·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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To better inform communities about releases of toxic chemicals from industrial facilities in their area, EPA today announced the availability of the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) facility-level data for 2007. This is the 5th annual Electronic Facility Data Release (e-FDR) and displays the TRI data exactly as received by EPA from the facilities – one form for each chemical at a facility. Many stakeholders have requested that EPA share TRI data sooner and in the format received, without waiting for further analysis. The “raw” data released today are not grouped in any way or are as easily searchable as the traditional Public Data Release (PDR), which also includes more quality checks, national trends and analysis. EPA will still publish the complete 2007 PDR in early 2009.

TRI provides American communities with vital information on chemical releases including disposal of chemicals. In addition, TRI tracks releases of chemicals and industrial sectors specified by the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act of 1986. The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 also mandates that facilities report data on other waste management activities such as treatment, recycling, and energy recovery. The e-FDR is now available at epa.gov/tri-efdr

Friday, September 12, 2008
http://www.practicegreenhealth.org/tools/webinars/calendar/details/401

1:00 eastern, 12:00 central, 11:00 mountain and 10:00 pacific and will last for 90 minutes.

Earn 0.5 AIA CEU:  Attendees of this ninety minute webcast can earn 0.5 CEU from the American Institute of Architects.  Upon the completion of the session, registered attendees will receive an email with a web address to register for their AIA certificate. Please email education@practicegreenhealth.org with you request for CEUs. If you are an AIA member please include your membership number.

Note: Access to Practice Greenhealth webinars is a fee-based service, and is one of many member benefits.  You can learn more about the fees and benefits of membership by going to our website, and you can join on-line as well. See http://www.practicegreenhealth.org/community/membership/

Access to a single webinar is also available for $150 or by purchasing an annual subscription for $795.  See http://www.practicegreenhealth.org/tools/webinars/

Topic

Why do green health care design and construction projects seek philanthropic and government funding? Is outside funding necessary to construct a green hospital? What kinds of strategies are most likely to be funded? How should a project approach an incentive program differently from a local or national foundation?  How is health care different from other sectors in the kind of awards it receives and the level of funding? These are just a few of the questions that will be answered during this evaluation of the health care sector’s success in taking advantage of grant and incentive opportunities specific to green building projects.

Learning Objectives

The integrated design process leads to a high performance building that maximizes the efficiency of a facility’s building systems and reduces operating costs.

1. Green buildings do not have to cost more than non-green buildings.
2. Commissioning a building’s mechanical systems is critical to ensure performance outcomes.
3. Integrated design process.
4. Critical elements that determine grant eligibility.
5. NYSERDA’s overall approach to energy efficiency and history with healthcare.
6. NYSERDA’s approach to energy efficiency in healthcare.
7. The successes and lessons learned of NYSERDA’s Healthcare pilot program.

Presenters

• Sandy Ambrozy, The Kresge Foundation
• Rachel Adams, NYSERDA Health Care Incentives

Please note, this webinar will take advantage of updated technology.  Your confirmation email will list the phone number and web address required to access the call.  No visual presentation will be available for download on the site.

Read the press release.

The University of California, San Diego, which strives to be one of the nation’s “greenest” college campuses, has undertaken a forestation program in an unlikely place…on the roof of two of its parking garages. Steel components have already taken shape, forming the framework for Solar Trees(TM) that will soon be fitted with a canopy of Kyocera photovoltaic modules to provide clean energy for the campus, shade for vehicle parking, future infrastructure for electric vehicles, and a pleasant visual surprise on the top of the garage.

Read the press release.

To help bring transparency to the fast-growing voluntary carbon offset market to combat climate change, Environmental Defense Fund today announced the launch of CarbonOffsetList.org, a first-of-its-kind online resource that will help businesses and consumers identify and purchase carbon offsets that represent real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon offsets allow buyers to offset, or neutralize, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced from their own activities by funding projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere.

The latest issue of Renewable Energy Weekly is now available. Highlights include:

• What’s Next for the German Photovoltaic Industry?
• Beetles That Break Down Wood Might Provide Key to Biofuel Research
• UK Behind Marine Renewables’ Rising Tide
• Time for a Change: Micro-inverters Improve Performance of Solar Systems
• Inflate This: Conservation and Efficiency Are Key to Our Energy Future
• Survey Says 60% of US Wind Turbines May Be Behind in Maintenance
• India builds solar: A BIPV first

Read the full story in Technology Review.

One problem with solar cells is that they only produce electricity during the day. A promising way to use the sun’s energy more efficiently is to enlist it to split water into hydrogen gas that can be stored and then employed at any time, day or night. A cheap new nanostructured material could prove an efficient catalyst for performing this reaction. Called a nanonet because of its two-dimensional branching structure, the material is made up of a compound that has been demonstrated to enable the water-splitting reaction. Because of its high surface area, the nanonet enhances this reaction.