One of the most promising ways to recycle tires is by turning them into ground rubber "crumbs" and adding them to asphalt for paving roads, running tracks, runaways, and playgrounds. The result: pavement life is increased by 4 to 5 years.
If you are a commuter, consider carpooling. It saves on overall wear and tear on your cars.
Recycled rubber is also used in boat bumpers, carpet padding, and wire and pipe instillation.
In India, tires are cut up and used to make durable and inexpensive shoes.
A burning tire can leach 2 1/2 gallons of waste oil into the ground, threatening the ground-water.
Check your tire pressure! If all tires in America were properly inflated, we could save two billion gallons of gasoline.
Americans discard 280 million tires a year, 25 to 30% of which are re-treaded or otherwise reused.
About eight out of every ten tires in the U.S. wind up in landfills or "stockpiles." An estimated 2 to 3 billion tires are currently stockpiles in the United States.
At one site near Modesto, California, 8 million tires were stockpiled as of 1991. By 1995, through recycling efforts, that number was reduced to 2 million, although they receive 20,000 tires daily.
Artificial reefs, breakwaters and erosion control barriers made with whole tires can preserve precious natural habitats.
It takes half a barrel of crude oil to produce the rubber in just 1 truck tire.
A new trend in tire recycling has been to made tunics from used bicycle inner tubes.
When tires are ditched, they can collect rainwater. This makes them the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes.
In Iowa, 80% of used tires go to making tire derived fuel (TDF). The rest are made into products like door mats, crumb rubber, roofing, playground material and asphalt.
By chipping tires and recovering the steel wire, up to 99 percent of the average passenger car tire can now be captured for recycling.
Comment
We have 2-3 billion tires in landfills now and discard another 280 million tires a year. Why arent the landfill tires being recycled? How expensive is it to recycle those tires? How long does it take for tires to break down in a landfill? When they DO breakdown, do they pollute the ground, since they are petroleum products themselves? Why cant they just be ground up and made into new tires?
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
At Singularity U., big brains meet the future
August 20, 2009 2:21 PM PDT
At Singularity U., big brains meet the future
by Daniel Terdiman 4 comments
Vint Cerf, the 'father of the Internet,' is one of the many thought leaders that students at Singularity University get a chance to learn from.
(Credit: Singularity University)
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Sitting in a classroom, listening to students explain their approach to an assignment to develop an initiative to impact the lives of a billion people over ten years, one could be forgiven for taking it all with a grain of salt.
After all, student projects like this are usually peppered with holes, naive assumptions, and unrealistic goals.
But here at Singularity University, things are a little different. This group project, which aims to flip the car sharing movement on its head and bring affordable transportation to the masses, started less than two weeks ago but has already won a prize and attracted venture capital interest.
That's because Singularity University is no run-of-the-mill academic institution, and its students are not the usual breed of dreamers with good intentions. Founded by leading futurist and "The Singularity is Near" author Ray Kurzweil, X Prize chairman and CEO Peter Diamandis, and former Yahoo Brickhouse head Salim Ismail, the nine-week course examines exponentially growing technologies like biotechnology and bioinformatics; nanotechnology; AI, robotics, and cognitive computing. As well, the 40 students in the program are focusing on future studies and forecasting, and finance and entrepreneurship.
Those chosen for the program are truly the cream of the crop. After all, they have regular access to superstar teachers like George Smoot, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley and winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics; Dan Kammen, co-director of the Berkeley Institute of the Environment and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change team that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore; Vint Cerf, Google's chief Internet evangelist; and Stephanie Langhoff, NASA Ames' chief scientist. And speakers include PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Ethernet co-inventor Bob Metcalfe.
According to program director Ismail, this summer's inaugural Singularity University class of 40 students was chosen from among more than 1,200 applicants from around the world. Ismail said there were three main criteria for selection: students who already had top-level academic rigor and who are already at the top of their respective fields; those who have demonstrated leadership and entrepreneurial skills; and those who have demonstrated interest in global issues.
The result? A class of doctors, advisers to prime ministers, CEOs and successful start-up founders, just to name a few.
Singularity University students get regular access to technology superstars like PayPal co-founder and hedge fund manager, Peter Thiel.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)
So when I showed up Wednesday to observe the program in action and first sat in on the car-sharing group project demonstration, I realized this was something I should take seriously.
