The death of Books–Part LXVII

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Anthony Butler

Amazon has just released the new version of their book reading device, the Kindle 2. The new hard drive (2GB) holds 1500 books and features a new “Read to Me” feature which allows the…. user to hit a button and let the Kindle read for you. In other words it’s a book that comes with it’s own ‘Books on Tape’ mode. All improvements over the first Kindle, which was essentially a high resolution black & white screen with a hard drive attached.

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Many media pundits are using this launch to dust the cobwebs off their Books Will Soon Be Extinct storyline. Many of these people have also speculated that if Amazon can’t make the leap to digitally delivered products, their future looks awfully shaky. An ironic twist given many of these experts are working for media companies who are practically on life support themselves. As an example, the New York Times live blogged the launch event.

Perhaps you’re asking yourself why Warm Home Cool Planet is getting all tangled up in the launch of yet another interactive media product. It’s the same reason we take an interest in all different types of technology. Will they lead to more effective and (energy) efficient ways of doing things?

There is no question human thoughts–and the words we use to express them–will always be an integral part of our society. Think of the book–or the Kindle–as a delivery system for those words and it makes things a little clearer. Do people have a stronger attachment to books than they do for newspapers? Is the long form of the book more conducive to an ‘analog’ reading experience?

We have no doubt someone with more time on their hands than Warm Home Cool Planet is calculating the carbon footprint of getting a book into a reader’s hands versus beaming it their Kindle. We’ll bring you those facts and figures when they become available.

It’s not easy being green

Posted on February 4, 2009 by Anthony Butler

kermit_log From a recent Reuters Report:

The Obama administration has high hopes that millions of “green” jobs will be created by investing billions of dollars in renewable energy, but a report on Tuesday warned not all those workers would earn good pay.
“Green jobs are not automatically good jobs,” according to the report commissioned by several U.S. labor and environmental groups, which looked at pay practices at renewable energy companies.

One of the things you’ve probably heard floating around with all the talk of ‘stimulus package’ and ‘green jobs’ is they are the answer to bringing high-paying jobs back into our economy. The Reuters article highlights that the manufacture of renewable energy technology will end up being ruled by global economic realities. If the manufacturing capability exists for it to be made in China–it will be– just like the toy you bought at Walmart. Capital continually searches for the cheapest source of labor. With oil prices unlikely to bounce back for a couple of years, transport costs from these labor sites won’t be a barrier for the next few years.

Warm Home Cool Planet sees this as a double edged sword. While the growth of the renewable energy industry is unlikely to lead to a revival of the US industrial base, overseas manufacture of products has made many consumer items affordable for middle class Americans. Remember how expensive HD TVs were before they became a staple in every American living room? If lower cost labor makes renewable technologies more affordable, America will still benefit in many ways. It will lead to lower energy bills, which frees up disposable income for many families. It should also be noted the marketing, distribution and installation of these products is not something that can be outsourced to another country.

One hopes that companies who do manufacture renewable energy products in China and other places insist on environmental standards far stricter than those currently imposed.

The year Green Marketing Broke Through

Posted on January 27, 2009 by Anthony Butler

I think we can all agree 2008 was an historic and constantly surprising year:

The folks over at Marketing Profs also noted 2008 was the year major companies and major brands saw that terms like carbon footprints, CO² emissions, alternative energy and energy efficiency weren’t going away. OK, so Warm Home Cool Planet is now part of the mainstream. What does that mean and where can we expect ‘green’ marketing to go in 2009.

Here are the some of the trends worth noting:

Green campaigns are being created and awarded. On the other hand, organizations who engage in ‘greenwashing’ (i.e. making false claims about their environmental record or the carbon footprint of their products) will be found out and called out by the many watchdog and activist groups using the Internet to make life difficult for these companies.

The bottled water industry has taken a beating recently as people began to realize there was something wrong with drinking a bottle of water transported from thousands of miles away when there is perfectly good drinking water coming out of tap just a few feet away. This kind of information-the kind that changes consumer perceptions–and behavior–is now being shared on the web at lightning speed.

If the car industry in America is ever going to make a comeback it will have to be within the next four years. They are in position to be first to market with an entirely electric car, which if it gains widespread acceptance will help them meet tougher emissions standards. If a universal health care plan is passed, it will also allow Detroit to compete with car companies located in countries where employers do not have to add employee healthcare costs to the price of their products.

