Archive for December 27th, 2012

“Energy efficiency” has become a buzzword term in environmental circles, and the public at large, for more than a decade.

It could mean many things to many people; it could be as simple as turning lights off when you’re leaving the room, or putting the thermostat at a lower setting to conserve energy.

Of course, in a larger sense “energy efficiency” is a term thrown around by major corporations trying to make their products in a more environmentally-friendly way, and by architects and designers concerned about the future who are making buildings from the ground up that are much more economical in how they use energy than buildings were even 20 years ago.

But as often as we talk about “energy efficiency,” there aren’t really that many set guidelines on what makes something energy efficient. A private non-profit organization called the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has decided to try to come up with a roadmap that examines what standards can be set in the future. Read the rest of this entry »