Buildings

A low tech and natural air conditioning system

I like Treehugger for coming up with great designs that could change a bit the world we are living in. One of their latest finds was a natural air conditioner that uses clay and evaporation. As Treehugger noted : ”  Thibault Faverie‘s Cold Pot is a natural and simple air conditioner that uses clay and …

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Energy efficiency brings huge returns on investment

You must know if if you have been reading this blog : albeit it is not as ” sexy “ as renewables, energy efficiency is simply a must as we embark our societies and economies on a journey towards sustainability. Here is further proof as Cleantechnica notes : ” Energy efficiency retrofits (…) created a …

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Five famous buildings with solar

What the common point between famous buildings around the world such as the White House in the United States, the Vatican, the Taj Mahal in India, the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates and the Eiffel Tower in France ? You give up ? They are all at least partly powered by solar. This …

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The value of a well insulated home

While browsing Cleantechnica I found the answer of a key question I have been having ever since writing my Master’s thesis. French houses are leaky ” thermal collanders “ as 20 million accommodations have to be weatherized. Potential savings could be the equivalent of 200 TWh of electricity per annum, knowing that the total electricity …

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France unveils new efforts to renovate buildings

It had been a long while since my last post on Cleantechies, as I didn’t post during summer. But I am back with a post on a topic close to my heart as my Master’s thesis was on it. The French residential sector could benefit immensely from energy efficiency efforts and it seems the current …

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An innovative idea to push for building retrofits.

Houses and building energy efficiency is a hot topic for me since I wrote my Master’s thesis on it back to 2006. Then I discovered that France had no less than 20 million buildings to insulate ( not bad for a country with 65 million inhabitants ) Now according to the Guardian, the UK Green …

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Book review : Cradle to cradle

Inspiring : that’s the adjective that comes to mind as I have just finished reading Cradle to Cradle, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. I had heard about that book for quite some time and I understand now why. The book  was written  in 2002 –with a 2008 reedition – and is replete with enlightening …

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LED lights save a lot of money, could save even much more

According to a study carried out in the United States by the local Department of Energy (DOE), the 49 million LED light bulbs already installed helped save a massive $675 million (over 500 million euros) in a single year. But wait, there is more as if all light bulbs in the United States were replaced …

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IEA presents four energy policies to keep Earth cool

As I noted last week, the prestigious International Energy Agency reported that despite some emission reductions from the United States and Europe, the world keeps on spewing more and more gigatonnes of greenhouse gases. Luckily, the IEA proposes in its latest report four energy policies that would cut by eight percent the 2020 emissions compared …

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United States on an energy conservation quest

President Obama is willing to save his country a lot of money : $40 billion, or around 30 billion euros, annually. These huge sums of money equal to reducing energy use in commercial buildings 20 percent by 2020. As Elisa Wood wrote on Cleantechies : ” To achieve the goal, the Obama administration in 2011 …

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