Flickr: Dr. Neko

One of New York City’s most iconic buildings – the Empire State Building – is undergoing a $120 million facelift. The project will not only restore the long-lost golden lobby ceiling, but it will also improve the energy efficiency of the building.

The skyscraper’s 6,500 windows provide a huge opportunity to make the building more environmentally friendly. Refurbishing the windows will be a vital part of the 40 percent energy savings the makeover is expected to bring to the Empire State Building. By refurbishing the existing windows, instead of replacing them, the thousands of panes of glass will be kept from wasting away in a landfill.

“We’re taking them out, breaking the seals, inserting a mylar sheath, and then we’re resealing with krypton argon gas and reinstalling them. All of this will be done without the windows ever leaving the building,” Anthony Malkin, who heads the company doing the window renovations, told NPR.

A project of this magnitude will set the standard for future skyscraper window renovations, and Malkin has agreed to share any new techniques he and his team develop at the Empire State Building.

The refurbishing project will also recreate the Celestial Mural on the ceiling of the building’s lobby. The mural was designed to honor the Machine Age and pay tribute to the technology that made it possible to build the skyscraper in just over one year in the early 1930s. The ceiling has been hidden for decades after being covered and almost completely destroyed during an effort to modernize the building in the 1960s. Both the building itself and the interior decor of the lobby have been designated as landmarks by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Since 1986, the Empire State Building has been a National Historic Landmark.

Currently the third tallest building in the country, the Empire State Building is also New York City’s tallest building. It regained this title after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 destroyed the World Trade Center towers, which had dethroned the Empire State Building as the city’s tallest building.

Photo By Cimexus Via Flickr

With summer just about over and the colder months fast approaching, now is a great time to consider winterizing your home to make it more environmentally friendly.  Not only will you be kinder on the planet, but with these cheap and simple  tips, you can also save a few bucks over winter as well.

Reverse Your Ceiling Fan

Everyone knows that warm air rises, but many people aren’t aware that most ceiling fans can reverse their direction and move that warm air back down to where you want the heat.  So this winter, instead of turning off the fan, keep it going but in reverse. All that is required it to see which direction the fan blades are going. counter-clockwise for summer, and clockwise for winter, its as simple as that.

Check Your Air Ducts

This may be a bit challenging depending on how your home was designed, but if possible inspect all of your heating ducts. the DOE estimates that the average home could be losing as much as 60% of the hot air blown from your heater if it is not properly installed and maintained. The most important things to be on the lookout for when inspecting your ducts is any gaps or holes that need repair. But also just as important is to fix any crimped or heavily bent parts that could be reducing the optimum airflow of your heating system.

Wrap Your Pipes With Insulation

Find out which pipes in your house have hot water flowing through them, you can usually do this just by touching the pipes to see if they are warm. Once you have identified which ones are flowing with hot water pick up some simple foam pipe insulation along with some duct tape and get to work.  This is such a cheap and simple task that anyone can do it in an afternoon.

Block Unused Rooms

While this won’t be a problem for those with small houses, those with larger homes with unused rooms  can really see a huge difference in your heating  bill by doing this. Just turn off the heating to the room(s) you don’t plan on using, close the door and place a towel or other piece of cloth under the gap in the floor of your door frame.

By Mark Johnson

Flickr: Davipt

As natural resource supplies continue to dwindle, and with the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen only a few months away, the clock is ticking for international leaders to come to an agreement on a viable plan for reducing the world’s reliance on natural resources. Switching from a global reliance on coal to a renewable source of energy would solve many of the problems facing the planet, according to a new report by Greenpeace International and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC).

“Global leaders can tackle the twin crises of global economic recession and climate change head on by investing in renewable energy,” Damon Moglen, a Greenpeace campaign director, said.

Switching from a global reliance on coal to a cleaner, renewable source of energy would prevent 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. The report also predicts a boom in jobs, with 2.7 million more clean energy jobs produced by the switch. This increase in jobs would come at the same time the coal industry contracts from its current 4.7 million jobs to an estimated 1.4 million by 2030.

