Preparing to install your first set of solar panels? Wondering if you are harnessing all the sun’s energy that you possibly can? A new device from California-based Solmetric stands to help both residential and commercial solar power users get the most from their investment.

Also useful when designing the layout of new construction or remodeling projects, the Solmetric SunEye is a “hand held electronic device that allows users to instantly assess total potential solar energy given the shading of a particular site. Identifying the shading pattern early in the process reduces the expense of system and home design and improves the efficiency of the final system or house,” according to the Solmetric website.

Release just last year, the SunEye was recently chosen as one of BuildingGreen’s Top 10 Products for 2007. Chosen from over 200 products being reviewed by the website, the SunEye joins fellow BGTV favorite LED light from LLF Inc.

An easy-to-use interface and USB connection for data transfer to your computer makes the SunEye simple for all users. What else does this swank little device do? Here are a few more of its efficient features: (more…)

The yearly GreenBuild Expo doesn’t start until November 7th in Chicago and we already have a great update to pass on to you! Officially launching at this year’s event, Green2Green’s beta website version is up and running.

Built by GreenBlue, an organization founded by William McDonough of Cradle to Cradle fame, Green2Green “features comprehensive information regarding green building products, materials and practices. The site offers side-by-side comparisons of products using a variety of environmental, technical and economic criteria.” The site also features expert advice, forums, direct feedback from users on all products, and dealer locations.

Green2Green is guided by an expansive advisory team, which Building Green TV’s very own COO Max Mead is a part of. According to the G2G website, the team is compired of members who “guide key decisions about data presentation, green building issues and policy.”

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Started in 2002 by the infamous United States Green Building Council (USGBC), the GreenBuild Expo has quickly become the largest conference and exhibition focused solely on green building (both practices and products).

Nearly 20,000 people are expected to attend this year’s GreenBuild in Chicago. In recent years, Chicago has been working to become on of the top sustainable cities in the country - in 2006, the city was named #4 in SustainLane’s Top 10 Green U.S. Cities, and they’re aiming to make it to #1.

Pulling out all the stops this year, the USGBC has an unprecedented number of awards, workshops, events and more planned for the three short days of this year’s conference. Former President Bill Clinton will be giving the opening keynote speech on November 7th and the newest LEED for Homes program will be a major focus. Also available to attendees are detailed educational seminars, LEED workshops, local Chicago green building tours, the sixth annual USGBC Leadership Awards, and beautiful outdoor activities (including a picnic, yoga, and a bike tour).

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Situated smack dab in the middle of southern Wisconsin, the recently completed Aldo Leopold Legacy Center (ALLC) is a most befitting dedication to Leopold’s tireless work for the planet. “Considered by many as the father of wildlife management and of the United States’ wilderness system, Aldo Leopold was a conservationist, forester, philosopher, educator, writer, and outdoor enthusiast,” according to the center’s website.

Often, people come to us asking, “How can I reduce my impact on the environment?” The Legacy Center is, in part, the result of attempting to answer that question. At heart, the Legacy Center attempts to answer the essential question—“How can we ensure both people and the land will prosper in the long run?”

Available for a variety of meetings and functions, it wouldn’t have made much sense to not make the ALLC as green as possible. When presenting the center with its LEED Platinum certification, US Green Building Council president Rick Fedrizzi called it the “greenest building on the planet.”

Everything you could imagine has been considered during the development and construction of the ALLC. For detailed information on all the center’s eco-features, check out their website. This collection of buildings is a perfect example of how sustainable innovations can be seamlessly combined with traditional architecture to create the future of living/working spaces.

[Building Green TV]

Developers and enforcers of the widely used LEED standard for green building, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has established a new set of standards specifically for schools.

The LEED for Schools Rating System recognizes the unique nature of the design and construction of K-12 schools. Based on LEED for New Construction, it addresses issues such as classroom acoustics, master planning, mold prevention, and environmental site assessment.

