Making your property more sustainable is a trend that seems to get more interest from homeowners every year. Many small changes can greatly improve sustainability and can be fairly simple to do.
Swiss researchers have developed lightweight, translucent curtain materials, which are excellent at absorbing sound.
Gov. Chris Gregoire signed legislation to phase out coal-fired energy production at the TransAlta power plant in Centralia.
The Rogers' Optical Air business has become a world leader in the high power fiber-optic laser business. They developed a laser wind sensor that allows helicopters to land safely in brownouts and whiteouts caused by dust.
Natural gas drillers claim they have paid hundreds of millions of dollars in Pennsylvania taxes, but data from the state Department of Revenue tell a different story, according to a report from the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center.
University of Maine engineering students and researchers working at a facility in the Netherlands are now into the third week of testing scale models of deepwater floating offshore wind platforms for wind turbines.
Students learn math behind environmental engineering as they build a living village and design an efficient transportation system for food delivery.
Though they currently require more electricity to emit UV light, LEDs could soon replace mercury lamps in sterilization devices.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing stronger air toxics standards for secondary lead smelters, which would improve air quality and protect people’s health in communities where the smelters are located.
Dealers in selected Canadian markets began taking orders for the Volt May 2.
A pilot program jas been engineered to introduce self-sustaining farming practices to impoverished villages in the Indian states of Orissa and Maharashtra.
Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology have developed a method to detect the presence of soil and groundwater contamination without turning a shovel or touching the water.
An international team of scientists has used DNA to determine that groups of dusky sharks and copper sharks living in different coastal regions across the globe are separate populations of each species.
Indiana University scientists have found chemical flame retardants in the blood of pet dogs at concentrations five to 10 times higher than in humans, but lower than levels found in a previous study of cats.
The Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health has partnered with the Black Belt Community Foundation to provide emergency grants to assist some of the hardest-hit low-income communities affected by the deadly tornado clusters that hit the South.
A single reef shark can contribute almost $2 million in its lifetime to the economy of Palau.
Installation of a water-conserving irrigation system has helped the University of Michigan reduce the amount of water used on irrigation by 68 percent.
Chemical transport regulations don't always take into consideration the fact that mercury vaporizes at room temperature.
The rapid decline of salmon and the steady increase in the number of endangered fish species show that a new approach is needed to manage California's aquatic ecosystems.
<p>Con Edison and New York City commissioned and certified the solar energy system on the Brooklyn, N.Y., IKEA store. As one of the largest commercial rooftop installations in the city’s five boroughs, the 200 kW array occupies 19,000-square feet, with four module types, totaling 1,104 panels. The array will generage 240,000 kWh of renewable electricity annually for the store, the equivalent of eliminating the emissions of 32 cars, or providing electricity for 20 homes yearly. This effort reinforces the company’s commitment to sustainable business practices in addition to reducing its carbon footprint.</p><p>
“We are very excited about enhancing the sustainable contribution IKEA Brooklyn continues to make in the local community by generating electricity through solar panels atop our store,” said Mike Baker, the store’s manager. “This initiative helps improve the environment and contributes to our vision of creating a better everyday life for the many.”</p><p>
Other IKEA U.S. sustainable building initiatives include a solar energy systems operational in two stores and under construction in nine others. Additionally, both a solar energy and geothermal system were incorporated into the Denver-area store opening this year in Centennial, Col. IKEA Brooklyn additionally has 70,000 square feet of green roof, a 6.5-acre waterfront esplanade, multiple transit options and has been certified as a brownfield redevelopment. The store also has been certified LEED Silver.</p><p>
The 346,000-square-foot Brooklyn store opened June 18, 2008, on 22 acres along the Erie Basin waterfront in Red Hook, south of the BQE/Gowanus Expressway and southeast of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. </p><p>