Earth Hour, wonder what will happen

If you don't know already, Earth Hour this year is tonight, March 29 from 20:00 - 21:00 local time. I'm, of course, going to participate and turn off all our lights. What's most interesting to me are two things:
1. The metrics of how many participated ( much CO2 and energy was saved) and how they'll compare it across time zones.
2. how many babies will be born 10 months from tonight because of this.

If you haven't heard, or want to know what's up, check it out here: http://www9.earthhourus.org/

On another interesting note, is something I read from Google's EarthHour homepage today.
I had believed (or wanted to believe) blog post months about how if you just chance the color of the screen background from white to black (they used Google w/ black background -- Blackle-- as the example) that the monitor would use slightly less energy and therefore be less energy taxing/environmentally friendlier. Well, on Google's Earth Hour page explains it doesn't matter what color the screen background is. That's good for visual design since I have Accessibility questions about the contrast being high enough.

Grab a drink, turn off the lights. There's plenty of ways to entertain yourself for an hour in the "dark."

Recycling is not THE answer if you look at the problem holistically

"Recycling is not the answer" by Martin Gibson from Envirowise. If there was ever someone who was talking about the virtues of Design Management and just didn't call it by its name, is Mr. Gibson here. I spent the time reading this article, and feeling very inspired that someone outside of the circles I know about really gets DM and doesn't even (maybe) know what it's called!

Here are some of my favorite parts:

"...so-called 'triple bottom line' -- profit, planet and people -- is needed for businesses to survive and thrive in the longer term."

"...addressing the 'planet' or environmental side of sustainability is good for the profit line -- the economics are obvious: reducing resource use, water consumption or energy use will reduce expenditure..."

"Envirowise found that 52 per cent of SMEs surveyed reported evidence of growing environmental awareness amongst their clients over the past year...Some ten per cent are anticipating an increased demand for information... while 11 per cent have altered their business strategy as a result."

"The greenwash backlash is almost upon us. The gap between rhetoric and action on climate change..."

"Prevention is after all better than cure...looking at the processes and inputs rather than fixing the output."

"Looking at the design of a product: looking at the supply chain that provides the components of that product; looking at the packaging of a product' these all may seem obvious areas to investigate, but are often overlooked, or explored in isolation and not holistically."

"Key to this whole life cycle approach is changing behaviour and the way people approach problems. People in business should ask themselves" 'How can I use the least material and energy to give the customer what they want?'"

Is this the right path to alternate fuel? Ethanol, food prices, fuel, energy, commodities trading... I think not

My personal view on ethanol is that it's a handy way to add something to the commodities markets so that first-world nations can trade on corn and it's backed by the US government with money. Have we as a planet screwed ourselves out of food sources in order to cut our CO2 emissions and run our cars? Perhaps.

Everyone has an opinion about this. I've selected 4 sources that I think make a good argument or at least have a point-of-view that is fairly balanced in its representation. You be the judge of what you think.


http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_40/b4052052.htm?chan=search
Big Oil's Stall on Ethanol from BusinessWeek 1-Oct-07 (apparently, written in the future but published in the past ;) )

" A more moderate conclusion comes from a recent study by the University of California at Davis, which last year received a $25 million grant from Chevron to study biofuels. It said the energy used to produce ethanol is about even with what it generates and that cleaner emissions would be offset by the loss of pasture and rainforest to corn-growing. Only a small part of the research backed by the grant will involve ethanol, says Billy Sanders, UC Davis' research director. The primary focus will be developing alternative processes and feedstocks for biofuel that is not ethanol.

Infrastructure problems are behind much of the oil companies' resistance to E85. It adds "too much complexity and cost," says Shell spokesperson Anne Bryan Peebles, since it requires separate pumps, trucks, and storage tanks. Any mix with more than 10% ethanol may cause corrosion and other problems in existing pipelines."


http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/15-10/ff_plant
One Molecule Could Cure Our Addition to Oil from Wired magazine 24-Sep-07

There's just one catch: No one has yet figured out how to generate energy from plant matter at a competitive price. The result is that no car on the road today uses a drop of cellulosic ethanol.

