In a typical home, the refrigerator accounts for about 8% of the total annual energy expense, according to 2005 data from the U.S. Department of Energy. While this energy consumption for food storage is significant, it's far less than it was a few decades ago. In the mid-1970s, an average new refrigerator used about 1,800 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, making it the single most expensive energy load in many homes.

New modeling by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) shows how energy use in buildings can be cut by 60 percent by 2050 — essential to meeting global climate change targets — but this will require immediate action to transform the building sector.

The Carbon Neutral Curriculum Materials Project is a joint research effort between members of the Society of Building Science Educators, the American Institute of Architects, and a private donor, the purpose of which is to provide practitioners, faculty and students with the means to meet the 2030 Chal

I get a lot of questions about energy. Electricity consumption factors into many of them. Why are electric bills so high? How can I tell when it's time to replace a refrigerator? Most of us have electric meters on our houses, but these measure your total household electricity use. To figure out what accounts for that overall figure, you need to measure the consumption of individual appliances and pieces of equipment. A really useful gadget for figuring out these sorts of questions is an electricity monitor.

"Standard 189.1 addresses site sustainability, water use efficiency, energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality (IEQ), and the building's impact on the atmosphere, materials and resources. This is a standard for high-performance green buildings.

From the USGBC:

For the EBN feature article this month I spent weeks learning about building-integrated wind. I'm a huge fan of wind energy in general, and the idea of putting wind turbines on top of buildings — or actually integrating them into the architecture of buildings — was really appealing. Why not generate the energy right where it's needed, and by putting turbines on top of buildings wouldn't you be getting them up higher where it's windier? What a cool idea.

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