Recently in Sustainable Energy Use Category
Clean Edge has just released the Utility Solar Assessment (USA) Study, making the case that solar power has the potential to reach cost parity with retail-electricity rates in most regions of the U.S. in less than a decade — but only if electric utilities step up to the plate.
The free report (Download — PDF), published in partnership with Co-op America, provides a robust roadmap for electric utilities to accelerate the growth of solar energy.
Incorporating the latest technology, market, and policy breakthroughs, and interviews with key industry players and experts, it shows how a coordinated effort among regulators, the solar industry, and utilities can enable solar to reach 10 percent of U.S. electricity generation by 2025.
The Donald BREN School of Environmental Science & Management at the U. of California, Santa Barbara is making where students learn and explore a very green environment.
Greening Bren Hall
Bren Hall, which earned recognition as the "greenest" laboratory building in the United States shortly after it was completed, is a physical manifestation of the School's mission and provides a world-class arena for scientific and academic initiative, leadership, invention, and research. By combining cutting-edge technology with environmentally sound principles, products, and services, Bren Hall has set a new standard for sustainable design.
Opened in April 2002, Bren Hall is the only laboratory building in the United States to have received the U.S. Green Building Council's Platinum LEEDTM accreditation - the highest level possible - since the USGBC established its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. Bren Hall sets the highest standard for sustainable buildings of the future, and is being used as a model for other facilities and operations, particularly throughout the campuses and institutions in the state of California. In July 2003, the UC Regents adopted a Green Building Policy for all ten of its campuses, and in November of that year UCSB committed to constructing all new buildings to the level of LEEDTM silver. This represents an extraordinary benchmark and demonstrates a serious commitment to sustainability. UCSB's new Marine Science Institute (also designed by Bren Hall's architects, Zimmer Gunsul Fransca) has obtained a silver LEEDTM rating.
The total cost of the building was $26 million. Building in a sustainable manner with sustainable materials added only 2% to the overall costs, which will easily be recovered through energy savings over time. Bren Hall is proof that cost is not a significant deterrent to green construction.
For descriptions and images of individual building spaces in Bren Hall, please visit our Rooms & Halls, Teaching Labs, and Research Labs web pages.
Awards & Honors
Flex Your Power Energy Efficiency Award (February 2004)
International Interior Design Association Environmental Award (May 2003)
Parade of Green Buildings featured site (April 2003)
Goleta Valley Beautiful Award (November 2002)
LEEDTM Platinum Award, USGBC(April 2002) Commendation from former California Governor Gray Davis (2002)
Commendation from the County of Santa Barbara (2002)
Case Study for the California Energy Commission
Case Study for the California State and Consumer Services Agency
LEED Rating
The USGBC's LEEDTM program is a credit system. The pilot program in effect when Bren Hall was being built (version 1.0) specified a total of 44 available credits, 6 bonus credits, and 10 prerequisites, arranged in the following five categories describing major areas of sustainable design: sustainable site planning, improving energy efficiency, conserving materials and resources, enhancing indoor air quality, and safeguarding water. Click here to view or print the Acrobat pdf document that itemizes Bren Hall's sustainable features in these areas.
Bren Hall achieved a score of 37 points to receive a Platinum rating,
the highest available. It surpasses the new Title 24 requirements for
energy efficiency standards by more than 31%.
Click here to view the document that itemizes each LEEDTM category and credit, and how it was achieved.
New York's Renewable Energy Task Force recently announced 16 recommendations as part of a roadmap to significantly increase renewable energy generation in New York. These recommendations include more solar energy production, funding the state's program to get 25 percent of New York's electricity from renewable energy by 2013, and new business incentives targeted to attract renewable energy producers and expand the state's "green collar" workforce.
The Renewable Energy Task Force was charged with identifying barriers to increased production of renewable energy, recommending policies and financial incentives to overcome those barriers, and identifying future market areas where additional research and development investment is necessary.
Recommendations Highlights
The task force recommends an eightfold increase in solar energy production by 2011Significant recommendations of the task force's first report include:
- Developing eight times more solar photovoltaic energy generation in New York--more than 100 megawatts by 2011;
- Increasing the renewable energy supply in New York State to meet 25 percent of electricity demand by 2013, and fully funding the Renewable Portfolio Standard to make it happen;
- Developing new business incentives to attract renewable energy technology companies to New York in order to build industry clusters in solar, wind, biomass and other technical areas;
- Changing the law to allow and encourage New York companies to produce their own renewable energy "on site" and deliver excess power back to the energy grid known as "net metering;"
- Developing and supporting a "green collar" workforce of skilled labor to support renewable energy technology companies by coordinating training programs, expanding and enhancing those programs as necessary, and making training opportunities available to residents of disadvantaged communities, minority- and women-owned companies, and other small businesses.
