Concentration of CO2 in the Atmosphere

Energy Labels for Homes Now Available in Vermont

Information on a home’s energy performance can be of great value to homeowners, buyers, and sellers. Yet, this information is often hidden – integrated into a range of elements in a home, including mechanical systems and the building shell itself – making energy performance virtually invisible until now.

Vermonters now have an energy label for […]

Massive Victory for Seven Kids in Climate Change Lawsuit in Washington State

Five of the seven youth petitioners with their attorney, Andrea Rodgers, after the hearing. Photo courtesy of Our Children’s Trust.

Today, in a surprise ruling from the bench in the critical climate case brought by youths against the State of Washington’s Department of Ecology, King County Superior Court Judge Hollis Hill ordered the […]

G.E.T.’s Recommended Reading:

NEW for 2016! Reinventing Green Building, by Jerry Yudelson. New Society Publishers, 2016. See the book review on page 26. This is a must-read for everyone interested in green building. Reinventing Green Building is an insider’s unique critique of why certified green buildings are failing to provide large-scale carbon reduction. It is a […]

Geothermal Ground Loop

By Jim Ashley and George Harvey

From the point of view of general economy, there is no more efficient way to heat and cool most buildings than with heat pumps. The most efficient heat pumps are geothermal, which move the heat from or to the Earth’s crust, partly because the temperature underground is […]

Running Out of Water

By George Harvey

This spring, NPR aired a story about Lintao, a city in China that had run out of water and residents of luxury high-rise apartment buildings had to fill buckets and lug them up to their apartments, because the taps were always dry. China is hoping to install an aqueduct from […]

Solar Has RECs. Now Biomass and Heat Pumps Do, too!

Mascoma Valley Regional High School’s new front entrance. Photo: Eckman Construction.

By Jim Van Valkenburgh

Until recently, a biomass boiler produced only heat while a solar PV array generated both electricity and Renewable Energy Credits, or RECs. With the advent of thermal RECs in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, biomass looks even […]

Geothermal Pool and Water Heating

Saves Energy and Increases Efficiency

Figure 1

By Jay Egg

Have you stopped to notice all of the heat sources in your home? Things like laptop computers, appliances, lights and people all create heat and are a potential source of energy that can provide domestic hot water and can be used to heat […]

New York’s First Community-Shared Solar

Panels in blue show the project layout for the Halfmoon community solar array. Photo: EnterSolar

By George Harvey

The State of New York has adopted a comprehensive energy strategy called “Reforming the Energy Vision” (REV). Its purpose is “to help consumers make better and more informed energy choices, enable the development […]

Sustainability Shines in the Mt. Washington Valley

Tin Mountain Converation Learning Center in Conway, NH. Photo: Donna Marie Dolan

By George Harvey

Solar power was a little slow to get off the ground in New Hampshire because of a combination of factors. One was a generally unsupportive set of policies of the state government, though these have been […]

Incorporate Permaculture Practices into Your Business

By Ryan Hvizda

Permaculture is quickly becoming a word that no longer results in blank stares, and now sparks a light in those that believe in sustainable living and being. Typically when one first starts to learn about permaculture, it is through the garden design process. The garden is a great place to implement this […]