Solé Tiles: An Integrated Solar Solution For Clay Tile Roofing

Solé Power Tiles are electricity-generating “barrel-style” tiles which can be installed in an integrated way with US Tile’s traditional clay tile roofing. The Solé Power Tiles install like a standard tile with no penetrations into the tile itself. The benefit to the consumer or developer is that the solar components are not readily visible.

Solar energy is a renewable alternative to power plants that burn fossil fuels, finite resources that contribute to pollution, global warming, as well as the reliance on imports for our energy security. Photovoltaic (PV) systems convert sunlight into electricity, powering everything from lamps to air conditioners in a residential or commercial building.

In PV systems, direct current (DC) electricity is produced. Appliances and machinery, however, operate on alternating current (AC). The DC energy produced by the panels is fed into an inverter that converts the DC power into AC power, which then feeds into the main electrical panel that powers a home or business. Any excess generation is fed back into the utility grid. Over a year, as a utility customer, your electricity bill is reduced by the energy you produce.

To learn more visit ustile.com and srsenergy.com.

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What Chemicals Are Around You?

This is NASA’s new, inexpensive device which uses the iPhone to sense chemicals with 16 nanosensors. The phone can send this information to other devices and also the government over the internet. Turns out that there are numerous uses for chemical sensors including early information on a chemical attack, track emissions from factories, not to mention, allowing users to obtain info about the chemicals present in their everyday lives.

Read more about this on inhabitat.com.

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MIT Graduates Develop A Color-Changing Roof Tile

A team of recent MIT graduates has developed roof tiles that change color based on the temperature. The the tiles are white when the temperature is hot, allowing them to reflect away most of the sun’s heat. The reverse happens when the temperature is cold, they turn black to retain heat.

“The team’s lab measurements show that in their white state, the tiles reflect about 80 percent of the sunlight falling on them, while when black they reflect only about 30 percent. That means in their white state, they could save as much as 20 percent of present cooling costs, according to recent studies. Savings from the black state in winter have yet to be quantified.”

Read more at www.impactlab.com

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Nau’s First Annual Grant for Change!

This is exciting news! Nau just launched their first annual Grant for Change, supporting those who instigate lasting, positive change in their communities.

NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN: CLICK HERE TO START

This year’s $10,000 grant will highlight the efforts of people who move in the spirit of the Nau Collective. The target audience is Athletes who are challenging assumptions about what it means to move through the world. Artists and designers or other creatives who are moved to design better solutions to the world’s greatest problems. Last but certainly not least, activists who are seeding positive change in their communities, and moving others to do the same.

Nau is receiving nominations from all corners of the Collective, but in the end, they can only give out one grant per year, and they’re relying on you, the environmental community, to find their first official Grantee via online voting. If you think this grant’s for you, you can nominate yourself. If it suits a colleague or a friend, you can nominate them, too (and nominate as many as you’d like). If you’d to simply vote, you can do so on their website while checking out other nominees. See what’s happening across the country, or in your own backyard. Rate the stories you like, and spread the word about the Grant to everyone you know. Nominations are open ’til August 17th, the voting ’til August 31st. Don’t hold back. The more nominees they get, the more stories of change they will get to tell!

*For more details on the grant, check out their sections on the website called “who it’s for”, “how it works”, “why Nau”, “g4c friends”, and of course “the legalese.”

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Address Sustainability, Especially In Tough Times

Have you been wondering about the progression of sustainability in our current economy? This new book which is hot off the press (literally being released today), Strategy for Sustainability: Building sustainable businesses in turbulent times, is a must-read. It highlights a comprehensive array of strategies and actions which companies can take to build triple bottom line businesses, especially in tough times. This book is truly remarkable, outlining an array of the best strategies for addressing unique environmental challenges at all types of companies. For many business owners, it will provide insight on how trends in society, technologies, and resources can affect their organization. It will also help readers to gain a better understanding of sustainability as a whole, and where they fall in the spectrum relative to other consumers and companies.

Adam Werbach is a premier thought leader on business initiatives around sustainability, Global CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi S, and the author of many influential writings on sustainability including the 1997 book Act Now, Apologize Later. In 1996, at age 23, Werbach was elected the youngest-ever President of the Sierra Club, the oldest and largest environmental organization in the United States.

Read more about the book at strategyforsustainability.com

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Recycled Beverage Containers

Image from iF Material Award 2009

For those of us who are always on the go and cannot live without a cup of coffee every morning, check out these tumblers made of yogurt and ice cream containers! According to Aladdin’s research, it’s difficult to use recycled polypropylene (PP) for direct food contact surfaces but these tumblers passed both FDA and EU safety regulations. You can throw these in the dishwasher and the microwave. The material, eCycle® is engineered for Aladdin’s SUSTAIN® Collecion and featured in iF Material Award 2009.

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Sustainable Urban Agriculture In New York

Sustainable Urban Agriculture from DiscoveryNewsVideo on Vimeo.

The Science Barge is a prototype, sustainable urban farm and environmental education center. It is now docked in downtown Yonkers just North of the Yonkers Pier. This barge is the only fully functioning demonstration of renewable energy supporting sustainable food production in New York City. The Science Barge grows tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce with zero net carbon emissions, zero chemical pesticides, and zero runoff.

From May to October 2007 alone, the Science Barge hosted over 3,000 schoolchildren from all five New York boroughs as well as surrounding counties as part of our environmental education program. In addition, over 6,000 adult visitors visited the facility along with press from around the world. The video above describes more about the Barge and its features.

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New Soap, Old Bottle

Scott Amron is at it again. This time reusing plastic bottles. His new company New Soap, Old Bottle is selling brand name liquid soap packaged in old plastic soda bottles, plastic water bottles, and beer bottles to help clean up our environments. Each bottle is cleaned, sanitized and processed for reuse as packaging for common brands of liquid soap.

“Big companies aren’t going to do this on their own, so we’ll do it for them. All bottles are packaged here in America.”
– Scott Amron

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