Jennifer Kho, Forbes.com
January 27, 2012

Energy-efficiency upgrades in U.S. apartment buildings could cut energy bills by almost $3.4 billion annually nationwide, according to a new report this week from think tanks CNT Energy and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

The estimate includes $2.03 billion in potential electricity savings and $1.34 billion in potential natural-gas savings from retrofits such as more efficient lighting, appliances and air- and water-heating systems.

These types of measures could slash utility bills for multifamily buildings – in this case, defined as those with at least five rental units – by 15-30 percent, the study finds. That could be welcome news for apartment-building owners, who often get squeezed when energy prices rise.

A look at our planet and all its incredible, wild, natural beauty…

Michael Casey, Bloomberg Business Week
January 20, 2012

Governments and the private sector must ramp up their investments into sustainable energy as part of a larger effort to alleviate poverty around the world and combat climate change, the U.N. chief told an energy conference Monday.

Ban Ki-moon told delegates at the World Future Energy Summit that he wants to see the world double its share of renewable energy, which typically includes wind, solar and hydropower, by 2030. He also called for providing universal access to energy services by that date and doubling the rate of energy efficiency as part of what he is calling the “Sustainable Energy for All Initiative.”

Andrew Revkin, The New York Times
January 16, 2012

As part of the trend in higher education toward moving more course offerings onto the Web, the University of Chicago has launched Open Climate 101, an online version of a popular course led by David Archer that explores for non-science majors the body of research pointing to a rising human influence on the climate system.

This blog post originally appeared on December 31st, 2011, in the Huffington Post Canada. Subscribe to all of Ron Dembo’s blog posts by signing up to the RSS feed.

Early in December I was sitting in the middle of Milne Bay, off the coast of Papua New Guinea, eating my breakfast. To my left at the table was Charlie Veron, one of the world’s most preeminent scientists on extinction. We were on our way to see ocean vents where pure carbon dioxide is leaking from the ocean floor—a reminder that we are sitting on the edge of a ring of fire, one of the most active volcanic areas of the world.

It is always true that the future is here for us to see. We only have to look for it.

CleanTechnica.com, December 23, 2011
Vermont is known for its lush Green Mountains, idyllic farm landscapes, and progressive politics. What many people may not realize is that Vermont has a pretty active secessionist movement too.

Vermont isn’t likely to secede from the U.S. But it is undertaking an ambitious renewable energy program that could at least put it on a path toward “energy secession” — developing a road map for procuring 90% of its heat, electricity and fuels from renewables by 2050.

Camilla Cornell, Financialpost.com
December 19, 2011

When Tom Heintzman travels, he either uses a plug-in hybrid car or purchases carbon offsets for all of his flights, takes public transport from the airport where possible, and uses hotel chains that are powered at least partially by renewable energy. But you would expect that of the co-founder and president of Toronto-based Bullfrog Power Inc., a green electricity producer.

Mr. Heintzman argues there’s a business case to be made for all companies – whether they style themselves as “green” or not – to reduce their transportation footprint.

“We definitely have a lot of polling data that suggest consumers are increasingly aware of companies’ corporate social responsibility and environmental practices and they’re increasingly relevant,” he says.

By Andrew Michler
September 13, 2011

Up to 20 square miles of virgin desert in New Mexico will soon be home to the nation’s newest town, only with a twist — no one will live there. Developer Pegasus Global Holdings (a communication, technology and defense contractor) and the state of New Mexico have announced plans to create a “mid-sized” smart city that they are calling The Center for Testing, Evaluation and Innovation. Details are vague, but the concept is clear enough: design a town that mirrors real cities in order to test sustainable infrastructure and technologies to see if they would work in the actual built environment without fear of disrupting real communities. Think of it as the green version of Westworld – only if something goes wrong nobody gets hurt.

by Angeli Duffin, December 16th, 2011

The Oak Grove School District in San Jose, Calif., is not just bringing renewable energy into the curriculum – they’re using it to power their classrooms. In partnership with Chevron Energy Solutions, the district celebrated the completion of a 1.8 megawatt solar photovoltaic system that will save more than $13 million in energy costs over the project’s lifetime.

Stephanie Dhue, CNBC.com
December 14, 2011

Bringing greater energy efficiency to commercial buildings promises to be big business. Pike Research estimates the market will increase to $100 billion by 2017.

Companies doing retrofits — including Johnson Controls, Honeywell, United Technologies, and Ameresco, stand to reap the benefits from buildings going green. Property managers are also promoting the cost savings and other benefits of energy-efficient building.

Randy Harris of CBRE said green buildings are more desirable, especially for high quality tenants.

“Most Fortune 500 [companies] filed corporate social responsibility mission statements with the SEC and real estate is a way to help them achieve that corporately,” Harris said.

While there is anecdotal evidence that suggests going green boosts property values, it has yet to factor into the appraisal and lending process.