|
Instant Enviro News Headlines: Click Here!.
New York Provides $7.8 Million for Efficient, Solar Schools
EUGENE, OR. - BUILDERS ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS - Wednesday, September 11, 2002. Source: EREN Network News. Fifty schools in New York State will sport new solar electric systems by next spring, thanks to a new $1.8 million state-sponsored program called "School Power...Naturally." Governor George E. Pataki announced the new program in late August as part of a package that includes $6 million for improving energy efficiency in New York schools.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) will administer the School Power...Naturally program,
which will provide 90 percent of the cost of installing a $20,000, 2-kilowatt solar power system on each of the schools. AMERESCO, an
energy services firm, will provide an additional $500, reducing the cost for each school to just $1,500. Solar Works, Inc. will design,
install and maintain the systems for the schools. Eligible New York schools have until October 11th to apply for the program. Find out more.
United Solar Systems and Bekaert ECD Solar Systems Announce the Inauguration of Their Advanced $55 Million Solar Cell Manufacturing Plant
EUGENE, OR. - BUILDERS ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS - Wednesday, July 3, 2002. Source: Building Design & Construction. Major expansion is expected to increase U.S. solar production capacity by 20 percent. United Solar Systems Corp., a joint venture between Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) and N.V. Bekaert S.A., announced the official inauguration of the world's largest thin-film solar cell manufacturing machine and related assembly equipment at its Bekaert ECD Solar Systems (its joint venture with Bekaert) facility in Auburn Hills, Mich. Read more.
Architects Award the Top "Green" Building Projects for 2002
EUGENE, OR. - BUILDERS ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS - Wednesday, April 24, 2002. Source: AIA. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) marked Earth Day by awarding its Top Ten "Green" Projects for 2002. The winners range in scale from a 950-square-foot renovated cabin to a 125,000-square-foot office building, and from strawbale construction to metal roofs, but all include energy efficiency among their green features. The ten projects comprise a panoply of energy technologies, including
daylighting, high-efficiency lighting, solar power systems, solar heating and hot water systems, passive solar heating, natural ventilation, natural-gas heat-pump air conditioning, under-floor air distribution, high-efficiency pulse boilers, geothermal heat pumps...well, you get the picture. Read More.
15 Home Builders Earn Energyvalue Awards
EUGENE, OR. - BUILDERS ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS - Wednesday, March 27, 2002. Source: NREL. Fifteen builders will receive this year's EnergyValue Housing Awards (EVHA) on March 25 at the National Green Building Conference in Seattle, Wash.
The awards, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the National Association of Home Builders Research Center and Professional Builder Magazine, were announced in February at the 2002 International Builders' Show in Atlanta.
The EVHA honors builders who voluntarily integrate energy and resource efficiency into the design, construction and marketing of their new homes. The program educates the home building community and the public about successful approaches to resource-efficient construction. See here for the list of Winners.
2002 National Green Building Conference Slated for Seattle, March 24-26
EUGENE, OR. - BUILDERS ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS - Friday, March 1, 2002. Source: NAHB Research Center. The most important environmental home building conference of the year will be held in Seattle, March 24-26, when the National Green Building Conference convenes at the Westin Hotel to showcase cutting-edge techniques, trends, materials and products in environmentally-friendly residential construction and land development.
"The National Green Building Conference has become the leading environmental event for the mainstream builder and anyone else wanting to build greener and better," said Gary Garczynski, president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a builder/developer from Woodbridge, Va. "Every year this conference becomes more important because attendees can learn about future green building trends now. Whether you are a public official interested in helping your community grow smarter, a developer wishing to
make trees a key element in your site plan, a remodeler wishing to reduce waste at your job site, or a builder trying to increase the energy efficiency of your new homes, this conference is the place to be." Read more.
Patent Issued for Building Integrated PV System
EUGENE, OR. - BUILDERS ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS - Wednesday, February 20, 2002. Source: SolarAccess.com. Flour City International, Inc., (FCI) has received a patent for its technology to transfer electricity generated by solar PV panels.
