Domestic

Smart Meters: A Human Rights Issue in Canada?

By


Smart meters have been called a lot of things by people opposed to them. In British Columbia, they may become a human rights issue, due to a decision by the province’s Human Rights Tribunal to accept a complaint from a group charging BC Hydro with discrimination.

According to a report in The Globe and Mail, the Tribunal has accepted a complaint
Smart meters, smart meters human rights, smart meters electromagnetic hypersensitivity, BC Hydro smart meters, Human Rights Tribunal smart meters, Canada smart meters
from Citizens for Safe Technology whose members contend BC Hydro discriminates against people with certain medical conditions and disabilities by refusing to accommodate their request for wired meters instead of wireless smart meters. The group says it has members who suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity or other disabilities and doctors have advised them to avoid wireless technology. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 7, 2012 at 2:30 PM

Two Billion Square Feet Of LEED-Certified Commercial Space

By


How successful has the U.S. Green Building Council‘s (USGBC) LEED program been in bringing green building to the commercial sector? Exactly two billion square feet of successful, according to a recent announcement [PDF] – with seven billion more coming down the pike.

A number of factors converge in LEED’s popularity with the commercial sector – among them, energy efficiency and publicity. Because commercial buildings leave the lights on longer and require more of their HVAC systems than residential structures, green building systems can pay for themselves in short order (and serve to lower operating expenses thereafter). Also, that lovely glass plaque announcing a building’s LEED status to the world has proven attractive to many companies looking to build a brand and gain favor with green-minded customers. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 22, 2012 at 10:15 AM

nPower PEG Crowdsources Energy For Developing Nations

By


Solar and wind-powered chargers are cool, but they require resources beyond our control in order to work. Find yourself without power on a cloudy or breeze-less day, and you’ve got a dead gadget on your hands. Kinetic energy, power generated from movement, is a promising renewable energy source, especially for those of us constantly on the move.

A while ago we reported on the nPower PEG, a portable charging that harvests the passive energy generated by your body during almost any type of exercise. After a long wait, the nPower PEG finally hit the commercial market this summer. Now its developers have teamed up with CrisisMappers.net to help bring much-needed off-grid energy to people in developing countries. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 3, 2012 at 11:00 AM

What About The Subsidy? Solar Trends Higher in California

By


California solar installations are trending massively upward, despite historically low levels of state incentive.

With more than 120,000 commercial and residential solar energy systems now online, California leads the nation’s clean energy economy. As a result of this growth more than $10 billion in private-sector investment has flowed into California’s clean energy sector, and employed more than 25,000. Millions of California’s residents enjoy the benefits of low-priced solar energy delivered by systems installed on homes, businesses, schools and public facilities. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 31, 2012 at 1:30 PM

Lab Breakthrough Series: Energy Innovation

By


National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Eric Kozubal co-invented an air conditioning system that’s energy efficient while incredibly effective at both cooling a building and managing its humidity levels – the first time both of these processes have been fit into a single machine. Kozubal recently talked to us about his invisible technology, its road to commercialization, and the effects it will have on industry. Question: This is a perfect example of ‘invisible technology.’ How would someone walking into a building know the DEVAP was being used?

 /  Published July 24, 2012 at 8:00 AM

Building Energy Efficiency: Options in a Dynamic Environment

By


It is estimated that 40% of US power consumption is attributed to buildings, and companies large and small are focusing on ways to reduce wasted energy in the places we live and work. With technological advances come new options for streamlining energy efficiency programs.

“You have to look at a building as an organism that needs to be monitored consistently because conditions change – like weather or occupancy. A building is a dynamic entity, you can’t just build it and walk away,” Dave Bartlett, Vice President of IBM Smart Buildings recently told Breaking Energy. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 23, 2012 at 1:30 PM

Power Markets Shift Again As Consumer Comfort with Choice Grows

By


Independent retail electricity providers have sprung up in various states across the US where deregulation has occurred and policies have been put in place to spur competition.

Approximately 20 states have enacted such policies, but the trend toward choosing electricity suppliers appears to be growing. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 9, 2012 at 11:30 AM

Solar Contractor Sees a Brighter Future

By


Jeanine Cotter’s two-hour commute from her San Francisco home to her job as in-house counsel at software maker Intuit gave her plenty of time to think — mostly about how much she disliked commuting. “It was nonproductive time,” says Cotter, age 46, who began making the drive in 2000. Those lost hours, combined with the demands of her work, made it difficult for her to meet her family’s needs. “It was hard to find balance,” recalls the mom of three. Having seen entrepreneurs in action — small business was the core of Intuit’s customer base — Cotter admired their flexibility, and she began itching to start her own company. Around 2004, conversations with her parents and husband, all of whom had experience in renewable energy, got her thinking about solar contracting.

 /  Published July 3, 2012 at 2:20 PM

Why Stop Worrying and Start Loving the Smart Grid

By


Over the last five years, the smart grid has triggered debate, ranging from whether it should have been part of the stimulus package to concern over health and privacy risks to rising gas, electricity and water rates to the public’s lack of trust in utility companies. Surveys from the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative revealed that less than 25% of the people in the U.S. have heard of the smart grid and even fewer truly understand what it is and more importantly what it means to them.

So why are we so excited about the potential of the smart grid? Keep reading →

 /  Published June 22, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Forget Vehicle-to-grid and Think Vehicle-to-home Instead?

By


Toyota has followed Nissan with the announcement of a vehicle-to-home (V2H) system that can supply electricity from the car battery to a residence for backup or peak power, according to a story from the Green Car Congress. The program will start testing at the end of this year with about 10 households that will have Prius plug-in hybrid vehicles. An onboard inverter converts stored power into AC for home use.

The idea is to store low-cost, off-peak electricity in the vehicle’s battery and for use by the home during peak consumption times. The power flow is controlled via communication between vehicle, charging stand and a home energy management (HEM) system. The HEM system would need some kind of schedule or signal from the utility to know when to charge and when to send power back. Keep reading →

 /  Published June 13, 2012 at 11:30 AM
Page 2 of 11123456...11