I have a new favorite insulation material. Foamglas® building insulation has been made by Pittsburgh Corning for many decades and is widely used in Europe. For the past decade or two, however, it has only been actively marketed in North America for industrial applications. (It's been listed in our GreenSpec Directory as an industrial insulation material for years.)

Now Foamglas is back.

Lake Mead, the nation's largest reservoir, which supplies 90% of Las Vegas's water and millions of other residents, shown at about half capacity in 2007. Ken Dewey photo. Click on image to enlarge.

Last week we examined the amount of energy it takes to transport and treat water--and how we can conserve energy by using less water.

We'd been expecting something like this for a while—it's great to see that it's on the way.

LEED Interpretations will look a lot like the process for Credit Interpretation Rulings (CIRs) that was in place prior to July 2009, according to information given to me by Cara Mae Cirignano, a LEED specialist at USGBC. (As you probably know, LEED project teams use the CIR process to check on whether they can earn a LEED credit in specific circumstances that may not be anticipated by the LEED rating system.)

GraniteCrete was used at Asilomar State Beach for durable, but natural-looking pathways and steps. Photo: GraniteCrete. Click on photo to enlarge.

GraniteCrete is a portland-cement-based aggregate binder used with locally sourced, ground, decomposed granite or other suitable aggregate to produce porous, natural-looking walkways and other low-traffic pavement.

Niagara uses innovative "vacuum-assist" hydraulics to provide an effective, yet super-quiet flush in the Stealth toilet, requiring just 0.8 gallons. By using less water, this toilet saves energy. Photo: Niagara Conservation. Click on image to enlarge

It takes a lot of energy to transport and treat water in this country, and it takes a lot of water to produce the energy we use. To put this a different way: when we save water we save energy, and when we save energy we save water.

There are some significant advantages to urinals when it comes to bathroom maintenance (I won't go into the messy details of splashing that happens when males stand and urinate into a toilet). With ultra-efficient urinals (often called one-pint urinals) and waterless urinals, there are also very significant water savings that are achieved.

Streets in Copenhagen are designed to provide safe access for bicyclists. Photo: Alex Wilson. Click on image to enlarge.

Last week, I touched on some of the strategies coming out of the "hypermiling" movement to boost automobile fuel economy. Here are a few more: 1. Lighten the load. The more weight we haul around in our cars or trucks, the more energy we use. If you keep sandbags in the bed of your pick-up for winter traction, remove them in the summer.

The Grundfos advanced, variable-speed, "smart" pumps for hydronic heating systems can reduce pumping energy use by 80%. Photo: Grundfos USA. Click on image to enlarge.

For the past couple years, I've been helping All Soul's Church in West Brattleboro, Vermont, save energy.