Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have discovered an added benefit to solar panels: In summer, they cool the buildings on which they are installed.

Using thermal imaging, the scientists found that solar photovoltaic panels act like giant sun shades and (more…)

I attended a green energy conference nearly a decade ago in Washington, D.C., where several speakers expressed astonishment at the audience’s clothes. People were dressed in business attire. Where were the ponytails? The Birkenstocks?

The event marked a new age for green energy, the (more…)

One of the bitter complaints about energy management and energy efficiency has been the lack of standardization in energy benchmarking, management, measurement and verificiation.  Policymakers don’t like it because it is difficult to verify compliance, consumers can’t trust the information they receive (more…)

Researchers in Japan have developed microchip technology that eliminates energy consumption in electronic devices while in so-called “standby” mode.

While most electronic devices, including televisions and personal computers, now require circuits to be powered continuously to assure instant startup, the (more…)

This summer, The National Gallery in London is engaging public audiences with an 8,000 plant rendering of Van Gogh’s A Wheatfield with Cypresses (1889).

Over 25 varieties of flora are offering museum-goers sweeter, cleaner air and a setting ripe for ecological discussion as the National Gallery forwards their plan (more…)

We hear a lot about energy efficiency these days, but who is actually pursuing it?

In recent years most of the big players that install efficiency measures, the energy service companies (ESCos), have found work largely in the MUSH market: municipal and state governments, universities, schools and hospitals. In (more…)

Want to go beyond the basics of reduce, reuse, recycle to make your workplace more environmentally friendly? There are several new technologies that can help reduce energy use and wasteful practices.

1. Cloud computer online services
Forget lugging your work laptop home or working at (more…)

Most developers view electricity and other utility costs as a liability, a cost of doing business in real estate. This does not have to be the case. In fact, there has been no better time to use energy management and on-site electricity generation as opportunities not only to reduce operating costs, (more…)

Who would have thought backyards would cause so much trouble for the North American energy industry? First came the NIMBYs, the not-in-my-backyard protesters who block power projects from being built near them. And now we have the GIMBBYs – the give-me-a-bigger-backyard homeowners who are unwittingly getting in the way of energy efficiency. (more…)

We’ve been hearing for years that the energy efficiency industry needs to find its equivalent to the cell phone. These days industry folks refer to it as the ‘killer app,” the revolutionary product or service that consumers can’t resist.

But lately, partly because I’m dieting, I’ve been (more…)