Green Wave Bike Lanes
What are Green Wave Bike Lanes? They are simply bike lanes that are have a posted speed limit that if you ride the limit you will get green lights all the way along a certain road or path without having to stop at any red lights. Not bad when you time it just right. Sometimes the green wave bike lanes are even painted a bright green and other times they are just left the normal street color. Personally I like the normal street color as the bright green gets really ugly over a little bit of time. A lot of people prefer the bright green because they feel we shouldn't have to share the bike lane with anyone but I just don't think that's feasible. So, what do you think would you like to see a Green Wave Bike lane in your town at least on your way home from work. That would be my favorite. Or do you think that it's just a fad and it slows down vehicle traffic too much? What do you all think?
If You Had a Green Wave In Your Town Where Should It Be
If you could decide where to put it in your town where would you put it or would you put one at all. would you put one on the way to work or on the way home from work. Or would it be on the way to pick up your kids from school. We all have differing needs form our bicycles. I know that a lot of people will be against this bike infrastructure as they are with a lot of bike projects but I think this is something that is worthwhile. Especially in downtown's where speeds are slower so you don't slow down the pace of traffic too much to accommodate the green wave bike lane.
photo by SFBIKE@FLICKR
Is LEED a Scam?
The LEED Green building certification is the current go to thing to have if you want to be hip and with it in the green construction and environmentally responsible building designs. But suppose you go out and build your building do everything your supposed to do get the top LEED certification get all the good green press that you can then go away. All is good right? Not really if your building is not really green at all. This is precisely what happened with the Bank of America Tower that opened in New York City in 2010. This building was given the LEED Platinum rating. (see this article in co.design)However it is truly a high energy user in fact it uses more energy than many older buildings in New York. Suppose your building is really not a Prius but a Hummer H1 going down the freeway at 80 miles per hours in terms of energy consumption? Well then you have a problem right, well not really because it's not like the Leed people will fine you or take away your LEED certification. They really can't do anything to you since they have no power to do anything like that. They are just a certifying group. They are a group of designers, builders and industry people really who have a vested interest in your building being LEED certified.
Replace Leed With Something Better
Replace Leed with something better. That seems easy enough right. I think it can be done pretty easily. You see a Leed certified project is a building that is certified before it is built and they tell you what the energy usage will be before you ever build the project. To me that is completely backwards they should be giving out certifications after the building is built. Only then can you see how much energy this project uses. That is the way to determine if this is truly a green building or not.
Santa Clara County Considering Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
Santa Clara County is considering a push to make wiring all new homes and homes that are remodeled more friendly to electric car chargers. As it stands today, typically electric vehicles are charged on chargers connected to 110 to 120 volt outlets. This can take a few hours to charge an electric car battery. A faster charge can be had with a 220 volt outlet the type more commonly found for use with dryers and washers. A yet faster charge as little as 30 minutes or so can be had on an outlet that serves 480 volt DC. However currently there are no rules in place in Santa Clara County to require the high voltages for auto charging. The supervisors are considering requiring all new construction and all remodels to come with at least 220 volts in the garage so that a new owner of an electric vehicle will not also have to get their house rewired. Because with all the talk of charging stations all over the country as common as gas station. The fact of the matter is the charging station most people use every day is the one in their garage. A lot of people will think this is not a good idea because hey it adds to the cost of a home or the cost of a remodel and that is all true but if you own an electric vehicle you will be saving the money on not buying gas. I suppose if you don't own an electric vehicle you will spend the money regardless and not see the savings but I do suppose you will at least have smaller lines at the gas station and that is worth something right. What do you think?
Photo by RightBrainPhotography@Fickr.com
