WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 05: A crowd gathers for the annual lighting of the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree on the West Front of the capitol December 5, 2007 in Washington, DC. This year's tree, a 55-foot balsam fir from Vermont's Green Mountain National Forest, is decorated with strands of energy-efficient LED (Light Emitting Diodes) lights as part of the Captiol's commitment to save energy.

One of the biggest energy hogs for any building would be the lighting and the climate controls. I've seen varying amounts of integrations both in the US as well as abroad. I have to say, though, the Irish design and architecture do a great job of using their designs to reduce the consumption of energy for airconditioning and lighting. By leveraging open dynamic cooling, novel insulation methods, and available lights, the United States could reduce their consumption of energy.

One of the first things that I noticed when I walked into the Quinn School of Business was that the atrium was wide open... I mean WIDE open. The ceiling was transparent to let in as much light as possible - there were even trees freestanding on the ground floor. It gave the entire building a spacious, airy feel that limited the use of artificial light as much as possible. It was always bright and this allowed supplemental lighting by way of indirect light - it wasn't as harsh on the eyes at all. Take note, USA.

Where the two come together is another interesting thing that I've never seen anywhere but Ireland. At the top edge of a line of windows on the exterior of buildings, there is a grill arrangement with angled slats. These slats angle off the light depending on the sun's position in the day. It allows two different savings. First, by giving a shade to the window, there is no need to lower shades which would block out too much light and therefore require the use of lighting. The second is that by reducing the need to tint the glass, as is the custom in the states, colder climates such as Ireland will be able to utilize the natural convection heating and not need to turn on the heaters.

When it comes to design, besides the transparent ceilings and the like, there are a few design characteristics that Ireland just nails. The first was that shade above windows - that's great for reducing consumption. The second really noticeable and beautiful design feature is the use of what I would call buffer space inside windows. Basically one completely clear pane of glass is either outside the line of the building's walls or flush but then about a foot or two behind that is the interior pane. By creating an open buffer, a wall of air, between the structural glass, heating and cooling efficiency is greatly improved. It's similar to how double paned glass keeps windows from leaking heat but on a grander scale. Colder air in the shadows would be able to cool the heated air in the sunny parts to make for a temperate average temperature.

By combining technologies such as these with designs discussed here, I think that the United States could do a lot to reduce electricity consumption and ultimately the need for oil dependency. More to come this week!

What is nanotechnology? Well, it is all about small stuff. It started about ten years ago when scientists started experimenting with what they called "Bucky balls." These microscopic, molecule size materials were made entirely from carbon. They promised to be an interesting field of research and to this day have yielded some amazing advances for computing and science in general. These Bucky balls have some interesting properties. They are tiny - to give a scale of the size, a pinhead could hold over 3000 buck balls. They are incredibly strong and can conduct electricity too. Since that time, scientists and engineers have explored and developed novel and innovative uses for these miniscule Lego blocks. About two years ago, researchers managed to form these carbon nano-structures into what are now called nanotubes. They are long hollow chains of carbon molecules in a particular mesh structure. These engineered structures are considered some of the strongest and most robust materials known on earth. They can also be manipulated into useful structures. Scientists have used them to make molecular toilet bowls and other structures just to prove it can be done. All fun aside, researchers have found very useful ways to use and transform nano-tubes into nano-wires and other structures for industry. The following three technologies are some technologies already on the market or nearly to market that all of us can benefit from.

Nano-wire Capacitors

Current batteries use chemicals to store electrical charges. Unfortunately, the amount of charge batteries can hold is limited because the chemicals swell when energized. Also, after many charge-discharge cycles, the chemicals tend to wear out and become unusable. Nano-wire capacitors stand to change the way we store energy forever. Instead of using chemicals, these batteries would use bundles of miniscule nano-wires. Capacitors are limited by the surface area of the circuits storing the charge - nano-wires, being so small, have TONS of surface areas. Nano-wire batteries would be the same size as our current batteries but could store 6 times the charge and would never suffer from "memory" or wear out. Think about not having to charge your phone for weeks at a time? Don't need that charger for your next trip, now would you?

Nano-particle Solar Panels

Today, the world derives less than 10% of its power from renewable or green sources. Of that, most is hydroelectric. One reason for is that solar cells have been incredibly hard to make and prohibitively expensive. A new US company, Nanosolar, has developed a novel way of producing cheap, efficient, and flexible solar cells. They use nano-particles in an ink that is then printed on sheets of conductive foil. When compared to traditional photocells today, Nanosolar's cells produce pay for themselves in a few months where others take years to make back the money invested in them. These new cells come in two flavors, one geared towards utilities companies, the other to manufacturers. The manufacturer side is a flexible cell that can be cut to exact size and used on almost any surface. This means streetlights could power themselves, bike lights do not need replacement batteries, and your car roof can keep the car battery charged when the engine is not running.

Nano-wire Generators

Ever wished that you could put all of your walking and motion into better use? Well, an emerging technology promised to do just that. A new sort of fabric is in development that uses nano-wires woven into fabric with Kevlar casings and brushes (microscopic mind you). Like industrial generators, when these brushes move, they create static electricity with the nano-wires, which then conduct that energy to a battery or nano-wire capacitor. Next time you go for a run, you could charge your iPod so you will have tunes all through your work out. For those with prosthetics, nano-wire generators promise to provide power for more advanced electronics and motors thus improving quality of life. Just think, your next static shock could just power up your dead mobile phone or give an artificial heart a few more thumps.