For today’s company spotlight, I wanted to look at smart meters. Smart meters have been in use since 2006 in the United States and have gained wide penetration in some areas and caused backlashes in others. In the near future many utilities will be switching their customers over to this technology. So what exactly are [...]
Archive for the ‘Behavior’ Category
Itron: A Global Leader in Smart Meters
May 21st, 2012 
John Basalla From Parking Lots to Parking Garages
May 20th, 2012 Eric Wilson Last week I wrote about parking lots and my distaste for them. While parking garages are a much better use of land, they can be quite ugly. My argument today is not an aesthetic one though. While riding the light rail the other day (where I also composed this op-ed), I passed a large parking garage, four levels [...]
Posted in Behavior, Eric Wilson, Op-Ed, Sustainability, Transportation 
Tags: Cars, Environment 
No Comments »Where the Sidewalk Never Begins
May 19th, 2012 The Angry Pedestrian Dear Shel Silverstein, My apologies for misusing, but hopefully not abusing the title of your wonderful work of poetry. Cordially, The Angry Pedestrian Now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you about the place where the sidewalk never begins; it’s called the suburbs. I don’t live in the suburbs, but I had to go [...]
The Angry Pedestrian: An Introduction
May 12th, 2012 The Angry Pedestrian Let me say first off that I own a car. I drive. I don’t drive a ton, I don’t drive everyday, I don’t drive to my job, but I understand the role of the car in today’s society (in America at least). I can’t walk everywhere and I cover four miles in an hour, not [...]
CFL Bulb Recycling Around 2 Percent
April 11th, 2012 Chris DeArmond With all the attention compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) get for saving energy, it seems like the importance of recycling them has taken a back seat. A study by the Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers (ALMR) cited in a 2011 Consumer Reports article found that only 2 percent of consumers said they actually recycle their [...]
Posted in Behavior, Clean Technology, Energy Efficiency, Green Products, Recylcing Tags: CFL, Chris DeArmond, Energy Conservation, Green Product No Comments »Building for the Next 500 Years
April 8th, 2012 Eric Wilson While attending a United States Green Building Council (USGBC) meeting recently, someone mentioned that a local university was building to a 500 year standard. I had never heard the term prior, but the idea was all too familiar. The university was constructing buildings to last the next 500 years. This is incredibly difficult to fathom [...]
Energy Star Program Celebrates 20th Anniversary
March 30th, 2012 Chris DeArmond Since being created by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1992, the Energy Star program and its partners have helped save Americans nearly $230 billion through increased energy efficiency of appliances and electronics. More than five billion products from more than 60 different categories have been sold under the voluntary program. According to EPA’s March [...]
You Can Now Stroll Through Amazonian Rainforest on Your Desktop; Good or Bad?
March 27th, 2012 Justin Manger What do you all think of this? Google Maps now takes you into the heart of the Amazon rainforest. My reaction is split: 1) Great! I’ve always been interested in learning more about the rainforests and I think people being able to access information about them will lead to increased understanding and eventually recognition that [...]
Posted in Behavior, Conservation, Education, Justin Manger, News, Op-Ed, Sustainability Tags: Conservation, Environment, Nature, rainf No Comments »Why Dig for Energy When We’re Bombarded Every Day?
March 25th, 2012 Eric Wilson Ever wonder why oil is underground? I don’t mean how it got there (decomposing organisms trapped below layers of sediment that were compressed). I mean why we go through the trouble of digging it out of the ground. I realize it’s energy dense, but hear me out. I find it kind of curious to think [...]
Japan’s 2010 CO2 Emissions Down By 12.3% Compared to 1990
March 23rd, 2012 Justin Manger That’s the good news. 20 years of efficiency gains, technological improvements, and policy tweaks have reduced the amount of CO2 produced by Japanese industries. What’s interesting is that emissions are actually up since 2009. Now, with the nuclear industry nearly shut down nation-wide (2 of 54 plants are in operation) and imports of oil, coal, [...]
Posted in Behavior, Business, Japan, Justin Manger, News, Policy, Sustainability Tags: Carbon Dioxide, Energy Conservation, Environment No Comments »
