LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, was formed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) as a rating system for green buildings.<br/><br/>It is an internationally recognized green building certification system,  providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.<br/><br/>The LEED green building certification program encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through a suite of rating systems that recognize projects that implement strategies for better environmental and health performance. <br/><br/>Think of the rating system like the nutrition label on a box of ceral: LEED provides the same kind of important detail about the green aspects of a building that, taken together, deliver higher performance.  LEED points are awarded on a 100-point scale, and credits are weighted to reflect their potential environmental impacts. Additionally, 10 bonus credits are available, four of which address regionally specific environmental issues.  A project must satisfy all prerequisites and earn a minimum number of points to be certified.<br/><br/>LEED provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. <br/><br/>Here’s a short video from ZDNet that talks about what is LEED?<br/><br/><br/><br/> For more information on LEED visit the USGBC site.

The Fall semester of 2010 has begun at the University of Hawai‘i but that’s not the only thing in full swing.<br/><br/>Back in April of 2010, the U.S. Department of Energy has announced that teamhawai‘i, made up of representatives from UH Mānoa and Honolulu Community College, was one of 20 teams selected to compete in the 2011 Solar Decathlon. <br/><br/>Now you might be thinking what the heck is a solar decathlon?<br/><br/>Like the Olympic decathlon, the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon consists of 10 contests. These contests are designed to gauge how well the houses perform and how livable and affordable they are. Each contest is worth a maximum of 100 points, for a competition total of 1,000 points.<br/><br/>Teams can earn points three ways:<br/>

1. Task completion
   • Teams complete household tasks such as cooking, washing dishes, and doing laundry.
2. Monitored performance
   • Team houses perform to specified criteria, such as maintaining a comfortable (71°–76°F) indoor temperature range.
3. Jury evaluation
   • Jurors who are experts in their field (such as architecture, engineering, and communications) award points for features that cannot be measured (such as aesthetics and design inspiration).

To find out more information on the ten solar decathlon contest please click here.<br/><br/>The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is an award-winning program that challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive.  The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.<br/><br/> The Solar Decathlon:<br/>

• Educates student participants and the public about the many cost-saving opportunities presented by clean-energy products
• Demonstrates to the public the opportunities presented by cost-effective houses that combine energy-efficient construction and appliances with renewable energy systems that are available today
• Provides participating students with unique training that prepares them to enter our nation’s clean-energy workforce

The winning team produces a house that:<br/>

• Is affordable, attractive, and easy to live in
• Maintains comfortable and healthy indoor environmental conditions
• Supplies energy to household appliances for cooking, cleaning, and entertainment
• Provides adequate hot water
• Produces as much or more energy than it consumes

According to teamhawai‘i’s website, the “project includes advancements in composite and renewable materials, photovoltaics, building-integrated heating and cooling systems, and house design tailored to tropical climates. The design incorporates innovative uses of material, energy, and systems, and promotes appropriate ways of living for a more sustainable future. The team now has until next summer to recruit the best and brightest students, organize and distribute the work, perform cutting-edge research and design, and construct the house.”<br/><br/>For more information on teamhawai‘i and the Solar Decathlon please visit their website:<br/>http://www.solar.hawaii.edu/

Are you thinking about getting solar for your home?  When you schedule a FREE solar evaluation from Sunetric, a trained representative will evaluate your home, its electric use and suggest to you a few financing and solar PV installation options according to your needs and your budget<br/><br/> A home survey/consultation will take anywhere from one to three hours depending on how much information and education you would like to receive. <br/><br/> A home evaluation takes about an hour and includes a detailed drawing of the entire roof surface of the area, an inspection of the home’s electrical system and detailed photos of the roof, the electrical system and the grounds surrounding the home.  It is always good for the homeowner to be present for questions during the home inspection. <br/><br/> After the inspection comes the consultation where the Sunetric representative explains to you how solar works, how it is attached and feeds the home, the details of the purchase and the long term environmental and financial advantages.  This will take anywhere from thirty minutes to three hours depending on how inquisitive and curious the homeowner is, and how through the Sunetric representative is as well.<br/><br/> We recommend to each customer that they block out at least a couple of hours of the day for the evaluation and consultation.<br/><br/> To schedule your evaluation please click on this link.

Howard Dicus of Hawaii News Now talked about Hawaii’s importing of oil and the Y. Hata & Co. announcement.  Here’s the video:

These days, with wild swings in energy prices and the near certainty that the future will only bring increases, the idea of **owning your own electricity* is becoming more and more attractive. In the past, this revolutionary idea simply wasn’t feasible, but with today’s lower-cost solar technology, owning your own means of energy production can be made a reality. Let’s discuss the short-term and long-term benefits of this kind of such an arrangement.

First, to say that you can “own your own electricity” just means that you won’t have to worry so much about next month’s bill. It means that your solar installation will produce a certain amount of electricity–let’s say hypothetically $200 worth of electricity per month–and that will never change. This introduces a level of consistency and certainty to the very uncertain world of utility costs.

The short term benefits of owning your own electricity can be seen over the course of a 5 year period. A homeowner who decides to continue paying the Utility for electricity is really just renting. As with any rental, it’s money down the drain. After five years, the homeowner has nothing to show for the payments made to the utility. But a homeowner who decides to install a solar PV array is investing in the future. It’s equivalent to buying a home instead of renting. Now, over the course of that same five year period, instead of paying a monthly bill to the Utility, the homeowner is paying off a loan in monthly installments. That loan financed the original installation. When it’s all said and done, the first homeowner has nothing to show for five years of payments, but the second homeowner has a solar installation which is paid in full and ready to start making money in the long term

And so what are the long term benefits? Well, in the example above, the homeowner who chose to install solar is saving on their monthly utility bill–month after month, year after year. Once the system is paid in full, that amount can be deducted from utility bill. Essentially, you will no longer have a utility bill. The cumulative savings in this example can be extraordinary. A conservative estimate of savings over a 30 year period (solar systems last a very long time) is approximately $130,000. Depending on how much electricity you use and how big your solar installation is, that number can be multiplied many times. <br/><br/> The cost of producing electricity with your solar array will never go up. Your energy cost would be considered fixed costs. But the cost of electricity from the utility company will always go up. This is because the fuel they burn to make electricity is becoming scarcer. There is also a lot of volatility in the price of the fossil fuels they burn, this leads to price uncertainty. That means that without actually changing the installation or changing your usage in any way, you will save more and more money year after year. This is called hedging.

A hedge is an investment made in order to reduce the risk of adverse price movements. So, if energy rises at 5% per year, then you save money based on 5%. If energy goes up 10%, then you save even more. Compounding the savings means that over time you can save exponentially more. Each year that the cost of energy rises, the balance of your savings “rolls over” and grows. 5% of $100 would yield a $105 return. The next year it would be 5% of $105–and on and on.

You don’t have to be a cash flow analyst to see that over 30 years the savings would pay for the installation many times over. But perhaps a better way of describing the benefits of investing in solar is this: the higher the utility company raises its rates, the more money you’ll save.

A clean energy economy makes senses.  Check out their new commercial.<br/><br/>