Posts from — April 2008

Having a green roof is becoming the thing to do in urban environments and Green Roofs for Healthy CIties is an organization all about that. They have also a list of top ten cities with green roofs in North America. They are:

1. Chicago, Il
2. Wilmington, DE
3. Baltimore, MD
4. Brooklyn, NY
5. Virgina Beach, VA
6. Royersford, PA
7. Tronto, On
8. Calgary, AB
9. Washington D.C.
10. Philadelphia, PA

Last year there was a marked increase in green roofs, 30% more were installed in North America last year. Even if that is good for all of us inhabiting this earth it is more pronounced in the cities that are making going green a priority. Chicago has ranked number one conceseqitly an with 517,633 sq feet it is clear to see that it will retaining it’s place fro a while to come. The runner up, Wilmington, De, has only 37% of the square feet at 195,600, with 3rd, Baltimore, MD, only 23% at 121,550 square feet in the green. Canada starts ranking with Toronto, 83,055 sq ft, at number 7 with Calagary, 61,720 sq ft, right behind at number 8. This list has a wide range of cities and amount of square feet gone green with the top being over 500,000 sq ft while number ten squeaks in with less then 50,000 sq ft.

This shows that green rooftops in urban areas is still in it’s infancy here in North America. From Green Roofs for Healthy Cities 3rd Annual Green Roof Market Industry Survey showed a 5% increase to 25% market growth last year for its’ corporate members. This means that our rooftops in our urban areas are becoming more beautiful, using less energy for heating and cooling, plus cleaner air and greener spaces for people living there.

“We’re particularly thrilled to see Baltimore on our list for the first time as it is the host city of our fast approaching annual international green roof conference starting April 30, 2008,” says Steven W. Peck, founder and president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities. “We’re also pleased to see Washington, D.C. on the list again as the government of the District of Columbia is this year’s winner of an Awards of Excellence for Civic Leadership. Significant green roof implementation can save tens of millions of dollars from reduced energy, and greatly improve regional stormwater management and air quality.”

Their annual confrence will be held April 30 – May 2 in Baltimore, MD. They also offer courses throughout the year at various cities you can check schedueling and cities here. If you are going to be doing a green roof then making sure it’s done right is vital. As the additional weight of such a roof as well as the additional aspects of soil, plants, drainage, etc can be tricky knowing what your doing is important.

The beneifts to both the environment and your pocketbook make this option one to consider for both personal and commercial buildings. Maybe one day a trip to the park in the city can be as simple taking the stairs to the rooftop.

Barenakeds – talk to the butt

The first time Barenaked Ladies (BNL) ever played under that name, in 1988, it was at a benefit for Second Harvest, a food bank that turns unused fresh food from city restaurants and grocery stores into meals for the hungry. Its all down to their leader Steven Page, interviewed here. (more…)

Grants pay half the cost

Massachusetts is one of 10 states in the nation with specific financial incentives and regulatory policies for solar panel installation.

the full list is California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. (more…)

Magic Jack

So far so good on the Magic Jack, I did have a problem with it though, it seemed that I could not call the 2 main people I wanted to call, my Dad and sister. For some reason it would not complete calls to local numbers (in the 817 area code for me), I discovered this is a known issue according to an unofficial forum for the Magic Jack. When I would try to call my Dad or sister, it would ring 5-8 times then I would hear a fast busy signal then a dial tone. I could call any other numbers outside the 817 area code, I could also call any cell phone (didn’t matter what area code). So I decided to contact MJ’s customer service, it’s all on line, I contacted a very nice cs person, I told him what the problem was and that I had already tried using the upgrade on their website (multiple times) and tried every USB port on my computer. I was afraid he would try to get me to do the upgrade again or make me go through some useless processes, I know the problem is on their end since the MJ works for other calls. He was very polite, asked me a few questions, got 3 phone numbers that will not work for me, then he said I would be getting an email in the next 24-48 hours about this matter. After that I went to the unofficial MJ forum, I posted a message about this to their tech section, I copied and pasted the transcript of the customer service contact, I asked if anyone else there had this problem and found a fix or a workaround.

I quickly received a reply from one of the members, he suggested using this format when I called, instead of calling 817284****, to call *678*17284****, IT WORKED! I was able to call my Dad directly, then I called my brother in law, I didn’t try my sister’s number, but I have no doubt it will work with her number too.

So even if MJ doesn’t have a fix, I have a workaround so I am happy. It seems that the * codes (*67 and such) do not work on MJ’s system, at least not the way they work on regular phones. I don’t care, as long as I can call who I want. :)

Garden

Woohoo! I got my garden planted yesterday! I took my packets of seeds and started on one corner, I walked around and dropped the entire packets on the spaces where I wanted to plant them, then I took each packet and planted the seeds. I got them all planted and watered. I can’t wait to see the little sprouts peeking up from the straw mulch, patients! Here is a list of what I have planted so far:

• tomatoes
• bell peppers
• broccoli
• 2 different lettuces
• peas
• corn
• beans
• summer squash
• watermelon
• malabar spinach
• spinach
• swiss chard
• collards
• carrots
• beets
• radishes

I plan on ordering a few other plants, purple okra and maybe some different tomatoes and such. The okra will grow very fast, it’s practically a weed!

