sustainable

Window-Powered Buildings

- Adam Clare

glass A company, XsunX, is producing some really enlightening technologies. They envision buildings that produce their own energy through solar power, they imagine a future where the very glass you are looking through is also powering your computer.

Glass as solar panels, this just makes sense. Office towers need power during the day, which is conveniently when the sun is up. I hope that this company makes these products inexpensive.

“XsunX is also developing an opaque solar cell that is so thin and flexible that it can be integrated into other building materials, such as roofing and siding. The possibilities are virtually endless.”

Gold in the Landfill

- Adam Clare

tyresBusiness Week is running a great article on innovative green entrepreneurs. The article is appropriately titled From Garbage to Gold, and is an easy read to make your weekend good.

“For a slew of new entrepreneurs, garbage is not just a matter of personal opinion, it is, ahem, their business. In other words, they’re creating new companies out of other people’s junk.
…
Reich says he is looking to broaden his product line and expand his distribution channels. “After we started the company, I didn’t see a lot of other recycling [products],” he says. “I’ve learned quite a bit about companies taking similar innovative approaches to product design. It’s a niche now, but it’s a growing field. People are becoming more aware of what products are made of and where they go after they are done owning them.””

Investing in Green Companies = Profit

- Adam Clare

windmillCompanies that address global warming head-on is where you should put your money. Green companies in the KLD Global Climate 100 Index outperformed the market by almost 5 percentage points!

It’s easier than ever to put your money where your beliefs are.

“This past July marks the first birthday of KLD’s Global Climate 100 Index, which lists 100 global companies that are committed to positively influencing climate change.

The diverse index is made up of companies varying drastically in size that focus on issues of renewable energy, “future” fuel, or clean technology and efficiency. “

Carbon-Neutral Buildings by 2030?

- Adam Clare

A Sante-Fe based architect has started the 2030 Challenge to encourage sustainable architecture. Modern buildings are notoriously inefficient when it comes to energy use and hopefully we’ll all benefit from green buildings in 2030.

“Simply put, he challenges architects, engineers and contractors to cut the carbon intensity of buildings by 50% from the average of their peers today, 60% below peer average in 2010, 70% below peer average in 2015, and so on, until 2030 by which all buildings should be carbon neutral (zero net carbon emissions).”

Green Wifi

- Adam Clare

green wifi logoGreen Wifi is a non-profit organization that wants to bring free wifi access to the internet using solar power. They are using off the shelf products installed with linux to keep costs as low as possible. The reasoning behind providing internet access is that development require easy access to information, and what better way to disseminate mass amounts of information than the internet?

This is the essential question though:
“Why Green WiFi? A number of non profit entities focus on addressing the digital divide by providing internet access to developing areas. Green WiFi addresses one of the biggest barriers to success: the lack of reliable electricity in developing areas required to power the network.”

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