Archive for April, 2011

The International Code Council Foundation (ICCF) is celebrating their 31^st Building Safety Month this May with the theme of An International Celebration of Safe and Sensible Structures. The ICCF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to alleviating the devastating effects of natural disasters and other building tragedies through consumer education, professional development, and community service. Read the rest of this entry »

The U.S. EPA awarded grants today to six college teams across the country who participated in the 7th annual EPA People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) award competition, which was part of the 2011 EPA Earth Day celebration event held April 16-17. Entries from 55 teams were judged by a panel of national experts, organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, on their project’s innovation and technical merit as well as its connection to sustainability in terms of people, prosperity and the planet. Read the rest of this entry »

In celebration of Earth Day 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that its Design for the Environment (DfE) Safer Product Labeling Program has certified 2,500 products. Products carrying the DfE label are certified to be free of potentially dangerous chemicals such as carcinogens and reproductive or developmental toxicants. Read the rest of this entry »

As a rising number of consumers upgrade television sets, computers and mobile devices, electronics manufacturers are beginning to take a more active role in finding a home and/or proper disposal for these outmoded products. Some would argue that the electronics industry hasn’t taken a proactive approach with regards to “e-waste” initiatives. While there is probably a lot of proof to substantiate these claims, no one can deny the recycling ambition set forth recently by the industry’s biggest names. Best Buy, Sony, Toshiba and Dell for instance are all making tremendous strides with e-waste recycling efforts. Read the rest of this entry »

An industry-wide initiative was launched by the Consumer Electronics Association, with support from manufacturers such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Panasonic, and Samsung, in an effort to increase electronics waste recycling to one billion pounds a year by 2016, tripling the amount recycled in 2010. The eCycling Leadership Initiative will focus on consumer education as well as boosting the number of collection sites. Read the rest of this entry »

If you pay attention to food safety, you’ll know that the previous year hasn’t been a comforting one. Spinach, lettuce and eggs are just some of the more recent items that have sparked wide-scale food safety scares and illnesses. But the real eyebrow-raiser happened last week. Read the rest of this entry »

National Instruments (NI), a leading software developer for engineers and scientists, has announced its 2011 Green Engineering Grant program, a worldwide competitive program that fosters rapid design, prototyping and commercialization of promising new renewable energy, energy efficiency and smart grid systems. NI will donate up to $25,000 USD equivalent in NI LabVIEW graphical system design software tools and training to eligible startups to help advance clean energy development in applications such as solar, wind and biofuel technology. Read the rest of this entry »

On April 14, 2011, Duke Energy announced that it will be incorporating a huge battery storage system at its new 153-megawatt (MW) Notrees Windpower facility in West Texas. The project is the largest wind-farm battery storage installation announced to date.

The announcement highlights the advances energy companies are making toward incorporating renewable power sources into the electric grid in the U.S. Duke will use a 36 MW-capacity Dynamic Power Resource (DPR) from Texas-based Xtreme Power to provide large-scale storage at the facility (photo used with permission). Read the rest of this entry »

Americans love their cars and love driving them. Let’s drive smarter, and who better to give us the opportunity than the students in school today who will be designing the cars of tomorrow. Established by the DOE and General Motors, EcoCAR 2: Plugging in to the Future is a three-year collegiate engineering competition that aims to educate the next generation of automotive engineers through hands-on, real-world engineering experience. The competition challenges teams from16 North American universities to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles without compromising performance, safety and consumer acceptability. Read the rest of this entry »

Duke University’s Environmental Leadership Program is designed to improve the knowledge and understanding of environmental issues and leadership capacity among practicing environmental professionals and business executives. The newest course to be offered is “The Business of Green Building and Development,” to be held May 23-25, in Durham NC. Read the rest of this entry »