Ariel Schwartz

The western Negev's Kibbutz Reim will soon receive the distinction of being the first Israeli community to rely entirely on solar energy as a result of an installation project with the firm Sunday Solar.

Sunday Solar's installation in Kibbutz Reim is part of the company's two-year plan to invest NIS 500 million ($133 million) in solar arrays for kibbutzim.

At Kibbutz Reim, solar panels are to be placed on top of all 130 rooftops of the community, and excess energy will be sold back to the Israel Electric Company.

During peak production, the system is expected to be able to produce over 2.5 megawatts per hour.

Kibbutz Reim's panels are expected to be installed...

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Manhattan Dunkin' Donuts customers will soon get a serving of energy efficient fresh air with their morning coffee and donuts.

Cemtrex, which specializes in greenhouse gas reduction technology, recently announced that its Green DCV (Demand Control Ventilation) System will be installed in four Manhattan Dunkin' Donuts locations .

The system optimizes HVAC energy consumption by monitoring occupancy levels, resulting in significant CO2 reduction and energy savings.

In certain buildings, Cemtrex estimates that annual savings can be as high as $1 per square foot.

Hopefully, the savings from Cemtrex's Green DCV System will be high enough to encourage Dunkin' Donuts to use it in store locations across the country.

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Last week, the Pearl Avenue Branch Library in San Jose, CA became the first municipality in the United States to install permanent public art combining photovoltaic cells and art glass.

Lynn Goodpasture's "Solar Illumination I: Evolution of Language", uses glass-embedded photovoltaic cell technology to power a suspended glass LED-illuminated lamp.

The piece incorporates a 200-watt Solar Lamp System as well as four solar windows.

Goodpasture's design was airbrushed onto float glass by airbrushing vitreous enamels in multiple layers. The photovoltaic glass was created by laminating PV cells within two layers of float glass. The art glass and photovoltaic glass...

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Shangri-La Industries, a sustainable build design and consulting company, has announced the creation of a $100 million green building fund in conjunction with Thompson National Properties.

The TNP/SLI Green Building Fund will select properties for investment and sustainable design services.

Specifically, the fund will focus on making properties LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) compliant so that their value, energy efficiency, and marketability is increased.

Shangri-La also recently announced the creation of Hangar 25 at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, CA. The building is the world's first LEED platinum aviation hangar, and features a...

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Glass siding and atriums are increasingly used in green architecture, but they often have a deadly effect on our flying friends.

Building collision is the second highest cause of death for birds after habitat destruction, and one billion birds in the U.S. die every year from crashing into buildings. That's a whopping 5 percent of the country's total bird population.

The accidents occur because birds see mirror images of the outside world in glass reflections. Sometimes, they spot a desirable habitat or food source inside buildings and attempt to enter.

And this upsetting trend shows no sign of stopping—glass is becoming more popular among architects as its...

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Wal-Mart Brazil will debut its eco-efficient hypermarket tomorrow in Brazil as part of the company's growing environmental effort. According to representatives, the Campinho store has the largest number of sustainability initiatives of any Wal-Mart building.

Some of the 60 initiatives in the R$52 million store include signs with LED lamps, uniforms made of recycled PET bottles,  and posters made of recycled material an solventless ink.

The Campinho store is the first eco-efficient hypermarket in Brazil, but it will be joined soon by every Wal-Mart in the country. Each Wal-Mart Brazil location will feature sustainable initiatives tailored to geographic and physical...

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We've heard a lot of talk recently about improving aircraft sustainability, but Shangri-La Construction is taking the aircraft industry to a new level of green-ness with the world's most sustainable aircraft hangar.

Due to be unveiled next week in Burbank, CA, Hangar 25 features a plug-in jet system, solar panels, electric vehicles, sustainable landscaping, and a chemical-free fire system.

Despite its myriad progressive features, Hangar 25 was built at a comparable price to a regular hangar. And the hangar's sustainable design reduces its operational costs by reducing energy use.

Of course, a sustainable hangar only does so much good if the airplanes inside are...

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According to researchers at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, green roofs are more than just eye candy—they can also reduce building temperature, serve as insulation, and reduce noise pollution.

The researchers looked at roofing systems consisting of a layer of plants on top of a substrate that allows water to drain, a porous concrete layer that allows water to rise from tanks, and a waterproofing sheet to stop leaks.

According to the study, green roofs increase insulation no matter how well insulated a structure is. 

This is not the first study related to green roofs. A study published this summer by the University of Texas at Austin involved the...

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