Eric Corey Freed's blog

The Benefits of Fluorescents

Replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents saves energy as you are replacing a 100-watt bulb with one that is only 23-watts, while still producing the same amount of light. In addition, the CFL bulbs produce 70 percent less heat, lowering the need for air conditioning. A CFL bulb will typically last ten times as long as a traditional incandescent bulb, saving you $30 or more over the life of each bulb.

If every American home replaced just one light bulb with a CFL bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000 cars.

By swapping all of the bulbs of the world with CFL's would cut world energy use by 10 percent. To put it into perspective, that equals more energy than is currently planned to be saved with solar and wind power.

Reducing energy use also cuts down on power plant emissions of mercury and other emissions that contribute to global climate change, acid rain and smog.

How the Technology Works

Nikola Tesla first introduced fluorescent bulbs at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. They work by passing an arc of electricity through mercury vapor in the lamp. The charged mercury atoms produce an ultraviolet (UV) light, which is absorbed by the phosphor powder coating on the inside of the tube. When energized these phosphors emit the white light you see.

To generate the mercury vapor, a small drop of liquid mercury lives inside the tube. This mercury is instantly vaporized when the lamp is turned on, only to re-condense when the lamp is turned off.

Unlike an incandescent bulb, the fluorescent bulb has no filament to break or get hot. This is what gives the CFL is energy efficiency.

Without the mercury vapor, there would be no light emitting from the tube.

Read more on GreenerBuildings.com

image stock exchange

People love natural light. Subconsciously, unknowingly, we seek out sunlit places and enjoy spending time in natural light. Beyond this desire, however, are some tangible benefits to adding natural daylighting into buildings.

Studies have proven daylighting makes employees more comfortable and productive. Reduced absenteeism, employee satisfaction and higher productivity are all bottom line benefits from the use of natural daylighting. An increase of just 1% in productivity provides enough financial savings to a company to pay their entire energy bill.

In a jointly published study, Greening the Building and the Bottom Line: Increasing Productivity Through Energy-Efficient Design, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Rocky Mountain Institute describes these benefits in greater detail. This study provides numerous case studies of documented proof of the effects of natural light.

Wal-Mart (to your surprise) has discovered great value in natural daylight. Beyond the energy savings, Wal-Mart discovered an additional benefit. In their Lawrence, Kansas store, they found (possibly by accident) sales in the daylit portion were twice that of the artificially lit portion. They also found the cash registers that extended under the daylit portion rang in twice as many sales as the artificially lit ones. More information is available on the Wal-Mart Web site.

Of course, simply adding windows to a building is not enough, light brings with it potential heat and glare. A good architect knows how to control, diffuse and use light to create a healthy and comfortable indoor environment.

Image via sxc.hu, Steve Woods

Fly ash is the fine residue powder byproduct from coal-fired electric generating plants. Since the burning of coal provides up to 85% of our electricity (depending on where you live), a great deal of this powder is produced. Some 63 million tons of fly ash were produced in 2002, resulting in 63 tons of mercury byproduct.

Currently, the fly ash is released into the air, buried in a landfill or illegally dumped into our oceans. fly ash contains approximately 1 part per million of mercury (NOTE: The maximum level of mercury in drinking water permitted by the EPA is 2 parts per billion.) The mercury seeps into our groundwater and contaminates our fish. Humans eat the fish, and the mercury accumulates in our bodies.

Mercury has been linked to numerous health problems, including autism in newborns, endocrine disruption and cardiovascular disease. Since 1990, there has been a 10-fold increase in the incidence of autism. One can quickly see a need for an alternate use of this fly ash.

(NOTE: It only takes 1/70th of a teaspoon of mercury to contaminate a 20 acre body of water and make all fish within it toxic to humans. This is about the amount of mercury in a typical medical thermometer.)

Concrete is a mixture of sand, water, stone, and Portland Cement. The cement is the key ingredient in concrete, comprising about 12% of the mix weight, acting as the binding agent that holds sand and other aggregates together in a hard, stone-like mass.

Energy consumption is the biggest environmental concern with Portland Cement, requiring a great deal of energy to mine out of the Earth, grind up, heat in a kiln and process into the final product. Cement production is one of the most energy intensive of all industrial manufacturing processes. One can also see a need to find an alternative for cement.

Quietly and with little fanfare, a movement of green financing options has been slowly growing. The idea is simple: a green building has lower operating costs, enabling the homeowner to afford a larger mortgage.

The Energy Efficient Mortgage Program (or EEM) was developed for Fannie Mae by Housing and Urban Development to encourage people to buy greener homes. The maximum mortgage available is only $160,950, making this Federal EEM obsolete for most homebuyers.

Sustainable Capital seeks to fill this void by providing a full line of green mortgage products. But Sustainable Capital has gone well beyond mere energy efficiency in their thinking. By factoring in other green benefits such as improved health and higher worker productivity, they hope to offer even greater incentives to homebuyers.

As anyone who has ever used a lawn mower will attest, these engines are not very efficient. They emit high levels of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides, producing up to 5% of the nation's air pollution. A conventional lawn mower pollutes as much in an hour as driving your car for 100 miles.

In an effort to keep the lawn looking good, we annually use 800 million gallons of gas, producing tons of air pollutants. In fact, just switching to a push-type mower instead of a power mower will help reduce CO2 in the atmosphere by 80 pounds a year per lawn.

Perhaps more surprising than the gas we use, is the gas we misuse. According to the EPA, 17 million gallons of gasoline are spilled each year while refueling lawn equipment. To put that into perspective, that is more than all the oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez.

Once we mow the lawn, the clippings generate over 160 million tons of solid waste annually. The second largest component of our solid waste is this yard waste.

Ironically, most grass is not meant to be cut so short. The short, well-manicured lawn does not have the same effect of shading the soil, increasing the need for water. Additionally, tall grass can have a much deeper root system, resulting in less need for watering.