Last summer, we wrote about how General Electric has established itself as a leader in Smart Grid solutions. At the time, the company had just announced plans for a “Net Zero Energy Home” project. Combining efficient appliances and lighting, a new energy management system, power generating and storing technologies, GE claimed it could help a homeowner achieve net zero energy costs by 2015. Fast Company recently covered GE’s new interactive chart, an infographic that shows how much energy each of our household appliances consume with average use. The chart provides information about what these appliances are costing us (in terms of both watts and dollars). As part of its pitch to consumers to upgrade to more energy-efficient (i.e.  buy new) versions, the chart also provides information about the advantages of the Energy Star rated appliances.

GE is obviously trying to sell products, but we applaud them for helping to drive the industry towards greater efficiency and for helping educate consumers about their energy use. When confronted with the data (especially in real-time, as their energy management systems will allow), people tend to be more conscious of how and when they use their appliances and, by extension, tend to conserve more.

Check out the chart and see what each of your appliances are costing you.

[Sources: Fast Company, PSFK]

We actually think this was a brilliant bit of marketing from the folks at Chevy. The car maker held a contest to name the Volt’s lead paint color, and David Thomas, 40, of Sanford, FLA provided the winning name, “Viridian Joule.”

About 27,000 people- or half of all visitors to www.chevroletvoltage.com during the two week entry period- submitted a color name. Chevy narrowed the field to three finalists, judging them on originality, creativity and “the ability to capture the innovation and spirit of the Volt.”

As for the winning name, what inspired Thomas to come up with ‘Viridian Joule?’

“I looked at the photo of the Volt on the contest web site and thought it looked emerald in color, which led to jewel and then to an alternate yet appropriate play on that word - joule (a unit of electrical energy),” said Thomas.

It was no runaway victory for Thomas, with only 300 votes separating ‘Viridian Joule’ from the second-place entry, “environMINT.” The third place finalist washe company named “EV-ergreen.”

“This was a fun way to engage Chevrolet and Volt enthusiasts by inviting them into the process and naming our lead color, and the name reflects the innovation of the Volt’s extended-range technology,” said Maria Rohrer, Global Volt and Global Marketing Director at Chevrolet. “When our Volt marketing materials arrive in dealerships, you’ll see “Viridian Joule” as the official name of the silver exterior with an emerald hue.”

[Source: PRNewswire]

Whirlpool says it will introduce one million “smart dryers” within two years. By 2015, the company plans to make all of its appliances “smart grid compatible.”

The new dryers will transmit and receive signals from the electricity grid, allowing consumers to their energy consumption when demand is highest. Experts expect “smart appliances” will provide relief for the grid and significant savings for the consumer. Whirlpool predicts the use of its new dryer will save a consumer as much as $40 per year. The test program for the new Whirlpool dryer yielded remarkable results: “when a grid sensor observed a peak demand event, the dryers turned their heating elements off, reducing their power demand by 95 percent, with little to no impact for consumers,” according to Hank Marcy, Whirlpool’s vice president of technology.

According to Mike Todman, Whirlpool’s North American president, “peak electricity demand drives disproportionately higher energy costs. If the differences between peak and off-peak energy costs are passed along to consumers, then Whirlpool Corp. believes there are great opportunities for home appliances to shift energy consumption outside of peak hours without forcing consumers to compromise on performance.”

Todaman says that Whirlpool, whose brands include Maytag, Kitchen Aid, and Amana, is working to promote policies and incentives that reward consumers and businesses for using smart grid technology.

[sources: Whirlpool, GreenBiz]

We love a glimpse into the future. The ‘concept car’ has long provided that opportunity- sometimes, we’re fascinated by what we see (as with Honda’s hybrid sports car from a couple of years ago), and sometimes…well, sometimes we wonder if we want to live in a future that has cars like that (remember Honda’s Fuya Jo, a cross between a zamboni and a party bus?).

A ‘concept scooter’ might not be as sexy, but the folks at NASA Tech Briefs were sufficiently impressed that the Movito nabbed top honors in their recent Create The Future Design Contest.

