Columns/Blogs

The Building sector of our economy consumes 41% of our nation’s total energy and almost three quarters of our nation’s electricity. That is higher than the transportation sector and the industrial sector. The way in which that energy is generated has been hotly debated over the years. The growing concern over greenhouse gas emissions has clearly put the fossil fuel-generated energy installations in the cross hairs of environmentalists. Our current fuel mix according to the DOE is 50% coal, 19% natural gas and 19% nuclear. Renewables make up a small percentage of the nation’s energy.

During the worst part of winter in the northern states many residents plan trips and vacations to the warmer parts of the country like Florida, the gulf or the desert. Most of these folks are just looking for some comfortable weather and doing things outdoors that they can’t do in the snow, ice and frigid temperatures back home.

There is growing interest in using green chemistry to avoid hazardous chemicals of concern. This was a theme in a recent webinar series conducted by the Green Science Policy organization. Green Science can be defined as “the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and/or generation of hazardous substances”.