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New opportunities abound for water technologies

Saturday, July 31, 2010

My latest article in HPAC Engineering magazine highlights some of the major opportunities in the water technology field. Water likely will be the next big environmental crisis in the United States, probably first in the West/Southwest, then extending to rapidly growing metropolitan areas throughout the nation. The crisis likely will come as a result of drought and/or lack of funds for infrastructure upgrades to provide new supply sources.

Exciting new video for my new book Dry Run: Preventing the Next Urban Water Crisis

Friday, July 30, 2010

My production team at Combridges has gone all out and produced a great new video about my new book, Dry Run. Take a look for yourself and see why “Blue is the New Green” and why you need to be informed about the coming wter crises and what we can do to forestall them.

Designing a Water Efficient Community in Central Washington State

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

My friend Robin Rogers of Kirkland, WA, checks in with a report on her efforts to design a new water-efficiency community, Rocky Top Living, near Yakima, Washington. Robin is a longtime green housing advocate well suited for this type of missionary work. Here’s her report of a work in progress:

EcoBroker in Colorado spearheads MLS listing of green features of homes

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Angela Ashby, an EcoBroker in Steamboat Springs has led the charge to fill in one of the missing links in selling green homes, getting the green features in the the Multiple Listing System (MLS) used by every Realtor(R) to find homes for prospective buyers.

Omega Center for Sustainable Living: The First to Achieve Living Building Status?

Monday, July 05, 2010

In the research for my book, Dry Run: Preventing the Next Urban Water Crisis, I came across many innovative examples of water efficiency and conservation. One of the more interesting projects is the Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OCSL). Designed by BNIM Architects of Kansas City, MO, the $2.8-million project is located on the 195-acre campus of the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, an education and retreat center.

Finding the Payoff in Rainwater Harvesting

Monday, July 05, 2010

Most of the water used in commercial buildings – as much as 89 percent – doesn’t require drinking-quality (potable) water, making rainwater an ideal substitute for uses such as irrigation, toilet flushing, cooling-tower make-up and vehicle washing. What could be simpler? Nothing, except that you might pay $20,000 to $50,000 for such a system, an amount that’s not included in most new construction budgets.

Sewer Mining: Extreme Measure or Viable Solution?

Friday, July 02, 2010

A practice first developed in Australia, sewer mining is the process of extracting wastewater from urban sewers and treating it inside a building for reuse as recycled water. Developing additional non-potable water supplies through sewer mining reduces the demand for potable water, reduces the burden on municipal wastewater treatment systems and reduces the amount of energy used to transport wastewater and treated water, a rare “triple play” in the world of integrated/sustainable design.

Ocean Water Desalination: Our Next Source of Drinking Water?

Friday, July 02, 2010

If global warming consequences are as severe as many fear, the ocean may become part of mainstream water supply planning over the next few decades. Desalination represents one of the few drought-proof water resources, outside of wastewater reclamation and recycling. However, there are also environmental consequences related to the disposal of concentrated brine (process water) back into the ocean, so great care needs to be taken with its dispersal into the marine environment.

Nega-gallons and Aqua-vores: New Approaches to Water Conservation

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

More than 20 years ago, the energy expert Amory Lovins introduced the term “negawatts” to indicate that conservation of energy would be a reliable alternative way to supply “megawatts” of projected electricity demand. This “least-cost, end-use” approach distinguishes between supply (of energy) and usage (energy end-use demand). Lovins showed that it’s a lot cheaper (and faster) to conserve energy and use energy-efficient appliances than it is to buy more kilowatt-hours of electricity. This is because infrastructure investments (supply) usually cost a lot more (and take a lot longer) than investments in efficiency (demand reduction).

Learning from Australia’s Continuing Drought

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Areas of urban Australia have reduced per capita daily water use to as low as 34 gallons (130 liters). By comparison the average per capita water use in California is 135 gallons per day, with a U.S. average of 150 gallons. Australia’s current multiyear drought has impressed a “culture of conservation” on the public.

I’m in Stuttgart for German Sustainable Building Council annual conference

Monday, June 21, 2010

In a continuing effort to stay updated on the progress of green building in Germany, Jerry is attending the annual conference of the German Sustainable Building Council in Stuttgart, 22-23 June. For a good background, see Jerry’s book, Green Building Trends: Europe, highlighted elsewhere on this website.

Green Building Growing Rapidly on Campuses

Thursday, June 03, 2010

New Yudelson Associates white paper shows that more than 600 green buildings have been LEED certified on America’s college and university campuses and more than 3000 projects are registered for LEED certification, about 15 percent of the total LEED project registrations, as of the end of 2009.

Jerry Yudelson featured in Ecolibrium Magazine

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Green building consultant Jerry Yudelson gives this interview about high-performance buildings to EcoLibrium, Australia’s leading magazine for building engineers, based on his presentation, “If it doesn’t perform, It can’t be green” to Australia’s Green Cities 2010 conference in Melbourne in February.
Download the article (PDF 1MB)

New book tells inside story of Civano development in Tucson

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Two friends of mine, Al Nichols and Jason Laros, have written a new book with the definitive account of the largest solar village in the U.S., proving once again that green homes and green development are viable in the marketplace.

German green home wins Solar Decathlon

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Team Germany from the Technical University in Darmstadt won the biennial Solar Decathlon for the second time in a row, beating out a spirited challenge from the University of Illinois team. The German house generated twice as much energy as it used during the just-ended weeklong competition on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

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