Having to hurry home at sunset because his family’s farm lacked electricity inspired Ahmed Almansour to study electrical engineering. Read the University of British Columbia student’s story.

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Tags: Ahmed Almansour, Electrical Engineering, Electricity, lights, power, University of British Columbia

To get a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum certificate, a building must cut energy use to about half that of a typical structure. That’s tough. What’s tougher? The Living Building Challenge (LBC).

According to Time magazine, the LBC was created six years ago, and to win certification a building must use half the energy of a LEED platinum building and have net-zero energy and water systems. So far, only three buildings have managed that feat, and they’re quite small. However, a six-story, 4,600-square-meter office building will open this fall in Seattle that’s aiming to meet the LBC requirements.

The $30 million Bullitt Center will house the Bullitt Foundation, whose president is Denis Hayes, a former staff director who worked with Earth Day founder Former U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson.

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Tags: Architectural, Bullitt Center, Civil, construction, Denis Hayes, Design, Electricity, Energy, Environmental, Green Technology, LDC, LEED, Materials, recycling, solar power, toilet

Anyone who’s ever worked up a sweat running for the school bus knows it takes energy to move. Now, a young inventor in England has come up with a way to capture the ambient kinetic energy of footsteps–or dance moves–and use it to generate electricity.

Pavegen tiles are rubber, waterproof squares made from recycled tires, and 80 percent of their inner workings are made from recycled materials, too. When people step on them, the tiles harvest the energy and convert it to electricity.

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Filed under: e-News, Electrical, Environmental, Materials | 2 Comments »

Tags: dance, Electrical, Electrical Engineering, Electricity, Energy, Green Technology, lights, Materials, Pavegen, recycling, sidewalk, Technology

How can we reduce our dependence on foreign oil? T. Boone Pickens explains his plan for alternative, domestic energy in a 30-second TV commercial.

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Tags: Biotechnology, Electricity, Energy, Green Technology