MOTOR MONDAY = Red Carpet, but fewer Green Cars

How the Oscars and Hollywood Turned Their Backs on Green Cars
hollywoodreporter.com

Nearly a decade after a cavalcade of Toyota Priuses first pulled up to the red carpet, a scarcity of both sexy styles and industry support have carmakers trying to recharge interest in environmental autos.


This story first appeared in the March 2 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.



If you've got a ticket to the Oscars and you're a Hollywood luminary who wants to make a statement about the environment, give Dave Barthmuss at General Motors a ring.
The veteran GM communications manager says the company is counting on Hollywood to be "early adopters and make it cool to drive an electric car." So he's offering rides to the Feb. 26 awards show in Chevrolet's plug-in hybrid Volt. And with slower-than-expected sales for the Volt, Nissan Leaf and other green cars, manufacturers could use all the help from the town it can muster. "If you want to encourage people across the country to get into these things there is no better time to make a statement than now," says Barthmuss.
There is, of course, a precedent for such efforts. Nearly a decade ago, the Toyota Prius had its Hollywood coming-out party at the Academy Awards, snagging the sort of press that carmakers -- especially those releasing cutting-edge (and expensive) green vehicles -- covet.
At the 2003 show, about a half-dozen stars including Cameron Diaz, Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart arrived at the Kodak Theatre in Priuses provided by Toyota Motor Corp. and a local dealership. It was the perfect photo-op: Amid a sea of hulking black Lincoln Town Cars, the compact gas-electric hybrids stood out to viewers at home and attendees walking the red carpet.
Organized by environmental organization Global Green USA, the Prius push was a boon for Toyota, which launched the car in 2001 and now sells more than 100,000 annually. But Global Green jettisoned the program after the 2008 show, which means unless attendees drive themselves in their eco-friendly rides (Ed Begley Jr. and Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have done so in their electric Toyota RAV4s) or take Barthmuss up on his offer, green cars will largely be absent from the show for the fourth year running.
Some automotive observers believe the entertainment business, which made a strong push on the issue a decade ago, could do more to champion the use of green cars -- especially at a time when there are a wealth of new options on the market. "I don't see people either in front of the screen or behind the screen embracing electric vehicles any more in 2012 than they did in 2006, and you would have thought there would have been a huge increase in the numbers of people in Hollywood embracing the technology," says Buddy Pepp, executive director of the Petersen Automotive Museum.
Analysts say a slower-than-hoped-for adoption rate -- not just by the showbiz set but nationally -- can be attributed to a handful of issues: prospective buyers' discomfort with new technology and reputation-damaging recalls of cars such as the Volt and Fisker Karma; a lack of product due to supply-chain issues for the Volt and Leaf; and a dearth of affordable green rides that also are aesthetically appealing. "These vehicles are getting better. But a lot of people are going to say, 'Why would I sacrifice space? Why would I sacrifice my wallet?' " says Rebecca Lindland, an automotive consultant with IHS Global Insight.
Expensive niche products such as the Karma and the now-discontinued Tesla Roadster, with their six-digit price tags, have sales figures that are far lower than their more mainstream counterparts like the Volt (7,395 new car registrations in 2011, according to analytics firm R.L. Polk & Co.) and the Leaf (8,439); in the case of the Roadster, which counts Dustin Hoffman and Matt Damon as owners, only 2,500 were sold during the car's five-year run.
But manufacturers such as Nissan, Chevrolet and Fisker say that in high-profile instances, Hollywood has embraced their newest products. Some have found their way into films and television programs; on CBS' Two and a Half Men, for example, Ashton Kutcher's character drives a Fisker Karma. And many green cars do count celebrities as their owners. Leonardo DiCaprio, who was driven to the 2008 Oscars in a Prius provided by Global Green, owns a $102,000 plug-in hybrid Karma sports car, as do Kutcher, Al Gore, Colin Powell and John Lasseter. "Holly-wood actors probably have a small obligation to be the front-runners and take that risk, because they can afford to take that risk," says Fisker CEO Henrik Fisker. "And it's great to see that a lot of them do it."


so much for leadership from old hollywood... this will need to be a bottom-up/generational movement

FAB FRIDAY = Linking Modules

A LITTLE HOUSE WITH GREAT POTENTIAL
addaroom.eu



The ONE+ minihouse is built by Scandinavian carpenters and delivered in one piece ready to  use. By the innovative modular house system several modules can be coupled together in different ways, to fulfil the individual needs.
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Quite simply - a lego system for adults!
​The basic modules are 15 sq meter or 20 sq meters.
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ONE+ is complete from start and is well isolated with electricity as well as WC, shower and kitchen if wanted.
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There are various interior options:
Bathroom
Kitchen
Kitchenette
Mini Bathroom
Beds
Wardrobes
The concept also includes, besides the ONE+ basic modules, smaller units which we call out- and indoor linking modules and now even a sauna with multiple functions.
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if less is more... how much more do you need?

POWER WEDNESDAY = Center for Climate & Energy Solutions (C2ES)

Emission Reduction Potential of Climate-Friendly Buildings
pewclimate.org

Reductions in building-related GHG emissions can be achieved in many different ways: by increasing the amount of electricity generated from low- and zero-carbon technologies, by retrofitting existing buildings to reduce energy consumption and improve energy efficiency, and by constructing new buildings to be low- or zero-energy buildings. Many factors influence the level of emission reductions achieved. Significant improvements in energy efficiency are attainable and can reduce building-related emissions to very low levels or, when coupled with renewable energy sources, to zero.
Zero-energy buildings (ZEBs) are buildings designed to have markedly reduced energy needs achieved through design and efficiency measures; the remaining energy needs required by these buildings can be achieved through renewable technologies. ZEBs can be net energy producers through the use of on-site renewables. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007) directed the U.S. Department of Energy to form the Net-Zero Energy Commercial Building Initiative, a public-private collaboration, in order to “develop and disseminate technologies, practices, and policies” to promote and facilitate the transition to zero net energy commercial buildings. EISA 2007 calls for all new commercial buildings to be zero net energy consumers by 2030 and all U.S. commercial buildings to be zero net energy consumers by 2050.4 A recent analysis showed that by using existing technologies and practices, 22 percent of commercial buildings could be ZEBs by 2025; this number increases to 64 percent if technology improvements are included.
A variety of other public and private efforts to reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions from commercial and residential buildings have emerged in recent years, including the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, Architecture 2030’s 2030 Challenge, and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers’ (AHSRAE) goal to improve commercial building codes by 30 percent by 2010.


less is more... regardless of initial cost, efficient buildings can yield savings over its lifetime