revolutiongreenpower.com

See Rain Dog Designs on PSE

gordonsmith — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 04:49:37 +0000

See our friend at Rain Dog Design work their magic on PSE:

Saving The Ocean

River of Kings, Part 2 #107

Sunday, February 24, 05:30 pm on KCTS 9 HD Seattle/Yakima

Duration: 0:26:46

Description: In the second part of this two-part special, Carl Safina meets the tribal leaders who inspired this grand vision of restoration, which has its roots i… READ MORE

Description: In the second part of this two-part special, Carl Safina meets the tribal leaders who inspired this grand vision of restoration, which has its roots in the native fishing rights campaigns of the 1960s; and our cameras discover some of the first wild Chinook salmon, descended miraculously from hatchery stock, now beginning to re-populate the Nisqually’s pristine spawning grounds. collapse expanded text

[HD][CC]

View Additional Airings 02/26/13, 1:00 pm KCTS 9 HD Seattle/Yakima 02/26/13, 1:00 pm KYVE 47 Yakima 02/27/13, 7:30 pm KCTS 9 HD Seattle/Yakima 02/27/13, 7:30 pm KYVE 47 Yakima

Great Discussion about Sustainable Design in SnoHo

gordonsmith — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 08:24:42 +0000

Come for this Great Discussion:

Join SnoLEAF and Snohomish County PUD for an inspirational and exciting technical presentation by Tom Marseille. Tom’s work focuses on sustainable design consulting, HVAC design, net zero energy design and analysis, system modeling, total cost of ownership (life cycle cost) analysis, capital asset assessment, and renewable energy applications. Tom is a member of the USGBC, ASHRAE, and IESNA, and author of numerous published papers and journal articles. Tom served as a member of Seattle’s Green Building Task Force and its Living Building Pilot Technical Advisory Group and much more. The topic is unfolding, but we know it will be useful, insightful and abundant. Please join the discussion, bring a lunch and learn. This is a free event.

When:
Wednesday, February 20, 2013 – 12:00pm to 1:00pm

Where:
Snohomish County PUD
2320 California Street Everett, WA 98204

Another happy one

gordonsmith — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:09:15 +0000

I had contacted Puget Sound Energy to find a company to insulate my crawl space and wrap my water pipes. PSE gave me Revolution Green Power’s telephone number.
I contacted them, and from the initial phone call to the completed project, found them to be prompt, straight forward, willing to answer any questions I had, competitive, very professional and extremely thorough about advising me on how to conserve energy. They said it would take one day, it did, they would arrive at a certain time, they did, and the installers were very polite, efficient, and tidy.
I am very pleased and would definitely recommend Revolution Green Power!

Take care, J. B

Where can I purchase green furniture for my sons, especially a bed?

gordonsmith — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:51:09 +0000

We will be moving into our first home. With two boys (4 years and 19 months old), we are so much more sensitive to living “green.” I want to buy the older boy new furniture, especially a bed, and would like to know where to purchase furniture that has been made to the green standards of today. Really wouldn’t want to turn to Pottery Barn Kids

http://greenhomeguide.com/askapro/question/where-can-i-purchase-green-furniture-for-my-sons-especially-a-bed

A good referral is always a good thing!

gordonsmith — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:32:20 +0000

Thank you and I have told my friends to call PSE and look at your company for similar tests! We have purchased a new fridge, very energy efficient and Al is looking at providing us a water heater too. Along with the duct sealing you’re doing and our new energy efficient bulbs I look forward to a warmer, more efficient home all around. Thanks again.

What’s the best temperature to set my hot water baseboard heating to when I leave the house?

gordonsmith — Wed, 02 May 2012 02:57:55 +0000

With hot water baseboard heating, is it better to keep the heat at 60+ degrees when you leave the house so it doesn’t take as much energy to heat the house up to 65+ degrees? What we have been doing is dropping the temperature to 50-55 degrees when we leave the house. I’m looking for the most cost-effective way to use hot water baseboards.

Green energy alone won’t save the earth – social change is also needed

gordonsmith — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:17:26 +0000

The most popular techno-fix for global warming is green energy. If energy companies would only deploy wind, hydro, solar, geothermal or nuclear, then emission-intensive fossil fuels will eventually disappear. But will that actually work?

A new study by Richard York of the University of Oregon shows that it isn’t that simple. Rather than displacing fossil fuels, green energy sources have proven to be mostly additive.

“Do alternative energy sources displace fossil fuels?” published last month in Nature Climate Change, discusses what happened when alternative energy sources were introduced in countries around the world, over the past fifty years.

