Yesterday's Seattle Times re-published a story by Dana Hull that originally appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, "Energy Efficiency to Shine in 2010" (http://bit.ly/9dmxUz).
It's a quick read and well worth your time. The gist: Solar may be sexy but the sheer numbers are in energy efficiency. This reminds me of a recent conversation with the contractor who conducted an energy audit at my home in November. He said that he loves to build new net-zero homes, and he has several to his credit, but the real opportunity for Vermont and the nation is to button up older homes like mine.

It's cold outside here in northern Vermont this time of year (nine degrees and snowing as I write this). But this winter it's a bit warmer, at least here inside the early 20th-century building where some of the the good folks of KSV hang out five days (sometimes more) a week.
That's because we've just completed phase two of a three-phase project to replace all 34 super-size windows in our three-story building. Those are brand new Pella Architect Series double-pane, low-E2-with-Argon-gas windows you see in the accompanying photo.

This is cool!
High-tech start-up Redwood Systems, of Fremont, Calif., is devising new lighting systems using light emitting diodes (LEDs). There's nothing new about LED lighting except that Redwood is claiming to significantly reduce the cost to install its technology in commercial buildings. Unfortunately the energy- and money-efficient among us will have to wait until May for the formal unveiling. In the meantime, learn more from this New York Times Green Inc. blog post by Leora Broydo Vestel (http://bit.ly/7ahbJy).

It's good to see the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) getting tough with LG Electronics and its abuse of the Energy Star label (http://bit.ly/6djbZT). Energy Star is among the most powerful energy efficiency brands in the country. Allowing its name to be associated with energy-guzzling refrigerator-freezers does it no good. Hooray for the the smart marketers at Energy Star for taking a stand.