With the rising amount of carbon emissions, government policy makers and organizations have been searching for a solution. One of the programs dedicated to environmental sustainability is LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. This organization ranks buildings on a rating scale based off of efficiency, recycling, and overall “going green.” If the structure or organization increases energy efficiency and lowers their negative impact on the environment, they can receive a LEED certification. From shopping centers to hotels, these structures are an example of a new approach to sustainability.

Destiny USA

Consumerism and sustainability are seldom used in the same sentence, but this is what Destiny USA is all about. Located in Syracuse, New York, this structure is the largest LEED Gold certified mall in the world. As a part of their drive toward eco-friendly lifestyles, the mall requires tenants to receive a LEED certification. Their commitment to energy efficiency and conservation pay off. The roof of the expansion has a system in place to collect rainwater that will be used to flush common area and tenant toilets. Also, there are retention ponds located in the parking lots on Solar Street to hold excess water and replenish the ground. In times of severe storms the roof collection system and water retention ponds will hold rainwater and reduce the volume of water sent to the city waste treatment facility. This further reduces the chance of untreated wastewater to spill over into Onondaga Lake. At 2.4 million square feet in size, Destiny USA, Syracuse’s prime entertainment spot, has had an impressive impact on the environment.

Miller Park

Located in Milwaukee, Miller park is exceptional because it is only the third baseball stadium to achieve LEED certification. In order to save three million gallons of water a year, every sink in the stadium has retrofitted water fixtures. The baseball stadium has also worked to completely reconfigure its ventilation, plumbing and electrical systems. Through these innovative changes, Miller Park is able to lower its carbon dioxide emissions by 1,153 metric tons every year. In comparison, this is like 220 cars being completely removed from the roadways. The stadium takes sustainability a step farther with recycling. After each baseball game, a total of ten tons of waste is recycled instead of being thrown out.

Aria Hotel

The Aria Hotel is one of Las Vegas’s top eco-friendly resorts. With a strong focus on efficiency, the hotel is able to use 2.4 million gallons less every year. To achieve this, they have installed superior showerheads, toilets and faucets. Altogether, these low-flow plumbing devices save 30 percent more water than traditional bathroom fixtures. The Aria Hotel uses reclaimed water from its cooling towers to limit dust during construction projects.

The Venetian, Sands Expo and Convention Center

Another Las Vegas structure that is committed to sustainability is the Venetian and Sands Expo and Convention Center. All three structures were built under one roof to make the largest eco-friendly building in the world. The structure uses efficient lighting systems and water recycling to lower its environmental impact. The convention center uses water efficiency measures to reduce consumption by 130 million gallons of water annually.
These unique structures represent a growing consensus that something must be done to save the planet. The greener solutions and environmentally friendly designs make each structure more efficient. From water irrigation techniques to greener energy, these hotels and shopping centers are changing the face of the planet for the better.

Green Homes of Maine

With the growing number of hybrid and electric vehicles on the road, it’s easy to see that driving green is becoming more than a passing trend. As of 2012, more than 13 million hybrids, plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles have been purchased in the United States, according to Electricdrive.org, a transportation association. But before you jump on the bandwagon (or Prius, for that matter), Climatecentral.org, an organization of scientists that research and report on changing climate, has some news for you. An all-electric vehicle may not be the most climate-friendly car choice for the area you are living in.

Size 3 Carbon Footprint

That may be news to the many Americans who think there is no better way to reduce emissions than drive electric. But, according to a study, “A Roadmap to Climate-Friendly Cars,” by scientists Eric D. Larson and Alyson Kenward from Climate Central, electric cars are not the most climate-friendly car choice in most of America.

In fact, as of April 25, 2012 (when the study was published), only five states were found to support electric vehicles as the most climate-friendly car choice: Washington state, Oregon, Idaho, Vermont and New Hampshire. In nine states, California, Arizona, South Dakota, Illinois, South Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maine, some, though not all, electric cars are more climate-friendly than gas-powered cars, according to the report.

Coal Miner’s World

So what is preventing all-electric vehicles from being the most climate-friendly options in those other 36 states? There are two reasons: first, “coal is the largest contributor to the high-carbon footprint of our electrical grid today,” according to the study. In other words, generating the electricity needed to charge an electric car can produce more pollution than driving a fuel-efficient gasoline powered car if the state relies heavily on coal and natural gas. Second, because there is a more climate-friendly alternative option available – the Toyota Prius.

Compare/Contrast

The two scientists compared the emissions associated with the Nissan LEAF and Chevy Volt to the Toyota Prius and other high-mileage hybrid and conventional gas-powered cars. They found that in 36 states, the Prius produced less greenhouse gases than the LEAF because the LEAF recharged its batteries using electricity that was generated largely by burning coal and natural gas in those states.

