All is not necessarily lost though… Abu Dhabi, as the article states, is in fact, loaded, so where there is not a way, there is a bank account to make a way.   Still, will the richest Emirate find tenants to actually move into Masdar?  I hope so, for the sake of this grand experiment, because I would like to see if it’s actually possible.  And since Abu Dhabi seems to be the only ones with enough money to make it happen, I’m rooting for them.

1. I was engulfed by “all-hands” company meetings. Although it was a mad rush to get ready for the meetings, I loved it and it was neat to see all the people that I work with in one place.   It was also great to hear that the things that I think are so important are important to the people that I work with as well.  300+ people working towards a higher cause is a pretty powerful thing.  (Net Gain:  Emily + Western U.S.)
2. I found an apartment and I’m moving.  It all happened very quickly but it took me about 5 minutes to decide that I wanted the place… it’s lovely and spacious and has so much character.   I feel really lucky to have found such a great apartment just in time for summer – it’s effectively been 3 years since I had a home in a neighborhood of my choosing, in a city that I feel comfortable in.  So obviously, that’s been a process.  (Net Gain: Emily)
3. I’m house-sitting for some very attention-starved animals, one of which I am allergic to. I love animals and for the past year I have lived in an apartment in a house with a dog and two cats.  I am house-sitting in this same house while the owners are away.  One of the cats got attacked a few weeks ago, so he is recovered at an undisclosed location;  as a result, the dog and the other cat have been following almost my every move in the house.  And as much as I like the cat, I am allergic to him!  So it is hard, especially considering the move.  But I am really going to miss the dog.  (Net Loss:  Emily’s 4-legged roommates)
4. Which brings me to the oily, ruined Gulf of Mexico. Referring, of course, to my love of animals as stated above, what really gets me about this mess is the animals that are being killed as a result.  Not just turtles anymore, but birds, fish, the entire ecosystem.  And as a result of the loss of part of the food chain, people’s livelihoods are being completely obliterated.  I am so disgusted and saddened by the situation, that I have – frighteningly – been rendered numb.  After all, what can I do?  What can YOU do?  We can only sit back and watch as the oil keeps coming out, and beaches keep closing, and more and more ecosystems are destroyed.   It’s totally overwhelming.   I feel, truly, that the best thing I can do is to keep doing my job, and to do the best job I can, so that I can help improve energy efficiency in buildings and hopefully reduce our dependence on oil.    (Net Loss:  Humanity, The Earth, dolphins, etc.)
5. “Privatize the Losses, Socialize the Gains”. Speaking of losses and gains, someone recently told me that there was a movement afoot to push this type of economic system in our country.  And I have to express how dispiriting I think this is.  I am overcome lately with the sheer number of people who are not doing what they are supposed to be doing, so many of whom are trying to take advantage of others, game the system, or flat out cause this country to fail.   BP, Goldman Sachs, Halliburton, nearly every politician running for office this year…. It’s exhausting.  I am amazed that anyone can even watch the news anymore.  I can only watch fake news on Comedy Central and even there, I sometimes can’t handle it.  So, that’s a little bit of where I’m at right now.  (Net Loss:  my sanity)

I'd like to think this dog will miss me when I'm gone

Anyway.  That’s where I’m at.  I will try to get back to you sooner, rather than later.   Good luck everyone…

• 3,060 unique visitors
• 4,209 visits
• 13,765 page views
• visitors from 91 countries/territories!

Oh how I love statistics.  But let’s see what our top ten countries sending visitors were:

1. United States (duh)
2. United Kingdom
3. Canada
4. China
5. South Korea
6. Malaysia (that’s a cool surprise!)
7. India
8. Australia
9. Spain
10. Turkey

Welcome to all my international visitors, wherever you live!  And to those of you who actually pay attention on the occasions when I post something of value, I’m going to give you a little bonus tidbit:

Check out this article on Treehugger about the zero-landfill Subaru plant in Indiana.  I know I’ve been threatening to write a post about used cars, and I probably will here soon, but reading this article about the Subaru plant gives me warm fuzzies and actually makes me open to the possibility of getting a new car at some point.  Of course living in Oregon means that if I bought a new Subaru, I’d fit right in.  Now just make it electric and give me a wind turbine to plug it into, and I’ll be all set.

Image courtesy of Inhabitat

File this under “better late than never”… I just learned about this house and knew I had to talk about it here because it embodies many of the things that I love in one tidy, very livable package.  Observe:

1. It’s a house, which is great, since I love house design;
2. It’s made of straw bales, which are sustainable, renewable, AND energy efficient with proper installation;
3. It’s pre-fab, which is super cool because pre-fabricated designs cut down on job site waste and allow for easier manufacturing recycling;
4. It’s small, and compact, and cute, which means it’s got a lower carbon footprint (although the cuteness doesn’t contribute to that, it’s just a bonus);
5. AND it meets PassivHaus standards, which is about as close as you can get to a net-zero energy house.

