Easy Energy-Efficient Ways to save on Energy Bills

October 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment

With winter right around the corner, here are some valuable information we gathered from all over the web to save on your electric/energy bills:

1. Replace Your Showerhead

Estimated Time: 15 minutes
Estimated Cost: $10 to $60

Install a new WaterSense-labeled showerhead, and you could save more than 2,300 gallons of water annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Using less hot water will cut your energy bills, and your local utilities may provide a rebate, too. EPA vouches that models labeled WaterSense still provide a satisfying shower. Read more of this post

Filed under Environment Tagged with , , , , ,

Google to Invest in Offshore Wind Power Transmission Grid

October 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Google has announced that it will invest in an offshore Mid-Atlantic electrical transmission backbone running from New Jersey to Virginia that will be able to connect 6,000 megawatts of wind turbines, enough to serve about 1.9 million households, according to the company.

Called the Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC) the backbone will be built around offshore power hubs that will collect the power from multiple offshore wind farms and deliver it through sub-sea cables to the land-based transmission system. Read more of this post

Filed under Business & Finance, Environment Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

5 Easy Steps to Save Energy and Money on Your Electric Bill

October 3, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Cold weather is on its way and you know what that means? Crazy utility bills from Pepco and Washington Gas will be other their way to your mail box too! While waiting for the green technology to be fully implemented in our home system, here are 5 changes you can make to help your home be more energy efficient:

1. Do a Nightly Energy Sweep

We all have left fans, lights or appliances on at night while we sleep, but doing so wastes increasingly expensive energy. Read more of this post

Filed under Environment Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Brace Yourself for a Greener Washington DC: Launch of the largest Bikeshare program

September 23, 2010 by 1 Comment

Not that there wasn’t enough incentive to enjoy living and working in Washington, D.C. area, here is another one – we are the first American city launching the largest Bikeshare program.

Marking the start of the Capital Bikeshare program the cycles are part of a new program in the Nation’s capital that hopes to encourage bike transport. The fleet is currently at 400 bikes but is expected to grow to 1,100 bikes by the end of October, making it the largest bikeshare in the country. Read more of this post

Filed under About DC, Environment Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Solar Panels On its way back to the White House

September 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter installed solar panels atop the White House. Those panels were removed during the administration of President Ronal Reagon and placed in storage. In the early 1990′s faculty and staff at Unity College, in Unity, Maine found the panels and brought them back to their campus as a symbolic gesture. Sixteen of the panels were refurbished and heated water in the cafeteria at Unity College until 2003. Read more of this post

Filed under Environment Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Can someone Build this Rotating Solar House in Washington, D.C. area?

August 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment


Just read about a great solar powered house during my visit in London. The rotating solar panels house produces five times the energy the house uses. The builder – of course a German architect. I’ll do to all my power to raise the fund for whoever is serious enough to build something similar for the Awesome Washington DC area.

Rolf Disch built the home, called Heliotrope, to follow the sun throughout the day. The structure features triple panes of thermally insulated glass to strike a balance between letting light in and keeping the house cooler inside.

A giant 6.6-kilowatt-capacity rooftop solar panel called the Sun Sail slurps up the rays of energy, pumping them into the home and grid. Solar thermal collectors on balcony railings act as water heaters and radiators. On cloudy days, the house can be heated with wood chips and solar thermal heating. Read more of this post

Filed under Environment, Tech Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Simple things you can do to save Energy

August 20, 2010 by 1 Comment


If you are one of those people who think you’ve been doing all the right things in saving energy, think again. At least, that’s what I thought till I read this survey published by Shahzeen Attari. Literally, half of the things I have been doing to save energy were wrong.

Here are some of the highlights from the survey: Read more of this post

Filed under Environment Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

SoBi: The zipcar for Bike

August 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment


Everything is becoming social these days. Thanks to a New York based startup company called SoBi, we will experience social biking soon. Given the active bike sharing program in Washington, D.C. I hope some genius Washingtonian picks this up, enhance the model and implement it for the Washingtonians.

The concept presents an alternative to traditional public transportation and will allow riders the freedom to find and unlock nearby available communal bikes using an smartphone like Android or iPhone. If you don’t have either of the phones, you can simply enter your account number and pincode into the keypad on the lockbox. Read more of this post

Filed under Environment, Tech Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Awesome Energy Efficient Office Gadgets For Washington Businesses

August 4, 2010 by Leave a Comment



Given the large number of businesses operating in Washington, D.C. and its surrounding area, the office managers may want to consider the green gadgets I have listed here.

Feel free to share this with other office managers: Read more of this post

Filed under Environment Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Marriott Hotel Going Green

July 26, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Marriott International unveiled a prototype last week that will help it build more green, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified hotels.

Charleston/Summerville is the first of Marriott hotels set to open in early 2012, will be a LEED hotel, created in partnership with the US Green Building Council.

According to their press, using the prototype will save the hotel giant six months of design time on each hotel. That’s about what the company says it would usually take to design a LEED-certificate worth new property. Marriott plans to roll out similar prototypes for its other brands in the future, including Residence Inn by Marriott and Towne Place Suites. Read more of this post

Filed under Business & Finance, Environment Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

← Older posts

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 355 other followers