It might seem that in rough economic times, people’s main priority would be on saving or generating money. There is some truth to this statement, but it is not the whole truth. Some home buyers are not just looking for a good financial deal. They also want to buy a “green” or environmentally friendly property. Actually, they might even be fusing their financial and environmental concerns by seeing saved energy as saved money, and a healthier planet as good for their own health, too. Either way, it might behoove home sellers and real estate agents to see how they can attract and keep the attention of eco-conscious buyers.

Firstly, you might try making small but critical changes to the property itself in order to make it more environmentally friendly. Some of these changes can actually be classified as basic sprucing-up of a home that is up for sale. For instance, a seller might want to fix a leaky pipe. Fixing that pipe will save precious water-a plus for many environmentally-conscious buyers. However, it should appeal to most buyers, whether they worry much about the environment or not. Bad plumbing will definitely make the property harder to sell, and may get you in trouble after the sale, if you concealed the problem from the buyer and did not fix it. Some areas have very strict laws about such things.

Now, think energy. Recent scientific data, natural events, and media blitzes have all contributed to a widespread concern over global warming. Human energy consumption has been pinpointed as a major contributor to global warming. If you add some insulation to windows or doors, or make sure that light fittings are compatible with energy-saving light bulbs, you will be better able to draw in people who want to help our planet.

Furthermore, you should do research on the house. What is it made of? Does it include any special materials that are environmentally friendly, or were procured in a way that does not harm the planet much? Hopefully, you will find some data that will please buyers of green real estate. If not, well, at least you will be able to answer the questions of such buyers, in case they are curious about building materials.

Even the location of a home might have some sort of “green” slant to it. Perhaps it is in an area close to a recycling center, or is situated such that a prospective buyer might be able to easily set up solar energy panels. Perhaps it is located on a windy spot, which allows the owner to cut down on air-conditioning expenses. If the house happens to be near critical locations such as the buyer’s workplace, this means that he/she can save on gasoline. If the home is very close to a public transportation station, even better! These are some location-related factors that can help you market a home to an eco-conscious buyer. As a seller or agent, you might want to include such information in your sales pitch.

Solar energy does not have any tiered rates. Utility companies sell electricity at tiered rates depending on the amount of electricity you use. You pay a different rate in each tier, the more electricity you use, the more you are charged per unit of electricity. The baselinerate is the lowest rate charged; as you use more electricity the rate charged increases. The unit of electricity you are charged for is the Kilowatt-Hour (kWh). By charging different rates for energy usage, the utility company is attempting to reward conservation by charging a lot more if you use higher amounts of energy; how nice of them. The less energy you use, the less per kWh you pay.

Most utilities have 3 to 5 rate tiers, the highest tier is almost always double the cost or more of the lowest tier. A solar power system will lower your electric bill substantially because it will first target the highest rate tiers. This works especially well because the cost of electricity at the first two tiers is mandated by law and all users receive the same rate, however the higher tiers are unregulated and rise dramatically and will only continue to rise at the mercy of the utility companies. Nationally electricity rates average a 5% increase annually, in California it is closer to 7%, and the trend is only picking up speed as fuel prices remain unsteady, supplies diminish, equipment gets outdated and of course inflation. Utilities, are finding it is more expensive to generate power. However, the market for electricity is growing; demand continues to rise despite new advances in energy efficient appliances.

Inventing is a precarious process, to say the least, but it can also be an educational experience of a lifetime. For me, the invention development process began with a problem and the thought that its solution lay with one tool design. I had had no previous experience with inventing and was blind to the realities of the journey that awaited me. Thirty-five tool, flange, and valve designs later, I had learned about casting processes, machining, heat treating, plating, and the ritual intricacies of the legal realm – more than I ever thought I wanted to know. Thirty designs failed to gain acceptance. Five succeeded.