I mean, this is pretty awesome, right?  And it’s a good looking little house.  The only problem I’m seeing is that ModCell is a UK company which makes it nearly impossible to build the cute goodness in your pre-selected plot, if you live in the United States, that is.  Which is not to say that you couldn’t send the cuteness over on a giant cargo ship, it’s just that the adorable-ness becomes slightly less so when you realize how much fuel you had to use getting it States-side (think of how much carbon you burn when you get a on a plane to take a short flight, then multiply that by like, oh, 10,000*).

*(I’m exaggerating, I don’t actually know what kind of carbon footprint a trip on a cargo ship would yield.  I have to believe it’s bigger than having it built down the street, though).

So, here’s to hoping that ModCell partners up with an American manufacturer to begin more “local” production of it’s pre-fab wonder so that some of us can get our hands on this wee, energy-efficient, awesomeness.

Here's another photo of it because it's cool; image courtesy of Inhabitat

Instead of sharing “news” from the conference then, I think I’ll share some tidbits that ARE worth repeating.  And we’ll start with this behemoth:

It's a GIANT sundial! (Image courtesy of Inhabitat)

This, my friends, is apparently the largest “solar energy” building in the world, in Shangdong Province in Northwest China, which is to say that, at 75,000 square meters, it’s the largest building in the world that uses a solar array as a primary energy source.  I can’t find evidence that the solar array powers the WHOLE building all of the time, however.   Stories like this make me wonder if China has been using all of the interest that we are paying them on our loans to make solar powered buildings.  If they can churn out gigantic buildings like this, do you think they can throw a few solar panels our way?  Maybe they can throw in a couple of PV arrays with our loan bill each month?

Next up is one SUPER COOL thing that has debuted in Copenhagen during the past week, and that’s this Copenhagen Wheel created by MIT students.  It’s got a kinetic energy recovery system, sensors, a smart lock, and a Bluetooth connection to the rider’s iPhone.  Talk about reinventing the wheel!  Hardy-har-har.  (Sorry.)

the Copenhagen Wheel (image courtesy of Inhabitat)

Last but not least I’d like to point out this wonderful blog post about the art seen in Copenhagen during COP15 (by, you guessed it, the equally wonderful Inhabitat).   It’s nice to know that the leaders at the conference will have something to think about as they shuttle around the city in their 1200 limos.   Meanwhile, 36% of the actual population of the city gets around by bike, a staggering statistic that is more than 5x the percent of bicyclists in America’s bike city, Portland.

So I guess we’ll just sit back and see how this one ends, shall we?

Take, for example, the news that the first net-zero neighborhood in the United States is being built in Boulder. At just 12 homes, it will be a tiny neighborhood, yes, but a photovoltaic-powered assemblage of LEED Platinum homes nonetheless.

Image courtesy of Inhabitat

Also, today I learned from one of the DOE’s daily updates that the U.S.  Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs is committed to being the first institution of its kind to reach net-zero energy use, by purchasing or producing as much renewable energy as it consumes.   The Air Force is actually leading the government charge on energy innovation, and according to the DOE,

“The Air Force currently uses more green power — 426.2 million kilowatt hours (kWh) annually — than any other branch of government, over a third more than the second-place Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and twice as much as third-place DOE.”

Very impressive!  The Air Force has also collectively added several “green stripes” to its uniform (wait, do the Air Force get stripes on their uniform?  I think so?) with several EPA and DOE Green Power awards, including:

• 2003: Green Power Partner of the Year;
• 2004: Green Power Leadership Award;
• 2005: Green Power Partner of the Year;
• 2008: Green Power Leadership Award.

Building improvements at the Air Force Academy will focus on the 6.4 million sf of space already in use, with high efficiency mechanical, electrical and HVAC equipment; security and energy efficiency upgrades to window wall systems; improved building insulation; utilization of natural lighting; and energy-focused roofing replacements.   The goal in making these improvements is to have all its buildings reach or exceed the USGBC’s LEED Gold standard.

And NO, I’m not finished yet.  As IF that weren’t enough, the Air Force’s leadership on renewable energy has led Colorado’s elected officials, military and energy leaders to create the Front Range Renewable Energy Consortium (FRREC) to “collaboratively develop and utilize the state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency resources”.  This new consortium includes:

• Department of Defense and military (Air Force, Army, Colorado National Guard);
• DOE and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory;
• Governor’s Energy Office;
• USNORTHCOM/NORAD;
• Xcel Energy;
• Tri-State Generation;
• Colorado Springs utilities.

That list above doesn’t even mention the Air Force Academy’s Army neighbor, Fort Carson, which is ALSO now marching towards net-zero energy status and hopes to reach this goal by 2015.

Whew!  That’s a heck of a lot of bullet points, and a heck of a lot less energy consumption.  Massachusetts, New York, and Wisconsin, you have an answer to this?  California, Oregon and Washington?  …Your move!  Colorado might soon be renamed “The Net-Zero State”…

Without further ado, Former Vice President Al Gore describes how he’s going to “get crazy” to get out the message of climate change.  Right on!