The authors of the report assert that a change to clean energy would create more jobs than would exist if the world were to continue its reliance on coal. “For each job lost in the coal industry our green energy scenario…creates three new jobs in the renewable power industry. We can choose green jobs and growth or unemployment, ecological and social collapse” Moglen said.

With the new jobs that would be created, the report shows that 6.9 million people could be employed in the renewable power industry by 2030. An additional 1.1 million jobs could also be created due to higher efficiency in electrical applications.

The renewable energy industry already employs 450,000 people in Europe, according to the report. A global consensus on energy sources is necessary, however, to create an actual change to humans’ impact the environment.

The report, “Working for the Climate: Renewable Energy & The Green Job [R]evolution” is based on research by Greenpeace and the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney.

By Elizabeth Wolfe

Image Courtesy Of PNWRA

In our last installment we talked about no and low cost ways of reducing your homes energy use. Today we are going to talk about those methods that do end up costing a chunk of change, but can really make a difference in lowering your electricity consumption.

Seal Your Home
Most homes are very poorly sealed, leading to your heater or air conditioner having to work overtime to keep the temperature how you want it. From single pane windows and bad wall insulation, to cracks and poorly designed exterior walls, this is one of the leading causes of wasted energy from your home.  Some of the fixes for this are fairly straight forward, such as using curtains, adding double pane windows and visually looking for cracks and openings in your house. But for the most part, spots losing you heat will not be found by the naked eye, and need a professional to come in with a thermal infrared imaging camera that can spot problem areas.

Landscaping Efficiently
You may think your yard has nothing to do with your homes energy use, but that could not be further from the truth. If you landscape with more than just the look of your yard in mind, you can greatly improve your homes energy and water consumption. The first step, is to pick grass, plants and trees that are suited for your region and climate. By doing so, you will reduce the amount of water needed to keep them alive and thriving. After picking local plant life, placement is key. From trees that block the sun from hitting your house for parts of the day, to using bushes and shrubs as windbreaks to keep the heat in your home.  These are great ways to improve your homes electricity use, and best of all it is using the most environmentally friendly methods possible.

Interior Lighting
The majority of people just place a lamp, or install a fixture, and if its bright enough, they think it’s good to go. But there are many factors that determine how efficient your indoor lighting actually is. For instance, you may love that Tiffany style lamp, or dark blue light shade, but what it is doing is reducing the effective amount of light that is illuminating your room. The same goes with the color of your walls. If you are using dark flat colors, you are reducing the amount of light bouncing off of them. Try and stick with light reflective colors for your walls, and use lamps that still diffuse the light coming from them, but do not reduce the amount of light too much.

Hoping to simultaneously stimulate appliance sales and decrease wasteful energy usage, a government-passed stimulus package providing rebates to consumers who swap out older, less efficient appliances for newer Energy Star-approved appliances is expected to take effect later this year.

Qualifying appliances include air conditioners, furnaces, refrigerators, dishwashers and other large appliances, with rebates between $50 and $200. And, unlike the recent “cash for clunkers” auto stimulus plan, you don’t’ have to turn in an energy hogging appliance to get the rebate – though with a brand-new Energy Star, why keep an outdated, inefficient clunker?

Each state’s plan is different, but all 50 are participating. State agencies and local utility companies will determine each state’s details, though it is a federally-funded program. Similar to “cash for clunkers,” there is an end-date for states to exhaust their funding: February 2012. The details of the program are still being worked out, and it’s not clear if past purchases will retroactively count toward a rebate. To stay up-to-date on the latest news pertaining to the rebate program, check with your state’s energy office.

To be considered energy efficient, an appliance must be significantly more efficent than the minimum government standard. Standards vary by appliance. The benefits of choosing energy-efficient don’t end there — less energy used means lower utility bills!

Get more tips on reducing energy consumption at home.

