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]

Focusing on Zero Energy and High Efficiency

Check it out:

++Building An Energy Efficient America:  Zero Energy and High Efficiency Buildings [Download Full Report at Environment America]

Also, if you didn't get your hands on a Wall Street Journal today, you missed an opinion piece written by T. Boone Pickens titled "My Plan to Escape the Grip of Foreign Oil" where Mr. Pickens outlines his 10-year plan to reduce America's reliance on foreign oil by more than 1/3 over the next 5 to 10 years.  Very interesting piece and well-deserved dialogue.  He sees the writing on the wall and feels an extreme urgency to get out from under the shadow of foreign oil.

++My Plan to Escape the Grip of Foreign Oil [WSJ]

Wind Turbine Explosion!

This footage is fascinating.  Sort of scary and unbelievable at the same time.  The tower was almost 200 feet tall and the turbines were moving close to 70 mph.  The whole thing just disintegrates, which isn't what you want to see or hear about, especially with the capital investment required to get a wind turbine installed.  In an unrelated story, Suzlon Energy installed some wind turbines in the Midwest that have been breaking down due to the cold weather (see link below), which is probably contributing to a declining stock price.

++Suzlon's US Wind Turbine Plans Hit New Turbulence [livemint.com]

Rotating Skyscrapers

Woman Uses Retired 747 To Build Dream Home

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...