Designed by Tai Chiem, the Movito is the scooter for a greener, hipper future. Designed for the “young and elegant” in a “dense urban landscape,”  the scooter is for those who want to go “green without compromise on style.”  Among the cooler innovations: an in-wheel motor developed by Australia’s CSIRO and currently utilized in solar powered racing cars, reducing harmful emissions and boasting a 98% efficiency, higher than any other in-wheel motor; it is light weight with direct drive that eliminates drive train loss and has a component weight of 6kgs; the modular base system allows for multiple ‘bodies’ to be attached to a common base. Alternate ‘bodies’ can be attached to a single base, or, two bases can be placed parallel with a larger body positioned on top turning the scooter into a comfy two seater mini-car. (see photos below)

Previous grand prize winning ideas have included a low-friction gear set for electric vehicles; a portable, noninvasive bone and joint damage detection device; an improved fastening system for orthopedic splints and casts; a low-cost in-vehicle emergency warning device; an integrated motor/fluid pump that reduces size and weight while increasing performance; and a new long-lasting light source material for safety applications.

My scooter is out of storage (along with baseball spring training, one of the best signs that winter is behind us), and I’m glad to be back to 85(ish) miles-per-gallon, but, let’s be honest, my “hip, young and elegant” quotient could use a little Movito.

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While I waited for the Steelers to accept the Lombardi Trophy last night, commercials for Super Bowl merch touted the “first eco-friendly Super Bowl t-shirt” was available now. A quote from John McMahon, director of marketing for Reebok Sports Licensed Division:

“These Championship Tees are produced each year for the Super Bowl and are typically a best-seller. By incorporating an eco-friendly element to them, the Reebok brand and the NFL are using the global platform of the Super Bowl to raise awareness about environmentally-conscious opportunities.”

Let’s see if there are more “opportunities” seized by Reebok and the NFL in the future.

Don’t mess with Texas! Well, don’t mess with Austin, anyway, which has laid out an ambitious goal of diverting 90% of the city’s mess (waste) by 2040. With typical Texan aplomb, city official’s are calling this their “Zero Waste…or Darn Near” campaign. The measure received unanimous approval by the Austin City Council, which said its strategic plan includes: expanded and improved recycling and composting, new rules and incentives to reduce waste, preserved land for sustainable development and green industry infrastructure, advocacy for manufacturer responsibility, and education and community involvement programs.

Surprised to see the Lone Star State capital so ahead of the curve? You shouldn’t be. Austin has been one of America’s greenest cities for years (recently selected #1 Greenest City by MSN), and it’s home to the headquarters of sustainability pioneers Whole Foods.

(Al Gore in the house! - pic from the NYT)

As a record number of private jets landed in Washington this week, it sounds like event planners exhausted all green possibilities in planning their inaugural celebrations. From organic food to LED lighting, party goers can rest easy knowing their fun was not only considered, but most certainly offset. For $500 a head, it better be. Hopefully the event industry starts seeing these measures as best practices. See more below:

Green Inc. - No Organic Cotton At The Green Ball

MSNBC - A Green Tie Affair

NPR - Green Ball: Eco-Friendly Glamour

The Green Inaugural Ball - Details

Odds are your New Year’s Resolutions started and stopped with that attempt you made at sit-ups Tuesday night, but in the spirit of making sustainable goals, check out this list from Patagonia’s blog:

The Cleanest Line: 9 for 9 - Nine Green Resolutions for 2009

Plenty Magazine has a great article on an interesting shift in US tobacco production, and how it is still linked to big tobacco (we’re talking about you, American Spirit)

Plenty - The Green Cigarette

Snowfences are a common sight in the Rocky Mountain west. Used primarily to minimize the amount of snowdrift on roadways and for avalanche control, these wooden structures are starting to find a new, unlikely home…in Whole Foods and Bass Pro Shop locations.