I had been in the heating trade for 17 years, the last 10 as a less-than-satisfied contractor. I often installed hot water circulator flanges, but this extremely simple flange design was ridiculously difficult to install (the picture on the front page exemplifies a heating system that utilizes many of these flanges). One day while installing a multi-zone system that required 20 of these troublesome flanges, a novel idea sprang into my head, uncoiling no doubt from the considerable tension I was under. I recalled a recent experience watching another contractor install a flange. He inserted two screwdrivers through as many bolt holes in the flange, and, positioning the handle end of a hammer between them, rotated them clockwise. Lacking the leverage that it required for him to tighten the flange, the force he exerted caused his hand to slip and be sliced open by an adjacent electrical enclosure. We were both used to this sort of environment and its hazards, but it was the memory of his method, and his blood, that stuck in my mind. While attempting to assemble the 20 flanges to copper adapters with a pipe wrench and adjustable wrench-the traditional method-it occurred to me how easily a simple tool could be fashioned that would incorporate elements similar to his screwdriver and hammer method. Only my design would prove to be safer, more effective, and more efficient.

The next morning I looked in the yellow pages for a patent lawyer. We scheduled a consultation at which time I disclosed my idea. He suggested I seek the assistance of a pattern maker to begin the process of making a sand casting prototype. “What’s a pattern maker?” I asked. The lawyer explained, and I remembered that my musician friend, David, whom I hadn’t seen in 10 years, was a pattern maker. Luckily, I was able to track him down.

I called David and his first words to me were, “I’m amazed you’re calling me. Just ten minutes ago I thought of you for no obvious reason.” How mysterious, but I believed it was a good omen. Soon we met and explored a couple of design options. With surprising efficiency he scratched out drawings almost as fast as I conveyed my ideas to him. In only a week, I had a finished bronze prototype for just $75. Because we were friends David was willing to accommodate my request for a rushed prototype even though he was in the midst of designing all of the door handles (250) for Bill Gates’ new house.

To make certain that I was the first to invent this new device, I paid for a prior art search of previously issued patents. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued over 6 million patents, so focusing the search on a category of low-tech hand tools relevant to mine seemed formidable. Luckily the search produced no similar designs, so I applied for a utility patent and the trademark, “Flange-Tite

We all need to take steps to save our environment, as most experts agree we are potentially staring ecological disaster in the face. Any improvements we can make, whether in the home, on the road or at work, should be taken seriously. Fortunately, governments, pressure groups and corporations have all woken up to the need for greener attitudes towards sustainability and efficiency.

A new concept that is helping to reverse the damage that’s been done, and provide excellent opportunities to enhance more suitable sources of energy, is green building. It involves the construction of homes, public offices and business that feature environmentally friendly processes throughout. Examples are appearing in towns and cities around the world, with many more to follow in the coming years.

In order to cut down on energy usage, green buildings usually feature high-efficiency windows, which will retain the heat, as well as insulation in the ceilings, floors and walls. Even the placement of windows may be oriented towards garnering more daylight, thereby helping to minimise the use of electric lighting, as the evenings start to draw in.

The use of solar panels will harness energy from the sun, even on a cloudy day, ensuring substantially lower use of fossil fuels. They will generate enough electricity to run appliances throughout the home, including the water-heating system. Of course, a building that produces its own power will not only be greener, it will also be substantially cheaper to run.

Wind power is also becoming a common feature of environmentally friendly buildings. Turbines can be fitted to the roof or onto a mast, and can run devices cheaply and easily. The energy can be stored in batteries, too, which can then be used later when it’s not as windy. It’s an exceptionally green way to generate electricity, and if there’s a surplus, it can be sold back to the national grid.

Other features of green buildings will ensure greater water efficiency. Low-flush toilets, for example, save significant amounts, as do reduced-flow shower heads. Many advancements recycle water throughout the heating and lavatory systems, and reservoirs and guttering help to collect rain during downpours. The installation of a bidet also saves on toilet paper.

The provision of compost bins helps to reduce spent food, by breaking it down naturally and organically. They’re perfect for aerobic decomposition, while at the same keeping the garden tidier than an old-fashioned heap. Most kitchen waste is biodegradable, and the remains provide nutrients for plant growth.

Even the resources used are environmentally efficient. Lumber grown in sustainable forests, recycled stone and metal, and locally extracted materials are all commonly found in the modern-day green building. There are several specialist companies that are on hand to advise on all aspects of the eco-friendly phenomenon – so establishing a better future is only a phone call away.

When the city skyline is lit up at night, it may make a pretty sight, but lighting up those empty buildings comes at a high price.

