New survey shows voters support renewable energy legislation
Solar Industry
U.S. voters are more likely to support candidates who support an energy bill that supports renewable energy and reduces pollution, according to a new poll conducted by Public Policy Polling for the NRDC Action Fund.More

International Code Council to vote on US building efficiency standards
Energy Efficiency News
The International Code Council (ICC), which develops residential and commercial building standards, is to vote on proposals that will improve energy efficiency by 30 percent. The organization's I-Codes are recognized is the U.S. at state or jurisdictional level and enforced by a number of federal agencies.More

Geothermal energy use gaining steam in the US
Foster's Daily Democrat
New Hampshire's White Mountain range eventually could be the site of a geothermal power plant, although research is just in the beginning stages. A Department of Energy grant for $22 million awarded earlier this year to the Association of American State Geologists is funding research around the country to determine the best sites to use geothermal energy. More

Dollar's swoon opens doors
The Wall Street Journal
The slumping U.S. dollar is opening new sales opportunities abroad for American manufacturers, who are worried about a sputtering economy but also concerned about how to cope with a volatile currency market. Many U.S. companies - from coal miners to a producer of tugboat clutches - are seeing stronger demand in Europe and Asia as the weak dollar makes U.S. goods cheaper there.More

EPEE calls for F-Gas regulation overhaul
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning News
The European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE) is calling for a dramatic overhaul of the F-Gas Regulation, backed by further investment, to ensure that emission levels are driven down. The paper pre-empts the forthcoming EU F-Gas review, which assess the Regulation's impact and achievements so far in an ongoing project that's now been in existence for three years.More

Integrating lighting and HVAC retrofits
Consulting-Specifying Engineer
There is approximately 80 billion sq-ft of commercial floor space in the United States, and this number is expected to grow to more than 100 billion sq-ft by 2030, according to the Buildings Energy Data Book published by the Department of Energy. More than 80 percent of the commercial buildings in the United States were constructed prior to 1990. Unfortunately, there were no mandatory restrictions on energy consumption in commercial buildings until the Energy Policy Act of 1992 was passed, which made following ASHRAE 90.1-1989 mandatory. Consequently, many of these older buildings consume large amounts of electricity due to inefficient lighting and HVAC equipment.More

Sustainability survey shows local governments' progress is slow
AHRC News
Results of a national survey on sustainability developed with input from the International City/County Management Association's (ICMA's) Center for Sustainable Communities, the Center for Urban Innovation, Arizona State University's Global Institute of Sustainability (ASU GIOS), the Alliance for Innovation, and others show that most local governments consider energy conservation and the environment to be key priorities. However, specific plans regarding sustainability are slow to take hold.More