Insulation is Sexy

President Obama said in a speech last week that “insulation is sexy.”  For those of us in the business, this was obvious, but we were still glade to hear it.  The folks at Energy Savvy have a very funny remix of this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoxbJiY4JNI&feature=player_embedded) 

All humor aside, there are some very important points made:

1. Energy efficient retrofits need labor, primarily construction labor.
2. Efficiency helps the consumer by saving them money and making their houses more comfortable.
3. It helps us (The USA)  meet our energy needs – we need to reduce our energy dependance on foreign and non-renewable sources.  Greater efficiency helps.

If you want to get deeper into the status of pending legislation or how to get more involved, check out Efficiency First.  They lay out the current status of much of the legislation that is pending on a national level.

Jay Best
Green Audit USA

Renewable Energy Long Island Launches 2010 Guide

Renewable Energy Long Island (RELI) will be launching the 2010 edition of its Long Island Green Guide at a reception at 4:30 PM on Monday Dec 7th at The Energy Learning Center, Wales Darby, 2910 Express Drive South, Islandia, NY 11749. RSVP to info@RenewableEnergyLongIsland.org.  See you there.
– David Pinkowitz (www.dcpmarketing.com)

USGBC-LI to Host Seminars: The Sustainable Organization

The Long Island chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (www.usgbc-li.org) will be hosting a series of seminars titled “The Sustainable Organization.”  The seminars will include panels of experts who will be discussing ways to minimize energy consumption and increase efficiency by targeting data centers, document management, company operations, building controls, supply chain, and other subjects.   For more information and date of each seminar, click on:
USGBC-LI Seminar Schedule.

– David Pinkowitz (www.dcpmarketing.com)

Google Investing to Cut the Cost of Solar Power in Half

CrunchGear had an interesting article recently about Google’s research and investments in the area of solar power.  They have invested in startups eSolar and Bright Solar and are doing ongoing research.   Their goal is to develop technology that can produce electricity at less than 5 cents per kilowatt hour.   Google’s current research and investment budget is estimated at $100 million and they are counting on the U.S. government to invest 20 times this amount.  You can click here to read the complete CrunchGear article.

– David Pinkowitz (www.dcpmarketing.com)

USGBC to Require Records of LEED Certified Buildings

The NY Times had an interesting article about potential changes to the LEED certification program.  Because of documented gaps between the design goals and the actual energy consumption of LEED certified buildings, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) will be requiring that certified building owners provide  energy consumption records for one year after their certification.  LEED certification is often used to increase rents, because of the implied energy savings.  The USGBC will review the energy consumption data and decide what changes will be needed, if any, to the LEED certification process.  To date, almost 2000 buildings have been LEED certified. You can click here to read the complete NY Times article.

– David Pinkowitz (www.dcpmarketing.com)

Immelt & Doerr Tell How the U.S. Can Lead in Green Energy

Jeff Immelt (GE CEO) and John Doerr (Kleiner Perkins Partner) wrote an excellent article in the Washington Post chiding the U.S. for not leading the race to green energy and suggesting ways to turn the situation around.  They advocate rewards for low carbon footprint,  incentives for utilities to push renewable energy,  standards for low public energy consumption, increased funding for energy R&D, and government commitment to lead the world in renewable energy exports.   You can click here to read the complete Washington Post article.

– David Pinkowitz (www.dcpmarketing.com)

Aug 5th LI Residential Renewable Energy Program & Panel

USGBC’s Renewable Energy Program
August 5, 2009 at Suffolk County Community College
in Riverhead will bring together experts to show how to incorporate energy efficient weatherization, solar photovoltaic and solar thermal, wind and geothermal technologies into Long Island residences.

Rich Manning, LEED AP – Energy Masters LI
Gary Minnick – President, Go Solar
Jeff Lang – VP Wind Technology, Eastern Energy Systems
Matthew Brown – Energy Engineer, Johnson Controls
Paul K Boyce, PE – VP and Principal, PW Grosser Consulting
Terese M. Kinsley PE, LEED AP – Chief Sustainability Officer, Town of Huntington

Click here to REGISTER and for more information.

– David Pinkowitz (www.dcpmarketing.com)

Commercial Solar Projects Get Lower Incentives

LIBN had an interesting article this week that describes the success of LIPA incentives in residential solar projects.  It also comments that commercial and educational solar projects on Long Island have not been as successful  — with only a total of 120, so far.  The article explains that LIPA’s incentives are much lower for larger solar projects, such as commercial building, so the payback period is much longer.  You can read the whole article at http://libn.com/blog/2009/07/15/small-commercial-projects-get-a-lift-from-lipa/

– David Pinkowitz (www.dcpmarketing.com)

U.S. Green Building Council to Offer 9-Seminar Series

Last night, I attended the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Technology Committee meeting and learned about the new 9-Seminar Series that they will be offering.  Titled “The Sustainable Organization,” the series will present techniques for achieving green energy and environment in any organization.  The first session on “Greening Your IT,” is scheduled for 8:00 AM Wed Sept 9th at the Carlyle-on-the-Green in Bethpage.  Watch www.usgbc-li.org for details.
– David Pinkowitz (www.dcpmarketing.com)

Checkout the Babylon Energy Efficiency Program on CNN

There is a nice piece by CNN about Babylon’s incredibly innovative program for funding energy efficiency improvements for home owners.  In a nutshell, the town will fund efficiency improvements that save you money and you pay the town pack out of the savings.  There is a link from the Long Island Green homes page.  I’ll have a little bot more detailed synopsis later in the week from a meeting that I attended with Samuel Chu who is really running the program for the Town of Babylon.

Jay Best
greenauditusa.com