For example, in Texas, where 45 percent of electricity is generated from natural gas, 37 percent from coal, 10 percent from nuclear and 8 percent from hydropower and renewables, there are eight better cars for the climate than the all-electric LEAF. Included in that list are the Ford Fusion Hybrid, Honda Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius – which is recorded as having fewer emissions than all eight cars listed. So, if looking for a Toyota in Ft. Worth, Austin or Dallas, a Prius or Prius V (fourth on the list) would be a smart climate choice.

Though considered a hybrid electric vehicle, the Prius uses regenerative braking and energy captured from the engine to power its batteries, not coal or natural gas. So while driving an electric car is better for the climate than the average-mileage vehicle, that isn’t the case when paired against a high-mileage hybrid, according to the study.

Green Homes of Maine

A bit of great news reported by David Worthington on SmartPlanet today; Home energy retrofits reduce healthcare costs.

“Wegowise, a start-up that identifies energy efficient homes by analyzing utility data, has partnered with a national non-profit to upgrade low-income housing around Baltimore, Maryland. A recent pilot project produced an unforeseen result: emergency room visits among residents who were helped fell by 67 percent.

The Environmental Protection Agency says that buildings in the U.S. waste an average of 20 percent of the US$400 billion plus that’s spent on energy annually, but not every building owner has the same resources to eliminate waste. Homes that aren’t sufficiently weatherized can be hazardous to health. WegoWise and Green & Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI), a national non-profit, are partnering to help economically disadvantaged families fix weatherization issues that negatively impact their household budgets and lives.”

Yes, better indoor air quality and consistent temperatures do help your health!

Read More From: SmartPlanet – Home Energy Retrofits Reducing Healthcare Costs

Green Homes of Maine

Green Homes of Maine

A quick update on Apple Inc.’s data center in the foothills of North Carolina reveals that the 20 Mega-watt solar cluster is nearing completion. Sitting next to the new data center built for iCloud, Apple estimates this cluster will produce sixty percent (60%!) of it’s power needs onsite. To do that, they are constructing what will be the nation’s largest private solar arrays and the largest non-utility fuel cell installation operating anywhere in the country. Impressive.

Apple will also be constructing another 20MW facility not far from their data center after the first is complete. From Apple’s website;

“Solar power and fuel cells.

We’re currently building two solar array installations in and around Maiden. These sites use high-efficiency solar cells and an advanced solar tracking system. A 100-acre, 20-megawatt installation on the same site as our data center will produce 42 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy annually. A 100-acre site located a few miles away will produce another 42 million kWh. Together that’s 84 million kWh of clean, renewable energy supplied annually. When our bio-gas-powered 5-megawatt fuel cell installation comes online later this year, it will provide more than 40 million kWh of renewable energy annually. This means Apple will be producing enough onsite renewable energy — 124 million kWh — to power the equivalent of 10,874 homes.*”

Images: WCNC-TV Charlotte, NC.

Green Homes of Maine

In late June Fairwinds Farm was the site of a first for Maine: the installation of a Series 20 dual-axis AllSun Solar Tracker.

The tracker is mounted with 20x 240 watt solar electric panels, for a production rate of 4.8KW – however, the incredible performance increase by the tracking system improves its performance by 30-40% compared to a fixed array of the same size. A motor driven by GPS is installed in the solar tracker, allowing the unit to follow the sun east-to-west and up-and-down throughout the day.

The more than $1,300 worth of electricity will be put to good use at the farm, where it will cover 100% of all of Fairwind Farm’s electricity needs, and have some capacity to power a new electric car: a 1974 restored VW Sun Buggy.  Farm Owner Dave Knightly has been restoring VWs for years, when he heard he could convert his “Sun Buggy” to run on solar electricity, he know what he had to do!

The Lewiston Sun Journal spoke a bit about the project:

“We’re trying to be environmentally responsible,” said [farm owner Dave] Knightly, a Spanish teacher at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. He operates a strawberry picking business with his wife and children, Liz and Benji, during the summer.

The solar power will replace the oil-powered hot-water heater and back up the wood stove heat in the house, Knightly said. He has a vegetable-oil-fueled Mercedes and is working on a 1974 Volkswagen Beetle that will run on electricity.

The solar energy projects offers another step of environmental responsibility for the farm, which already has a biodiesel Mercedes, low-spray pesticide application, and a recycling plan. “It’s just another piece of the puzzle,” Knightly added. “Customers come and see the solar array and think: hey, I can do this too.”

Visit ReVision Energy for more photos of the solar tracker.

Green Homes of Maine

In the chilly, post-holiday calm of January, I moved with my boyfriend to Portland’s charming East End. I fell quickly and hard for our new neighborhood, which has been likened to the San Francisco of the Northeast. The comparison, I suppose, refers to the hillside bay windows and spectacular views. And lest we forget, the food (if ever I make it to San Francisco, I’ll comment further on the matter).On moving day, we lugged boxes, borrowed furniture and too many of my most-cherished possessions up the wooden staircase to Apartment 2. Standing on the small exterior landing, we thought, “Oh, what a lovely porch for a miniature garden!” Or something like that. Anyway, we decided on a shared New Year’s Resolution: Together we would grow something — something we could eat.

When the meager snowfall of Winter 2012 had vanished into soggy, spongy patches of lawn, we decided to put our plan into action and purchased two tomato plants from the store. They arrived potted, with instructional tags calling for sunlight, water and 70 days’ patience. At the end of those 70 days, we envisioned strong, vibrant green vines decorated in swollen, sweet spheres of fire engine red. Unfortunately, we overestimated our tiny porch’s exposure to that life-sustaining ball of gas in the sky. By a long shot.Despite our best efforts to position — and reposition — the plants for optimal exposure, chasing the sunlight in an arch across the porch, the stems and leaves withered from green to yellow and finally, on one plant, to brown. Until one day, hark! A lovely yellow bloom. And later, a green marvel, the size of a marble. Despite shadowy elements and a fallen mate (plant no. 2, it was a good run), we held to that little green promise of sustenance. It grew. And grew. And at last, it was proud, plump, and ready for pickin’, approximately as scheduled. The other day, we ate it — the lone fruit of our labor (yes, botanically speaking, a tomato is a fruit). It tasted like success.

Resolution resolved. We learned something, too. In the future, we’ll position our garden experiment closer to the decidedly sunnier street, where our neighbors enjoy bountiful results. More importantly, our experiment in urban sustainability reaffirmed what we already hoped and believed to be true: Sustainability means never underestimating small victories. Perhaps next year, we’ll even start with the seeds.

Green Homes of Maine

Airbus is pushing forward innovations in air travel. Their new concept plane, the airplane of the future, could take flight to new heights in comfort and efficiency with biomimicry at it’s core. Solar power, energy harvesting seats, active panels that go from opaque to transparent on command, purely plant-based materials and more. Yes, if you’re thinking the Jetsons, you’d be right. But not in cartoon fantasy land. Airbus claims they could have this technology in place by 2050, possibly 2030 if advancements in biology and technology continue at the current pace.

If you have the time, watch the video below. If you have even more time, check out the PDF outlining the features here. There’s more on Airbus’s website also. I’ve spent the past hour giddy as a young school boy dreaming about rocket ships and Star Trek type travel. The possibilities!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Image: Airbus

Green Homes of Maine

On July 26th, ReVision Energy officially unveiled Maine’s first public solar powered electric vehicle charging station, attracting what must have been the largest gathering of electric cars in Maine outside a dealership! A trio of Chevy Volts was there – ReVision’s own, that of our sister company ReVision Heat, and a fleet vehicle from Central Maine Power.

Close to 100 people came and went through the course of the evening, enjoying tunes from ReVision’s in-house guitar virtuoso Josh Rollson, victuals from Katie Made bakery, and of course, the star of the show: the electric cars.

ReVision offered a special thanks to Fred Garbo, who brought his fully EV Nissan LEAF to the event, and allowed several interested people to take it for a spin around the block.  Garbo is under contract to install a dual-axis solar tracker with ReVision so that his LEAF will be fully solar powered.

One of the most commonly asked questions, “Is it like a regular car?” is answered with “Yes! It’s just like a regular car… only without oil changes, gasoline, or transmission fluid.”

Some Compelling MPG

Based on the surprising abundance of solar power in Maine, 9 solar panels will provide roughly enough electricity throughout the year to power about 12,000 miles of driving on an electric car. If you swap out a 20mpg vehicle to an electric car, your fuel savings alone will pay for the solar panels in around 2 years. Assuming you keep driving some sort of electric car for the next 20 years, this is like buying gas at $0.32/gallon!*

Transportation accounts for 27% of all energy consumed in the U.S., and is responsible for 50% of the carbon emissions generated in our region. As electric cars become more widely available, we finally have the opportunity to cut our dangerous dependence on fossil fuels and the associated geopolitical, environmental, and economic toll they take on our society.

Evan Sohm, of Londonderry, NH, owns a Chevy Volt and solar panels installed by ReVision Energy.  He describes his experience like this:

I drive from Londonderry, NH to Methuen, MA for work, Monday through Friday. It’s approximately a 37 mile round trip; the Volt will go approximately 40 miles on 10kWHr of charge. As a result, I’ve been driving the Volt to and from work without using any gas.

The PV Solar Panels on my roof produce 4kW of power in full sun. So if the sun shines on my roof for 2.5hours, that produces 10kWHr of energy which is enough to drive the car for 40 miles! On average our PV system produces 18.9kWhr/day. If you use all that energy to charge the Volt you could drive 75 miles per day with zero fuel expenses.

If we drove a regular car that gets 25mpg for 75 miles, that would require 3 gallons of gas. So for us, it’s like our solar panels produce 3 gallons of gas per day, every day.

I couldn’t be happier, because in all honesty, I hate giving my money to the oil companies. Not only do I get to save money and help the environment, but I get to drive a really cool car! Everybody who takes a ride in it says it’s like a space ship. But the Chevy Volt is not rocket science. It’s like any other regular car, only much more efficient. So far, I’ve driven 7,000 miles and the lifetime fuel economy is 107mpg.

The return of the electric car ushers in a new era of transportation, where the Northeast can finally sever ties to dirty, finite fossil fuels and get where we need to go with clean power from the sun.  ReVision Energy has launched new content for you to learn about electric car charging and solar options for your home.

*  Assuming all-electric driving, which is possible for some but not all Volt drivers. Our prediction is based on real-world data collected from a 2012 Chevy Volt, where we are able to achieve 40 mi driving radius on pure electric. The 20-year cost of energy on a 4.8kw solar electric system (as of Aug, 2012) is $0.08/kWh. The Chevy Volt’s battery pack is 16kWh and Chevy claims that up to 50% will be discharged in driving. 4kWh gets you 20miles, for a cost of $0.32, vs. the $3.60+ that will cost you in gasoline.

Green Homes of Maine

Kitchen renovations can be as daunting as they are exciting. With so many choices to make on what to update, sometimes the choice on how to renovate is overlooked. If you’re ready to give your kitchen a redo, and you’re looking to go green, here are five essentials for your fresh new kitchen:

Induction Cooktop

Aside from making you look cutting edge and cool, this is the safest and most efficient style of cooktop available on the market. Induction cooktops use electromagnetic energy to heat pots and pans with 90-95% efficiency. Pots and pans must be ferrous, or reactive to a magnetic field, like steel or cast iron. With traditional gas stoves only 55% of energy used is applied to cooking, electric stoves are slightly better, clocking in at 65% efficiency. Induction cooktops are also safer and easier to clean, since they are a solid, smooth surface that is always cool to the touch.

Recycled or Reclaimed Counter Top

Reclaimed and recycled materials can make fabulous countertops. Remember the couple who installed a bowling alley countertop? Recycled glass countertops are a beautiful way to keep your kitchen bright and green, in the case of Vetrazzo’s Bistro Green countertop sourced from a variety of glass bottles and jars. There are plenty of other options with paper, aluminum, stone, and other reclaimed materials to give your kitchen a unique countertop and center island to shimmy up to on a FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) approved barstool at Crate & Barrel.

Sustainable Floor

Choose a flooring material that’s both eco-friendly and easy for you to live with. Cork & Bamboo are both great options. Cork comes in myriad colors and patterns and the cost is comparable to most composite or hardwood choices. Cork is naturally hypo-allergenic and insulating, so it will absorb sound and be warm underfoot even in winter!

Bamboo provides a look much more similar to traditional hardwood and is rapidly renewable. It can be purchased in varying degrees of hardness. For kitchen traffic, choose the hardest flooring available: it will show less wear over time, especially when things are dropped on it.

Responsible Waste Disposal

A renovation is a great time to re-evaluate how efficiently you’re using your space and make a few changes in your kitchen layout. Small changes in your everyday life can make a big impact on the planet. Make space for easily accessible bokashi composting, recycling, and trash. Bokashi composting is the easiest and most forgiving way to compost and because it’s in a sealed container it won’t smell. Put trash and recycling side by side and make sure you’re only putting items in the trash that can’t go into compost or recycling.

Efficient Appliances

If you’re thinking of keeping your current appliances make sure they are energy efficient. Your refrigerator should have a good seal on it. HGTV recommends shutting the door over a dollar bill, if the bill slides out easily you should have your seal replaced. If you do replace your refrigerator, look into a top and bottom style (freezer can be either top or bottom) as these let less cold air escape than side-by-side models. Any new appliance you choose should be energy-star certified. Many dishwashers now offer top rack only cleaning cycles to save water and energy on small loads of dishes. Convection ovens cook 25 percent faster than standard ovens, saving you time and energy.

Consider a green kitchen renovation for your home. It will last longer, perform better and save energy costs for years to come. When tearing out the existing kitchen, recycle or reuse as many materials as possible. This reduces landfill waste and carbon emissions!

Green Homes of Maine