BC Cancer Research Center: A LEED Gold Building In Vancouver

In June, the Vancouver City Council unanimously approved the adoption the the highest green standards for private sector development in North America. Effective immediately, all new re-zonings for development in Vancouver will be required to achieve or exceed the level of LEED Silver, and they will have to achieve LEED Gold on January 1st, 2010. Read more →

Most cell phones don’t even come close to being green — their chargers are energy inefficient, they contain hazardous chemicals, and they not are designed for upgrading or easy recycling. Recently though, some the big players in the field like Nokia and Sony Ericsson are making moves towards green design.

As far as assessing which phones are greenest, the best report we found was conducted by Greenpeace. Their report “Searching For Green Electronics” (PDF File) was published in June, and it rates the green attributes of cell phones based on a number of criteria. Greenpeace incorporated recycling reports by EPEAT (PDF File) and reports by Energy Star.

Here’s our round-up of this year’s greenest cell phones: Read more →

A company called Ultra Motor has released a new electric bike called the A2B. This bike looks great - I like the functional, minimalist style. The A2B is designed for urban or suburban commutes. According to Ultra Motors, the A2B offers unassisted power on demand for up to 20 miles at a cruising speed of 20mph. At that speed it’s still categorized as a bicycle as opposed to a scooter, moped or motorcycle. No special license is required. Read more →

A company called GreenCore Air has released an air conditioner than can be powered by a single 170 watt solar panel. The GreenCore air conditioning unit can heat and cool a 600 square foot room. It runs on DC power, so there is no need to put an AC inverter between the solar panel and the air conditioner. This eliminates the power losses associated with converting AC to DC. Read more →

Continuing our coverage of green computing devices, let’s take a look at the greenest monitors currently available. These monitors are energy efficient, and they eliminate most hazardous chemicals from their design. Some even incorporate recycled plastic into their casings. EPEAT is the most comprehensive green certification for monitors — the EPEAT certification incorporates Energy Star 4.0 requirements, and the European RoHS requirements.

Here’s a list of some of the greenest monitors currently available: Read more →

ADC (Advanced Data Centers), a company based in San Francisco, is set to build the country’s greenest data center. Because of its efficiency, the project stands to save its owner from $1.8 million to $2 million in energy costs. ADC says its new center will be 25-30 percent more energy efficient than the industry standard.

The data center will use outside air to cool its racks of computing gear for 75 percent of the year, which significantly decreases its cooling needs. Ducts and pipes will be laid to maximize flow and minimize turns that reduce efficiency. Read more →

Earlier this week, we reviewed the greenest desktop computers, so now let’s take a look at the greenest notebooks! Notebooks are typically much more energy efficient than desktops. They are, however, no greener than desktops in other regards — they typically contain the same hazardous components, and they are not easily recycled. However, a few green notebook computers are now on the market. Here’s a short survey of the greenest ones available: Read more →

At MetaEfficient I’ve been waiting for years to review some exciting green computers, and now finally in 2008, we’ve seen the introduction of some truly green PCs. Although the components of green PCs cost about 10% more than regular PCs, they retail for about the same price. You can jump ahead and see our list of the greenest PCs. Or you can read about the details of the green rating processes. Read more →

We featured the innovative Dockside Green community previously on MetaEfficient. Recently, the entire community was certified to be built to Platinum LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design) standards. It was awarded the highest LEED score in the world. Read more →

Motion-sensing LED lights — these lights are perhaps the most efficient lighting devices available today. They switch on whenever their infra-red sensors detect movement in a room — such as when someone begins to walk down a dark hallway. I’ve been testing them in my own home, and I’ve found them to be effective and non-obtrusive. At night, I’m able to go down two floors to the basement, without turning on any lights. The motion-sensing LEDs in the ceilings switch on as I move about the house.