The 40 students are split into four teams, which get three weeks to come up with a project that, as stated above, could impact a billion people over the next 10 years. The presentation I saw was by a group that was calling itself Gettaround, and which has set as its goal the creation of a new car-sharing program that would incentivize car owners to rent out their vehicles to members, while also making it easier for people to find cars to use for short drives in many more places than are served today by companies like ZipCar or CityCarShare. Ultimately, the idea is to spread the program to developing countries around the world, ideally helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the process.
At the heart of Gettaround's proposal was an iPhone application designed to make it possible for members to locate available cars and, then, when physically approaching them, to start the engines via a low-priced kit installed in the vehicles.
The app was awarded the "best money-making iPhone app" prize at a recent iPhoneDevCamp event in Sunnyvale, Calif., and on the strength of that, the team members said that they've already identified interested venture capitalists and are most likely going to pursue the project as a real business upon completion of Singularity University.
Students speak
After the presentation, I got a chance to speak with some of the program's students about their experiences at Singularity University over the last eight weeks.
This is an amazingly diverse group. Among the 40 students, half are from other countries, and 35 percent are women. The average age is 31.
I first talked to Sarah Sclarsic, 25, of Boston. She's a former medical school student who had previously designed her own emerging technologies major at Harvard University and who has a deep interest in health care and public health.
Sclarsic said the Singularity University course has been hectic, "but for me, that's good."
Among the most valuable aspects of the program, she said, is that students are shown, from the beginning, how the various fields being taught here relate to each other or, at least, can cross over in real-world practice.
She pointed out how she had never before thought about how someone working in quantum computing might have their research converge with health care, or how fields like computational biology, quantum computing, and protein folding intersect.
The results of such convergence down the line? That doctors may be able to design new therapies meant for specific patients, a "huge ability we've never had before."
But this isn't the distant future, she pointed out. The main focus of Singularity University is to teach the students how the various disciplines being taught will converge in the near future, and to help them see how to turn these developing technologies into real-world businesses.
For V.J. Anma, an entrepreneur from Seattle (via India), deciding to come to Singularity University, where tuition is $25,000 (though many students get at least some scholarship help), was based on his conclusion that his career building high-tech start-ups would be enhanced through introductions to his fellow high-powered students and the industry leaders and venture capitalists they'd meet. He was also drawn to the idea of discovering how the various technologies being taught all relate to each other.
"It has definitely lived up to my expectation of being able to learn new ideas and connect with people," Anma said.
One phrase he used to describe the intensity of the program, especially the early weeks, was that it was "like drinking from a fire hose."
Oddly, that was the exact same phrase used by another student, Paul Lem, a doctor and biosciences company CEO from Ottawa, Canada. Lem said Singularity University offers its students so many world-class mentors and "so many amazing opportunities" that, yes, "it's like drinking from a fire hose."
Lem, too, lauded the program's focus on teaching the students to "think about where all these exponential technologies (are) going, and to see where they're all going to intersect."
A huge fan of hockey star Wayne Gretsky, Lem said that one invaluable piece of the program is that it helps students visualize the near future and to "skate to where the puck is going to be." In other words, they will--hopefully--be able to determine where the various fields of technology being taught are heading and be among the first to get there to capitalize on the convergence.
"I'm not sure how it's all going to shake out," Lem said, "but mix enough of this stuff together, and really cool stuff is going to happen. Seeds are being planted in the ground, and they're going to germinate and sprout this cool rain forest of incredible things."
To Ismail, this inaugural Singularity University program has been a revelation about what's possible when you bring together so many talented students with the kinds of world class instructors that are possible in Silicon Valley.
He said he thinks the program has been going "phenomenally well" and said that he's been blown away by some of the ingenuity on display.
For example, he recalled that during a discussion on entrepreneurship, one student registered a domain name, threw up some Google AdWords against it, and started generating real revenues. All during a single lecture.
Ismail didn't use the drinking from a fire hose image, but he did say that he's been amazed at seeing the breadth of what's "coming down the pike" in the various fields being taught in the program and that, "I've been surprised by how mentally drained I am at the end of each day."
He also said that, so far, there are five companies likely to be started by groups of students in the program, including the Gettaround team, and that some of the program's founders are already interested in putting money into some of the projects.
The number of such companies emerging from the program should only increase in future years, as Singularity University will expand from 40 students to 120 next year. But despite a larger class, there's still no way that everyone who wants to take part will be able to attend. And with that in mind, Ismail said, the program is considering how it can share its content with the world at large. One possibility is the Ted conference model, in which lectures and discussions may well be posted online for all to see, free of charge.
