The North Carolina company EonCoat, LLC, has just introduced a corrosion-resistant coating that appears to be a breakthrough product that could revolutionize the painting industry--and not just for specialty applications like corrosion control.
With all the snow we received in southern Vermont last week, it's a great time to be an energy nerd! Lots of snow on roofs means that it's easy to tell at a glance how energy efficient houses in the neighborhood are. I mean, it's not a thorough energy audit.
I had been reading about the innovative mushroom-based insulation material, Greensulate, which was developed by two industrious college students, for several years. The YouTube videos I watched about it were a lot of fun. Yeah, yeah, I thought.
It's fitting that this first blog of 2011 takes a look into the crystal ball--at the energy source that pretty-much defines our culture.
New, improved guidelines from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about how to deal with a broken compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) are intended to take some of the mystery out of the purchase and use of CFLs. But by suggesting a response that borders on Hazmat lockdown, the guidelines may potentially add to consumers' uncertainties.
Happy New Year! I am going to keep the following blog fairly simple, mainly because Knight Wall Systems is interesting enough to deserve a closer inspection, so look for a more thorough follow-up product review in the Environmental Building News.
This week I'll take a detour from practical energy-conserving solutions to take a look at oil (petroleum)--the fluid that has powered our automobile-based society. Be prepared for some new terminology and a little bit of chemistry!
The LEED Volume Program, launched at Greenbuild 2010, is designed for government, education, real estate organizations, retailers, and the hospitality industry. The fledgling program has already engaged eight organizations, according to USGBC. A pilot program launched in 2006 had 38 participants, including Best Buy, Marriott Hotels, and PNC Financial Services Group, and resulted in 350 LEED certifications.
With a new initiative called “LEED Automation,” the U.S. Green Building Council has announced the beginning of a new model for LEED documentation and reporting. Currently, teams submit LEED project data for review by entering it into the LEED Online website. LEED Automation makes it possible to collect that data in third-party applications and upload it for review without going through the LEED Online interface. “The world of LEED execution just got faster, better, and cheaper,” promised Mike Opitz, USGBC’s vice president for LEED, at a Greenbuild 2010 session.
Insulation is really important when it comes to saving energy in our homes. With more insulation in our walls, roofs, and foundation, less heat escapes via conduction to the outdoors. Insulate well!
All right. That's pretty clear.
Among the key changes coming down the road for LEED, as I recently wrote about (Your Guide to the New Draft of LEED), is a change to the LEED AP credit, formerly IDc2, now dubbed IPc2 (that's "Integrated Process" credit 2).
