Energy

A North Carolina McDonald’s goes McGreen

LED lighting at Cary McDonalds

When Ric Richards recently acquired an aging McDonalds in Cary, N.C., he knew the place needed an overhaul.  The 25-year-old store was fraying at the edges.

Richards decided to give these particular golden arches a green touch.

Once he’d decided that the building needed replacing, the decision to go eco-friendly was not difficult. Richards knew it made sense from a business standpoint – it would cut energy costs dramatically – and he figured it would resonate with the educated customers living in the Research Triangle region, especially those interested in lower-carbon living.

“I felt it was the right thing to do,’’ said the owner-operator whose green restaurant celebrated its grand opening this winter. “We all need to be more geared for sustainability as we move into the future. We need to build buildings or live at home using fewer resources.”

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Olympic Games medal in energy efficiency

The Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Center uses heat from ice-cooling operations to warm the building.

Vancouver scored highly as an Olympic venue despite weather concerns. Equally impressive, the Winter Games also scored well in terms of their energy efficiency.

According to Pulse Energy’s Venue Energy Tracker, the software technology that measured the 17 days of athletic contests, the games were the most energy efficient Olympics ever.

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Empire State Building lauded for energy-saving retrofit

Empire State Building (Photo: Empire State Building Co.)

Retrofitting doesn’t always get the attention that new green building generates, with its “net zero” and passive solar designs.

But the impact of retrofitting can be great, and it comes with the bonus of preserving historic and treasured structures — like the Empire State Building.

The iconic New York high rise, built in the 1930s, has received an award for its 2009 retrofit, which is expected to save 38 percent of the building’s energy and $4.4 million annually.

The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council gave it the “Beyond Green High Performance Building Award”, which recognizes the energy efficiency and air quality improvements made during the retrofit, designed by a collaboration of real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle, the Clinton Climate Initiative, energy efficiency experts Johnson Controls and the Rocky Mountain Institute.

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RFK Jr. explains why nuclear power isn’t green and coal isn’t cheap

Robert Kennedy Jr.

As passionate as his father was about civil rights, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is equally so about the environment.

In a lecture in Fort Worth last week, the 56-year-old son of the late Senator, advocated for moving the nation to green energy, which he doesn’t see as encompassing nuclear power.

Coal is not the only power-producing industry that needs scrubbing, said the longtime environmentalist, and nuclear energy is simply not safe. “Nuclear energy is the most catastrophic form of energy. No bank will finance it…[and] no insurance company will insure it,” he said.

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Utility will convert Vermont streetlights to LEDs

From Green Right Now Reports

Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology, already making inroads in traffic signals and Christmas lights, will get yet another application in New England: Green Mountain Power has submitted a plan to the Vermont Public Service Board to offer LEDs in streetlights throughout its Colchester, Vt., service area.

LED street light. Image: OSRAM

The more energy-efficient lights would replace worn-out mercury vapor lighting. Already, Colchester’s is the first electric utility in New England to offer an LED rate for outdoor lighting.

If the plan gains approval from regulators, customers will be able to request LEDs when installing new streetlights or replacing old ones. Mercury vapor lights will be phased out over time.

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MIT program will help companies develop sustainable supply chains

From Green Right Now Reports

MIT’s Center for Transportation & Logistics will launch the Global LEAP (Leaders in Environmental Assessment and Performance) research consortium at its annual Crossroads Conference on March 25, in Cambridge, Mass.

Chiquita Brands and Lockheed Martin are the first commercial organizations to sign up for this new project to design supply chains that meet the sustainability goals that are redefining the way companies operate. Inaugural members have pledged comprehensive support for the new consortium including a financial commitment, in-kind resources, thought leadership, and active participation.

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‘Smart’ meters will help consumers track electricity use

By Bill Sullivan

A sudden cold snap creates a spike in consumption. Christmas lights are fun at the time, but they, too, keep that meter running. Kids routinely leave electronics on, even when they’re not in the room.

Advanced Metering System

Sure, you try to do all those little things that, in a perfect world, can help keep cost and environmental impact down. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world, and a big number on that electric bill each month can come as a shock to both the system and the budget.

But what if your world was just a little more perfect? What if you could log on to your computer and check consumption down to, say, a 15-minute period? What if you could figure out that your teenager is running the TV, stereo, a game player (or two) and every light in his room — all despite the fact that he’s spending the night at a friend’s house?

That’s the future of the Advanced Metering System (AMS), and that future is closer than you may think.

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Furman University to tap alternative ‘elliptical’ power

By Ashley Phillips

South Carolina’s Furman University, one of the schools that has signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, will be using a new form of renewable energy to improve its carbon profile: Student power.

Along with other schools such as the University of Kansas and the University of Florida, Furman is going to tap the energy of exercising students (and faculty) and turn it into electricity.

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Vancouver will showcase a sustainable Olympics

By Harriet Blake

Snowboarding, skiing and skating will be front and center when the 2010 Winter Olympics open in Vancouver tonight. But not far behind is another S-word: Sustainability. Sustainability has generated a lot of momentum, so much so that the Olympic website devotes numerous links to various aspects of the subject.

Pulse’s mobile dashboard will update every 15 minutes.

There we find out that hydrogen-fueled buses will transport people at some of the venues, several of the buildings are LEED-certified and many of the medals are made from recycled electronics. And, energy provider British Columbia Hydro has teamed with a local software company, Pulse Energy, to monitor energy usage at the games.

John Furlong, CEO of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, says these games will establish a blueprint for Olympics of the future; a benchmark for others to follow.

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In the office: The green bottom line

Fifty percent of employed adults in the U.S. don’t typically shut down their computers at the end of the work day.

By Mark Mathson

“Turn out the lights when you leave the room.”

“Consider the environment and don’t print a document unless you really need to.”

“If you must print, be sure to use both sides of the paper.”

We’ve all heard these types of environmentally friendly statements before, and by now I think we all see how adhering to these tips can make an impact – on the environment, our company’s expenses and our own personal expenses. While it seems fairly obvious that turning off the lights when leaving a room for more than 15 minutes will save on energy costs and duplex printing will save on paper costs, there are a number of other steps you can take – which might not be quite so obvious – that can add up to some big savings to the bottom line.

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