How Cavet Technologies’ Lumismart Intelligent Lighting Controller is changing the way existing properties look at energy efficient lighting.

By Chris Maddern, LEED AP

Recently our office had the distinct pleasure of hosting Cavet Technologies’ Simon Jerome to showcase Cavet’s fantastic new energy savings device – the Lumismart Intelligent Lighting Controller (ILC).

by Eddie C, Daily Kos
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/7/7/10471/20872
Wed Jul 07, 2010

This is not an area I'm very familiar with but apparently the complex where I live represents three of the 9,000 NYC buildings that play a large part in New York City air failing federal health standards by burning a very dirty heating oil.

I recently spoke with Chris Maddern, president and CEO of Energy Solutions International (and the mastermind behind this site!), and he challenged me to find an organization that truly abides by the social aspect of the triple-bottom line definition of sustainability. While I ran across several companies that were working toward using resources today while leaving enough, if not more, resources for future generations, I had the opportunity to speak with an NGO that truly embodies the social aspect that both Chris and I have been trying to find – Heifer International.

I recently had the opportunity to listen to a representative from Tyson Chicken, the largest poultry producer in the nation, speak about his company’s view on sustainability. There were a few things from the conversation that caught my attention. The first of those was just how sustainable chickens really are. Tyson’s processes use 100% of the chicken to some capacity – there is no waste from the chicken itself (pork and beef are also 100% utilized).

So what does it really mean to be sustainable? It seems that people you talk to about sustainability development (SD), or “being green,” have their own (oftentimes extremely self-serving) definition. The academics are saying one thing while the practitioners are saying something totally different. If they’ll both check the Bruntland Commission’s report from back in 1987 they’ll see that SD was defined some 23 years ago as “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (p. 47).

How do you create effective lighting when there’s no way to get to the grid? Leave it to a couple of ingenious designers to come up with a beautiful and self-sufficient bamboo lighting system! Designed by Ingendesign, the ‘Flow’ light is powered by constant prevailing coastal winds and is built to be almost completely biodegradable.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Green industry gives new entrepreneurs opportunities
Jacksonville Business Journal - by Lauren Darm Staff Writer

JACKSONVILLE — While in college, Chris Maddern’s thoughts always fluctuated between his passion for business and his desire to help the planet.

He wanted more than just money. He wanted to focus his entrepreneurial skills on something that could also include his global concerns. He quickly realized there was a niche for what he sought to do and a demand for public guidance from those who shared his vision.

The Future of Renewable Energy
(for the full version visit: http://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/199728.html)

If you think it's all about solar and wind, think again.

The companies: Energy Solutions International and Green Revolution

The innovation: Kinetic energy adapters for gym equipment

What it does: Technically, nothing. It just sits there while you pedal furiously and go nowhere. But it does allow you to convert all that sweat and energy into, well, energy, as resistance from stationary bikes is converted into electricity and sent back to the gym's power grid.

The benefits of solar power are starting to spread beyond the single-family home.

For legal and practical reasons, installations of solar power have largely bypassed buildings with multiple residential units. Laws in most states, for example, require each solar-power system to have only one meter.

Nope, that’s not a typo in the title. Negawatt is a term you should get to know. You’ll probably hear it, and maybe even use it yourself, in the near future.

So, what is a negawatt?
\né-gə-wät\ n: A measure of the avoided use or the conservation of a unit of energy.

Coined by author and scientist Amory Lovins, the term has been around for quite a long time. When energy efficiency measures are implemented in existing structures, energy consumption is reduced. This reduction can be measured in negawatts. Get it? negative watts.

So why is it important, you ask?