There are many benefits to having an energy-efficient home. Energy-efficient homes save homeowners money on energy bills, help maintain heating and cooling appliances longer, and are friendlier to the environment. Generally, energy-efficient homes don’t just happen; they must be designed and built in a specific way to maximize efficiency. Whether you are building a brand-new
ATLANTA – When the first edition of the “ASHRAE GreenGuide” was first published 10 years ago, guidance on how practice green building design was not so readily available.
“Since 2004, the industry has witnessed the continued evolution of green building programs from strictly voluntary to being both more in the industry mainstream as well as being mandatory in jurisdictions that adopted these for their building codes,” Tom Lawrence, a member of ASHRAE’s technical committee (TC 2.8) on building environmental impacts and sustainability, said.
The Heatworks Model 1 is a next-generation water heater that reduces water use by 40%, slashes energy use by 10%, and delivers an instant supply of hot water. This heater energizes water molecules and senses temperatures 60 times a second to ensure precise and reliable stream of hot water. The water heater is also WiFi compatible, allowing users to control and monitor the unit remotely.
Dallas has now accepted the first building permit applications under its green building ordinance. Dallas is one of the first major cities in the nation to implement comprehensive mandatory green building standards for both all new residential and commercial construction.
The trend in new construction and retrofits can only be described as “extreme green” or “net zero.” Venture capitalists have plowed more than $4 billion into the development of sustainably designed, energy efficient buildings. Now, they are looking at ground-breaking technologies to further develop this space, according to a report just released by Boston-based Lux Research.
To understand investment activity in the green buildings space, Lux Research analysts have followed 332 venture transactions— amounting to $4.06 billion in 160 companies— since 2000. Of the 332 investment rounds in companies that offer technology and materials for green buildings, 152 were series A investments and 83 were series B. Start-ups from North America have attracted 77 percent—or $3.1 billion— of the green building VC invested so far.
Last year, however, nearly 50 percent of the funding—totaling $445 million—went into 15 late-stage investments, signaling the maturation of the first wave of green building start-ups.
Meanwhile, new opportunities are emerging in a number of leading-edge areas, including integrated design, on-site power generation, energy services and the advanced building envelope.
