EQUITY GREEN

Pickens Has A Solution

 

If you have been living in a cave the past couple of weeks, then you missed T. Boone Pickens' plan (see video above) for reducing our dependence on foreign oil.  T. Boone is an oil tycoon that made more money on crude than many of us can even begin to comprehend.  Now, he is backing alternative energy (wind, solar, etc.) as a way for us to successfully survive and not put every penny into our gas tank.  On a different note, ff you want some perspective to our current situation, check out this article in the NY Times written on December 1, 1990.  Seems like the airlines complain about the price of crude oil regardless of price.  That industry is jacked up anyway. 

Maine Earns Title as Top Energy Efficient State

 

According to a study by Texas A&M professor Jerry Jackson, Maine and other New England states lead the country in office building energy efficiency.  The study is the first of its kind to attempt to rank the states on their energy use.  Each state's rank is determined by the percent of buildings that exceed Energy Star's 75th percentile energy efficiency standard.  The data for the study is taken from the MAISY Utility Customer Energy Use State Database, which report on a sample of commercial buildings across the country on measures such as building energy use through the use of space heating, air conditioning, interior lighting, water heating, etc. 

+Top 10 Energy-Efficient States:  New England's Energy Efficiency Leads to Double Digit Cost Savings [yahoo finance]

Greensburg House X

 

++Greensburg House X [Flickr]
++Greensburg Greentown [website]

Rotating Skyscrapers

Woman Uses Retired 747 To Build Dream Home

Real Estate Appraisers Must Learn To See Green Value

"A challenge for green finance is the ongoing struggle among appraisers and underwriters to understand the value and risk of sustainability."--Scott Muldavin, Executive Director of the Green Building Finance Consortium in San Rafael, CA. 

West Coast Green 2008 [San Jose]

 

It's back!  Welcome to the largest residential green building movement get-together!  Featuring over 380 exhibitors, 6,000 industry professionals, and this WCG is featuring a "Homeowner Day" where the public can have full access to the tradeshow.  Click for a list of the speakers and exhibitors.  West Coast Green is an opportunity to share best practices and get ideas on the green movement.   

++West Coast Green [website]
++West Coast Green:  mkLotus Showhouse [Dwell blog]

Bio-Tech Firm Genzyme First To Fill Green Space

Yesterday, the guys at Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ) held a conference call with green bloggers to discuss their green building efforts.  As far as I know, Genzyme is one of the first bio-tech firms to really embrace and enter the green building space.  Led by Rick Mattila, director of enviornmental affairs, and Lisa Hartman, principal environmental engineer, the group discussed the Genzyme Center (corporate headquarters) based in Cambridge, Mass., which was awarded the LEED-Platinum certification, the highest green rating a building can receive.  When asked what was the biggest bang for their buck in building the Genzyme Center, Rick responded...

Wind Energy with Acciona Energy [video]

Yahoo Finance posted a very informative interview this morning with Acciona CEO Peter Duprey [CEO of North American operations].  He discusses the wind and solar energy markets and touches on the job growth and investment opportunities that are beginning to surface here in the US.  A few points that surfaced in the interview:  by 2009, the U.S. is expected to overtake Germany as the #1 wind energy market in the world; U.S. wind power generating capacity jumped 45% last year; wind energy poised to generate over 1% of U.S. electricity in 2008.  Click picture to watch.

Greensburg 5.4.7. Art Center [Studio 804]

Studio 804 is at it again.  Studio 804, Inc. is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit, design/build program at the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Urban Planning focused on the creation of community based architecture.  They are currently in the process of helping to rebuild the city of Greensburg, Kansas, which was destroyed by a category F5 tornado on May 4, 2007.  The city has chosen to embrace...