Centennial Woods, a Wyoming based company, has reclaimed over 5 million feet of Wyoming snowfence, preventing as much as 9,000 tons of CO2 emissions that would have resulted from its disposal and destruction. Whole Foods, Bass Pro Shop and others are using the company’s reclaimed wood as design features in their stores across the U.S.

Because of decades of exposure, the wood is extremely durable material that requires little maintenance, designers say. “Designers, architects, and builders tell us they absolutely love the texture, patina, character and strength of our reclaimed Wyoming snowfence,” says John Pope, CEO of Centennial Woods. “We plan to continue to cultivate partnerships with professionals who seek naturally beautiful, healthy materials with a truly green pedigree.”

For more info, check out the article on Sustainable Life Media’s site.

I didn’t know the “green nightclub” was a trend, but head over to the Times’ Green Inc. blog to read how NYC’s hottest new eco-hotspot Greenhouse wants to show people “that partying and sustainability aren’t mutually exclusive.” Oh boy…

NYT Green Inc. - ‘Green’ Nightclub Trend Comes to New York

We’ve blogged about the environmental considerations of the new MacBook, and now Apple’s touting their new line as “The Greenest Family of Notebooks.” Watch the ad, let us know what you think.

Like most Mac geeks, we were checking various feeds for news on the MacBook updates unveiled today. Always amazing looking, but nothing wild, we were surprised by the environmentally responsible tone lent to the product unveiling. The changes - glass and aluminum construction, LED-backlit display, PVC and BFR free, ENERGY STAR compliant, EPEAT Gold status - lead to a mostly recyclable, toxin-free machine. See the design specs here.

If you could track your energy consumption and its related costs in real-time, you might be less inclined to run that dishwasher during peak hours. You might think twice about running the air conditioner, if you could see that electric bill rising. At least that’s the thinking behind the ‘Smart Meter,’ the latest and greatest in home energy efficiency. A growing number of power companies are replacing old meters with these new dynamic, networked ‘Smart Meters’ that allow two-way communication between the consumer and the grid. Using a web-browser interface, the ‘Smart Meter’ makes it possible for the customer to track energy consumption, costs and habits. Viewing a variety of charts and graphs, the customer can determine how much a particular appliance costs to run at any given time. (Car manufacturers have been tweaking this concept for decades. In a pre-digital age, before cars like the Prius offered real-time Miles-Per-Gallon analysis, car makers offered something called a vacuum gauge. The theory holds that the higher the vacuum reading, the less air- and therefore less fuel- is getting into the engine and the more efficient the car is running.)

The technology also offers the power companies more dynamic pricing, as it allows utilities to adjust prices based on constantly updated metrics of supply and demand. ‘Smart Meters’ have already been embraced in Europe, with an estimated 80 million installed units expected there by 2013.

For more info, check out Erik Olsen’s piece in the NY Times.

Their claim is guilt-free dinner ware, and they list their attributes as: all natural, chemical and bleach free, no plastics, no waxes, non-toxic, 100% compostable, made from 100% renewable plant material, biodegrades naturally in 2 months, microwave/oven/refrigerator safe, reusable, they recapture 80% of the water they use, and no trees are cut down. Oh, and they create fair-wage jobs in developing regions of South Asia . Through fallen leaves and steam, founder Michael Dwork has created something truly innovative. Check them out:

https://www.verterra.com

In a recent poll in Canada, 88% of voters identified the environment as a factor in deciding on a candidate. The number is much smaller in this country, but this election may mark a (green) turning point. This election presents the first opportunity to vote for many in the so-called Millennial Generation (18 to 29). They have become politically aware (and active) in a post-Katrina, post-Iraq, post-$4 gallon gas America. On college campuses all across this country, words like sustainability, recycling, renewable energy and carbon footprint are not just new buzz words, they’re an essential  part of the vocabulary that shapes and describes their world view.  Peter Dreier, writing for The Nation, recently suggested that the key votes in these swing states could be from  younger voters. As Dreier points out, “after steady declines in turnout since 1972, young voters reversed the trend in the 2004 presidential and 2006 mid-term elections. This year, however, is likely to see a particularly significant increase in voting among Millennials.”

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