Compact florescent bulbs can lose up to 40 percent of brightness over lifetime

Compact fluorescent lightbulbs could lose up to 40 per cent of their brightness over the next few years, according to the UK's Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Even a good quality CFL could lose 20 per cent of its light over its 8,000-hour lifespan - while cheaper bulbs could dim even more.

'Consumers could end up with a CFL nearing the end of its life that emits just 60 per cent as much light as a supposedly equivalent incandescent bulb,' the report says. That means a CFL that begins life as bright as a traditional 100 watt bulb, could become as dim as a 60 watt bulb.

Cleantech conference features modlet and much more

I'm on the exhibition floor of the Cleantech 2010 conference in Anaheim, California, looking at hundreds of green products and technologies. One standout is the modlet, a $40 device that allows you to monitor and control how much electricity your appliances are using. 

Its advantage over the competition is that it interfaces with your laptop so you can monitor multiple appliances (or anything else you care to plug into it). You can even control appliances remotely, turning them on and off from your laptop. 

Erika Diamond (pictured), VP of Business Development at thinkeco, told me they're also working on working on apps so you can control your appliances from your iPhone or iPad. Look for the modlet to be available by the end of 2010.

Overall, the Cleantech exhibition floor featured over twenty green building products and technologies, compared to zero when I first took part in 2007. The green building paper session I chaired today was our best-attended one since we started offering them three years ago, and attendance at the green building workshop I gave yesterday was twice last year's. 

It's terrific to see interest in green building growing every year, and new products like the modlet helping consumers save money and energy.

Cleantech 2010 to feature green building technologies & opportunities

Next week I'll be in Los Angeles for Cleantech 2010, presenting an all-day workshop on Green Building: Technologies & Opportunities and chairing the conference's green building sessions. This will be my fourth Cleantech, and it's a great event, drawing over 5,000 technology and business leaders and experts from academia, investment, government, startups and Fortune 1,000 companies.

I'm proud to have founded the green building portion of this conference, and seen it grow over the years. Green building is one of the most urgent environmental issues of our time. Buildings produce 40 percent of our carbon emissions, 40 percent of our solid waste, and consume 40 percent of our energy. Now, they're also leading the effort to save the planet.

There's also an excellent trade floor featuring hundreds of the latest technologies and innovations in clean and green technology. I hope to see you there or at a future Cleantech event!

GoodGuide iPhone app helps you find eco-friendly products

The GoodGuide iPhone app offers ratings of environmental impact for thousands of consumer products. This free app covers 50,000 products and even allows you to scan barcodes while shopping.

When you search for or scan a product contained in its database, the GoodGuide gives you a number between 1 and 10 for that product, 10 being the most environmentally friendly. It then breaks that number down into ratings for health, environmental and social impacts. It also provides you with "Behind the Rating" details about why that product earned its rating.

Of course these things are hard to quantify, and no doubt arguments could be made against specific ratings, but it's good to see someone at least trying to provide shoppers with a tool they can use to evaluate the environmental impact of the products they're putting in their carts and taking home to their families.

Nanotechnology for building insulation: great potential, limited success

This morning I was interviewed by Francisco Periales, a consultant in the Barcelona office of Bax & Willems, about nanotechnology for building insulation. We discussed how current nanotech insulation products have yet to live up to their potential, although we're seeing larger and more successful applications every day.

When our conversation turned to insulating existing buildings, Francisco pointed out that about thirty percent of all European buildings are registered historical landmarks, making alterations to their exteriors almost impossible. That means non-disruptive nanotech solutions like spray-on or paint-on insulation could play a huge role in improving existing building energy efficiency, if effective products with low cost and high R-value can be achieved.

Francisco is currently authoring a special report on nanotech insulation. That will be a valuable resource when it comes out because, as we discussed in my interview, insulation is the most cost-effective strategy of all for reducing carbon emissions.

The firm he works for, Bax & Willems, is a consultancy firm focusing on Open Innovation strategies for large industrial corporations as well as smaller high-tech companies, research institutes and governments. He is also involved in ObservatoryNANO, an organization founded in 2008 to support European decision-makers with information and analysis on developments in nanoscience and nanotechnology.