A taste of Microsoft’s all-electric kitchen

A taste of Microsoft’s all-electric kitchen

The role of electrification — for power, heating and cooking — in the modernization of Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Washington, is well-documented. The site eschews natural gas hookups and instead will be supported by more than 902 geothermal wells, in a thermal energy center topped with solar photovoltaic panels. The electricity from Puget Sound Energy…

Why renewable energy infrastructure needs to be built for a circular economy

Why renewable energy infrastructure needs to be built for a circular economy

It is unquestionable that renewable energy needs to be part of the solution to climate change. With many countries committing at COP26 to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, renewable energy infrastructure is set to scale rapidly. New onshore wind power capacity added in 2020 was twice that installed in 2019 and the US, Europe, China and other countries have laid out…

Know the Risks and Signs of Electric Shock Drowning and Ways to Stay Safe This Summer

Know the Risks and Signs of Electric Shock Drowning and Ways to Stay Safe This Summer

Each year as the warm weather approaches we are struck here at NFPA by the number of news headlines we read about deaths related to electric shock drowning (ESD). Most people have never heard about nor are they aware of ESD and the electrical dangers posed in water environments, and each year people are injured…

Citric acid: a sustainable cleaning solution?

Citric acid: a sustainable cleaning solution?

  The professional cleaning industry has been making giant strides in the past two decades by manufacturing, developing, and using cleaning solutions that have a reduced impact on the user, building users, and the environment. But when the pandemic arrived, the world was in a health crisis. Facility managers wanted to do whatever they could…

The appeal of fuel-agnostic power generation

The appeal of fuel-agnostic power generation

  As the current energy crisis vividly illustrates, the withdrawal pains associated with ending the economy’s fossil fuel addiction and moving to clean, renewable sources are deeply painful. While purists and progressives champion a cold-turkey approach, reality requires the transition to alternative fuels for electricity and transportation to be more like an extended rehabilitation program….

Social inequality has become an investor priority

Social inequality has become an investor priority

When the European Union embraced the concept of double materiality in the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, mandating that investors consider risks corporations externalize onto people, the business and human rights movement notched a significant win. Now the notion of double materiality is also taking shape in a different guise beyond Europe: in rising investor concerns…