Tag Archives: Green Tech

SolarWindow Window Coating – Versatile Solar Power Generation

SolarWindow™ window coating generates electricity from light, both from the sun, and artificial light, as well. It is extremely versatile, able to be printed onto glass, plastic, or even paper, making it easy to install this wonder material in many places. This coating sets itself apart from others we have featured, as it can be…

Meet The Men Who Put Solar Shingles On The Roof

Solar shingles are now gaining increasing traction in the renewable energy landscape. They are architecturally distinctive, more so than traditional rooftop photovoltaic panels. Solar shingles provide an integrated building product providing both roofing security and solar electricity in one package. As PV Magazine’s Charles W. Thurston has stated, “The nascent field of U.S. solar shingle manufacturers…

Pig Manure Bioadhesive Produces Alternative To Asphalt Paving

A newly discovered pig manure bioadhesive has been developed by civil engineer Ellie Fini and a team at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Turns out the oils in swine manure are similar to petroleum, but are too low-grade for gasoline and perfect for asphalt. First, just to be clear, the asphalt created with this…

NEXT Solar Window Coating Generates Free Electricity From Sunlight

NEXT Energy Technologies has developed a scalable solar window coating that allows commercial glass products to produce clean energy from the sun. The product pays for itself in a year and provides clean energy for up to 30 years. “It is certainly not an overstatement to describe this technology as a game-changer with far-reaching implications…

Low Cost Coating For Glass Enhances Sustainability Of Buildings

Glass coating increases sustainability

Researchers at Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi have created a new coating for glass that blocks heat transfer at less cost than traditional methods.

Reversible Concrete Allows for Easy Removal

Yes, you read the title correctly – reversible concrete! It seems like an oxymoron – concrete is known for its stability and strength, and its permanence. Well, not anymore! Last October at the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Self-Assembly Lab at MIT and Gramazio Kohler Research of ETH Zurich showed off a process that might finally one-up…

Designed For The Future: Media TIC – Barcelona, Spain

GBE will be featuring three posts highlighting projects from the recently published book Designed For The Future: 80 Practical Ideas for a Sustainable World. The book asks the question: “What gives you the hope that a sustainable future is possible?” Featuring responses by 80 innovators spanning architecture, urban planning, landscaping, journalism, and also environmental leaders, the resulting…

Freeaire Refrigeration Offers Money-Saving Cooling Model

When it is cold outside, Freeaire Refrigeration is busy helping customers save money on electricity use. As spokesman Josh Sarnowitz puts it, “Although many despise the frigid cold that comes with a New England winter there is one company embracing it, putting it to work for their customers in order to save thousands of dollars…

Can BE-Wind’s New Windmill Provide More Wind Power?

Be-Wind wind power generator

BE-Wind* is taking what you think you know about small wind technology and turning it on its head. It has improved performance and made its windmills quieter by blocking the wind! How does the company do that? The Science of Wind Power Generation Current vertical wind generation systems are inherently inefficient because the wind that…

3.0 University Place In Philadelphia Will Feature Electrochromic Glass Facade

3.0 University Place

3.0 University Place will feature 50,000 square feet of SageGlass electrochromic glass from St. Gobain. The glass will help reduce cooling costs by 50%.

Solar Lights: Nokero Introduces New Solar Light Bulb In Zimbabwe

I received this news and Zimbabwe photo yesterday from Steve Katsaros, founder of Nokero, a pioneering Denver company that makes great solar lights and solar light bulbs that replace poisonous kerosene lamps that are so prevalent where people have no access to electricity. Katsaros had very good news to share: My colleagues and I have…

Rain Tunnel Technology Provides Drinking Water from Air

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…

First US Power-to-Gas Plants Open in California and Colorado

The first power-to-gas plant in the US opened in California

Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) is bringing science fiction to life, launching two demonstration projects to create and test a carbon-free, power-to-gas system for the first time ever in the U.S. The technology converts electricity into gaseous energy and could provide North America with a large-scale, cost-effective solution for storing excess energy produced from renewable…

Wind Tree Provides Silent Wind Power Beautifully

Wind Tree turbine

A new French start-up, NewWind, is making wind power beautiful!  Their new Wind Tree offers almost a hundred mini-windmills on an apparatus designed to look like a tree. Due to the light construction of the “leaves,” the Wind Tree generates power at wind speeds as low as 4.4 miles per hour!  This translates into sustained…

Facebook Game Power House Saves Energy and Money

Facebook game Power House saves energy

The Facebook game Power House may finally make all those hours spent mindlessly playing games online pay off!  The object of the game is to guide a family of four through daily activities using as little energy as possible.  It is addicting and challenging, and teaches players how to save energy in real life. The…

Light Bandit Brings Daylight to any Room in the House

Light Bandit

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,…

Soccer Field Lights Powered By Players’ Energy

Foot powered soccer field

In a Brazilian neighborhood plagued by blackouts, panels under the turf of a neighborhood soccer field, fueled by players running over them, provide electricity to light the field and the surrounding homes.  A typical soccer player can run up to seven miles during a football game.  Most of the players in this neighborhood are local…