Contrary to the accepted wisdom that new green energy replaces fossil-fuel use, York found that on average each unit of energy use from non-fossil-fuel sources displaced less than a quarter of a unit of energy use from fossil-fuel sources.

The picture is worse with electricity, where each new unit generated from green sources displaced less than one-tenth of a unit of fossil-fuel-generated electricity.

York writes:

“Based on all of the results presented above, the answer to the question presented in the title of this paper – do alternative energy sources displace fossil fuels? – is yes, but only very modestly. The common assumption that the expansion of production of alternative energy will suppress fossil-fuel energy production in equal proportion is clearly wrong.”

Why don’t the new sources replace the old? York identifies two key reasons: the inertia of a huge existing fossil-fuel infrastructure, and the power and influence of the coal and oil corporations.

“The failure of non-fossil energy sources to displace fossil ones is probably in part attributable to the established energy system where there is a lock-in to using fossil fuels as the base energy source because of their long-standing prevalence and existing infrastructure and to the political and economic power of the fossil-fuel industry.”

In other words, eliminating fossil-fuel as an energy source is at least as much a social and political problem as a technical one.

“Of course all societies need energy. So, obviously, if societies are to stop using fossil fuels they must have other energy sources. However, the results from the analyses presented here indicate that the shift away from fossil fuel does not happen inevitably with the expansion of non-fossil-fuel sources, or at least in the political and economic contexts that have been dominant over the past fifty years around the world….

“The most effective strategy for curbing carbon emissions is likely to be one that aims to not only develop non-fossil energy sources, but also to find ways to alter political and economic contexts so that fossil-fuel energy is more easily displaced and to curtail the growth in energy consumption as much as possible.

“A general implication of these findings is that polices aimed at addressing global climate change should not focus principally on developing technological fixes, but should also take into account human behaviour in the context of political, economic and social systems.”

The evidence shows that simply introducing green energy isn’t enough: the introduction must be accompanied by “explicit policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions.”

The article is published in a scientific journal, where political and social conclusions can only be expressed in muted form. But Richard York’s research and conclusions reinforce the argument that he and his co-authors (John Bellamy Foster and Brett Clark) made more explicitly in their recent book, The Ecological Rift: Capitalism’s War on the Planet.

“We are confronting the question of a terminal crisis, threatening most life on the planet, civilization, and the very existence of future generations. … attempts to solve this through technological fixes, market magic, and the idea of a ‘sustainable capitalism’ are mere forms of ecological denial, since they ignore the inherent destructiveness of the current system of unsustainable development – capitalism.”

Are there lenders and appraisers who focus on green homes?

gordonsmith — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:10:31 +0000

I recently had solar panels installed on our California home to boost the value to refinance. We got an appraisal from Wells Fargo, but the appraiser had no experience with solar panels, so the value was ridiculously low. Therefore, we need to find professionals (lenders and appraisers) who specialize in green technology so we receive appropriate value for our solar panels. Also, are there programs that help homeowners refinance by making their homes more efficient?http://greenhomeguide.com/askapro/question/i-recently-had-solar-panels-installed-on-our-california-home-to-boost-the-value-to-refinance-are-there-lenders-who-focus-on-green-homes

They said ventilation in attics is a thing of the past

gordonsmith — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:04:53 +0000

If these insulation companies are suggesting spraying foam over the bottom of the roof and rafters, then they are correct.
Once the underside of your roof is covered with spray foam, it becomes a part of the inside of your home and it should not be vented.
They MUST cover the vents.

If they’re talking about spraying foam over the top of your ceiling, that’s a different matter. They should absolutely NOT cover the vents.

Regardless, before you proceed with the considerable cost of spray foaming your attic, I strongly suggest you have a professional Energy Audit done to your home.
You need to know whether adding spray is making your indoor air quality better or worse.
The spray foam companies won’t tell you that.

http://greenhomeguide.com/askapro/question/had-a-few-insulation-companies-come-in-and-they-suggest-foaming-over-my-vents-they-said-ventilation-in-attics-is-a-thing-of-the-past

13-Year-Old Makes Solar Power Breakthrough

gordonsmith — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 14:33:29 +0000

While most 13-year-olds spend their free time playing video games or cruising Facebook, one 7th grader was trekking through the woods uncovering a mystery of science. After studying how trees branch in a very specific way, Aidan Dwyer created a solar cell tree that produces 20-50% more power than a uniform array of photovoltaic panels. His impressive results show that using a specific formula for distributing solar cells can drastically improve energy generation. The study earned Aidan a provisional U.S patent – it’s a rare find in the field of technology and a fantastic example of how biomimicry can drastically improve design.

http://inhabitat.com/13-year-old-makes-solar-power-breakthrough-by-harnessing-the-fibonacci-sequence/