Solar Powered Air Conditioner

by Ivy Long With a solar powered air conditioner you can save money this summer. A solar powered air conditioner is eco-friendly and will lessen your power bill. Also you can make it from your old air conditioner. All you do is install solar panels. This way you can make a huge difference in your energy usage.

Grand Junction's net-zero energy historic building

There has recently been plans to turn the historic grand junction Aspinall Federal Building and Courthouse into the first net-zero energy usage country in America.
The building would produce as much energy As it uses in one year. The building will maintain its historic qualities and it will install the newest technologies.

The building will install energy saving geothermal heating and cooling system and solar panels to meet the energy needs of the building. They will also install state of the art lights and wireless controllers, along with windows with solar control film that control how much sun is needed.

Any of the excess energy that is created will be sent to grand junctions electrical grid.

Additional information from: http://coloradoenergynews.com/2011/03/grand-junction-site-of-countrys-first-net-zero-energy-historic-building/

Drafty Homes?

By mallory coats Is your home drafty? Do you turn up the heat? Is it still cold/wasting energy/wasting money? If you answered yes to this then keep reading. If you answered no then read it anyway. Drafty homes are mainly the cause of bad outside seals or cracks. Heat can escape through these and cold air can come in. This is not energy effiecent . A way to stop this is by sealing these up or you could just turn your heat off and freeze to death.

Energy Saving Architecture

by Tori Riggs Good architecture can help anyone save energy, whether they are at home, school, or work. When building any sort of structure, you want to make sure that there are no cracks in the walls or floor, to make sure that too much air doesn't flow through the structure. You also want to seal everything up tightly to prevent further cracking. This can help you save energy and start you living in a happy, green home.

Aerogel

NASA has designed a product called Aerogel, also known as "frozen smoke". It is 99.8% air. It is used in space shuttles and can endure temperatures higher than 2,500 degrees farhenheit and is the most powerful insulator on Earth. Think of the money it could save you if you had it in your home! I'm not sure it is on the mass market, but it is really cool and I think NASA should put it out there.

Service Learning: More Than Just a Club

Service-learning is a very common club in schools. It is a teaching, learning, and reflection technique that engages participants in interesting service opportunities, reveals the true nature of the community being served, and targets the root causes of societal issues. But service-learning is more than just a club. It is a fun, easy way to volunteer and help your community. Service-learning also helps kids see the connection between what is happening in their school and home and what is happening in the rest of the world. Service-learning let's kids choose their projects and allows them to get as invested in them as they want.

ReDirect Guide http://www.peacejam.org/

Sustainability Values

Here in America we value a lot of things. Family, friends, food, ect. We are always with our family and friends, and we practically worship food. But what if we valued something actually valuable? What if we valued something like sustainability? That would make our country so much better! Maybe if we valued sustainability instead of food we would worship it! then it would help our earth and maybe even our happiness. Atleast we would have less over weight people. so next time you think about what you value add sustainability to your list! http://www.revisioninternaitonal.org/ ReDirect Guide