The Kyocera Group, a Japanese manufacturing company, is planting green curtains of climbing plants on the outer walls of 19 of its manufacturing plants and office buildings to achieve its 15 percent energy reduction target. The shade of the green walls reduce temperatures by up to 15 degrees Celsius compared to bare walls, enabling the group to considerably reduce air conditioning expenditures and energy use.

The Kyocera Group has planted green walls that cover 2,479 square meters, which in addition to reducing energy costs, also absorb carbon dioxide and provide vegetables that are served in employee cafeterias.

Read more at EcoSeed

 

BuildingRating.org is a global library of building energy performance rating and disclosure policies. Maintained by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Institute for Market Transformation (IMT), the website allows users to compare energy performance policies among 100 countries and jurisdictions.

Read more at Environmental Leader

 

Researchers from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology are currently developing a conference room fitted with an information system that can adjust its heating and cooling systems in relation to the number of persons inside it. It can be switched off when no one is using the conference room.

This will serve as a prototype for expanding the system to entire buildings, helping to manage energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions.

Read more at EcoSeed

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