The vinyl siding industry wants to be considered as a green alternative to other siding, window, decking and roofing materials--primarily because of PVC's presumptive durability. So Green Builder magazine gave them a chance to make their case, by answering some tough questions.

The vinyl siding industry wants to be considered as a "green" material. So we asked them to answer some tough questions about PVC's true durability, comparison to other plastics, and recycling record. Here's the give and take, unedited, between Green Builder editor-in-chief Matt Power and the vinyl industry's representative. The abbreviated exchange runs in our August 2011 print issue.

Download the PDF

As usual, Germany, the world's leading integrator of solar power, is showing how to move into a clean energy future. They want nuclear power discontinued by 2022.

Interesting to note that Germany's economy is one of the least impacted by the global recession, despite heavy government regulation of utilities and a big push toward alternative power.

Article HERE.

Looking for editorial coverage for your building company, product or architectural firm? Follow a few basic guidelines and you really increase your chance of getting your message out in our printed pages (and digital applications).

• Is it more durable than your typical competitors’ products?
• Does it require less maintenance?
• Does it save energy?
• Does it require less resource extraction than comperable products?
• Is there a plan for the end of life of this product?
• Is it recycled and recyclable?
• Is the transportation footprint lighter than competing materials and products?

 

• Images that are 266 dpi will print at the highest quality. Usually an image at that resolution only needs to be 5 inches.
• Save images as jpg or tiff, and keep the total size of the photos you send under 8 MB so you can send them in one email.
• Another option we like a lot is use of yousendit.com. But remember to send small preview images with email so we can see the photos before we download them. And leave us a decent amount of time to download them (say, a month).

 

• Attach photos but keep total email size to under 8MB.
• Keep the release short and attach contacts for someone is not an employee of company third party contacts to help us expedite interviews.
• Make sure case studies of retrofit and new construction include photos and that show the product mentioned. If you have them, send both in-progress and completed photos.
•  We are most interested in products that are made out of recycled materials and are recyclable—not products that are just recyclable. If you cite a product’s recycled content as one of its green features, make sure you are specific. For example, if you say your decking product has recycled content, let us know whether it is HDPE or PVC.
• Include illustrations. We are always looking for informational graphics that explain how a product works. Above, the house illustration by Daikin is an example of a great information graphic. If you’ve produced something like this in house and you can provide a photoshop version, your information is more likely to get published.

• Don’t send in-house company notices about promotions or plant improvements unless these topics directly result in an end product or process that’s greener.
• Don’t send notices about commercial type products that are not available for residential construction. We don’t currently cover schools and office buildings.
• Don’t send notices about the fact that you are now in compliance with regulations that already exist. We are more interested in news about how you have gone above and beyond the current regs.
• Don’t send news about the adoption of a sustainability statement or mission for your company. Simply writing a sustainability statement is not newsworthy, because there's no evidence of follow-through. However, if you have measurable success to report after you have adopted a sustainability statement, that’s news!

Cheers--M. Power

Japan's nuclear meltdown is now far worse than originally admitted. The age of nuclear power as a viable energy alternative is over.

If you've never heard of Michio Kaku, you're missing out on the work on the work of one of the most brilliant scientists alive. Not only did he co-discover String Theory, but he's a courageous advocate for telling the truth about technology. And what he's saying about Japan's nuclear meltdown is very, very frightening.

In a nutshell, Kaku says the option of "entombing" the reactors in concrete that he had previously discussed is now gone. At least one reactor has been breached, and red hot nuclear material is heading for groundwater. When it gets there, a huge explosion will take place.

What can be done at this point? The options are few, Kaku says. A nuclear bomb could be exploded on the site, to try to "vaporize" the core, but he notes, (ominously) that this is probably a bad idea.

 Back in Februray of 2010, I wrote a blog explaining why I'm opposed to nuclear power.

I described the ongoing maintenance and protection of nuclear power as a "nuclear nanny state," where a large, centralized government has to regulate, defend, inspect and manage a plant for decades, if not centuries at enormous costs.

 And the U.S. is deeply culpable in this disaster. Those Fukushima plants, built by tax-dodging General Electric, were known to have disastrous design flaws.

 We should begin to phase out nuclear power in the U.S. immediately, with a short time frame of say, three years to decommission plants of the Mark I type built by GE. We've had our warning. Now, do we play dumb, or admit that our trust in nuclear power was naive at best. I suggest we use some of the $14 billion dollars in taxes that General Electric owes to all of us toward the decommissioning. The debt GE may owe to Japan for their role in turning that country into a toxic wasteland is beyond reckoning. Maybe CEO Jeffrey Immelt, now one of Obama's key advisors, should simply hand the company keys over to the Japanese and drive off into the sunset.

Related Links:

New Report: Fukushima nuclear site will need to be "nannied" by human beings and for THE NEXT 100 YEARS. To put that in perspective, 100 years ago the first automobiles were being built.

Goldman Sachs has told its employees to stay put in Japan, because fleeing might look bad.

Interactive Map of all current and planned nuclear reactors worldwide HERE.

A new census report shows that 13 percent of U.S. homes stand empty--many of them vacation homes. Is it time to bring down the energy-saving hammer down on second homes?

A blog from our friends at Housing Zone this morning alerted us to the fact that the number of vacant homes in the U.S. has been at record levels for the last couple of years. Of those, a huge number are seasonal homes--meaning they stand idle most of the year, most of them are in "Maine, Vermont, Florida, Arizona and Alaska."

Think about that for a minute.

Chances are that a home left unoccupied in New England or Alaska must still be heated to above-freezing temperatures to prevent pipes from freezing. And a Florida home will have to be at least mildly air conditioned, to prevent mold and mildew.

That means that all of those homes are not only using valuable energy, they're adding to our global climate change crisis.

Perhaps it's time to look at raising the building code bar for second homes. If a home is to be left unoccupied most of year, it's in the best interest of both local infrastructure and the environment to build it to net zero standards. In other words, it should produce on site all necessary energy for its annual heating or cooling or security system needs.--M. Power