By Lena Babaeva Coradini

This seems to be a frequent occurrence: "Wind Turbine Projects Run Into Resistance."

Because of its concerns, the Defense Department has emerged as a formidable opponent of wind projects in direct conflict with another branch of the federal government, the Energy Department, which is spending billions of dollars on wind projects as part of President Obama’s broader effort to promote renewable energy.

“I call it the train wreck of the 2000s,” said Gary Seifert, who has been studying the radar-wind energy clash at the Idaho National Laboratory, an Energy Department research facility. “The train wreck is the competing resources for two national needs: energy security and national security.”

In 2009, about 9,000 megawatts of proposed wind projects were abandoned or delayed because of radar concerns raised by the military and the Federal Aviation Administration, according to a member survey by the American Wind Energy Association. That is nearly as much as the amount of wind capacity that was actually built in the same year, the trade group says.

The Defense Department is concerned that turbine blades are indistinguishable from airplanes on radar systems, and they can even cause blackout zones so that planes disappear from radar.  Additionally, clusters of turbines can look like storm activity on weather radar.  For all of these reasons, some argue that wind turbines pose a risk to training, testing and national security in some regions.

By Lena Babaeva Coradini

Interesting news for the building community: "Green Buildings Drive BIM Adoption," according to a new report from McGraw-Hill Construction:

The report, “Green BIM: How Building Information Modeling is Contributing to Green Design and Construction“, produced in collaboration with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA), Autodesk, and 13 other industry organizations, finds that the industry is only now tapping into the potential of BIM to meet their ‘green’ goals.

Case-in-point: The report finds that only 17 percent of Green BIM practitioners are currently realizing more than 50 percent of BIM’s potential for their green goals, but 78 percent of survey respondents who aren’t currently using BIM for their green building projects expect to within the next three years.

. . .

According to the report, as green building become a larger share of construction, the benefits provided by BIM will also be more widely recognized. As a result, the use of BIM will increase as it delivers a more efficient way to leverage digital models for design, construction and operation of projects, according to the report.

Another finding shows that nearly half (49 percent) of Green BIM practitioners use BIM for more than 50 percent of their projects, compared to 28 percent of non-Green BIM companies. Green BIM practitioners are also more intensive users of the software since they both create and analyze models more frequently than non-Green BIM companies, according to the report.

McGraw-Hill Construction studies have found that energy efficiency is the most often cited green building benefit, yielding significant cost savings over a building’s full lifecycle.

By Lena Babaeva Coradini

There have been a couples of editorials and articles around on the EPA's New Fuel Efficiency Labels, which will be implemented in 2012, and which are aimed to help the consumer realize the differences between electric, hybrid and diesel fuel cars.  The labels are currently up for public review on the EPA's site.

Label 1 uses a letter grade from A+ to D to give an instant good/bad rating that takes both fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions into consideration. Just below that, the EPA plans to list a not-yet-created Web site where people can learn more about the ratings and how their personal driving habits could effect them. The amount of money a car owner will save (or spend) over five years is prominently displayed, which is effective since cost-savings could definitely draw in buyers who aren't interested in the car's environmental standards. Below that, a range of environmental factors, from CO2 emissions to the presence of other pollutants. And on the right hand side you'll see a QR code, which will let people compare dealer prices and the efficiency of other cars on the spot--pretty useful for anyone on the lot.

The second label doesn't use a letter grade, it's obviously horizontal, and it's a bit simpler. On the second label it's also easy to see the different labels for gasoline cars (top), electric vehicles, compressed natural gas vehicles and hybrid vehicles (bottom). They're slightly modified to show the different MPG ratings when using gas only or an electric/gas mix--an extremely nuanced set of data since some people might not understand how a hybrid car works. It's handled pretty well on the hybrid label.

I am curious to see which of the labels will win out and be considered the best for educating consumers.

By Lena Babaeva Coradini

Scott Adams, the creator of ‘Dilbert’ comic strip, wrote a very interesting and honest look at building a green house and what hurdles he has encountered on his journey that other folks may encounter as well.

By Lena Babaeva Coradini

The United States Coast Guard celebrates the launch in eastern Maine of the first federal facility anywhere to use tidal power located.  A 60-kilowatt tidal turbine was launched in March and is providing electricity to the station’s boats starting this week:

The project shows that tidal power can be harnessed for Coast Guard and other federal facilities, McPherson said. After the 60-day demonstration ends in October, the project will be evaluated in hopes of applying the technology in places such as Maine or Alaska, where extreme tides and fast currents that make tidal power appropriate, he said.

