2o
The Plenty
electricity problems: Last summer
alone, heat waves caused blackouts
across the nation, and high electricity demand forced the dirtiest
of generators to kick in. But this
company says that a better solution lies in something laughably
low-tech: ice.
Ice Energy’s Ice Bear cooling
unit plugs into an off-the-shelf
air conditioner. At night, when
electricity is cheapest and most
abundant, it makes ice. But during the day, when demand for air
conditioning soars, the Ice Bear
uses the ice—instead of electricity—to cool down the coolant
in the air conditioner, reducing
electricity consumption for air
conditioning by up to 30 percent.
Right now, the company sells
the Ice Bear only for commercial
buildings, but a residential version
is currently being tested. And
many utilities are already offering
huge incentives for companies to
buy the systems. Now that’s cool.
17
GREEN SANDWICH
TECHNOLOGIES
NORTH HOLLYWOOD,
CALIFORNIA
Most people don’t think much
about the wood or metal framing
that holds up their houses—but
what if that framing could save
them 60 percent on energy bills?
Green Sandwich Technologies
has developed insulated concrete
panels that can be used to build
homes and commercial structures. The panels provide nearly
four times the insulation of
wood- or metal-framed struc-
54 | Feb/Mar/07 plentymag.com
tures, and they’re made from at
least 40 percent recycled content,
including an eco-friendly foam
made by chemical giant BASF.
They can be fabricated from locally harvested biomass (like rice
straw, mowings, or even roadside
weeds) and then coated with
Earthskin, a concrete replacement
made almost entirely of dirt.
Naturally fire-resistant, the panels
are also strong enough to rebuff
hurricanes and withstand earthquakes, and they can be used
in roofs, floors, walls, and even
countertops and pools. But more
importantly to builders, Green
Sandwich structures can be built
in half the time of conventional
construction—an enticement
that might just make green buildings more popular.
18
GREEN MOUNTAIN COFFEE
WATERBURY, VERMONT
Yuppies have been sipping
organic, Fair Trade coffee for
years now, but the masses have
yet to follow suit. Enter Green
Mountain Coffee, which ships
25 million pounds of beans a
year and is the sole coffee supplier for the