News & Commentary

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Washington on the Verge of “Cleanest Homes in the Nation”

Expert BlogWashingtonAlejandra Mejia Cunningham

The Washington State Building Code Council is poised to extend requirements that all new residential buildings must use high efficiency space and water heating equipment that can run on 100% clean power.

States Commit to Clean and Healthy New Buildings

Expert BlogWashington, ColoradoAlejandra Mejia Cunningham
These are two states that have recently felt the devastating consequences of the climate crisis and are now taking action to ensure their homes and buildings stop relying on polluting fossil fuels quickly as possible.

Seattle Orders Building Standard and Walk Zone for Climate

Expert BlogSeattle, WashingtonElizabeth Stampe

Speaking from Glasgow at the international COP-26 climate meeting, Mayor Jenny Durkan announced an executive order to cut Seattle’s greenhouse gas emissions from the city’s two largest sources: transportation and buildings.

NRDC Sets Region Specific Water Targets for Each Office

Expert BlogUnited States, New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Bozeman, Beijing, San Francisco, Santa MonicaMaria McCain

NRDC has seen a steady decline in total water usage institution-wide and has taken steps to advance water stewardship.

How Cities Are Centering Equity in Benchmarking Policies

Expert BlogDenver, Colorado, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Seattle, WashingtonCaroline Keicher
A new resource from the City Energy Project—Incorporating Equity into Energy Benchmarking Requirements: Guidance for Policy and Program Practitioners—helps cities understand the opportunity to leverage benchmarking and transparency policies to address racial and social equity.

Seattle Gets Most Fossil Fuels Out of New Large Buildings

Expert BlogUnited States, Washington, SeattleElizabeth Stampe

Seattle’s City Council just voted unanimously to pass strong updates to the city’s building energy code that will significantly reduce the use of fossil fuels in new buildings.

Energy Efficiency: Ohio's Hospitals and Low-Income Residents

Expert BlogOhioDaniel Sawmiller
Ohio's Hospitals and low-income residents have benefit greatly from energy efficiency programs. Still, Ohio lawmakers may choose to eliminate these programs and increase the energy burden—and electric bill—for both.

Columbus Strides Forward on Its Sustainable Steps Program

Expert BlogColumbus, OhioStefan Schaffer
There’s no slowing down Columbus, Ohio, as it continues to stride forward on climate action. On Energy Efficiency Day, October 7, the city celebrated a major achievement: the completion of more than 30,000 home energy audits within just two years.

Clean Energy Dominates a New Agreement Reached with DP&L

Expert BlogOhioDaniel Sawmiller
After months of debate, NRDC has joined Dayton Power and Light and a diverse group of energy stakeholders in reaching an agreement this week on a proposal to modernize the local electric grid.

China, Top Player in World A/C Market, Raises Efficiency Bar

Expert BlogChinaNoah Horowitz, Alex Hillbrand
China implemented one of the world’s most stringent energy efficiency requirements for room air conditioners today. The move by the globe’s largest buyer and manufacturer of these appliances will save huge amounts of carbon-intensive electricity, putting a formidable dent in…

How EV Charging Can Clean Up China's Electricity Grid

Expert BlogChinaBarbara Finamore, Hyoung Mi Kim
Shanghai has just completed an historic EV-Grid Integration pilot program, the first project in China to make use of electric vehicles (EVs) as a flexible energy resource for the power grid system. Since China’s electricity system is still primarily coal-powered…

What Will Protect Ohio’s Critical Infrastructure?

Expert BlogUnited States, OhioDaniel Sawmiller
Proponents of Senate Bill 33 believe it protects critical energy infrastructure but the bill would not address the real threats to energy resilience.