I particularly liked this quote in the article: "'It's just a demonstration project, and it's modest,' McPherson said. 'But I say Alexander Graham Bell just called Watson in the next room for the first phone call. You have to start somewhere.'"  So true.

By Lena Babaeva Coradini

Some good news for Tennessee: Governor Bredesen and Matt Kisber, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, announced the launch of a new $50 million energy efficiency loan program created to help Tennessee companies finance investments in energy efficient technology, as well as retrofits and renewable energy systems:

This innovative economic development program will be administered by Pathway Lending and will offer access to below-market rate loans, financing up to 100 percent of improvements aimed at reducing energy consumption, lowering overall costs and improving profitability. . . .

“Pathway Lending plans to offer below-market rate loans at 5 percent with terms extending to 10 years.  Loans can finance up to 100 percent of costs on projects including building retrofits, equipment replacements or upgrades, lighting and renewable generation projects. 

The loans can be repaid with the energy costs savings derived from each project. The program is the result of a collaborative effort between the state of Tennessee, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Economic Development Administration, Pathway Lending, Pinnacle Financial Partners and the Tennessee Valley Authority. . . .

The Energy Efficiency Loan Program is available to any business seeking to reduce energy consumption in their Tennessee facilities through building retrofits and upgrades, equipment replacement purchases or other energy efficiency or renewable energy projects.  Beginning August 25, businesses may apply online at www.pathwaylending.org with first round applications due by November 1, 2010.

To be eligible for a loan, a business must have a complete an energy audit, assessment or vendor proposal with detailed project energy savings.  Once verified, these energy savings determine the amount and term of the loan and the applicant’s ability to repay the loan with those savings. 

Informational workshops will be hosted by Pathway Lending throughout the state in September and businesses are welcome to attend the events for free.

By Lena Babaeva Coradini

Interesting New York Times piece on the increasing number of banks and commercial lenders that are starting to distance their financial institutions from companies involved in risky or controversial environmental operations.

Blasting off mountaintops to reach coal in Appalachia or churning out millions of tons of carbon dioxide to extract oil from sand in Alberta are among environmentalists’ biggest industrial irritants. But they are also legal and lucrative.

For a growing number of banks, however, that does not seem to matter.

. . .

Still, banking analysts and others suggest that heated debate over climate change, water quality and other environmental considerations is forcing lenders to take a much harder — and often uncomfortable — look at where they extend credit, and to whom.

By Lena Babaeva Coradini

I couldn't resist this headline: "Going Green, Without Being Preachy About It." The article discusses Sean Meenan, a New York City restaurant owner who is "a surprising spokesman for environmentalism."

“Some people get turned off because it’s like guys in lab coats or people wearing Patchouli and Birkenstocks, and they’re like, ‘Yo, this is not me,’ ” he said in an interview, explaining his “softly didactic” approach to environmentalism. Or, as he put it to the girls that morning in a rapid-fire patter: “I found the best way to try to, like, get people inspired and, like, want to do something is to make it fun, right? And make it easily understandable, you know what I mean, so, like, people can comprehend and dig what you’re doing.”

By Lena Babaeva Coradini

Just in time for the long Labor Day weekend, here are some suggestions for holiday road trips focused on eco-tourism.

By Lena Babaeva Coradini

Earlier this week California energy regulators approved the first new solar thermal project in the state in more than 20 years.

By Lena Babaeva Coradini

Driving four thousand miles across Canada in a 1972 Volkswagen is one thing, but when the '72 VW is actually an E-Beetle converted to run on electricity by a team of college students, that's just cool.

By Lena Babaeva Coradini

According to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the United States used less energy in 2009 and increased the use of renewable energy resources. A new report shows that coal and petroleum use were down significantly in 2009 while wind power was up by more than a third. Natural gas use also declined and 2009 saw increases in the use of solar, hydroelectric and geothermal power.

Presumably, some of the decrease in fossil fuel use can be attributed to the U.S. economic climate in 2009, but the increases in alt energy are certainly a positive sign.

By Lena Babaeva Coradini

Cintas, which designs and manufactures corporate uniforms, has introduced a new uniform shirt, the Eco Polo, which is made from recycled plastic bottles and something the company calls "eco-charcoal." The coolest thing is that used Eco Polos can be recycled once more:

Used Full Circle Eco Polo shirts can be sent back to the company to be repurposed for other uses, which Cintas said is new for the uniform market. "The biggest thing is this is a closed-loop process," said Sarah Makeijus, a merchandising manager with Cintas. "There are not many people doing this today."

