Posted By Betsy Kraat
PHILADELPHIA, PA–Following more than a year of work, PECO recently received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Existing Building (EB) silver and gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for five local buildings.
In total, PECO now operates six LEED certified buildings representing nearly half of all LEED-EB certified buildings in Pennsylvania.
“In 2007 we launched a major environmental initiative for our company and our customers. The work at these sites is our demonstration of how important it is to take steps to reduce energy use and how those steps will pay off by reducing energy costs and helping the environment.” (more…)
Lutron Capri
The trove includes the original “dimming device” that launched a lighting-control revolution.
Laura Fisher Kaiser — Interior Design, 5/7/2010 12:00:00 AM
Few inventors can say they revolutionized interior lighting, cut energy consumption, and made people look and feel sexier—all with a single device.
Joel Spira can.
He’s the inventor and developer of the dimmer switch—the iconic gold knob that has graced countless dining room walls since the 1960’s. In a special ceremony on April 29, the chairman and founder of Pennsylvania-based Lutron Electronics donated a trove of materials related to the company’s 50-year history to the electricity collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.
Appropriately, the chandeliers were dimmed in a private reception suite of the museum as the 83-year-old Spira officially signed the deed of donation. Spira then recounted how he got his start designing missile control switches during World War II. He turned the guest bedroom of his apartment in New York into a workshop, and by 1961 he’d perfected the dimming prototype. Until then, such devices were clunky and mechanical; Spira’s was electronic, reliable, and could fit inside a wall box. More..
United States Green Building Council
Nicholas Tamarin — Interior Design, 4/30/2010
A new report by the United States Green Building Council and national energy, housing, environmental, and real estate organizations is sounding the alarm on America’s building stock while citing the many ways in which the Obama Administration can step up on the energy efficiency and sustainability of America’s multifamily and commercial buildings.
Entitled “Using Executive Authority to Achieve Greener Buildings: A Guide for Policymakers to Enhance Sustainability and Efficiency in Mulitfamily Housing and Commercial Buildings,” the study concludes that the current presidential administration has the unprecedented ability to use over 30 existing federal programs worth $72 billion to enhance efficiency in commercial buildings and multifamily housing with no new legislation needed. (more…)
