Monthly Archives: January 2011

Houston announced a new city wide program

Houston’s mayor Annise Parker announced a new city wide program that offers up to $200,000 to commercial building owners to retrofit their buildings to make them more energy efficient.  The program is also supported by funding from DOE’s Conservation Block … Continue reading

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Public Version 2.0 of the International Green Construction Code (IgCC)

The International Code Council released Public Version 2.0 of the International Green Construction Code (IgCC). The updated version incorporates 27 ASTM standards and is based on actions taken after the August 2010 public hearings on the previous Version 1.0.    The … Continue reading

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Construction Activity Increasing

November marked the third straight monthly increase in construction activity after a dismal summer. The Commerce Department reported that construction spending increased 0.4 percent in November 2010.  However, building activity is only 2.3 percent higher than in August, when it … Continue reading

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North Carolina Resists Energy Code Stringency

Builders in North Carolina worked with the state Building Code Council to adopt new codes that go into effect in January 2012 raising the standards for residential energy efficiency by 15% above current code.  This is instead of the 30% … Continue reading

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California and Greenhouse Gases

The California Air Resources Board endorsed its own cap-and-trade regulation in December. The measure sets a statewide limit on the emissions from sources responsible for 80% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions and establishes a price signal needed to drive long-term … Continue reading

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Seattle University and Plastic Bottles

Seattle University is now the sixth university to stop selling plastic bottled water on campus. It is participating in the “Think Outside the Bottle” campaign developed by Corporate Accountability International. This initiative aims to restore faith in public tap water … Continue reading

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Prolonging service life of solar cells

By using carbon nanotubes and DNA, scientists at Purdue University have developed solar technology aimed at increasing service life and reducing cost.  The researchers say they’ve produced a new class of solar cells that can repair themselves much like plants … Continue reading

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Enhanced efficiency of solar cells

In other research, scientists have developed a solar cell capable of collecting multiple electrons for each high-energy photon absorbed.  They have also found a way to directly measure the electron output. Conventional solar cells convert one wavelength of light efficiently, … Continue reading

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