LEED Delivers on Predicted Energy Savings With its dominant position defining green building in the North American market, the LEED Rating System is a popular target for critics with a wide range of axes to grind, some justified, others less so. One of the more valid concerns is that LEED’s promises of energy savings (and therefore carbon reductions) are just that—promises. With the exception of LEED for Existing Buildings, which looks at actual operations, LEED’s various rating systems assign energy points to buildings based on predictions made during design. How well those predictions hold up in reality has, until now, been subject to conjecture.
PHILADELPHIA, PA – Buyers beware - that so-called “Green” product is likely stretching the eco-truth according to the Six Sins of Greenwashing, a study released today by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing.
The Six Sins of Greenwashing found that of 1,018 common consumer products ranging from toothpaste to caulking to shampoo to printers, randomly surveyed for the study, 99% were guilty of “greenwashing.”
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer spending inched up by an unexpectedly small 0.2 percent last month and construction spending tumbled, according to reports on Friday that heightened concerns on the health of the economy.
Heavy or massive objects like masonry, earth, and water can hold a lot of heat. Because of this capacity to act as a heat source (warming their surroundings) or a heat sink (drawing heat from and cooling their surroundings), materials with thermal mass affect comfort both indoors and out. (Oceans and lakes, for example, moderate air temperature changes because their thermal mass acts as a buffer.)
Buildings in climates with large diurnal (day-night) temperature swings, like the high-elevation Southwest, offer a classic example of the time-lag effect of thermal mass. Adobe and other types of masonry walls absorb intense daytime heat, keeping temperatures comfortable inside. During the cold night, the walls pour out their accumulated heat, keeping the inside warm. By morning the walls, if they are designed correctly, can again absorb the daytime heat.
Denver, CO – Carbon neutral shipping has arrived. A Colorado company called Ship Green has launched an alternative that provides shoppers with tools to calculate and offset the carbon emissions created by each product shipped. The owners designed it they say to make it possible for customers to reduce the carbon footprint of each purchase. As businesses race to position themselves as leaders in the green economy. The new service targets both individuals and companies in the United States.