In other words, despite the grim economics news, there is enough financial incentive, consumer demand, technological innovation and government assistance to make green products and the marketing of those products grow even more prevalent in 2009.

Energy Efficient-from the ground up.

Posted on January 25, 2009 by Anthony Butler

From the Laconia Citizen:

“It was 30 degrees outside but inside a yet-to-be-finished basement of a home being built on Summit Road, the temperature remained above 42 degrees, with no heat.
That’s because the home, which belongs to Cecilia Rai and James Koren of Plymouth, is being built to be energy-efficient from basement to attic.”

Find out more about this couple’s experience in building an energy efficient home in New Hampshire.

Cecilia Rai stand inside her yet to be finished house in Laconia, NH.

Cecilia Rai stands inside her yet to be finished energy efficient house in Laconia, NH.

Note the use of ICFs (Insulated Concrete Forms) in the outer walls. This is becoming a popular technique for including insulation in the construction process-particularly as it is independent of material used (stucco, brick, vinyl siding, wood…) for the outer walls.

Please Standby for Energy Savings…

Posted on January 25, 2009 by Anthony Butler

Or rather, don’t stand by.

By now you’ve read a bunch of articles about how the ‘standby’ or ‘instant on’ mode wastes energy and costs money. But if you’re like us, you may not have turned this information into a set of buying decisions and habits to save energy. This phantom power consumption chart is perhaps more than you needed to know, but it gets at the underlying reality that up to 10% of the US electrical bill may be wasted on phantom powering our gadget cornucopia.

As the Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory puts it;

Limited research suggests that an informed and aggressive approach can reduce standby use by about 30%. Frankly, there are more productive ways to save energy with an investment of an hour but if high standby energy use stands between you and the goal of a zero energy home, then it’s an hour well spent.

Powering down your computer with a smart power strip which also turns off all the stuff attached to your computer can have a substantial impact. Great idea if you’re the type that turns your computer off.

Shifting from desktop to laptop computers is another idea. Laptops have been built with energy consumption in mind in order to extend battery life. For the first time in history last month laptop sales exceeded desktop sales, so maybe some people are getting with the program.

Obviously appliances need to be redesigned green from the ground up.

There’s no way anyone (myself included) is going to re-set the clock on their Sony Bravia flatscreen TV every time they turn the set on. Try to console yourself with the thought that the Sony’s Energy Star rating implies that it’s phantom power draw is relatively minor. (I’m trying to.)

Even though the blinking 12:00 LED clock mocks us as we retrofit our appliances for a reality their designers never considered, we persevere—saving money and energy in the process.

New Prius on the Horizon

Posted on January 22, 2009 by Anthony Butler

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2010 Toyota Prius

Not that we’re flacks for the auto industry, but when we heard they were rolling out a new Prius at this year’s Detroit Auto Show, the car fans here at Warm Home Cool Planet got all excited. After all, here’s the car that pretty much made hybrid a household word.

When we heard words like ‘mainstream styling’ we started to worry that the Prius’ wonderfully quirky styling had become a victim of success. Have no fear, though, as you can see from the photo above the distinctive ‘slice of pie’ profile is still there. With just a little Camry styling around the lights.

Green Boxes for a Green Planet

Posted on January 22, 2009 by Anthony Butler

Eco-friendly moving? According to the New York Times, it’s already here. Best of all, you won’t have all those UHaul Boxes making your new place look like a warehouse for the next year or so.

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They also stack a lot better than the random boxes you get from the local liquor store.

For those of you in the Boston area, check out Rentacrate, located in Waltham, MA. For everyone else, go to GreenMovers.com to see if there’s an ec0-friendly moving company near you.

Consumers defy Financial Crisis and continue to buy green products

Posted on January 20, 2009 by Anthony Butler

Consumers are becoming more green-conscious as the global economic crisis worsens, according to a report published today by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

These findings — published in “Capturing the Green Advantage for Consumer Companies” — reflect consumers’ growing alarm about the state of the environment and suggest they have not abandoned their principles as their financial woes have increased.

Of course, that doesn’t mean companies can charge whatever they like for organic or green products either…

Warm Home Cool Planet

Sustainability begins at home

Category Archives: Green Products