2011 October 29

NJ Elementary Adds Green Tech to Class

New Jersey, which has seen a solar boom in recent years, now adds to the nation’s growing list of green schools with the Midtown Community Elementary School in Neptune. The school recently took top honors with LEED, securing Platinum certification from the U. S. Green Building Council.

This elementary school, designed by SSP Architectural Group and completed in 2008, also bears the distinction of  being the largest of those 25 K-5 schools certified LEED Platinum in the United States. It makes use of energy management strategies including geothermal heating/cooling, under-flow air delivery, and solar photovoltaics, reducing energy costs for the local school district.

image via Neptune Midtown Community School

None of which is lost on the school’s 700 students, as the building’s green features have been turned into teaching tools designed to enhance the educational experience. Glass doors on mechanical closets reveal the school’s energy saving systems in action, while transparent raised flooring displays the school’s cabling systems; a rooftop garden (designed with Liberty Science Center) offers 6,000 square feet of green space perfect for outdoor experiments.

In fact, all this green tech so close at hand has led to a development of a specialized curriculum for environmental studies, now in place at all Nepture District schools.

Solar Leasing Supply Deal For Suniva

Whether Chinese manufacturers are cheating or not, as SolarWorld and six unnamed compatriots charge, there is little question these are challenging times for U.S. crystalline silicon solar manufacturers. But Georgia-based Suniva had some good news to tout recently, reaching an agreement to supply SunCap in its expanding solar leasing program.

You might remember Suniva from a story we did in 2010, when it won conditional approval for a federal loan guarantee to help build a manufacturing plant in Michigan. The company ended up scuttling those plans and the loan guarantee was never finalized. However, Suniva did receive a $5.7 million U.S. Department of Energy tax credit through the 2009 stimulus, and has been hailed by DOE Secretary Steven Chu as an example of government investment in clean energy paying off.

image via SunCap

In the SunCap announcement, Suniva played the home-grown card, noting that its solar modules “contain more than 80 percent U.S. content and are fully ‘Buy America’ compliant.”

SunCap, meanwhile, is the solar-financing arm of NRG Energy, a New Jersey-based behemoth with its tentacles in energy production from a range of resources, from coal to wind. Its solar leasing program – available now in Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Maryland, Colorado, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas, but said to be expanding – functions along the same lines as those offered by companies like Sungevity and SolarCity: SunCap works with partner companies to design and install a system at no upfront cost to the homeowner, then the homeowner pays for the leasing as well as the electric bill, presumably at a lower cost combined than the old electricity bill.

Living Sustainably On A College Campus

by Jennifer Wolfe, Planet Forward

THIS WEEK: Our friends at Second Nature have launched Campus Sustainability Day, so this week’s webisode features videos submitted to Planet Forward from audience members like YOU! We profile three schools that are working toward more sustainable college campuses.

image via Shutterstock

FROM OUR EXPERTS: See what sustainability chief Meghan Chapple-Brown has to say about what campuses can do to become sustainable.

FROM OUR NEWSDESK: Thanks to PFF Joel Goldberg for offering a little support! Check out this article he submitted about how women’s bras could be used as fuel.

FROM OUR PARTNERS: Planet Forward showcases videos from across the country, submitted by viewers like YOU. Show us what’s happening on your campus just like  Caldwell College and University of Nebraska have done!

FROM NBR: Middlebury College of Vermont knows what it means to be sustainable. The team won Planet Forward’s contest and was featured in last week’s PBS Nightly Business Report!

Editor’s note: This video content comes to us as a cross post courtesy of Planet Forward. Author credit for the post goes to Jennifer Wolfe.

Government Challenge: Reduce Buildings’ Energy

The U.S. government has issued a challenge to the private sector – reduce the amount of energy consumed in federal buildings. Called, The Net Zero Renovation Challenge and announced by the U.S. General Services Administration, the initiative aims to reduce buildings’ energy through Energy Service Performance Contracts (ESPCs).

ESPCs work when a a private-sector energy services company develops and installs energy saving systems a building. These systems can include: energy efficient lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, in addition to more efficient roofs, walls, doors and windows.  The owner of the building will then repay the energy company for the upgrades over a maximum 25-year period. After the capital is paid, the building owner enjoys energy savings for the life of the building.

image via Shutterstock

U.S. General Services Administrator, Martha Johnson said in a statement that the challenge is an extension of President Obama’s Executive Order 13514, which challenges government to lead by example in environmental, energy and economic performance.

As part of the challenge, 16 energy services companies who provide ESPCs to federal agencies will present the best retrofit plans for 30 Federal buildings across the country.  The projects will be evaluated by a panel of independent experts who will look at energy savings, financial and technical innovation and applicability to other federal buildings. The winning entries will be awarded the ESPCs, as well as additional ESPCs in the future.

Hertz Debuts Electric Bus At LAX

Hertz is serious about its commitment to electric vehicles. Just months after announcing that they would be offering an electric rental fleet in China, the company recently said that they have debuted a zero-emissions, all-electric shuttle bus, the E-Bus 12, manufactured by China-based BYD, at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The company said that at this time, the bus is only in its preliminary phase and is being used to test the viability of an electric bus on its airport routes.