By addressing the uniqueness of school spaces and children’s health issues, LEED for schools provides a unique, comprehensive tool for schools that wish to build green, with measurable results. LEED for Schools is the recognized third-party standard for high-performance schools that are healthy for students, comfortable for teachers, and cost-effective.

As of September 20th, 380 schools all over the country have registered to be certified under this new LEED system. Ranging from certified to gold level, 57 schools have already become official. The many benefits of green schools; including those for students, teachers and the planet; are touted all over the Build Green Schools website.

Ready to take action in your local community? Find out if there is a local Green Schools Advocate chapter already established in your region. Next, learn all you can about green building for schools with USGBC’s Green Schools 101 online program (including a video, project profiles and money saving details). Finally, connect with others around the country who are working to make a difference as well; share tips, experiences, successes and pitfalls.

[Building Green TV]

Finding just the right materials for your new kitchen cabinets or dining room floor can be more difficult than finding a hydrogen car on the road. This common problem for sustainably-concerned consumers is on the road to being solved, thanks to a new online directory of eco-materials.

Based in both San Francisco and Providence, Rhode Island, Ecolect is not only a listing of green materials, but also aims to be a community for people to share ideas and sustainable design experiences. Though the online directory recently launched, it already features an extensive collection of eco-materials and products.

Didn’t find a material you already know of? Take the time to suggest it to the Ecolect folks; they’ll review your suggestion and, if it meets their green criteria, they’ll add it to their ever-expanding browse-able listing.

Are you free tonight? Are you in the Bay Area? You should drop by Ecolet’s San Francisco Launch Party at the Swissnex Event Space (730 Montgomery St) from 6pm-9pm - there will be drinks, products, samples, and a drawing for a gift certificate to the Branch store.

[Building Green TV]

The benefits of light-emitting diodes, a.k.a. LED lights, have been widely covered on the internet’s green outlets. Efficient, long-lasting, and eco-friendly, LEDs are step past those infamous CFL lights that everyone is trying to get Americans to install in their homes.

What makes them so green?

+ LEDs use only 12 watts of power, compared to 65 watts with a CFL (roughly 50% less energy consumed)

+ LEDs can last for up to 50,000 hours; with average use, that is nearly 23 years (a savings of nearly $900 versus using CFLs for the same amount of time)

+ LEDs have no mercury in them, unlike CFLs, which have to be disposed of carefully

Unfortunately, an LED bulb, similar to a CFL, for basic home use has not yet been released on the market. North Carolina-based LLF Inc is working to make that happen, having already released a recessed LED light for residential and commercial use.

Perfect for every room of your house (including the kitchen, featured in the accompanying picture), LLF’s recessed LED light is already being installed at the University of Arkansas. For their pioneering efforts with LEDs, LLF recently won the Grand Prize for the 2007 Lighting for Tomorrow solid state lighting (SSL) competition, presented from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Truly the most sustainable option available, LLF’s recessed LED lights can be found all over the United States. For specific sellers and distributors, use the zip code search on the company’s website.

[Building Green TV]

Remember when you were a kid and nothing could cool you down on a hot summer day like a frozen popsicle? One California company is taking that same concept and applying it to residential and commercial energy systems: ice-based air conditioning.

California/Colorado-based Ice Energy has been developing and marketing this technology since 2003. Most recently, they teamed up with California public ulitity company PG&E as part of their new “Shift & Save” program.

In collaboration with vendor technologies such as Ice Energy’s Ice Bear hybrid air conditioning system, the “Shift and Save” program provides incentives that cut air conditioning peak electrical demand on light commercial and institutional buildings.

The ice-based air conditioner uses cheaper nighttime electricity to make ice and then uses that ice for daytime cooling needs. The units cooling looks almost identical to a standard AC unit. The systems lowers peak daytime demand significantly, shifting the energy load up to 95%.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find much information on just how much a system like this costs to install in an average home, but it is a technology very much worth looking into for eco-minded homeowners.

