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Where is LEED having the most impact in the US?
Scott E. Rupp Facilities & GroundsThe U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently released its annual list of the Top 10 States for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), the world's most widely used green building rating system. The list ranks states in terms of certified square feet per resident in the previous year, and it highlights the latest developments throughout the U.S. that are making significant strides in sustainable design, construction and transformation.
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Efficiency of buildings increase, with a focus on facility managers
Scott E. Rupp Facilities & GroundsIn 2010, the U.S. building sector generated 45 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions in the country — that's right, nearly half of all carbon emissions came from the places Americans live, shop and work in every day. Much of this is because of the fact that residential and commercial buildings use 75 percent of all electricity produced in the U.S., for lighting, pumping, heating and cooling.
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Google offers global geospatial analysis for the masses
Bill Becken Science & TechnologyA plethora of global remote-sensing technologies acquire terabytes of environmental data minute by minute. Much of it is routed to and through the cloud. This was not the case perhaps a decade ago.
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Mapping degraded lands with applied geospatial knowledge
Bill Becken Natural ResourcesWill the restoration of degraded lands come to the rescue of a world short on water, arable land and space — a world long on polluted water, unusable land and mouths to feed, young and old?
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Will cryptocurrency help or hurt Puerto Rico’s rebuilding efforts?
Michelle R. Matisons Science & TechnologyCryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum have been all over the news lately, as they have generated lots of new wealth for investors. Now, a group of innovators has descended upon Puerto Rico in the hopes this tax-free haven will be the perfect home for their activities.
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New York City leads global fossil fuel divestment campaign
Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & EnvironmentalNASA recently reported that 2017 was the second-hottest year on record. Climate scientists did not expect this since El Niño was not a factor in 2017, as it was in the two record-setting previous years.
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Mudslides devastate Montecito, California
Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & EnvironmentalAfter a deluge of rain was forecasted following containment of the Thomas Fire — the largest fire in California history — the prediction of mudslides was a bit much for Santa Barbara County residents. Now, the affluent town of Montecito, population 10,000, has reported 20 dead, with the death count expected to rise as recovery workers wade slowly and cautiously through new mud terrain.
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Connected and mobile devices putting a strain on the environment
Scott E. Rupp Waste Management & EnvironmentalThe always-on, internet-of-everything age of productivity in which we live actually has a down side (other than our constantly being connected to a device). These electronics cause a lot of emissions to be produced and might eventually stress the planet's power grid.
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Power plants are no longer the biggest polluter in the US
Scott E. Rupp Natural ResourcesThere's a new king of pollution in the U.S., and data suggests we might all be to blame. For the first time in 40 years, power plants have been usurped as the biggest source of U.S. greenhouse gas pollution. What's on top now? The transportation sector: cars, trucks, planes, trains and boats.
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MIT researchers convert emissions into fuel
Scott E. Rupp Natural ResourcesScientists may have discovered a means by which they can transform emissions back into fuel, essentially using waste discharge to power our transportation needs, possibly in the not-too-distant future. The findings of the research were published in the journal ChemSusChem.
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