The Green Building Top 5 - October 14, 2015

One Quarter Of The World Will Be Powered By Renewable Energy By 2020

U.S. President Obama recently made a trip to Alaska to highlight the effect that man-made (anthropogenic) climate change is having on the planet. Unfortunately, with climate change deniers placed in key political positions, and armed with a well-funded, relentless campaign of misinformation, attempts for the U.S. to act on climate change – without the President resorting to using executive action – are frequently obstructed by Congress. Read Full Article

Dry Composting Toilets and How They Work

Composting toilets are dry toilets that do not use any water. Instead they use aerobic processing to treat the waste. Sawdust, peat moss and other elements are mixed with the waste to start the aerobic process, absorption of liquid and to take care of the odor. Human waste is about 90% water, which is evaporated. This leaves you with one of the major benefits of a dry composting toilets is that they produce nutrient rich compost that can be used for agriculture if properly treated. The other major benefit is that they use no water relieving stress on that resource. Read Full Article

Boston's Super Old, Super Green Buildings

The city of Boston recently released a report with energy information from many of the city’s buildings over 50,000 square feet, culled after the Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance of 2013 mandated that big-building owners disclose their energy and water use to the city. Read Full Article

4 Sustainable Qualities of Mineral Wool Insulation

There are as many types of insulation as there are ways to insulate a building... From cellulose (paper), to fiberglass to mineral wool to spray foam, each insulation has its pluses and minuses. Spray foam insulation has lately become a buzzword for sustainability because it can be applied quickly and inexpensively, leading to many businesses popping up marketing "sustainability", even though some question the safety of spray foam. Read Full Article

Shifting Capacity Factors Making Unsubsidized Wind and Solar Power Cheaper than Fossil Fuels

A major challenge to most renewable energy is their capacity factor. This is the ratio of power source’s actual output over a period of time to its potential output that would be possible if it was able to operate at full capacity over the same period of time. Solar power for example, the sun doesn’t shine 24 hours a day. Even during daylight hours you still have to contend with weather. So a solar project that potentially could generate 50 megawatt hours of electricity during a sunny clear day may only be able to produce 50 percent of that on average through out the year. Read Full Article