One of the nation’s most important — and sadly too little discussed — intercollegiate competitions is about to open in Washington, DC: the the biennial Solar Decathlon.  For two weeks, twenty university teams from around the globe will compete across ten categories (thus, “decathlon”) that show the house works (can they get household chores and tasks done, like washing dishes and cooking dinner), measured performance items (how much electricity does the house produce), and perception items that can’t be tangibly measured (like aesthetic design quality).   The Solar Decathlon is awaited by many, including this author, with much anticipation and baited breath.  Opening to the public on 23 September, after years of work, the homes are being assembled at Potomac Park in Washington, DC, as I type.  In preparation for visiting the homes, now is a good time to review them to highlight what to look for and what to focus on in discussions with each team.  While, as per the 2009 Solar Decathlon, a post will come laying out all 20 teams and the entire competition, here is a quick taste of the Decathlon with a pre-look at one of the competitors: the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARCH)/California Institute of Technology (CALTECH) CHIP shot at a path toward a brighter future.

 As per the logo, CHIP stands for “Compact House, Infinite Possibilities“.  One of the realities of the Solar Decathlon are logistical and physical constraints. The houses are limited in size and the teams must be able to move them to and construct them within a constrained footprint on the Mall.  In line, one might say, with the entire small house movement, the Decathletes provide tangible visions of high-quality and highly-sustainable livestyles cost-effectively.

From the first moment, CHIP stands out compared to our traditional concepts of architecture and building.  Rather than putting insulating inside the structure and then having to drywall on top of it, the SCI-ARCH/CALTECH team chose to cover the outside with insulation.  For me, this makes this look like something that might have fit into a Star Trek episode as scientists’ housing on a remote planet.  As the CHIP team describes it:

The most singular feature of the design is CHIP’s unique exterior envelope strategy: A skin and insulation assembly which turns conventional wisdom on its head, wearing its thermal performance “on its sleeve.” Separating the structural members from the insulating layer, and wrapping the insulation assembly in a flexible vinyl membrane gives CHIP an exterior envelope with the extremely high R-values necessary for a net-zero house, at a significantly reduced cost, while indexing this performance in its physical appearance.

“Wearing its thermal performance “on its sleeve”” has advantages such as the highlighted cost reductions which result from greatly eased installation.  Considering that leads to obvious thoughts about how this creates the potential for sending variants into disaster environments where quality housing that can go up quickly should be prioritized and for other areas with very high cost to construct (which can overlap with remote areas with limited or no grid support).  This also, as discussed in the walk-through video after the fold, creates other values.  There isn’t the drywall — all the gaps where insulation would go now become internal space available for a variety of uses (such as, for example, bookshelves and other storage).  Imagine, as well, the stylistic opportunity created by color choices that could enable the house to stand out from its neighbors or, imagine a house in the woods, blend into nature.

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This guest post is from Steve Horn of DeSmogBlog. Original article.

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing yesterday on the ongoing and growing scandal in the wake of the bankruptcy of Solyndra Corporation.

Solyndra, a solar panel manufacturer that recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after laying off over 1,000 workers, is facing a barrage of attacks by both politicians and the media. The GOP and its right wing media echo chamber in particular have sought to condemn the entire U.S. clean energy sector as a result of an FBI raid of Solyndra’s offices.

Things have spun so far out of control inside the Beltway that Rep. David Vitter (R-La.) is disseminating a bill that would, “require an inspector general investigation into any company that receives federal money for renewable energy development and then goes bankrupt.”

But Vitter’s so-called Federal Accountability of Renewable Energy (FARE) Act is hardly a fair assessment of accountability across the entire energy subsidies spectrum.

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Every day, I strive to Make Energy CENTS from the Home to the Globe. Whether programming the thermostat to low temperatures overnight to providing comments on national energy policy drafts to opening discussions as to Energy COOL technologies and concepts, my efforts to Energize America to a prosperous, climate friendly future cross a broad spectrum.

To be clear and blunt: there is NO SILVER BULLET solution. In my own life, every year sees more ‘investment’ in energy efficiency, new ways to think about / execute conservation from what food we buy to our travel choices, and ways to help remediate the damage I inevitably cause to the planetary system’s ability to support my children’s children to the seventh generation and beyond.

As part of this journey, I am on the lookout for paths that “make energy cents” and especially appreciate opportunities for common-sense solutions to common energy problems.  With a rather old home (1958 construction), there are seemingly a limitless set of opportunities to discover challenges that require addressing.  While some can easily be solved with the flick of the switch, too many seem create too many annoying hassles for this moderate do-it-yourselfer to solve.  Happily, a little while ago, I stumbled across a site teeming with ways to solve items that had been been put onto the backburner ‘to-do’ list:  Battic Door.  Open that site created an “I want that … that and that …” Energy HOME moment.  At the American Comfort Institute’s (ACI) incredible annual conference, I had the chance to spend time with Battic Door in the trade show.   And, we agreed that I would take a look at some of their Energy COOL items and see just how well they met the dabbling do-it-yourselfer’s need to ease energy efficiency improvements.

See after the fold for some of these products. [Read more →]

At this time, the Climate Reality program is on a 24-hour long world-wide tour. Organized by (Vice) President Gore, this program moves time-zone by time-zone around the world, laying out the truth of climate science, things that are occurring to help turn the tide on Global Warming’s rising seas, realities of the time zone or location for that ‘time zone’, and to try to spark a wake-up call for the United States (and the globe) about climate denial.

