Chinks In Green Armor
AZ legislation threatens – solar energy providers claimed
AZ House Bill 2701 “would jeopardize” the state’s “entire renewable energy industry.”
Funding issue in NJ – the state’s new governor, trying to close
a $2.2B spending problem, has taken $158M from the state’s Clean Energy Fund.
This sent renewable energy advocates up a wall, The Star-Ledger reported.
‘Some buildings not living up to green label’ – from Insulation
Outlook magazine: USGBC research “suggested that a quarter of the new
buildings that have been certified do not save as much energy as their designs
predicted.”
Wind project legal issues – AltEnergymag.com’s article
pursues legal issues that landowners and operators of wind projects should consider.
Federal $ Stuff
$1.4B – that’s the amount of “conditional loan guarantees” issued
by you & me (via the DoE) for BrightSource Energy Inc. The money will “support
the construction and start-up of three utility-scale concentrating solar power
plants,” it
says here. Note: It’s the biggest U.S. loan guarantee ever (outside of the
nuclear power business).
$129.7M – that’s how much seven federal agencies will spend over
five years for “an Energy Innovation Hub focused on developing new technologies
to improve the design of energy-efficient building systems.” EnvironmentalLeader.com
report.
Labels, Metric, Standards
California codin’ – a San Diego Business Journalarticle
looks at what’s going on with the state’s building codes and energy efficiency.
Data center EE metrics – “a breakthrough agreement on energy
efficiency measurements, metrics, and reporting conventions for data center
facilities” from
DoE & EPA.
Green construction standards – a Craig DiLouie-written roundup
article, posted to the Lighting Controls Assn. site, reviews ASHRAE 189.1,
the IECC model energy code, and the new International Green Construction Code.
Green electronics labeling – “the Sustainability Consortium,”
which includes some of the usual suspects (Best Buy, Dell, HP, Intel., Toshiba,
and Walmart), “plans to establish a system, including social and environmental
considerations, to help consumers identify ‘green’ electronics.” Release.