Read more →

A company called Fabrik has released an external hard drive called the [re]Drive that it is said to be the world’s most energy efficient. The drive’s cover is a sheet of bamboo — this is good choice for a drive casing, given bamboo’s tensile strength and durability. The drive’s chassis is made with recycled aluminum. It has an undulating surface that increases the drive’s ability to passively cool itself. Matt McRae, vice president of marketing at Fabrik, said that even the extra pieces of aluminum that are carved off during the manufacturing process are recycled into future products. Read more →

Last year, we featured a nightclub lit entirely by LEDs, but here’s an office building that is said to be the first to be lit by 100% LED light. The lighting was provided by the Netherlands-headquartered Royal Philips Electronics. To showcase the potential of LED light, Philips designed the lighting system to be warm and visually comforting. A total 422 LED fixtures were installed into the building’s false ceilings. The offices are lit with fixtures that incorporate 12-16 high power LEDs, each rated at 2.6 watts. LED spotlights are used to illuminate the corridors. Read more →

Toaster ovens are efficient devices for cooking small meals. They typically use two 750 watts heating elements and draw a total 1500 watts, whereas electric ranges draw about 3000 watts (and thus require a 240 volt electric socket). Toaster ovens also heat up more quickly, due to their smaller size. But the most efficient toaster ovens are those that incorporate a convection fan and good insulation into their design. The fan blows heated air continuously around the food being cooked, thus reducing required temperature and cooking times. On average, they cut energy use by about 20%, and cooking time is reduced by about 30%.

Read more →

The new Blue Ridge Parkway Destination Center has just been completed in North Carolina. It’s a beautifully designed building that is also highly efficient — it will use 75% less energy than a comparable conventional building. The building has Trombe walls: a very clever feature that will reduce the building’s heating load by 35% alone! Read more →

Several readers have noted that we neglected to mention the Strida folding bike in our folding bike round-up. The Strida is a unique bike designed to take a commuter a few miles to the train or bus. It has an extremely quick folding action: it takes about seven seconds to fold one up. Here’s a video of the folding action: Read more →

When researching energy efficient appliances, we often turn to the recommendations of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). The ACEEE continues to publish helpful information about all sorts of appliances, including freezers. The ninth edition of their Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings, published in fall 2007, contains helpful information about selecting a freezer.

The most efficient type of freezer is the chest freezer. This is because a chest freezer opens from the top, and cold air (which is heavier than warm air) does escape easily from a chest freezer. The weight of the lid also helps to seal chest freezers tightly. Chest freezers are 10% to 25% more efficient than upright freezers. Read more →

I’ve been testing the Vers 2x iPod speaker system. This system is one of the most energy efficient and sustainable products I’ve come across. The casing is crafted out of wood (either cherry, bamboo or walnut). The wood comes only from plantation forests, and each speaker system is hand-finished. This is a refreshing change from the usual dull plastic that is used to house electronics.

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MIT researchers have announced that they have created “organic solar concentrators” that could make windows become powerful solar panels in as little as three years. The concentrator is mixture of two or more dyes painted onto a pane of glass or plastic. The dyes absorb light across a range of wavelengths, re-emit it at a different wavelength and transport it across the pane to the solar cells at the edges. Focusing the light like this increases the electrical power generated by each solar cell by a factor of 40. Read more →

Our buildings and homes could capture all water we need on a daily basis. A great example of rainwater harvesting can be found at the Langston Brown Community Center and High School in Arlington, Virginia. The community center has two 24-foot-tall 11,000-gallon cisterns that store rainwater. Read more →

^{A Fagor Duo Pressure Cooker}

Pressure cookers are efficient cooking devices –  they are up to 70% more efficient than conventional pots. Their lids are built to completely seal the pot so that the contents can boil easily inside the pot. Food cooks faster because the liquid inside rises to a higher temperature before boiling. Cooking times can be reduced by a factor of three or four. Choose a stainless steel pressure cooker instead of aluminum one because the stainless steel does not interact with the food. Read more →