As I type this, listening in to a panel, the comment: “The most important place to go is renewables …”

And, well, while there is truth about science and the planet, and then there is truthiness. While Gore and colleagues and collaborators are laying basic truths and critical issues of physical reality, we confront the reality of the reason this 24 hour marathon is required: that one of the two American political parties is dominated by anti-science ideologues who are, literally, willing to let the planet (or, well, at least portions — like a good part of Texas) burn before they will question their ideology and open their eyes to actual science. And, well, it continues as it types, I hear Sarah Palin talk about “Gore-Gate” … We have a majority party in the House of Representatives working hard to make political hay by distorting Solyndra’s bankruptcy and will then use this as a hammer to try to kill off clean energy. And, via that, dig our holes even deeper.

Our challenge is worsening … figuring out how to have the reality of science to lead to dominance over this ‘reality’ of politics. After all, when they conflict, political reality doesn’t win out over physical reality …

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This guest post originally appeared at Campaign for America’s Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture.  Dave Johnson is a Fellow with CAF.

Well here’s a surprise: conservatives and oil interests are pushing deceptive and destructive stories about President Obama and clean energy.  Imagine that! Their intent (as always) is to turn people against President Obama, clean energy, national energy policy, stimulus to help the economy, and government in general.  It’s what they do. Here is some information to help you push back on the latest whipped-up, anti-green, anti-government, anti-Obama “scandal.”

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As the sun bursts through weeks of massive rain, the Washington, DC, area is entering into several hot solar weeks.

• The Washington Redskins and NRG Energy are holding a press conference 15 September to inaugurate Fedex Field’s solar panel installation.
• Next week, the bi-annual Solar Decathlon opens at West Potomac Park (running from 23 September through 2 October). (Photo to right is the Decathlon’s “runway” from just a few days ago.)
• And,  the annual DC-area Solar Homes Tour will overlap with Solar Decathlon the weekend of 1-2 October.

Hot solar items worth knowing about and exploring further.

NOTE: Since writing this, I’ve learned of another notable event: Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will hold a Solar Summit on the Hill, 15 September, where, among other things, the Fedex Field panels will be discussed.
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As we get prepared to be underwhelmed with inadequate proposals for job creation that, mainly, seem taken out of old Republican playbooks (which is why, of course, today’s Republicans will reject them out-of-hand), my in-box is increasingly filled with people wondering whether they are going to take the path of MVANE (My Vote And Nothing Else) when it comes to President Obama’s reelection campaign.

Whether from those who desired single-payer health care (and wanted, at a minimum, a government option in a health bill) or those against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or those who wanted financial reform focused on protecting Main Street rather than finding paths to further enrich Wall Street to environmentalists dismayed over the President’s soothing words about Clean Coal and support for off-shore drilling, the MVANE chorus seems to be growing in numbers and noise.

The President’s decision, last Friday, to throw aside science and take business claims about regulation impacts at face value in deciding to not follow Clean Air Act provisions for ozone (read smog) rules that would save 10,000s of lives per year seems to have been the final straw for at least a few acquaintances.

Too many that I know are asking questions like what we see in this video: ‘Is this the change we hoped for and that we worked so hard to enable?’

Many acquaintances who gave generously in 2008 — of their time, passion, and dollars — do not see themselves pounding the streets in support of President Obama’s reelection effort. Clearly, the Koch Brothers’ machine is gleeful at these prospects and the situation. The Democratic Party (or, at least its titular leader, President Obama) is lurching to the right while the Republican Party continues its headlong flight of fantasy into Ayn Rand fantasies. The reality is that ‘moderate’ concepts of a few decades ago are, well, rather to the left. “Centrist” perspectives, it seems, are to the right of 1980 Ronald Reagan. And, well, with the entire political machine moving to the right, this is sapping the enthusiasm of those who got President Obama elected in 2008. And, without this enthusiasm, the Koch Brothers’ glee might be magnified with a President Perry or Palin or … That last prospect, it seems, is the only reason why those who are considering MVANE might end up pounding the beat to assist the Obama-Biden campaign effort.

We are less than two days out from President Barack Obama’s speech to a Joint Session of Congress and to the nation to outline proposals to help put Americans back to work. This speech could be a strident call for all-out measures to reinvigorate American employment, a more limited set of programs constructed and conceived within a belief that deficit reduction is the most critical task facing the nation, or …

How can we judge the President’s proposals?

One path, it seems, is to lay out what we believe makes the most sense to help address America’s challenges in the near, mid, and long term and use this as a standard by which to judge the proposals.

After the fold are some thoughts, developed through the years, about how to achieve these things:

• Put Americans back to work — in large numbers, throughout the country, in meaningful employment that (in most cases) offers paths for continued, long-term employment.

• Help address our intertwined economic, energy, and environmental challenges to foster a more prosperous, climate-friendly future.

• Set the path for addressing our ‘deficit’ challenges via economic activity fostering increased government revenues rather than ever-more devastating slashes to the

Yes, the ideas that follow the fold might not meet the political reality of Grover Norquist idolatry even as reality-based analysis would show how these are the sorts of meaningful system-of-system opportunities to actually solve problems and help us (the U.S.) move forward in our quest for a more perfect union.

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This morning, as roughly 160 dedicated and knowledgeable Americans put their freedom at risk to call attention to the horrific risks created by Tar Sands exploitation, President Obama announced a kowtowing to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and disinformation about the benefits created through sensible regulation with a postponement of Ozone regulations.

Sadly, rather than emphasizing the undisputed fact that environmental regulation has proven — time and time again — to be a net benefit, President Obama kowtowed to those who seek consideration of just costs without considering benefits as he echoed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Representative Cantor as he wrote of the “importance of reducing regulatory burdens and regulatory uncertainty”.

The President’s decision flies in the face of — spits on — this Administration’s record, the law, and every single independent review of the costs and benefits of environmental regulation.
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This guest post comes courtesy of Barath.