Directory Updated..

I've just updated the directory. If your company not listed here, send me your email.

Dept. Interior Completes its Green Roof Project

The seven-year green roof project is finally completed. The project is part of the six-phases renovation project slated for the Dept. of Interior, with completion date schedule for 2011, via DOI.

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today unveiled a “green roof” located on the 3rd wing of the Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C. The project is the culmination of lengthy planning and a successful partnership among Interior’s Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance, the General Services Administration, and the Department’s National Business Center.

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The Main Interior Building green roof will help alleviate this problem and provide numerous other benefits:

• Improve water quality by neutralizing acid rain effects and filtering pollution from rainwater.
• Hold up to .7 inches of rain to reduce stormwater runoff entering the sewage system and reduce streambank erosion.
• Shield the roof from the sun’s direct rays, which extends the roof’s life span, insulates the building during the summer and saves energy as well as mitigates urban “heat island” effects.
• Improve air quality by filtering the air that moves across the plants and, through photosynthesis, convert carbon dioxide into oxygen.
• Provide habitat for songbirds and pollinators.
• Reduce noise transfer from the outdoors.
• Provide a visually attractive sight for employees and visitors.

Technorati Tags: green roofs,dept. of interior,washington dc

Mont. County Expanded Clean Energy Rewards Program

Maryland is doing something right here. From State and Stakeholder:

The Clean Energy Rewards program currently offers Montgomery County residents and businesses a 0.5 cent per kilowatt-hour rebate (reduced from prior years) on certain voluntary green energy purchases, offsetting 15-25% of the incremental cost of purchasing green energy. The program budget was also increased by $200,000 to $561,000 through June 2009.

Details on the program here..