Where Energy Star is and wants to be
EarthTechling
It's been a tough year for the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program. The voluntary energy efficiency labeling program for electronics, appliances and computers, among other categories, came under fire in March after an investigation by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the program is vulnerable to fraud and abuse from companies which might make false claims on energy savings on the products and voluntary information they submit in order to get the Energy Star labeling.More

LEED and the future of green building
Reuters
The first decade of this century saw the resurgence of the green building movement and the emergence of rating systems, such as LEED, BREEAM, GreenStar, etc., across the world. Many national, state and local governments have embraced green buildings and are providing several incentives for their widespread development. As a result, green buildings have gained acceptance among public agencies, private sector developers and institutional owners.More

FTC proposes new guidelines for 'eco-friendly' products
USA TODAY
The Federal Trade Commission proposed revisions recently to the agency's Green Guides in an effort to clear up confusion for consumers and reduce "misleading environmental claims" made by marketers about environmentally friendly products.More

Engineer's take on sustainable construction goes against the green
The Oklahoman
Hold onto your green hats and lock down your certificates of green accomplishment: Joseph Lstiburek preached green-building heresy this week at the Green Building Summit — but it was a call for reform. The sacrilege: LEED isn't all it's cracked up to be, at least not in commercial construction, where the race for certification in Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design is attracting more runners every day.More

Going green to the max
The Boston Globe
Andrew Koh is learning that going extremely green — his house renovation project is designed to cut home energy costs in half — can cost a lot of green. Take the new water heater he's installing as part of the "deep energy retrofit" of 225 Gun Hill St., the 30-year-old Garrison-style home he and his wife, Tracy, bought last year. "It's the prettiest water heater I’ve ever seen," Koh said. And it's 96 percent efficient, compared with the 80 percent efficient water heater he had not so long ago in their old condominium in South Boston. That translates to using nearly a fifth less energy, he said.More

Solar energy making a return to White House
The Washington Post
The White House is going solar after all - a home improvement that carries modest energy benefits but much larger symbolic importance. It isn't the first time the White House has used solar energy. President Jimmy Carter put 32 solar panels on the roof in the late 1970s, but President Ronald Reagan removed them in 1986. Two grass-roots campaigns have recently been lobbying President Obama to restore them as a sign of his commitment to renewable energy. More