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Loading ...Chile Passes Tax Breaks for Solar Power
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009The Chilean Congress today passed a law that would allow construction companies to to take a credit from their interim payments required under Income Tax Law equal to all or part of the value of solar thermal systems (solar water heating systems) and their installation they mount in buildings intended for housing (houses or apartments) […]
Caixa Creates Label for Sustainable Housing
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF, popularly known among Brazilians as simply “Caixa”), Latin America’s largest public bank, is already involved in promoting green building though its insistence on construction using certified wood and its concessionary financing for the installation of the solar panels and water heaters in Brazil’s recently announced “My House My Life” Program to […]
São Paulo to Put Solar Water Heaters in State’s Social Housing
Thursday, May 7th, 2009The Housing and Urban Development Company (Companhia de Desenvolvimento Habitacional e Urbano – CDHU), São Paulo state’s public entity that build public housing, just signed a contract with six manufacturers of solar water heater kits to have such units installed in 15,000 houses that the CDHU is building or will build for low-income families in […]
One Million Environment-Friendly Homes
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009If you have followed Brazil much in recent years, President Lula’s interest in building “popular housing” for low-income households will not surprise you, and if you read The Temas Blog, you know that many of those being built already are fitted with solar water heaters on their roofs. But the Lula Administration is now taking […]
Brazil Proposes Energy Labels for Buildings
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009Yesterday Brazil’s National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (Inmetro) published for public comment in the official gazette (the Official Daily of the Union – Diário Oficial da União) a draft administrative rule (portaria) on the award of certification labels for energy efficiency in public, commercial and service buildings. It is supplemented by an […]
Cohab/Cemig to Install Solar Water Heaters in 7,000 Houses for the Poor
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009The state-owned Housing Company of Minas Gerais (Cohab) has decided to put solar water heaters in the 7,500 houses it is building in the second phase of its Popular Homes Housing Program (PLHP). The electric utility (majority owned by the state), the Energy Company of Minas Gerais (Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais – CEMIG),will assist […]
Mexico City’s Sustainable Housing Units Program
Thursday, January 15th, 2009Mexico’s Federal District (DF) — essentially Mexico City and its environs, where a large percentage of Mexico’s population resides — has launched a Sustainable Housing Units Program. The program will finance the installation of solar water heaters in housing, not only to reduce residential electricity and gas consumption (and thus homeowner’s utility bills by as […]
McDonald’s Claims First “Ecological Restaurant” in Latin America
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008McDonald’s just inaugurated what it claims to be the first “ecological restaurant” in Latin America — well, at least, the first one of their chain, anyway. Take a look at why McDonald’s calls this an ecological restaurant and see if you agree: Arcos Dourados (“Golden Arches”), the company that manages the franchise network of McDonald’s […]
Outlook for “Green Jobs” / Prognóstico para “empleos verdes”
Monday, December 15th, 2008While the idea of creating a “green economy” with “green jobs” has been around quite a while, it really started to gain serious consideration as the climate change debate heated up, and recently moved front-and-center during the US presidential elections and the debates about how best to respond to the global financial crisis (here, here, […]
The Largest Solar Water Heater Made With PET Bottles?
Saturday, August 9th, 2008One of the most popular posts here on The Temas Blog was the one introducing the solar water heater made of used PET bottles and aseptic cartons (mostly Tetra-brik) promoted by Paraná’s (PR) Zero Waste (Desperdício Zero) Program. Not far behind in popularity has been the follow-up post about how the Program is spreading the […]