Green buildings

BOSTON--Startup 7AC Technologies hopes saltwater and high-tech plastic will lead to a more efficient air conditioner.

The Woburn, Mass.-based company is in the process of raising a $1.3 million round, expected to close in two months, to build a commercial prototype of its air conditioner design, said CEO Peter Vandermeulen earlier this week at the Conference on Clean Energy here.

By using a liquid dessicant to remove humidity from air, 7AC Technologies claims it can cut cooling costs by 50 percent to 75 percent and heating costs by about 50 percent. The company has a prototype in its … Read more

The founders of Noesis Energy believe building managers will put a high value on peers' efficiency tips.

The company this week disclosed its open-source-style business plan and the acquisition of Managing Energy, an Ottawa, Ontario-based company that makes cloud-based software for measuring a commercial building's energy consumption.

Because commercial buildings use, and often waste, a lot of energy, there is a growing number of tools to assess and manage projects to improve efficiency. Large companies IBM and Cisco have software applications for managing multiple buildings while startups such as First Fuel have ways to suggest and prioritize energy efficiency tasks. … Read more

The Yokohama Marine Tower was lit up Wednesday night courtesy of electricity from the batteries in a Nissan Leaf.

Nissan is lending some battery power to the local 106-meter-tall Japanese landmark in Yokohama, the capital city of the Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan, which is located about 27 miles south of Tokyo.

In fact, the tower's night twinkle will be powered by a Nissan Leaf channeling electricity to the tower from its batteries via a connected power control system until November 6.

The publicity stunt is part of the Yokohama Marine Tower's 50th Anniversary celebration and Yokohama Port's … Read more

Nest Labs says it has sold out of its thermostats.

In response to the demand, Nest Labs has temporarily shut down the online store on Nest.com and plans to reopen it in early 2012, Erik Charlton, vice president of sales and marketing at Nest Labs, announced yesterday via the company's blog.

Those who've preordered a thermostat via Nest Labs have nothing to worry about--the company says it will still be able to honor all original shipping dates on confirmation e-mails. Those who've only received a reservation number for a Nest Labs thermostat will now have to … Read more

It's hard to imagine making thermostats sexy, but if anyone could do it, it would be the "father of the iPod."

In 2008, amid renewed concerns about Steve Jobs' health, Fortune ranked the probable candidates to someday replace the famed Apple CEO. The first choice? Then COO and eventual successor Tim Cook. The second? Tony Fadell, chief of the iPod division and the man credited with the ideas that resulted in the creation of the iPod and its marriage with the iTunes Music Store.

Around that time, Fadell left Apple, his next move unknown, and since then, … Read more

Colorado now has a slightly more aesthetic option for harnessing all that lovely Rocky Mountain sun.

Dow Solar, a division of Dow Chemical, began selling solar roofing shingles this month that may attract even the most exigent homeowner.

While there have been several pilot projects throughout the country where the Dow Powerhouse Solar Shingles have been installed since their release in 2009, Colorado is the first state where the shingles will be available for widespread sale and installation.

Dow Solar then plans to mass-market its shingles in a dozen more states, starting in California and moving across the country to … Read more

Using post-consumer materials and finding more energy-efficient ways to produce vehicles are just part of Ford Motor Co.'s strategy to reduce the company's global carbon footprint.

Ford is looking at the energy use and carbon emissions of 128 global suppliers. These suppliers account for nearly 60 percent of the company's $65 billion in annual purchases.

In 2010, the automaker surveyed 35 top suppliers that make seats, steering systems, tires, and metal components. What Ford discovered was how much the companies varied in their readiness to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the 2010 survey results, … Read more

Building technology is improving every day, but if it's a super energy-efficient dwelling you're after, the tools are already well at hand.

Once a year, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association organizes a green buildings open house where energy nerds like myself can see the latest in home efficiency.

The homes, which are both new construction and renovations, show that builders, architects, and homeowners have unlocked the code for making buildings dramatically more energy efficient than your typical construction. The question now is whether green building techniques and products will remain on the fringe or become more mainstream.

In … Read more

Before hauling new equipment to their boiler rooms, companies would do well installing software to improve building efficiency, a Microsoft pilot test found.

Microsoft is expected to publish a paper on a test done at its Redmond, Wash., campus geared at lowering the corporate energy usage with information technology. The premise of the project was straight-forward: does it make more sense to upgrade mechanical equipment, such as HVAC systems, or use software?

Coming from a giant software company, the results are perhaps not surprising. But the tests help validate the notion that information systems are an important ingredient to reducing … Read more