The company said the patent was issued by the U.S. Patent Office on a technology to wirelessly harness and transfer electricity from PV panels. The solar panels are integrated using a network of wires to form solar PV arrays. Read more.
U.S. Poll Shows Strong Support for Renewable Energy
EUGENE, OR. - BUILDERS ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS - Tuesday, February 12, 2002. Source: SolarAccess.com. U.S. president George Bush is "out of step" with his environment and energy policy, according to a poll commissioned by the Sierra Club.
Most voters prefer to achieve energy security by developing alternative sources of energy and increasing efficiency, rather than by drilling for more oil, according to 1,000 registered voters who were surveyed between December 15-20 by the Mellman Group. Mellman is identified as a Democratic polling firm.
"This poll shows that President Bush's anti-environmental actions are out of step with Americans' values," says Carl Pope, executive director of Sierra Club. "Even people who voted for President Bush did not vote for more arsenic in their water or more global warming pollution." Read more!
Siemens Solar Industries, Powerlight Corporation Announce Solar Electric Roof Strategic Alliance
EUGENE, OR. - BUILDERS ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS - Jan. 14, 2002. Source:BuildingOnline eUpdate. Siemens Solar Industries, L.P. and PowerLight Corporation have announced the formation of a strategic alliance to manufacture PowerLight's "PowerGuard®" solar photovoltaic (PV) roof tiles in Chatsworth, CA. This alliance helps California -- and especially the City of Los Angeles -- meet the increasing demand for clean energy with solar electric power.
Under the new agreement, Siemens Solar and PowerLight have established a specialized manufacturing line at a Siemens Solar module manufacturing facility in Chatsworth, California. This production line is capable of manufacturing up to 6 megawatts (and can be expanded to 15-20 megawatts) of solar electric roof tiles per year, primarily for use in Los Angeles' commercial, industrial, and government facilities. When operated at full capacity, the installed output from this joint Siemens-PowerLight manufacturing line helps eliminate 7.5 million pounds per year of harmful emissions from the atmosphere and provides reliable electricity, fueled by the sun, during periods of peak demand. Read More.
Special Builders Environmental News Feature
Three Perspectives on Controversial Wetlands Issues
(1) Corps Revises Wetlands Permits - Eases 'No Net Loss'
EUGENE, OR. - BUILDERS ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS - Jan. 14, 2002. Source: ENR.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is revising the general Nationwide Permits (NWPs) it issues to develop wetlands when the construction will not cause significant environmental impact. The Corps says the changes, to be published in the Federal Register on Jan. 15, will increase protection of aquatic ecosystems and make it easier to comply with the agency's "no net loss" standard. Read More.
(2) National Academy of Sciences Study Finds Serious Flaw in Federal Wetlands Program
EUGENE, OR. - BUILDERS ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS - Friday, January 18, 2002. Source: Sierra Club News. On June 26, 2001 the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a study on a decade-old wetlands mitigation program, which allows developers to destroy wetlands if similar landscapes are recreated elsewhere. The study concluded that the federal program has failed to successfully stem the loss of wetlands nationwide.
This program was devised as a compromise between the Clean Water Act's prohibition of discharging fill materials into navigable waters, and the developers' desire to fill wetlands and continue building. Using this system, landowners can apply for permits to fill wetlands on the condition that they restore, preserve, or enhance other wetlands nearby. Read More.
(3) Interior's Silence on Corps Plan Questioned: Norton Never Submitted Fish and Wildlife Critique of Controversial Proposal to Relax Wetlands Rules
EUGENE, OR. - (BUILDERS BUSINESS NEWS) - Friday, January 14, 2002. Source: Washington Post. In October, after the Army Corps of Engineers floated a controversial proposal that would relax a series of wetlands protection rules, the Fish and Wildlife Service drafted comments denouncing the plan as scientifically and environmentally unjustified.
The service's 15-page salvo warned that the corps proposal would "result in tremendous destruction of aquatic and terrestrial habitats," sacrificing far too many streams and swamps for houses, levees and coal mines. the plan, the comments stated, "has no scientific basis." Read More.
|