For now, though, it's all private, and to the students who managed to get in, an extremely valuable experience. They seem acutely aware that they have been granted access to what could be one of the most exclusive technology clubs in the world, and one that will almost certainly bear important fruit in their careers.
"Creativity is about mixing and matching different building blocks together to build something new and powerful," Lem said. "I've never before been in a place where there are so many building blocks that you can move around."
Comment
I am particularly intrigued by the car sharing idea, something like ZipCar. I think of myself, who goes to work every day at 9am and my car sits there in the parking lot for 8 hours or so, without being used. Some other people could use my car for short trips to the grocery store, shopping, etc. at $15 an hour or so, and more fully utilize the resource that I have while helping me pay my car payment and insurance. Since I have a Prius the mileage would be excellent if I rented my car. There are some considerations that would have to be addressed before this would be doable, like how would the people who need the cars find you? What about depreciation on the cars? damages? Liability? Insurance? What if the cars just disappear? are stolen? vandalized? Who does the maintenance? upkeep? The customers would have to be checked out ahead of time by somebody, perhaps somebody like AAA, an insurance company, or a car rental company like Avis or Hertz. This idea is supposedly big on college campuses, where the students cant afford to own a car, but need one to do grocery shopping, etc. for a couple hours each week. Bicycle rentals could also be big on campus, I would imagine. A large database would be needed to track the vehicles and keep track of their location, type, and availability.
At Singularity U., big brains meet the future
by Daniel Terdiman 4 comments
Vint Cerf, the 'father of the Internet,' is one of the many thought leaders that students at Singularity University get a chance to learn from.
(Credit: Singularity University)
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Sitting in a classroom, listening to students explain their approach to an assignment to develop an initiative to impact the lives of a billion people over ten years, one could be forgiven for taking it all with a grain of salt.
After all, student projects like this are usually peppered with holes, naive assumptions, and unrealistic goals.
But here at Singularity University, things are a little different. This group project, which aims to flip the car sharing movement on its head and bring affordable transportation to the masses, started less than two weeks ago but has already won a prize and attracted venture capital interest.
That's because Singularity University is no run-of-the-mill academic institution, and its students are not the usual breed of dreamers with good intentions. Founded by leading futurist and "The Singularity is Near" author Ray Kurzweil, X Prize chairman and CEO Peter Diamandis, and former Yahoo Brickhouse head Salim Ismail, the nine-week course examines exponentially growing technologies like biotechnology and bioinformatics; nanotechnology; AI, robotics, and cognitive computing. As well, the 40 students in the program are focusing on future studies and forecasting, and finance and entrepreneurship.
Those chosen for the program are truly the cream of the crop. After all, they have regular access to superstar teachers like George Smoot, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley and winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics; Dan Kammen, co-director of the Berkeley Institute of the Environment and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change team that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore; Vint Cerf, Google's chief Internet evangelist; and Stephanie Langhoff, NASA Ames' chief scientist. And speakers include PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Ethernet co-inventor Bob Metcalfe.
According to program director Ismail, this summer's inaugural Singularity University class of 40 students was chosen from among more than 1,200 applicants from around the world. Ismail said there were three main criteria for selection: students who already had top-level academic rigor and who are already at the top of their respective fields; those who have demonstrated leadership and entrepreneurial skills; and those who have demonstrated interest in global issues.
The result? A class of doctors, advisers to prime ministers, CEOs and successful start-up founders, just to name a few.
Singularity University students get regular access to technology superstars like PayPal co-founder and hedge fund manager, Peter Thiel.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)
So when I showed up Wednesday to observe the program in action and first sat in on the car-sharing group project demonstration, I realized this was something I should take seriously.
The 40 students are split into four teams, which get three weeks to come up with a project that, as stated above, could impact a billion people over the next 10 years. The presentation I saw was by a group that was calling itself Gettaround, and which has set as its goal the creation of a new car-sharing program that would incentivize car owners to rent out their vehicles to members, while also making it easier for people to find cars to use for short drives in many more places than are served today by companies like ZipCar or CityCarShare. Ultimately, the idea is to spread the program to developing countries around the world, ideally helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the process.
At the heart of Gettaround's proposal was an iPhone application designed to make it possible for members to locate available cars and, then, when physically approaching them, to start the engines via a low-priced kit installed in the vehicles.