Do you use any alternative methods to say cool on hot days? Personally, here in San Francisco, I just turn on a few fans and open all the windows, but in many locations, that would not be nearly enough.

[Building Green TV; via ENN]

Just three weeks ago, we told you about the sluggish general housing market and how it hasn’t been affecting the green building industry one bit. Thanks to a new article from the Los Angeles Times, more info has come to light, proving that solar panels and other green features are preferred by most home buyers.

With foreclosures rising and home prices diving, there is a bright spot in California’s residential real estate market: Solar-powered homes are starting to outsell traditionally electrified new homes in several markets, and developers are stepping up their use of the technology.

State and national discounts make it more affordable that ever to had a solar system to your home, whether you plan on selling in the near future or not. In less than five years, the system will pay itself off and continue to save you money for many years to come.

“The last time we saw interest in solar that was anything close to this was back in the 1980s, the first time there were federal tax credits for solar energy,” said Julia Judd Hamm, executive director of the Solar Electric Power Assn. and co-chair of the Solar Power 2007 conference underway at the Long Beach Convention Center. “But the numbers then aren’t even comparable to what we’re seeing now.”

How much of a priority would you put on green home features? Would you sacrifice other elements that you find important, such as: neighborhood, schools, commute … etc.?

[Building Green TV; via The Daily Green]

Since 1937, The Wildlife Society in Maryland has been working hard to “enhance the ability of wildlife professionals to conserve diversity, sustain productivity, and ensure responsible use of wildlife resources for the benefit of society.” In keeping with their mission, TWS recently released a 50-page report detailing the direct and indirect effects of modern wind power production on wildlife.

“While wind power offers an array of benefits to developed and developing countries, wind energy is not environmentally neutral,” commented Dr. Ed Arnett, Conservation Scientist with Bat Conservation International and chair of the technical review committee. “There are both direct and indirect consequences of wind energy facilities, including the often overlooked impacts resulting from loss of habitat for wildlife due to construction, the footprint of the facility, and increased human access.”

The report isn’t all gloom and doom however, actually offering key information for planners and developers of wind farms in relation to natural animal habitats. The Wildlife Society’s report is clearly aimed at helping progress sustainable energy initiatives without sacraficing the planet itself. “It would represent a step backward to develop ‘green energy’ to the detriment of wildlife and their habitats, especially when we profess to be in an age of environmental awareness and action,” said Dr. Michael Hutchins, Executive Director of TWS.

[Building Green TV]

Whether it is from misinformation of simply a lack of it, only 7% of American voters identified buildings as the top contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in a recent poll by the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

Studies show that buildings produce 48 percent of dangerous greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change, and that they consume 71 percent of electricity produced at U.S. power plants. Despite these statistics, only aerosol cans finished behind commercial buildings (1 percent) as being identified as the top source for greenhouse gas emissions. Power plants (19 percent) and natural causes (15 percent) were thought to be top contributors, while 10 percent of respondents were not sure what the top cause was and 8 percent responded “other.”

Though they weren’t aware of a building’s impact on climate change, 91% of voters said they would be willing to pay up to $5,000 extra for a more energy effecient, environmentally sustainable home. With cost being a very common factor for the average American not living a greener lifestyle, this study does offer some hope. More education for the public is needed to help them understand the impact of their everyday actions and uses, but it is clear that most know that something is afoot.

[Building Green TV]

According to new study from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), regulation is the most effective means to achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions from buildings - “a sector which accounts for some 30-40 % of global energy use.”Released in a study titled “Assessment of policy instruments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from buildings” at the Sustainable Buildings 07 conference in Prague two days ago, these findings are vital to the continued development of the green construction industry.

“According to the latest assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, around 30 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by 2020 by measures such as improved energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings. Importantly, this could lead to gains in global GDP-not costs,” said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director

“The new UNEP SBCI study demonstrates the critical roles that governments need to take in establishing, implementing, and enforcing regulatory policies so as to realize these emission reductions and these environmental, social and economics gains,” he said.

