While our homes and cars get most of the attention relative to energy savings, our materials stream also has a huge impact on energy use. Nationally, the U.S. generates about 236 million tons of municipal solid waste each year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That works out to about 4 pounds of waste for every American every day. Recycling our waste saves a lot of energy. Just how much depends on the material.

GlassX, a new high-tech glazing from Europe with heat-storing phase-change material (PCM) has just been introduced in North America. This remarkable glazing was developed by the Swiss company GlassX AG over the past 15 years and is licensed to the international building products company Saint-Gobain (parent company to CertainTeed), which is manufacturing the product in Austria and Germany.

This summer is a great time to get a good deal on a solar water heating or solar-electric (photovoltaic) system for your home. While I argued a few months ago in this column that the 30% federal solar tax credit has some flaws--key among them being that it's based on the dollar value rather than performance and that there's no cap on the cost of the system (and credit you can earn)--these aren't reasons not to take advantage of it.

There's an exciting new hybrid solar collector from Turkey that combines photovoltaic (PV) power generation with solar water heating. The idea of combining PV and solar-thermal isn't new, but Solimpeks Solar Energy Corp. has taken the idea to a new level of sophistication with their Volther hybrid solar collector.

I'm sorry, but the irony is just too thick these days. We Americans are rightly upset with BP for the devastating spill in the Gulf that is wreaking ecological devastation on a mammoth scale. But as I watch the television news and read the daily coverage, I'm not hearing enough outrage at our petroleum-dependent lifestyles and the gas-guzzling vehicles we hop into at a moment's notice to drive to the store for a pint of ice cream. We need to hold a mirror up to ourselves at those protest rallies.

A three-year-old North Carolina company, Earthstone Products, has introduced a great-looking, relatively inexpensive recycled-granite paver. Used both indoors and outdoors, the pavers are manufactured from waste slabs of granite.

EPA's new specification for water-efficient homes works well for all sorts of builders and even remodelers Although EPA's criteria for WaterSense labeled new homes were only recently released, custom and production builders from Georgia to Arizona, from Montana to Hawaii, are signing up.

Can insulation materials, which we use to save energy and help prevent climate change, cause greenhouse gas emissions? Yes, in two ways. First, it takes energy to produce and ship these materials--which we refer to as "embodied energy"--and using fossil fuels for these energy needs releases carbon dioxide (our most significant greenhouse gas). So in a sense, all insulation materials have embodied global warming potential (GWP). Second, two of our common insulation materials are made with hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) blowing agents that are very potent greenhouse gases.

Niagara Conservation has introduced a new toilet that's unlike anything on the market. It uses passive "vacuum-assist" technology to deliver a very quiet, effective flush that consumes just 0.8 gallons (3.0 liters)--making it, I believe, the most water-conserving of any flush toilet on the market.

Who knew there would be so many ways to flush a toilet!

Today's op-ed piece in the New York Times presents a remarkably balanced viewpoint on LEED and green building issues. Unfortunately it also has a major blindspot.

First, the good points about the article, "Don't LEED Us Astray" (I love it that even the esteemed Times can't help but get in on not-very-subtle LEED punning). The author, Alec Appelbaum, is perceptive enough to see that LEED may not be to blame for the imperfections of LEED-certified buildings and their performance: