Monthly Archives: June 2010

Manufacturing costs of PV have dropped 20%

Manufacturing costs of PV have dropped 20% with every doubling in volume.  A new process from SunFab was introduced in 2007.  Based on flat screen television technology, it uses nanotechnology to turn thin pieces of glass the size of a … Continue reading

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Google introduces home energy monitoring progam

Google has introduced their PowerMeter progam which is a free energy monitoring tool for saving energy.  The Google PowerMeter allows one to view a home’s energy consumption from anywhere online. It uses utility smart meters and energy monitoring devices to … Continue reading

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reenFinanceSF announced it’s use of Stimulus Funds

The nation’s largest Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program, GreenFinanceSF  received stimulus funds in the spring of 2010.  GreenFinanceSF announced it intends to use the stimulus funds to reduce the interest rate paid by property owners by approximately 1.5% for … Continue reading

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Cool Roof Roadmap meeting of industry to be held fourth quarter of 2010

Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced at a recent Cool Roof Rating Council meeting that a Cool Roof Roadmap meeting of industry and DOE representatives will be held in the fourth quarter of 2010.  The intent is to gather ideas for … Continue reading

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EPA

The  EPA is releasing their online ToxRefDB database of toxicity testing results on hundreds of chemicals. It is intended to make it easier for product developers, scientists and researchers to search for that type of information.

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Chemical Emissions

NSF-International and Greenguard Environmental Institute announced that they will be developing a standard for measuring chemical emissions in building products and determining exposure limits. The new standard is to be rolled out in about 18 months.

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Philadelphia mandates cool roofing

The City of Philadelphia has approved a new ordinance that amends their building code to require that certain buildings have cool roofs.  The requirements for new construction call for all buildings with low sloped roofs to have cool roofs as … Continue reading

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DOE mandates cool roofing

In an effort to further reduce cooling energy and to mitigate urban heat islands, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that as of June 1, 2010  roof replacements and roofs for new construction on all DOE buildings shall be cool roofs, … Continue reading

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Sustainable building design elements which should lead to less energy

The U.S. Department of Energy proposed standards that would require new and renovated federal buildings to include sustainable building design elements which should lead to less energy and water use and less impact on the local environment. The newly proposed … Continue reading

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The Green Products Innovation Institute (GPII) officially launched

The Green Products Innovation Institute (GPII) was officially launched in California on May 26, 2010.  The nonprofit organization is dedicated to transforming the way companies design and manufacture products by advancing the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) framework as developed by … Continue reading

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