Oct 15, 08

From The Book

Shelter: Introduction

We think of our homes mostly in terms of memory and emotion - a magnificent meal prepared in the kitchen, a child's first steps across the living room, a basement that gives us the shivers. The longer we live in a home, the more the structure that once represented new beginnings and great milestones fades into the background. Our lives unfold within it, but we tend to forget about all the ways we continue to interact with and depend on the services our home provides.
At its most basic, a house is a tool for living, but most homes today are blunt, poorly designed tools. But better homes are on the way. A confluence of new technologies and approaches is beginning to allow us to create buildings of a whole new stamp.

Image: Zero (fossil fuel) energy home by Zoka Zola. Read more here

Shelter

What's in a Name?

Think you can tell the difference between a think tank with a straightforward name and one that's misleading? Nonprofit organization Consumer Reports lets you test your ability to see through green murketing with their new report and interactive quiz...


The 3TIER Tour

If I told you that the air in a corporate office building filled with PhD holding climatologist and atmospheric scientists felt positively electrified, you might think I was a little off. But the truth is that during my visit...


Photo Essay: The 2008 World Expo

by Justine Bayod Espoz We encourage submissions from members of Worldchanging's global audience who volunteer to write up their notes from conferences, workshops and other worldchanging happenings they participate in. If you'd like to contribute your own report, please email...

Shelter

Turning Waste to Energy in Downtown Seattle

Seattle Steam Co., a major supplier of heat to buildings in downtown Seattle, Washington, is going to begin turning waste into a source of energy. The company began construction yesterday on a hybrid heating plant, with a boiler that is...

Shelter

And Maybe Unicorns Will Save Us

Because there's no such thing as clean coal. by Eric de Place Apparently, everybody loves clean coal. Barack Obama loves it and John McCain loves it. Joe Biden really loved it during his VP debate -- and Sarah Palin loved it...

Shelter

Off-Shore Wind Power Set to Expand

In South Korea, wind power would be a likely resource to help the world's tenth largest energy consumer meet government goals to lower fossil fuel dependency through greater investment in renewable energy. Yet efforts to build wind turbines in...

Shelter

GE and Google Call for Clean Energy Policies

The recently announced alliance between technology giants General Electric and Google may provide the lobbying arsenal necessary for the U.S. to overhaul an outdated electric grid widely considered as a barricade to a low-carbon future. The collaboration brings together two...

Shelter

Energy Efficiency: Rational Exuberance

During market turmoil, efficiency upgrades are an attractive investment. Here's a thought.  Wall Street is in turmoil.  Real estate doesn't look like it'll be a good investment for a while.  Commodity prices have been falling like a stone.  The dollar...

Shelter

The Locavolt Movement: Pushing For Energy Independence

Peter Asmus at the San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday on the "locavolt" movement. The growing trend is catching on in communities nationwide, where residents seek freedom from the energy grid through reliance on local generation points like solar panels...


Reader Report: The Carbon Footprint of Research at Caltech

This piece is by Asa S. Hopkins, a graduate student studying physics at Caltech. We're happy to share his ideas about how to make this major research institution more sustainable. We encourage submissions from members of Worldchanging's global audience who...

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