The global trend these days is generating green jobs. More and more countries are claiming to have included green jobs on their employment plans. Political candidates even brag about their platform on having programs to create green jobs. The term green-jobs is fast becoming a “by-word” for everyone, but do they really know what green jobs mean? Do they know what classification is needed for a job to be branded as green?Green Education Prospectus
Green Job Growth
Source: Pew Charitable Trusts, 2009, based on the National Establishment Time Series Database; analysis by Pew Center on the States and Collaborative Economics.
Green Job Distribution
Source: Pew Charitable Trusts, 2009, based on the National Establishment Time Series Database; analysis by Pew Center on the States and Collaborative Economics.
Tag Archives: renewable energy
Sustainable Landscaping Practices Should be Practiced by all Homeowners
Friendly, striking, and sustainable; these are qualities that homeowners should learn to strive for in their outdoor landscaping. They are not only great qualities that will heighten the marketability of the property, but proper landscaping can also increase the energy-efficiency level of the home. Furthermore, while some homeowners have the luxury of time to tend their garden some are just too busy for the task. Enter xeriscaping. It’s a fairly new concept that an aesthetically appealing garden can also contribute to sustainability, but with xeriscaping techniques it is possible.
But how do homeowners practice sustainable landscaping around their homes? How extensive does xeriscaping have to be, or at the very least what are some of the elements that comprise a sustainable outdoor landscape? An extreme example of a sustainable residential garden is called “Project Living Proof,” a model for a sustainable landscape design situated in the sprawling front of a 99-year-old house in the Rockhill neighborhood of Kansas City, owned by the Metropolitan Energy Center.
With rain gardens and rain barrels being an integral part of the design, the garden also includes native shrubs and flowers, raised beds for vegetables, a patio for backyard picnics, a low-maintenance lawn and permeable paving in the parking area. Likewise, the garden uses reused and recycled materials wherever possible. “Whatever stage you are in your greenness and seeking — whether you are thinking about it or are in the midst of it, you want to see what’s available to you. In this project, it’s almost all there,” says Jim van Eman, architect for Project Living Proof.
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Posted in Green, Sustainable Living
Tagged energy efficient homes, renewable energy, renewable energy projects, sustainability concepts, sustainable city, sustainable garden landscape, sustainable green living, sustainable housing, sustainable housing projects, sustainable landscape design, sustainable landscaping ideas, sustainable living, wind and renewable energy
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New Eco Consultants Helping Homeowners Save Money by Going Green
How do you like the idea of calling in an Eco Consultant and when they come to your house, they do not only inspect but also install energy efficient solutions? Sounds convenient and efficient, doesn’t it? The good news is: it is already possible now as the trend in energy efficient home rages on.
Eco Consultants can easily detect energy-inefficient features in the house and offer outright solutions that will help cut down monthly bills. A full service that is an exact and timely answer to many busy homeowners who just don’t have a lot of time to inspect every corner of their house to find leaks that are costing them more energy consumption.
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Posted in Green, Solar Energy, Sustainable Living, green education
Tagged eco consultant, energy consumption, energy efficient homes, energy efficient housing, energy sheriffs, green energy, green housing, installation of automatic door-closers, installation of programmable thermostats, insulating paddings, programmable thermostats, renewable energy, renewable energy consumption, thermal energy
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Home Energy Savings by Greening your Home
How do you like the living in a house that is strategically constructed to save energy and water usage more than any conventional models? This question arises as environment-friendly buildings and green home architecture are becoming the latest buzz in the construction industry today. In buildings alone, if energy efficiency is introduced as early as during the design stage, the amount of energy saved is as much as 40-50 percent compared to the 20-25 percent in existing buildings.
Interestingly, in green homes, the benefits that homeowners can acquire are equally rewarding, with the operating energy costs and water consumption meter going down the line. This also explains why more and more housing development firms are beginning to adapt the green housing practices as they are deemed to increase the marketability of the project. Just imagine an energy savings of 20-30 percent and water reduction of 30-50 percent, making your utility bills more than manageable every month. But how exactly can home owners achieve an energy-efficient home features and start experiencing all the tangible and intangible benefits which included an excellent day light, enhanced air quality, etc.?
Time for Australia to Go Green
[/caption]As the rest of the world is taking on clean energy sources, Australia joins in as well. Australia is planning to build the biggest wind farm in the southern hemisphere by 2013. These plans are Australia’s quick responses towards fighting off climate change as well as in controlling its abundant clean energy sources, such as wind, solar, waves, geothermal energy and bioenergy.
Australia lacks the political and commercial will to take on big renewable energy projects. Consequently, only a very small percentage, particularly 6% of power in Australia is supplied with renewable energy. Aside from the lack of political and commercial will, Australia’s remote areas and almost 60,000 kilometers or 37,000 miles of coast hinders the tie up of new, remote power sources into the grid.
