If I were to ask you where is “Green” working?  You might be hard-pressed for anything more than a general answer.  Where is it specifically working?

Endependence.info concerns itself primarily with energy independence but the “green” and “sustainable” movements are close at hand.  All of them signify change.

I am a media/video/film producer on the front-line of seeing and documenting where some of the “green” change is happening.  With industry, marketing sustainability is a tough uphill fight.  The front line is what this blog is about…the step-by-step struggle to convert from “convenient, quick, cheap and hazardous” to “education, patience, initially more expensive and non-hazardous”.

We witness companies try to promote green products and not get the instantaneous spectacular results business is accustomed to and requires.  The negativity of discouragement is an easy out, but no one crossed the prairie in a Conestoga wagon easily.  Many mind-sets are going to have to change and change isn’t comfortable for established businesses or their customers.

This is where the media exposure of inspiration and education will come into play.

For instance, the company GreenSmart has an interesting idea.   GreenSmart finds the “green” products that really work, tests them and then finds users (businesses and industry) willing to risk trying the products.  Sounds simple?  It’s not.  The human qualities of trust and faith and a high degree of personal contact and integrity are called for.   I am part of GreenSmart and Endependence, but the concepts of this blog are borne from experience on the front line of trying to produce films and videos about green and sustainable subjects.

Take a look at the GreenSmart demo and let me know what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw_2618mK7I

This blog is going to document the progress of the battle to change to green and sustainable.  If you know of any sustainable trials, whether it is from the development side or from the user perspective, this is where we can share the efforts.  Just add to the comments.  Come back good buddy…

A recent report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (part of the Department of Energy) shows that a medium sized retail building could cut its energy use in half using existing technology.  Here is the ABSTRACT from the report.
“The recommendations are not exhaustive, but we do try to emphasize the benefits of integrated building design, that is, a design approach that analyzes a building as a whole system, rather than as a disconnected collection of individually engineered subsystems.”

-Technical Support Document: Development of the Advanced Energy Design Guide for Medium Box Retail—50% Energy Savings
E.T. Hale, D.L. Macumber, N.L. Long, B.T. Griffith, K.S. Benne, S.D. Pless, and P.A. Torcellini

Despite the protestations to the contrary about the report not being exhaustive, it is 218 pages long with charts, graphs, spread sheets, etc.  This is a government version of not exhaustive.

http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=126

One of the experts that Endependence relies on for sound advice about building energy efficiency, Rick Chitwood of Chitwood Energy Management, has been pointing out the failings of the hodgepodge design of buildings for years.  Here he discusses the easy energy efficiency gains that can be achieved in a residence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENHciW-fK5Q

The energy used by buildings is the largest contributor to greenhouse gases.

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-5-v-38.html

The low hanging fruit of building energy efficiency is there for the taking.  No breakthroughs are needed, just a better use of existing technology and design.