Renewables Create Jobs
The task force set forth key data throughout the report demonstrating that investment in renewable energy creates jobs and increases tax revenues. Some examples include:
- Up to 43,000 new jobs in New York could be created by the renewable energy production needed to meet the requirement that 25 percent of New York's electricity come from renewable sources.
- Renewable energy and energy efficiency industries could create up to 40 million jobs and generate up to $4.5 trillion in revenue in the United States by 2030-a four-fold increase over current revenues.
- Over the next 20 years, $1 billion in economic benefits are expected to result from the roughly $500 million that New York has so far committed in renewable energy funding through the Renewable Portfolio Standard-a 100 percent return on investment, not counting economic spillover, multiplier effects, and environmental quality-of-life gains from renewable energy production.
Businesses are encouraged to produce energy
on site from renewable sources
Taking immediate action on the task force's recommendations, Paul Tonko, President and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), indicated that NYSERDA would immediately invest $4 million in green collar workforce initiatives, on top of the $2 million in this year's Executive Budget and would also establish a Wind Energy Research and Testing Center to develop new technologies and provide workforce training.
DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis said: "Clean energy is crucial on so many fronts: energy conservation, pollution reduction, combating climate change, and developing green businesses and jobs, just for starters. The task force's recommendations will continue our leadership on those issues. And, importantly, they will establish a roadmap to stimulate renewable energy development in a way that is real and tangible."
About the Renewable Energy Task Force
Composed of 20 members, the Renewable Energy Task Force represents a diverse array of stakeholders in the renewable energy field, including the renewable energy and alternative fuel industries, environmental and agricultural communities, academia, public utilities, local and state government entities, and experts in energy policy, green building construction and economic development.
In September 2007, the task force held a public meeting in New York City to release its preliminary findings. The findings were based on recommendations developed by numerous task force subcommittees and vetted using the following criteria: what would generate the most renewable energy; what would have the most environmental benefit; and what would least impact ratepayers, taxpayers and consumers financially.
The details of the task force's first report were reached by a consensus of all of its members. Its final report is due in December 2008.
US Federal Government Issues EPEAT Purchasing Requirement
The US Federal Government has integrated an EPEAT requirement into the Federal Acquisition Regulations – the 'rulebook' of the federal purchasing sector. The Federal Acquisition Regulations require federal agencies to purchase at least 95% EPEAT-registered products in all relevant electronic product categories.San Francisco ICT EPEAT Policies for 2008
San Francisco city studied the environmental impact of information and communication technology (ICT). Based on the experience of commercial buildings, approximately 20-25% of building energy is attributable to ICT. Because of this impact, ICT has significant potential to enable innovative solutions to the environmental challenges of energy use and can be an effective tool to advance sustainable economic development.- Beginning in April 2008, city departments shall only purchase personal and notebook computers and monitors that meet at least the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) Silver standard, with a preference for the Gold standard.
- The Committee on Information Technology (COIT) shall ensure technology projects are reviewed for environmental impact and support the City’s environmental goals.
- By June 2008, the Department of Technology and Information Services (DTIS) shall implement a paper reduction pilot program with the goal to reduce general office paper consumption by 20%. At the conclusion of this pilot program, the City’s Chief Information Officer will recommend a paper reduction policy to COIT for immediate implementation.
- By September 2008, DTIS shall report on the results of a pilot program to implement centralized power management systems for personal computers. This will strengthen Executive Order 05-104 (September 23, 2005) which mandated the installation of power management functions.
- Finally, the City’s Chief Information Officer will develop a baseline measurement of energy consumption and environmental impact of the City’s overall ICT operations to be able to measure and fully implement supporting steps that will enable us to continue to find new strategies to address the environmental challenges of energy use and waste creation.
EPEAT Computer Products Environmental Organization
EPEAT is a system to help purchasers in the public and private sectors evaluate, compare and select desktop computers, notebooks and monitors based on their environmental attributes. EPEAT also provides a clear and consistent set of performance criteria for the design of products, and provides an opportunity for manufacturers to secure market recognition for efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its products.The EPEAT Registry on this web site includes products that have been declared by their manufacturers to be in conformance with the environmental performance standard for electronic products - IEEE 1680- 2006. The standard is summarized here, and may be purchased from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. EPEAT operates a verification program to assure the credibility of the Registry.
