New Resource

The building sector is the single largest consumer of energy in the nation, so it is refreshing to see a firm like HKS embrace the technology for their own 110,000 square foot Dallas headquarters.  Design can play a powerful role in conserving resources - HKS partnered with Renewable Choice Energy to offset its annual electricity consumption with 100% wind power.

The growth of the green building market has been widely celebrated recently, spurred largely by government policies and rising recognition that such structures are more economical to operate.  An article published yesterday in Earth2Tech, by Justin Moresco does an excellent job of describing 5 of the major risks that could hinder rapid growth.

See this weeks North Bay Business Journal for an article about BuildPods factory built bathrooms and kitchens being used in an upcoming project in Sonoma Valley.

Why not supersize solar panels? Roger Little, chief executive of Spire, which develops equipment for solar PV panel manufacturing, thinks so. Little, who spoke on a panel at the Intersolar conference this week in San Francisco, told us that his Medford, Mass.-based company has developed a prototype of a machine that would produce what he calls “supersized” solar modules. The giant panels would be about 3 feet by 12 feet in size and produce about 1 kilowatt of power each, or about five times the surface area and power output of standard panels today.

Several months ago, GE started a trial installing smart appliances - dishwashers, microwaves and others devices embedded with communications technology - in 15 homes.   This article posted today at earth2tech talks about the trial and the plans GE has for the future regarding smart appliances.

Will we start seeing these type of appliances and heat pumps in multi-family projects in the future?