Interested in reading the report yourself? Supported by a database that showcases the lessons learned from the 80 case studies, copies can be downloaded from the UNEP Sustainable Buildings and Construction Initiative website.

[Building Green TV; via ENN]

Remodeling or building new - which is greener? This is a debate that has been raging on for years, and it seems that remodeling is starting to come out on top. In addition to using less newly harvested and manufactured resources, remodeling exisiting buildings is now proving to be an intelligent investment as well.In a recent feature article on GreenerBuildings.com, Tilde Herrera discusses the green makeover that an 80-year-old art deco office building in Seattle is getting, thanks to the Jonathan Rose Companies.

The trend toward retrocommissioning existing commercial structures using green building principles is quietly taking shape behind the louder activity of the new construction sector. More than 5,000 new buildings await LEED certification, compared to 480 existing buildings on the waiting list, according to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Only 7 percent of buildings that have earned LEED certification are existing buildings.

Using the existing building inventory goes to the heart of a core sustainability argument: it is often more wasteful to tear down and replace buildings, even if the replacement is green, than it is to improve what’s already there. “One of the most beneficial aspects is you’re using existing infrastructures and not adding to sprawl,” said David Lehrer, director of partner relations and communications at Center for the Built Environment (CBE) at the University of California, Berkeley.

Does this mean that we will be seeing a lot less new green construction? Not by a long shot, but it could mean big business for all variety of renovators and remodelers - this an unspoken area of sustainable building that deserves much more public attention and growth.

[Building Green TV; Greener Buildings via Treehugger]

Hoping to embrace the natural energies of the earth but avoiding installing solar panels (for whatever reason)? Well, how about your own personal wind turbine?In one of Atlanta, Georgia’s oldest neighborhood, the area’s first small-scale wind turbine was installed in Christine and Curt Mann’s backyard. Though not all of their neighbors were as amped about the new energy saver as the Mann’s were, the turbine will generate enough power to run the entire home and “eliminate as much CO2 from the atmosphere as an acre of mature, healthy trees.”

This particular model was designed especially for residential customers that tap into an traditional power grid. “The blades are curved and shaped for quiet operation. It is the first backyard-sized wind turbine that includes a built-in inverter and requires no external components.”

When asked about installation of the wind turbine in this urban setting with relatively low wind speeds, Roger Cone, founder of Southern Energy Solutions, said, “We all went into this project knowing that this was not an ideal placement of the Skystream. Our target markets for the Skystream wind turbine are those areas of Georgia with greater average wind speeds, such as the mountains of north Georgia and the coastal areas of southeast Georgia.”

It’s clear that solar panels are still the most logical choice for most homeowners and builders, this new residential turbine is more proof that Americans are ready to take the health of the planet into their own hands. Will the Mann’s neighbors install their own turbines in the near future? Probably not, but this could be a big development for those living in coastal (and more breezy) areas.

[Building Green TV via ENN]

Widely promoted customizable carpeting company InterfaceFLOR can now earn builders up to two extra LEED points via Innovation in Design credits.The “Innovation in Design” credits are awarded for products that have net zero greenhouse gas impact under the LEED Green Building Rating System.”The availability of this new credit provides further incentive for manufacturers to reduce the environmental footprint of their products,” said David Hobbs, president of InterfaceFLOR.

“We have long taken ownership of the impact of our products across their entire life cycle, so we invest to offset the impacts from the rest of our supply chain. We are pleased that the USGBC has taken this step to ensure recognition for qualified, third-party analysis of products’ environmental claims.”

Interface has two different lines - one for commercial usage and another for homes. Though we aren’t working to achieve LEED certification while building and designing our own homes, the USGBC’s new design credit system will help drive companies big and small to continue to advance their sustainable processes and products.

[Building Green TV via ENN]