The air is crisper, the days are shorter, and you start wondering if the winter’s trends of last year are going to carry over. (Jeans in the boot? Jeans out of the boot? Who’s to know?) If you’re a college student, you’re heading back to school. If you’re a student in East Los Angeles, you’re also going green.
Last Spring, East Los Angeles College installed 5,952 solar panels, which will create nearly half of the college’s energy. Placed hanging over 530 parking spaces on a campus lot, the panels are expected to last for forty years, produce 1.9 million kilowatts annually, and save the college around $270,000 a year. The LA Times reports that “The Los Angeles Community College Districts, which includes East Los Angeles, is undergoing one of the largest green building efforts in the country’s public sector, with more than 40 buildings planned and all facilities set to employ only renewable energy.”
It’s not just the junior college sector that’s taking on a green sheen. Back in 2004, the UC university system passed a policy determining all new or renovated building had to be environmentally friendly. Recent reports now reveal this has saved the system nearly $5 million dollars. Now, building green on campus has become much more mainstream. Plus, campuses can boast a recent study showing “eco-friendly construction helps lower absenteeism, proves productivity and staves off health problems for students and teachers.”
East LA College isn’t the only California institution rocking a green agenda. Santiago Canyon College in Orange County has vertical perforated solar fins cooling their library. Santa Clara University has a building comprised of carpet tiles made of yarn. Students at the university also created a solar house for the third biennial Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the Department of Energy. They “designed, constructed, transported, and rebuilt an energy-efficient home for the competition…the house is its own electrical conductor--the floors, walls, windows, and roof were designed to absorb and produce the energy needed to run the house.” And finally, Stanford University has a building constructed partially from redwood taken from old wine vats. (Can you imagine? One day you’re a majestic redwood, the next you are fermenting a petite syrah. For shame Industrial Revolution vintners!)
Congratulations to California Colleges for making green issues a priority – hopefully, future students will be as horrified over things like gas-powered Hummers as I was over the redwood wine vats. (No, wait, I’m presently equally horrified at those as well.)
Save Money With Less Water Leaking from your Toilet! How about $500 per year on average!!
A while back at a press business expo conference I attended, there was this company LeakAlertor that was talking about losing money with your toilet. I had to hear about this one.. They told me that the flapper on my toilet deteriorates and allows water to fall down the whole to increase the demand for water. No good since I have crazy water taxes where I live in Briarcliff. Anyway, this LeakAlertor through electronics is a constant monitor for my toilet to determine water leakage. So far so good.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Solar power is coming to President Barack Obama's house. The most famous residence in America, which has already boosted its green credentials by planting a garden, plans to install solar panels atop the White House's living quarters. The solar panels are to be installed by spring 2011, and will heat water for the first family and supply some electricity. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the plans Tuesday in Washington at a conference of local, state, academic and nonprofit leaders aimed at identifying how the federal government can improve its environmental performance. Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush both tapped the sun during their days in the White House. Carter in the late 1970s spent $30,000 on a solar water-heating system for West Wing offices. Bush's solar systems powered a maintenance building and some of the mansion, and heated water for the pool. Obama, who has championed renewable energy, has been under increasing pressure by the solar industry and environmental activists to lead by example by installing solar at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, something White House officials said has been under consideration since he first took office. The decision perhaps has more import now after legislation to reduce global warming pollution died in the Senate, despite the White House's support. Obama has vowed to try again on a smaller scale. Last month, global warming activists with 350.org carried one of Carter's solar panels - which were removed in 1986 - from Unity College in Maine to Washington to urge Obama to put solar panels on his roof. It was part of a global campaign to persuade world leaders to install solar on their homes. After a meeting with White House officials, they left Washington without a commitment. Bill McKibben, the founder of the 350.org group, said Tuesday the administration did the right thing. "If it has anything like the effect of the White House garden, it could be a trigger for a wave of solar installations across the country and around the world," McKibben said in a statement. What was unclear Tuesday was how much the White House solar project will cost, and how much fossil fuel-based electricity it would displace, since the system is not yet designed and the White House will not disclose how much energy is needed to keep the president's lights turned on. Based on available roof space, administration officials expect the photovoltaic system will include between 25 to 75 panels and will convert sunlight into 19,700 kilowatt hours of electricity a year. That would save a typical household $2,300 on its electricity bill, based on commercial rates in Washington. The solar hot water heating system, based on government estimates, could save an additional $1,000 a year. But the White House is far from a typical house, noted Danny Kennedy, the founder of California-based solar energy provider Sungevity, which offered to put solar panels on the White House for free earlier this year as part of a campaign called SolarontheWhiteHouse. Kennedy estimates that outfitting Obama's pad with solar would cost about $100,000 if paid out of pocket. But the money would be earned back with savings on the electric bill in the first five years, he said in an interview from the Maldives, where he is installing 48 solar panels on President Mohammed Nasheed's private residence. Kennedy said his calculations were based on a 5,000 square-foot California home, which uses 60,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually. "They use a lot more electricity than that," Kennedy said. "We had to make a few assumptions about what electricity cost was in the White House." AP-->
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The air is crisper, the days are shorter, and you start wondering if the winter’s trends of last year are going to carry over. (Jeans in the boot? Jeans out of the boot? Who’s to know?) If you’re a college student, you’re heading back to school. If you’re a student in East Los Angeles, you’re also going green. 
