With the recent acquisition of Whole Foods Market by Amazon, it’s a good time to listen to Green Connections Radio host’s fascinating conversation with Whole Foods Markets’ Global Head of Sustainable Facilities, Kathy Loftus. Kathy initiated some innovative strategies to reduce the enormous energy consumption of the retailer’s 420 stores and myriad other buildings. How… Continue reading Kathy Loftus of Whole Foods
Mobile phones are a massive business. Carriers had registered 5.9 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions as of January 2011, putting global penetration at 87 percent, according to the International Telecommunications Union. Think about all the energy required to charge all those phones. Fortunately, there are innovations in the works to reduce those energy requirements, and the resulting… Continue reading How an upstart helped Samsung beat the iPhone in energy efficiency
Fashion Week 2012 in New York this past week showed that the latest muse is sustainability, and that this values-driven focus is giving birth to a stronger independent streak as well. Some of us thought it was settled that “sustainable” meant triple bottom line — people, planet, profit. But because the “profit” part gets tricky… Continue reading Driving Innovation at Fashion Week 2012: Sustainability and Independence
Intrigued by new energy management software, the Utility Accountant by Load IQ, Siemens decided to underwrite a small-scale beta test of it in Germany. Liking what they saw, they opted for another beta test, at 10 times the size of the first one. What’s so appealing? Load IQ’s Utility Accountant enables property or facility managers… Continue reading The secret weapon in the large-company toolbox
Looking for a job? Between 1 and 3 million new U.S. manufacturing jobs are being created in the energy field over the next 5 to 10 years. But before you say “I’m not an engineer,” remember: They hire administrative assistants, marketers, project managers, bookkeepers and finance people too, that is, all levels and skills. This… Continue reading Looking for a Job?
Leaders talk about growing a green economy and developing clean energy solutions, but the (mostly-male) talent trolling the halls of the Gaylord National Harbor Convention Center for the ARPA-E 2012 Innovation Summit last week was filled with folks actually doing it. One of the keynote speakers who brought the engineers face-to-face with reality was Steve… Continue reading ARPA-E on the Practical Side of (Energy) Innovation