The app was awarded the "best money-making iPhone app" prize at a recent iPhoneDevCamp event in Sunnyvale, Calif., and on the strength of that, the team members said that they've already identified interested venture capitalists and are most likely going to pursue the project as a real business upon completion of Singularity University.
Students speak
After the presentation, I got a chance to speak with some of the program's students about their experiences at Singularity University over the last eight weeks.
This is an amazingly diverse group. Among the 40 students, half are from other countries, and 35 percent are women. The average age is 31.
I first talked to Sarah Sclarsic, 25, of Boston. She's a former medical school student who had previously designed her own emerging technologies major at Harvard University and who has a deep interest in health care and public health.
Sclarsic said the Singularity University course has been hectic, "but for me, that's good."
Among the most valuable aspects of the program, she said, is that students are shown, from the beginning, how the various fields being taught here relate to each other or, at least, can cross over in real-world practice.
She pointed out how she had never before thought about how someone working in quantum computing might have their research converge with health care, or how fields like computational biology, quantum computing, and protein folding intersect.
The results of such convergence down the line? That doctors may be able to design new therapies meant for specific patients, a "huge ability we've never had before."
But this isn't the distant future, she pointed out. The main focus of Singularity University is to teach the students how the various disciplines being taught will converge in the near future, and to help them see how to turn these developing technologies into real-world businesses.
For V.J. Anma, an entrepreneur from Seattle (via India), deciding to come to Singularity University, where tuition is $25,000 (though many students get at least some scholarship help), was based on his conclusion that his career building high-tech start-ups would be enhanced through introductions to his fellow high-powered students and the industry leaders and venture capitalists they'd meet. He was also drawn to the idea of discovering how the various technologies being taught all relate to each other.
"It has definitely lived up to my expectation of being able to learn new ideas and connect with people," Anma said.
One phrase he used to describe the intensity of the program, especially the early weeks, was that it was "like drinking from a fire hose."
Oddly, that was the exact same phrase used by another student, Paul Lem, a doctor and biosciences company CEO from Ottawa, Canada. Lem said Singularity University offers its students so many world-class mentors and "so many amazing opportunities" that, yes, "it's like drinking from a fire hose."
Lem, too, lauded the program's focus on teaching the students to "think about where all these exponential technologies (are) going, and to see where they're all going to intersect."
A huge fan of hockey star Wayne Gretsky, Lem said that one invaluable piece of the program is that it helps students visualize the near future and to "skate to where the puck is going to be." In other words, they will--hopefully--be able to determine where the various fields of technology being taught are heading and be among the first to get there to capitalize on the convergence.
"I'm not sure how it's all going to shake out," Lem said, "but mix enough of this stuff together, and really cool stuff is going to happen. Seeds are being planted in the ground, and they're going to germinate and sprout this cool rain forest of incredible things."
To Ismail, this inaugural Singularity University program has been a revelation about what's possible when you bring together so many talented students with the kinds of world class instructors that are possible in Silicon Valley.
He said he thinks the program has been going "phenomenally well" and said that he's been blown away by some of the ingenuity on display.
For example, he recalled that during a discussion on entrepreneurship, one student registered a domain name, threw up some Google AdWords against it, and started generating real revenues. All during a single lecture.
Ismail didn't use the drinking from a fire hose image, but he did say that he's been amazed at seeing the breadth of what's "coming down the pike" in the various fields being taught in the program and that, "I've been surprised by how mentally drained I am at the end of each day."
He also said that, so far, there are five companies likely to be started by groups of students in the program, including the Gettaround team, and that some of the program's founders are already interested in putting money into some of the projects.
The number of such companies emerging from the program should only increase in future years, as Singularity University will expand from 40 students to 120 next year. But despite a larger class, there's still no way that everyone who wants to take part will be able to attend. And with that in mind, Ismail said, the program is considering how it can share its content with the world at large. One possibility is the Ted conference model, in which lectures and discussions may well be posted online for all to see, free of charge.
For now, though, it's all private, and to the students who managed to get in, an extremely valuable experience. They seem acutely aware that they have been granted access to what could be one of the most exclusive technology clubs in the world, and one that will almost certainly bear important fruit in their careers.
"Creativity is about mixing and matching different building blocks together to build something new and powerful," Lem said. "I've never before been in a place where there are so many building blocks that you can move around."