Today's cellulases are the enzyme equivalent of vacuum tubes: clunky, slow, and expensive. Now, flush with cash, scientists and companies are racing to develop the cellulosic transistor. Some researchers are trying to build the ultimate microbe in the lab, one that could combine the two key steps of the process. Others are using "directed evolution" and genetic engineering to improve the enzyme-producing microorganisms currently in use. Still others are combing the globe in search of new and better bugs. It's bio-construction versus bio-tinkering versus bio-prospecting, all with the single goal of creating the perfect enzyme cocktail.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9d2dffc2-6e62-11dc-b818-0000779fd2ac.html
Go Back to Basics Before you Buy Commodities from the Financial Times 29-Sep-07

Take the drastic shifts in the grain market wrought first by the demand for corn to make ethanol and then by the drought in Australia. Farmers switched from wheat to corn, contracting the supply of the former. Then the drought further constricted wheat supply.

The result: wheat futures have doubled over the past six months, while corn futures have declined. But you would have needed to do a lot of homework to see this coming.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/29/world/29food.html?hp
As Prices Soar, US Food Aid Buys Less from the New York Times 29-Sep-07

Corn prices have fallen in recent months, but are still far higher than they were a year ago. Demand for ethanol has also indirectly driven the rising price of soybeans, as land that had been planted with soybeans shifted to corn. And wheat prices have skyrocketed, in large part because drought hurt production in Australia, a major producer, economists say.

The higher food prices have not only reduced the amount of American food aid for the hungry, but are also making it harder for the poorest people to buy food for themselves, economists and advocates for the hungry say.

Biodiesel vs. Ethanol, why biodiesel is the way to go
http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/25/technology/biodieselboom.biz2/index.htm
Biodiesel Boom Heading Towards Wall Street from Business 2.0 magazine 26-sep-07

These days biodiesel isn't just good for the environment - it's good for the bottom line. The U.S. market for the combustible stuff has more than doubled every year since 2004 and will hit $1 billion this year. The number of retail pumps nationwide has grown from 350 in 2005 to more than 1,000 today. A couple of biodiesel IPOs are in the offing - and opportunities abound...

Biodiesel is 30 percent more fuel-efficient than gasoline, which in turn is 30 percent more efficient than ethanol. And while most ethanol produced in the United States comes from a single feedstock - corn - biodiesel has many sources: the oil of seed plants, such as soy and canola, french-fry grease and animal fat. That means the market can weather a price increase in any one raw material. Solazyme, a South San Francisco biotech firm, has even started making biodiesel from genetically modified algae.

LEED buildings, all hype and no substance?

I recently read this article about LEED Certification in Fast Company in issue #119

Bank of America's One Bryant Park is made an example of here. I don't think the quote's facts are accurate with regard to energy consumption and glass for the building. The building has the ability to heat and cool itself using run-off and gray water. Let's see how much it pulls from the local ConEd grids before we start throwing stones, eh?

What I do agree with in the article is that the LEED point system is a bit flawed and that points don't' consider the building's geographic and environmental location, among other things.

LEED is not perfect, but it's not broken from Environmental Design + Construction is a good piece to put LEED into perspective. I have respect for Rob Watson, and think that his awareness of LEED's current limitations as a 'good' certification can be improved, as well as requiring increased resource reuse/savings for each building to hit baseline. And yet, having something as comprehensive and achievable (and publicly recognizable) as LEED is a great starting point and better than nothing. After speaking with an architect or two I understand better that designing smart buildings could do more to save on resource use and improve indoor health than relying strictly on LEED.

All in all, Americans love to win awards -- especially when they are silver, gold or platinum named (or colored). We're competitive, so this is a great segue to a next stage in environmental health and rewarding excellence in architecture and construction.

In the next 5 years, we'll have to do better than nothing. In the meantime, keep moving forward!

