Sustainable North

From nytimes.com, posted on Monday, September 29, 2008:
One of the limitations of solar photovoltaic systems is that, at the current state of the technology, no more than a quarter of the energy from the sun is converted to electric current. Most of the rest of the energy is lost as waste heat.
But Vinod Khosla, the founder [...]

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From the New York Times on Tuesday, September 30, 2008:
… But while renewable energy has become a hot political buzzword, Congress has thus far failed to extend tax credits that wind, solar and other clean-energy companies say they need to stay in business.
As it stands, the tax credits currently in place expire at the end of this [...]

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From the Anchorage Daily News on Tuesday, September 30, 2008:

With a fresh infusion of $60 million into the state’s Home Energy Rebate Program, thousands of Alaska homeowners are clamoring to receive home-improvement rebate checks worth as much as $10,000, creating an unprecedented backlog and leaving many people frustrated and stressed with the process to get [...]

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From the Anchorage Daily News on Sunday, September 28, 2008:

Teri Hansen is tired of shivering in her own home.
“Each winter it gets colder and colder and the bills go higher and higher. And it’s just not comfortable,” she said. “It’s actually cold. We wear sweaters, sweatshirts, bundle up, and our house is still about 66, [...]

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Here’s a list from www.consumerreports.org, dated October 2008 of 25 ways to increase home energy efficiency and save money.
 

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In an article on www.consumerreports.org, posted on September 29, 2008, Consumer Reports blasted the US Department of Energy “Energy Star” rating system, saying
“A number of test procedures are out of date or problematic,” says David B. Goldstein, codirector of the energy program at the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “Part of the reason is [...]

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Established in 1995, the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency is an ongoing project of the North Carolina Solar Center and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
To find out what incentives your state utilities and/or government offers businesses and individuals who use renewable power or increase [...]

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As mentioned in an article on nytimes.com from Friday, September 26, 2008, two architects have proposed a “nutrition label” to address “the need for a universal sustainability-labeling standard (much like F.D.A. labels on food) that would empower homebuyers to make smarter, more sustainable homebuying decisions.”
To read a q&a about green prefab construction, click here.
To read [...]

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From the Toronto Star, September 13, 2008:
Pity the three little pigs: They could have saved themselves all kinds of hassles if they’d only built their straw house properly in the first place and passed on the brick.
Of course, straw and mud isn’t the standard form of construction in Canada these days. So when Joshua Thornton, [...]

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BY: Norbert Senf, Masonry Heater Association
Energy Focus: Fairbanks Daily Newsminer September 25th, 2008, Section A3

Unknown in North America until about 20 years ago, masonry heaters have a long tradition in the colder parts of Europe. Notable exceptions are Britain and France, where our North American fireplace traditions came from.

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