Lowe's jumps on the LED bulb bandwagon

I've already mentioned Home Depot's adoption of the LED light bulb. Now comes word that Home Depot wanna-be Lowe's is doing the same. Cnet's Green Tech reports that the number two home improvement giant will be carrying a new Osram Sylvania 60-watt LED bulb. That's 60-watt equivalent, of course. The whole point is that the light only draws 12 watts of energy to produce the same illumination as a traditional incandescent bulb.

Eco Choice Awards tap three green gifts

The Eco Choice Awards were announced this month at the New York International Gift Fair. Three new products were singled out:

Most Innovative: Emerson House by Brinca Dada. A dollhouse with 23 LED lights powered by solar panels.

Most Sensitive Use of Materials: On The Rocks by Sea Stones. Stone “ice” cubes keep drinks cold without diluting them, and are made of repurposed stone and FSC-certified wood.

Most Sellable: Kitchen Basics by Bambu. Kitchen tools made of renewable, certified organic bamboo.

This dollhouse features LED lights powered by solar panels.

Energy-efficient window line announced

Kolbe has a new series of windows out, the Windquest EP line, that the company says exceeds 2010 Energy Star criteria for all climate zones in the United States. The line is available as casement, awning and studio windows.

According to a Kolbe press release,

These windows achieve energy performance ratings that put them in the top tier in the industry with U-Values of 0.18/.19 and R-values of over 5, along with Solar Heat Gain Coefficient of .23. These insulating values are nearly twice as good as those currently required by Energy Star. Our units allow for a maximum air infiltration of only .01 cubic foot per minute, which is 30 times better than the industry standard.

Windquest EP windows come standard with a special combination of high-performance LoE coatings on the glass to optimize U-value, visible transmittance, solar heat gain coefficient, and external appearance.

In an interesting marketing note, I see that Kolbe is pushing this news on its Facebook page.

Reviewing eco-friendly bug repellents

Wenona Napolitano of Eco Childs Play reviews a range of green products designed to fend off the buggies. Interesting.

Incandescents: Reports of death greatly exaggerated

The New York Times has a very interesting article on new technology designed to make traditional incandescent bulbs more energy efficient -- enough so that they will likely meet government mandates on efficiency that otherwise would require switching to CFLs.

Normally, only a small portion of the energy used by an incandescent bulb is converted into light, while the rest is emitted as heat. Deposition Sciences applies special reflective coatings to gas-filled capsules that surround the bulb’s filament. The coatings act as a sort of heat mirror that bounces heat back to the filament, where it is transformed to light.

Indeed, the incandescent bulb is turning into a case study of the way government mandates can spur innovation.

Philips Lighting’s Halogena Energy Savers is a line of bulbs now on the market that uses this technology. These are available now at Amazon and Home Depot, according to the Times, but evidently not yet on the Home Depot Web site.

Eco-news is good news at PCBC

Okay, sure, the housing market is still in the slumping doldrums (despite a little recent good news), and so the mood at PCBC, the West Coast builders show, may have been "gloomy" and "somber," but there were still some silver linings -- or should I say, green linings!

There was an interesting insulation product made partly of castor oil. (Hat tip to the Green Building Elements blog for that link, but note that the writer of the post could not resist snarking at the SFI booth.)

There were "Cool Products" that included recycled slate tiles, an energy efficient ventilation fan system, and a more-affordable rooftop solar power system.

There were "Smart Solutions" such as a wastewater system that filters water from the laundry, kitchen and shower and then reuses it for drip irrigation.

And in a report from HCN's Brae Canlen, with whom I work, Brae mentioned green-themed educational sessions as well as new products from Toto and GE. Toto's offerings included water-saving faucets and showerheads, including a motion-detecting faucet that used a turbine for energy, and needs no battery or connection to a power grid. GE's new Hybrid Electric Water Heater (pictured at the show above in a photo by Brae) uses half the energy of a standard heater by absorbing heat from the air and transferring it to water.

Panasonic releases four new green vent fans

Panasonic's building products division has launched four new vent fans in its WhisperGreen line. These models are energy efficient and feature multiple speeds; one version features a motion detector so that, according to a press release, "The motion sensor activates when someone enters the room to provide maximum airflow when the bathroom is in use. When the occupant leaves the room the fan automatically returns to the pre-set low speed. This autonomous feature makes it ideal for people with disabilities and assisted living environments such as nursing homes and retirement communities."

