Todd Winner for Zondits. January 12, 2016. Image credit: fotobias The retail marijuana market is booming. Among the 23 states that have legalized cannabis for medicinal purposes, as well as the 4 states (and Washington D.C.) that have legalized cannabis for recreational use, the demand is rising. And with other states currently looking to legalize … Read more
CES 2016: Want Your Home to Tell You Where It Can Be More Energy Efficient? PSFK, January 4, 2016. Image credit: Ecovent In 2015, Ecovent won the CES Home Automation Product of Year for its intelligent home zoning system, giving homeowners room-by-room temperature control. This year, HVAC and Automation company will be providing an early … Read more
Will Plug Loads Be the Next Frontier in Energy Efficiency? Energy Manager Today, January 6, 2016. Image credit: Keoni Cabral The first vital statistic is how much energy is being wasted. At Buildings.com, Enlighted Vice President of Business Development Zach Gentry posted the results of a survey of 11 buildings it conducted in San Francisco. The … Read more
Amanda Gassé for Zondits, January 11, 2015. Image credit: Layer Design Wearable technology has taken a big step into 2016 by integrating the Internet of Things with each individual’s environmental consciousness. London designer Benjamin Hubert partnered with Carbon Trust to produce Worldbeing, a Fitbit-like wearable that can track an individual’s carbon footprint. While Worldbeing is … Read more
Which Appliance Is the Energy Hog in Your Home? Resnet, December 28, 2015. Image credit: freestocks.org High utility bills are a major concern for many American households today, and it should come as no surprise that appliances account for a major portion of those bills. But the… ahem… burning question is: which appliance is guilty of … Read more
Wilo-Stratos introduces GIGA high-efficiency pump World Pumps, December 2, 2015. Image credit: Wilo – Stratos GIGA “The Wilo-Stratos GIGA saves up to 70% energy compared to conventional pumps without speed control,” explains Wilo product manager Helene Tenret. The heart of the pump is the High-Efficiency Drive (HED), a motor with an efficiency that exceeds IE4. The … Read more
Case History: Safer, Eco-Friendly System for Food Cooling Food Processing, October 26, 2015. Image credit: Sonny W. Cooling system designs in the food and beverage market are undergoing rapid change, mainly due to environmental regulations. Processors are trying to reduce refrigerant charge or to eliminate certain types of refrigerants completely, especially ones that can endanger workers … Read more
What is the difference between refrigerant-type compressed air dryers and regenerative desiccant-type compressed air dryers? What are the advantages and disadvantages of one over the other? Karamvir Singh for Zondits, January 4, 2016 Answer: Let’s start by answering why you even need to dry the compressed air. The atmospheric air contains water vapor that begins … Read more
Top 3 Innovative Solutions for Greener Houses Tech.co, December 14, 2015. Image credit: Thomas Hawk Given that residential emissions – estimated at 89.9 million tonnes in 2010 – account for more than passenger cars (68 million tonnes) and every other sector apart from power stations, it makes sense to reduce first and foremost your household’s carbon … Read more
Light Chips Could Mean More Energy-Efficient Data Centers MIT Technology Review, December 23, 2015. Image credit: Glenn Asakawa, University of Colorado Now a prototype described in the journal Nature offers a promising and practical approach. The electronic-optical microprocessor, developed by a group of researchers at MIT, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Colorado, Boulder, … Read more