Some of the participating manufacturers include:
Apple, CTL Corp, Dell, Enano, Fujitsu, GETAC, HP, Hyundai IT America, Lenovo, LG Electronic USA, MDG Comptuers Canada, MPC Computers, NCS Technologies, NEC Display Solutions, Northern Micro, One Laptop Per child, Panasonic, Philips Electronics, Prosys Tech, Samsung Elec. America, Sony Electronics, Toshiba, Transource, ViewSonic, Zonbu.
The 2008 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate is John Anthony Allan, for his pioneering work in how understanding and communication of water issues are linked to agriculture, climate change, economics, and politics.
A professor at King’s College London and the School of Oriental and African Studies, Allan introduced the “virtual water” concept in 1993 to measure how much water is used to grow, package, and produce various commodities.
People do not only consume water when they
drink it or take a shower. In 1993, Professor Allan, 71, strikingly
demonstrated this by introducing the “virtual water” concept, which
measures how water is embedded in the production and trade of food and
consumer products.
- Behind that morning cup of coffee are 140 litres of water used to grow, produce, package and ship the beans. That is roughly the same amount of water used by an average person daily in England for drinking and household needs.
- The ubiquitous hamburger needs an estimated 2,400 litres of water. Per capita, Americans consume around 6,800 litres of virtual water every day, over triple that of a Chinese person.
Virtual water has major impacts on global trade policy and research, especially in water-scarce regions, and has redefined discourse in water policy and management. By explaining how and why nations such as the US, Argentina and Brazil ‘export’ billions of litres of water each year, while others like Japan, Egypt and Italy ‘import’ billions, the virtual water concept has opened the door to more productive water use. National, regional and global water and food security, for example, can be enhanced when water intensive commodities are traded from places where they are economically viable to produce to places where they are not. While studying water scarcity in the Middle East, Professor Allan developed the theory of using virtual water import, via food, as an alternative water “source” to reduce pressure on the scarcely available domestic water resources there and in other water-short regions.
The relationship between the export and import of water-intensive products has “opened the door to more productive water use,” according to the Stockholm International Water Institute, which confers the prize. Thus, Allan proposes, importing food can reduce the pressure on scarce water supplies.About Professor Allan
Promoting Smarter Water Decisions
As
a scientist, educator and advisor, Professor Allan has built essential
knowledge and communication tools for sustainable and efficient water
resource management and policy. His research deploys a wide range of
environmental, economic, social and political theory to give insights
on global water resources and the extent to which they can be made
sufficient to meet the needs of future populations. Because of his
work, policy makers, scientists, water professionals and the general
public have greater awareness of the role of water in the production of
different types of products and its impact on global trade and economy.
Virtual water remains a central and active component of scientific
research and policy formulation, and has empowered individual consumers
to affect water management on a global scale.
“Beyond the Box” Thinker
Professor Allan has
furthermore developed the idea and terminology of “hydro-hegemony” and
the “problemshed.” This work has led to better understanding of
potential and real conflicts in transboundary regions such as the Nile
Basin, where water resources are shared between countries, while
providing perspective on economic and political processes that can make
food and water security possible for all nations in such water basins.
He remains a leading voice for sustainable water development and expert
advisor on balancing population growth and increasing food demand in
developing countries, institutional reform, valuing water, conflict
resolution, and on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
A Lifetime of Achievement
Professor Allan has
authored or edited seven books and has published over 100 papers in
political science, natural resource management, and interdisciplinary
water journals. He has also educated more than 1100 current or future
water professionals. He has worked for over 35 years with the MENA
region and has advised on joint management of shared water resources on
every basin in the Middle East. He also served as editor for the
scientific journal Water Policy and as a consultant for numerous
governments, the World Bank and the European Union. His keen
perceptions and scientific analysis have inspired new thinking on the
spectrum of water challenges, and is described by many as one of the
most influential thinkers in the global water sector today.
The Stockholm International Water Institute
The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is a policy institute that seeks sustainable solutions to the world’s escalating water crisis. SIWI manages projects, synthesises research and publishes findings and recommendations on current and future water, environment, governance and human development issues.
SIWI serves as a platform for knowledge sharing and networking
between the scientific, business, policy and civil society communities.
Stockholm International Water Institute
The Stockholm Water Prize is a global award presented annually to an individual, organisation or institution for outstanding water -related activities. First presented in 1991, The Stockholm Water Prize is the world’s most prestigious prize for outstanding achievement in water-related activities. The annual prize, which includes a USD 150,000 award and a crystal sculpture, honours individuals, institutions or organisations whose work contributes broadly to the conservation and protection of water resources and to improved health of the planet’s inhabitants and ecosystems.
U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize The Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) is the most prestigious international youth award for high school water science research. www.wef.org/AboutWater/ForStudents/SJWP/