Photo By Conceptjunkie

Over the last few decades home energy use has skyrocketed due to our ever increasing need for electricity. From computers and big screen TV’s, to microwave ovens, large water heaters and air conditioning, we now use anywhere from 600-1100kWh of electricity per month in our homes. And since over half of America’s electricity currently comes from coal power plants, we’re talking about a lot of greenhouse gas. With that in mind, here are some low cost tips to help lower your homes energy use.

Insulate Your Water Heater And Turn The Temp Down

Unless you have a water heater that has a high ‘R-value’, it is losing a lot of heat. By adding a layer of insulation, you can save as much as 5-10% on the cost of heating your water. After you have done this, or even if you don’t insulate it, lower the temperature to around 126 degrees. Most water heaters come set at very high temps that serve no purpose once they reach the faucet, and you most likely will not even notice that it has been lowered, well until you get your next bill that is.

Keep The Fridge/Freezer Full

Not that many people seem to know this, but keeping your fridge and freezer full of food uses much less electricity than if it was half full or empty. And since the fridge and freezer are one of, if not the most power consuming appliances in any household, this can go a long way in reducing your energy use. Now I’m not suggesting buying food and letting it go to waste, rather the idea is to not wait till the last minute to go grocery shopping. On top of that you can also get water jugs or bottles, fill them up and place them in the empty space you are not using. This is especially good for the freezer as it will also extend the freezing temperature of your foods in the freezer in case of a power outage.

Wash Your Clothes On The Cold Setting

Unless you are in need of getting out some real nasty stains or smells, washing your clothing in cold water will generally get the job done just as well as hot water would. Give it a try next time you run a load of laundry, you will be surprised how little difference hot water makes.

Unplug Not In Use Electronics

Just because you turned it off, doesn’t mean it’s now drawing any power. To get around this, without having to unplug everything each night, use power strips with an on/off switch. Hook you’re entire home entertainment system, computer, and so on up to them, and when you are done with it, just flip the switch. This one won’t save all that much energy, but it does help, and it will increase the longevity of your expensive electronics.

Upgrade to energy efficient products

From CF bulbs and LED Lights, to front loading washers and water saving faucets, you would be surprised how much you can lower your energy use just by updating your home. While this will end up costing a lot up front, it always pays for itself over time. So the next time you have some spare cash, invest it in the environment by reducing your electricity bill.

By Mark Johnson

Flickr: Stevegarfield

Between reading e-mails, listening to music, playing games, taking photos, and browsing the Internet, people are demanding more than ever from their mobile phones. Now that cell phones do so much more than just make and receive calls, maintaining a good battery is crucial.

Taking proper care of a cell phone battery only requires a little common sense and (in most cases) a few tweaks to the way people already use their phones. A battery that is well-cared for not only lasts longer overall, but can also go longer in between charges than a mistreated battery.

By increasing the lives of cell phone batteries, people can spend less on new phone equipment and keep more used batteries from piling up in landfills. Batteries contain some pretty toxic ingredients, and the fewer we have wasting (and leaking) away in landfills, the better.

Obviously, batteries drain faster when phones are being used frequently (either as phones, MP3 players, web browsers, or whatever else people are doing with them these days), but there are plenty of ways to improve battery life while still enjoying use of one’s mobile device.

Keeping phones on vibrate, or even loud ringtones, drains the battery much more than a nice, low ringtone. For people who receive a lot of phone calls, adjusting the ringtone can be a great way to ensure plenty of battery remains for talk time.

Batteries also drain rapidly when they’re searching for a signal. If people turned their cell phones off instead of letting them continue in their futile quest for bars, it would preserve a great amount of energy. This is especially true in places like subways and airplanes where cell phones can’t be used anyway.

Even when there is a good signal, occasionally turning a cell phone off (rather than just silencing it) is another great way to preserve battery life. Again, this is a good trick to use when people aren’t planning to use their phones anyway, like at the movies or at night while sleeping. Basically, anytime a cell phone would be silenced for an extended period of time, it should actually just be turned off instead.

Overheating, flash photography, and excessively bright screens are all notorious battery drainers as well. With a few simple and painless changes to the way people use their cell phones, batteries can be kept properly working and out of landfills longer.

By Elizabeth Wolfe