Lighting typically accounts for up to 40% of the energy used in commercial buildings, and the cost of that energy is creeping up year by year. One of the easiest ways to reduce energy use and cut costs is to turn off lights when they are not required. And the most reliable way to turn off lights at the end of each day is to automate the process.

Many of today’s lighting control and building automation systems provide “scheduling,” which automatically turns on, off, or dims lights at specified times of the day.

These scheduled lighting events can apply to either all lights within a building, or only to those in a specific “zone” (for example, entrance, hallway, cafeteria, or office).

Scheduling is usually implemented through an automated lighting or building control system. These systems provide an interface (often web-based) through which you specify information including

• the zone(s) for which you want the lighting event to occur
• the day(s) on which you want the event to occur
• the time at which the event begins and ends
• the lighting action to perform (for example on, off, or dim to a specified level)

As a simple example, let’s consider an office building where people work from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on Monday to Friday.

You could set up one scheduled event that turns all lights on at 8:00 a.m. and off at 6:00 p.m. each week day, and keeps all lights off over the weekend. That way, all lights would be on each morning before anyone arrives, and would turn off at the end of each day after they go home.

The system could also include manual over-ride controls, such as timers that turn lights on only for a specified period of time. These controls would allow people like cleaners and security staff to access the building outside of regular office hours.

Today’s flexible working hours mean that it is rare for everyone to arrive and leave at the same time each day. Therefore, a more real-world solution is to control segments of the building separately in a way that best suits their usage and occupants.

For example, a building might be broken down into zones that include entrance and lobby

• hallways
• open plan office
• cafeteria

You could then create different scheduled events to provide the appropriate light level for each zone:

• In an open plan office, where people typically perform stationary tasks that require high levels of illumination, lights could be turned on at 90% illumination between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. each week day.
• Entrances, lobbies and hallways typically don’t require as much illumination as an office, so the lights here could be turned on at 60% illumination between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
• Cafeterias, which are typically only used at meal times and are often filled with natural light, could turn lights on at 60% illumination between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

The more granular the control is that you’re able to apply, the more efficient you’ll be able to make your lighting solution, and the more energy and money you’ll be able to save.

Today’s modern lighting and building control solutions are able to identify each light, control, and sensor within your system by a unique address. You use these addresses to create and manage lighting zones through the control solution software.

In the days before automated control and addressing, zones were created by physically wiring together all required devices. This was costly and complex to do, and not particularly flexible when it came to reconfiguring a space if there was a requirement to move devices from one zone to another.

With addressing and automated control software, there is no cost or disruption when it comes to reconfiguring office space and changing the zones to which the individual ballasts and controls belong. Not only is it easy to use software to move devices from one zone to another, you can also include a single device in more than one zone for increased flexibility.

You can add even more flexibility by removing the wires. Traditional lighting control systems use wires to connect all lights, sensors and switches hard-wired with the systen’s central controller (or to a gateway that facilitates communication between the lighting network and lighting control software). The cost of the wiring together with the complexity of covering a large area, means that these often operate as a number of self-contained systems (for example, one per room or floor).

Newer lighting control solutions take advantage of wireless mesh networking. This allows lights, sensors, switches and the central controller to communicate with each other without the need for wires. Removing the wires provides more flexibility in terms of where switches and sensors can be placed, and also makes it more affordable to include additional sensors in your network (allowing you to obtain more granular information about occupancy and illumination levels).

Wireless mesh also supports more flexible and easier control of larger systems with more devices. It allows you to run your lighting control solution as a single system that covers an entire building (or multiple buildings), as well as room by room (or floor by floor) deployments. This approach provides a system-wide view of operations, current power usage, savings, and more.

Cost and energy savings are major design considerations for modern lighting systems. A wireless scheduling and lighting control solution provides all this and more.

The California Energy Commission estimates that scheduling alone can generate between 5% and 15% energy savings. Scheduling not only saves energy and money, it also helps buildings to comply with the “automatic shut-off of building lighting” requirements of energy codes such as ASHRAE 90.1 and California Title 24.

Removing the wires from the lighting system provides additional benefits, including greater flexibility in where controls can be placed, significant savings in installation (by avoiding the expense and disruption of wiring), and the ability to control and monitor large lighting installations as a single system.

Stop burning lights in empty offices late into the evening. The time has come for the commercial building industry to embrace something the fashion industry has known for years: Black is Beautiful!