New expansion joint filler is 100% recycled

W. R. Meadows' new expansion joint filler is made of 100% recycled synthetic rubber. According to the company, its new Eco-Joint product can be used in "roadways, airport runways, sidewalks, pavement patch repair, driveways, flooring, parking lots, plazas, flatwork, patios, and curbs." And it can be used to satisfy the requirements for several LEED credits.

Insert your own 'soy' joke here

Fomo Products, a sealant and adhesive maker, has a new line of insulation made of 10 percent soy. According to a press release I got this week (there's no online version I can find, so sorry, no link), the eco-friendly plusses include:

• Benefits the atmosphere by replacing one pound of petroleum-based polyol with one pound of soy-based polyol resulting in a 5.6 pound CO2 increase. [sic -- I think they mean "decrease"?]
• Stops air infiltration to increase energy savings and decrease HVAC costs.
• Blocks out allergens and pollutants from entering buildings, improving indoor air quality
• Contributes to LEED credits and ENERGY STAR® certification.

The company is eager to brag about its green cred -- the graphic with this post came from the company's e-mail press release. But I have to say, the grammar purist in me wishes they had put in a comma and lowercased the 'R': "Soy, you want to start a revolution?" Or even better, give it the whole nine Beatles and go with "You soy you want a revolution!"

Although I suppose not, since too many people who got the reference would have responded, "Don't you know that you can count me out."

New safe-for-drinking hose saves water

Teknor Apex has two new hoses: the Healthy Habitat and the AquaPure Neverkink. The basic idea of both is that they are lead-free, so you can use them safely for drinking water. Also, both feature a reduced flow rate, which the company claims leads to water conservation -- presumably because less water spills out on the ground. Course, when I was a kid we drank from any old hose we could get. Lead, asbestos, Bosco -- that stuff was salt and pepper to us. And we liked it!

New cabinet underlight features LEDs

Juno Lighting is pushing its new Pro-LED under-cabinet fixtures. According to the company, the product uses only one-eighth the energy of an equivalent halogen- or xenon-based product.

Green products link

Green Building News just e-mailed me their new products page. Some halfway interesting items there.

Shopping cart handle guards: Recyclable health aid or greenwashed paper waster?

I got a press release about a new recyclable biodegradable protector for shopping cart handles. The "Kart-Smart" is a barrier that claims to protect from bacteria and viruses. It goes on and off at the store, and it can be printed with advertising messages.

The idea is that shopping carts are way too dirty and unhealthy, and you need to protect your customers. But is it really true? Are shopping carts so dirty that you should take special measures to not touch them? I was not convinced by Kart-Smart's link to this 2002 TV news story about shopping carts used by homeless people being mixed back into general usage without cleaning. I mean, come on, what's the chance that the cart I use at my local store was used last by a homeless person? And never cleaned?

But this link, to Snopes.com, is more convincing. I actually trust Snopes to give me the real truth. And Snopes says:

Claim: Handles of shopping carts are laden with germs. Status: True. ... The very folks that fuss with disposable toilet seat covers often won't think twice about manhandling a grocery cart around a store for half an hour, even though the surface they're hanging onto so fiercely for that interval has likely been coughed on, sneezed on, and grasped by shoppers who'd just finished handling packages of raw chicken and meat, or who just weren't the sort to wash their hands all that often. As for the fold-out child's seat found in most carts, even though it is routinely graced by the diapered bottoms of infants, it remains the cart's transport region of choice for fruits and vegetables, items that are often eaten uncooked or unwashed.

So what's a retailer to do? Maybe this disposable handle cover is a good solution. But that does nothing to protect the seat, which, like Snopes says, is home to both poopy baby butts and delicate produce. Consumers have recourse to products like this, this, and this. But what are retailers to do?

Some states require retailers to offer sanitizing wipes. Some stores use cart-washing systems -- some are even somewhat green.

Then again, I could not help but feel myself side with the doctor in this USA Today article who said, "We're too overzealous about avoiding all forms of bacteria as a society today."

