Recently Filed in Green Technology

Being green is not just about building more sustainable and efficient products. A big part of it is about getting all those LCD screens and computers to us by using less fossil fuel. That represents a big part of a company’s carbon footprint. Two electronics companies, Sharp and HP, are touting their smaller carbon feet. The companies were among 27 that received SmartWay Excellence Awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for “conserving energy and lowering greenhouse gas emissions from their surface transportation supply… View this story
Green Technology • Manufacturers • Info and Answers

For more than 20 years, Steve Hunter has been designing and installing advanced electronic systems into homes. He thought he had seen and done it all—until he got a phone call from Control4. It seems that some products from Control4’s line of home control systems had been chosen to be part of a huge green home project to take place in Brentwood, CA. As one of Control4’s leading dealers in Southern California, Hunter and his company, The Hunter Group, were given the opportunity to outfit… View this story
Home Control Systems • Green Technology • Home Control • Cool Homes • Slideshows

Need a new phone? You can bring any brand of old phone to Staples for recycling between Oct. 12 and Nov. 15—and receive $30 back. And yes, there is a catch: You must purchase a selected GE or RCA telephone through Staples to get the free recycling and $30, which comes in the form of Staples Rewards and which means more shopping at Staples. The GE and RCA telephones available through the program are: GE 28871FE3—DECT 6.0 interference-free system with a corded base and two… View this story
Telephones • Green Technology • Info and Answers

“Sure,” you say. “I’d love to produce my own electricity with solar panels. But I don’t have $30,000 or more.” But what if you could get a nice little photovoltaic array for say … $6,000? That’s what John Worden, a homeowner in Gardner, MA, recently did. He and his family now have 10 Evergreen solar panels on the roof of their home, producing 1,900 watts (1.9 kilowatts) of electricity. It isn’t enough to cover the Worden’s whole electric bill, but it’s reduced their cost from… View this story
Green Technology • Info and Answers

Bummed over the prospect of heating your home with oil or gas this coming winter? Can’t get a wood pellet stove or boiler soon enough? You could always grab those portable electric heaters that will toast your tootsies to the tune of about 1,500 watts each—and heat up your electric bill as well. Another alternative is an Eco-heater, a two-foot-square, wall-mounted electric space heater that uses only 400 watts. The $150 heater mounts easily to a wall and can be painted to match—the manufacturer recommends… View this story
Climate Control • Green Technology • Product News

If you’ve seen Ed Begley, Jr. on TV, you probably know him as an environmental advocate. His show on the Planet Green channel, Living with Ed, is an entertaining, real-world account of his green home improvement adventures, often to the dismay of his wife, Rachelle Carson. The couple clashes over just about every eco-home initiative Ed concocts. Begley has parlayed the success of the show into a book, Living Like Ed, and spokesperson opportunities for green products such as Bayes Waterless Vehicle Wash, a non-toxic… View this story
Green Technology • Info and Answers

If you want to see some green homes in your area, check out the listings for the 13th annual National Solar Tour taking place this Saturday, Oct. 4. Chances are, there are some green homes in your area with solar technology and other green features such as sustainable building materials. You may even get lucky and find homes and buildings with cool stuff like geothermal heating, daylighting, heat recovery ventilation systems, composting toilets—and maybe even energy monitoring systems. The event offers participants the opportunity to… View this story
Power Management • Green Technology • Enhancements • Info and Answers

Looking at your most recent utility bills, it’s hard to believe that you could get free electricity. Well, you’d be right. Nothing is totally free. However, after footing the bill for solar panels, you can be self-sufficient enough to thumb your nose at the utility companies—as well as charge them a little for your services. Nice change, huh? Don’t expect to Google “solar panels” and find one model that’s right for your home, though. There are a variety of manufacturers and types of solar panels.… View this story
Power Management • Green Technology • Enhancements • Info and Answers

Can the consumer electronics industry really be green? Seriously, we’re gadget happy, we like bigger and better TVs and audio systems, and we love, love, love killer home theater systems with lots of high-powered, high-energy oomph. So I was curious as to what types of green electronics—if any—I would find at the recent CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association) Expo in Denver. As one of my fellow airport shuttle passengers said upon hearing of my plans, “Good luck on your quest.” That made me… View this story
AV Components • Amplifiers • Multiroom Audio • Displays • LCD • Plasma • Furniture and Mounts • Home Theater Accessories • Home Control • Industry • Lighting Control • Surge Protectors • Green Technology • Info and Answers

Local dimming: It sounds like something a lighting control system might do, or a utility might enforce when there isn’t enough power. Not quite, though it’s a term you’re bound to hear a lot more of. Local dimming is used often today to describe video displays that can dim part of a picture that is dark, for instance, and the term is used most often with today’s new LCD TVs with LED backlights. New and forthcoming LCDs like Samsung’s LN55A950 Series 9 ($4,500), Sharp’s Limited… View this story
Displays • LCD • Green Technology • Home Theater • Info and Answers

My first real vacation was a weeklong excursion to Miami Beach. What I remember more than Ethel Merman in “Call Me Madam,” the menacing funnel cloud of a waterspout, or my stolen coin purse, was the direction of the guide on the Jolly Roger tour boat. “Just throw it overboard,” he said in response to a question about empty soda cups. “It’ll end up somewhere downstream.” Even at six, I knew that was wrong. I can proudly say I’ve never dumped trash in the ocean.… View this story
Digital Media Servers • Digital Media Stores • Green Technology • Web Services • Movies and Music • Home Theater • Info and Answers

Old, historic homes are notorious for being cold and drafty. Scott and Sam Varn’s Asheville, NC, bungalow was no exception. “Even here in North Carolina winters can get very chilly and cold air would just pour in,” says Scott. “Homes like ours waste, on average, five times more energy than modern homes.” Sealing the Deal The Varns could have easily sealed up their home by putting in new energy-efficient windows, but that wouldn’t have set too well with their local historic resources commission. Built in… View this story
Green Technology • Home Control • Cool Homes • Slideshows