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From the monthly archives:

April 2008

Proximity: A Very Green Hotel In North Carolina

April 30, 2008

The Proximity Hotel is proof that a hotel can be very green without sacrificing the comfort of its guests. The hotel is located in Greensboro, North Carolina, and it achieved a Gold LEED certification this year from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Proximity uses 36.5% less energy and 30% less water than a conventional [...]

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Review: Smart Power Strips

April 28, 2008

I’ve been testing a surging-protecting power strip called the Smart Strip by BITS. The Smart Strip works like this: it has a “Control Outlet” which controls six other outlets on the power strip. If you plug a computer into the Control Outlet, and it turns off or goes into sleep mode, the other “switched” [...]

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Allison Rogers: Commuting Overnight By Train: Efficient

April 24, 2008

Train travel — it’s an efficient form of travel that really should revived in this country. Air travel, as we know it today, doesn’t make much sense, if closely examined (although I’d like to see zero-emission planes and airship-based travel). But I digress — Allison Rogers, an optimal living trailblazer, has been commuting up and [...]

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Efficient: Foot Pedal Faucet Controllers

April 23, 2008

Foot pedal faucet controllers allow you to control a faucet hands-free. These devices are efficient and hygienic — they are commonly found in commercial kitchens and hospitals. I’m not sure why we don’t see them in more homes. You can reduce water use by 50% using pedal controllers, and if it’s hot water, you’ll be [...]

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13W LED Bulb Can Replace 100W Incandescent

April 22, 2008

This 13 watt bulb, the Evolux by EarthLED, is said to be first LED light to be able to replace a 100 watt incandescent. The lifetime of this bulb is rated at over 50,000 hours — which is five times longer than a compact fluorescent bulb. Other advantages of LED bulbs is their ability to [...]

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eSolar Gets $130 Million From Google and Others

April 21, 2008

eSolar employees put the final touches on the mirrors used to focus sunlight.
eSolar is a startup company which is in the process of building solar thermal power plants. It was one of the first startups to earn financial support from Google. This morning it received $130 millions dollars in funding from Google.Org, Bill Gross’ [...]

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Rock Port: First U.S. City To Run On 100% Wind Power

April 21, 2008

Officials at Rock Port, Missouri, christened a four-turbine wind farm this week, making Rock Port the first U.S. city to get 100% of its electricity from wind power.

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Notes From The MetaEfficient Labs

April 20, 2008

I’ve been doing a lot of work in the MetaEfficient lab. I thought I would post an update on my experiments and research:

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Icebreaker: Efficient Wool T-Shirts For Warm Weather

April 17, 2008

Icebreaker, a New Zealand company, is proving that wool can be worn in warm weather. They have released a new line of  “ultra-fine” merino wool T-shirts.  I’ve been testing their Tech T Lite while biking, it has performed quite admirably in the heat — it keeps you cool, and retains less odor than a cotton [...]

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Wind Turbines Now Spinning On Bahrain World Trade Center

April 10, 2008

This is a quick post to let you know that the Bahrain World Trade Center has turned on all three of its huge wind turbines simultaneously. For a glimpse of the turbines in action, check out the video over the fold:

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Efficient Building In Seattle Requires No AC

April 10, 2008

This new building in Seattle by Weber + Thompson requires no air conditioning. To achieve this feat, the architects made use of numerous passive cooling elements throughout the building. Passive cooling means no electricity or other fuel is needed — instead strategic shading and orientation is used, rather than high-tech gadgetry.

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Leading-Edge Green Complex For Singapore

April 8, 2008

Architecture firm Foster + Partners won an international competition to design a green complex that will fill an entire city block in downtown Singapore. This complex will be on the leading edge of green design. It will incorporate arrays of solar cells on the buildings’ facades. Ribbon-like canopies (also covered with thin-film solar cells) [...]

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Costa Rica Is 99% Powered By Renewable Energy

April 8, 2008

Costa Rica is a country rich with renewable energy. In fact, it gets about 99% of all its electrical energy from clean sources, and it’s aiming to be the first country to become carbon neutral (more about that below). Some of Costa Rica’s energy sources include geothermal energy, the burning of sugarcane waste and other [...]

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World’s Largest Tidal Turbine Successfully Installed

April 7, 2008

The world’s largest tidal turbine, weighing 1000 tonnes, has been installed in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough. The tidal turbine is rated at 1.2 megawatts, which is enough to power a thousand local homes. It was built by Marine Current Turbines, and it will be the first commercial tidal turbine to produce energy, when it begins [...]

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Triobike: An Innovative Cargo Bike

April 7, 2008

Straight out of the heart of Copenhagen, comes the Triobike, an innovative cargo bike, that can transform itself into a regular bike and a stroller. It’s no surprise that this bike comes form Copenhagen — the city is filled with urban bikers. With the Triobike, you can transport your kids to school in the cargo [...]

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$3 Billion Solar Power Deal Signed By California Utility

April 3, 2008

Pacific Gas & Electric today will announce a deal to buy as much as 900 megawatts of electricity. It will be enough to power 540,000 California homes each year, and involve the construction of five solar power plants during the next decade. The company to build the solar-thermal power plants in the Mojave Desert is [...]

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