Perf offers new bio-bag products

I've blogged about Perf Go Green and its biodegradable shopping bags before. Now the company is offering a wider range of plastic bag products, including kitchen garbage bags, "doggie duty" bags, and more.

According to the company, the new bags are available at Walgreens, CVS, Amazon.com and Drugstore.com. Its bags are now FDA food-contact compliant, and the company will launch food storage and checkout bags beginning in 2009.

New online tool cuts catalog waste

I got an interesting e-mail message from Betsy Scherzer, a public relations person, commenting on catalog waste. She writes, "Michael, in the past two weeks I’ve received five duplicate catalogs from Crate Barrel – not to mention dozens of other duplicate catalogs from other major retailers. While I actually enjoy receiving some catalogs, I HATE seeing the WASTE by sending two in the same day or dozens of duplicates all in a given month."

She suggests an online tool to help ensure that you don't get duplicate copies of catalogs. Retailers can use a new IT solution to prevent duplicate mailings, mis-addressed mailings, and bogus online requests. This tool is Melissa Data's NCOALink SmartMover. This Web service tool lets businesses and mail houses keep customer lists current by matching them to the weekly updated USPS NCOALink change-of-address file.

Betsy also offers some factoids to help keep you awake at night worrying about catalog waste:

• Over eight million tons of trees are consumed each year in the production of paper catalogs.
• Nearly half of the planet’s original forest cover is gone today. Forests have effectively disappeared in 25 countries, and another 29 have lost more than 90 percent of their forest cover.
• Deforestation contributes 20 percent to 25 percent of all carbon pollution, causing global climate change.
• More than one billion people living in extreme poverty around the world depend on forests for their livelihoods.
• There are other significant environmental effects from the catalog cycle. The production and disposal of direct mail alone consumes more energy than three million cars.
• The manufacturing, distribution, collection and disposal of catalogs generates global warming gases as well as air and water pollution. Reducing the number of unwanted catalogs that are mailed will help the environment.

Food for thought as we lug pounds and pounds of paper mail from our mailboxes to our homes.

New chemical ingredient will make paint greener

Chemical and coatings company Rohm and Haas has a new binder on the market. This product, Rhoplex™ VSR-2015 Versatile Sheen Resin, offers several eco-friendly acvantages:

Rhoplex™ VSR-2015 resin is low-solvent capable, contains no APEO (alkyl phenol ethoxylate) surfactants, and is low in ammonia odor. It provides excellent flow, leveling, and applications properties as well as excellent scrub, alkali, and efflorescence resistance.

The product you've all been waiting for

Sure, you're a gardener and a dog lover. And of course, an environmentalist. And you've been waiting for such a long time. Now, at last, you can have the perfect match-up for your two loves: the doghouse with a planter on top! Sure, you've seen the other guy's offering. But the makers of this one also have a real concern for the environment -- the "carbon pawprint," as they say, LOL! It's a little more than somewhat expensive -- but aren't your pets and plants worth it?

New mold-resistant wallboard

Wallboard maker National Gypsum and seed company Syngenta have partnered to produce a new mold-resistant wallboard. Syngenta's Sporgard, a chemical product, is embedded in the XP Gypsum Board drywall line.

XP Gypsum Board panels consist of a specially treated, fire resistant, mold and moisture resistant gypsum core encased in heavy mold/mildew/moisture resistant, 100% recycled purple paper on the face and mold/mildew/moisture resistant paper on the back side.

For those looking to improve indoor air quality -- especially in a damp environment -- this might be something to consider.

So long, Sheetrock?

Ecolect has an interesting post on a new green product that may replace gypsum board.

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Dec 1 Update: Inhabitat has an article on this too.

Windmills you won't mind

Seems like one of the big problems in wind turbines for energy generation is that they are loud and tend to shake anything on which they are mounted. Well, Cascade Engineering has announced its new quiet and vibration-free Swift Wind Turbine, for use on houses and commercial buildings. It's not for everybody -- the company suggests renting equipment to measure the wind force in your area -- but it runs at only 35 decibels. A quick search on Wikipedia tells us that normal talking is 40 to 60 decibels, and a car operates at 60 to 80.

According to the company's release, the product is UL-certified for safety and can pay for itself within three years.