Get solar information from Google
As energy prices continue to climb, the idea of utilizing solar energy is common sense. The process of getting solar panels installed, however, is quite the opposite.
RoofRay, a new Californian business, aims to give home owners better information to enable them to make more informed environmental decisions for their home. Using the site’s modeling tools, consumers can estimate how much solar energy a home could capture and how that would affect their monthly bills.
The data provided is based upon historical weather conditions, current power usage charges, the gradient of the property, and the maximum amount of solar paneling the roof can hold. One tool uses Google Maps to let users calculate the size of their roof and build virtual panels. RoofRay then estimates the output potential of the solar panels as well as financial considerations like costs of installation, upkeep and return on investment.
Whilst not yet available in Australia, such a tool would be a welcome addition to our growing eco-conscience and our excessive reliance on fossil fuels. Furthermore it would be useful for would-be real estate buyers in making purchase decisions, something that the Marquette Turner team are increasingly finding is a factor in how and where buyer’s buy.
To find out the latest information available in Australia, a good start is the federal government’s portal climatechance.gov.au and Marquette Turner’s Clear the Air site
Simon Turner
Carbon Neutral Homes 101
Carbon Neutral 101 from the Green Building Council (GBCA) has recently received numerous queries on the topics of ‘carbon neutral’ and ‘zero net operating emissions’. We expect that we will continue to hear about projects wishing to pursue these goals.Buildings need to have zero emissions in their construction, operation and embodied energy to be truly carbon neutral.
The challenge has now been set for the property industry to take a closer look at how the buildings can be carbon neutral, including embodied energy by 2020.
Although it is possible to achieve zero net operational carbon emissions from buildings by 2020, truly carbon neutral buildings, including embodied energy are a significant challenge, unless carbon offsetting is used.
How Buildings Achieve Zero Net Operating Emissions
It is possible now for buildings now to achieve zero net operating emissions. There are already a number of projects worldwide that achieve zero net operating emissions.
New and existing buildings are already taking steps towards becoming carbon neutral now by including a range of initiatives and technologies:
- passive design – by using heavy façade, openable windows for ventilation, and thermal mass insulation it can reduce the heating and cooling load;
- on-site generation of energy from renewable sources – solar heating, photo-voltaics, wind and geothermal;
- change to efficient appliances and light fittings, turning off computers, purchasing green power and improving other behaviours; and
- introducing alternative ways to learn, work and play – hot-desks, working from home, taking lessons outside.
- In terms of existing buildings, project teams optimise, upgrade or remove HVAC systems, cooling towers, and lifts to reduce energy use.
How Buildings Can Go Carbon Neutral, Including Emodied Energy
Embodied energy includes all the energy it takes to produce a building. This can include energy required for producing and transporting building materials, on-site processes for constructing the building, as well as demolition of the building when time comes.
However, there are some things that can be done now.
- re-use and reduce materials;
- re-use and refurbish existing buildings as opposed to constructing new buildings;
- consider the mode, distance and fuel type when transporting materials; and
- begin measuring the embodied energy.
What About Green Star?
Green Star – Office Design and Office As Built v3 awards maximum points within the energy category to projects that achieve zero net operating emissions.
Currently in Green Star – Office Design and Office As Built v3 zero net operating emissions include the operation of HVAC systems, lights, hot water, lifts and other base building energy allowances.
Carbon Neutral is currently not specifically awarded in Green Star.
Next Step
Moving from neutral impact to positive impacts…
The environmental impacts beyond energy must be considered. Environmental impacts from buildings must be negated, buildings should be restorative to our environment.
Green Building Council Australia
Library of Green Building Products
For architects and industrial designers, finding sustainable materials to use in building projects has long been a challenge, with providers and information scattered all across the web. Ecolect, which just launched last fall, aims to provide a single, central library of sustainable materials that makes it easier for designers to be “green.”
Rhode Island-based Ecolect, which was founded by two Rhode Island School of Design graduates, hopes to save designers time and money by answering three important questions: where to find sustainable materials, what makes them sustainable, and who else is using them and how. Toward that end, the site features materials with sustainable attributes—eco paints and bamboo flooring, for example—complemented by content that stimulates discussion about sustainability. Case studies illustrate the successful use of sustainable design, and users can contribute reviews and images of materials in use. The site’s blog, meanwhile, discusses how ecology affects the world. Ad-supported Ecolect is free for users.
“We saw a unique and unmet need in the marketplace,” explains Matt Grigsby, one of the site’s cofounders. “From there, we set out to not only create the world’s first free and accessible sustainable materials library, but also build a tight-knit global community, where individuals from around the world can go to learn and connect around the issue of sustainable design.”
Grigsby won last year’s Rhode Island Innovation Awards Rising Star Innovator title for his role in developing Ecolect, and the company itself has been named a finalist in the 2008 SXSW Web Awards, the winner of which will be named next month. The trend toward sustainability isn’t going away anytime soon, so the opportunities are many in supporting and informing those who make it happen. Since the distribution of building materials varies widely by country/region, this is definitely one to set up in your own neck of the woods. Or how about applying the concept to other industries?
