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Green Light Distrikt
Green Light Distrikt is about entrepreneurship focused on the cleantech sector. Edited by Chris Williams with frequent guest posts from friends, experts and industry insiders from clusters across the globe. Our goal is to provide a place where cleantech entrepreneurs in various clusters across the globe can learn from one another. Green Light Distrikt is creating the "Hitchikers Guide to Clentech" to provide a resource for cleantech entrepreneurs. Read more
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Green Building
June 23rd, 2011
Is Solar PV Worth It?
TOPICS: CleanTech Events, Green Building, Local Events, NEW YORK, Renewable Energy, Resource Efficiency, Solar
“Oppositions: Pennies From Heaven?” event with Urban Green Council in New York City was a debate about whether solar PV was worth the premium cost compared to less capital-intensive strategies such as energy efficiency measures. The event felt like the judges had made up their minds before the defendants had a chance to testify – the event was hosted at the $1B Bank of America Tower, one of the greenest office buildings in the world, and yes one that lacks solar PV. But the most damning arguments were yet to come. Read past the break for the full story and join the Green Light Distrikt Facebook group for updates on new events, blog posts and more.
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May 10th, 2011
My Plan to Make A Building More Profitable and Use 75% Less Energy from Day 1
TOPICS: BOSTON, Entrepreneurship, Green Building
Inspiration is funny sometimes. You never know when you’re going to take something you’ve glanced by in the past and combine it with an experience you’ve had in the present to form a new idea.
About two years ago, I watched this video.
I didn’t think much of it. I like how Tom framed the issue, his argument, the use of existing technologies and the tone of practicality he used when speaking. I always liked the idea of reducing a buildings energy use by 75%, the amount the world needs to reduce it’s carbon emissions to side step mass casualty, because it is more profitable for the building owner to do so.
March 30th, 2011
Carbon Offsets: An Unearthed Treasure or Pain in the Asset?
TOPICS: BOSTON, Green Building, Solar
It’s like driving a car, attempting to follow a complicated map with no straightforward directions: so frustrating! Then along comes the modern day GPS system that is easy to use; you enter data and it spits out your destination. Easy as pie.
This is the analogy that Tom Kineshanko gave, when describing his company’s carbon offset identification and monetization software platform, a tool called OffsetID. Habitat Carbon Assets, founded two years ago in Vancouver, British Columbia, is on a mission to help Cleantech sellers benefit from carbon offset revenue from the sale of their technology.
Like all of his life’s work– Kineshanko is also involved with several other clean energy nonprofits– Habitat’s overall mission is to decrease carbon emissions quickly, by encouraging more and more businesses to transition over to clean energy fuel.
September 27th, 2010
The Ups And Downs of Renewable Energy in Connecticut
BOSTON -
“What’s the latest cleantech news from Connecticut?”
This past week I asked that question to a lot of smart people on my trip to Connecticut. I attended three events in three days: 1) a Solar Connecticut member meeting, 2) a Solar PV certification training, and 3) a Geothermal heat pump certification course. Here’s what I heard:
- Last year a comprehensive energy bill passed the state house and senate, only to be vetoed by Governor Jody Rell because her advisers told her it would cost too much. The bill would have been a huge win for the solar industry, so the group is watching to see who the new Governor is. The group resolved to pass something in the coming year.
August 12th, 2010
Home Energy Efficiency: The Bitter Taste of Low Hanging Fruit
TOPICS: BOSTON, CleanTech Kingpins, Green Building
I love running a business for contractors and building practitioners because I’m awed by what they do. It’s like magic to me. Have you ever tried to do a home improvement project for yourself? Unless you have the training and experience, it takes forever – you’ve got to be really motivated. It turns out the ‘low hanging fruit’ of energy efficiency is much the same story.
Inspired by the eloquent presenters at the GLD Cleantech Kingpins event on July 22nd, I decided to implement some much-needed energy efficiency measures on my own house. First I invited my neighbor, a BPI certified auditor, to come over with his blower door and duct blaster to find the issues. We discovered my house has a decent envelope but leaky ducts. So air sealing and insulating the ductwork was job #1. Seemed simple enough. + Continue Reading
