Environmental Defense Fund’s new guide to green innovations

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) recently released their 2008 Innovations Review, which catalogs a number of inspiring examples of businesses that are going green. From radical energy efficiency to wifi buses for company commuters, this report showcases the leading edge of green business.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) recently released their 2008 Innovations Review, which catalogs some of the most promising new green business trends in our country and abroad. Profoundly inspiring, many of the ideas are immediately applicable while others require longer term commitment and financing. The most innovative ideas are labeled as “game-changers”, for example:
• Net Zero Energy / Net Zero Carbon Emissions - Integrated Design Associates, a Silicon-Valley based electrical engineering and lighting design firm performed an energy-efficient / green remodel of its 1960s-era offices. The 7,200-square-foot project cost about $1.8 million, and the company expects a five-year payback just from energy savings, with a 60% reduction in energy use compared with a similar office.
- Integrated PV panels that serve as the roof membrane.
- A geothermal heat pump - water flows through pipes laid in the ground and passes into the building, where a heat pump extracts energy from the water (heating or cooling effect, depending on the season), then sends it through a radiant floor distribution system.
- Windows shaded with roof overhangs or electro-chromic glazing.
- Key office equipment is linked to the security system and gets powered down when the last person leaves and arms the building.
There’s lots more. Take a look at the report by clicking here.

Posted by on 06/25/2008 at 10:41 AM