Comment
I am particularly intrigued by the car sharing idea, something like ZipCar. I think of myself, who goes to work every day at 9am and my car sits there in the parking lot for 8 hours or so, without being used. Some other people could use my car for short trips to the grocery store, shopping, etc. at $15 an hour or so, and more fully utilize the resource that I have while helping me pay my car payment and insurance. Since I have a Prius the mileage would be excellent if I rented my car. There are some considerations that would have to be addressed before this would be doable, like how would the people who need the cars find you? What about depreciation on the cars? damages? Liability? Insurance? What if the cars just disappear? are stolen? vandalized? Who does the maintenance? upkeep? The customers would have to be checked out ahead of time by somebody, perhaps somebody like AAA, an insurance company, or a car rental company like Avis or Hertz. This idea is supposedly big on college campuses, where the students cant afford to own a car, but need one to do grocery shopping, etc. for a couple hours each week. Bicycle rentals could also be big on campus, I would imagine. A large database would be needed to track the vehicles and keep track of their location, type, and availability.
Local Dirt aims to help focus on local food
September 22, 2009 4:44 PM PDT
Local Dirt aims to help focus on local food
by Daniel Terdiman 1 comment
S
AN DIEGO--Earlier this summer, I wrote about the blossoming transition movement, in which local communities around the country and the world are beginning to prepare themselves for a post-peak oil world.
One of the best ways for communities to do this is to focus on local food supplies. With oil prices at peak prices, it won't be economical to truck in food from around the country, and those that do continue such a dependence are likely to experience major financial problems.
But those towns and cities that do put an emphasis on building more sustainable local food infrastructures are the ones that are going to be in the best position to take care of themselves with as little outside assistance as possible.
At DemoFall 09 Tuesday afternoon, a company called Hevva unveiled a system that could help just about everyone in such communities to meet those local food needs.
The idea behind Hevva's Local Dirt system is to create a searchable database of local food that can serve farmers, sellers, and buyers alike with the development of a robust market for locally-grown produce and other foods.
According to the company, demand for local food now outstrips that of organic products. Yet it's hard for just about everyone in that ecosystem to find just what they need when they need it.
One of the unfortunate side effects of the inefficiencies in this market, Hevva argued, is that as much as 40 percent of the post-harvest supply is lost to spoilage. As a result, Local Dirt is built around trying to ensure that the market is as efficient as possible.
To begin with, the system provides a simple search that buyers can use. As an example, someone could search for where to buy pesto made within 100 miles and then see a list of all the purveyors who can meet that request. Similarly, the system shows all the online local sellers who offer pesto for sale right now.
Taking the example further, users can narrow their search results to farmer's markets, and can look to see when each such market is open.
To Hevva, while individuals are important buyers in the local food economy, those who can get the greatest advantage from the platform are larger buyers: grocery stores, schools, hospitals, and the like.
That's why buyers can also search for food that can be delivered to such institutions.
Ultimately, Local Dirt is meant as a way for every participant in the ecosystem--the farmers, the buyers and the sellers--to find the best way possible of getting what they need from the local food market.
Whether this helps communities move towards a future independent from large food producers spread around the country is impossible to know. But it is good to know that there are people working now to build systems that could make it easier for such communities to move forward with their goals of focusing more and more on food grown locally.
Comment
There are approximately six local farmers Market in Miami that I am aware of, but none locally. The Ecology Board tried to stir up some interest but wasn't all that successful, for a variety of reasons. One, the local supermarket wasn't crazy about having more competition and they noted that there was no electricity for a cash register where the Farmers Market was proposed. It was a delicate proposal to make without alienating the local grocery people while providing a service to the local residents. Buying local is a good idea and makes a lot of sense, but requires some organization and energy to get started. Perhaps a local club or organization, like the Lions Club or Optimist Club would be better suited.
Local Dirt aims to help focus on local food
by Daniel Terdiman 1 comment
S
AN DIEGO--Earlier this summer, I wrote about the blossoming transition movement, in which local communities around the country and the world are beginning to prepare themselves for a post-peak oil world.
One of the best ways for communities to do this is to focus on local food supplies. With oil prices at peak prices, it won't be economical to truck in food from around the country, and those that do continue such a dependence are likely to experience major financial problems.
But those towns and cities that do put an emphasis on building more sustainable local food infrastructures are the ones that are going to be in the best position to take care of themselves with as little outside assistance as possible.
