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Cyber thieves are actively targeting the European carbon credit market.
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UC Berkeley tops an international ranking of “greenest universities.”
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There’s no such thing as free parking.
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Tag Archives: regulation
Upcoming Webinar – PACE Programs
PACE – What Comes Next?
Organized by Build It Green
February 23, 2011 (Wednesday)
10:30 AM-12:00 PM
Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) allows property owners to pay for energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements to their homes via an annual assessment on their property. This approach became a central part of the Obama Administration’s “Recovery Through Retrofit” initiative and had been authorized in 24 states. However, recent actions by federal regulators have frozen most residential PACE programs.
This webinar will discuss the status of PACE as well as efforts underway to resolve the federal regulatory issues. Perhaps most importantly, the webinar will include lessons learned from PACE programs and outline the financing options being made available in the absence of PACE.
More information and links to register here.
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Assorted Links
Plug Load
This post is part of our definitions series on “eco-lingo” and technical terms.
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A plug load is basically any piece of equipment or electronics that plugs into an outlet in a building, including televisions, cell phone chargers, laptops, entertainment equipment, and blenders. Larger appliances are often considered to be a separate category, but are sometimes also categorized as plug loads.
When designing a building to meet code, or to estimate energy use, designers generally take major building systems, such as lighting and HVAC, and major appliances, such as refrigeration and wet cleaning equipment, into account. But it is much harder to estimate all the plug loads that buildings occupants will bring with them. And plug loads have been increasing over time as people accumulate gadgets and equipment. As the other loads in a building are driven down through increased equipment efficiency, optimized controls, and behavioral changes, plug loads are a sizeable percentage of the remaining load.
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There have been a number of efforts to regulate the efficiency of certain plug loads – California approved television efficiency standards in 2009.
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Martin Holladay, at GreenBuildingAdvisor.com, describes the importance of taking plug loads into account when calculating building energy use in a post here.
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A California Plug-Load Energy Efficiency Center is being planned and will be hosted by the University of California, Irvine. My understanding is that it will be modeled after the California Lighting Technology Center and the Western Cooling Efficiency Center, both located at UC Davis.
A pdf of the PowerPoint slides from the planning workshop can be read here.
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What exactly does “sustainability” mean? How about “green”, “eco” or “environmentally friendly”? The truth is that these terms are just vague enough to mean many different things to many different people. With the staggering array of “green” products, ‘lifestyles’ and concepts being promoted by marketers and environmentalists alike (as well as the necessary coining of new terms to match new ideas) our definition series aims to make sense of the rising tide of “eco-lingo” and technical terms.
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Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
6This post is part of our definitions series on “eco-lingo” and technical terms.
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photo by Ian Britton, FreeFoto.com
Extended Producer Responsibility refers to the concept that manufacturers have an obligation to take a more active role in the entire life-cycle of their products in order to reduce the burden of recycling and disposal currently borne by local governments and taxpayers. The approaches to EPR may vary, from optimized manufacturing processes that allow a product to be dismantled and recycled more easily thereby reducing the amount of waste and/or toxic materials sent to landfill, to “take back” programs that allow consumers to return an end-of-life product back to the manufacturer for recycling or disposal.
EPR is often achieved through mandates from local and state governments. Besides “take back” programs, strategies may include:
–Additional fees or taxes for producers and consumers of certain products to recover disposal costs;
–“Environmentally preferable purchasing” guidelines for manufacturers that may, among other things, ensure less waste by setting recycled-content requirements for new products; and
–Design requirements that reduce the unnecessary packaging waste, extend the life of products, etc.
One common application of EPR programs and/or mandates is in regard to electronics waste, or “e-waste”.
Related term:
Product Stewardship is often used as another term for extended producer responsibility, but can also incorporate actions that do not directly target manufacturing practices. Product stewardship may examine the entire structure of production and consumption including all stakeholders: manufacturers, vendors, consumers, and government, with the emphasis on shared responsibility for the end-of-life-cycle of products. Product stewardship, as EPR, may be achieved through any combination of legislation, mandates, incentives, collaborative processes, voluntary action from manufacturers and education and outreach to producers and/or consumers.
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What exactly does “sustainability” mean? How about “green”, “eco” or “environmentally friendly”? The truth is that these terms are just vague enough to mean many different things to many different people. With the staggering array of “green” products, ‘lifestyles’ and concepts being promoted by marketers and environmentalists alike (as well as the necessary coining of new terms to match new ideas) our definition series aims to make sense of the rising tide of “eco-lingo” and technical terms.
The Murkowski Resolution and the EPA
1Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska introduced a resolution seeking to disrupt the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases.
The EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson, wrote a response to the proposed resolution that was posted today at The Huffington Post.
The Senate vote was today – the resolution failed 53 – 47 according to the Associated Press.
The White House had threatened a veto if it reaches the President’s desk. The official Statement of Administration Policy is posted here.
Zero Resource 