Solar Panels and Plants!
There is a trend developing where solar farms are starting to be more than the scorched earth look and some panels. According to Clean Techinica there are four locations where agriculture friendly to pollinators is going to share the space.
Social Distancing Help?
One of the biggest problems in California where I live is traffic and one solution is an increase in the use of mass transit, in our case, buses. However with the recent emergency that is problematic. Enter Arrival a bus designed around this issue. https://inhabitat.com/arrivals-zero-emissions-buses-are-designed-for-social-distancing
Self Cleaning Buildings?
I found a real interesting article today about a newly completed building in Manhattan that eats pollution! Well it’s not quite that simple, but with a special new coating it provides relief from pollution that is equivalent to 500 trees. I will be curious to see how long this coating lasts, especially the self-cleaning side effect. I would expect that it would have to be renewed like any paint or coating but the article doesn’t mention this.
In one of the articles I read a price of 60 cent a square foot applied in mentioned, your mileage may vary, but that seems reasonable to make a self cleaning building. Definitely a technology to watch!
Quartzy Article: https://quartzy.qz.com/1269569/this-nyc-luxury-building-has-the-air-purifying-power-of-500-trees/
Inc.com Article: https://www.inc.com/jeremy-quittner/big-ideas/pureti-cleaning-surfaces.html
Pureti Company Website: http://pureti.com/
Electric News
It looks like those treasured HOV lane stickers for EV’ and Hybrids are going the way of the Dodo. Californian is looking to phase them out and only allow new purchasers to have only three years of access. The article on Clean Technica (https://cleantechnica.com/2018/05/05/boooh-california-bows-to-industry-pressure-reduces-hov-lane-access-for-evs-fight-back/) goes in the details. One more disincentive for me to purchase a new EV to replace my long in the tooth 2012 Fusion Hybrid.
On a better note it looks like the good news might be surrounding the requirement in 2020 of all new homes, apartments and condo developments to have solar PV. It looks like the California Energy Commission is likely to approve this soon. Article from the Independant (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/california-solar-power-panels-homes-renewable-green-energy-climate-change-a8337626.html)
The Many Ways To Recycle…
Recycling is something we are all doing, right? Well here are some interesting insights on this first and most important green activity.
Did you know that the waste from construction is in the top ten of those things going into landfills? Most of this is the waste from demolition of the old building or parts that aren’t being reused. Here are some ideas on the items that can be recycled right on the job site! From the the site Greatpossibilities.com (http://www.greatpossibilities.com/blog/7-materials-that-can-be-recycled-at-your-construction-site-74.html) 7 Materials that can be recycled from your construction site.
Next we have an artist who is using recycled fallen leaves to make furniture. Pretty chair don’t you think?
From Dezeen.com (https://www.dezeen.com/2017/02/26/simon-kern-design-chair-recycled-fallen-leaves-bioplastic-chair-furniture/)
Lastly, they are turning banana trees into vegan leather wallets. From Inhabitat.com (http://inhabitat.com/see-how-banana-trees-are-recycled-into-vegan-leather-wallets-in-micronesia/) 
This last is currently a Kickstarter but I think it is a great idea and the wallets look pretty cool.
As always I thank you for your time and interest. Please take the time to Digg, Stumble Upon or add to the other social network of your choice to help me spread the word about these issues. Please forward any questions or suggestions to: askthefm@gmail.com
Cool Bike Stand Designs
One of the most small, but common problems I see at my client’s sites is a lack of bike parking and while the article at Eco Friend shows designs that are no where near the market yet, it is hopeful to see such creative solutions! 
As always I thank you for your time and interest. Please take the time to Digg, Stumble Upon or add to the other social network of your choice to help me spread the word about these issues. Please forward any questions or suggestions to: askthefm@gmail.com
Cities Taking The Lead On Climate Change
With the incoming Trump Administration signaling a change away from climate change research and green projects and improvements it is falling to the cities across our country to take up the banner. In an article from Sustainable Business it is clear that many cities including locally, Los Angeles are ready. It is quite an interesting group and I can’t wait to see what they bring to the table.
Especially in the face of publicly traded companies not having to disclose as much of the potential downside of climate change on their operations and profits (Green Building Law Update 12/11/2016) it is heartening to see the broad support for a new ordinance in the City of Los Angeles (My News LA 12/20/2016). The ordinance is in response to an analysis by the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA and the City Energy Project suggest that 4% of the city’s buildings are responsible for possibly 50% of the energy and water use. Talk about a defined target for efficiency improvement!
The ordinance basically requires annual reporting for all buildings larger than 20,000 square feet to the Department of Building and Safety and for buildings over 15,000 square feet that every five years that the building will be required to take steps to reduce its total resource footprint.It will be very interesting to see what incentives and penalties are attached to this program eventually to aid building owners to comply.
As always I thank you for your time and interest. Please take the time to Digg, Stumble Upon or add to the other social network of your choice to help me spread the word about these issues. Please forward any questions or suggestions to: askthefm@gmail.com
Energy Efficient Windows – Retrofit Opportunity?
Energy Efficient Windows – Retrofit Opportunity?
I am an energy efficiency consultant out here in California and there has been a great deal of emphasis on replacing older single pane windows with dual pane, usually vinyl models. I many cases where a building is being remodeled the building owner has no choice but to install them in order to comply with the 2013 energy related code sections. This is especially problematic if the building has some historic value to the city. Now the Federal government in the form of Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) is sponsoring research into methods to retrofit these older windows through its SHIELD program.
The full story is here on Green Building Elements (http://greenbuildingelements.com/2015/10/09/doe-announces-shield-program-for-energy-efficient-windows/). The DOE website with detail on the program can be found here: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaId038dc107-a7de-407a-8253-86e3bc99ae00
As always I thank you for your time and interest. Please take the time to Stumble Upon or add to the other social network of your choice to help me spread the word about these issues. Please forward any questions or suggestions to: askthefm@gmail.com
Better Permeable Paving?
This new version of permeable paving looks pretty impressive in the video, i just hope that it is cost comparable with typical paving solutions.
As always I thank you for your time and interest. Please take the time to Stumble Upon or add to the other social network of your choice to help me spread the word about these issues. Please forward any questions or suggestions to: askthefm@gmail.com
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