LED National Trends

GREENandSAVE News — In the recent speech on Wednesday September 9, 2009 by President Obama on the White House Health Care plan, he opened the door for constructive recommendations from both sides of the aisle on ways to reduce costs. One solution is to find the tactics that have the absolute highest return on investment to save money. America has the ability to leverage the exiting capabilities and technologies in the private sector to reduce the magnitude of Health Care costs.

GREENandSAVE News — In President Obama's Heath Care speech to Congress on Wednesday evening, September 9th, 2009, he made two statements that referenced some MATH, specifically in regards to the rising costs of health care and the US deficit. Math is the international language that should be by its nature 'bi-partisan', but it is often easily manipulated and overwhelming when the numbers are large. If the math works, the politics should fall out of the equation at least when it comes to establishing some common ground.

GREENandSAVE News — Another new report (PDF) from the U.S. Green Buildings Council (USGBC) and Booz Allen Hamilton forecasts the green building sector to more than triple its contribution to the U.S. gross domestic product.

GREENandSAVE News — In Washington state, energy efficiency is the onus for bringing an empty factory back to life and creating jobs in the local county, according to The Columbian newspaper. The transformation is being made possible through federal stimulus money awarded to NCS Power Inc., located in Vancouver, Wash.

GREENandSAVE News — The Department of Energy (DOE) announced Sept. 14 that it will allocate $454 million to a new program to make energy efficiency retrofits happen in homes and businesses. New construction is increasingly incorporating ways to conserve energy and water use, but existing buildings continue to gobble up energy in wasteful and detrimental ways. The “Retrofit Ramp-Up” initiative will save $100 million per year in utility bills, DOE says.

GREENandSAVE News — The Department of Energy (DOE) is ramping up its ability to enforce energy efficiency standards by streamlining the multitude of regulations and creating stricter protocols. DOE, in partnership with the Obama Administration, has instituted three new steps to increase their power to begin their more concerted effort.

GREENandSAVE News — The Department of Energy (DOE) has allocated $6.2 million, including $4.6 million of Recovery Act funds, for researching and developing next generation energy-efficient lighting.

DOE Secretary Steven Chu on Aug. 24 announced the selection of four projects to develop and accelerate high-efficiency solid-state lighting, such as light emitting diode (LED) lights, that are more environmentally friendly than traditional incandescent lighting.

GREENandSAVE News — A new German study looking at the life-cycle of light emitting diode (LED) lighting shows that LED lights are far more efficient and environmentally friendly than conventional incandescent lamps in terms of production, use and disposal.

GREENandSAVE News — According to a new report from Pike Research, commercial buildings in the United States are responsible for 18% of the country’s total energy consumption, and as such they represent one of the largest opportunities for energy efficiency improvements and reduction in carbon emissions.

Pike Research’s study, Energy Management Systems for Commercial Buildings, analyzes the emerging market for commercial building EMS in depth.

GREENandSAVE News — Although building new buildings to green standards is taking off, retrofitting existing buildings to increase energy efficiency and reduce energy-related pollution is poised to boom, according to a new report conducted by McGraw Hill Construction, a leading provider of project and product information to industry news, trends and forecasts.