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Category: Buildings

Rerun: Could Windows Be A Source of Solar Power? with Professor Stephen Forrest


Office buildings, high rises, and greenhouses are covered in windows. What if we used all that window space to capture solar energy and add to the grid’s renewable energy supply? Listen to University of Michigan engineering professor Steven Forrest explain how a change in the semiconducors used in solar panels could allow us to transform windows into power sources — without sacrificing light and transparency.

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Cool surfaces: Reflecting heat and reducing emissions, with Ronnen Levinson

Can cool surfaces—roofs, walls, or pavements that are generally light-colored and highly reflective—help combat climate change? We spoke with Ronnen Levinson, a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, about how such surfaces combat climate change by reducing heat and lowering energy consumption in buildings.

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An Induction Range, No Rewiring Required

Fans of the induction cooktops say it’s how we’ll electrify our homes, breathe cleaner air… and maybe cook better too. The hitch? Installing these cooktops often requires expensive and time consuming rewiring. We spoke to Channing Street Copper Company, a startup whose new induction cooktop could help make the technology more accessible by which plugging directly into the wall.

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Using Groundwater to Heat and Cool Buildings


Heat pumps are a more sustainable and efficient way to heat homes than to conventional gas heat, but they’re often too expensive for homeowners to install. Meet the GeoGrid, an underground geothermal heat pump network that could make the technology more efficient and accessible. Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) is a nonprofit working with utilities to develop GeoGrids in residential neighborhoods. We spoke to HEET Executive Directors Audrey Schulman and Zeyneb Magavi about heat pumps and the advantage to connecting them via a GeoGrid approach.

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Equitable Policy for Energy Efficient Homes with Dr. Steve Cliff


In our second episode with California Air Resources Board’s Executive Officer, Dr. Steve Cliff, hear how Dr. Cliff is thinking about the challenges of building electrification and the role government can play in ensuring a just transition to energy efficient buildings.

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Using Concrete for Carbon Removal with Dr. Erica Dodds

Dr. Erica Dodds heads the Foundation for Carbon Restoration, which advocates for using carbon removal – in addition to emissions reductions – to restore atmospheric carbon dioxide to pre-industrial revolution levels. One method of removal she says is promising? Storing carbon in concrete.

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Using Geothermal Technology to Replace Natural Gas in Homes with HEET

Heat pumps are often suggested as a way for homes to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. However, their high price tag has traditionally made them inaccessible to many. By installing neighborhood wide geothermal technology, GeoGrids could provide the solution.

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