The Eco Polo is the latest in Cintas' sustainability efforts with respect to its uniform business.

By Lena Babaeva Coradini

New "Green Guides" are expected to be issued soon by The Federal Trade Commission, according to Advertising Age. The new Guides will be the first environmental-marketing guidelines issued in 12 years, and AdAge says they "could radically reshape how far marketers can go in painting their products, packaging or even corporate images green."

The guides are expected to tighten standards for packaging claims such as “recyclable” or “biodegradable”; regulate how marketers use terms such as “carbon neutral,”  and how close to the source of carbon output “carbon offsets” must be executed, according to the article.

By Lena Babaeva Coradini

Green living is thriving in communes, but we're not talking about the hippy communities of the late 60's, rather eco-villages that focus on green building, communal spaces or other aspects of sustainability.  Here are seven examples of eco-living places:

1. EcoVillage (Ithaca, N.Y.) Ithaca, New York's answer to a modern day commune is EcoVillage, a green utopia that houses 160 residents. Its 60 houses are split into two housing groups, FROG and SONG, and are all low-impact and energy-efficient. The third housing group, TREE, is currently being constructed and will house 30 more homes. EcoVillage has a CSA vegetable farm and a U-Pick berry farm along with a root cellar and community gardens. 80 percent of the commune's 175 acres will remain as green space, 55 acres of which are already under protection through a conservation easement from the Finger Lakes Land Trust. Residents volunteer 2 to 3 hours a week by building furniture, farming or assisting with other necessary maintenance. Future endeavors for EcoVillage include creating organic orchards, greywater recycling, and biodiesel and vegetable oil fuel production.
2. Dancing Rabbit (Rutledge, Mo.) Missouri's Dancing Rabbit is an intentional community and eco-village that houses 50 residents. The goal of the intentional community is to maintain the rural prairie by restoring the land to its pre-residential state. With 10,000 trees planted already, Dancing Rabbit is on its way to achieving this goal. All power stems from renewable sources, including solar and wind power, and the homes are built from natural materials: straw veils, cob, and reclaimed lumber. The water supply comes from rainwater.
3. Toyosato, a Yamagishi village (Mie Prefecture, Japan) A main component of the Yamagishi movement, Toyosato, a sustainable farming cooperative, is home to 550 residents. Started by ten families in 1969, Toyosato is now one of the main farming corporations in Japan. Toyosato also attempts to make the neighboring area more sustainable. The cooperative donates compost to neighboring farms and also uses factory byproducts from soy sauce and tofu production as livestock feed. Since 1960, the Yamagishi movement has created 30 villages.
4. Breitenbush Hot Springs (Detroit, Ore.) Breitenbush Hot Springs is a cooperative that runs an on-site hot springs retreat and conference center. Each year, the commune hosts 25,000 guests. Located east of Salem, Oregon in the Cascades, Breitenbush houses 50 full-time residents with 30 summer time employees. The commune uses geothermal power and hydropower as off-the-grid energy sources. To join the commune, members must work for the cooperative for one year and purchase a member share for $500.
5. Twin Oaks Commune (Louisa, Va.) With 85 adults and 15 children, Twin Oaks commune in Louisa, Virginia is a communal living destination. Started in 1967, the residents at Twin Oaks share their incomes and work 42 hours per week in the communal sectors by making tofu, creating furniture and hammocks, farming, milking cows and aiding with childcare.
6. Kolonilott and Understenhodgen (Stockholm, Sweden) Kolonilott are Swedish communes ranging from gardening specific communes to summer only communes. In the 1900s, Sweden's government devoted land to be used for gardening as part of an act to provide land to the lower classes. Although developed in Denmark, cohousing communes are sprouting throughout Sweden. Located in Stockholm's wooded "green fingers" area, Understenhodgen composes 44 cohousing homes. This eco-friendly lodging is a car-free location that offers district heating, waste recycling and a kindergarten program.
7. Nubanusit Neighborhood And Farm (Peterborough, N.H.) Nubanusit Neighborhood And Farm is a cohousing community that boasts an organic farm, communal office space and residences ranging from single family to four-unit dwellings. Located adjacent to Nubanusit Brook, residents reside in their own homes yet share seventy acres of farm land, woodlands, pond and fields. The residents all participate in a CSA and rely on on-site cows and chickens for dairy and milk. Each residence in the commune is LEED Platinum certified.