Where there’s a need, there’s a way. Turns out that the biggest proportion of ENERGY STAR homes are being built in steamy Sunbelt locations where keeping the AC under control is an urgent need.
The top market, with the most ENERGY STAR-qualified homes built since the program begin in 1995, is Houston, with 144,000 homes.
The next top cities with the most homes built to these guidelines include Dallas, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
Earth Day is every day. It truly is, and should be. Still it’s nice to have a special time set aside for this commemoration, now 39 years old.
It gives us a time to celebrate. A time for people who live the issue daily, as foresters, gardeners, organic bakers, fair trade importers, scientists and energy experts, to connect with each other and newcomers on the green path. It’s a time when tree huggers can come out of the forest, composters can declare their love of the soil and all sorts of other quirky “naturalists” can unabashedly rejoice — in an accepting climate.
Learning not to waste – whether it’s food, electricity or water – is not only good in these economic times, but even more important, it’s beneficial for the environment.
The Nalgene Least Wasteful City Study, released this week, ranks the country’s 25 largest metropolitan areas on wasteful behavior. San Francisco led the group with the least wasteful habits, while Atlanta ranked at the bottom.
KB Homes announced that all new homes built in Dallas are being built to Energy Star guidelines. The homes, in both new and existing communities, will allow homeowners to reduce their carbon footprint and reduce their monthly energy bills.
According to a report by Whitefence.com, the average monthly utility bills for Dallas households were the highest of the 20 U.S. metro markets surveyed in the report.
With the Environmental Protection Agency back in full action again after years of humming in neutral, things are happening, and some important beneficiaries could be America’s school children.
USA TODAY reports today that the EPA is expected to run tests of the air quality outside some 62 schools in 22 states to see whether the sites are polluted beyond healthy thresholds. (See the list of schools.)
While the vast majority of Americans are car bound, rising numbers are getting on board with public transit, commuter and light rail, trolleys and buses.
Those riding the rails and buses took 10.7 billion trips on public transportation in 2008, a 4 percent increase over the number of trips taken in 2007, according to a ridership report by the American Public Transportation Association.
During the same period, the number of vehicle miles traveled on roadways declined by 3.6 percent, the group reported, citing the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The top 10 are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Washington, D.C., Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Atlanta and Seattle.
Los Angeles ranked first with 262 buildings earning the Energy Star rating, which can be applied to rehabbed and new properties. San Francisco had 194 buildings; Houston, 145; Washington D.C., 136 and Dallas, 126.
Energy Star, the EPA’s label for high efficiency, sets standards for everthing from light bulbs and appliances to buildings.
Spa guests, already conscious about the health of their bodies, are starting to choose pampering experiences that keep the well-being of the environment in mind as well.
They still want to be indulged, say spa operators, but some are opting for experiences and products that soothe and improve, without nature-damaging ingredients.
Rona Berg, editor in chief of Organic Beauty magazine, says spa guests now look at what is in the products, where it comes from, who produces it and whether it is sustainable. Some even want to know if the company they’re supporting is giving back to the community.
“Consumer demand for healthier, eco-friendly and organic products isn’t showing any signs of stopping,” Berg says. “We’re undergoing a cultural paradigm shift and organic beauty is definitely one aspect of it.”
As we drive deeper into our Orwellian future ala Google, where you can practically peer into our uncle’s windows in Toledo via Google Earth, it makes complete sense that we should also be able to track how we’re corrupting the atmosphere.
Thus, today, you can view CO2 emissions, thanks to a new Google Earth application developed by Purdue University researchers and funded by NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Purdue Showalter Trust and Indianapolis-based Knauf Insulation.
The interactive CO2 emissions map will mostly confirm what you already know – that it’s getting thick out there, especially in cities like Los Angeles, plagued by higher than average auto emissions, and Houston, afflicted with bad air from industrial processes like oil refining. This is readily apparent because the chart color codes carbon pollution from different sectors, such as aircraft, on road and off road transportation; commercial and industrial sources; electricity production and residential emissions.
Plano, Texas, a sprawling suburb north of Dallas known for its fine homes, strong schools and high ambitions, is carving out a new facet of its reputation, that of the greenest city in North Texas.
Two years ago, the city of 260,000 introduced Live Green in Plano, a sustainability initiative that encourages its citizens to be good stewards of the environment. “We’re setting the standard in Texas, with our scope of programs and services offered,” says spokesperson Melinda Haggerty.
The multi-edged issues facing the travel industry as it moves toward becoming more green are not hard to envision. First, there’s that sticky matter of getting there – by jet? by car?
There’s a certain built-in, un-green aspect at the core of tourism.
But that said, there are many ways travelers can be less consumptive and more supportive of eco-friendly practices. They can stay at conservation-minded hotels; places that don’t wash your sheets automatically every day; that serve local food and arrange low-impact tours for guests.
Online travel company Travelocity has taken its first steps toward helping consumers find and patronize greener destinations by launching an eco-friendly directory. The Green Directory aims to help travelers sort the green from the “green washed,” and so far features more than 200 hotels and resorts many of which already claim to be carbon neutral, according to the company.
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