Coca Cola Saves Energy With Umisol Window Film
Umisol Infrared Blocking Filter was recently installed at the Coca-Cola headquarters in Brussels. The project is expected to create a net profit of 14 €/m²/year. Energy efficiency is central to the European strategy with the 2020 – 2030 – 2050 EU Directives for smart and sustainable growth and the progression to a resource-efficient economy. By 2050 the EU aims to significantly reduce emissions by 80-95% compared to 1990. The greatest potential for energy savings exists in buildings. The Commission’s plan regarding…
Rain Tunnel Technology Provides Drinking Water from Air
New technology from Bangalore promises clean drinking water by drawing moisture from the air. Rain Tunnel Technology, invented by Dr Rajah Vijay Kumar, Chief Scientific Officer at the De Scalene Research Organization, will soon be available for both commercial and household use. Getting water from the atmosphere is not new. It has been around for more than 500 years but has never been really successful. All the techniques used up until now were based on condensing the air to extract the…
EnergyBar 100 Provides Long Life With Green Battery Technology
AspectSolar, an innovator in Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) solar-powered batteries, has announced an industry-leading, environmentally friendly and portable power solution for every aspect of work, play and home. With a lightweight and compact design, the EnergyBar 100 affords users twice the battery life of similar products and up to five times the duration of traditional batteries. Esmond Goei, CEO of AspectSolar stated, “Our customers are savvy users who understand what they need. The EnergyBar 100 serves their needs better in…
Solstice Refrigerant Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Global regulators are increasingly moving to phase out refrigerants that lead to global warming. On July 2, 2015, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced landmark regulations that will phase out the use of many of the world’s most potent hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), such as R-404A, in a variety of applications. The new regulation, effective summer 2016, will require supermarkets, the largest consumers of R-404A in the US, to discontinue use of R-404A as a retrofit refrigerant. R-404A will also not…
Bamboo Decking Is Durable And Sustainable
Bamboo decking from Cali Bamboo is sustainable and durable. It is stronger and lighter than regular composite with a surface that looks like real wood.
LEGO Plans Sustainable Building Blocks
LEGO will spend $150,000,000 to research new raw materials that will let it make sustainable building blocks for future generations of kids by the year 2030.
SunBeamer Skylight System Provides Natural Light Indoors, Promotes Vitamin D Production
SunCentral has announced the release of a new skylight system that claims to promote vitamin D production by providing natural sunlight in interior spaces that would not normally see sunlight. “Our goal was to develop an indoor lighting system that provides much of the sun’s health benefits, including boosting the body’s ability to produce Vitamin D, while reducing the intensity of wavelengths of ultraviolet (UV) light that are more harmful than beneficial,” said the system’s co-inventor, Lorne Whitehead, Ph.D., professor…
New Ink-Coated Window Shades Save Energy
A New Jersey firm has found a way to provide electronic energy-saving shading for windows at very little additional cost. Elliott Schlam, the principal of New Visual Media Group, says his firm has come up with a new take on the traditional window shade – a super-thin sheet of polymer film that’s installed inside insulating glazing units (IGUs). “All of the dynamic window technologies are basically chemically oriented,” Schlam says. “Ours is an actual physical shade that’s coated with ink.…
Solar Powered LED Lights Can Brighten The World
Philips is introducing a line of solar powered LED lights designed in Africa. The LifeLights last up to 40 hours and have a USB port for cell phone charging
Net Zero Case Study: Bullitt Center – Green Materials
The Bullitt Center in Seattle, Washington, is one of the most self-sufficient buildings on the planet. It is net zero energy and, after the water reuse system is approved by city authorities, net zero water. Net zero means that the building uses the same amount as it creates or generates – it is self-sufficient. In a series of posts here on GBE, we will look at what makes this building tick. Healthy Green Materials The Living Building Challenge requires projects…
LittleBits Smart Home Kit
The LittleBits Smart Home starter kit contains all the components you need to control hour lights, heat, air conditioning and garage door electronically.
Demand for Sustainable Lumber Products Grows
The demand for sustainable lumber is growing. SNW in Portland, Oregon specializes in alder, maple, juniper, myrtle, walnut, and white oak, among others.
Introducing the Floor Plan Light Switch
Have you ever been faced with a gaggle of light switches placed side by side in a large home or building and wondered just what each one was for? Sometimes a newer home or office space can have 4, 5 or more switches without labels on a single plate! Even if it’s your own home that you have lived in a while, it’s easy to forget which one turns on the outside lights, the chandelier in the dining room or…
Light Bandit Brings Daylight to any Room in the House
For those of us who are deep in the dark of winter, this is a great time to think about bringing sunlight into our homes. The Light Bandit allows sunlight to be directed fiber-optically to any room in the house – even one with no windows! Like the luminous ceiling we covered back in 2010, the Light Bandit is a box that is placed or mounted in a window or skylight. Fiber optic cable is run from the box to…
Holiday Lighting Tech Has Come a Long Way
Those of you who always have to be on the cutting edge, and will spare no expense to be there, will twinkle with excitement when you hear about the latest in holiday lighting technology. With 16 million color options and a smart phone app, you will have hours of entertainment (and frustration)! RGB (Red, Green, and Blue) Lights The latest in holiday lights are called RGB lights because they have a red, green, and blue LED in each bulb.…
Holiday Lighting Tips To Keep You In The Green
‘Tis the season to make spirits bright with holiday lights- but that doesn’t mean you have to go broke paying high energy bills this winter! While decorating the tree, house, or garland, a whole section of lights can go dark – along with holiday spirits, and light outages can be frustrating and time-consuming to repair. To help reduce the frustration of decorating, the LightKeeper Pros have produced a list of holiday lighting tips- which we’ve reproduced, below- and our sister…
Timbatree Offers Sustainable Christmas Tree Option
This post is part of Important Media’s “More About the Love, Less About the Stuff” holidays series. This year, we’re talking all about redefining holiday traditions to focus on sustainability and compassion over cutting down trees and fighting for more stuff. Since it’s well past Halloween and officially the “holiday season,” here is a sustainable option for those looking for something different from a live Christmas tree this year. It’s a story that seems very familiar. Timbatrees are lovingly…
Beyond LEDs: Try Brighter Energy Saving Flat Panel Lights Based on Carbon Nanotubes
Moving forward from from incandescence to fluorescence to light-emitting diodes to carbon nanotubes! We are witnessing the inspiring evolution of lighting, all which translates to far greater energy efficiency and better living conditions. Take this news item, for instance, about carbon nanotubes in the quest for better lighting. Beyond LEDs: Brighter, new energy-saving flat panel lights based on carbon nanotubes Washington D.C., October 14, 2014 — Even as the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics has enshrined light emitting diodes (LEDs)…