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Posted in Green, Green Government, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Sustainable Living
Tagged australia, australians, cheap coal, clean energy, green, green energy, greenhouse gases, photovoltaics, renewable energy, renewable energy legislation, renewable resources, solar energy, solar panels, thermal energy, wind farms, wind turbines, zero carbon
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Energy Star Rebate Program Begins In Florida
Energy Star brings good news for Florida. If you’re from Florida and you own Energy Star-rated air conditioners, air source heat pumps, and geothermal heat pumps, then you’ve got a reason to be happy on Monday, the 30th of August 2010. Energy Star will be offering about $15 million in rebates for the above-mentioned units, with each rebate costing $1,500.
If you buy units starting Monday, August 30 until December 31, you qualify for the rebates unless the money has not run out before then. However, purchases made before Monday do not count at all. But good news though is the state’s expectation that the money will last for a while.
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Posted in Green, Green Collar, Green Government, Renewable Energy
Tagged air source heat pumps, air-conditioners, air-conditioning systems, duct testing, energy, energy efficiency rating, energy star, energy star rating, federal government, federal tax credit, florida, florida class 1 rater, florida energy star® residential hvac rebate program, florida licensed mechanical contractor, florida power & light, florida solar energy center, geothermal heat pumps, homeowners, hvac system, progress energy of florida, rebates, rebates program, renewable energy, seasonal energy efficiency rating
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Green Jobs of the Future
The concept of the “green-job” is very important but it is very vague. Yes, technically it is defined as a job or business considered to be environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible. It is a profession on which you improve energy efficiency, use renewable energy and protecting the environment leading to economic sustainability. But how would you categorize a job if it is green or not? If I am working on a steel factory emitting carbon on which the steel produced will be used for wind mill and solar panels, am I considered a green worker? If I am working on an automobile factory doing conventional cars and at the same time assembling hybrid cars, where category do I fall? Continue reading
Posted in Green, Green Collar, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Wind Energy
Tagged energy efficiency, green jobs, renewable energy
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Energy Audits for Homes and Small Businesses
Hiring a professional energy auditor can be costly. But you always get your money’s worth. Professional energy auditors are more tech savvy compared to us.
Dan Thomsen, the president and founder of The Building Doctors, differentiates what a professional energy audit is composed of in contrast to do-it-yourself audits. Thomsen’s company, The Building Doctors, is a team of certified home performance contractor (Lic # 932241) that treats a house as a completely integrated system. Additionally, the company is also a verified contractor with the California Building Performance Contractors Association (CBPCA) and with the Home Performance with Energy Star Program.
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Posted in Green, Green Government, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Living
Tagged building performance institute, california building performance contractors association, energy, energy audits, energy star program, environmental protection agency’s home performance, homes, infrared scanning, professional energy auditors, renewable energy, residential energy services network, the building doctors, thermography, us department of energy, wind blower tests
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Green Light for Green Service Station Project
Between junctions’ 11a and 12, the £35 million Gloucester Gateway project, has been approved by the Stroud District Council. As a whole, the project is a green service station on a Cotsworld stretch of the M5. Due for completion in 2013, the project is a product of the combined efforts of both the Gloucestershire Gateway Trust (GGT) and Westmorland Limited.
From the Gloucestershire Gateway Project website,
The Gloucestershire Gateway Limited aims to set new standards in the industry while offering local benefit through an innovative green business model. It is proposed that the MSA will employ 300 people with an investment of around £35 million.
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Posted in Car, Green, Green Collar, Green Government
Tagged bio-fuel, business, cars, cumbria, eco-friendly jobs, environment, fast food chains, gloucestershire, gloucestershire gateway limited, gloucestershire gateway project, green collar jobs, green economy, green motorway service station, rainwater harvesting, recycling, renewable energy, service statiosn, stonehouse, stroud district council, timber buildings, vehicles, westmoreland, westmoreland limited
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“Blue Green Tour” Set to Travel Country Promoting Green Collar Employment and Legislation
From now until September, a group of labor unions and environmental organizations is beginning a national bus tour dubbed “The Job’s Not Done Tour.” The group plans to visit 17 states and make 30 stops beginning in California and passing through, Nevada, Missouri, Arkansas, and Michigan on the way to Richmond, Virginia. The tour is being staffed by workers in the clean energy sector, also known as green collar workers.
Blue-Green Alliance Executive Director David Foster told reporters on a press conference call the tour will work to promote green collar employment as well as renewable and alternative energy production. The program will also highlight the relationship between the ongoing economic crisis and the need to pass climate change and clean energy jobs legislation.
Communication Workers of America President Larry Cohen highlighted the importance of creating new green collar jobs in the high-tech sector and the need for the government to make a serious commitment to modernize America’s green economy.
Southern California Positions Itself to Take Lead in World Solar Energy Production
Solar Thermal Generating is a technology using mirrors and lenses to concentrate sun rays and turn the heat into electricity. The process is beginning to find its way to the market as the US Government continues to promote the use of large-scale renewable energy and associated green careers.
Southern California plans to embrace the technology on a wide scale now that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has issued positive environmental impact statements (EIS) for the construction of three commercial solar plants.
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