At DemoFall 09 Tuesday afternoon, a company called Hevva unveiled a system that could help just about everyone in such communities to meet those local food needs.
The idea behind Hevva's Local Dirt system is to create a searchable database of local food that can serve farmers, sellers, and buyers alike with the development of a robust market for locally-grown produce and other foods.
According to the company, demand for local food now outstrips that of organic products. Yet it's hard for just about everyone in that ecosystem to find just what they need when they need it.
One of the unfortunate side effects of the inefficiencies in this market, Hevva argued, is that as much as 40 percent of the post-harvest supply is lost to spoilage. As a result, Local Dirt is built around trying to ensure that the market is as efficient as possible.
To begin with, the system provides a simple search that buyers can use. As an example, someone could search for where to buy pesto made within 100 miles and then see a list of all the purveyors who can meet that request. Similarly, the system shows all the online local sellers who offer pesto for sale right now.
Taking the example further, users can narrow their search results to farmer's markets, and can look to see when each such market is open.
To Hevva, while individuals are important buyers in the local food economy, those who can get the greatest advantage from the platform are larger buyers: grocery stores, schools, hospitals, and the like.
That's why buyers can also search for food that can be delivered to such institutions.
Ultimately, Local Dirt is meant as a way for every participant in the ecosystem--the farmers, the buyers and the sellers--to find the best way possible of getting what they need from the local food market.
Whether this helps communities move towards a future independent from large food producers spread around the country is impossible to know. But it is good to know that there are people working now to build systems that could make it easier for such communities to move forward with their goals of focusing more and more on food grown locally.
Comment
There are approximately six local farmers Market in Miami that I am aware of, but none locally. The Ecology Board tried to stir up some interest but wasn't all that successful, for a variety of reasons. One, the local supermarket wasn't crazy about having more competition and they noted that there was no electricity for a cash register where the Farmers Market was proposed. It was a delicate proposal to make without alienating the local grocery people while providing a service to the local residents. Buying local is a good idea and makes a lot of sense, but requires some organization and energy to get started. Perhaps a local club or organization, like the Lions Club or Optimist Club would be better suited.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Bathroom/water
The goals here are to reduce water consumption and to lower the amount of energy needed to heat water, which can be up to 25 percent of a home's energy use.
Low effort: Put an aerator on your bathroom sink--for 50 cents, you'll make your money back quickly on lower water consumption. Then, get a low-flow shower head, which save between 20 percent and 60 percent water. Fix those leaks.
Medium: Consider getting an on-demand (also called tankless) hot water heating. In some cases, you can have an electric on-demand water heater placed directly in the bathroom and other places in the home that need hot water.
High: Get a solar hot water system, either flat panel (left on this photo) or evacuated tubes. While solar electric (photovoltaics) cost about $25,000, you can get a solar hot water system for $10,000 or less. These systems have been around for decades (remember Jimmy Carter) but are more reliable and efficient than the 1970s variety
Low effort: Put an aerator on your bathroom sink--for 50 cents, you'll make your money back quickly on lower water consumption. Then, get a low-flow shower head, which save between 20 percent and 60 percent water. Fix those leaks.
Medium: Consider getting an on-demand (also called tankless) hot water heating. In some cases, you can have an electric on-demand water heater placed directly in the bathroom and other places in the home that need hot water.
High: Get a solar hot water system, either flat panel (left on this photo) or evacuated tubes. While solar electric (photovoltaics) cost about $25,000, you can get a solar hot water system for $10,000 or less. These systems have been around for decades (remember Jimmy Carter) but are more reliable and efficient than the 1970s variety
Green Home Office
With many people working at home, the home office is a significant consumer of energy both for electricity and space heating/cooling. It's no wonder when you look at the rat's nest of wiring in home offices.
Low effort: Set your computer's power management system at home and at work. Recycle your old electronics gear. See this map to find a recycler.
Medium: Use a laptop instead of a desktop PC. Put things that don't need to have standby power (computer speakers, etc.) on a power strip and click it off when not using. Unplug all those chargers--for the phone, iPod, Blackberry, etc.--when not in use.
High: In addition to buying an energy-efficient PC or other electronics, consider adding other green attributes to your list, such as whether the product can be recycled and the amount of toxins used inside
Low effort: Set your computer's power management system at home and at work. Recycle your old electronics gear. See this map to find a recycler.
Medium: Use a laptop instead of a desktop PC. Put things that don't need to have standby power (computer speakers, etc.) on a power strip and click it off when not using. Unplug all those chargers--for the phone, iPod, Blackberry, etc.--when not in use.