The BYD pure electric eBUS-12 is able to run 155 miles on a single charge in urban conditions, more than enough, the company says, for use at its airport locations. With its energy consumption less than 100 kWh per 60 miles the bus not only makes environmental sense, it makes dollars and sense. Replacing just one traditional bus with the eBUS will reduce emissions by over 320 kg of CO2 (per 150 miles traveled) and save Hertz an average of $76 per day, per bus in fuel costs (32 gallons of diesel at $3.20/gal are replaced with $25.92 in electricity for $0.08/Kwh — the night time EV charge rates in LA).

image via BYD

The eBUS-12 is a pretty plush ride. The 40 foot-long bus is designed with a low floor and ample space to allow passenger loading and unloading. It also  features huge viewing windows and specially engineered sound insulation for a quieter trek out to Terminal Z.

In addition, the bus can accommodate a large solar system on the top of the bus as a supplemental energy source.

Green Tech Weekly, Webisode 12

by Jason Quail, Green Tech Weekly

In this weeks show a personal solar charger that needs your help,  Electric Blue breaks a land speed record for electric cars, Gemasolar plant is able to use solar to produce electricity 24/7, energy from your breath and a story with some style that Doc Brown would be proud of: the electric DeLorean.

image via Delorean Motor Company

For links to this weeks show head over to http://www.greentechweekly.tv

Editor’s note: This video content come to us as a cross post courtesy of Green Tech Weekly. Author credit for this content goes to Jason Quail.

Scientists: Bioenergy Hurts Forests

In a recent story published in the journal Nature Climate Change, scientists from the College of Forestry at Oregon State University and other institutions in Germany and France claim that an emphasis on bioenergy from West Coast forests would increase carbon dioxide emissions from these forests at least 14 percent, if the efficiency of such operations is optimal.

These claims are counter to assumptions and some previous studies that suggest biofuels from this source would be carbon-neutral or even reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Oregon State study’s findings were backed up by scientists at the US Department of Energy.

image via Shutterstock

During the past four years, the study examined 80 forest types in 19 eco-regions in Oregon, Washington and California, ranging from temperate rain forests to semi-arid woodlands. It included both public and private lands and different forest management approaches. “On the West Coast, we found that projected forest biomass removal and use for bioenergy in any form will release more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than current forest management practices,” said Tara Hudiburg, a doctoral candidate at OSU and lead author on the study.

The study examined thousands of forest plots with detailed data and observations, considering 27 parameters, including the role of forest fire, emissions savings from bioenergy use, wood product substitution, insect infestations, forest thinning, energy and processes needed to produce biofuels, and many others.

“Most people assume that wood bioenergy will be carbon-neutral, because the forest re-grows and there’s also the chance of protecting forests from carbon emissions due to wildfire,” Hudiburg said. “However, our research showed that the emissions from these activities proved to be more than the savings.”

Maine Group Wants More Clean Energy

A group of citizens has formed in Maine to push for legislation that would require  utility companies to get 20 percent of their power from renewable sources. The Maine Citizens for Clean Energy is a group of individuals and businesses that have formed to promote increased energy independence, job growth and reduced pollution.

The group’s first task has been to gather signatures for a November 2012 ballot initiative known as The Clean Energy Initiative. The initiative requires 20 percent of the state’s power to come from renewable sources like wind and solar by 2020. It also requires electric utility companies to support and invest in all energy-efficiency resources for consumers that are cost-effective and will lower total energy cost.

image via Shutterstock

The coalition may not have to work too hard to get support. Maine’s Public Utilities Commission previously adopted a renewable energy standard that requires utilities to get 10 percent of their power from renewable energy sources by 2017. The public commission says the standard is working by promoting renewable energy development in the state without burdening ratepayers.

The initiative has a diverse group of supporters. At a recent kick-off event for the group, wind power company Reed & Reed and solar roofing contractor IRC Roofing spoke in support of the measure. Andrew Campbell, an Iraq war veteran was quoted in a statement supporting the initiative,“We send over five billion dollars out of state every year buying foreign oil and gas, including money that goes overseas to countries that threaten our national security. By making the transition to clean, sustainable sources of energy here at home, we can reduce our dependence on other nations.”

Twin Living Towers Planned for Milan

High-density housing has long been touted as a solution for preserving green space while allowing cities to expand. But what if the high-rise itself were the green space? That seems to be the idea behind Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) by Boeri Studio, a project designed to contribute to the regeneration of the environment and urban biodiversity without expanding the city’s physical footprint.

According to Greenlaunches, the two residential Vertical Forest towers planned for Milan, Italy, stand 110 and 76 meters (360 and 249 feet) respectively and will be home to more than 900 trees, as well as shrubs and floral plants. Comprising 10,000 square meters (32,000 square feet) of green area, these “twin towers” will help to produce humidity, absorb greenhouse gases and dust particles, and produce oxygen for the city. The project is currently in the final working plan phase, and will be constructed at a cost of $87.5 million.

image via Boeri Studio

All those plants will be irrigated, largely, using the building’s filtered and reused greywater. Additionally, wind power and photovoltaic solar energy systems will help to increase the self-sufficiency of these two towers, while the plants will help to regulate temperatures within the building, reducing demands on the building’s heating and cooling systems.

The plan is for the management and maintenance of the Vertical Forest’s vegetation to be entrusted to an agency with an office housed within the towers that will be open to the public, no doubt serving as a clearing house for information on these iconic green buildings. The developer is Hines Italia.