Website: www.ecolect.net
Eco Mums
Numbering more than 82 million in the United States alone, there’s no denying that mothers are a significant force to be reckoned with, both economically and otherwise. The EcoMom Alliance aims to tap the power of that demographic for no lesser a goal than to help fight global warming.
Launched online a few weeks ago, the California-based EcoMom Alliance hopes to inspire mothers around the globe to make lifestyle changes that will reduce their carbon footprints. Through the EcoMom Challenge, it asks mothers to take its “10 First Steps for a Sustainable Future,” including swapping traditional light bulbs for energy-efficient compact fluorescent ones, driving less, and buying local, fair trade and organic products. Picking up on the Australian Conservation Foundation’s “Cool the Globe” initiative, the group’s One Night Off campaign encourages mothers to choose one night a week to turn off all lights, TVs, washers, dryers and other appliances. Also part of the group’s agenda are EcoMom Parties—a post-Inconvenient Truth version of the old Tupperware Parties through which members can connect, find support and share ideas. Other “edutainment” offerings from the group include blogs, podcasts and “Sustain Yourself” events for maxed-out EcoMoms.
The EcoMom Alliance is a nonprofit, 501 (c)(3) organization with about 9,000 members around the globe, including not just the United States but also Australia, Hungary, England, France and Brazil. It is reportedly in the process of training women to lead EcoMom events worldwide, as well as readying an official EcoMom seal of approval for commercial products.
US mothers alone control 85 percent of household spending, according to the Marketing to Moms Coalition, amounting to about USD 2.1 trillion annually. It’s hard to imagine a much better place to start enabling real change. (Related: Web community for greener living.)
Website: www.ecomomalliance.org
Simon Turner simon@marquetteturner.com.au
Green Beer: cheers to Cascade for it’s global cooling
Cascade announced the release of its newest and greenest drop, CASCADE GREEN – a 100% carbon offset beer. After first reducing the brewery’s environmental footprint, the full lifecycle of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with Cascade Green – right from the picking of the hops to putting it in the recycling bin – are offset, meaning the net impact of the emissions for the beer is reduced to zero.
Cascade Brewery, long renowned for the quality of its beers and Tasmanian heritage, has been driving year-on-year environmental improvements for over a decade, winning a number of environmental awards*. In the past six years the brewery has cut greenhouse gas emissions by 16 per cent and reduced water usage by 30 per cent per unit of production over this time.
Cascade Green’s packaging was designed with the objective to, where possible, minimise its carbon footprint. For instance, it uses the lightest weight, highest recycled content (minimum 50 per cent) glass bottle currently available in Australia, while the 100 per cent recycled carton is printed with two-colour biodegradable vegetable inks.
CASCADE GREEN has achieved Australian Government Greenhouse Friendly™ certification. As part of this rigorous accreditation process, Cascade Green has undergone an extensive Lifecycle Analysis, which has been independently verified by DNV and SMEC** and also has an Emissions Monitoring Plan in place to meet the ongoing commitments required of GFP members. Cascade Green has initially purchased certified carbon offsets for the Hobart Landfill Flare Facility, approved under the GFP and developed by AGL Energy Services, and will continue to purchase offsets on an ongoing basis.
The Cascade brewing team prides itself on making beers of exceptional quality and CASCADE GREEN is no exception. It’s a full-strength, clean and refreshing all-malt lager, with a third less carbohydrates than a regular full strength beer and is preservative free. CASCADE GREEN is available from March at quality bottle shops, restaurants and bars.
Further details can be found at: www.cascadegreen.com.au
Simon Turner simon@marquetteturner.com.au
Starbucks Giving Grounds For Your Garden
Coffee drinkers around the world are expected to consume almost 7 million tonnes of the stuff each year by 2010, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, and that means a heck of a lot of spent grounds to dispose of. Rather than throw the nitrogen-rich material into landfills, Marquette Turner has learnt that global chain Starbucks has found a greener solution by giving it away to consumers with gardens.
Eco approaches may be all the rage today, but Starbucks’s Grounds for Your Garden program actually began as a grassroots initiative back in 1995. After growing steadily for almost a decade, it was officially launched in 2003, offering up free spent coffee grounds to North American customers year-round on a first come, first serve basis. Grounds are packaged in reused coffee bags and sealed with simple directions for using them in the garden or compost pile, where they can help improve soil quality.
“Coffee grounds are a valuable source of nutrition for the garden,” explains Ben Packard, director of environmental affairs for Starbucks. “Reusing coffee grounds in the garden is a great alternative to disposing this rich resource from our stores. It’s a win for gardeners and a win for Starbucks.”
Indeed, now that the spotlight is shining full-force on companies’ environmental practices, this kind of approach really is a win-win for everyone. It’s relatively low-cost and easy to implement, but it means less waste in the landfills, a benefit for consumers and their gardens, and a warm and fuzzy green image for Starbucks—definitely worth emulating!
Website: www.starbucks.com/aboutus/compost
Simon Turner simon@marquetteturner.com.au