P.S. here's another publication I enjoy as a layman (er, laywoman) who is a fan of architecture and interior design and have no formal background in either: Green Source magazine from McGraw-Hill Construction

P.P.S. check out information about the Architecture 2030 initiative for where the future of sustainable architecture is hopefully going: http://www.architecture2030.org/

Natural Clay plaster for interior

I read this in a recent e-newsletter from Global Green USA. The good folks rebuilding New Orleans in a more sustainable methods. I'll probably get smacked on the wrist for posting their e-newsletter here, but maybe not. I'm not trying to steal their thunder or copywrite, just want to get people talking about it and to know more the lazy-man's way --aka answer my blog post for me.

I'm wondering if anyone has used this type of plaster in his/her home or has an opinion on it, especially on the bit about the charge humans are accustomed to being around in nature. I wonder if I would know I was experiencing it consciously or if I would just 'feel better'. I like that it's renewable, non-toxic and low-energy usage to create.

Green Product of the Month
Natural Clay Plaster

Natural clay or earth based plaster for interior finishes including walls, ceilings, and bathrooms are natural, renewable, and non-toxic materials. The manufacturing process requires low energy usage. Plaster walls help to regulate temperature and sound within a home or office. In addition, natural lay or earth based plaster does not attract dust.

It is compatible with the "breathable" construction recommended for both historic and new buildings. Surrounding your interior environments with clay plasters, or paints, that produce Negative Ions will not only help neutralize the electromagnetic effect created by computers, appliances and synthetic plastics, but also will help eliminate static charge on walls and floors. Not only do your walls stay clean, but by using clay surface materials you are helping to filter air of pollen and dander. You surround yourself with the ''charge Humans are accustomed to when living in nature."

Negative ions are believed to produce biochemical reactions that increase levels of the mood chemical serotonin, helping to alleviate depression, relieve stress, and boost our daytime energy. Normal Ion count in fresh country air is 2,000 to 4,000 negative Ions per cubic centimeter (about the size of a sugar cube). At Yosemite Falls, you'll experience over 100,000 negative Ions per cubic centimeter. On the other hand, the level is far below 600 per cubic centimeter in an office with computers.

wind energy, oil rigs -- another eco-friendly solution to energy consumption

Now this is forward thinking and good big D design. Convert unused oil platforms off the coast of Texas to wind energy.

Again from Wired's February 2007 issue in an article titled, "Inherit the Wind".

Use what you have, change it for a different end result and maintain/take advantage of a core function. Great idea and better execution.

Now if people would get off the 'NIMBY' problem of thinking wind power is ugly. I can't tell you how joyous I felt when we got to Maui two weeks ago for our honeymoon and the island winds pushed back the clouds from West Maui and I saw the wind towers on the mountainside. How lovely and joyful. (If you had the same view of wind energy that I did, you'd probably welcome any wind-based energy contraption as well. I mean who gets excited about these things and isn't in the field?) Even if you're not all ga-ga over 'green' energy, it's not that ugly. It's a streamlined windmill. And it's sure prettier than smog, dang it!

underwater logging... green solution to a paper problem?

I read an article in Wired about underwater logging in reservoirs. It's in the February 2007 issue of Wired, article called Reservoir Logs.

I found it a clever solution to eco-friendly paper supplies and interesting in its technology and design/vision. I'm not sure that it's one of those things that can be called the solution or a solution per se.

Here's a bit from an e-newsletter from Rainforest Alliance:

"Mother Nature never intended for trees to be underwater," explains Christopher Godsall, president and CEO of Triton Logging. But trees -- perhaps as many as 300 million worldwide -- are submerged in reservoirs and Triton has come up with an innovative, eco-friendly method for harvesting them.

Triton has been recovering Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, hemlock and other species that have been preserved by cold water and turning a profit without damaging the surrounding environment. Key to his efforts is the Sawfish, an underwater logging machine invented by the company. Operated by remote control, the Sawfish attaches inflatable air bags to the trees, then cuts them underwater with an electric chain saw. The air bags float the logs to the water's surface, where they are loaded onto barges.

The Rainforest Alliance has certified Triton's milled wood under our SmartWood Rediscovered program, which recognizes environmentally sounds practices for the recovery, recycling and reuse of wood products. The eco-friendly logging method doesn't emit carbon dioxide the way that conventional logging does, doesn't pollute the water and leaves the lake floor undisturbed.