High: In addition to buying an energy-efficient PC or other electronics, consider adding other green attributes to your list, such as whether the product can be recycled and the amount of toxins used inside
Green Basements
Basement
Heating and cooling is where the bulk of most household's energy budget goes, so the basement is the location of your home's biggest carbon footprint. The clothes dryer and the hot water heater, often in people's basements, are typically among the biggest energy consuming appliances.
Low effort: Clean out the vent on your clothes dryer with a brush. Insulate hot water pipes and put an insulating blanket around your hot water heater. Set the hot water heater to 120 degrees and, if it's electric, put it on a timer.
Medium: If you have central air, have it maintained (filters cleaned, etc.) so it will run more efficiently. Use fans (although only when people are in the room) and ventilation, such as opening windows during the cool times of the day. Also in the low-tech department is hanging your clothes to dry.
High: You can supplement or replace your heating or cooling with a range of more efficient products, such as efficient space heaters or evaporative coolers in certain climates. The DOE again offers a good explanation of your options. Heat pumps, such as ground-source heat pumps or geothermal systems, seem to catch on a bit more every year as a very efficient way to heat and cool buildings.
Heating and cooling is where the bulk of most household's energy budget goes, so the basement is the location of your home's biggest carbon footprint. The clothes dryer and the hot water heater, often in people's basements, are typically among the biggest energy consuming appliances.
Low effort: Clean out the vent on your clothes dryer with a brush. Insulate hot water pipes and put an insulating blanket around your hot water heater. Set the hot water heater to 120 degrees and, if it's electric, put it on a timer.
Medium: If you have central air, have it maintained (filters cleaned, etc.) so it will run more efficiently. Use fans (although only when people are in the room) and ventilation, such as opening windows during the cool times of the day. Also in the low-tech department is hanging your clothes to dry.
High: You can supplement or replace your heating or cooling with a range of more efficient products, such as efficient space heaters or evaporative coolers in certain climates. The DOE again offers a good explanation of your options. Heat pumps, such as ground-source heat pumps or geothermal systems, seem to catch on a bit more every year as a very efficient way to heat and cool buildings.
Green Attic
September 29, 2009 6:49 AM PDT
Attic
This is where you can cut your heating and cooling bills significantly. The city of Austin, Texas, which has mandated home energy audits, found that almost 90 percent of the 400 homes audited needed both additional attic insulation and repairs to their leaky ducts.
Low effort: Get an energy audit and help snoop out the places where air from conditioned space (where you live) seeps into your attic, crawl spaces, basement, etc. To find an energy auditor, go to efficiencyfirst.org. There are subsidized weatherizing services for low-income people as well.
Medium: Add more insulation to your attic (and walls). Most homes could use more. Homes in the U.S. should have between R-30 and R-60 insulation. This attic was sprayed with Icenyne foam on the rafters, which provides both insulation and seals the air. The DOE's office of energy efficiency offers a map on what you should have for your climate.
High: Get a comprehensive audit with a blower door test and infrared camera. An audit can cost $500 or $600, but it will help locate air leaks around the house, which is important to do before insulating. Cellulose or fiberglass insulation doesn't stop air flow, it just keeps heat in. To fill those air cracks, learn how to use a caulk gun and canned foam.
Attic
This is where you can cut your heating and cooling bills significantly. The city of Austin, Texas, which has mandated home energy audits, found that almost 90 percent of the 400 homes audited needed both additional attic insulation and repairs to their leaky ducts.
Low effort: Get an energy audit and help snoop out the places where air from conditioned space (where you live) seeps into your attic, crawl spaces, basement, etc. To find an energy auditor, go to efficiencyfirst.org. There are subsidized weatherizing services for low-income people as well.
Medium: Add more insulation to your attic (and walls). Most homes could use more. Homes in the U.S. should have between R-30 and R-60 insulation. This attic was sprayed with Icenyne foam on the rafters, which provides both insulation and seals the air. The DOE's office of energy efficiency offers a map on what you should have for your climate.
High: Get a comprehensive audit with a blower door test and infrared camera. An audit can cost $500 or $600, but it will help locate air leaks around the house, which is important to do before insulating. Cellulose or fiberglass insulation doesn't stop air flow, it just keeps heat in. To fill those air cracks, learn how to use a caulk gun and canned foam.
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