The Yudelson Associates Blog: What's New
Thursday, February 01, 2007
North to Alaska!
Earlier this week I gave talks to almost 100 people in Anchorage and Fairbanks, on behalf of the Alaska chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. With the fine leadership of many dedicated people, green building in the far north is taking off. Anchorage’s mayor is pushing a Sustainable Building Initiative, to get the city commited to LEED-certifying its future facilities. In Fairbanks, the Cold Climate Housing Research Center, led by Jack Hebert and Mike Musick, has just opened. They’re hoping for a LEED Gold certification for this $6 million research, testing and education facility. The day I arrived in Fairbanks, the temperature was a mild 16F (for January). The week before it had been -24F (daily high). A 40F swing in a few days is not unusual for interior Alaska. Check out the CCHRC and get on their mailing list. When you realize how thinly populated Alaska still is (about like the Dakotas, Vermont and Wyoming), you realize the difficulties of introducing green building ideas and techniques, and you really appreciate all the good people there who are doing this work.
Posted by Jerry Yudelson on 02/01/2007 at 04:57 PM
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Wednesday, January 17, 2007
The Investors are Coming! The Investors are Coming!
The venture capital interest in the “green building market space” is a sure indicator that we’re making progress in mainstreaming green. As the saying goes, “if there’s enough horse manure around, there must be a pony somewhere.” (No analogy is intended of course between venture capital and horse manure!) Companies are investing in products and systems that reduce the use of toxic materials in construction, that make the construction process more efficient, that encourage green housing technologies, that help energy efficiency, that provide more ways to insulate homes and buildings with concrete and similar “structural insulated panels” (SIPs), and in many more avenues for making money in this $750 billion (construction value) industry. Not as big as the renewable energy and biofuels market, but a positive sign nonetheless. Look for this action to accelerate in 2007, particularly in companies that already have products and at least $1 to $2 million in sales, where a $5 to $10 million investment could quickly scale up in terms of sales.
Posted by Jerry Yudelson on 01/17/2007 at 02:02 PM
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Sunday, January 14, 2007
Solar Cell Efficiency of 40 percent reached
DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Andy Karsner announced January 10th that a concentrator solar cell produced by a Boeing-Spectrolab team recently achieved a record conversion efficiency of 40.7 percent. This breakthrough may lead to systems with an installation cost of only $3 per watt, vs. $6 to $8 today, producing electricity at a cost of 15 to 20 cents per kilowatt/hour (without incentives), making solar electricity more cost-competitive. The best current commercial systems are less than 13 percent efficient, so it may be some time before these cells actually make it to market.
Posted by Jerry Yudelson on 01/14/2007 at 04:10 PM
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Wednesday, January 10, 2007
A green (building) letter day
The New York Times (Jan. 10th) carried a story about green renovations featuring Jonathan Rose’s “Rose Smart Growth Fund” and its investments in building renovations, as well as the ongoing story of what’s happening with the fund’s first investment in two Seattle buildings. The Desert Sun of Palm Springs reported on the upcoming mandate of stringent energy efficiency standards in the nearby city of Palm Desert, a fairly wealthy enclave, 10% to 15% stronger than California’s own strict standards. Compliance will include certification by LEED, Energy Star or the homebuilders’ own “California Green Builder” program. Finally, Forbes Magazine reported an Associated Press story about increased interest by venture investors in green building technologies. When private equity investors start looking at an industry and making investments, that usually indicates there’s something very substantial happening.
Posted by Jerry Yudelson on 01/10/2007 at 09:37 PM
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