Be sure to complete the poll if you haven’t yet, it’s on the upper right of the page, this way I’ll know what you want to see on this blog. :)

Thanks,
Wretha

Delft University library roof

If you are building off-grid, or simply changing the roof on your existing home, consider a sedum roof or “green roof“. It transforms the feeling of a building as well as the appearance. You suddenly remember how closely we are connected to the world around us. (more…)

Cambridge DJ duo

Cambridge radio show CUR Green carried a one hour interview with Off-Grid editor Nick Rosen. The award winning station CUR 1350 is hosting the show for the next month – so listen while you can.

Its the second half of the first hour of the show presented by Salman Chaudhry and Tobias Bown. And the first half of the second hour. (more…)

A new report was released by the U.S. Dept of Energy’s Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory (Berkley Lab) shows that renewable energy is being supported by a growing number of states. This is being done by the creation of renewable portfolio standards (RPS) which this report gives an overview of the experience with these new state-level policies. A RPS policy is one that requires retail electricity suppliers to procure a stated minimum quantity of eligible renewable energy.

“State RPS policies require utilities to buy a certain amount of renewable energy, and these programs have emerged as one of the most important drivers of renewable energy deployment in the U.S.,” states Ryan Wiser, “But, as the popularity and importance of these RPS’s have increased, so too has the need to keep up with the design, early experience, and projected impacts of these programs. Our report is designed to meet that need.” Ryan Wiser is part of Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division (EETD) and was one of two primary authors for the report.

25 states and Washignton DC have RPS policies in effect and apply to nearly 50% of the total U.S. electricity load. In 2007 four new states have non-binding goals.

The reports other primary author and member of Berkley Lab’s EETD noted “Many of these policies have been established recently and each is designed differently, As a result, the experience has been decidedly mixed.”

Key findings of the study include:

• More than 50-percent of non-hydro renewable capacity additions in the U.S. from 1998 through 2007 occurred in states with RPS policies, and 93-percent of these additions came from wind power.
• Existing state RPS policies, if fully achieved, would require roughly 60 GW of new renewable capacity by 2025, equivalent to 15-percent of projected electricity demand growth.
• Solar set-asides in state RPS policies are becoming more common, and these policies have supported more than 165 MW of new solar capacity so far; a total of roughly 6,700 MW of solar capacity would be needed by 2025 to fully meet these set-asides.
• The early-year renewable energy purchase targets in the majority of state RPS policies have been fully or almost-fully achieved, with overall average compliance at 94-percent in 2006.
• Nonetheless, a number of states have struggled to meet even their early-year RPS targets, and many states have been reluctant to penalize non-compliance.
• Renewable energy certificate (REC) tracking systems continue to expand, and all but four states allow unbundled RECs to count towards RPS compliance.
• The cost of RPS policies varies by state, but in most states, these programs have, so far, increased electricity rates by one-percent or less; in several states, the renewable electricity required by RPS policies appears competitive with fossil generation

The market for renewable energy is rapidly changing and increasingly states are hoping to support this growth. “Given the major role that state RPS policies are playing, we hope that this report will help improve the next generation of these programs,” Wiser concluded.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and by the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability of the U.S. Department of Energy funded Berkeley Lab’s contributions to this report.

Berkeley Lab islocated in Berkeley, California and is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory . It is managed by the University of California and conducts unclassified scientific research. You can visit their website at www.lbl.gov.

Cooler than Beth Ditto

Seed sales have risen by 60% since the beginning of the credit crunch as consumers tighten their belts and prepare for an era of food rationing

Growing vegetables has moved from being a pursuit for wrinkly old allotment holders to an essential element of survival for families everywhere. Yesterday I got a bunch of rainbow carrots, as well as a bunch of rainbow chard from an allotment owner. (more…)

Got my Magic Jack today, it’s been in the mailbox for a couple of days, but since it’s a 12+ mile round trip on a rocky, dusty, dirt, washboard, up and down, in and out road, I don’t get out there very often.

I hooked up the MJ and it installed fairly easily, there was the smallest of hiccups a couple of times, once was because my internet stalling out for a few seconds… anyhoo I got it running and started making phone calls, it works pretty well, one problem it has it for some reason it refuses to call certain numbers, it will ring and ring then I get a busy signal then a dial tone, I have found that when it is giving me trouble, if I call using the software instead of dialing the phone, it works a bit better. I am still testing it out, the sound quality is better than my cell phone.

For anyone who has my cell phone number and needs my new number, just email me and I’ll give it to you.

Check out the poll on the blog, the upper right corner, complete the poll for me if you want to, thanks! :)